A Book Review - Sinner by Lino Rulli

When I first got Sirius XM radio in late 2011, I was thrilled to find that I had so many music choices from all of the stations on the Sirius XM radio dial. I did not expect to get hooked on a station that featured mostly talk shows but I did Sirius XM 129 The Catholic Channel.

One of my favorite shows on The Catholic Channel is the afternoon drive program that features a host by the name of Lino Rulli. He is a very witty guy who along with his co-host Father Rob Keigron offer lots of light-hearted viewpoints about being Catholic. In fact, the name of the show is The Catholic Guy. I have really gotten to like the show and listen to it almost every day.

Lino Rulli has written a book titled Sinner and it is mostly about the trials and tribulations of his life and how we are all tempted by and often fall to sin. However, it is comforting to know that our God is a forgiving and merciful God and Lino points this out quite clearly in Sinner.

None of us are perfect and it was fun and interesting to read about how Lino has dealt witht the things that have come his way in life. This book offers a great insight into what makes The Catholic Guy who he is. I like the radio show even better now.

More from Great By Choice

One of the very strong points that authors Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen make in their recent book Great By Choice is that discipline in any business endeavor or any activity for that matter is critical to success. They refer to it as fanatical discipline but they mean it in a very positive way.

I have learned that paying attention to every detail is extremely important to making a business successful and profitable. Striving to win in small increments helps to ensure large and long-term gains.

It is very easy to be side tracked away from discipline because of complacency, resting on success, or just losing focus. It is probably easier to stay disciplined than it is to get it back.

I have only read about the first third of this new book Great By Choice but I have learned a great deal already. It is at least the equal to their previous best business book ever - Good to Great.

The Final Four, Mega Millions, and Holy Week

Some things occur every year or every month or every week around the same time.  The outcomes for some events are more predictable for some than others.

If you play the lottery, in particular the real big one, your chances for success is micro miniscule. It could still be fun to play and, who knows, maybe one day you will get rich.  
The Final Four comes around every year at this time and it too is a lot of fun. You enter a bracket pool and perhaps pick the winning team. Your favorite team could also be the winner bringing you some joy. The odds are better here than in the Mega Millions.  My favorite teams are Cleveland State, Ohio University, and the University of Oklahoma.  This year we had a huge success with Ohio!!!

And finally, every year around this time, Christians commemorate the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Holy Week.  The infinite love of God the Father, the Redemption offered by Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit are sure things.  Have a great Holy Week and a very Happy Easter!!!

Connections to the Past

I recently acquired an IPhone. I am still trying to figure out and understand the capabilities of it and I probably won't get it until it is time for a new one.

Anyway, one of the cool apps for the IPhone, or any computer for that fact, is a music player called Pandora. So, I downloaded the Pandora app (it makes me feel cool to say app) to my IPhone and I occasionally listen to it with the headphones that came with the phone.

Then one day I wondered what it would sound like without the headphones so I upplugged them while the music was playing. Well it sounded like my old transistor radio from the 1960s and 70s. Remember them? You could take them anywhere and listen to music that was neither clear nor loud.

My next reaction was that this is not so bad, neither was the transistor radio in its day. You could still listen to music without being tethered by headphones and you could listen to other things as well.

I guess that in its day the transistor radio wasn't so bad. A connection to the past.

Wisdom vs. Grasping Things Quickly

I think that it is reasonable to say that younger people (generally 35 and under) grasp things more quickly than older people (your guess). While that may be true, it is also true that there is no substitute for wisdom.

While younger people are quick to grasp technology i.e. cell phones, computer technology, fashion, and even lingo; this does not equal wisdom. Likewise, just because a person (over let's say 50) does not easily adapt to technology like video games, computer technology, and lingo; that does not mean thay they are irrelevant.

We cannot and should not establish relevance of a person by their modernization. For example, if a person does not adapt to Social Media or current entertainment, it does not mean that they are "out of it." Rather, we should look at their level of wisdom. How have they taken what thy have lived and learned and applied it to their daily lives and shared it with others.

I think that history shows that over time, most people adapt to current technology and living environment. I do not think that history shows that wisdom is a given.

Manufacturing and the US Economy

OK, the revised GDP for the US economy for Q$ 2011 is now 3%. The manufacturing index for February stands at 52+. I have heard projections that unenployement could be headed to as low as 6% in near times.

Things look good for the US, regardless of your political point of view. I continue to have many conversations with manufacturers of fluid power components in the US and they tell me that the market for their products remain strong. The forecast for the second half of 2012 if for an increased growth rate for fluid power sales.

What does this say for the manufacturing outlook for the US? It looks very positive to me. With "smart manufacturing" on the rise, the labor advantage of low-cost producing countries is being neutralized.

I am very positive on our future here in the US for manufacturing. What do you think?

Winning in small increments

Based on the concept expressed in the book, Great By Choice by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen, I believe that a big factor in success is consistency.  A commitment to daily progress is essential to continued success in business and in your personal life.

The concept that I am speaking of is the 20 Mile March idea that a business, or an individual, must make a commitment to win in small increments on a very consisten basis.  In other words, don't rest after a giant leap by saying well we will make up for it because we always do.

In a similar way on the personal side, consider diet and exercise.  It is kind of like eating big meals because you missed breakfast or lunch.   Or exercising two hours today because I will miss the next two days or the last two days.  I don't think this works.

Consistency of accomplishing daily goals leads to success in whatever you are trying to accomplish, business or personal.