Home / Blog
Latest Posts
A friend of mine was recently sharing a story about his internet service being down for an entire day. His provider was refusing to credit his account for the period he didn’t have service. He ended up on the phone with four different people before he finally reached a supervisor that agreed to his demand. He got a $6 credit, equating to the prorated amount for one day’s worth of service. My friend makes several hundred thousand dollars a year. In the end, he won the battle but lost the war; when you consider the fact that he spent over two hours arguing with his internet provider, coupled with the aggravation of being on hold and dealing with uncooperative service people, you quickly realize the value of his time far exceeded the $6 credit.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in Adjust your mindset.
I was leaving a restaurant in a strip mall the other night with my 11- year old daughter and my wife. As we were getting into the car, a poorly dressed woman in her late 50’s approached and asked for $20. I hesitated for a moment and my wife chimed in and offered her our food. She refused the food and I told her I would not give her money. She began to get belligerent and actually spit on my car. I was starting to head back inside the restaurant to tell the manager (the panhandler was standing just outside the back entrance) but I decided not to because my daughter was frightened, so much so that she began screaming at us to leave.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in Intention.
According to Google, the definition of pragmatic is, “dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.” Over the past 20 years I have been studying the characteristics of successful business people with balanced lives. The most prevalent attribute they share is that they are pragmatic individuals. It also happens to be a skill that improves with age. If you had to rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, how pragmatic are you?
Characteristics of pragmatic people:
Practical—The pragmatist lives in the real world, he accepts it for what it is and plays the hand he’s dealt.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in Life balance, productivity, success.
My high school reunion is coming up in November. This week I received details about the date and venue for the event. The group that planned it chose a Best Western hotel in a suburban town in Northern New Jersey. I began to wonder why they hadn’t chosen a more festive venue. At first I thought it was price, but then I found out it was $140 per person. I reached out to a group of friends and asked how they felt about the choice. Not only were they unhappy with the choice, but many were contemplating not going at all.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in Intention.
I just finished a complete renovation of my home. When the project began I hired a General Contractor. I hired him because he seemed like a very honest man. I believed that he would do quality work and be judicious with my money. A few months in, I became suspicious of his billing practices. I hired a forensic General Contractor to review the project. He confirmed my suspicions. We fired our GC and completed the project without him. As I write this, we are preparing to file a formal complaint against him. I’ve reached out to provide him the opportunity to make things right.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in reputation.
As a huge fan of rock and roll, I introduced my children to great music as infants. As a result, both of my girls have become huge Beatle fans. A few years ago, Paul McCartney came to Florida. I took my eldest daughter to see him and she was blown away. I turned on the radio a couple of weeks ago and they were mentioning that Paul was no longer going to tour. They went on to say that he isn’t physically up to it and is having trouble remembering lyrics. The first thing that went through my head is that I never had the opportunity to take my younger daughter, Lori, to see him, and now she never will.…
Continue Reading
Posted by Joel Brookman in experience, follow your passion.
