The Entrepreneur's Guide to Combatting Loneliness

I'm an entrepreneur.  I work with some great companies and non-profits to help them market themselves. It can be very exciting.

The entrepreneur assumes the position.

It can also be one of the loneliest things you can be, especially if you once worked in an office, complete with the daily buzz of a diverse work force, donuts in the break room, fun people to have lunch with and bosses to bitch about. 

You used to work in that world, but you decided (or had it decided for you) to leave and stalk out on your own.

You're sales manager, writer, designer and Chief Schmoozing Officer.  When you're taking meetings, producing a product, helping clients succeed and even picking up an occasional check, life is glorious.

But when all you do is send out e-mails, create proposals and prospect for business...it's the worst.

The fact is that being self-employed...like loneliness in general...can be a major health issue, as serious as smoking and obesity.  There are even studies that link loneliness and early death.  Let's face it--we're built to be social animals and not having clients or any social interaction can be devastating.

When you're starting to feel down, are in a losing streak or not generating a lot of income, here are five ways you might consider to kick-start yourself:

Want to meet for a drink before the temperance meeting?

1.  Call someone different every day.
We're living in the world of e-mails and texts, but talking to a neighbor or friend you haven't talked to in a while can relieve stress.   Make it a scheduled event for the end of the day, when things are winding down.  But, talk about anything except work.  You might even get a new idea or get help solving a problem without even talking about it.  Also, it will make you feel good.

2.   Work out.
I'm not the first one to tell you this and I could lose a few pounds myself, but if you've got a few hours and nothing going on, get off your butt and go for an hour-long walk with your iPod or go to the gym. 
If you can go with a friend, even better.  I'll bet you're not getting enough exercise, anyhow.

3.  Volunteer.
Take an evening a week...or even a month...to make a difference in someone else's life.  I love movies so I volunteer once a month a local non-profit movie theatre.  I get a rush out of popping corn and working the box office, plus I meet a lot of people I wouldn't normally meet.  No strain, no stress, but a Win-Win.

4.  Go out to lunch.
If you can go out with a friend, so much the better, but do NOT eat lunch at your desk when you're depressed.  You could take your sandwich and iced tea out to the deck, but better yet, go out to a park, your local Subway or anywhere there are people.  You'll be amazed how refreshed this one hour away from your desk can clear your head.

With friends like these...

5.  Join a club.
It's so easy to become isolated, working from your desk in the basement (your company's World Headquarters).  Join a running group, take a painting class or get involved in something other than business. 

Basically, get out there!!!  Do something different to change your routine.  I'm a big believer in Karma and that being busy makes you even busier.  Gaining a new friend gets you even more friends.

Working gets you more work.

Sitting alone in your company's World Headquarters get you...lonely and fat.

Now, let's have lunch.

--Rich Brase
rich@richideas.net

Be the Coolest Person in the Room

If you were a tree, this would be you.

The world changes from moment to moment.  Governments teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.  Industries lurch from quarter to quarter.  Companies are bought and sold daily.

With all this anxiety in the air, as well as day-to-day demands, here's a solution to help you keep your focus.  In two words:
 
Stay cool.

History is filled with advice urging zen.  Rudyard Kipling's Keep your head while all others are losing theirs.  Great Britain's Keep calm and carry on.  Frank Costanza's Serenity now!  And, of course, Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax, don't do it.

Here's the annoying part: It works.

When you're operating from a minefield of emotion, that's when mistakes are made.  You react.  You're impulsive.  You act out in a way that feels good at the moment, but that moment is fleeting.  This rarely ends well.

This is often a challenge in an industry as passionate as ours.  We're encouraged to think creatively (not just creatives, btw), interact with people with very different perspectives  and, oh yeah, reach consensus quickly.  Definitely a combustible combination.

Which makes it that much more important for you to always retain your composure.  Passion should never be mistaken for craziness, and vice versa.  You don't have to look any further than our political leaders to see that grandstanding and hostage-taking is not leading;  Looking for reasonable answers is.
 

Whether you're running the show, or freelancing for the day, stay focused on the ideas at hand and don't fall into traps.  It's easy to be diverted by personal issues (yours and others'), difficult situations, or looming crises.

Be the calm one in the room.  People respond positively to your confidence, and, in turn, eschew superfluous issues.

Stay cool.  It really, really, really works.  No, really.

It's all good...
-Ed Roth
edrothshow@gmail.com  

Brits are more American than Americans

Hugh Laurie sounds more American than I do

When I was a kid back in New York, a British kid named Steven Volz joined our 6th grade class.  He was the first kid I every met who didn't sound like a gangster.  My own parents had such chain-smoking, thick NY accents, they sounded like they were out of Central Casting.

A few decades ago, the only English people on television were butlers or nannies.  Now, they're neighbors, bosses and boyfriends.


In short, the British (and Aussies) are taking over American television and The Promo Code wants to know why.

Have you ever thought why there are so many Brits playing Brits and Brits playing Americans?

I've got a lot of English blood flowing through my veins.  My grandparents left London in the 1920's and emigrated to New York and never looked back.  Their cockles would be warmed if they could be around to see so many of their countrymen...playing Americans.

Like many of you, I'm a big television fan.  I watch way too much of it.  I'm engrossed in the new fall season and I really like a few shows, like The Crazy Ones and Mom on CBS, but really like Super Fun Night on ABC.  That got me thinking about today's topic.

Aussie Rebel Wilson can live in my neighborhood anytime

Super Fun Night stars the great Rebel Wilson (Australian playing an American), her English co-workers Matt Lucas (who played her brother in Bridesmaids) and Richard Royce.

It seems like at least 50% of all American television shows either have a British or Australian character or an actor "playing American."

I live in Portland, Oregon and have lived all around the country, but must say that in my personal and professional life, if I meet one person a year from GB, Australia or New Zealand, it's a lot.

But if you watch any American show on network or cable, you'll be led to believe that they're all around us, like popcorn.

I love Brits, Kiwis and Aussies.  Whenever I've met and gotten to know them, a lot of alcohol was consumed and I ended up up doing things I would later regret.

How many shows can this man host?  Seriously.

Need some examples?  British or Austalian characters appear in The Mindy Project, Sleepy Hollow, Once Upon a Time, The Neighbors, Super Nanny, The Following, ALL 500 Gordon Ramsay shows, The X Factor, So You Think You Can Dance, 60 Minutes, Young and the Restless, Elementary, The Talk, Smash, Hannibal, The Borgias and The Office.

For Brits or Aussies playing American, how about House (two characters), Grey's Anatomy, Body of Proof, Hawaii Five-O, The Americans, The Good Wife, The Mentalist, Unforgettable, Chicago Fire, Do No Harm and the upcoming Dracula.  Those are only from the shows I actually watch!

Many Brits were in an uproar when Renee Zellweger played Bridget Jones.  How about when Hugh Jackman played Wolverine?  Did we get upset?  Nooooo!

A few years ago, I played an English character in The Norman Chronicles and I'm pretty sure my attempt at an English accent caused the death of Laurence Olivier.  Mine was still better than Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.  Worst...English...accent...ever!

We love you, Dick, but stop talking!

Accents are tough.  Gwyneth Paltrow was great in Shakespeare in Love and Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson hit it out of the park in The Other Boleyn Girl but Brits and Aussies seem to know how to sound like us better.

So, I need to know--why do so many British actors (beautifully) act like they're from Cleveland?  Is there a lack of work in Great Britain or Australia... or is the American accent merely so cute and adorably easy to duplicate that they're laughing all the way to the bank?


It's almost as if they want their country back.

They can sound like us, but they're smart enough to not want to become members of our Congress.

Smart.  Very smart.

--Rich Brase
rich@richideas.net
(503) 201-6158