A few weeks ago, I wrote a post for Jarkko Laine entitled Product of Your Environment. I wanted to follow that up with a few more thoughts. Coming out of the Catalyst Conference over the weekend, and having our first doctor’s appointment for my pregnant wife, I’m feeling very responsible for the success of my family and business, even more so than usual. This idea of being a product of your environment has never been more real than it is now, as I am working on creating the environment into which my child will be born.

Andy Stanley, the pastor at North Point Community Church, leadership author and mentor, spoke at the catalyst conference with a topic very close the mine today. He says that “systems create behaviors,” and not the other way around. He tells the story of his two teenage sons whose job it is to take out the trash. Every Tuesday evening, he gets home to find the trash is not out, so he asks his sons once and they say “yeah, yeah, we’ll get it,” but nothing gets done. He asks again, garnering the same response. Then he begins to get angry and they get the message and take out the trash. He created a system that says, “you really only have to take the trash out once I get mad.”

So, finally Andy decides to change this systems so as to change the behavior. The next Tuesday, he gets home and takes out the trash. The boys are ecstatic! “Thanks, dad!”

No problem,” Andy replied, “but now I get your allowance.”

The next Tuesday, The trash is at the curb when he gets home from work.

Some say if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. I say, “if you want it done right, create systems that encourage doing it right!” I believe that this works on a personal scale as well. For instance, those of you working from home know that it is very easy to get caught up in anything but work from time to time. So you must create systems that encourage you to get the job done. I use Salesforce.com for my CRM system, and all the tasks turn red if I don’t get to them that day.

Granted, red letters are not the end of the world, but it is nice to see that you’ve gotten it all done and when you wake up on Monday, you have no red.

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So It’s been a few weeks since I have written anything at TheYoungCapitalist.com, but for good reason. First of all, I hope you all saw my inaugural post as a Small Biz Expert over at Small Business Trends. Turns out, it was pretty popular! I think the idea of Time as Currency is really beginning to catch on in all generations, not just the youngins’.

OK…It’s a Friday about halfway through September. I’m sitting at my desk at my job (with a soft “j”), thinking about this balance between time and money. When my paycheck arrives, it is $1200 short and this is the last of a long line of injustices my boss had brought upon me, including but not limited to phone calls when I was 4 minutes “late” (it was an all commission sales position), phone calls when I left 5 minutes “early”, meetings to discuss whether or not I wanted to be there, and constant emails reminding me of the office dress code and business hours.

The $1200 was all it took for me to decided that I was done with that job. I had already started Vision Market Development about a month prior, so I took the leap and I am now full time self-employed! It’s fantastic. We weren’t going to have much money for the next few months as I was getting my business up and running, but we had gone without money before, and we could do it again. I didn’t think it would be much of a problem…that is, until my wife told me she was pregnant the next day!!!

Yes Yes, you heard it! There will be a new Young Capitalist in the house! Pictures will come in May. I’m so excited, I can’t even begin to explain. So needless to say, I’ve a bit of a roller coaster of a month but I’m settled in to my new schedule and back in business. Apart from the carpel tunnel, working from home is amazing!!

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1. A Hot Wife - I would much rather be with her than my boss, and I’m sure you all would agree that a hot wife is better than a jerk anyday! A hot girlfriend would do aswell for those of you who have not taken the plunge yet, which, by the way, I highly recommend. Being married is fantastic! For those of you looking, here’s a hilarious little Gem!

2. A New Puppy - Beaglejuice is his name and he’s a Badass. I was never a dog guy…in fact, I ridiculed people who had and loved their dogs. I still think it is odd, and still do not understand how our society came to accept the idea of having animals living in our houses, pooping and peeing and making us feed them! But he’s awesome and we have tons of fun!

3. Daily Dates With Your Pillow - A.K.K. NAPS! Can’t beat a good nap! Turn the fan on high and hit the pillow hard! here’s a question…Does anyone know why you get cold when you sleep at night but boiling lava hot when you sleep during the day?

4. Not Eating Fast Food - How about a nice, fresh, homemade sandwhich! How about not clogging your arteries with lard? How about feeling 10,000,000% better? How about not being fat? Sounds good to me!

5. Excuse to Buy Yourself Cool Stuff for a Home Office - A new computer, a sweet desk, a new chair, all sorts of awesome organizational stuff. I think I just need to be rich becasue I LOVE buying “stuff” like gadgets and gizmos.

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