Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Everything Just Changed – Or Did it? (by Mark St.Cyr)

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Many will wake this morning thinking their world has changed. Some will be ecstatic with the changes for this new dawn. Others will perceive the morning with dim light and dark clouds for the sun might never shine again. And for more than just a few, it’s the same as always because that’s what it’s like if you keep your head in the sand.

Of course this is all in reference to the rulings from the Supreme Court on what is now known as “Obama Care.” But unlike most the entrepreneur will view this all quite differently for one simple reason: No matter what in the world is happening the entrepreneur will survey the landscape, make the adjustments called for, jettison projects that were as of yesterday most promising to forge new plans that as of today meet the criteria at hand. That’s why we’re entrepreneurs. We are in control of our lives and livelihood. If we need to change we’ll change if that’s the plan of action. However what we won’t do is him and haw that’s somethings fair or unfair. Probably the greatest most freeing factor of self direction is that freedom. Don’t ever take it for granted.

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Why Your First Words Matter – Part One (by Mark St.Cyr)

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Personally I can’t recall so many real-time lessons at such high levels in Public Relations occurring all at once. There are so many I thought I’d share some thoughts and observations.

If there’s anything that companies, governments, executives, and more put on the back burner is exactly what they’ll do when the excrement hits the proverbial fan. They’ll give lip service to it. They’ll have plans locked away in secret locations. But what they won’t do is what they should do; Be honest in what has happened, State contrition, Put plans in place where it should never happen again, and MEAN every word of it!

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Reality is a Jungle Not a Zoo (by Mark St.Cyr)

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We hear the phrase “When reality bites, it bites hard.” yet many never contemplate just how hard or from where the teeth can lash out. More often than not when I’m discussing issues with someone they’ll somehow cloak an aura of encompassing protection from harm. Sometimes it has the dubious form that tragic results could never happen because if they don’t “think so,” well then that’s all that matters. Facts be damned. This is usually the tell-tale signs that these are people whom only think emotionally, not logically. You can’t argue or help change their viewpoint. They don’t care about anything else than telling you that you’re wrong regardless if they even understand the topic. Hence my use of the jungle vs zoo reference. Same animals within however one is far more dangerous than the other.

More often than one may realize many people are navigating their lives as if they are navigating the path within a zoo. You can tell them ad nauseam the injuries the animals within can inflict yet they seem to fall on deaf ears as you see them walk down the path where there will be no cages, no bars as to keep the dangers at bay. This is the path of real life and it is a jungle not a zoo with quite ferocious players contained within. Problem for many is they found out just how untamed and savage these financial markets can truly be. For some it will have lasting repercussions.

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