Hasta La Gadget!

As an entrepreneur of ten years I’ve learned all too well what failure feels like. The perpetual wheel of reinventing myself has been the only constant in my life. Ups and downs, highs and lows; the roller coaster of perceived failure can be exhausting.

I deliberately use the word perceived. Isn’t failure the exact purpose of life? We’ve all been bred to strive for success, attain perfection, sacrifice our dreams for obligation and “win”, but we forget that failure is a necessary part of success.

I love this quote from Winston Churchill, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Brilliant. All too often we view success and failure as polar opposites, when in reality they’re one in the same.

Success happens when we go outside our comfort zone, stretch ourselves beyond recognized limits and experience new people, places and things. Success happens outside “normal”, and the only way to reach it is to walk though failure without losing your enthusiasm.

Success and failure are symbiotic-without one the other is not possible. So whatever your perceived failure is right now embrace it. Maybe you’re experiencing failure for the first time, or maybe you’re sitting by me in the roller coaster of ups and downs. No matter the number of failures in your tally box, know that each failure is simply a message that says, “Congratulations, you’re living life!” Then take a deep breath and get ready to walk through your next failure knowing you’ve already achieved success.

Gina Soleil, is a speaker and acclaimed author of Fuel Your Business: How to energize people, ignite action and drive profit. She blogs and speaks about how to create a business where people are energized, feel good and are happy. Visit Gina Soleil at GinaSoleil.com and follow her on Twitter.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Yesterday, Bernie Sanders was given the chance to write an op-ed in the New York Times. He had a golden opportunity to write a campaign-changing piece, and he whiffed. His piece focused on Brexit as a warning to Democrats to take seriously the negative economic impact of the global economy. Essentially, it was the same campaign speech he gave 1000 times, recycled using Brexit as the hook. It was largely ignored – not because he doesn’t have a point – but because he offered up nothing new.

Here is the op-ed he should have written. Here is the op-ed that would have made an impact on the debate. It would have given him new relevancy, and stature, as he continues to try to reform the Democratic Party.

On Globalization, Trump Is Not the Answer
By Senator Bernie Sanders

As the fallout continues from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, many are sounding alarms that the same economic anxiety caused by globalization, which fueled a good deal of Brexit, could translate to votes for Donald Trump in the United States. I happen to believe those people are correct, and there is good reason to worry.

It is no secret that I have differences with my opponent in the primary, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when it comes to issues of globalization and trade. I believe that it is not just good policy, but good politics, to make sure that the Democratic party is a true people’s party. Unfortunately, in recent years, the party has drifted too far to the side of multi-national corporation, and away from the American Worker.

Now, it is essential that the party back fair trade and economic policies that will make this new global economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. That is why I continue to push for a strong party platform that rejects trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and why I will continue to push Hillary Clinton.

But, the key is that she must become President Hillary Clinton.

Neither our campaign, nor the revolution which has risen this year, would be well served by a Donald Trump presidency. Furthermore, those people who truly worry about their economic well-being and stability will only see their problems exacerbated by Donald Trump at the helm.

Mr. Trump talks a big game about trade deals. From NAFTA to the TPP, there isn’t a trade deal that he won’t walk away from, or renegotiate, if he’s to be believed. But, he’s not to be believed.

Mr. Trump has done quite well because of free trade deals. Trump ties – made in China. Trump shirts – made in Bangladesh. Trump suits – made in Mexico. He says Trump Steaks are from US beef, but by the look of them, you cannot be too sure.

Further, Trump has never shown himself to be a friend of the American worker. From buildings with the Trump name that rose on the backs of unskilled non-union labor, to trying to kick disabled veterans making an honest dollar as vendors out from in front of Trump Tower, Trump has never shown concern for the wellbeing of hard-working Americans.

While Donald Trump would have to turn over his businesses to his children, temporarily, as President, he isn’t going to do anything that will cost him profits that he can take upon his return to the helm.

In fact, he’s already shown morals and care for his fellow man always takes a back seat to his wallet. From Trump University, which ripped people off with the false promise of learning about real estate, to scam seminars called the Trump Institute, Mr. Trump has shown time and time again that he will always put profits over people.

At the end of the day, what Trump is peddling is a scam like all his other scams. He has correctly sensed desperation on the part of those left out of the global economy, and he is trying to scam them with promises that don’t jibe with who he is, or anything he has done.

Trump is as likely to help American workers, and sacrifice his profits, as I am to join the American Nazi Party.

At the end of the day, the Democratic Party is not perfect. Hillary Clinton is not perfect. We are working hard to make them better. That process is underway with the platform. But, it must continue past this election, and it must continue with a President with whom we can work.

That is why I will do everything within my power to see that Hillary Clinton becomes the next President of the United States.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

There’s a serious gap between corporations and startups. According to Alessandro Di Fiore with the Harvard Business Review, “It’s not just a problem at companies known for poor management. Even businesses that are well versed in the best management practices can, without realizing it, generate an environment hostile to innovation.”

I recently shared these ideas below with the CEOs of Netflix and The Huffington Post for their consideration. Both are building upon strengths and assets they have already.

IDEA 1 – The University of Netflix

Pitch: Netflix currently has approximately 80 million customers (these are potential students), and a new initiative of $100 million to education, so why not create your own online education to the world and grant degree/certificate programs and compete in the global education space in the comfort of students own homes, at a fraction of the cost.

IDEA 2 – The Huffington Post University

Pitch: I believe and view The Huffington Post as a major provider of online education to the world. The contributors can be viewed as the professors, teachers and the readers are the students that self enroll.

I respect the vision and growth that Arianna Huffington and her team has built in such a short period of time since the launch of this company in 2005. Thinking forward and looking at building upon the Huffington Post’s strengths, I believe the Huffington Post should launch its own University.

It can launch as an online provider of education, offering certificate programs and Undergraduate, Masters and PhD Degrees. The Huffington Post University can offer courses and degrees in Journalism, Mass Communication, Digital Communications, Advertising and more.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

by Mary Gaylord

It took me by surprise when my hippie-liberal-pacifist friend called and asked if I’d go to a shooting range with her. She’d received a coupon for a nearby facility and thought this activity might help her work through some angst she’d been feeling.

In theory, I’m a pretty open-minded person, ready for most adventures. I have to admit however, on the heels of the tragedy in Orlando, I felt very twitchy about being around guns. Nevertheless, I wanted to help my friend out and agreed to go along.

My experience with guns is limited to shooting a BB gun at empty cans stacked on the stump of a tree on family camping trips decades ago. Then there’s the time in Alaska, on my honeymoon, when carrying a gun in the wilderness was just good common sense given the preponderance of bears and moose. My husband carried the gun and offered to take me to the dump to practice shooting (romantic, isn’t he?).

At the dump, my husband fired the pistol once and I screamed and said no way, no how was I going to shoot that thing!

And that is the sum total of my gun shooting experiences until last night.

My friend and I walked into the shooting center and I immediately wanted to run back out. There were guns everywhere. A guy named Scott offered assistance. We explained our complete incompetence with regard to guns and he took this information in stride. Scott selected a 9mm pistol for us to take into the shooting range. He showed us the ammo and the magazine and gave us a rundown on how to operate the gun.

I froze for a moment thinking about how someone like Orlando shooter Omar Mateen might have come into a place like this. Probably Adam Lanza of Sandy Hook too, and countless other disturbed killers, I thought. I looked at the young man already practicing shooting in the range and wondered if he would someday commit mass murder.

My friend chose that moment to ask Scott if it was going to hurt when we shot the gun. Scott offered a reassuring smile and told us it would not hurt. My friend’s question brought the comic relief and the good laugh that I needed at that moment.

Once in the range, Scott again went over all of the instructions and led us step-by-step through the process. The first time we heard another shot in the room, my friend and I both flinched even though we were wearing ear protection. Could we really do this? I wondered.

Five minutes later we were shooting at “Todd,” our creepy paper target guy. We were taking aim and pulling the trigger. We got more and more comfortable and used up all of our ammo before turning in our gun and washing the gunpowder off our hands.

Afterwards, we felt a bit of a high. We had challenged ourselves to do something way outside of our comfort zone. I had gotten past my preconceived notions about how “people like me” would not be welcome or feel comfortable in a place like a shooting range.

The fact is the people at the gun range didn’t seem so unlike me and my friend. Maybe we wouldn’t agree on who the next president should be. So what? There are probably dozens of other things we would agree on.

And yes, there are good guys with guns and there are bad guys with guns and if I cling to stereotypical ideas about guns and gun owners I’ll never get close enough to know the difference.

For me, this isn’t really about guns at all. It’s about the assumptions we make about others and about ourselves. What might happen if we moved beyond assumptions and stereotypes and looked for decency in others instead of just differences. Maybe we’d be better able to understand different versus dangerous, an important distinction indeed.

Mary Gaylord is a Program Development Partner with Living Room Conversations, an organization committed to bringing together people with differences in a friendly, structured, conversational format. She has worked as a community mediator, victim-offender reconciliation specialist, and facilitator of bully prevention programming for school-aged children. She lives in the Rocky Mountains and is passionate about spending time outdoors with family and friends.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

The BFG is Steven Spielberg’s first Disney movie and it’s based on a famous book by Roald Dahl, one of the world’s most notable authors. Those things all add up to some pretty daunting expectations. The film, which opens Friday, meets those expectations, but doesn’t surpass them, leaving a suitably entertaining and magical film aimed squarely at the younger people in your life.

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