Pangers 'n Mash

(Keep Feeling) Fascination. Looking, learning, moving on…

Fascination is the most powerful way to influence decision-making. It’s more persuasive than marketing, advertising, or any other form of communication. And it all starts with seven universal triggers of fascination: power, lust, mystique, alarm, prestige, vice, and trust. - Sally Hogshead

It’s amazing how taking a simple test can draw out things that you might already see in yourself (or maybe haven’t), or even what you project to those around you. I had seen different blogs and mentions from friends about this book, Fascinate, from Sally Hogshead. The book explores the aforementioned fascination triggers and “how” and “why” they are key to how fascinated people become with brands, people, etc.

To complement this book, Sally’s website allows you to take the “F-Score” test, which reveal your primary, secondary and dormant personality triggers, and how you can hone them to become your most persuasive. Pretty interesting results, and eerily accurate:

Primary: 
Prestige - Value the respect of others, and work to maintain a certain standing

Secondary:
Trust - Stable, Reliable and a Relaxed Personality

Dormant:
Vice - Break out of strict norms and find more innovative solutions

New year, new decade, new start - I’ve got a feeling…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! HAPPY 2010!!!!

The passing of another year, the turn of another decade, and the best part of it all - I woke up this morning with an overall good feeling, a sense of hope and promise. Despite the hardships I’ve faced this past year, I feel lucky to live what I feel is a pretty “charmed” life. The different events of 2009 have led me here, and in 2010, I have some great things to look forward to - finishing up school and getting licensed, hopefully being close to gainful employment (finally!), another year of awesome family and friends to share the ride with me…even my 20-year High School reunion (Go Crusaders)!

It’s gonna be a busy year - and I have no doubt that it will fly by. But I anxiously await the defining moments ahead and am excited to experience them head-on with everyone…

“It’s not out of our control. I still believe in love, peace. I still believe in positive thinking. While there’s life, there’s hope…” - John Lennon

Jaguars vs. Colts 2009 - The Rematch!

This is gonna be an awesome game with an awesome crowd - TEALGATE in full effect! So bummed that I will be missing the actual game, but I’ll catch what I can on TV when I’m out of class. Still pumped up for my boys in TEAL to “Move Them Chains” and destroy the Colts! GET PUMPED, JACKSONVILLE!!! GO JAGUARS!!!!!!

I think I’ll try “Defying Gravity”…and be THANKFUL for it!

So I’m sitting at my computer at about 4:00 a.m. Just came back from a night out at Eclipse (as well as a 4th meal at Waffle House) with Amy, Gil, Russel, Whitney, Erin, Tiffany, Ronny and Michelle. Good times with good friends, and as I come down from the night’s festivities and prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family, I can once again look back on the past year and revel in the simple fact that I have so much for which to be thankful.

Of course, things have not always been so rosy as of late. After a pretty nice beginning in 2009, life dealt me quite the blow with the recession catching up to me and a subsequent layoff from my comfy job at JPMorgan Chase. Since then, it’s been kind of an eye-opener, being thrust from my comfort zone and forced back into the world of job-hunting, mortgage moratoriums and cutting back. But I have been fortunate enough to keep a roof over my head, my bills current, and food on the table. I also have a great support system of friends and family to keep me level-headed and will be there for me if things start to get hairy. And who wouldn’t be thankful for such fortunes?

Perhaps the best thing to come out of this year, though, and something for which I am VERY thankful, is an opportunity to not settle and to follow my dream, something few people rarely get to do in this day and age. I’m a firm believer in “everything happens for a reason”, and being unemployed these past few months has enabled me to return to school and pursue a new calling: Massage Therapy! I love my school and instructors, and I appreciate all the knowledge and skills that I am gaining. Nothing has felt this right for a while, and the thought of being able to truly help people and make a difference energizes me to no end! One of the best decisions I have ever made, and I look forward to seeing this through.

In retrospect, I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I’m not exactly the religious type these days, but I know when divine intervention plays a part, and I thank God for everyone and everything that has brought me to this point. I look at the news on TV or read it on the internet, and I know that my personal trials are trivial compared to what some people have gone through or are still going through today. I am truly one of the fortunate ones, protected and loved by friends and family here and above, and if I never say “thank you” enough, I hope they know I mean it every day…

So to everyone, I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to always be in the moment, and learn to see and appreciate the good that life has and will continue to bring you!