Success tip #47a - make like a broken record.

It just occurred to me that one reason I have not achieved more is because I get tired of my own voice, especially when it's saying the same thing over and over.

As a result of being tired of hearing myself say the same thing over and over, I sometimes stop saying that thing. That weakens me because sometimes achievement depends on saying the same thing over and over. The power of persistence and of consistency largely lies in saying the same thing over and over.

What brought all of this to mind was reading about the primary election that wrapped up a few hours ago, in which Bill Peduto won the Democratic nomination for mayor. In Facebook comments, Homewood Children's Village president and CEO Derrick Lopez noted that the voter turnout was an abysmal 22 %.

That made me think that perhaps I should have used Homewood Nation to urge people to vote in this election. And if I ask myself why I didn't, the immediate answer is, "Because I've said that before, to the point that I got tired of hearing myself say it.. So I stopped."

But people still need to vote. And if I had kept saying that, then maybe by now I would have sparked some action, some collaboration, something that would get more people voting.

There was a period, a few years ago, when I said with some regularity to whomever would listen long enough to let me, "Buy a house in Homewood while you can still afford it." I got tired of hearing myself say it, and I stopped.

There are still people who would benefit from buying a house in Homewood.

Those examples highlight ways in which my persistence in saying the same things over and over might benefit others. But that persistence could also benefit me, directly, by helping me to do things I need to do, when I am not inclined to do them. Or even before that, by simply reminding myself of what I trying to accomplish during my remaining time on Earth.

Lord, let me love the sound of my own voice speaking truth. Let me never tire of hearing myself speak truth.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 11: Commerce and Community Identity

Years ago, I declared that I want Homewood to be "beautiful, prosperous and safe."

Then I expanded that to "beautiful, prosperous, safe and green" - the idea being that Homewood could be a leading example of LEED-certified neighborhood development.

Then, recognizing the ways in which communications technology is changing the world, and the importance of continual learning, I arrived at "beautiful, prosperous, safe, green, connected, global and smart."

All of which are great adjectives to describe what I want Homewood to BE, and to be known for being.

A few minutes ago, I wrote what I want Homewood to DO, and to be known for doing - something I don't remember ever having done before. Not only that, I wrote it as a personal aspiration, as something for me to do:

Make Homewood world-famous for producing entertainment.

It felt like an epiphany, a great convergence. It connects my work with the Save Race Street Committee and Block Watch Plus and Operation Better Block with the building of Luminaria Productions. Indeed, it puts Luminaria Productions at dead center of it all, as the company that leads the way in establishing Homewood as an entertainment production center.

I think my mind was nudging me toward this epiphany two or three weeks ago when it rewrote one of my favorite fantasies. I have often declared that I would love to do an internship at Pixar - even unpaid - just to be in the environment where people create astonishments like "Finding Nemo." Well, a couple of weeks ago, with no conscious ratiocination that I recall, I thought, I want people at Pixar to dream about coming to Luminaria Productions.

Hubris? Maybe. But does it make sense to strive to be anything other than the best?

The thing that surprises me as I think about it now is that I had not particularly thought of Luminaria Productions doing animated films. But there is PeaceBuilder. And the world of games is huge, and growing.

In any case:

The Homewood Children's Village talks about making Homewood a neighborhood "where every child succeeds." I have wanted to add, "...and where learning ever stops," an idea that lies behind my description of my ideal Homewood as "a black Chautauqua." I think that idea could still generate a lot of useful conversations that make great things happen. But now I want to add an outward-facing motto for the community: "We entertain the world."

Maybe that should just be Luminaria's slogan (assuming no other company has it already). In any case:

That's "entertain," not "amuse." As Richard Walter notes in "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing"

"To entertain is to occupy, to hold, to give over to consideration as in 'to entertain a notion.' This suggests not painting one's face and performing a tap dance for the notion, but cradling it in one's cortex, hefting its spiritual mass, regarding it, weighing it, investing it with contemplation."

The sentence, "Make Homewood world-famous for producing entertainment," came at the end of a thought-sequence sparked by the question, "What does Homewood produce?" To make Homewood a place that produces both dramas and comedies that carry ideas worthy of the world's contemplation...that would be worth a big chunk of whatever time I have left on this planet.