The truth will set you free, Lance?

Lance Armstrong is right that the truth will set you free, but what will it free him of?

No more money

First, it should free him of his money. All of it. We have a range of laws that require people to be recompensed for wrongs done against them and the list of those who have been wronged by Armstrong is very, very long.

As he is an American, those who have been wronged won't be bashful in suing him to get their rightful money back. By the time it is all finished, there shouldn't be any money left of his fraudulent wealth. 

Trust and relationships

The truth also sets him free of any trust he has in most of his close personal relationships. His children and family will never trust him.

It won't matter what he does or says or how long he does it for, that trust will never return.

Many of those relationships are gone forever. They will never return. He is free of them. 

Lance as you knew him is gone

Lance, you are still delusional if you think people will forgive you. If you want the truth to set you free, you need to let go of the entire lie that your life has been. 

That means not expecting anyone to forgive you. It means going to jail. It means accepting that you are not who you thought you were, and tried to show other people you were.

This really would set you free. If you leave the old fake person behind. 

It won't happen.

My bet is that most of this won't  happen. Lance won't tell the whole truth. Lance won't own up to his deceit to himself. Lance will keep trying to spin a story. Lance will never be set free. 

But I do hope he goes to jail. We need justice in our world for the rest of us to retain our trust. 

Let me know what you think?

Mark S

The end of get-rich-quick schemes (for now)

The last 20 years has been pretty unusual.  There has been a lot of opportunities to get rich quick (or get poor if you messed up). There was the Internet boom and bust, a few stock market booms, rising house prices, rising commodities prices, low unemployment, a housing boom and huge wages for mining workers.

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

So, whether you were white collar or blue collar, there have been plenty of ways to get rich if you took a few risks.

It's over!

Back to the old days - do things that people want

What is going to happen now is simple. If you offer products or services that people want, they will be bought, at a fair price. If you are a healthcare worker, there is a lot of demand for your services - you will be able to get work and charge a fair price for it. If you are a manufacturing worker in Australia, there is less demand for your services.  You will need to be one of the best manufacturing workers, or reskill, or do something different.

More importantly, as a society, we need to think about what people want, and create those products and services.  Before mobile phones, few people thought that having a mobile phone would be a necessity. They were a luxury item.  In hindsight, we can see how useful they are, and mobile phone companies have done very well.

Before the washing machine, the idea of having a mechanical way to do laundry wasn't obvious. But once the washing machine was invented, every washing person (mainly, women) wanted one. (Watch Hans Rosling's great talk for more on this). And increasingly, we are happy to pay for the services of others to do other cleaning for us.

What happens next?

Now, it is up to us, to identify what the next washing machine is.

Ask yourself, what do I want? What does my neighbour want?

Ask yourself, how can I do what I already do better, faster, more effectively?

Ask yourself, how can I "sell" my great services better.  I know that what I offer to my firm, or my customers is valuable.  I need to communicate that value better.

Every transaction has to offer value to both sides.

Ask yourself, am I doing something that nobody wants or needs any more? If you are handwashing clothes, while everyone else is using a washing machine, sooner or later, your customers will politely stop paying for your services.  Make sure that you keep up with the times.

We will get wealthier as we continue to be more productive

By doing all of these "normal" things, we will get a little more effective every day.  Our incomes will grow a little every day, and our standard of living will grow a little every day.  It won't be a get-rich-quick scheme.  The improvements will often be so small that you won't notice it - much like healthy eating - one day you look back and realise that you have taken off weight.

So, in 2013, let's all get rich moderately quickly.  Let's all try to do just a little bit better in what we do, or change what we do and choose something different. When we all do that, we all benefit.

In 2013, let's be innovative, productive, and creative.  By the end of the year, you will notice the difference.

Let me know what you think

Mark S