Ideon Packaging, this is who we are in a few pictures.

4theKids... One of the reasons WHY we do what we do.

We adopted the street in front of our building/

Check out our building.

A good pat on the back for the entire Team.

Rule #7 - Play a Sport

Playing a sport can teach you many great skills for achieving success in both a sports career and a business career.  The key is to be open to these things and use them to your benefit so that you can grow from them.  When I was young I played a few sports that taught me these valuable fundamentals that would serve me in my business career.

You can always get better.  It doesn't matter if you're the best in the world at your sport, you can always get better.  If you want to be the best then this point should be one of your driving forces.  It's the people who think they're the best that usually become rapidly overtaken by someone else who has a better grip on this point.  Push yourself.  Get to the next level.  If you don't think there's another level then create one.  But no matter what, if success is your goal then you have to keep getting better no matter how good you think you are.

Play to win.  You're not always going to win, but you should always play to win.  This leads to many other topics like positive thinking and goal setting, but no matter what, play to win.  When one of those times comes that you don't win, be gracious.  The worst thing you could be a sore loser, this will brand you as a poor sport and people will not want to be associated with you.  Oh yeah, people don't like cocky either, it's a delicate balance.

Hard work is a must.  Think about it, in any professional sport it's only the top few that can actually make it to a level where they can make a decent living.  As an example, how many kids, teens and adults are playing hockey wanting to be in the NHL? Now, how many players are in the NHL?  There's only approximately 700 players in the NHL compared to the hundreds of thousands or more who play hockey and wish they could get to the NHL. The ones who make it know they have to work harder than everyone else.  In business or your industry, do you work harder than everyone else?  How high on the proverbial ladder do you want to climb?  To get to success you have to work harder than everyone else.

You're in charge of you.  You're the only person who's going to make you better.  There's nowhere else to look but in the mirror when you don't achieve what you set out for.  If you want it, then you have to go get it.  No one is going to come along, take you by the hand, and guide you to success.  Success comes from your own strength, discipline and hard work.

Teamwork.  As much as individual performance can earn you a high level of recognition, you're not going to be the best without the help of a team.  Moreover, a team that works as a cohesive unit, where everyone knows their role on the team and performs it to the best of their ability.  Even golfers have a team, think of how important their caddy is and how well they need to work together.  Being able to work in a team is vitally important in sports and business, I can't think of a single business where you work completely on your own, without colleagues, suppliers or customers.  Treat everyone like a teammate, helping each other to win.

Here's a thought to leave you with.  Professional athletes and people trying to become professional athletes practice many, many hours a week to get better.  Do you want to have a successful business career?  How much do you practice?  How much do you read to expand your mind?  How much do you train yourself to be a better leader?  How are you improving your communication and people skills?  Practice, practice, practice...  Your parents and coach told you this all the time when you were young, it's the same for business.

When Do You Workout?

When considering the best time of the day to workout a lot of people will say that first thing in the morning is the best.  Moreover, by working out first thing in the morning you will bring up your energy level at the start of the day so you will have more energy throughout the day.

I'm not going to say this is wrong, everyone needs to form their own opinion, but I've got a different view.

I work out at the end of the day.  After dinner, after playing with my kids and getting them into bed, after doing some writing, after doing some work or playing guitar, that's when I workout.  What?!?  Why on earth would you possibly want to workout at the end of the day when most people are thinking about shutting down and relaxing after a long day?  Maybe you're saying, "That's when all my favorite TV shows are on!"  You can make your own choice as to when you're going to workout.  Please, just make sure you're choosing to get some exercise and not making excuses, life is too short.  

This system of working out at the end of the day works for me because I've trained my body to not only perform throughout the day, but my body knows that come the end of the day it still needs to perform at an even higher level.  Thus, maintaining and increasing my energy during the day.  Rather than having your energy peak with a morning workout and then slowly declining over the rest of the day, I've trained my body and energy level to perform at a high level throughout the day and at the end of the day jump to an even higher level.  Somewhere between 8PM and 9PM I'm either starting 30-45 minutes of Insanity or going for a +5 kilometer run.  Believe me, it's hard in the beginning to get yourself psyched up to go for a run or workout in the late evening, but push through this.  Habits take 30 days to build.  Since starting this I've lost over 20 pounds combined with a balanced diet and portion control.

This system has worked for me, I'm not going to say it will work for you, but at minimum I hope to have conveyed that exercise is important and no matter when you can fit it you should do it.  DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR HEALTH or else you'll be looking back at some point in your life wishing you would have done more to maintain and improve your health.

It's your choice.  What do you choose?

What 4theKids Means to Ideon

Here's a video put together to help show what 4theKids means to all of us at Ideon Packaging.  Enjoy.

Rule #6 - Enjoy Life

Stop and smell the roses, we've all heard that many times but sometimes forget about it.  In the grand scheme of things we're not on this planet for very long, so making sure you enjoy every moment is vitally important.  Life is too short.  There can be many potential hurdles that can derail you from enjoying everyday of your life, so your goal needs to be not only enjoying the good times but to find the positivity in the hurdles.

Life isn't about the big moments, it's about the journey between them.  All too often people put to much emphasis on getting enjoyment from the big happy moments in their lives.  However, in order to achieve true enjoyment we need to understand that it's all about the journey and not the destination.  Find happiness everyday and don't hope it comes at the end of the week, month or year.

Be positive, it's the key to happiness.  If you're walking around grumpy, critical and/or pessimistic these  behaviours are a guaranteed way to ensure you won't enjoy life.  So why do this to yourself?  What are you getting out of being negative?  Does it make you feel better?  I'd bet dimes to donuts that you'd probably be happier getting some joy and fulfillment out of life.  Don't forget, this is all a choice.

I use Vision Boards to keep me focused on achieving things and moments that are going to bring me joy.  Stuff like travel, kids growing up and being successful, balance, cool cars, and the list goes on.  Another version of vision boards are bucket lists, which a lot of people have.  Whatever you're aiming for just make sure you write it down and/or put it to paper with a picture because the difference between a dream and a goal is writing it down and looking at it everyday.

Through all this, one thing to remember is to NOT enjoy life too much, striving too much for joy can lead you to lose sight on balance in your life.  You shouldn't aim to do anything in excess.  Focusing too much time on the pursuit of joy can lead to over-extending yourself.  This can negatively affect your financial well being and potentially drive you into debt or bankruptcy.   Beyond financial problems you could simply burn yourself out, which could lead to health problems.  Everything in moderation.

Make joy happen and get some enjoyment out of everyday, even if only in a small way.

Ideon 4theKids Radio Shout Out

Here's the radio shout-out Ideon got for donating toys to a local charity.  Great job Team Ideon!  Thanks to Mike and Tara on 103.5 QM/FM for the praise.

BC's Best Manufacturing Company to Work For Gives Back

Ideon Packaging has been named the 2012 BC's Best Manufacturing Company to work for by BC Business Magazine.

It started over 10 years ago; Rick and Dave sat down and had a conversation about boxes.  Over many cups of coffee the vision started to unfold. How do we differentiate ourselves?  Could a box company design, manufacture and deliver boxes in 5 days, consistently?  Could a WOW culture exist that all team members believe in?  Could a company prosper, while giving back to the community and being environmentally responsible?

Ideon’s growth over the past 10 years has been rapid.  From its humble beginnings on Annacis Island to a custom facility in Richmond, Ideon has grown to 85,000 sq. ft. spanning over 2 buildings.  And with our latest addition of an Industrial Digital Printing Press - the only one of its kind in Western Canada - Ideon's advancement continues.

All of Ideon’s amazing machinery is really nothing without Ideon’s most important asset: its People.  Ideon was founded on an open culture where people are allowed to make decisions in an effort to always WOW the customer.  Our growth hasn’t changed our values; we understand that all team members add value and are the core to our success.  Moreover, the focus on our people is the reason for Ideon being named BC’s Best Manufacturing company to work for.

Another reason for Ideon being named BC’s Best Manufacturing Company to work for is our entire team’s commitment to our 4theKids charity.  During the Holiday season is when our year-long employee bottle drive program pays it forward by taking all the money raised and purchase toys for less fortunate kids.  This year, Ideon, our employees and customers joined forces to donate approximately $4000 of toys to three local organizations; Richmond Christmas Fund, Canuck Place and BC Children’s Hospital.  We loaded up one of out trucks and delivered the toys today. 

For the full article on all of BC’s Best Companies check out the story on-line at http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/2012/bestcompanies

For more on Ideon Packaging and 4theKids please visit our website at www.ideonpackaging.com