Labor (Day) Of Love

Monday September 1st, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

Today is the one year anniversary of my big epiphany out in Salt Lake City to begin my Uranus Factory Outlet concept. A lot has happened since then but unfortunately not quite enough. I’ve been drifting in and out and haven‘t been on top of it like I should be and it‘s nobody‘s fault but mine. I‘ve had a lot of real life distractions but I refuse to let this die.

It’s easy to make excuses but I’m not going to do that. I know I’m not the first person to let a project get dusty and every day I leave it alone it hurts that much more. Today was a perfect day to dust it off and start up again and that’s what I did. This is my life’s passion.

The reason it’s so important to me is that it’s in all likelihood my only real chance to get a taste of everything I dreamed of. If I do this right I’ll get on TV and radio and be right in the thick of things both in comedy and in business too. I’m setting myself up for success.

I’m the one pulling the strings here rather than trying to wait in line and get someone in New York or L.A. to discover me at 2am in a comedy club. I’m too old for that now so to take another way is a much better plan. I’m betting on myself and now I have to prove it.

All kinds of lumps have happened in the year since this idea came to me but I can’t help any of that now. I had dental bills and pain and cars blow up and I made some not so great financial choices but all of that is in the past now. I started over with a fresh slate today.

I tried to look over the big picture today and I definitely have my plate full. I love to test my brain with things like crossword puzzles and the game Free Cell and this uses the very same part of the brain those things do. It’s problem solving and constant thinking of what to do next and I’ve learned to enjoy that process. I’m glad because I’ll be doing a lot of it.

Today was my first day to immerse myself in this mindset and I did pretty well but until I can make a habit of it it’s just another day. I’ve let a lot of things lapse and one day will not make up for that even if I did make good use of it. I’ve got a LONG way to go here.

The good things I did were small but in the right direction. I got up and took a half hour walk to get my head started thinking. I mailed out a CD to a fan who loves the Kidders on WLS so that was productive and then I came back home and started planning my future.

I’ve always found the best way to get moving for me is to dump everything in piles and then start sorting them out so that’s what I did. I hadn’t done that in way too long and I’d fallen behind. I spent a few hours getting caught up and I feel a whole lot better about it.

I didn’t finish it and I didn’t expect to but I did uncover some books and notes and ideas I had forgotten about and now I feel like I’ve restarted myself on the correct path. I took a whole day to sort and sift and think and plan and dream and I realize I have a challenge to face with all this. Odds are against me and I actually kind of like that. I want to pull it off despite the hand I’ve been dealt in life and that will be the sweetest success of them all.

There will be a lot of different facets to this project as a whole and one is not any more important than another but if I let one lapse the whole thing will come crashing down. It’s a house of cards right now and I am starting from absolute zero so I can build it my way.

The first thing I have to do is believe I can do it and I totally do. I have too many books and audio programs about positive thinking to get to them all but I do intend to immerse myself in as much good quality food for thought as I can. I found my copy of ‘The Secret’ today and will watch that in the next day or two to reignite that part of my inner thinking.

I’ve also got to educate myself about business and all that goes with it. It’s never been a strength but that doesn’t matter. If I am going to be a millionaire I have to understand the inner workings of how business works including taxes. I want to be a master of all of this.

People are also important. I looked over my contact list today and there’s no way I’ll be able to please everyone so I scanned it and will pick the precious few that I feel can be of help at this point. I need to connect and reconnect and make a team of players to help me get started. I made an initial list of the top 50 people to get me going but that’s a starter.

I also need to come up with a top 50 list of media people and bookers and work that list. I have limited time and resources right now so focus is very important. Wasting time isn’t a luxury I can afford right now so I’ll cut as much of it out as I can. I have to operate lean.

All of this really excites me and if everyone else thinks I’m crazy I really don’t care. I’m the only one I have to please and this totally does it. I don’t deny I’m crazy either but who said that’s a bad thing? I think everyone who ever succeeded in business was a tad nutty.

I’m not worried about any of that now. I want to make this work and actually BECOME ‘The King Of Uranus’. It’s such a stupid goofy gimmick I am falling in love with it. I can tell I’ve got a great concept here just like George Clinton knew when he came up with his ‘One Nation Under A Groove’ album in the ‘70s. That was the band’s height of success.

I read an article where George said he knew he had a great concept so that let him focus on making it a quality product. I feel the same way with what I’m doing. I know I have an outstanding concept and now I need to execute it correctly and make it pay off in money.

There are a lot of directions this thing can go and I am still not sure exactly what I plan to do with it but I do know I’m smart enough to go with the flow. I’m starting out with an idea to sell funny things of all kinds through mail order via website but that could evolve.

The main thing I’m doing is selling FUNNY. I’ve done it as a comedian all these years but this has the potential of being much more lucrative. Selling myself as an act to a club for a week has sustained me for years and may continue for a while but I know I can do a whole lot better with this process. All I need is a few hits that resonate with people and it means not having to drive hundreds of miles to have some dirty opener go up in front of me and describe his grandmother’s genitals. I’m on my way! I am the King of Uranus!!