Marc and Angel Hack Life

The Two Most Important Practices in Life

05.21.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 4 Comments

The two most important practices in life necessitate the proper management of time and the continual development of personal relationships. Possessing an elite social status with an abundance of money, a solid education, and even perfect health will seem irrelevant in the face of routine loneliness. What’s the point in striving for personal success if you don’t have anyone to share your story with, or enough time to enjoy it?

save time for personal relationships All too often in the news we read success stories supporting the endeavors of young career professionals that put “their lives” on hold while in pursuit of the prestigious career and job title of their dreams. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I truly believe you should pursuit your dreams. Putting all your effort into achieving something you truly desire makes sense… it is basis behind the American dream. However, there must be a balance. The time spent on business matters can never be recovered. If sufficient time is not allocated to fostering new relationships and nurturing current ones, will the end result suitably reflect the original envisioned dream, or will it leave something to be desired?

Remember, you can easily invest your time in exchange for money, status, education, and health; but nothing can buy you more time. Make sure you spend it wisely, leaving enough time for the people you care about most.

Advice for the Groom: Turn the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner into a Party

05.16.2007 by Marc Chernoff // Leave a Comment

In continuing the short series of articles I’m writing to give other “groom’s to be” some wedding advice based on my recent experience, let’s discuss the rehearsal dinner. The parents of the groom are responsible for hosting the rehearsal dinner, but the groom should be assisting with the whole operation. The goal should be converting the rehearsal dinner into more than just a big dinner. Think music, humorous roasts and speeches, and possibly some dancing. No, this isn’t your reception, but it can be an exciting precursor to the festivities that lay ahead. Most people go out to dinner once a week, so forget about a rehearsal dinner and throw a rehearsal party. Turn the Rehearsal Dinner into a Party

If friends and family have already traveled from all different geographic locations, why give them merely a single night of excitement. Instead of limiting access to include only the wedding party, invite all the family from both sides and a few of your closest friends. Rent out the patio area at a local restaurant or country club, bring some tunes, and jazz-up the setting with a few decorations. Host a two hour open bar for your guests, and provide a decent buffet. This doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Three to five thousand dollars should cover a guest list of 60 people.

You can also prearrange some activities, like requesting that a few of your guests roast either you or your “bride to be”. It will get both sides of the family talking and laughing, which will make the following night, your wedding night, a setting filled with familiar faces from everyone’s perspective. If everyone sees familiar faces at your wedding, everyone will feel comfortable, and then everyone will drink, dance, and have an absolute blast. That should be the ultimate goal. It’s just another suggestion on how the groom can help coordinate a little wedding planning that doesn’t involve girly flowers and cake, but garners huge points in everyone’s eyes.

Next week I’ll continue the series of wedding advice for the groom that he might just enjoy.

Corporate America Asks Questions Without Wanting True Answers

05.14.2007 by Angel Chernoff // 1 Comment

Have you ever felt momentarily suspended in a complete void of productivity because someone just asked you a question that you knew they did not want an honest answer to? I am not referring to a situation where you are intentionally deceiving a loved one’s trust by hiding information that could emotionally hurt them. The situation I am referring to involves a professional environment where multiple individuals in a strict business relationship disregard the truth in favor of delivering the ideal lie. In other words, these business people ask their associates questions that already have a presumed answer regardless of whether that answer is true or not. Frustration in Corporate America

For instance, if the regional director Bob of Spazz Inc. asked John, one of his small branch managers, how the brand new employee training system was functioning, would John be honest with his boss? Without any knowledge of the company structure, maybe he would. But what if John knew that Bob had a lead role in convincing the president of Spazz Inc. to pour 25 million dollars into designing the new employee training system. If the training system was truly a faulty disaster, would you expect John to be upfront about it with the director project, whom also happens to sign his paycheck

Situations like this create an absolute void of productivity and efficiency. Unfortunately, this sort of thing occurs in corporate America on a daily basis and companies of all sizes suffer from it. This is not just an isolated management dilemma. The problem starts at the root of executive company administration and spills out to every facet in the chain of command. The source of the epidemic correlates directly to a shortfall in the company-wide team building process. When an employee does not feel comfortable with the management, a lack of trust sets in, at which point they will tell their boss exactly what they think their boss wants to hear. And sadly enough, many times this is exactly what the boss desires.

Top 5 Timesaving Google Shortcuts and Search Operators

05.10.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 33 Comments

save time with google shortcuts There is certainly no need for a lengthy introduction to this post. We all know that Google has some extremely useful shortcuts and advanced search operators. If used properly while conducting a search, they can save precious time and bring us directly to the information we seek. I think of it as searching smarter.

Below you will find a list of the top five Google shortcuts and search operators that I feel save me the most time on a regular basis. I list out each operator or shortcut, its purpose, and examples of its use. The list is in reverse order, saving the best for last.

5. define: – Provides short definitions for words, acronyms, or common phrases. Google aggregates this info from other websites and links the definitions to their original source. This operator can be extremely handy when you need the rough meaning of a word in an instant.

Examples:
- define:rss – get the definition of the acronym RSS
- define:aspiration – get the definition of aspiration

4. address, city, state – A quick and dirty shortcut for mapping out a physical address using Google Maps. Once the address is mapped out, Google Maps provides you with “to” and “from” shortcuts that can be used to create driving directions. With all my recent business travel, this shortcut has saved hours of my life that would have otherwise been spent on MapQuest… which makes MapQuest obsolete.

Examples:
- 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043 – Shortcut map of Google’s headquarters.
- 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA, 94089 – Shortcut map of Yahoo’s headquarters.

3. site: – Used for concentrating a Google search on a single website or domain name. There are so many websites out there with flawed search functionality or no search capability at all. This operator is the solution for saving time when you need to find a certain piece of information on an unorganized website.

Examples:
- site:problogger.net make money – Search for articles containing “make money” on ProBlogger.
- site:lifehacker.com google music search – Search for articles about “google music search” on Lifehacker.

2. filetype: – Filters a search result so that it only includes documents of a specific file format. Say you are conducting research online and need to find whitepapers that are typically stored in PDF format, this simple Google operator is the answer… a true time saver for online research.

Examples:
- filetype:pdf blogging – Search for PDFs on blogging.
- filetype:doc search engine optimization – Search for word processing documents on search engine optimization.

1. allinanchor: – Conducts a search based on keywords used strictly in the anchor text, or linking text, of third party sites that link to the web pages returned by the Google search. In other words, this operator filters your search results in a way such that Google ignores the actual textual content of the web pages, but instead bases the search result relevance on the keywords other sites use to reference it. This search operator can help you save large quantities of time when a normal textual based search query does not fetch the information you desire. Sometimes you can get a better idea of the content located within a website by reading how the mass refers to that site’s content.

Examples:
- allinanchor:google hacks – Search for websites that other pages link to concerning the topic of Google hacks.
- allinanchor:wordpress exploits – Search for websites that other pages link to concerning the topic of WordPress exploits.

There are several other useful Google shortcuts and advanced search operators not mentioned here, but these five are the true time savers I can’t live without. PS: I’ve submitted this Top 5 list to the ProBlogger Top 5 Writing Project.

You Will Succeed When You Are the Only Person in the World

05.09.2007 by Marc Chernoff // 2 Comments

The focus of this discussion is on your world, not the physical planet that every other being on Earth inhabits. It has been my experience that a substantial number of individuals spend a lofty percentage of their time enthralled in other people’s issues. Sometimes they excite themselves, or even upset themselves with these third-party concerns. Compound this wasted time with the fact that most of the individuals involved are completely lost concerning the direction of their own lives, and you begin understand the cyclical source responsible for the renouncement of personal dreams and success.

only one person How can anyone successfully conquer their dreams when they ignore the world of possibility they live in? Whomever coined the phrase “the world does not revolve around you” was in complete disconnect with the big picture. It is true that your world does not revolve around me. Likewise, my world certainly does not revolve around you. The world is what you make of it within the infinite bounds of your own individual life. So your world should be the world that matters to you, and thus the exclusive setting in which you focus your time, your energy, and your passion.

Am I alluding to the notion that I have it all figured out? Absolutely not, in fact I believe life is a continuous series of lessons. We all have much to learn. This is just food for thought.

This post was somewhat inspired by this post.

Update: This post was included in the Success and Abundance Lifestyle Carnival.