the 16 rules I try to live by

The following "rules for survival" is included with the permission of Bob Parsons (http://www.bobparsons.com) and is Copyright © 2004-2006 by Bob Parsons. All rights reserved.

Bob Parsons is the founder of Parsons Technology and Go Daddy. These are his 16 rules to live by and to do business by.


Here are the 16 rules I try to live by:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone. I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security." My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."

2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted. Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work. It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.

3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true. It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences." My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."

5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."

6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment. You can get through anything one day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing. Never stop improving. Never stop doing something new. The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die. Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way. Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen. Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.

8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true. Anything that is measured and watched, improves.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while. I guarantee you problems will be there.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.

12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.

13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair. You make your own breaks. You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).

14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge. Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others." There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently. It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."

15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up. Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck. None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.

16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it. After all, you're really lucky just to be alive. Life is short. More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time; we're here for a good time."

AU 2008 - Registration Open - Sign Up for my Class

Autodesk University 2008 registration is now open. If you have ever battened or have ever wanted to attend now is the time to sign up. This will probably be the best AU ever, and not just because I will be leading a class there!

If you want to get an overview of the class I will be leading, Creating a CAD Standards Manual, and are to lazy to read, or too busy, follow this link to an audio overview of my class.

About 1/4 of the AU 2008 classes currently have an audio overview. The powers that be are working on providing more of these sound bites to help users know and understand what each session is about.

There are over 600 session to choose from with nearly a dozen different categories, or tracts to available. I suggest going with one of the tracts to maximize your exposure to your particular field. However, it is very possible to get a little bit of everything too. It's up to you.

AUGI and SolidVapor to Part Ways

WOW!! SolidVapor and AUGI have been working together for some time now. I was suprised to hear (read) the news that the two are splitting. As a writer for AUGI World and AUGI Hotnews, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the folks at SolidVapor. I do not know the details of who broke up with whom or why, but I know SolidVapor will be missed.

AUGI will be able to function just fine without them I am sure and I am told that SolidVapor will not leaving right away. The two entities will be working together to make sure there are no loose ends so that nothing slips through the cracks.

Good luck SolidVapor and good luck AUGI.

Quick Tip - Set Your Limits

Here is another Quick-Tip from CAD-a-Blog on using AutoCAD.

If you work with the GRID on set your limits. This will define the area where your grid will be shown. If you want to work in a small area of a drawing, set your limits there to display your grid. It is a better practice to set the limits to cover your entire drawing area and not a small portion.

Another reason to use limits is to help control the area covered inside your file. If limits are set, and LIMIT CHECKING is turned on, then you will not be allowed to select points outside of the limits area. This will help to prevent accidental insertion to points far away from your desired working area.

Quick tip - Annotated text

Here's a quick tip from CAD-a-Blog using AutoCAD's Annotative Text. If you need to use text in drawings to lable something in multiple drawings use Annotative Text. Just set up a text style that is Annotative and have at. It can be set to show up through an x-ref file ant several different scales eliminating the need for multiple entities of text each having to be updated. And if your views are rotated you can turn on the MATCH TEXT ORIENTATION TO LAYOUT setting. That will automatically rotate your text so you can read it!!

Happy CADDING!