My Friday Post: Career Advice from Entourage’s Ari Gold

HBO’s Entourage is one of the best shows on television. Well written, well produced, and well acted. Kudos to HBO for putting quality entertainment on for us.

This Sunday’s episode #69, “One Car, Two, Red Car, Blue Car” was another great episode. In this episode, superagent Ari Gold stood out for giving advice to the Entourage boys. He seemed almost fatherly dispensing wisdom. Unlike his usual obnoxious, abrasive self. Are we seeing a change in Ari Gold? Let’s hope not. 🙂

In one particular scene, Ari gives Turtle some career advice. Short and to the point in typical Ari fashion. No b##s## here.

Here are some great lines from Ari and how it can be applied to real life:

“Do you know what it takes to make something of yourself?”  [TRANSLATION: Do you know who you are and how to get there? Only you can answer that question.]

“That is what he is willing to put in for his own success. He is paying his dues.” [TRANSLATION: Success comes only with hard work and determination.]

“Great Ideas are one thing, can you execute it?” [TRANSLATION: Having an idea is 20% of the process, executing is 80% of the process. Can you successfully execute?]

“In this life, no one is going to invest because you think you can. Do you have a business plan?” [TRANSLATION: You have to have a plan. It is that simple.]

“At what point, can your investors see some profit?” [TRANSLATION: Life is all about ROI. What is the point of doing it if there is no benefit?]

Let’s see this Sunday what other words of wisdom we can get from the boys of Entourage… 😉

My Affair with My iPhone

It has been a year since I have been having an affair with my phone – my iPhone. I have been using cellphones since the mid 90s. I remember when battery life was nonexistent and they weighed more than most toasters. My how technology has changed…

I was in the market for a phone since I moved to an iMac two years ago. A phone that I was able to synch my contacts and calendar with – reliably. This has always been a unicorn among cellphones. How do you get your information on a mobile platform and be able to synch successfully each time.

I was able to accomplish this through the iPhone. I migrated my contacts and calendar to Microsoft’s Entourage. I am not wild about Entourage but it does the job I want. 

The iPhone has become more then my cellphone. It has become my mobile assistant. I use it to check my email. Yes I check all my email automatically every 15 minutes. I need real time gratification.

I am not big on purchasing apps from the store because I get bored pretty easily but there are a few free apps that have become indispensable. 

All Wall Street types should have the Bloomberg app. It keeps me up-to-date on financial news. The Wall Street Journal is also another great app for news.

Google maps has been great in finding my way around. I stopped using my bigger GPS device because it has become easier to use the iPhone. 

With the new OS, Apple has made the device faster and battery life last longer. I now get a full day of usage before I have to plug in. Kudos to Apple for listening to their customers.

The only issue I have with the phone is typing. My fingers seem a touch to big to type. So I am constantly retyping. I could only imagine what other people with larger fingers must go through.

Any forward thinking professional should get one. Trust me, within the first week you cannot live without your iPhone. 

Don’t tell my wife – but my iPhone and I are going out to dinner tonight. 😉