It's Better to Know !

It was early in 2000, I had just moved back to Atlanta after a few years living in Baltimore, and it was time to get serious and find a doctor. I hadn’t quite turned 40, (that was in September 2001, fodder for a future story) and as a new father I was getting focused on four door sedans, life insurance options , and a full time GP. After a few enquiries with friends, I made an appointment with a highly recommended doctor at Piedmont Hospital who was still taking on new patients.


I had stopped by a week before my appointment to give blood so the doctor could do a full workup for my first visit. In normal fashion I arrived a few minutes early and I was impressed when they took me back to the exam room 5 minutes early. After the required measurements (height and weight of course) a nurse did a battery of x-rays as well as taking an EKG. So far, it all seemed very thorough and I was feeling like I was in the right place. Soon enough the doctor came in, introduced himself very professionally and let me know that we were both the same age and that he liked patients that he could relate to directly and very openly. I quickly agreed, saying that I was looking for a doctor that I could see regularly for my annual physicals and any issues that might pop up over the years.


After a few minutes of taking my family history, he asked me whether I thought with a few lifestyle changes I could get my cholesterol “under control.” Since at that time I had no earthly idea what my cholesterol metrics were, I said with an earnest voice that I was certain with a little exercise and by watching my diet I could get things in check. As if I pulled a trigger of some sort, he jumped up and said very loudly, “Mr. Levisay, you are a liar!!” Well I was ready for almost anything that morning but being called a liar by my newly met Doctor was not on the playlist! He exclaimed that my cholesterol number was 357, and that there was NO way with a little exercise and diet I would or could make a dent in it and that if I wasn’t ready to go on a statin drug immediately he would not take me as a patient! With that, he walked out of the exam room, leaving me bewildered in my boxer shorts.


Well the long and short of the story is that I did start taking a statin daily soon after, my cholesterol is now below 150 with a very good split of HDL and LDL levels, and I have a very active relationship with that same doctor, now entering our 13th year. The lesson that day that is certainly true in one’s health but also in your business life is “It’s better to know.” Sure I was living in ignorance before entering that doctor’s office more than 13 years ago, but it was better for me to actually know my cholesterol levels so I could actually DO something about it. This idea is easy to talk about but difficult at times to practice in business; but regardless if your situation SEEMS in growth mode or in trouble mode, “it’s always better to know!”


There is a famous quote from Warren Buffet where he suggests that the stock market is highly fueled by greed and fear and that one should “be greedy when the market is fearful and fearful when the market is greedy.” While a deeply wise idea regarding the stock market, this concept holds true in thinking about this idea of “it’s better to know.” My experience is that in business moment s when things seem to be going great, setting records and beating plan, it’s important to go looking for the areas that might show signs of early weakness. Look for markets or products or at innovation that are not meeting their success hurdles, often not easily seen because they are being eclipsed by the broader success. I use the phrase “look for the dark in the light” to describe this approach. Similarly you need to be able to “look for the light in the dark.” In situations where things are tough, maybe you are behind your plan targets and having significant competitive challenges, it’s easy to become myopic on all the things that are not working, rather than looking for glimpses of success and winning within the broader challenged context.


Just like my cholesterol score from years ago, this lesson that “it’s better to know” is a good adage for business and life. Regardless if situations seem very good or very bad, it’s always makes sense to understand them better; to dig deeper into the moment and seek to find the data to help illuminate the dark (or the light!)


Remember …. It’s always “better to know!”

Execution is THE Strategy

Execution is THE Strategy

Isn’t it interesting that sometimes it take us years to realize that the lessons we learned a long time ago are needed today? Well that ‘Insight”, if I can be so bold, is present in my work life today, literally going back to a book, a set of meetings, and some key lessons that occurred almost ten years ago.

It was in late 2003 or early 2004, when I was leading retail sales for North America at The Coca Cola Company, when we invited the famous consultant, business adviser, and author Ram Charan to be our keynote speaker at a leadership meeting held in Atlanta. Ram, along with Larry Bossidy, had just released their book “Execution, The art of getting things done” (http://www.amazon.com/Execution-Discipline-Getting-Things-Done/dp/0609610570) and Ram lead a very focused and energetic discussion around the singular concept of “Execution.” At that time the business world I was immersed in was looking for new strategic avenues for growth, thinking that new products, new ad campaigns, new markets, possibly new categories were all the preferred routes for growth. This idea of Ram’s around building a culture of “execution”, literally focusing on the operating system itself and becoming maniacal around measuring and improving a company’s “execution metrics” seemed too simple, or maybe that we “had been there & done that.” Well little did I know that almost ten years later I was digging out my copy of his book and finding it relevant and highly impactful to my business today!

I have been at Bolthouse Farms for almost three years now and I am so proud of this company, our wonderful healthy products, and the amazing team I get to work with every day! We have had a lot of success growing our business broadly over the past three years and I have had the chance to learn and grow in this role in ways I didn’t always anticipate. As a leader when you work with a talented, motivated, and focused team much of your work is done. Well that is my very fortunate truth! In that light, we have reached new heights in parts of our business not by exploring new team configurations, or new categories but by building our “Execution” muscles.

One specific example came to mind recently when we worked on ways of taking a historic successful promotion to new heights. We followed a few simple pathways that you might find helpful in your business:

1) Expand your “expectations” for success. It’s easy to think that your historic successes are “tapped out” and that your focus as a leader should be on the areas not working as well. Not so fast! Take your best performing situations (markets/brands/promotions/etc) and raise your own expectations for success. If it’s been that good in the past, maybe we could/should expect 10%, 20% or even 30% greater performance in the future.

2) Use your “best in class” performance to guide the average. In any situation the average of any performance is made up of high, mid and low performers, the typical “bell curve” reality. We looked inside of this strong performing promotion and looked for the best performing market in the past. With that as a model, we took the actions and practices form that market and started building the playbook for broader translation.

3) Nurture next phase “best in class” performers. Identify solid performing entities (markets/ reps/distributors) that are in the middle of the “bell curve” but that are open to new ideas/thinking/approaches. Use them as pilots to try ideas from your new “playbook” (see #2) and soon you have multiple entities competing to be the very best.

4) Correct the “bottom of the bottom”. Look hard at the very bottom of the “bell curve” and identify the absolutely WORST performing entities (markets/ reps/distributors). Take personal action; get involved to understand the situation and identify the core barriers of success and take actions to correct some of the barriers NOW. Maybe “best in class” is beyond expectations, but for the lowest performing entities, average performance looks great!


While these four ideas or pathways aren’t exactly found in Ram’s book, our focus on core executional principles rings very true to his principles. Through these four simple ideas, we have continued to create new levels of executional success and thus new levels of results for our business!

While it might indicate certain “slowness” in my leadership capabilities that it took me almost ten years to apply his lessons, I am certainly re-energized around the idea that “execution” in itself can be the central strategy for productive marketplace growth. Be careful not to be tempted to look only outside your business for the keys for growth. It’s is my experience that there are tremendous opportunities for growth and success by looking deeply at your execution metrics today and making that focus a core strategy for your business in the future!

Holiday Recipe Redux

As we close out 2012 I have one more family treasure to pass along. Yes, I promise to get back to the more pressing issues of leadership, performance management & execution in 2013 but for now, my focus remains on family and thoughts of holidays past present and future.

In my last essay I shared Jane’s now famous “Yum Yum Yam’s” recipe and indeed it graced our holiday table again this year. One additional holiday recipe tradition of my mother-in-law Jane (who passed away early in 2011) was her Turkey Stuffing casserole which was made every year a few days after Christmas to use up the leftovers. Earlier today I made that delicious dish, and we will enjoy it tonight for our dinner, with memories flooding back from casseroles made years gone by. The idea of being frugal enough not only to save the leftovers from a big family meal but to have “special” recipes for those leftovers seems a bit old fashioned in these days of excess. Well for my mother-in-law and certainly for yours truly and my family, this tradition while maybe a bit old fashioned is a sensible and delicious way for us to honor and celebrate the memory of a cherished family member. I hope that you have a chance to try this recipe either this year or after some holiday meal in your future, remember leftovers required!


Jane’s Turkey Stuffing Casserole

Ingredients:
4-5 cups leftover turkey white and dark meat (mixed or to taste) chopped
4-5 cups leftover stuffing
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 tsp season salt (Jane always used Lawry’s)
¼ cup sherry
Melt butter in a pot and add flour to make a paste. Add milk over medium heat and add seasoned salt and sherry and let simmer until thick. Add turkey to sauce mix and put aside. Butter a casserole dish and layer leftover stuffing first, then the turkey mix, then stuffing again using all of your ingredients and finishing with a layer of stuffing on top. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.


Enjoy!

Jane's "Yum Yum Yams"

Holidays are often times that bring us closer to not only to those closest to us today, family & friends, children & spouses, but at least for me, the holiday season also brings back the memories of those close to us that have passed away over the years. Each Christmas I cherish the chance to put two small, tarnished metal ornaments on our Christmas tree, two ornaments made by my mother in 1946. These two small cherished items have been passed down in our family; and as my mom died when I was 13, they mean the world to me, and I always look forward to putting them hanging them on the tree each year. Also I think back to my wife Jennie’s sister Carrie who passed away in early 1999. Her last Christmas was actually our son Bryson’s first, and we have a wonderful photo of her holding Bryson as a baby up in Vermont from that Christmas. I miss both Carrie and my mom deeply and am thankful that the holidays bring them back to me with unique images, poignant mementos, and cherished memories.

Jennie’s mom, Jane Saliers, passed in March of 2011 and as I come towards this holiday season, my thoughts have turned strongly to her. Over the years, we made it a family tradition to spend each Christmas with Jennie’s extended family, often in Atlanta and at times in Vermont. Regardless of location, Jane and I made it a tradition to cook the Christmas meal together. While I certainly enjoyed our time on Christmas day in the kitchen, stuffing the bird, cooking the beans, helping Jane mash the potatoes, etc., my favorite memories are from our shopping prep sessions.

Before heading out for the big holiday grocery shopping experience, we would sit down together and make our plan. I can vividly remember the aluminum drip coffee pot being filled, Jane and I sitting at the Saliers little kitchen table piled with holiday cards and Christmas catalogs, and me writing out our Christmas menu and shopping list. Well before I-Pads and smart-phones, I would take my little “Franklin Planner” and write out our lists in the back of my “little black book”, ha! Over the years I actually kept a number of our annual lists in the back of my day timer, now lost in the history of moves and technology. While we would always get the menu and the list completed, those “Coffee Klatch” moments were our way of catching up; comparing notes and Christmas gift ideas, hearing about the latest stories from the library (Jane was a children’s librarian for years, learn more about her in the earlier essay “To my friend Jane”) and all in all just slowing down for a few moments to truly enjoy each other’s company. I deeply miss Jane and those little times together, and as I plan out the menu this year, I will have my friend Jane close at my side!

One of the traditional menu items that Jane made EVERY year was her “Yum Yum Yams.” While we often split the duties on most of the dishes for the meal, one year she would mash the potatoes, the next year I would, …, the “Yum Yum Yams” were her solitary domain. Even for this upcoming Christmas dinner, Jennie’s father Don has the sole responsibility to prepare and bring the “Yum Yum Yams.” I was thrilled when Jennie found Jane’s well used, highly stained, recipe card (above), and since it’s a bit hard to read over the years of use, the following is the re-printing of the recipe, Enjoy!

Yum Yum Yam Recipe

1 1/2 cup Sweet Potatoes
1 cup sugar
2 eggs scrambled
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup scalded milk

Topping:
1 cup broken pecans
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 stick oleo (butter works as well)
1/3 cup flour (preferably self-rising)

Mix well with electric mixer. Pour unto buttered baking dish. Mix topping ingredients well
and spread over the potato mixture, bake @325 degrees for 35 minutes


I hope as you gather this year with your family and friends over the holidays that you can both enjoy the company of those around you AND find special ways to remember the cherished ones that have passed; whether found in an ornament, a photo, or a delicious recipe.

Merry Christmas!

Ode to a "Shunpiker"

The airport was busy this morning, well before my 7:40 am flight. I was heading out to Bakersfield, then down to LA and back to Atlanta this week. That’s my itinerary after a week that included Bentonville Arkansas, Lakeland Florida, and Edina Minnesota; preceding a week that will include Boise, Idaho and San Francisco California. Wow, I get tired just writing those two sentences! Well it is in this context that I share this story. When I travel, Mondays being no exception, I try to pick up the N.Y. Times not only to catch up on the news and read the editorial pages (which I so love to do,) but to keep the art section and bring them home to my wife Jennie for the crossword puzzles. As I was reading the paper this morning, I spent a few extra moments on the obituary page for no specific reason. There were three large and very interesting obituaries that dominated the page, but one of the smaller obituaries caught my eye; in the first column there was a notice that included the word “shunpiker” in quotes. Well I needed to learn more!


The notice is on the passing of Mrs. Mary Pratt Barringer who had obviously lived a long, poignant, and significant life. Halfway through the obituary, the writer talks about her zest for life,

“Her zest for life was infectious. For her 50th college reunion she wrote: “It’s been
wonderful – aided and abetted by a husband whose curiosity is boundless and who
shares the non-directed way of life. We are “shunpikers”: we follow small roads in the
general direction of our desired destination. We frequently do not know precisely where
we are, and the time is usually longer than necessary, but enroute we see the wonders
on our way. We are not going too fast to miss the beauties of the roadside or the far
horizon, and the time spent covering the road has been worthwhile in itself.”


Powerful and beautiful prose, caught from a much unexpected source!


The combination of my ridiculous travel schedule and the normal frenetic tone of the holiday season has lead me to a funk this year, having a very short-term focus and possibly an even shorter fuse than normal. I certainly feel a long way from Mrs. Barringer’s “shunpiker,” losing track of time and intentionally taking the slower route on the intended journey. Indeed the final sentence of her quote feels like a challenge not only in this holiday season but in this phase of life. When she writes that “We are not going too fast to miss the beauties of the road or the far horizon,” I can almost read the unwritten challenge for all of us, “are you?”

As I head into the weeks ahead, still filled with numerous meetings, contracts, cities and obligations to accomplish before Christmas Eve, I am going to endeavor to keep Mrs. Barringer’s words close to mind. Join with me in the days ahead and find some ways, small or large, personal or professional, to be a bit more of a “shunpiker”

Demand Drives Price

It was my first day in Professor Galster’s Micro- Economics class; I remember walking into the classroom and seeing two things on the chalkboard (yes chalk, no “whiteboards” in those days). First was the professor’s name and the name of the class; simple enough. The second was a quote that has stayed with me over the years and seems more relevant today than ever; “ Demand Drives Price.” At that moment I had no idea at all what those three words meant, or why they were up on the board on our first day of class; yet today I often quote them to my team and to friends as a simple yet profound concept that is often forgotten in business and in life.


An easy way to jump into this idea is to consider a familiar pitfall. When someone asks the price of something they often use the phrase “what does it cost?” Totally understandable from the consumers’ point of view, wanting to know what they would be charged for an item is fundamental. My point is that phrase should NEVER be used in a business context in trying to determine the “price” of an item/product/service. While relevant in the overall economic mix, the “cost” of an item/product/service is almost in-material to the decision of the market price for that said item. This simple example is a good reminder: imagine a moment (hypothetical of course) when you could have at your fingertip three editions of the NY Times, one from last week, one from today, and one from next week. Each edition would have “cost” about the same amount to produce BUT their relative worth would be dramatically different. Today’s edition would bear a market price of $2.00 (it’s actually printed on the paper). Last week’s edition might be used to line the cat-pan, or to light a fire, but you wouldn’t pay anything near $2.00 for last week’s news today. Now next week’s edition is another thing altogether; with all the political/economic/social news that will occur over the next week, if you could buy that edition today it would be invaluable! (Certainly more than the $2.00 printed on the paper) As you can see the actual “cost” of the paper doesn’t impact the relative “price” one would pay, it is entirely driven by the relative “demand” of each edition.


It’s good to take a moment and explore a few of these concepts a little deeper. Let’s start with the definition of “Demand”: An economic principle that describes a consumer’s desire and willingness to pay a price for a specific good or service.


This concept is rooted in the idea of the “consumer’s desire and willingness to pay.” Just as it’s often said that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, so it is true that “Demand” is in the “eye” of the consumer. Recently my wife and I bought a new vehicle and the salesman was extolling the “Navigation system” and how much that feature was worth and why we needed to add the luxury package to the vehicle we were choosing. My wife was so turned off by the NAV system (too much technology is not always a good thing) that we weren’t willing to pay ANYTHING to add it to our vehicle. I am sure that the “Nav System” cost something to produce and install, but it was worthless to us. Our lack of “demand” drove the “price” of that item to zero.


Next let’s look at the definition of “Price”:
The quantity of one thing that is exchanged or demanded in barter or sale for another thing


While we often think of “price” defined by dollars and cents, it’s important to remind ourselves of the definition highlighted above. “Price” is the agreed on payment for the goods and services that one would receive in a transaction. Traditionally it is thought of as the “list price” or the “dead net price” of an item/good/ or service. “Price “, though can take different forms; imagine a college football star that has a breakout senior season. Rather than going undrafted into the NFL, he now is a contender for a first round draft pick that will affect his opportunities, his salary, and potentially his life-long earning potential. “Demand” was increased by his performance and thus the “price” for his future services to a NFL team rose dramatically.


Well by now I am sure that you get the idea that as you think about the marketplace; starts with “demand.” What level of “demand” does your item/good/service generate the marketplace and what “price” are your consumers/customers will to “pay? Then and only then should you look hard at your costs to understand if you have an acceptable profit margin for an ongoing enterprise, or if you need to go back to the drawing board and continue to iterate… Remember, regardless of the market, the era, or the industry, “Demand Drives Price.”


p.s. as I finish this essay a day before the thanksgiving holiday, I want to pass along a somewhat related theorem. If indeed,”Demand Drives Price” as I posit above, a corollary must also be that “those with less should be helped by those with more.” While this wasn’t taught in my Micro-Economics class, it is a profound learning of my adult life. So many of us (and many of the readers of this blog!) have enough to take care of our families AND the ability to help other families in need. My hope this Thanksgiving is that as we sit down for a meal with our families and friends, we can take a moment to be thankful for all that we have AND to turn our attention to the families in need all across the world, the country, and in each of our communities. Whether it’s sending aid to families affected by Hurricane Sandy, or to families impacted by the violence in Syria or Gaza, or possibly the homeless families that live in each of our communities, let us all commit ourselves to take action to help, and to take action NOW, partly because there is so much “need” and partly because we have so much ability to “help”!

Never Borrow Money For A Depreciating Asset

Well “Never” is a rather big and finite adverb. As you can tell from my previous essays, I am more of a believer in the possible, the whole “practice makes better” notion of life, usually steering away from absolutes like “Always” or “Never”. Well this story come from my childhood and at the time didn’t make much sense to a boy of about 6 to 8 years old. Now 40+ years later this idea continues to ring true, both professionally and personally.

My mom was a true New Yorker, born and raised in the Bayridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. At about the time of my birth, her childhood home was demolished as part of the construction of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. In 1960 or 61, her parents and her sister, (the now famous Aunt Lorraine!) moved from Brooklyn to a new home on Long Island in the village of Baldwin. I grew up spending a few weeks each summer visiting our relatives on Long Island, enjoying trips to Jones Beach, the local amusement park (Nunnally’s), train rides into “The City”, and many other exotic destinations. My memories are filled with so many great women, my mother Arline, my Aunt Lorraine, their mother (my grandmother) Kunigunda, her sister Katherine and her sister-in-law Emma. What a treasure of caring, capable, kind and lovely individuals. I still remember playing cards on the screened porch after dinner on hot summer evenings, trying to master “Crazy 8’s” and the rest of the family just enjoying the rare chance to be together. While I have many memories and stories from these impactful women, this story emanates from my maternal grandfather, Fred Wark.

Grandpa Wark was a businessman and a long time employee of J.C. Penney (I actually never remember entering a Sears store as a child). I remember him as a slightly intimidating figure, pretty serious most of the time, but always glad to see his daughter visiting from Pennsylvania with his three grandchildren. As was common most mornings, he would get up early and before the day really got started, he would head down to the local deli for “the paper”, some rolls, and maybe some cold cuts and German potato salad for lunch. Well most mornings he would call for my older brother Mark to come along to be ‘his navigator,” and they would head out in the big Buick to the store. Well one morning, somehow I was asked to come along, probably from the encouragement of my mother, and I hopped into the back seat to keep a low profile. I have no recollection how the topic came up, whether it was shared to Mark or me, but somehow we were talking about his new car. In the haze of history I remember almost none of the conversation except one fragment of a sentence from my grandfather … “remember boys; never borrow money for a depreciating asset.”


As I said, I might have been 8 years old at the time, which would make Mark the wise old age of 13, but there was very little of that phrase that made any sense to this young boy. What was an asset? Depreciating??? No clue! I kind of understood borrowing money, even at that age my little sister Alice was lending me money at the amusement park for one more pinball game or at the beach for an Italian Ice; but how did any of these ideas go together? At the time I had absolutely no idea and it took years before I connected ay of the dots.

I studied Economics during undergrad and went straight onto grad school to earn my MBA. Through those academic experiences, I started learning more about assets, appreciation, depreciation, loan structures, etc. As is often the case, practical application brings many “academic” lessons into sharper focus. The same was true for me when I set off to buy my first new car soon after taking my first professional job after business school. It was the fall of 1986 and I was moving up to Wisconsin to take my first role as a Marketing Assistant for Kimberly Clark Corp, to go to work for Bruce Paynter as my first boss. (You can read more about Bruce in this blog by clicking on “Inspirations of Bruce” in the archive on the left.) Well I had my eye on a new 1986 Honda Civic (still one of my favorite cars I have ever owned) and went to the dealership to negotiate a “deal”. After a bit of back and forth we had settled in on a car and a price, to this day remembering that the car was just about $12,000 tax, tag title, etc. That was a lot of money for one newly minted graduate! The good news was with my new job, I qualified for a car loan with a nominal down payment. Good news, that gold 1986 Honda Civic was almost mine! At that time the car loan interest rates were about 12%, and I borrowed almost all of the $12,000 over 48 months. Pretty standard stuff!

I can still remember sitting in an open cube of the car salesman’s “office”, signing the papers and preparing to drive my prize off the lot. I am not sure if it was in the required paperwork, or an innocent question, but I asked after the 48 months had passed, how much would I have paid? With a $316 monthly payment, the calculation was pretty simple…. Just north of $15,000. I added a second question of how much would the car be worth after those same 48 months? After lots of hemming and hawing, depending on mileage, maintenance, and care, etc…. the salesman said about half the sales price. So wait a minute, after 4 years I would have paid $15,000 for a car that would be worth $6,000 the day I finished my payments! The words of my grandfather rang out in the night …. “never borrow money for a depreciating asset!!!” Well I did indeed buy the gold Civic that night, borrowing the $12,000, and I took all of the 48 months to pay it off (though we owned it for 8 years and over 125k miles).

I share this story as a bit of a lesson, deep from my youth, that has served me well over the past few decades in a time when access to available and seemingly “cheap” credit has had a tremendous impact (negatively) on our economy and our country. On a personal basis, it has reinforced the idea that every individual and family needs to be clear about what they can truly “afford”. We have heard a lot in this election cycle about our country’s deficit, and the burden it is for us today and for the future generations of our country. The same holds true personally. What is your personal “deficit”, and how much do you pay to support that amount of debt every month? Remembering Grandpa Wark, is your “deficit” primarily made up of a mortgage on a home/property that might have a chance to appreciate over time? Is it made up of college/education loans that you are paying off after graduation? If so, maybe not a bad idea since borrowing money for an appreciating asset is can actually be a great idea. Or is your “deficit” made up of credit card debt which is the accumulation of purchases/expenses for a myriad of depreciating purchases (maybe including a few depreciating assets)?

This same idea applies professionally. Regardless of the size and nature of a business, it’s critical to carefully review where and how you are spending your money. If you can borrow money to support the growth of a business, looking for ways to invest in “appreciating assets” then you are probably on the right track. On the other hand, if you are taking your valuable resources and spending them on wasteful expenses, lavish offices, self congratulatory entertainment, etc. then it’s time to rethink your priorities.

Keep Grandpa Wark in mind as you review monthly bills at home or as you review your next monthly/quarterly budget review at work. Are you aware of how you are spending your money? Are you using your resources wisely? Is your personal “deficit” a large burden for you and your family? Is your “deficit” devoted to appreciating assets (education, mortgages, etc) or is it primarily focused on daily expenses and depreciating assets. My encouragement is to take small steps at first, first become aware of where you are then take steps towards reducing your debt, your personal “deficit” and work hard to “never borrow money for a depreciating asset.”

Post Script: In a related vein, I needed to make a quick comment on the idea on the role of “depreciating assets” (namely cars) to define oneself. Too often I hear friends talk about what their cars “say” about them, their families, their politics, etc. As I mentioned in a recent essay (“An Inspiring August”), we should strive to be valued by the quality of our thoughts and the kindness and generosity of our actions to those in need or with less, NOT by what brand/model of car we choose to drive!