I never thought about it but Boomers (like me) don’t bounce as well as Gen Yers (like my children). Maybe it comes from being part of the video generation. Gen Y Labs puts it this way:

Gen Yers are better at “bouncing” from failure than any other generation doing business.  They don’t perceive risk as a “do-or-die” phenomenon. Risk is more like a scenario to Gen Yers. They dive in and try something. If they fail, they shake it off and try again, just like they learned to do in their scenario-based video games.  Boomers see failure as a very personal experience and often need to re-invent themselves before stepping back into the playing arena.  Gen Yers see a re-start button and go for the game another time, knowing that the course of play needs to be altered.

What Gen Y Labs says it true. For many Boomers failure is too personal. We can learn from the Gen Yers who have a much easy time pressing the restart button….of bouncing. Maybe I need to go home and play more video games.

I have seen people using there cell phones and PDAs in the strangest places. I have seen them used at the urinals in rest rooms, on bicycles, treadmills, etc, etc, etc. We do this because we are so programmed to multitask that we can’t “waste a minute” by just doing one thing at a time.

But now a new low. At the local salon where I get my haircut, they wash your hair first. As I was waiting, there was another gentleman getting his hair washed while at the same time holding his PDA high in front of him so he could read his email while getting his hair washed. At one point during this scene, he yelled out to the woman washing his hair. “Stop! I can’t see my Backberry, you keep getting water in my eyes.” Ugh!

This needs to stop. As I say in my new book, Bounce! we need to strive for minimal achievement by focusing on one thing at a time. The myth of multitasking is just that- a myth. Our brain can really only do one thing at a time. In multitasking, we just switch quickly. Studies show that this multitasking decreases our productivity overall by 50%. If we can strive for minimal achievement- that is, focus on one thing at a time, we will actually increase our power and results.

And besides, let’s just relax for a minute and enjoy getting our haircut. Email can wait 20 minutes.

I didn’t know what it was or that I needed one until I didn’t have one. Isn’t that the way our consumer culture work?

I kept on seeing these nifty little icons next to other web site urls in the Internet Explorer browser bar….a company logo, fancy letters, designs etc. Even though they are only 1/4 inch tall, they do look cool. I learned they were called favicons (Favorite and Icon combined). So now for my web site, my favicon is an orange rubber band ball. Check it out at www.barrymoltz.com.

I have found that documentaries are a great way to learn. I wish I would have know about Donald Crowhurst when I was writing Bounce!

In the documentary, Deep Water, Crowhurst, the owner of a less than successful manufacturing business for electrical components. He enters the first Golden Globe competition in 1968 to sail from London single handedly around the world against 8 other competitors. His boat was financed by an English entrepreneur, Stanley Best who used Crowhurst’s only asset, is house as collateral. According to the terms of his agreement, if Crowhurst failed to complete the voyage or quit early in the competition, his family would be homeless and bankrupt.

Although his boat was not ready, Crowhurst launches it by the contest’s October 31st deadline. Only two weeks into his journey (of almost an expected year), his boat begins to leak. If he gives up now, he loses everything. If he goes on to the treacherous Southern Ocean, his boat will sink. Crowhurst struggles to decides what to do.

Crowhurst decides on a third option (WARNING: MOVIE SPOILER ALERT).

He decides that he will lie about where he is. Forty years ago, without the GPS of today, he describes the progress he is making by radio and keeps a fake log book. He continues to fake is location through a series of intermittant broadcasts showing incredible progress and speed. Meanwhile, he is waiting for the other competitors to come around the world and then he will fall in behind him on their way back to London. His plan fails when all the other competitors (except one) sink on their journey and he is expected to be in England with the fastest time. Unable to sail into a hero’s welcome because of his lies, he abandons his boat and drowns himself.

There are so many themes here that I discuss all the time. Why could he not come back from his failure? Why did he see the only alternative as suicide? Was there too much pressure where we bet everything on this one trip? Do we crave that fame and fortune too much and will do anything to achieve it? Do we live in the kind of society that we live in where a man has no choice?

What would you have done? Turn around? Given up? Gone on to certain death?

Okay, another confession.

The working title of my new book, Bounce was actually orginally, “The Resiliency Spring”, but most people hated that title. Too hard to say, and too much of a buzz word. Now I see what they were talking about. Sherwin-Williams has just come out with a paint called, Resilience. (if you must know it is satin exterior latex). As their press materials say:

“Formulated with MoistureGuard technology, this paint cures in about half the time of most conventional exterior paints and can be applied on the dewiest days without concern that its adhesion will be compromised. Designed to withstand peeling and blistering, Resilience can be used on masonry, concrete, steel, stucco, vinyl and wood substrates. It is available in a wide range of colors in a flat or satin finish.

Somedays, I wish I could paint Resilience on my body, especially for thost days where things are going quite right. I never want my adhesion to be compromised! And when things really get bad I could use something to prevent me from peeling and blistering. Sun tan lotion just doesn’t seem to do the trick.

Last night, Slingshot, Capital One’s new small business network launched in Raleigh. Over a hundred business owners showed up to hear about how their business could benefit from being part of this new social network. I was the keynote speaker again. What I always love about speaking in this part of the country is their hospitality. People are always warm, kind and welcoming. I got the question often; “When will you be back? Come by and visit me in my business”.I met up with a lot of people that had read my first book and now were interested in reading Bounce! Small business owners are yearning to tap into social media but without all the distractions that other networks have- enter Slingshot!

I talked to many business owners who are involved in the real estate and mortgage business and this part of the does not seem as hard hit as others. It was also refreshing to see so many owners from “main street businesses” like photography, carpet cleaning, commercial window washing, ministers, travel agencies, signage, real estate, mortgages, construction, and financial planning. We forget sometimes with all the fancy businesses that we read about every day that these main street businesses are what really make the economy hum.

I met Michael Port last year and I have excited about how he has helped thousands of small business professionals all over the country. In his first book, Book Yourself Solid, Michael shows a proven lead generation and marketing system for service professionals. His new book, Beyond Book Yourself Solid, which just came out he talks about how you can build your business in “the service of others”.

Today, I was featured on a conference call with 250 of Michael’s students to talk about Bounce! We discussed strategies that service professionals need to use to bounce and build true business confidence.

Listen to the Podcast on Michael’s site.

Yesterday in Denver, I was the keynote speaker for the launch of a new social media networking site for small business called Slingshot. It was a classy event for entrepreneurs where Capital One pulled out all the stops with the room looking a like Main Street, USA. Slingshot is the new site for small business owners where they can go to connect with customers, vendors, find deals, learn and form new alliances. The network is available to everyone, but they are focusing on Denver and Raleigh so they can build value for each of these business communities before moving on to others. Slingshot is stressing that it is for local businesses to help each other.

After I spoke, I asked the attendees, with Slingshot, How Do They Bounce?

I am Jonathan’s newest fan. I met him at the Small Business Tech Conference in New York on Monday. As his blog, Awake at the Wheel says: “Wake up your mind (he is a yoga guy too) - this ain’t your mamma’s self help blog- not that we have anything against your mamma.” Check out his blog. His avatar looks just like him.

In his latest video post, he takes issue with the fact that I think that failure just sometimes sucks.

For most of our lives, we’ve been told to look at failure as just another opportunity for learning, an event that gets you one step closer to success. I’ve believed and shared this opinion many times. Because the alternative is a tough pill to swallow.

I spoke in front of 400 people yesterday at the Small Business Tech Summit at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in New York City. It was an amazing conference buzzing with small and large business. At the conference, there were large companies like Dell, Google, and Verizon. But, there were also alot of small technology businesses selling their wares and learning the marketplace. It was a great networking event.

Before my speech, I went around to the various participants, handed them an orange rubber band ball and asked them: How do you Bounce?

How do you Bounce?

Let me know here or tell me in your own video on YouTube on how you Bounce!