Brian McMahon

The Weekly Q – Issue 299

Brian McMahon — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:02:32 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 298

Brian McMahon — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:53:03 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 297

Brian McMahon — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 18:50:14 +0000

Gordon Dean was a distinguished American lawyer and prosecutor. One of the original members of the Atomic Energy Commission, he became its chairman from 1950 to 1953. It’s said that when Dean died in a plane crash in 1958, among his personal effects was an envelope with nine life lessons scribbled on the back. They’re wisdom about his philosophy of life: Never lose your capacity for enthusiasm. Never lose your capacity for indignation. Never judge people – don’t type them too quickly. But in a pinch never first assume that a man is bad; first assume that he is good and that, at worst, he is in the gray area between bad and good. Never be impressed by wealth alone or thrown by poverty. If you can’t be generous when it’s hard to be, you won’t be when it’s easy. The greatest builder of confidence is the ability to do something – almost anything – well. When confidence comes, then strive for humility; you aren’t as good as all that. The way to become truly useful is to seek the best that other brains have to offer. Use them to supplement your own, and be prepared to give credit to them when they have helped. The greatest tragedies in the world and personal events stem from misunderstandings. So communicate! — Harvey Mackay, The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World

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We Are 300,000 Strong

Brian McMahon — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:00:48 +0000

“Everyone knows that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Few realize that it took three years, 22,000 volunteers, and 188,000 study participants to prove it.” That’s a quote by Meghan Murphy about one of the first large, long-term studies every undertaken by The American Cancer Society. It blew my mind when I first heard these numbers. Smoking causes lung cancer. This we know. But it’s an amazing reminder of the massive effort it takes to establish connections that we now take for granted. It’s why clinical studies can be so difficult to execute. You need a large-scale, diverse population and the ability to collect data over an extended timeframe. But where would we be without those 22,000 volunteers and 188,000 participants? Well, we’d still be staring at ads like this every time we’d flip open our magazines. But not only would we be staring at them. We’d believe them. We’d buy into what they were selling. “More doctors smoke camels than any other cigarette.” Well then I should too! Smoking Lucky Strike will help me keep my slender figure? Yes, please! It seems absurd now but that was their reality. Our grandparents didn’t know better. But because of that first American Cancer Society study, data was made available. And it took some time but we started to see a sharp decline in the per capita number of cigarettes and we started to see ads like this instead: My own personal experience with clinical research and trials came when my mother was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of Multiple Myeloma. The cancer diagnosis was delivered alongside a poor prognosis. The data at that time showed that her expected survival was between one and three months. Time was not on our side, so we moved quickly to meet with doctors all over Pittsburgh trying to determine the best course of treatment. It was determined that our best option was to head down to the University of Arkansas where they were conducting long-term clinical research and trials on Multiple Myeloma. So my mother and I packed our bags and flew almost a thousand miles away. She was enrolled in their ongoing research and was started on a clinical trial immediately. The first month went by… then a second… and a third. All told, my mother lived – not just survived – for one year and nine months from her initial diagnosis. They had turned a three month death sentence into almost two years of life for my mother. Ten years ago, her three-month prognosis would have been a “best-case scenario.” But thousands of patients had come before her. Patients that helped the doctors and researchers gain a better understanding of her disease and how to more effectively treat it. And that trend continues to this day with survival rates rising dramatically thanks in part to new types of drugs and more aggressive interventions. My mother directly benefited from those who came before her and is now helping people to live longer and better lives because of the data that she left behind. Since that first study back in 1951, the American Cancer Society has conducted two additional large-scale national Cancer Prevention Studies (CPS). The last of which began over 30 years ago. They are now in the process of completing enrollment for their third CPS with a stated goal of 300,000 participants. In 2012, 1.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer just in the United States alone. This year, another 1.6 million people will be diagnosed. And that counter is going to reset and climb at or above that number year after year after year. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be 2.6 million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year. Whether it’s a friend, neighbor, a cousin, your mother, grandfather, brother, child or even yourself; we all know someone who is currently fighting for their life. This is our generations chance to have a direct impact on cancer research. Decades from now, through your support, millions of people will be diagnosed earlier; they’ll live longer with a higher quality of life; and they’ll get to celebrate more birthdays with their loved ones. We are 300,000 strong. Find enrollment centers in Pittsburgh or around the country.

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The Weekly Q – Issue 296

Brian McMahon — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:51:46 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 295

Brian McMahon — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:57:45 +0000

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Start Your Climb!

Brian McMahon — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:47:56 +0000

Dr. Ivan Jirak was an Explorer at a time when that title truly meant something. He traveled the world studying indigenous tribes and head shrinking natives; making first ascents on mountains; and charting previously uncharted territories. All without the aid of a GPS or the latest GoreTex gear. On a 1966 expedition to scale El Sangay volcano in Ecuador, he found that the four “official” maps he had all showed the Macas River flowing in four different directions. Not to be deterred, he threw the maps aside, persuaded some locals who spoke no English to join him and went on to lead a two-team assault of the summit. He was the father of one of my best friends from childhood and although I learned a number of lessons from my time with Dr. Jirak, the greatest one came after his death. At his funeral, a young man who he had mentored got up and said, “Ivan taught me how to climb a mountain. The thing about climbing a mountain is that, inevitably, there comes a point when you’re done. You’ve gone as far as you can go. You’re tired and you don’t think that you can go any further. Ivan always used to say, ‘That’s when the real climb begins. That’s when you really start climbing the mountain. Prior to that you’re just out for a walk.‘” Because once you’ve gone as far you as you can go, it’s no longer about the mountain anymore. It’s about you. Are you mentally tough enough? Do you have the stamina? The strength? Can you push through the pain? The discomfort? When you come upon that seemingly insurmountable obstacle, you have two options. The first is to do nothing and remain exactly where you are. The second is to find some way – any way. You may have to scale it. You might have to go around it. And there will even be times when you have to lower your shoulder and smash right through it. On the other side of that challenge is the only place where you’ll find real adventure; real excitement; real growth. So remember that when you are climbing whatever mountain may be in front of you. Smile when you hear that little voice telling you that you’re too tired or that it’s too hard and you can’t go on. That’s the time to double down on your resolve and, in the words of a true explorer, ‘start your climb!‘

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The Weekly Q – Issue 294

Brian McMahon — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:13:13 +0000

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What If Money Was No Object?

Brian McMahon — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:12:14 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 293

Brian McMahon — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 17:20:46 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 292

Brian McMahon — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:12 +0000

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Isn’t This Exciting?

Brian McMahon — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:13:02 +0000

Just one simple question: isn’t this exciting? What I love about this quote is that not once is the outcome of the game ever mentioned. There’s nothing about the fame or endorsement deals that would follow if they won. Like the old adage about the journey and not the destination, this question asks you to be fully present and to focus on the moment. It’s a mindfulness that can be easily forgotten amidst all of your day-to-day responsibilities and stress. But even in the best of situations, it can be easy to get caught up. Days, weeks and months can go by and you might never stop to really appreciate what is in front of you. If it’s that easy to get off track when things are good, what do you do when things take a turn for the worse? Where do you find the excitement and the appreciation when you’re in the midst of a life-threatening illness? In my mother’s case, it began with a rash that lead to a doctors visit that lead to a cancer diagnosis. Even with her great attitude, the poor prognosis that she received made those first few weeks especially difficult. The bright spot that she was aiming for was a trip to Hawaii with her best friend that she had been planning for months. But due to some complications from her first round of treatment, she developed an infection and was advised by her doctors to cancel the trip. The change in my mother was my first real introduction to the emotional toll cancer takes. As I watched her struggle through those next few weeks, I knew that we were going to have to do something to help with her depression. So on the weekend when she would have left for Hawaii, we threw her a surprise luau. It was a day filled with friends, family and food but more importantly, it was a day where she could forget about her treatments and the missed trip. It was a reminder that there were still things worth being excited for. I realized that we had to find that excitement within every chance and every opportunity that we had. And if we couldn’t find something to be excited about then we’d have to create it. After the fact, it was easy to see how desperately we had needed that party and it was a lesson we would come back to many times throughout the course of her disease. I was reminded again of the importance of finding the excitement right before my business partner and mentor passed away. He had battled neuroendocrine cell cancer for eight years and had been told numerous times that he should get his affairs in order. It was during one of these periods of time that he developed a rather severe infection and was advised to take some time off. He was the kind of guy who hated to sit still. Always on the move, he was out the door each morning on his way to meet people, make sales calls and negotiate deals. But as both his disease and infection worsened, he had to spend more and more time off of his feet, conserving his energy and focusing on getting better. Being stationary was never part of his nature and after about two weeks, he hatched an ambitious plan to take eighteen of his closest friends and family on a ten day trip to California. Although I encouraged him, I thought the idea was crazy. I hadn’t even seen him walk in over a week. The morning after he made the announcement for the trip, I stopped out to see him and the change that I witnessed was nothing short of miraculous. I walked into his house and found him walking around (with the help of a cane) making calls, dictating emails and negotiating deals for the travel and hotel. In his previous situation, there wasn’t a whole lot to be excited about. So, through force of his own will, he created it. He sought out the excitement. The trip did happen and will stay with me as one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Throughout the hardships and the setbacks, both my mother and business partner found things to be excited for. It wasn’t easy and they both had to work for it. But what a difference it made. Regardless of your life’s situations, remember to pull back. Take a look out over the proverbial crowd. Smell the air. You might not be playing in the World Series but if you want it and if you look hard enough, you can always find the excitement.

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The Weekly Q – Issue 291

Brian McMahon — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:38:03 +0000

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A Pep Talk: “It’s Time To Do Something!”

Brian McMahon — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:24:05 +0000

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The Weekly Q – Issue 290

Brian McMahon — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:00:01 +0000

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