Scott Smigler's BlogFounder of Exclusive Concepts and Conversions On Demand

When people get an email from me at 5:30 in the morning, they’ll often respond, “what are you doing up so early?” Or, for people who knew me in College, their inquiry may be “why are you up so late?” Well, I’m here to satisfy the insatiable curiosity that exists around my sleeping patterns.

I’m usually out of bed by 5AM, and between 5AM and 6:30AM I’m responding to email I could not get to in the previous day, checking out the news headlines pertinent to Internet marketing, and reading the Times.

At 6:30, the fun begins. I trek out to Lexington for an hour of intense workout with this man:

You guessed it, my trainer and conditioning coach. Vod trains me like a boxer. Running, hitting the heavy bag, doing hundreds of push-ups, sprints, and all of the fun stuff that you want to do at 7AM in the morning.

It’s actually a lot of fun once you start building your endurance up. I’ve been doing it for 6 months now and have seen incredible results. I used to have trouble running 5 feet, and now I can run 5 miles. I used to have trouble doing 5 push-ups, and this morning I did one hundred. I’ve worked with several trainers in my day, and I’ve found Vod’s approach (and style) to be the best one for me. You get fast results, but it’s all about the long-term conditioning. You just have to have a little faith.

Check out Vod’s website to see if you can measure up: www.VKHFitness.com.

By 8:30 I roll into the office, and endure 11 hours of intense emailing, phone calls, meetings, concept developing, consulting, and more. The best thing I can liken my day to is a controlled tornado. I am very well organized but I am constantly jumping from one thing to another. My brain is constantly moving, and I love that!

I’m outta’ here by 7PM, in the city by 8 to unwind, and home by 12.

Wouldn’t trade it for anything!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC with a great friend. One of my favorite paintings was the “Death of Socrates,” painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1787.

Socrates was given an ultimatum. Either he could renounce his beliefs or be sentenced to death by drinking hemlock.

Socrates chose death.

The picture shows a defiant Socrates as one of his followers reluctantly hands him his death elixir. Those around him are filled with grief, yet Socrates is confident and steadfast.

That is what it means to stay true to your self.

There are an infinite number of ways that one can “excel” at in life:

- Making money
- Offering charity
- Educating people
- Making people laugh
- Making people feel special

The list goes on forever, and many people excel at a combination of different things.

My guess is that if you thought hard enough, you could probably identify at least one thing that you truly excel at, whether you are mentally impaired, or a member of MENSA. Whether you are a philanthropist, or the owner of a bakery.

It is truly ashame when a person lives a life in a way that his excellence is his ability to manipulate others for his or her own personal gain. In the case of Ken Lay, that is certainly what has been alledged.

I don’t have a profound point with this post other than to remind people who have fully engaged themselves in the rat race, or the race to keep up with their neighbors by purchasing fancier cars, watches, and homes… that in the end, none of it really matters.

It doesn’t matter how much you had when you lived, it simply matters how you lived, and whether you have stayed true to your principles or not.

I’m sure once upon a time, Ken Lay had honorable dreams, but somewhere along the way he lost himself. Perhaps it was because he became too succesfull, to quickly, and lacked the character to maintain his integrity.

I don’t know – I just know that all the money and fame in the world is not worth lowering your standards.