Thursday, November 1, 2007

Perception

In life, we perceive ourselves totally different from how others perceive us. We normally have a mental image of ourselves. The world views us only through our actions. This is a concept that most people never grasp. You can constantly hear people iterate the type of person that they perceive themselves to be. The same is true with companies.

The difference lies in what is advertised versus the actual product. Some companies advertise their product lines as being the best on the market. Everyone who works for this company may share the same philosophy. This philosophy is embedded and often never questioned. Is it really true?

The only way to find out is to compare similar products. If you are truly the best in an area, then the people who use your products will confirm. If you truly are the type of person that you perceive yourself to be, then your daily actions will confirm.

This is one reason why we have never sacrificed the Cackalak brand. We have made some tough decisions to ensure that we are always perceived in a positive light. We have gone the extra mile to create quality products and a lasting, unique brand. We have refused to be stereotyped or to target a specific demographic.

Cackalak Is You And Me!

G’Nite World!

Cackalak Clothing Company

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Change The World



How Do You Change The World?

I have debated this question in many circles. The answer is simple. Change starts within. The only thing that we have total control over is ourselves. It takes maturity, honesty, and discipline to analyze ourselves, accept criticism, and focus on becoming a better person.

The first step in becoming a better person is admitting our weak points.

If you are a basketball player and can't dribble with your left hand, then that is a definite weakness. There are two ways to handle this situation.

Approach #1: You can deny the fact that you can't dribble with your left hand. With this approach, you will never become a complete player. You will never become a succesful basketball player with this approach. Your excuses will become evident as soon as you play basketball at a competitive level.

Approach #2: You admit to yourself that your left hand needs work. Next, you develop a series of drills to improve your left hand. In time, your left hand will become as equally comfortable as your right hand. You can choose to hide forever behind a weakness, or you can turn your weakness into a strength.

What is your approach?

What type of players do you want on your team?

G'Nite World

Cackalak Clothing Company

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Faith

We often overlook the power of a positive mindset and faith. We have experienced several breakthroughs in the last two weeks. It has been unbelievable.

In life, it is difficult to know when walk on faith. We design our lives to be as independent as possible. We then come to the realization that we must surrender a certain level of control to reach our full potential. This involves trust and faith in The Creator, your family, your loved ones, and your fellow man.

Life is about finding this balance.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Motivation

As an individuals we always strive to be complete. This may be extremely difficult at times. It takes a strong character and a humble demeanor to accept criticism.

In adulthood, we have learned to use all criticism as motivation. This is the outlook to adopt. Your circles will narrow, but your path will broaden.

G'Night World!

Sunday, April 8, 2007

In The Zone

The closer you get to a goal, the further away it seems. This is the typical illusion that will discourage the masses. If something is not truly in your heart, then it is easy to walk away. To be successful, you have to summon something deep inside and then power through. The great ones have mastered this approach. It requires unparalleled focus, dedication, and preparation. The great ones seem to have the power to summon this inner strength when others appear to falter under pressure. The sports arena allows you to view this rare ability, but you have to understand what is happening.

For example, Tiger Woods may be a couple of strokes off the lead going into the final round of a tournament. In the final round, he elevates his mental and physical abilities to a point that is rarely attainable by his fellow competitors. Most people would use a general phrase like…”Tiger is the best!”

Let’s analyze this phrase. Tiger plays in a field of professional golfers.

First, most people underestimate the spectrum in which he competes. Every person in a professional sport has been a prodigy in their respective realm. The professional arena is where these prodigies compete.

Second, we disregard the environment in which he performs. It is difficult to do something well. It is even more difficult to do something well when being watched by millions.

Third, we do not imagine how much pressure is put upon top performers. The world has set the precedent that average is failure for Mr. Woods. He is expected to win every tournament. This means that when Tiger prepares, he does not prepare to be average. He prepares to dominate. He prepares to dominate on command. He attains this rare, higher level that is only available to others by chance or luck. This level is far beyond skill, It Is True Perfection!

The great ones have the ability to turn this rare, higher level on and off. Most athletes have a familiar term that describes this feeling. It is called being “In The Zone”. The great ones live for the waning moments in a contest where others are overcome by fear and doubt. Everyone else is nervous and tense, but their mind is clear and their body is calm.

At this point it is not about your opponent or the obstacles in your life. It is simply about you.

The Great Ones Truly Compete Against Themselves!

Cackalak Clothing Company

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Use Your Talents!

Every individual must identify their own unique talent. This is something that we all take for granted. Often you will hear someone saying that they do not have talent. Personally, I disagree. We often overlook our talents.

My story goes like this...In elementary school, my family gave me a computer for Christmas. It was a Commodore Vic 20 and far before the personal computing era. I would spend hours typing in the Basic programs from the manual to create the simple video games. Eventually, I wrote my own programs. My first program was a BlackJack game. This may not sound special to someone in the computing field. The program consisted of random number generation and simple math. The special part was that I was in third grade.

In college, my first major was Engineering. Engineering was not the discipline that I expected. I am a free, creative thinker. I changed my major to Mathematics and landed a job into computing. I now work as a Software Developer. This all started one Christmas many years ago and I thank my family for fostering my development.

In life, we simply have to put together the pieces.

I have spent this weekend finalizing the new website. I have approached this project as though it was a formal project. I have put forth the same dedication and effort that I give when I perform at work. It takes this level of dedication and I readily admit that I recently adopted this approach.

The results are truly amazing!

Cackalak Clothing Company

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Filtering

As owners of The Cackalak Clothing Company, we work a 9-5 and then put on our entrepreneur hats at in the evening. It will be this way until Cackalak becomes a household name. During the day, we squeeze in as much as possible.

For example, my lunch break was spent on the phone with the bank finalizing the setup of the new accounts for the website launch. I initiated the process online and finished it by verifying some financial information with the bank today. We were previously using PayPal to process our transactions. PayPal is a wonderful option to accept credit cards for first time merchants. The setup requires a checking account and some light HTML integration. They charge a slight fee per transaction, but the account is Free with no monthly fees. You also earn interest on the funds in your PayPal account. Customers will have to leave your site to purchase, but can be redirected at the end of the transaction. When dealing with all financial institutions online, beware of the phishing scams.

We check the email and the MySpace account a couple of times throughout the day. Most people think of MySpace as a social network. We use it as a “networking network”. There are tons of people who work in fashion, merchandising, advertising, photography, website design, etc. Creative searches and contacts go a long way. The barter system is alive and well.

One of the most important things that you can do in life is learn how to filter information. In the beginning, everyone wanted to give us direction and input. After about 20 people, I found myself not listening when I heard the phrase…”You guys should..”. You can lose very valuable information with this approach. Listen to everyone and then filter the information. There may be something very valuable hidden in that suggestion, the 15 minute conversation about a two year old idea, or that website with millions of users.

Cackalak Clothing Company

Monday, March 5, 2007

Research And Development

For this to be a realistic chronicle of the growth of The Cackalak Clothing Company, we will make a more conscious effort to keep our blog current.

Let’s start from this point forward.

The months of January and February were dedicated to research and development. We put into effect some free useful tools to help manage the flow of information for our staff.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Embrace Change!

This post marks our transition from BlogSpot to WordPress. WordPress provided some inherent features that made it easier to manage and update our Blog. The right tools enhance productivity. It’s even better when the right tools are FREE!




Cackalak Clothing Company