Today I'm going to talk about why happiness is the wrong goal for us to have so stay with me So I think we all probably want to be happy in life, and I'm not here today to talk about why There's something wrong with being happy. I think you know if you could say To me that David, I'm really happy in my life. I wouldn't say to you that you have the wrong goal My issue with having go happiness as a goal in life is that it typically doesn't work and Being happy is fantastic There's no doubt about it And I'm not even saying here that happiness is the wrong old have or that happiness doesn't exist happiness absolutely exists I think we probably all know that on one level because we've had moments in life when we've been happy But if we go through life with I want to be happy. I want to be happy That's going to lead the problems and I'll explain why here I'm actually going to talk about five reasons why that's going to be a kind of a frustrating approach to take And I'm going to talk about an alternative goal to set it's dead so the first reason I think happiness is To be happy is the wrong goal for us is because the concept happy to be happy Happiness is very abstract. It's too abstract so If we have it as a goal and we're aiming for something and we don't really know exactly precisely what it is We're trying to get with that. It's too abstract. It's not well defined. You're never going to get there There are so many definitions of what it means to be happiness or what happiness is you ask a hundred people You'll get a hundred different answers one Really interesting thing I saw recently. There was a documentary about these hunter-gatherers in Tanzania in Africa And they're the last or one of the last hunter-gatherer societies on earth. There's like 1500 of them or something There's very few of these people left, but they the documentarian asked one of the hunters in that tribe What is happiness and his answer was? Happiness is when I find meat for my people Okay, now that answer to us probably doesn't resonate very much But the point being here is that His answer was a fine answer But everybody's answer is going to be different so I Guess if we're going to search for happiness It's difficult because we don't really know exactly what it is or at least we can't turn to other people to find a good work and Definition that's going to work for us personally So the first problem with happiness as a goal is that it's too abstract and it's ill-defined Now the second Thing even if we said well, I'll create happiness on my own terms Okay, we have another problem with that Okay, I'm not going to use anybody else's definition. I'm going to use my own definition of what it means But here's a problem we have with that if you if you're going to search for this thing and try and find it How many real moments of happiness have we had in life? In order to know what it is that you're going to find or what you're looking for we kind of have to know it well Can't be abstract and even if we're going off our own experiences with happiness. How many Hours of our life have we spent in a state of real happiness the Malcolm Gladwell's book outliers he talks about I think it's a 10,000 hour rule he talks about in that book to become proficient or an expert in anything Takes about 10 10,000 hours of Direct experience with that thing. I don't know about you But I I'm not sure if I've had 10,000 hours of pure happiness to know exactly what it is To set it as a goal for my life to go out there and chase it So this the second point is even if we're going off our own definition Do we really have enough direct experience with happiness to know exactly what it is? So that's another kind of point against setting happiness as the goal in life Now the third point I would say on this and this is maybe the most important one of all I'm going out there into my life and happiness is my goal What I'm trying to make it happen. I'm trying to cause bring about happiness in my life There's an assumption there that happiness can be caused and I think it's a big assumption. What if happiness can't be caused? so the way I like to take a happiness is Happiness is like a spontaneous symptom of something else in Other words we can't directly Create happiness. I'm not saying we're helpless. There's not anything we can do. I'm going to talk about that soon but a way to think about this it's a spontaneous symptom can't be controlled brought about true control can't be directly manipulated into existence happiness a Way we know this is true is imagine if I asked you this Imagine I said okay wake up tomorrow, and I want you to do one thing and that thing is to make a day full of happiness for yourself Would you feel confident about doing that? I Think most of us would feel not that confident. I mean if happiness is our goal in life. Why aren't we happy? Right now today if it was that easy to bring about directly an Alternative question is what if I asked you tomorrow to wake up and instead of making a day full of happiness for yourself to make a day full of misery and negative emotion Now we wouldn't want to do that but I think we would agree that that will be easier to Manipulate and bring it to existence than a day of real happiness for ourselves so My point is we're all after trying to create happiness directly do this do that in order to bring about happiness This is the thing that's going to make me happy. It's the next job. It's the more money It's that thing I want to buy online whatever next relationship and Invariably we find you know, this isn't really working that well So our attempts to directly manipulate or create happiness don't work and maybe it doesn't have a direct cause Okay, now that sounds pretty bleak, but I'm going to talk now about an alternative. You see we can we do feel comfortable Bringing about that negative experience. Okay. I mean if you really put your mind to it And you wanted to create a day for yourself full of negative emotion I mean you'd probably if you really had to do that you'd have it done within an hour You know, it's so easy for us to do that. So The reason happiness is a bad goal is that it's relying on something We don't really have that much experience with maybe it can't be caused, but here's what we should think about We do have knowledge. This is the fourth point here We'd already have existing knowledge that is much more useful than this thing about well my my existing knowledge about happiness What is it that we have we should be using our existing knowledge which we're not experts in happiness Don't have that much direct experience with it, but we should be using our direct experience of Emotional suffering or conflict That is something And this is maybe a little bit hard to hear, but I think a lot of us probably have Upwards going on over 10,000 hours of emotional pain or conflict inside us We know what that feels like But here's the thing that is not a bad thing necessarily that is something that is very very useful information Instead of seeing these negative emotions that we experience is a bad thing. What if they are actually sort of pointers to something for us We have direct knowledge of those things and if we can start to listen into what that conflict inside us is saying or that emotional pain is saying That is where our attention and focus needs to be The final point here, which is related to this is that instead of happen having happiness as our goal in life Our goal we have a better goal Which is to listen into this emotional suffering and this inner conflict and our goal now becomes I'm simply going to work on ending this emotional conflict that I experience and If we get good at that And we get good at listening to this emotional conflict and get good at meeting these emotional needs for ourselves There is this spontaneous symptom that just happens to pop up over here Which is called happiness Now we don't Manipulate it directly, but if we're listening into this emotional suffering inside us or this conflict and get to work meeting our emotional needs We understand this we can feel this directly already these this these emotional signals in our body then it's like Happiness just has a habit of showing up all by itself a way to think about this is like a little child Okay, a little baby or something and that baby screams when its emotional needs are not been met now when a baby or a small child is Crys out and their emotional pain is heard. It's validated and then it's met. They're taken care of The child just goes about its life very happily and it doesn't sit around wondering what is the purpose of life or How can I make myself happy? The child just is happy We tend to think of ourselves as a little bit more evolved than that, but essentially if we can really like a lot of times I ask people like what are your emotional needs and They're like why no idea what they are now they may already be meeting some of their emotional needs Just not been aware of what they are But it's very important for us to become aware of what it is that I need emotionally to feel Not necessarily happy but to feel balanced inside myself where there's no inner conflict It's this inner conflict that really takes us away from an experience of happiness. So our job becomes okay Well, what's causing the conflict? I'm not going to try and manipulate a happy situation What's already taking place right here under my own nose? And if I can become really really curious about that and and the thing is people become very hopeless Because first of all, maybe they don't know what their emotional needs are and then they think to themselves Well, even if I do know what they are, I don't think I can meet them It is very very possible to meet your emotional needs our emotional needs are Yes often in a state of conflict, maybe some of these emotional needs become a dominant need and maybe we repress and ignore other ones But once we find a way to validate all of the needs that we have inside us and start to see them as these inner children that we have and And start to self parent them in other words finding balance validating them all not picking favour. It's not ignoring some over others Not necessarily sharing giving them all exactly the same amount of time and energy necessarily but validating them all and giving them all something In a way that's not going to overwhelm you now There's a kind of a happy experience there that happens which just I think is called happiness over here But it's not directly caused again. Can't wake up and go and make yourself happy directly by doing something We have to listen in to our emotional body. That's really the missing piece with this. It's Okay, I don't know I'm not going to read about this in a book about happiness And I'm not going to listen to somebody else tell me how to be happy I'm going to listen to my my body essentially my emotional body is a very very important indicator of how I can actually meet an end Meet my emotional needs and conflict then just happen to experience this thing called happiness So to recap here, it's too abstract happiness is too abstract a concept. We don't really know what it is It can't be caused directly even if it is a goal we already have existing knowledge that we should be using which is our emotional body and We have a much better goal anyway, which is just to simply end in our conflict So My the book I wrote recently. It's a shorty book you can get it for free in my website It's it offers like a model for okay. Well, if you don't know what your emotional needs are start with this model There's five emotional needs. I talk about which is Responsibility or security meaning purpose creativity Taking care of yourself physically some exercise. Maybe there's reflection and spontaneity slash relaxation This need tends to be the black sheep in the family This need tends to be the golden child that gets all the attention certainly psychological attention But if we can find some kind of degree of balance with that I am of the opinion that we tend to experience happiness on a much more regular basis So if you want to check that out, it's on my website. I'll put the link for it below but Those are my thoughts and happiness guys. I hope that's useful information Again, I'm not saying that happiness doesn't exist happiness. Absolutely exists Is it a good thing to be happy 100%? I think it's very important to be happy in life It's just a question of having it as my goal Maybe leading us in the wrong direction away from the emotional indicators that are indirectly going to get us there So hope that's useful information guys and as always thanks for joining me here. I'll see you again next time. Take care


Starting January 30th, a 9-day joint agitation will begin highlighting some of today's most critical issues affecting Indians everywhere. This agitation led by farmers, veterans and youth also comprises of several other sections of society, committed to ensuring that the political parties of India are responsible to its citizens. Outline of the joint agitation? 30th January, Dharna commences, issues in focus will be introduced. Ex-servicemen's organizations will take the leap by highlighting issues that affect the serving armed forces, ex-servicemen, war widows and disabled soldiers. 31st January, Dalit, Adivasi and Bahujan Samaj organizations will express their grievances. Their issues are complex and timeless. Specific, urgent actions are necessary to address the worst of their distress. 1st February, farmers and trade unions will focus on agrarian and rural distress. The reckless policy-making of recent years has driven their already fragile economy into outright unsustainability. 2nd February, unions of chit-fund scam-affected people who are largely ignored group of people present their story. 3rd February, civil society members will protest the rise in hate crimes as well as the attacks on free speech and democracy. 4th February, environment, adhar and surveillance attacks on science and attack on journalism will be taken up. 5th February, women's reservation bill and atrocities against women. 6th February, student groups and teachers association will speak about youth issues, education and employment. 7th February, a strong political message will be sent to the current government, which is hell-bent on dividing our country. Prominent speakers from various grass-root organizations, activists and political leaders of secular progressive parties will be speaking on various days. In the current atmosphere of communalism, division and hate, the call of hashtag India Unites has been given to set a people's agenda for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.


Everybody forced tier ripping gilded and finest baseball hobby four box mixer number nine random team style Check the results anytime a late sports cards calm. There is a link in chat as well. Let's go ahead and get started We're using a slack now for show references. Oh boy. It's the hard hitting stuff. That's what slack is really for Alrighty three finest one gilded. Let's do it. Let's pull some more J. Ron color Make it look easy tonight Green speckle rookie Jeremy Pena 61 to 125 Astros there we go. Stroze asked for paying you get or asked for a J. Rod get paying you. All right. All right Dude still a stud is Houston Andrew M. Congrats, man Again everybody just mosaic basketball tonight mosaic football mixer and the 20 box Pro Bowl mixer tonight as well finest rookies gold autograph one of 50 matmaning Tigers Donnie is not here. Donnie got his one day off this week He came in yesterday to help because we didn't have anybody I get done. He got his well-deserved day off refractor Mike trout Send a pox never to the angel spot. There is a ding on that trout All of excellence wonder Franco insert Aqua shimmer rookie Brandon Marsh angels 52 of 175 You'll fill in for Donnie. All right We just got a bunch of questions pigley Die cut hammer and Hank for the Braves. I got Jake here and Jake is training J refractor Peter Lonzo You got Jake used to top out a lot more, but now he's just shop associate Rookie purple Jeremy Pena. Well, okay 127 of 250 now Astros again my goodness rookie refractor auto rays Vidal Bruhan You stack 10 cups in five seconds Well, Higley, I mean, I'll hire you right now Refractor Jordan Alvarez Light blue Steven Strausberg for the Nationals 178 of 300 I think we're gonna do like a finest rainbow of someone. I don't know who I need to find like a not expensive super fracter first I was thinking Trevor story Yeah, like his lower number will do pretty well his regular number Because he's a Red Sox player And he hits home runs every now, you know Franco rainbow wait like 10 years Get like 10th year one Aqua blue Ryan Mount Castle Orioles number 174 250 I mean if you're gonna try for one to rookie stuff now is the time before he starts like playing again and then People like oh, yeah He's he's really really good rookie refractor auto just side gray Nationals Refractor Salvador Perez Oh, that's really cool. Piggly. I need to get something like that for one of my teams O'Neill Cruz rookie sky blue for the Pirates now 147 to 300 Finishes been have a nice rookie color the entire time tonight numbered autos to Ted Williams on the die cut for the Red Sox must have been a pretty good case Refractor Corbin burns. I wish he'd a super Gold refractor now rookie Royce Lewis It just keeps going 20 of 50 nice one twins stop toke the classic Toke emote right there Ricky refractor auto the Chas manian devil for the Astros or as Sam said the chainsaw devil Who you watch Riga's rookie an NT?  He's like, I thought that's a chainsaw for a second. So he's chainsaw devil now Which is cooler than Chas manian devil, but also Not exactly for the kids Max Muncie refractor Yes Yeah, they'll have some bullpen guys. I've never heard of before that have like a one one four era Yeah, dude, it's just it's ridiculous We're like, all right Jason Adam Dude that the the scariest thing ever is like you go play the raise like oh the raise having a bullpen game You're like, oh We're not we're not it's gonna score more than one run Raise bullpen games the scariest game you can do Got better chance against prime Randy Johnson That's not chance make the playoffs. I just there's a lot of question mark So it's gonna like it can go one way or the other pretty quickly Oh Helping pit healthy pitching they probably push for the playoffs Pitching there like a 71 win team Aqua shimmer Robbie Ray Mariners 124 175 Plus bottom of the line of his scary times right now Top of the line isn't even that good orange wave Auto Jose Altuve 11 at 25 Astros again This is crazy man Astros are killing it bet the under on socks went total 76 and a half That's just something I wouldn't bet I'm not confident either way purple refractor Boba Shet Blue Jays 97 to 250. I mean the entire division can't be as good as it was last year right like top to bottom Like law of averages say it can't be the Orioles rotation is terrible. So but Ricky refractor Jaren Durand Red Sox, but if it's like the if the offense pans out then they're still like a good team Yeah, the lineup is scary for sure Matt manning Ricky light blue to 300 for the Tigers They could just use arms that are gonna be healthy at this point I think they put that I better be ready to pitch like 200 plus innings this year Ricky refractor out of my Brian Della Cruz for the Marlins. He better be ready Bet is all right. He just needs to he's the guy that is he's take the ball every five days Because we'll probably get ups and downs of Bayo factor Ronald Acunia He was really good after his first like three or four starts last year a lot of like weak contact and stuff Oh, here we go George Springer. That is a pink and purple. I think one of three for the Blue Jays Or fuchsia purple I'm not quite sure but it is the three for the Blue Jays congrats on that one to Anderson alright gilded Let's see what the Red Sox do. I don't know. I feel like they're still gonna make another move for somebody Plus like They're gonna make they're gonna make some small trade or something like the Red Sox is relying too much on cost is to relying too much on Montesee now Yeah Like if they get it other teams could pitch around Devers. It's just scary times Scary times. They're also putting a lot on Yoshida as well. It's a 99 gold edge Miguel Cabrera. There we go Tigers a Many diamond Bryce Harper Phillies 11 of 50 nice Bryce Dodgers Auto Max Muncie 50 of 50 Look in there. Oh Yeah, absolutely Vaughan and then he's gonna be like starting centerfielder at some point Gold Lava Ozzie Smith Cardinals Two of ten on the Wizard That's awesome, man. Nice Ozzie some good parallels. They're good names of the parallels and Framed Auto is green to 25 Mike Schmidt For the Phillies very nice good solid box. They're all around on the gilded nothing huge But some really nice numbered cards And the Schmidty green to 25 on the auto No, Nick York definitely needs more time. He had a he had a tough year last year as The competition got as the competition got tougher for him. It just his you know, he's got to adjust now and get better this year. I Guess if things break, right? You can see a guy like York at the end of the year, but All righty, so we had the lava to 10 Ozzie Smith Springer to three for the Blue Jays autos Delacruz McCormick Josiah Gray without Bruhan gold Matt Manning to 50 Tigers Max Muncie to 50 Dodgers orange wave the 25 color match out to the Astros and a Schmidty to 25 framed auto for the Phillies We had two Jeremy Pena's from finest green speckled to 125 purple to 250. There we go. That'll do it. Thanks everybody Mixers coming up


Ladies and gentlemen, the Railroad Hour. And here comes our star-studded show train.  Starring George Murphy, Martha Tilton, Jerome Cowan, and your host, Gordon Macrae. A choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff, and the music is arranged and conducted by Carmen Dragon. Yes, tonight another great musical success is brought to you by the American Railroad.  And now, here is Gordon Macrae. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Well, tonight, it is our particular pleasure to bring you Paramount Pictures' delightful musical, Holiday Inn, with its great score by Mr. Irving Berlian. As the lovely leading lady of the piece, you will hear Ms. Martha Tilton. Mr. Jerome Cowan appears as the agent Danny, who handles the careers of Ted Hanover and Jim Hardy, played respectively by Mr. George Murphy and myself. And so, for the next 45 minutes, come with us and have a happy holiday. Happy holiday, happy holiday. Looking back, I see that each of the moments I treasure and remember was a melody. Because for each moment there was a song, and for each song there is now a memory. Happy holiday takes me back to the beginning. One year ago, Christmas time, I was working in a florist shop, and all of a sudden, the door opened, and Ted Hanover walked in. He was whistling. I was surprised. The most famous dancer on Broadway doesn't walk into a shop every day. I just stood there with my mouth open. Excuse me, do you usually go around like that, or are you waiting for someone to throw in a fish? Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Hanover, I just never expected to see you. Oh, you know who I am. Oh, yes, I know who you are, all right. Well, I'd like some orchids, the finest in the house. Of course I. No, no, I want a dozen so she can pin them any place she wants. Oh, all right. Oh, you know that song, huh? We're using that in Iraq. Well, I only know the beginning. Happy Holidays! Don't get worse. Grab your nurse. Come to Holiday Inn. Happy Holidays! Happy Holidays! Holiday Inn. That's a wonderful sound. It's too bad there isn't any such place. Ah, but there is. Way out in the wilds of Connecticut. You see, my partner Jim Hardy just bought it. That's why he wrote that song. It's going to be open just over each holiday, and he's going to have a big floor show that ties in with that season. Oh, that's a wonderful idea. Sure it is, sure it is if you have an affinity for the carrot and the field mouse. Personally, I loathe the country. Say, how about the orchids? Oh, yes, Mr. Hanover. I'll have them wrapped in just a minute here. Mr. Hanover, as long as you're in the shop and you have such a kind fate. Now look, young lady, look, I'm getting married tomorrow. The lady is waiting, and at the moment she's engaged to my partner, and we have to explain things to him so he'll understand, you see. And we also have a show to do in an hour, so please make with the package if you don't mind. Well, I am, but I can talk while I'm wrapping. You see, this is really just a part-time job. Actually, I sing and dance. Mr. Hanover, I want... I know, I know.  You spent long, weary hours in every theatrical agency on Broadway, but just now I have to get back to the club and get on with the movie. How did you know all those things about me? My dear, that's the story of every star and would-be star on Broadway. Forget it, kid. Marry the florist and raise little orchids. Then you won't get your heart broken. Here's your package. That's $36. Special rate because you bought by the dozen. Oh, thank you, here. You may keep the change. Say, if you really want a job, why don't you take a run up to Connecticut and see Jim Hardy? R-Ax folding tonight, and he'll be up there tomorrow. Well, thanks, Mr. Hanover. Thank you very much. Oh, don't mention it. Happy holiday. Happy holiday. I didn't realize then how much that song would come to mean to me. The next day I invested a little money in a train ticket and went up to Connecticut and knocked on the door of Holiday Inn. Jim opened the door. Well, hello. Santa Claus is a day early this year, I see. Come in, come in. Mr. Hardy? Yeah. Here, let me help you off with those things. Thank you. It was a cold ride up from the station. I'm Linda Mason, Mr. Hardy. Well, I'm glad to know you, Linda. Um, I, uh, happened to run into Ted Hanover, and he suggested I come to see you about maybe getting a job in the show. Uh, you dropped the wrong name, lady. Ted Hanover's about as popular around here as Measles. Oh. Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. You see, I work in a florist shop, and yesterday Mr. Hanover walked in and asked for a dozen orchids. Yeah. And today the girl that I was going to marry yesterday is wearing them. Oh, that beautiful lila. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, it's all right. It's all right. I'll get over it. I'd rather she made him unhappy than me. Oh. Well, when are you going to open the inn? New Year's Eve. Did that wolf in tap shoes tell you the idea of the inn? You see, I've written some special music for each holiday. Well, I know. I had no idea you were a composer, too. Well, I had hoped to get the inn open tonight. I'd written a special song for the occasion, but I just couldn't make it by Christmas. Oh, I'd love to hear the song. You would? Well, fortunately, I happen to have a piano handy. I live for moments like this. Well, it is rushing the season, but it sounds beautiful. You know, I like your voice. Maybe... Oh, pardon me a moment, Linda. Goodbye, Ted. No. Nothing trivial, I hope. Jim, look, I want to read you a wire that just... Yes. Yes, I remember lila. Well, they'll meet her at the License Bureau at City Hall, but she's set a Western Union boy in her place. Well, congratulations. I hope you two will be very, very happy. Jim, look, don't joke. This is the wire. She says so... Well, that's life. I'll take it easy. No, thanks, Ted. I've already got my show lined up. Oh, but Jim... So long, Ted. I'm sorry, Linda. That was just a fellow who got the wrong number. Linda, would you like to open here with me a New Year's Eve? Oh, thank you. You know I'd love to. Maybe there is a Santa Claus after all. Well, could it be me? Well, Ted Hanover did send me here. Yeah, well, I'll tell you one thing. It's the first good turn he's ever done me. Oh, it's going to be such fun to be a part of Holiday Inn. You're right.  Last week just before Christmas, the week that's likely to get pretty frantic for a lot of us. There's that shopping that hasn't been done yet and the gift wrapping and the last minute Christmas mailing if you didn't follow the good sound rule of mailing early. And then there's a lot of decorating and a lot of preparing for Christmas dinner and a dozen or two other things that have to be done. Yes, it takes a lot of planning as well as a lot of doing to get ready for Christmas. It started weeks, even months ago. The producers began to turn out their materials, the manufacturers to make their goods, the merchants to stock their shelves. And all through that process you'd find railroads doing their indispensable part, bringing the raw materials together at the place of manufacture, hauling the fuel and bringing in the food and the other supplies needed to keep the work going, distributing the product, delivering the goods all over this land. During all these weeks and months you might not have been on a train. You probably didn't go into a railroad freight house. But just the same the railroads were working for you all to the end that so far as transportation is concerned you might lack nothing which could help to make this a merry Christmas. And now back to Holiday Inn starring George Murphy, Martha Tilden, Jerome Cowan and your host, Gordon McRaeve. Happy Holiday! And for each song there is now a memory. On New Year's Eve Holiday Inn was jammed with people. After the first floor show Jim and I went out in the kitchen and helped dish salads on the plates. I remember looking at Jim and thinking this really is the beginning of a new year in my life. Any for those thoughts? Oh, well I was just thinking it's almost the new year. Yeah, those old hands are practically straight up aren't they? One minute to midnight One minute to go One minute to say goodbye Before we say hello Let's start the new year Twelve o'clock tonight Let's watch the old Ted, you're a little the worst for alcohol. How about going upstairs and lying down? Oh, no, no. I don't want to go upstairs.  Come on.  Oh, no. Come on, Linda. It's all right, Jim. I don't mind. Listen to that music. Just listen and get with it. Baby, that's a baby. Just glide it. Just glide it. Hey, there's Ted Hanover and his new partner. Linda, I'll take care of him. Whether he's sober or not, I never dance with anyone like that. Yeah, it's a great finish to a lot of things. Hey, Amped. It's me, your agent, Danny. Open your eyes and look at me. Oh, no, no. I'm afraid to. It might make me ill. Danny, what do you want? Ten percent of this headache? I don't need it. I got one on my own.  Well, well, well, well. Is Junior coming too? Oh, hello, Jim. Jim, where did you get that extra head? Oh, I, I always wear it in case one goes out on me. Oh, any boy, where am I? At Holiday Inn. Well, where are you? Oh, me? I'm at Holiday Inn too. Uh, Jim? Me too. I'm right here with the rest of you. Oh, crowded, isn't it? How did I get here? Well, I'll tell you a long story. Last night was New Year's Eve. Oh, yes. Now it comes back to me. Now I remember. You know, that's too bad about Lila, but on the whole, I think you're better off doing a single. Oh, no, no, boy. Boy, I got to have a partner. Well, aren't you tired of getting partners and falling in love with them and losing them? I don't know why you didn't tell me you had a new girl in the leash. Uh, a new girl?  She was terrific. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. Was I dancing last night? Well, you got the best hand of your life. No kidding. I couldn't get close enough to see the girl's face, but her figure. Yeah? You didn't get close, though. No, no. The closest I was was when she was leaving the dance floor. I only saw her then from the back. She was, uh, about this. I mean, she has a... Well, if I ever saw her from the back again, I'd recognize it. You saw her, Jim. You describe her. Who? Who me? Well, I wasn't watching very closely. She was a medium, medium-built sort of girl with a medium face. She had an evening gown on with a... with a medium kind of belt in the back. Just a medium girl. Yeah. She lived like a former girlfriend of mine named Consuela Schlepkes. Yeah, that Consuela was all right. She used to play the pinball machine a lot down at the corner drugstore. Well, I remember one time she was high man three weeks in a row. Oh, that's dandy. Thanks. That helps a lot. Oh, I'm happy to help you out any time, dandy. I'll do as much.  We have a nice meeting in the night. Destiny drawing two pairs of feet together. No woman could pass up a chance like she'll be back next holiday, and I'll be here waiting. Oh, you will, huh? Yes, I will, huh? Okay. It's your time. Waste it. I'll see you later. Hello, Jim. Well, I've got my overnight case packed. All ready to go back to the city in the floor shop. Linda, I've been thinking about that Lincoln's birthday number. I've decided we better do it in blackface. Mm-hmm. You and I, the chorus and everyone in blackface. I went back to New York. A whole lot of things all mixed up in my mind. The excitement of dancing with Ted Hanover and the excitement of singing with Jim. And most of all, the excitement of just being around Jim. I could hardly wait for Lincoln's birthday, but at last it came, and once more, I was with Jim on the stage of Holiday Inn. In blackface. Tiny babe, the folks all call him Honesty. Babe, Abraham celebrates this blessed February. General's time. That's why we celebrate. That was Lincoln's birthday, Jim and me in blackface. And let me tell you, even with charcoal all over his kisser, he was something to start a girl dreaming. I couldn't wait to get back to the Inn on St. Valentine's Day. And I was there early in a brand new dress, wearing my heart on my sleeve.  Oh, thank you. All the Inn looks beautiful. You like those cupids? I pose for them myself. I thought they looked familiar. Come over to the piano. I've got a Valentine for you. What is it? Well, you just stand there by the piano and listen. This is for you, for me, honey. And I mean every word. Be careful. It's my heart. It's not my watch. You're holding. It's not the note I sent you. That it's not the book I learned. Watch you're holding. It's my heart. How in the world did you get out here again? Now, just keep playing, Beethoven. Just keep playing. Come on, baby. Let's finish that dance. We started New Year's Eve. Think for you ever since New Year's Eve. You have? Well, I've been right here. You have? Jim? Jim? Okay, okay. Two of you finally got together. And I'm sure neither one of you need me anymore. Jim.  Whatever that is, don't pay any attention to him. He's just jealous because I always take his girls away from him. Now, can I help if he isn't attractive to women? I can't believe Jim would act like that. Say, say, wait a minute. Where have I seen you before? I mean before New Year's. I saw you at the markets. Of course, you're the girl in the flower shop. Well, well, it's a small world isn't it, huh? Well, come on. We'd better start practicing. You and I are going to dance together tonight. Tonight and every night from now on. That moment things changed between Jim and me. Oh, we went on doing shows together at Holiday Inn, but from that day I was dancing with Ted, not singing with Jim. The holidays were far from happy then. Easter was a bust. May day was dark and rainy. June the month of brides was completely grim. And then came the 4th of July. Ted kept asking me to start out on the road with him with our numbers, but I didn't want to leave Holiday Inn. Finally, I decided to ask Jim what was wrong. Wrong? What could be wrong? Everything is just dandy. Look, you better get in your costume. It's almost time for your number. Something's wrong, and I want to know what it is. Once I was in love with a girl. We were planning to get married, and all of a sudden a big change set in. She decided Ted was what she wanted, and that was that. Once is enough for that to happen to me. I'm not sticking my fingers in the fire anymore. Do you think I'm like that? Well, I haven't noticed any indications of you being any different. Well, I'm very happy to know what you think of me.  Danny has one of the biggest directors in Hollywood in the audience. And you and Ted are practically on your way west right now. Well, maybe they won't like it. Thank you. You're great. Together or separately. When they see that ballroom number in that fourth of July solo of Ted's, all you have to do is make your reservations on the super chief. And by the way, that's all right with me too. Well, okay. That's all right with me too. The show that night was sensational. He closed with Ted doing his solo, and the way it went over should have impressed even the toughest Hollywood director. That was really great, Ted. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. You too, Linda. Thanks, Danny. Folks, I want you to meet Hollywood's greatest picture director, Mr. Howard Dunbar. That's Mason. Hello. Nice to meet you. Mr. Dunbar, this is the greatest dance team in the business. Hanover and Mason. That really was a show. Oh, this is the owner of Hollywood in Jim Hardy. Say, Jim, is there some place that's quiet where Mr. Dunbar and I can discuss business? You can go right over there in my office. Well, as a matter of fact, Danny, it's Mr. Hardy I'd really like to talk to. Jim has a great voice, hasn't he, Mr. Dunbar? Well, his voice is fine, all right. But it's the idea of holiday in that interests me. I think there's a picture of it. Now, we could do a story around two guys and a girl and use all the special songs you've written, Mr. Hardy. Hey, that's a sensational idea. Well, now, Mr. Dunbar, of course, considering the originality of the idea, we've got to get a pretty good price. Now, wait a minute, Danny. Don't let your 10% run away with you. Thanks for the offer, Mr. Dunbar, but I'm not interested in selling. Not interested. Jim, are you out of your mind? It's for heat, Mr. Dunbar. Heat. He hasn't been himself all day. The idea is unnatural for pictures, Jim. Well, of course, we'd starve, Mr. Hanover and his partner in the picture. I'm not interested in selling. Well, that's up to you. Well, now, wait a minute, Jim, wait a minute. Don't be in such a hurry. Jim, would it be decent for once in your life and let somebody else around here have a chance? You had to louse this up for me, too, didn't you, Ted? Whether it's a girl or an idea or a song or even a new hat, as soon as I get it, you want it. And you usually get it, too, don't you? Oh, now, Jim, Jim, you're my best friend. Yeah, yeah, I always have been. But you always seem to wind up my worst enemy. Well, okay, you've wrecked everything now anyhow. Take the idea, take the music, take Linda, take the whole darn thing. Both of you do me a favor, will you? Stay away from me from now on. Okay, Mr. Soarhead, if that's the way you wish it. Well, Mr. Hardy, we'll want you and Hollywood, too, to write the music. No, thanks. I'll write the music here and send it to you. Jim, if you'd only listened to me... What do you want now, Linda?  Happy holiday. There's the next show. Happy holiday. Yeah, happy holiday. And many of them. Earlier this evening, we were talking about the planning and preparation which goes into making the Christmas season what it is. For a lot of us, one of the high spots of that season will be a trip, for Christmas is the traditional reunion season of the year. It's the time when all members of the family gather happily together in one home, enjoying to the full, the warm, friendly spirit of Yuletide. That's why weeks and months ago, railroads began to plan and prepare for the increased travel which Christmas brings. It was necessary first to figure ahead as closely as possible how many of you would travel and where and when. The next step was to line up the extra cars and the extra trains that will be needed. That means also lining up the extra people that will be needed to run them and making the necessary arrangements and busy terminals to get the trains in and out promptly and to take care of the crowds. Many of these things can be planned ahead on the basis of experience and expectation. But then there comes along sometimes the unexpected. Weather, for example, the storms, snow, fog, icy roads would mean that a good many of you who plan to travel some other way might change your minds when the time comes to go and decide to go in the warmth and comfort and safety of the train. And if that should happen, the railroads will do their best to take care of you too. So the railroads are making ready to carry you and your family on your Christmas journeys and they hope that many of you will ride with them. But no matter how you go, they wish you a safe journey and a joyous reunion at Journey's End. The railroad hour show train will return in just a moment after a brief pause for station identification. Now to act three of Holiday Inn starring George Murphy, Martha Tilton, Jerome Cowan and your host, Gordon McRae. Ted and I went to Hollywood and Jim stated Holiday Inn. I was lonely in rooms crowded with people. I was impatient with voices that dripped with compliments. I was heart-sake and completely without heart. Nothing mattered very much. Linda, you know, we're getting to be quite an item in the gossip column. Are we, Ted? I bet we are. How about giving them something really concrete to write about, like, say, a wedding date? I'm not in love with you, Ted. But I'm in love with you. You always fall in love with your dancing partner. I've never been in love like this before. Why don't you marry me and let me try to make you happy? We go so well together. We dance well, we talk well, we look well. It all goes to show you how deceiving appearances can be, doesn't it? Be careful. It's my heart. It's not my watch you're holding. It's my... Ted, Ted, stop singing that song. Oh, there's no use living in the past, Linda. The past is over. You might as well put your mind and heart in the future. I know you're right. I know it's the sensible thing to do. I haven't even heard a word from him. Come on, make a new life for yourself, Linda. Marry me. You really want to marry me knowing how I feel? Yes, I'm sure that you'll get over how you feel now, Linda. Every torch burns itself out eventually. All right, Ted. All right. Christmas? Christmas? Marry me Christmas Day. All right. All right, Christmas Day. Ted and I planned a wedding for Christmas Day. And back at holiday in, Jim sat alone, listening to a record he had made of a Thanksgiving song. He sat by himself talking back to the record. Okay, sing it good, Papi, and cheer me up. Are you kidding? You really loaded, Dad. Oh, so? Like what? Nothing.  Need glasses. Big enough to fly with. You're not getting anywhere sitting here.  I've got plenty to be thankful for. Night before Christmas, we shot the last scene of Holiday Inn. I walked on the set, and there was the end, just as it had been on the day I walked in and asked him for the job. There was the Christmas tree and the piano. There was everything, just as it was. All the props were there. Only the people were different. I wandered around touching things until the director said... All right, darling, now you come in with a sleigh and we'll follow you on the boom from outside into the inn. And when you get there, go to the piano and do your song. You just make me cry when you sing it, and I'll get you out of here early so you can start getting ready for that wedding. Yes, Mr. Dunbar. All right, ready for a run-through. Christmas car. Never stop caring. Oh, Jim, neither did I. Story to hand. Well, it's very nice of you to let me know. It's the only way the three of us can ever be happy together. Oh, well, I bow to the inevitable, gracefully saying the appropriate, the seasonal thing. Happy holiday. Happy holiday. Happy holiday. I pray giving a special thank you to George Murphy, Martha Tilton, and Jerome Cowan for guesting with us tonight. And to our splendid supporting cast, Jack Edwards and Jessica Patrick. Holiday Inn was adapted for radio by Gene Holloway. Well, next week the show train will arrive in the same tracks and at the same time. On board will be Nadine Connor, Sterling Holloway, Clark Dennis, and Francis X. Bushman to join me in bringing you the Sigmund Romburg operetta, The Desert Song. And by the way, tonight we'd like to say welcome to a brand new show which follows us in ABC and will be heard each Monday night hereafter. It's Henry J. Taylor, the famous author and commentator in his program, Your Land and Mine, and I'm sure you're going to like it. Well, it looks as though ready to pull out. And so until next week, goodbye. Each one of them has its own operations and services. Each one competes keenly with others for business. But all of them work together through the association of American Railroads for the improvement of all railroading and for better service to you. Francis Gordon-Macrae again. All of us who helped to bring you the railroad hour join with our guest stars in the American Railroads in sincere wishes that you will have a merry Christmas and a truly happy holiday season.


Live from Las Vegas, it's theCUBE. Covering Oracle Modern Customer Experience 2017. Brought to you by Oracle. Okay, welcome back and we are here live at the Mendeley Bay in Las Vegas for Oracle's Modern CX. I'm John Furrier with SiliconANGLE. This is theCUBE and my co-host, Peter Burris, here for two days of wall-to-wall coverage day. To Doug Kennedy, Vice President of Business Development, partner strategy at Oracle, former Oracle, left Oracle, went to NetSuite, now back at Oracle, running partners. Great to have you on theCUBE. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for joining us. We were just talking before we rolled live about some of the history and some of the dynamics in the industry and it's a very interesting time because the partner landscape is becoming a critical linchpin for this digital transformation as vendors get cloud and the suppliers become cloudified, if you will. The role of the partners is beyond strategic. It's actually tactical. Well, you've got to look at actually the expertise that you need to actually work with the customer. Always sit in the customer seat and look back at the vendors and the partner ecosystem to determine what they need to be successful. And candidly, we bring part of it as Oracle. Partners bring the rest of it, whether it's industry expertise, vertical expertise. They deeply understand agencies. Whatever that expertise is, we have to figure out the right partnership with them to go be successful together. And that's the trick. And that's why partners are so important. And what's the message and focus here at Modern CEX? Obviously, it's not just pillars of solutions. It's you got a little bit of unification. You have this modern CEX. So it's got a platform play. I'll see the data center of the proposition. What's the conversation like with partners here? So the ones I've been having this week. So I've been back all of seven weeks. So I'm rolling out a new partner strategy pretty quickly here. And I introduced it to several of our top partners here this week. And it really is to specialize and focus on the prioritization you can bring to our partnerships that is back to specialization. I roll everything back. I've done partnering for, good Lord, a couple of decades now. The number one question is, how do we both be profitable? We're in partnerships to actually each make money and win together. So back it up to that and look at how they specialize. And don't get too thin, don't get too wide, but look at what you're successful at doing as a partner and for us to then figure out how to work together in that partnership to go win. So I've been amplifying that up with the partners this week. You'll fail if you're spread to thin and trying to be everything to everyone. And I'm pushing the partners to make sure they bring that to the forefront with us first before we actually go engage the prospects and customers. So I'm kind of backing up again before I do this. So it's not a general purpose philosophy. It's really find some swim lanes. If you're, everyone's got a unique specialty. I mean, PWC's got their thing. Deloitte, Accenture, they all kind of have their swim lanes developing. But Specialism seems to have much more domain expertise now. I was talking to Accenture, CTO of Analytics, John Luke Shatlainian, and then they have tons of data scientists. They're coding away before there used to be project managers. Now they got coders. So you're seeing that transformation. Is that also a dynamic you're seeing? Yeah, it definitely seeing that. If you look at our ecosystem, we've got a little over a thousand partners right now that focus on OMC, the marketing club. Their ISVs, the old traditional SI shifting into more managed services vein and still doing implementations. Then you got the agencies, which is unique in and of itself because they're running on behalf of the customers. They understand the marketing industry deeply. And so now they're taking our solutions and running on behalf of customers, but they're also a partner type. So it's determining which type you are and some by the way are all three. So how do we work with them most effectively? Because this is a cost. And what's the plan? So what's giving you any details to the strategy? Well, the strategies, first of all, there is an ideal partner profile for each of those partner categories. And to replicate that, the programs we're putting in place, we want more of those that fit what I call the ideal partner profile, which comes at the end of the day. They're going to be profitable. We're going to be profitable. But if you look at the agency model, how do they actually have the reach and coverage with the customers that they currently actually service? How can we actually work with them to introduce our solutions into that product mix they already use in their managed operations environment? How do we make sure we're bringing that to the forefront in a way that values the agency's business and then also values their customers? Right, so that's unique is because we're in sense dealing with two customers. We're dealing with the agencies as a partner who's running on behalf of their customers. We have to have a solution that fits that equation. Think of it that way. But there's something else going on. I want to test you with this. And that is it used to be the traditional partner model, the on-premise orientated partnership model was that the partner was a channel partner who might embed their software on top of the product, et cetera. But Oracle could be good and the partner could be good. If Oracle was really good and the partner was okay, it still could work out. This more deeply integrated world where data is the asset and how you flow it and the speed with which it flows and the degree to which you can show that end-to-end coherence is going to determine winners or losers. That means that whoever is the weakest link is the weakest link for ever or sets the quality for everybody to a degree. How is that going to change the way you talk to partners? Because they're going to have to step up their game in a big way for Oracle to be able to step up the game. No, great question. So we have a co-selling model, first of all. We've indirect in certain markets. Japan and some of the Southeast Asia markets are indirect, so we will rely on the partners to do most of the selling as well as the delivery and managed services. The rest of the world's co-selling. So with our co-sellers, half of the equations are on people. So I'm doing a couple different things. First of all, on our side, we're defining roles and responsibilities of co-selling and making sure our own salespeople know not who to engage, how to engage the partner. Going back to the basics of how early you pull them in, do you have them do pre-sales? Do you do pre-sales? Who does the demos? Basically through the entire sales cycle, defining roles and responsibilities and taking that same set of rules to the partners. So we actually have ground rules of how we want to engage through the sales cycle. The last, the just important point, the last thing you want is for the partner and our own sales rep to meet each other in the prospects lobby at the 11th hour of a sales cycle. We're trying to fix that, but more importantly, you raised a really good point. What am I asking the partners to step up and do? We're just putting in place, depending on the partner type, six different criteria, and there's also a seventh criteria that I'm measuring our best partners by. It's around capability to execute locally on both pre-sales and technical implementations and operations. I'm looking at revenue. I'm looking at number of customer ads so you're not just out shooting elephants once a year, but you're also bringing in a volume with us. I'm looking at references. That's the proof in the pointing that you're capable of maintaining an environment and you're helping your customers derive the most value out of the service and solution, right? And then the last one is really looking at, are you in an industry in a vertical and can you bring that to the forefront effectively in co-selling? So I'm putting a bar out there that says, these are the criteria you've got to get to over this bar to be one of the partners I take into my co-selling engine and promote you to my sales force. So extremely prescriptive on who we're going to co-sell with. So it's sales synergy, not conflict. So you're trying to identify hand and glove kind of fit points. Defining how and who. But let me offer one other one. See if this resonates with you. Make one other suggestion. Is that especially for partners that are part of the cloud mix, have you talked about end to end performance, end to end effectiveness, end to end efficiency and start to benchmark some of these partners and say, you're doing okay, but we got other folks over here who have done. I mean, the time of execution, the number of errors that are generated, all these other things, because we're now talking about an integration that is not just in the marketing function, not just in the selling function, not just in the service function, but in the execution. That that's where the customer's going to determine whether the partnership is working. Are you starting to look at some of those measures as well? Yes, so the back end of this, I'm now looking at a report that says, where are we churning? Where are we actually having down sales? In other words, the subscription's not renewed at the same level. And I'm correlating that report for the first time back to the associated partner. Then I could sit back down with them and say, look, we're correlating you to a certain percentage of churn, what do we need to do to fix this? Is it better education? Are you not focusing on the whole life cycle of the customer? So we'll be able to come back at that with the partners as well. We haven't done a very good job at that candidly. It's kind of the front of the sale, move through, get them running. And then once in a while, we turn up to make sure they're delighted and that they're renewing. You can't do that anymore. The interesting thing that you're getting at is, I hate to say that you're going dog food or drinking your own champagne or whatever you want to call it. You guys are saying here, use data and change business practices. Exactly, exactly. So you're going to look at the data and bring that in. But ideal, the data model is first, if I hear correctly, is identify clearly your parameters for ideal partnership. Yep, yep. On a profitable win-win scenario. Who we're working with and then to find how we're working together so our field can effectively co-sell with them. Okay, so what's the reaction? I mean, the agencies I can see as a potential, a lot of moving parts there. So I think that's challenging in general. Just agencies are different than more committed partners. I'm more more committed. I was good enough to say that, but I don't mean to put down the agency. But agencies have a lot of moving parts. What has been the reaction from agencies and the other different types of partners? And this is literally this week for the past three days I've been meeting with a lot of on top partners. Scanification. They're very pleased. No, they're very pleased. They say we want this approach. Because candidly, if I say, look, here's why I'm going to bet on you and here's how I'm going to work with you, you can invest ahead of the curve. Most partners aren't going to invest ahead of the curve. They kind of look in the rear view mirror and go, yeah, I got a couple of deals last month. I'm going to maybe start adding capacity. I could say, look, we're committing to you in these regions, in these areas, and here's how we're working together. It gives them more confidence to start investing ahead of the curve with us. And that's the best you can ask. You don't want them lagging behind the demand. And what about the swim lanes?  Yeah, partner priority map. Because that seems to be on the partner, not saying an oracle. You could bring a lot to the table and say, here's how we think you might be fit based on the parameters. But that's the transformation that the partners are going through. Are you being proactive and recommending? Are they coming to you? They seem to be kind of in swim lanes. If you leave it up to the partner, they'll come to you and I swim in every lane and I do everything. In a past life, what I was able to do, and we've done a little bit now, we're going to finish this job, I was able to run transactions through DNB for the past like three years of my partner ecosystem. And partners would say, I play in every industry and every vertical. And I'd bring data back and say, actually, no, you don't. Here's where you focus. They hope to be in every vertical. Right, they want to. They want to. And that's how they fail. They spread themselves through thinns. But we come back with the data to say, look, here's where your references are. Here's where the majority of your revenue has come from. I'm going to promote you in these swim lanes. You can move into another swim lane over time, but let's focus here. And we've done that. We've actually, we're about 95% through this exercise over the past six weeks. I've taken some of the maps back to some of the partners to say, here's where we believe we're going to win with you. That's an exercise we're going to finish over the next couple of months. And it'll evolve over time. But those are going to be the swim lanes. I'm glad you used that. I used that privately. Which swim lanes are they in? And how do I promote those to be the swim lanes my sellers, my co-sellers are going to work with them on? And that's the way it will work. By the way, it helps me with the capacity too. If I'm missing somebody in a swim lane, I will first of all try to take somebody out of a lane and get them into an adjacent lane for capacity. They like that instead of just bringing somebody net new in. I mean, I always say in the partner business, it's pretty straightforward. It comes down to money, right? What's in it for me? I want to make some cash. Profitability is I think really important. I think it's cool that you're being transparent about saying, hey, we're in business to make money. Let's just put that on the table. Because they're going to have posture and say, but at the end of the day, it's what's in it for me. I still think that this notion of moving from a product orientation to a service orientation, which Cloud describes means a churn, CX, those types of measures. At the end of the day, if Oracle's going to win, it has to be able to demonstrate to the marketplace our ecosystem operates better than anybody else's ecosystem. And starting to bake some of those measures and bake some of those ways of thinking into the relationship so that partners are lifting their game up, it's going to be really crucially important. Well, the ecosystem thing is going to be tested by the fact that at the end of the day, at least my experience in talking to customers and the experience of dealing with the partners is, at the end of the day, the 11th hour sales conflict is ultimately the indicator of if it's working or not. If there's conflict with the customer and trust, like, wait a minute, this guy's not going to deliver, that's going to undertone that if that sentiment's there, it's not working, right? If it's working, pass, shoot, score, everyone's happy. Sales gets comped on the Oracle side, feeding more business to the partner. You know, this is a relationship where it flows to the good partners. Right, that's why you don't deal with the, all thousand can play in the ecosystem, but you place your bets on the top ones and get that right, and that's where your growth is going to come from. It's gamification. Also, think of it another way is that, I'd rather give the next dollar to one of my top partners that fits my ideal partner profile and can drive growth with me. They give it to the person on the tail end of the tail because they can't turn that same dollar into more revenue together. The guys at the top of the pyramid are more capable of reinvesting in our business, so I'm advocating. And the emerging ones that have an ascension vision of sending up into be a partner will see the cash being doled out and will align. We're going to be transparent of where the bar is. You want to get there? Here's the things you've got to be able to do, right? And how, you guys helping them with any kind of software, so let's just say, partners say, hey Oracle, thanks for the mentoring, thanks for the clarity. I really want to be in this swim lane, and I'm willing to invest. What are you going to do for me? So the education, the training for them. Some of them, as we look at their profile, how successful they are, we will grandfather them into certain lanes as well.  We're going to still look at that next tranche of partners that want to get above that bar and work with them because if we get them over the bar, we'll be successful, we'll be more successful. So we have to help them through training and education and enablement as well to be able to do that and some opportunities to participate in different marketing programs and campaigns.  It's good to coast challenge, it's challenging, it's got a great, I like the formula. Seven days in, show, seven weeks in. What's your feedback on the show here? Yeah, no, this is very good. It's good for a variety of reasons. Obviously the customer focus is extremely good. The other thing it does for our partners is it gives them a chance to network because a customer doesn't just buy one solution from one partner. Typically our sales involve three or four partners at times. It gives them a networking opportunity and I'm trying to aggregate those solutions together into more of a complete offering and we're just one part of that equation. So these type of events help those partners network together and we drive some of that networking as well. Something good. So next year when we're sitting on the cube at a location, maybe here, maybe somewhere else, what's success in your mind for one year out in terms of in your mind's eye? What do you want to see happening and envisioning happening for next year's event? Well the stake in the ground for our own ecosystem is we've doubled the impact of our co-selling for our top line with partners. That's a pretty big challenge, but that's what I'm committing to. It's a big nut that we're going to go after. But also here you're going to have a partner ecosystem to be blunt, they're more profitable. They're doing better. They actually want more. I would argue we're going to have more people attending here for my partner ecosystem next year, hungry for more information and more opportunities to work together. So grow it up.  And other partners that are not part of that growth wanting it because if you make some poster children the rest are going to want more of that. So we'll see more of our herd mentality start. Doug Kennedy in charge of business development and partners here at Oracle on the cube. I'm John Furrier with Peter Burris. We'll be back with more live coverage after the short break.


Oh, I'm Adam Navas. And, sorry. Visioning, putting that in a blooper reel. Okay, go ahead again, Adam, sorry. Hi, I'm Adam Navas. And I'm Liz Wade. And today we're talking about this week's featured program, Work Less and Live Better. If you haven't caught this program, you can check it out in the show notes or find it on YouTube or our podcast stream. And we recommend that you do that because we're gonna be talking about it and we may have some spoilers. So if you have, we're excited to dive in and talk about working less. Who doesn't wanna work less, Liz? Yeah, I know. And I love the idea that we have spoilers in this show. That's great. Of course, for people who might not know what a spoiler is, it's okay. Now I've gotten myself in a hole. But a spoiler is like when you wanna find something out by just watching a show and then somebody spoils it for you by maybe telling you the surprise ending or a piece of information that you wanted to learn from the television program. I mean, besides talking about food getting spoiled, I guess we don't, I mean, children could get spoiled, but that's a little bit different. Yeah, that's true. I think really more commonly it's a spoiler now for shows, at least for me. Yeah. All right, so yeah, we're talking about, so who doesn't wanna work less, you said? Right. I guess people who are out of a job. Yeah, that's true. That's true. Sad, take it. But even so, this program talks about a person who put himself out of a job, right, on purpose. Right. For a certain amount of time, because he was going on a sabbatical, which is what this program is about. So it's not actually about being jobless or going on a vacation, but taking a break from your work. It is a program, you know, so I wrote this program because I'm fascinated by those things in life that, how do I say this? Seem to go, like they're counterintuitive, which means it's not, you think, you would think working more and more and more, you would get more accomplished. Yeah, or productive, like that you would get more done. The more you work, the more you get done. And one of the ideas of a sabbatical is that you can actually be more productive. It's not all about being productive, but you can be more productive if you have seasons of rest in your life. I know that one time, this was just one time, I was able to take just a two-week vacation, right? And it was majestic, it was amazing, it was just how my life aligned. And I can't imagine taking a full, many months long sabbatical. Would you know what to do with yourself? Like what would you do with? If I came to you and said, Liz, you can take three months to do whatever you wanna do. I think it's hard because you were saying this was a vacation and part of it is you need part of your vacation to really disconnect from your life in the first place. So if you're taking a real sabbatical, which is sabbatical is in this program, we've talked about how it's not a vacation, you don't sit around, but it might be something that you go work on another project that you have started or learn a new skill that might help you in your job later or just learn about anything, really, right? It doesn't have to be related to your job. But I think I would need a little, like a buffer between work and then the sabbatical because getting out of that idea of working would be really difficult. Right, that you show up at a certain time. And thinking of the sabbatical not as a vacation, but as actually something that you were working towards something else. Right, right. Would you wanna do something totally unrelated to what you do right now?  I think last year was the pandemic, right? Well, I mean, we're still in the pandemic, but last year we had a lot of lockdowns where we were sort of at home all the time, right? And I think that, for me, I do love to travel and I love to learn about different cultures. But when I had to stay home, I did learn some new skills. Like many people around the world, I created a sourdough starter and I made some sourdough bread. My husband learned how to bake like hamburger buns and bread and things like that. And then I also took out my sewing machine, which I've talked about on this program before and I made masks. But I also, I have made things before like, I don't know, some clothes and blankets and things like that. So I think, I don't know if I would maybe pursue one of those things, just to make something with my hands and to continue learning that skill. But I think those are some things that I might look into. What would you do on a sabbatical app? You know, I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned travel. I like to travel, but I don't like to travel when I have to be somewhere for a certain time. Like if it were like, I could go to a city and just really enjoy the city. I don't like to travel where I have to go like, see this thing, the next day I have to see that thing. I have to see that thing. Yeah. So I would want to travel, you know, maybe take the sabbatical in a different place. In a different year. In a different year, yes. Well, that's- Save your sabbatical for a little bit, Adam. See, that brings up an interesting, you know, you and I have been working from our respective homes for the last year and longer even, but in a different way over the last year. So I will admit that I thought that working from home would be 100% great. And in many ways it is. But it's not a sabbatical. It's not more restful. There are good things about it, but it's not restful. And I think this program, if you haven't, again, if you haven't listened to the program, go do so. Because it really talks about, a sabbatical is not working. A sabbatical is not vacation. So what really is interesting to me is, how do you, like you and I, who are not in work at a university, which is where a lot of these kind of sabbaticals come from, how do we do these things? I know that here in Spotlight, we get to write a lot of different programs and we have some flexibility in what we're engaged in. But do you think sabbaticals should be in more jobs? Should they be offered more? That's a good question. I do think, I mean, like the program talks about how they are being offered more because, businesses realize that just pushing people to do more and more work isn't actually getting more work done. But I think there's still a lot of pushback from that, maybe among bosses and things like that, because, like you said, it's so counterintuitive. What I really liked about this program, kind of on that point, is that it gave a concrete example of what any person can do, even if their business doesn't offer, even if their job doesn't offer a paid sabbatical or they can't go on a sabbatical for a couple of months or a year. Cause sometimes you read these programs and you're like, I could never envision myself going on a sabbatical. For most people, it's not an option, even though more companies are doing it. Yeah, like I said, there's this guy who made himself a sabbatical, he just cut back on things he was spending money on and he saved and he, yeah, he just decided he was gonna go on a sabbatical, but not everyone can do that. So these like concrete small things, like putting your phone down or closing your computer and going for a walk in nature, just to have that rest in your mind and to not think about things or to take, what was it? Is it a whole day off? Just turn off all of your electronic devices, your computer, your phone or whatever and disconnect for a whole day every month? Yeah, I think I've heard it and I don't know if this was in the program or not. They said an hour a day, a day a week and a week a year? I think that's something like set aside an hour a day, a day, one day each week and then one week each year for just rest. It seems impossible to be honest. Even in like thinking about an hour a day. You know, I try to spend 30 minutes to an hour a day exercising or moving or getting steps and things like that. So to add another hour onto that or how do I balance that? But the program also gave another really great suggestion if you think an hour a day is too much, start with 10 minutes. Put your phone down, do something restful for 10 minutes. Maybe it's just sit quietly and try not to think or whatever.  Yeah, maybe we should do, we should for the next 10 minutes just sit here in silence and invite all the people who are viewing this now. I thought you were gonna say maybe we should have like a spotlight disconnect challenge or something. Like tell us if you disconnected for a few minutes or whatever. Yes, we would like you to unsubscribe from all the other channels, all the other channels that you subscribe to and just watch spotlight programs. Yeah, exactly. Subliminally. Subliminally, no, subliminally. There we go. There are a lot of good apps now, a lot of mindfulness kind of calm you down exercises. But Adam, this is my struggle with those apps. What's that? You're using an app to disconnect from electronics. Well, this is the... Talk about something that's counter-intuitive. Two sides of the coin. You know, it's a tool and you wanna use the tool but you don't want the tool to use you. Or maybe you learn it from the tool and then you gradually can do it yourself. Right, right. Maybe you would start to really need those rest times. I don't know. I guess I did not use to exercise as an adult. This is kind of how I'm thinking of building this new skill, right, and so then I started exercising slowly and then I did more and more and now when I don't do it, I'm like, oh, I really just need to exercise a little bit. Maybe that would be handy. So you feel the drive. You've made it part of your discipline and your routine. So first you train yourself through this app, then you go. Do you have a calming app like that on your phone? Yeah, we have one. I don't use it that much. I am a big fan of napping, of short sleep. Yes. And I do find it kind of like clears my head and of all the thoughts. And so that's what I do. And I also will go for a run or take the dog out for a walk. Yeah. But I'm not on my phone. Like I don't have any social media apps on my phone. That is right. You are not a big phone person. No. I gotta say, I think that I am not a very restful person. I think that for me, a struggle is, yeah, I just feel like I always have to be doing something to maybe not feel worth, but just to feel like I'm productive and getting things done. I think the pandemic this past year or so has really pointed that out to me and said, if I don't have anything to do and I can't go anywhere, what does that mean for me? Wow, we're going deep Liz. I know, right? What is your answer to that? I don't know. Just I guess that that rest is good. Like it has felt, I mean, in some parts this has been really stressful, but just to say, oh, there is a place for rest in our lives. Yeah, a necessary place. Yeah, yeah, and it's not bad.  Yup. Mental health breaking down. Mental energy. Mental energy, exactly. And so I like this program because I like thinking about even like what you're saying, even when you can't take a sabbatical as it's been in academic settings, you can step back because it's so easy to get swept along by, oh, I gotta check my phone, I gotta do these things, just take a step. Or an hour, I can't do an hour. I can't do an hour, but I can take 10 minutes and just center in myself and say, you know, what do I want? What do I want to be doing right now? Especially with that promise that that rest will lead to a benefit. It's not just, I don't know, maybe that's a bad way to think about it. Well, I think, and I don't think, well, think about this.  It is, we are, as a people, we are designed for rest. It's true. So we work, work, work to survive, but when we are most ourselves, which is where I think people have a hard time when they retire and they stop working, they've put so much of their identity in what they do every day that they kind of feel a little lost. Okay, so this conversation is getting a little long, but I just want to say. People love it. If you're watching this. It depends on what you count for work. Is it your job that you're counting, right? So I do think there is a problem with just identifying yourself with your work. But, okay, so when I am making sourdough, it's still work, it's not me sitting down or disconnecting. I might be surfing my phone while I'm waiting for the bread to rise or whatever. Like, does that count as rest or is that still work? I mean, I guess it depends on how you define rest, but if you're defining it as the things you do when you're not under the confines of your actual paid job, okay, I could get it. I mean, but there's also like, you like making sourdough, but if you are mowing the lawn or cleaning the bathroom. Yeah, that's not rest. That's not rest. But other people get paid to do something that they really love and would do for free. So does that, I don't know. The question, so if you have ever taken a sabbatical or you, how do you find ways of resting in your week? Put a comment below and we'll try to respond to it. Yeah, tell us what you think is rest. Like, what do you do for rest? I would be really interested in that. Yeah, that would be, when do you feel? Or do you ever feel rested? That's, you know. Is that your life situation, Liz? What? Is that your life situation? The lack of rest? No, I feel rested sometimes. Yeah. Well, thank you for joining us. Again, in the show notes, you can check out the program work. I wanna make sure I get it right. Work less and live better. And make sure you subscribe to this channel. If you are finding that this is too easy, make sure you check out the advanced version of this program where we talk a little faster and more like we are now. And Liz, what am I missing? Social media, follow us on Facebook. Facebook, YouTube. Make sure you subscribe and hit the little bell so that you never miss a program that comes out. Yeah, and we will talk to you again soon. Thanks for watching.