Today, while walking through a crosswalk, I saw a cellphone lying on the pavement. For a fraction of a second, I actually considered just leaving it there, but in the next fraction of a second, I figured that since the phone had somehow made it this long without being run over, it deserved to be returned to its rightful owner. After figuring out how to operate the damn thing and after calling eight or more people, I finally got in touch with the owner’s husband and had him meet me at the hotel so that I could pass the phone on.

The relieved man asked me if he owed me anything, and I quickly told him no. He thanked me and told me that he was happy that “an honest person” found it and that I didn’t use the phone to “call China or something”.

It felt good to do a simple good deed, but while I sat in the lobby of the hotel and waited for the man to come and pick up his wife’s phone, I couldn’t help thinking about a time that I had an opportunity to return something to its owner and failed to do the right thing.

My epic fail…

I remember only that I was a kid at the time, but my mom, someone else (in order to protect this person’s identity, he/she will be referred to as Other Person), and I were leaving Wal-Mart when I found a small plastic bag in a buggy in the parking lot. The bag contained a Looney Toons-themed watch with a receipt inside. Of course, my initial reaction was: “Aw snap! I done found my pay day, son!” My mom said that I should take the watch and the receipt to the customer service counter in case someone came back to the store looking for the watch. Other Person and my id said that I should return the watch and exchange it for cash. At the time, Other Person and my id seemed to have the better idea.

Looking back, and as you are reading this, it may sound strange that my mom didn’t force me to leave the watch at the customer service desk. She suggested that I do it, but she did not tell me what to do. She let me make my own decision. And ultimately, my own mistake.

So I returned the watch for that cold hard cash (likely $20, which is a lot when of money when you profited off someone’s honest mistake). A day or so later, my mom called that same store and asked if anyone else had called up there looking for the watch. Someone had, and she made sure to tell me. Not in a “See, I told you that someone would be looking for it!” way, but in a “I just thought you should know” way. She told me very casually. I don’t know if my mom had masterminded her approach, but nevertheless, she played the situation perfectly. She had planted the seed which led to my guilt.

Who knows the story behind that watch. Perhaps it was a gift. For some kid’s birthday. Or maybe some kid bought the watch with her own birthday money. Or hell, maybe an adult who was just a kid inside  bought the damn watch because he or she wanted it. And while $20 may have seemed like a lot to me at the time, maybe it was a lot more to the watch’s buyer or intended receiver.

I don’t intend to sound holier than thou, but in all honesty, I was a good kid, and there are few situations that stick in my mind and leave a bad taste in my mouth. There are few memories that cause regret.

But this is one of those moments.

And as much as that man appreciated my returning his wife’s phone, I get to be selfish in the fact that it made me feel good inside. I’m sure I’ll still continue regretting the watch situation, but at least I can follow it up with that one time I found the cellphone lying in the crosswalk outside of the courthouse in Grayson County, Texas.

And while I may not be a parent when this post is published, it is safe to say that I have been parented. Because of this story and other memories that float in my mind from time to time, I like to think that my mom had her own parenting style. She didn’t always tell me what to do; she let me make my own decisions and do my own thing more than I think many of my friends’ parents allowed them. Before anyone is eager to say that my mom may have had a “hands-off” approach, I’d like to point out that this lesson would never have been learned if I hadn’t been allowed to make my own mistake.

It may be liberating to say that we have no regrets, but if we take the time to reflect, no matter our paths, I’m sure that we all have regret somewhere. The point of regret is to learn. And I like to think that I learned from this regret.

And if it’s possible to learn from someone else’s regret, I hope that someone learns from this story. So let’s share the wisdom of life lessons: what regret did you learn a great lesson from?

Where do we go from here…

There may be many times in life when we find ourselves asking this question or some variation of it. Though I believe that most advice is not universal because there always seems to be a situation that requires a different strategy, I have found that if you find yourself asking this question, the answer is usually Forward. Of course, forward may mean different things in different scenarios; it is up to the distressed person to figure that out for himself.

But Jake, you’re speaking very generally here. What the hell are you trying to say?

Okay, okay — you’re right. I’ll get to the point.

I’m typing this post two days after my mother’s death, which came about six weeks after my father’s death. If I were to tell you that 2011 has been a tough year for me personally, I think you will understand. And it isn’t even over yet.

My mother was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer around Easter time, and for seven months she put up one hell of a fight. I’ve never known anyone who endured what she went through; four months before she died, she actually stopped breathing for a few minutes and suffered brain damage because of it. At that point, we all felt that she would leave us at any moment, but she found the strength to hold on until just past Thanksgiving. As much as I miss her, I am glad that she is no longer suffering and has found peace.

My father, on the other hand, left the world in a faster and more shocking fashion. He had been diagnosed only three weeks before his death. Though I wish we all could have had more time with him, I am glad that he did not go through the things that my mother did.

I have no idea what lies ahead for me. That statement is very broad and I intend for it to be very broad. 2011 has been a year of introspection and reflection. There is no teacher like experience, and I have seen firsthand that we have no way of knowing what is ahead of us. We expect to bury our parents some day, but I never expected to do it while we were all so young — and I never expected to lose them both so close together.

And yet again I find myself being reminded of just how precious time is, especially when I think about my cousin Patrick. Unfortunately, Patrick and I were not as close as we were as kids, but at the time of his death earlier this year, he was only 27 years old. I am only 26 years old, and I have found myself asking What if I have only one year left? Or if I want to be more generous and compare myself to my mother, What if I have only 26 years left?

And then I think of my own health and future; as you can tell, cancer is not a stranger to my family, and I can’t help wondering if it’s waiting for me somewhere around the corner.

Okay, Jake, we get your point, but…what exactly is your point?

And so I ask again:

Where do we go from here…

We go forward, wherever that may lead us. I’ve already revealed a few fears to you, and while some people may think that those are reasons to sit around idle and afraid, I argue that they are actually reasons to make the most of today and whatever tomorrow we may have.

I guess I forgot to mention my good friend who lost his dad to prostate cancer a few months ago as well. He told me about his dad saying something along the lines of: “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I still had so much I wanted to do.”

My own mother told me that she wanted to visit Ontario again with my stepdad (they had planned to go this summer but never made it due to her diagnosis). And then she told me that there were many other places she wanted to see in her life. But she thought she had more time. Unfortunately, that is a misperception that many of us have.

My father always wanted to see Alaska. He and my stepmother had reservations for an Alaskan cruise but were also unable to make it.

Of course, you can never leave the past behind and I know that I will think of my parents often. I  hope that everyone who loved them keeps close in their hearts, but I also hope that everyone moves forward. Life is too short to do otherwise. If nothing else, we should move forward for those who are no longer able to do so.

I hate to be “that guy”. You know, the guy who tries to jump on a new trend or tries to go against the flow in an attempt to be original and/or edgy. So instead, I’m going to try to convince you that I’m not trying to be that guy…because, you know, that’s exactly what that guy would do.

First of all, I dropped the LaCaze Enterprises part of the blog and changed it back to jakelacaze.com. Why? Because let’s face it, as exciting as business can be (that is half-serious, half-sarcastic), it’s not all I want to talk about. Right now, all I can think of is that famous quote from Terrell Owens: “I love me some me”. And I do, because, hey, I’m a lovable guy, but I have so much more going on than business. And while everyone is rushing out for a niche, I feel restricted by a niche. Maybe one day I could have my own exciting startup (probably not happening) or maybe one day I could blog for a company with a specific purpose (probably not happening either), but at this moment, my only theme is me. Hence, jakelacaze.com.

Also, I deactivated my Facebook account. Will it last? Will I jump back on? Who knows. But I figure that there’s only one way to find out. I decided to deactivate my account after the last time I logged on and realized that I was pissed yet again by Facebook’s changes, which did not feel smart or efficient at all. Perhaps I would do the same thing if I were running Facebook, but I’m not and I have a different perspective in all of this. Too often, Facebook leaves me feeling like the Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer — frightened and confused.

I’m not saying that I’m getting off social media completely — just Facebook. And I’m not saying that I’m never blogging — just trying to be more honest.

The more I hear about the Penn State sex scandal, the more disturbed I become. To state the obvious, this is a very sticky situation, and it’s one that I hope that my alma mater, Louisiana Tech University, never finds itself in.

I want to go ahead and clarify that I understand that these events were horrible for the children and their families. And it’s so hard to believe that others (namely Joe Paterno) may have known what was going on while choosing to let it go away, forgotten. Joe Paterno had solidified himself as one of the greatest college football coaches of all-time and also a legend at Penn State, but now all of that will be overlooked, as his legacy will be remembered for what he didn’t do, as opposed to what he did do.

How can this football team go about recruiting from here on out? If you have a child who is an athlete thinking of playing out-of-state at some big time program, wouldn’t you at least want the illusion that someone is going to be looking out for him when he’s out of your sight? Wouldn’t you like to believe that his coaches and the other staff would try to lead him in the right direction? In this case, you have to wonder who all knew or had suspicions but did nothing. Will these people still be employed at Penn State? Would those people let something like that happen again? Could you be so sure?

And what of the university and its fans and alum? How can a school in this predicament ever ask its alum to retain pride and to donate and to attend games? Can the alum and fans ever wear their Nittany Lion gear proudly again?

When I was a freshman at Louisiana Tech, I had to sign an agreement that I would not cheat; if I was caught cheating, I could be expelled from the university.

This is way bigger than cheating on a test or project.

This is way bigger than college athletes accepting gifts from boosters.

This is in a completely different league.

As sad as this is to say, maybe we shouldn’t be so shocked that Joe Paterno said nothing. Far too often we make the mistake of idolizing people and inflating who they are as human beings.

Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods were at the top of their sports. Were they great role models for how to be faithful to their wives? No.

And Michael Vick wasn’t exactly PETA’s poster child.

Maybe Joe Paterno isn’t the loveable old man that we thought he was. Maybe he’s just a coach concerned only with winning, someone who will do the bare minimum in order to cover his own ass.

Maybe I’m wrong.

But it’s something to think about.

As is this whole situation.

As I’ve likely said on numerous occasions, I’m a big believer in the power of attitude. A good attitude and healthy outlook can make you happier and more productive, as opposed to being a Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer. Whenever possible, I share my little tidbits of positivity with the hope that someone will like them and adopt them. After all, I don’t come up with everything on my own, and it would be a shame to keep it to myself.

Today, kids, I want to talk about the rules of life. Whatever you call them, they exist. You may know them as social norms or “things Mommy and Daddy taught me”, but they’re out there; that much can’t be denied. But you do have say over how you respond to them.

My philosophy is very simple: once you learn the rules, you have two options. You can play by them or you can change them. Right now, the cool thing is to claim to be rogue and to “blaze your own path”, but the truth is that I often try to find a way to play by these rules. Sometimes you just have to know when to choose your battles, and I’m not in the business of being a 24/7 diehard activist. Save that for PETA.

Not sure what I’m talking about? Well, here are some examples!

When someone’s looking for a job and having a hard time, it’s not uncommon to hear him say with a discouraged tone, “Man, it doesn’t matter what you know; it’s who you know.” It’s been my experience that there is A LOT of truth in this statement. Unfortunately, most people leave it just at that — it’s all about who you know. They’re looking at only half of the equation.

You know the rule, so you can play by it or change it. In this case, I would opt to play by it. In other words, go out and meet people. NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK! Sitting around and complaining about this rule does no good, and if you’re not going to change it, you had might as well play by it and use it to your advantage.

I can hear the objection that some people will have: “But I’m not charismatic enough. The charismatic introverts are better at networking than I am.”

Give me a moment while I sigh and bang my head into the wall…

Again, you’ve identified part of the equation. You know that the more likable people are usually better liked (imagine that!) and are much better at meeting people. And I’m guessing that you might also say that charisma can’t be learned; either you’re born with it or you just don’t have it.

Again, you know the rule. Change it.

There is no way in hell that I believe that a person cannot become more charismatic or more sociable. People who believe that likely believe that Michael Jordan is often heralded as “The Best Of All Time” because he was simply a better athlete than everyone else. I call crap. Listen to those who knew Michael talk about him; they praise his hard work and dedication to his craft, not his natural athleticism. Without his hard work, Michael Jordan would have been just another mediocre, freakishly-talented guy in the NBA. It may take some time and work, but you can change this rule, or at least how it applies to you.

Maybe I’m wrong; maybe you can’t become more charismatic, no matter how much you try, but I’m too busy making observations and improving myself to notice the truth.

How do you respond to the rules about dress codes? Do you go to job interviews wearing flip-flops and Hawaiian shirts, or do you wear the suit and tie? The point is that we do this every day. We choose to play by the rules or to change them.

I’m not going to say that there’s a right answer or a wrong answer. There is only your answer. And you need to decide which you’re going to do, rather than just whine about the rules.

In sports, everyone deals with unfavorable calls differently. In baseball, the cool thing is to get all up in the umpire’s grill and yell and spittle on him until he has no choice but to kick the angry players out of the game. (Personally, I think that some baseball players harass the umps with the intention of getting sent home early. And I can’t say I blame them; after all, they play 162 games in a season. 162!)

In football, the players usually complain to the coach, who then pleads his case with the referee. And basketball seems to be somewhere in the middle. The players will take their beef up with the referees, and if they get a little too crazy, they get slapped with a technical and the other team’s shooting free throws.

No matter the sport, one thing I hate to see is players who argue with the refs. Why?

Because no matter how convincing your case may be, you’re not getting an appeal.

It’s not a court of law, and “innocent until proven guilty” does not apply. And arguing with the refs, especially when you’re yelling and throwing your hands in the air, can only lead to worse consequences.

Also, after a player has made his case, I’ve never seen a ref or ump scratch his chin and say, “You know, you’re right — that wasn’t a traveling violation” or “Yeah, that hit wasn’t dirty after all”. No, they usually stick to their guns, and the verdict is gonna stick.

But, maybe that has a bit to do with how people go about trying to debate the calls. The upset players are usually extremely animated and overly emotional. I can’t say that I blame them for losing their composure though. After all, they’re competitors and they’re in the heat of the moment. It doesn’t do any good to postpone; they can’t put it off for a few days (or even a few minutes).

But what about in your everyday situations? How do you react to the foul calls in life?

Do you allow yourself to be charged by emotion? Are you throwing your arms around, your voice rising an octave with every word that comes flying out of your mouth? Are you so eager to defend your mistakes (or to condemn offenses from other people) that you forget to maintain your exposure?

We all need to learn how to keep our heads in these situations. I can think of a couple of reasons:

1. Just because you yell louder doesn’t always mean that you’re going to win. As with the sports examples, I’d argue that the opposite is more likely true. No one’s receptive to yelling and being aggressively told that he’s wrong.

2. These situations are going to happen more often that you would like. There’s no point in giving yourself an ulcer every single time.

If you’ve been wronged, should you simply let it go? Of course not, but if you’re going to voice your feelings, you need to make sure that you do it in a professional manner. If you’re going to argue your case, it helps if you’re in control of your emotions. When you can present your argument in the best manner possible, everyone can focus on the real issue at hand — how you feel that you were wronged.

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today — “Imagine” by John Lennon

If you know me well, you likely know that I’m no fan of The Beatles and I’m not much of a fan of John Lennon’s solo works. But I am a fan of his song “Imagine”, especially as it applies to this post.

If you’ve ever heard the song and listened to the lyrics, you may have thought to yourself that it’s something nice to think about but ultimately the world that Lennon “imagined” in the song will never come to be a reality. After all, in the song Lennon doesn’t offer any solutions. He shares ideals, he paints a pretty picture, but he doesn’t tell us how to get there, right?

What good does that do us? It’s all dreams. It’s just rhetoric. And what good does that do us?

History is full of dreamers and stories that show the wonders of rhetoric.

Just look at America’s Founding Fathers, a group of men who dared to say, Hey, what if we go over to that place to the west and start our own thing?

Every civil rights movement starts with just a thought.

And now we’re seeing a transformation in the business world. What if there were more flexibility? What if people worked from home? What if I started my own company?

It all starts with rhetoric. Just one little question.

What if…

Why…

Why not?

Rhetoric is the seed that grows and develops into an idea which grows and develops into action which grows and develops into a movement or a revolution.

So while you may feel that rhetoric is useless, I say Bring it on. Dream. But do more than that. Inspire. Invoke action. Act yourself. Make something happen.

It all starts with one little thought…

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Do you remember your teenage days? I know that, for some of you, your adolescent years were longer ago than mine, so by all means, take a little time to sift through your memories and rediscover that time.

Okay, bad jokes aside, let’s be completely honest: you thought you knew everything, right? You thought you had the world figured out. Don’t be afraid to admit it; I think it’s basic human teenage nature. We all think we’re smarter than the idiot next to us, and we all know that we’re smarter than the idiot from that older generation.

A big part of those teenage years is that struggle to find yourself. To find out who you are, what your values are, and how you can make an impact on the world. In my opinion, that’s where self discovery begins for most of us. A big part of that self discovery process is establishing yourself as an individual. And we all want to be individuals, don’t we?

It seems that we all want to believe that every single person is unique, because that means that we ourselves must surely be unique. I know that I pride myself on my individuality, and I always have. But it seems that, as teenagers, we get a little too caught up in it.

As I said before, when you’re a teenager, you think you know it all. You’ve got it all figured out. And you’re an individual, so that means that every brilliant idea is your own. You’re not impressionable. Oh, no, not you! And no one else can influence you.

In a world of individuals, you are the most individual of them all!

And now, at the age of 25, I realize that that way of thinking is complete bullshit.

The bottom line is that we are all subject to influence; we are all impressionable. The question is to what degree we are impressionable and can be influenced. Often, I hear the phrase: “You are the company you keep.” And there is a lot of truth to that. If you hang around with negative people, chances are that you tend to be negative. If you hang around ambitious people, surely their ambition rubs off on you.

But, you know, we’re influenced by a lot more than people. We’re influenced by the media that we choose to surround ourselves with. That’s why I like to read progressive-minded business books. I don’t like to hear from the people who say that the economy has gone to crap and we’re never going to recover and prosper. Save that for the pessimists; I have too much life to live for me to sit around and mope all day.

This is one reason that I love social media. With social media (whether through Twitter or blogs), I can connect with people who are the professionals that I want to be. People who are active thinkers, people who ask questions, and people with an entrepreneurial spirit.

And I love TedTalks for the same reason. TedTalks features so many intelligent speakers who offer a different way of looking at things. Sometimes their brilliance simply amazes me, and I continually hope that they’ll infect me.

Of course, there’s no denying that we are influenced by our environments, our families, our socio-economic factors, and who knows what else.

So now, I happily admit that I am indeed impressionable and very much able to be influenced. Instead of trying to fight this fact, I ask myself how I can utilize this awareness. Who (or what) can I surround myself with to make myself a better person?

And so, I want to share something that I hope will leave an impression with you. I feel as if I’ve shared this video before, but I’m unsure what post it may have been on. That’s irrelevant because the video is so powerful that it deserves to be shared multiple times.

Now, I offer to you, Jimmy Valvano’s “Don’t Ever Give Up” speech. If Valvano can be so positive while looking death in the face, via cancer, surely we all can be as well. I watch this video from time to time, so it’s safe to say that it’s left an impression on me.

Since my wife and I have been married, we haven’t done the whole gift-giving for the holidays thing in the traditional way. We don’t buy each other gifts, wrap them, and then wait for the proper day to exchange. We simply ask what the other wants, see what we can work into our budget, and we go out and buy the gifts together.

This holiday season, I wanted an eReader. Initially, I wanted the Amazon Kindle. I can’t say why I wanted to the Kindle. I hadn’t done much research; I suppose it was because the Kindle seemed to be the most popular and I figured that it must be a good product.

One day, when my wife and I were at our local Barnes & Noble location, my wife insisted that I check out the Nook. I was reluctant, but I finally decided to listen to the voice of reason and I checked it out. I was pleasantly surprised with the NookColor, so I went home and did some research and decided that that was what I was going with.

ATTENTION: This post is not meant to be a Kindle vs. Nook comparison. I have not tried the Kindle and therefore cannot do such a comparison justice.

So where do I even begin?

Now, some objectors will say, “But I like the feel of having a real book in my hand.” If that’s true, I really can’t combat that objection; I can only assume that these same people probably enjoy the feel of having a compact disc or 8-track in their hands as well. And I guess that they don’t stream videos on Netflix because they prefer to wait for the real DVD to fall into their mailboxes.

Now, for the rest of us who live in the 21st century…

I like that I can have thousands of books on this one contraption. Sometimes, when I go to a book store, I tend to buy a handful of titles at a time. I never know what I’m going to want to read next, so when I travel, sometimes I end up carrying multiple books with me at a time, which is why the Nook is so handy.

Being able to download the ebooks rather than having to go out to a store is awesome. Sometimes the physical location doesn’t have the title you want. And let’s be honest, sometimes you’re lazy and don’t want to climb into your car and fight the traffic. Also, when I’ve briefly compared prices, I’ve found that ebooks may be 50% cheaper than the physical books. (Who knows, they may be better discounted in some cases).

Also, with the Nook, you can download a sample of a title before you purchase it. The samples are generally 12-20 pages long. Sometimes they’re great samples. Unfortunately, sometimes they’re not so helpful. Yes, your sample may be 20 pages long, but the majority of those pages may be the copyright information, the table of contents, and all of that other crap you don’t really care about. And then you’re left with only 2 pages that you can actually read. If you are at a Barnes & Noble location, you can read the book on your Nook for an hour. If you’re able to read the whole book in an hour, kudos to you; you just saved some bucks. When your hour is up, the book deletes itself from your Nook and then you can purchase it.

The NookColor has a touch screen, which makes it easy to turn pages. Just swipe your finger over the screen in the direction you want to turn. Because I do not have a very extensive vocabulary, one of my favorite features is the built-in dictionary. If you come across a word you do not know, hold your finger over the word and select the “look up” option. If you are not satisfied with the results that you get from the dictionary, you can choose to search for the word on Google or Wikipedia.

When you hold your finger over a word, you can also selection options such as “highlight”, “notes”, or “share” (you can use this feature to share with your contacts on Twitter or Facebook). I’m not a big fan of writing in books, but maybe I will utilize the “notes” feature in the future.

Though I haven’t used the LendMe feature, I am very excited at the possibility of temporarily exchanging books with friends. LendMe allows you to loan or borrow a book for up to two weeks.

But it’s not just about the books…

Since buying my Nook, I’ve subscribed to FastCompany Magazine. As is the case with books, it’s nice not to have to keep up with the physical copies of the future editions that come my way. Because I have the NookColor, I can see the pictures in the magazine in full color. And, as soon as the magazine is released, I can download it; I don’t have to wait for it to hit my mailbox or worry about the mailman running off with it.

Now, you might say, “But Jake, the Nook, depending on what model I choose, can range from $149 to $249. I’m worried that after my I purchase the Nook, I may not be able to afford any books.” Don’t worry, buddy. I got you covered! First of all, Barnes & Noble showcases a free title every Friday. I downloaded one free title and have yet to read it, but I guess I can’t complain because you get what you pay for! Also, you can check out Project Gutenberg, which allows you to download books that are now in the public domain because their copyrights have expired. I’ve seen titles from authors such as Charles Dickens, H. G. Wells, Edgar Allan Poe, and many others.

You can download books from Project Gutenberg onto your computer, but I’m not a big fan of reading on the computer. I tend to get distracted and hop onto Twitter or waste time on YouTube. That’s why I never got around to reading some of the free business e-books I had downloaded. But now I can download transfer them to my Nook and read them on my handy dandy reading machine gadget.

Now let’s talk about some limitations/concerns…

While the Nook includes a web browser, the browser is very limited and will not replace your computer. Personally, I don’t mind this. If I had wanted more functionality, I would have purchased an iPad. But I see the Nook as an eReader that just happens to have some extra functionality. From time to time, I do use the browser to read blog posts.

Though I love that I can see things in color, I do wonder if I should have gone with the black and white version because I’ve read that it has a significantly longer battery life than the NookColor.

There are three models of the Nook:

- The Nook Wi-Fi (black and white), $149
- The Nook 3G+Wi-Fi (also black and white), $199
- The NookColor Wi-Fi, $249

Unfortunately, there is not a version that has both color and 3G. However, I rarely find myself unable to find a Wi-Fi connection, and if you know that you’re going out of town for a while and may not have Wi-Fi, just download some books before you leave.

I’m sure that there is more that I could talk about, but I feel that I have addressed the most important issues. Though I am not always the earliest adopter of new technology, I am still a 21st century man and I am always excited about the prospect of digitalization.

If you are considering purchase a Nook (or any eReader for that matter), I hope that this post has given you something to consider and has helped you in your decision-making. If you have any questions that I did not touch on here, feel free to ask via comments, Twitter, or email (jake@jakelacaze.com). Also, if you purchased a Nook, how did you feel about your purchase? Have you compared the Nook and the Kindle?

Photo credit: Barnes & Noble.

I think I’ve found my New Year’s resolution for 2011.

I’m not really a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I feel that if a resolution is big enough for you proclaim at the end of the year, it should be big enough for you to proclaim at any time. But hey, it’s a tradition, so I’ll humor you a bit.

Last year, I made a resolution to establish an online presence. It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve had a lot of fun blogging and I truly think I’ve hit my stride. I’ve made some great connections through my blog and Twitter, so I would say that last year’s resolution was satisfied.

Now onward with 2011.

This year, I want to make a resolution to read more. Yes, I already read, whether we’re talking about books or blogs, but this year, I want to read more. Sometimes I feel as if I don’t have the time to read more, but this is a lie. The truth is that I don’t have the discipline to create the time to read more. The time is there; it just has to be utilized.

My wife offered some constructive criticism for my resolution; she said that it needed to be quantifiable. Though I see where she’s coming from, I’m not going to quantify this resolution because it’s for me and me only. I’ll know if I’m doing my best to satisfy it.

And here’s how I’ll know…

I’m bad about starting a book and dragging it out. Sometimes I put a book down for a few days (maybe even a week or longer) and then when I do pick it up again, I read a couple of pages and go to sleep. So a book that should take a couple of days to read may actually take me a few weeks to read. That ain’t cutting it.

So my New Year’s resolution is to read more: whether I’m talking about business books, business magazines, fiction, blog posts — whatever, I just need to read more.

Business-related materials and blog posts help to inspire me and fill my head with great ideas. Fiction helps me to escape and dream and fantasize. The point is, I enjoy reading and there’s no doubt that it has its benefits.

Here’s to hoping I see more of those benefits in 2011.

What about you? What’s your New Year’s resolution? Leave a comment, leave a link. It don’t matter!