Everything I Need to Know in 2010 I Just Learned on a Cross-Country Flight

This is the week of resolutions.

I was all set to do my 2010 list on a flight home from from the West Coast when, well, the list pretty much wrote itself.

Here’s what I learned between West and East:

Stay away from people wearing rubber gloves. They're either needlessly inspecting your luggage or planning some unspeakable medical act. If they’re at home, they want you to dry the dishes. In every case, it's best to avoid them--like the plague.

Don't Be Fooled By Rank. We live in a world of “top 10” and “best seven” and “the only five you’ll ever need.” Be cynical.

Suppose, for example, that your family were in “Group One” for boarding a plane. That would be pretty sweet, right, especially if the airline were charging $20 per checked bag in some sort of aviation scam and everyone needed the overhead space. Except, Mr. Group One—Mrs. Platinum is ahead of you. And Miss Executive Platinum is ahead of her. And Mr. Can’t-Put-His-Blackberry-Down-on-Christmas-Day First Class is ahead of you all. You're forth, Mr. Group One--and a distant fourth at that.

It's what I call the “Olive Syndrome.” You'd feel pretty darn good if you were a Jumbo olive. Until you found out about Giant, Colossal, Super Colossal and Mammoth, all bigger than you.

It's like being a Tall at Starbucks. “Tall” is a good thing, right? Ha.

If someone tells you in 2010 you're "walking tall," or that you had a "colossal idea,” you've just been dissed. Beware the ranking.

Find your cabin space. Until wifi invades, an airline cabin is the last best bastion for reading, writing and thinking. You need to find such a place on the ground, and then fight to keep the damn wifi out.

Less is more. Less service, less decent food, less civility. How about this, then: Less silly chatter from a pilot who is trying to be witty. How about this: Just fly the stinkin’ plane. If less is more in 2010, let’s at least be consistent.

Exercise and stay in shape. Did I really have to tell you that? Year after year, resolution after resolution, exercise heads the list. Because, you see, it really is the only panacea in life. But here's your 2010 twist. The Forbes magazine I was reading reported that “people who are less than physically fit may be more vulnerable to layoffs and face longer bouts of unemployment."

"No corporate human resources manager would ever admit this, of course, but one HR head who counsels unemployed men at my church told me he noticed a trend: The men facing the longest road back to employment are those who have physically given up.”

Staying fit, the article concludes, is protection for your heart, health, soul and paycheck. See? A panacea.

Get busy. You just think you're busy. I bought a copy of Outside magazine to see what bizarre things people are doing in the wilderness this year and found something called the "Reader of the Year." He's Eric Greitens, age 35. (Not 135.) 12 marathons, with one at 2:58. Champion boxer. Rhodes Scholar. Oxford grad. Aspiring mountaineer. Published author and photographer. Navy SEAL. Four tours (including Iraq & Afghanistan). Purple Heart, Bronze Star. White House Fellow. Started The Mission Continues to train wounded vets for leadership roles in their communities. Age 35. (Not 135.) You just think you're busy. Now, get busy.

Always wear clean underwear. While we were in the sky some sicko was trying to blow-up a plane in Detroit. Your mother was right in 1960 and she's right in 2010: You can never go wrong with clean underwear.

Posted by Entrepreneur Generations