Violence on the Roads: A Lack of Humanity

 

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario for another week learning the success lessons of Elvis Presley in bettering YOUR life. Today, we’ll be talking about the importance of soul. And the way we do it will be a nice way to usher in October, month of Halloween (in fact, I love Halloween SOOO much all the posts in October will have some Halloween link, so if you’re like me and crave jack-o’-lanterns and things that go bump in the night, this is your month).

I’ve had a BBC couple weeks, with last weeks post of Dr Russell Dohner and his spirit and now this week’s post − check out this BBC video. It’s only 3 minutes, but it is a little disturbing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19734975

In it, Ginger Strand talks about her book Killer on the Road, an explanation of why the U.S.’s interstate highways are the lairs of so many killers. She feels the main reason stems from the interstate’s soullessness. To paraphrase her, she says people use the highways to get places but can’t connect with them like they can with more local roads, like Route 66 − there’s no human connection making them the perfect place to commit inhumane acts… murder.

This rang my Elvis bell. When people talk about Elvis’s singing style, they often regard him as soulful. Soul is equated with humanity and so we are able to connect with him. And, contrary to the interstate, his style is associated with peace, happiness, joy - the opposite of violence.

So, what does this mean for you? We need to aim for soul in this world of large corporations and dissociation from whom we listen to in music and deal with in business. More and more, people and society as a whole are going the way of the interstate, they accomplish a purpose but lack humanity. And the less human people feel about you and whatever your job or purpose is, the less likely they’ll use human values with you. The more mechanical, computerized, synthetic, soulless life becomes, the more mechanical, computerized, synthetic, soulless people become. And man, as a human with a soul, that’s bad news. Given the violence brought about on the interstate because of it, soullessness could bring violence into your life, and I think most of us would agree we don’t need that.

 

On the contrary, following Elvis’s approach, the traditional approach, the Route 66 approach will stimulate those feelings of peace, friendship and humanity that are being lost. Talking to your customers, attempting to honestly care about their problems, listening, doing a favour for someone you barely know all go under humanity. The more human you are, the more you get the peace humanity brings. “What you dish out you get back,” says the Universe and doing the opposite, being inhuman, will only bring more inhumanity. And when you’re going through a tough time, you need all the humanity you can get.

There’s another benefit: being human gives you an edge on all the big corporations, the big musicians, the big politicians. They all use technology to run their lives for them. They rarely see their customers, or stores, let alone meet them. When you take the time to get to know those who support you, as Elvis did, people feel they know you, you become their friend and they want to support you (watch Elvis in That’s the Way It Is during “Love Me Tender”; he jumps off the stage and starts kissing people and shaking their hands. You can’t get much more human than that − and people loved him for it).  

This world is starving of humanity. It sucks because, guess what? We’re all human. And we need humanity more than ever. When you provide it, it gives you an edge. And we all want on edge on the competition, especially when they’re 1, 000, 000% our size.

I hope this improves you day and week and I look forward to seeing you again next week for the continuation of our Halloween series!

 

Elvis’s Lessons:

Ginger Strand wrote a book called Killer on the Road about the violence on the U.S.’s interstate highways. She blames it on the soullessness of the roads. Elvis, on the other hand, had soul and coincidentally created the opposite of violence − peace. By aiming to create soul and humanity in your work by getting to know people you gain an edge corporations can’t match. They're too big to get to know all those customers, but you're not. And an edge can be the difference between success and fading away. Keep it in mind.

 

P.S. Remember to leave a comment − I’d be glad to hear from ya.

P.P.S. If you’d like to see Elvis showing humanity, here he is in a Youtube video singing “Love Me Tender” from his 1970 documentary That’s the Way It Is. Worth a watch.

P.P.P.S. If this post interests you, so might these other FREE Graceland Ontario posts ;

• What Can You Learn from an 87 Year Old Doctor and a Dead Rock Star?
• Elvis, Sir Isaac Brock and the Success Constant (Or The 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 Special)
• Cool Down! 
• Failing is Not a Reason to Give Up 
• High Expectations

Elvis meets Cary Grant: It's all About Who You Associate With

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop location for learning the success lessons of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll so they can improve your life. Today we’ll be talking about great stars flowing together and what this means about your friends. It’s a new take on an old subject.

I was watching my copy of That’s the Way it Is, Elvis’s 1970 concert documentary, the other day. A couple times during it we see the King talking with another king, Cary Grant, one of the most legendary actors to walk through Hollywood’s gates. Not long after I saw an old Grant classic from 1951, People Will Talk, where he plays a Doctor who falls in love with a patient. And boy is Grant good. So good he won an honorary Oscar also in 1970, years after his retirement, for the full body of his screen-work.

So, I began to wonder, “Could it be mere coincidence that one of history’s greatest actors was with one of history’s greatest singers in the same film?” I mean, Elvis and Grant even look similar.

Well, to a degree. I’m sure Elvis’s manager, the Colonel, did all he could to get Grant in Elvis’s Return-to-Stage movie. But still, the meeting of the two greats reminded me of something I read long ago…

It said you could determine a person’s income pretty reliably from the mean average of that person’s five closest friends. You add up their incomes, divide them by five and there you go. In short, if you associate with the rich, you’ll be rich. You associate with the poor, you’ll be poor. And though money is the basis of that hypothesis, I would figure success and fame follow the same metre. When you walk on the same level as famous people you feel similar to how they feel, you’ll act like your famous and, with your new confidence, you’ll earn the fame you never had before. Grant and Elvis being so close together (along with others, like Sammy Davis Jr.) further confirms it.

The principal is those you mingle with will elevate or suppress you, inspire or knock you down, slim you up or fatten you out. Like the old story of crabs in a bucket, when one tries to escape, the others pull them back again to their level. People do the same. They get jealous when others do things they can’t and they retaliate with spite. The difference is they can also pull you out of the bucket when you’re the only one in it. It all depends who your friends are.

So, the point is watch who you associate with. Your friends can also be your enemies when they don’t have the same success mindset you crave. Without knowing it, they’ll drag you down. When your friends are achievers, they’ll pull you up, too. Maybe it was only a coincidence Cary Grant and Elvis ended up in the same movie. But it’s no coincidence how − they performed at a high level and they got there (and stayed there) because of the people they associated with on a day-to-day basis. There’s no way they could have won otherwise, with their best friends beating them down − neither can you.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Elvis and Grant were in That’s the Way it Is because of an achievement mindset. They maintained this from their friends. In like, for you to keep this positive mindset, you need positive-minded friends, too. Otherwise, your friends will undermine your attempts to be successful. Looks like your parents were right − you do need to watch who you hangout with.

P.S. Remember to leave a comment - I'd love to hear what you think.

P.P.S. If you're interested in seeing Cary Grant picking up that 1970 honorary he won, here's a Youtube clip of him receiving it.

P.P.P.S. If this post interests you, so might these ones:

• Make Good Friends
• Elvis and the Photographer: A Story of Gratitude
• The July 4th Special (Or July 1st for Us Canadians)
• The Respectful Parting: Firing With the Future in Mind
• They're Exceptional - And YOU Can Be, Too!
• Service Pays Dividends
  

They’re Exceptional − And YOU Can Be, Too!

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop zone for analyzing the success lessons of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and seeing how to implement them into YOUR life. Today we’ll be returning to our series on the Olympics, which will wrap up tomorrow in London England − namely on the athletes preparation.

Anybody seen Elvis: That’s the Way it Is? It’s the 1970 documentary film showing Elvis in preparation and later playing a series of shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. In it, it’s interesting to notice the songs at the beginning compared to the end. At the beginning, Elvis and his band go through a song once. They’re good, but they make mistakes. A thousand practices later (which they don’t show you − you’d get bored) you see Big E and the band at the end of the movie, polished and complete with Elvis’s signature choreography.

Essentially, they had to prepare long hours beforehand to get that good. Why bother? Because people expect their money’s worth. When something’s good, they feel they’ve spent their money well and will want to continue spending it on you, therefore getting the same value. When things are poorly done, they feel their money’s been ill spent. And people who feel they’ve been ripped off don’t give their money to the person who didn’t deliver again. In other words, you don’t give them what they pay for (and more), they don’t pay you (at least ever again), you’re business (or career) gets broiled in a crock pot. You do the opposite, they’ll want to go back to you because they trust you. They tell their friends you’re what you say you are and your business or career grows.

It’s commonsense really… in a way, we’re all rehearsing for that big casino show. We’ve got to put the hours in with our band, our team, to make sure things go smooth. We practice our choreography and lines, our pitch, and, when we practice hard enough, it’s good enough to be in a movie.

But many people want to get by the hard work. They don’t practice and don’t put time in and expect above average results. It doesn’t make sense. And they lose every time because of it.

This is when the Olympic athlete comes in; other than the singer or showman, like Elvis, no one puts in more time fine tuning their act than an Olympic athlete. They’ve got a show to put on, too, in front of millions of people, many of them fellow countrymen. And if they don’t do a good job, the backlash is huge. They’re under extreme pressure to do well. The plus side is when they do well and win gold everyone loves them. Someone like Michael Phelps, Andy Murray or, in my country of Canada, Rosie MacLennan becomes a national hero.

These Olympians work hard for years to get into peak shape so they can compete internationally. And when they’re guaranteed a spot in the Olympics, they have to keep training or risk the embarrassment we talked about. But they do it because they love their sport; the long hours aren’t always fun, but they wouldn’t want to do anything else. They’re exceptional in their preparation and dedication and because of that some of them get the greatest honour they feel possible − international recognition of their greatness.

So, what’s the point? Expecting something for nothing won’t get you anywhere. It doesn’t make sense − you have to work for what you earn. But putting in the hours or preparation will. It’s what Elvis did to run the series of highly successful shows shown in That’s the Way it Is and it’s what Olympians like Rosie MacLennan do to earn a gold medal and international respect for their abilities. You, too, need to learn to prepare whether it’s for a presentation or simply educating yourself on your products. Even if you’re naturally talented (as many Olympians are), preparation is what you need get that extra mile and grab a gold. It’s easy to say and it makes sense, but it’s hard. Make it your goal to be exceptional and prepare − the success you earn will be payment enough for it.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Both Elvis and Olympians put in lots of preparation beforehand for their respective ‘shows’ − it’s the best way they can guarantee winning in the end. But many ‘ordinary’ people don’t think they need to prepare and, as a result, lose milestones that could’ve been theirs with some work put in beforehand. When you’re exceptional and put the work in beforehand, like an Olympian, you’re boosting your chances of doing well the first time an opportunity presents itself. And the more opportunities you pull through with, the more successful you’ll be. It’s a pleasant kind of equation.

P.S. Remember to leave a comment below or email me at alexghilson@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you.

P.P.S. If you'd like to see Elvis singing from That's the Way it Is, here he is on Youtube with "One Night".

Getting Into It

Hey Ladies and Gentleman,

Thanks for joining me for another week at Graceland Ontario where we talk about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and learn the lessons he presented during his life that can help you in yours. Today, we’re making note of ‘getting into it’.

“Getting into what?” you may say… Good question.

‘Getting into it’ is when you put all the passion you can muster behind what you’re doing, when you savoir the very action of your job − when you find the joy in your work.

Really, you can get into anything whether that be a book, a project, or chemistry homework. But whatever it is, there can’t be any half measures − when you ‘get into it’, there’s no turning back.

That’s still a little confusing… To illustrate, let’s turn to my idol, Elvis Presley. Elvis sang a lot of fast songs when he was young. The crowds that flocked to him in the 50’s wanted to hear the fast rockabilly beats he and the Blue Moon Boys were pumping out of Sun Studios and RCA. Elvis would put all his energy into performances. Looking at clips from the Milton Berle Show are evidence of this. He would dance, and twist and jive to the music. He would ‘get in to it’. And people loved the music even more because of that.

But the years went by… Now Elvis is in the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He’s singing a country song called “Just Pretend”. It’s a slow ballad and there isn’t much opportunity for Elvis to swivel his hips. But he ‘gets into it’ all the same. He doesn’t walk around, but he sways to the music, heaving with emphasis at the dramatic parts. And guess what, the Casino audience is silent. Even with the slow song, the energy is still there. Elvis is still ‘getting into it’ and, by doing so, people love the slow song as much as the faster ones.

So, what does this mean for you?

Imagine you do a project for work. You go up and the rest of your company’s looking at you like you have three heads. You feel a little weak at the knees but you know you’re not getting out of this. So, you’ve got a choice: do you slide through it as quickly as possibly without enjoying it, not making the subject dance with your audience, or do you ‘get into it’ and give the presentation your all?

Well, given the Elvis pattern, ‘get into it’. Because as soon as you ‘get into it’ and start enjoying what you’re doing, others will notice it. And even if your presentation is a slow song, like “Just Pretend”, and there isn’t much room for you to swivel your hips, you can still give it your all. And like Elvis, people will see the excitement of what you’re saying and agree with you, probably subconsciously, the presentation will go like a dream and you’ll sell your idea with ease.

Elvis’s Lessons:

When you have a job to do, ‘get into it’; that is, do it with all the passion you can muster. By ‘getting into it’ people will enjoy what you’re doing more because you enjoy it. This may even happen subconsciously to your audience. And when your audience enjoys what you’re saying or doing, they’re more likely to support you, buy from you, over-all be awesome to you… Getting into it’s worth it for so many reasons.

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing Elvis ‘getting into it’ with “Just Pretend” at the International from Elvis: That’s the Way it Is, here’s a Youtube clip of the performance I talked about.

P.P.S. Remember to comment below or send me an email at alexghilson@gmail.com to add your input to this article.

It's Time to Decide...

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario after another week and thank you for joining us! Today, we’re going to continue our series on Elvis and the Superheroes that inspired him and how their lessons can impact your success for the better. We’re going to talk about a tough but learnable skill − making decisions.

D’you remember the old 60’s Batman series with Adam West and Burt Ward. Remember how Commissioner Gordon would call up Batman and say something like, “Batman, we’ve got a problem. The Joker’s taken a hostage and we don’t know what to do. Can you help us?”

And do you remember what Batman would say. “I’ll be right over Commissioner.” Not only did he quickly decide to help when a decision was necessary to apprehend the criminal, or save someone’s life, he did it in a way that suggested he was already making decisions about the future. About what he was going to do when he got there. About what Robin was going to do to help him if he got stuck. Batman was constantly being given hard decisions, but he always made them. And he made them fast. And he saved more innocent people (and locked up more crooks) that way than by procrastinating, trying to think up some perfect plan.

I once heard a story about a CEO who said that fast decision making was the key to his success. He’d have a bunch of marbles in one pocket. If he picked an odd number, the answer would be yes. If it was even it would be no (or vice versa). It’s the same as the coin flip. Perhaps it’s not the best way to make decisions, but if you know you’re going to procrastinate for an hour thinking whether you should say yes or no then flip the damned coin!

Like superhero, like Elvis. Elvis was in the army and he was discharged as a sergeant. Now, for those of you who don’t know much about ranks, a sergeant is in charge of a fire team of men, consisting of about four individuals, and leads them in drill and combat. You don’t get that job for being indecisive (and for those of you who aren’t impressed, if you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others, let alone four others). You can also see Elvis in the recorded rehearsals for Elvis: That’s the Way it Is, talking to his orchestra. And it was an orchestra. There were at least fifteen people in the room and he’s the one calling the shots and changing the arrangements and telling people to get into line. He knew how to make decisions. And when you make decisions, you take charge − of your life, of a group's future, of your success.

Even when you see Elvis performing, sometimes a fan will yell to him on stage and he’ll say “later”. No rudeness. No “f− you” (goddamn rappers). He’d decide that he was starting a song and the fan could wait three minutes for an autograph, or kiss, or whatever. But you know, people didn’t get mad at him for that. He made the best decision he could in the time, he did it quickly and he got things done. And generally people respected that. Sure he messed up once in a while, as we all do, but no one seems to remember and he’s in a better place anyways so no one cares. So if no one’s gonna care if you make a bad decision far off in the future and if you constantly make other good, logical decisions you get things done, why don’t you start making more quick decisions?! But remember: once you’ve made a decision, make sure it sticks. Like Elvis, he didn’t stop a song halfway and say, “I should have talked to that fan” and messed up both the fan and the song. Make a choice, stick to it until its fulfillment, then make another choice. And heck, maybe next time you’ll make a better choice than before, but you’ll certainly get things done.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Be like Batman, be like Elvis, be decisive. When others are procrastinating and wasting time, be the one to call the shots and take charge of the situation to its successful outcome. And if you have to flip a coin to make that quick decision, go for it. But do something and stick with it till its finished and you’ll get things done.

P.S. If you'd like to see a short video of The King singing 'Words' from Elvis: That's the Way it Is, here's a link to Youtube. Notice how a fan tries to steal Elvis's attention at the beginning of the song when the band's ready to play. Elvis makes a quick decision, says, "catch you later" and the band continues to play the song.

P.P.S. I'd love to hear your comments on what I write. Feel free to comment below this post or email me (Alex) at alexghilson@gmail.com to continue the conversation.

High Expectations

Check out the clip of Elvis’s rehearsal of “The Wonder of You” from Youtube below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSodZqm2rv8&feature=related

Through it’s an awesome song, hearing it three or so times is perhaps pushing it. It might even seem like a waste of time for a busy person like yourself. But Elvis didn’t.

Now, unless you’re an intense Elvis fan (like myself) then you might not listen to the whole clip, but you can still pick up the importance of what Elvis does in it.

This clip is from February 1970, a couple months before Elvis did the famous shows that went on to become part of the documentary film Elvis – That’s the Way it Is. You’ll notice that even at this early stage, Elvis and his band are playing very well together. Actually, despite a bit of messing about, the first rehearsal shot at the song would probably have been show worthy. Yet, Elvis and his band go through it again. Then, on the second rehearsal of the song, Elvis actually stops the band and tells them to change what they had been doing well to try something that he felt would be better in the long run.

On the third time through, the band plays once more, sounding better than it had either of the two previous times and with Elvis’s improvement added by the backup singers towards the end of the verse. Compare this to the version of “The Wonder of You” included in Elvis − That’s the Way it Is and you’ll see that in the couple months till those shows, Elvis and the TCB (Taking Care of Business) band had worked on it even more and, as a result, it sounded even better.

Sound like a lot of work? Something that took years for Elvis to build up the dedication to go over a song in rehearsal with a fine-toothed comb to perfect it? Well, no. Looking into Elvis’s past, we can see that he’d been like this years earlier.

When Elvis recorded “Hound Dog” in 1956, he went through 31 takes until he thought it was good enough to put out as a single. 31 takes! Think of going through one of your projects 31 times to get it right.

So, what am I saying? That you should go over something until you can’t stand it anymore. Perhaps not. But what I am saying is that Elvis kept himself to a standard. He would not stop practicing the same song until it was the way he wanted it to be. Then, coincidentally or not, it went out, people loved it as much as he did, and it became a hit. When you believe your work of a certain calibre and won’t settle for anything less, you are bound to keep that certain calibre of work because you wouldn’t submit anything less than that to the world. The higher that standard, the higher the calibre of work and the better the work, the more likely people will want to buy that work.

No, you don’t have to go into rehearsal for days going over a song. No, you don’t have to take 31 takes to have a song put out. But you certainly can go over something until it is a standard you find worthy of selling, enough that you would buy it yourself. Take it from Elvis, and your level of achievement will mirror it.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Ø Hold your work to the highest expectation and let nothing less be enough. Others will wonder why you are so good but you’ll know that your high standards are the ‘secret’.

Ø Keep on trying to improve your work, even if it doesn’t require improving immediately. Change happens one of two ways: you make it happen or it happens to you. It’s much less stressful and rewarding when you initiate change and improve in the way you want rather than being made to change by society and still not being on the edge of innovation.

P.S. If you're interested in hearing Elvis's performance of "The Wonder of You" from Elvis - That's the Way it Is, a couple months after the rehearsal discussed in this article, here's a link to a video of that scene.