Level 1 – Part 1 Integrations

I always have many ideas of things I would like to do. I constantly evaluate business ideas and weigh them as to what the potential is and if I would like doing it. I think that it may be hard to pick one thing as my Friday-Night Essence. I have always loved travel. Not from the standpoint of taking a vacation form work but from the standpoint of learning new things and meeting new people. When I was in High School, my father bought me a guide to starting your own travel agency. After college, I joined my father in a family consulting firm. I enjoyed my time with my parents in the family business and want to someday provide that opportunity to my daughter. While at that business, I would take one mouth off to travel. One of those trips was with my family to Norway. We joined a tour sponsored by a teacher at a school in a town close to where we lived. The teacher was a Norwegian Citizen with permanent resident status in America. That was one of the best trips I have ever been on because she truly enjoyed showing off her country. It wasn’t a business for her but a way for her to share what she valued. I have imagined owning a bed and breakfast. I have imagined running a tour company. I have imagined selling timeshares. I own a timeshare and find the travel opportunities provide valuable.

I have always been attracted to computing technology. I got my first computer when I was in grade school. To me the computer was a form of control that I didn’t have in my life. My parents were always very controlling and I want that control for myself. I could give instructions to the computer and it would do what I asked it to do. It didn’t talk back and it always acted. I will admit that the computer didn’t always do what I expected but it was always a challenge and I always loved working with it. My day job is as a Computer Programmer. The business I had with my father started off as an engineering design firm and migrated into an IT sales and service firm. I have done just about every form of IT services form building computers to running network cables to developing computer programs. I have had my own web hosting business in the past. I have imagined myself as running my own data center.

From my time in college, I imagined myself as a developer of Operating Systems. I imagined that I would either work for Microsoft or develop my own Operating System. As a consultant with my father, I created an embedded system for a fertilizer application equipment manufacture. I enjoyed creating the program very much. It took 3 years to develop the system. I imaged myself writing all kinds of device drivers and envisioned my different types of products I could create.

My father was an Engineering Manager for most of his career. He changed jobs often and we moved frequently. From an early age he exposed me to designing and would show me prototypes of things he was creating a work. I learned how to draft from my father. With that and my love of computers I was naturally drawn to computer aided drafting (CAD) systems. In college I minored in Manufacturing Engineering Technology. I spent all my time in the CAD lab even though my major was in Computer Science. I loved designing new things and I loved using the powerful computers they had in the CAD lab verses the PCs they had in the computer science lab. One of my favorite classes in college was work measurements (time and motion studies). I envisioned myself as a consultant looking for ways to make manufacturing more efficient (similar to the professor who taught the course). I also enjoyed a class in ergonomic design. At times I imagined myself as a designer.

As you can see from my rambling, I have many interests, which makes it hard for me to narrow down the thing that I would like to “Play” at with my Friday Night Essence.

Is it wrong to “Play” at many things and try to profit in multiple directions at the same time?

I think the area that I would most like to “Play” at is some sort of travel business. I could use my love of technology and design to help promote and provide tools for the business and the customers that use the values. But the best part of the business would be the opportunity to research and learn about new places, cultures and things. As a tour operator and a tour guide, I could meet new people. I always enjoy interacting with people and this would be a great way to do so.

These are my thoughts about Part one in Level one. Any comments or suggestions you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael