It was Saturday morning and I needed to head out of town for a speaking engagement in the early afternoon. Everything was ready to go and I had some time so I turned on Netflix and looked at what I had stored in my queue.
One of the biggest challenges for me in running my own business is the promotion piece. It just feels awkward to promote myself.
I am slowly learning to recognize that I do have something valuable to offer to companies, organizations and individuals through my speaking, coaching and training.
So this is a blog about self-promotion regardless of how awkward it makes me feel. This is the premier of my new promo video on my website.
Basketball has been a very large part of my life for as long as I can remember. It has also been a great source of learning and growing.
On the first day of practice during my sophomore year in high school I expected to be a B squad or junior varsity player like all of my 10th grade buddies. It was rare for a sophomore in my hometown to begin the season as a varsity player. I’m sure it had happened but I couldn’t remember it.
Creating or doing anything mechanically or with tools has always been more than a challenge for me. Over the years I have learned to do a few simple things but no one ever calls me to help with projects requiring these skills.
About ten days ago my wife and I had the opportunity to attend a Christmas party with a large number of people whom we had never met.
We struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was there as the dutiful spouse because his wife worked with for the organization holding the event. He had worked in his place of employment for over thirty years and was anxiously awaiting his retirement. He was in the process of figuring out the exact date but hoped that he would be done in December of 2014.
As I delve into my studies of fear and courage I become more fascinated by how much both of these topics affect most everyone most every day. While they affect most of us, we spend very little time talking to others about it because of our fear and lack of courage to address them. We all want to present a good front that we have it all together.
By now I’m sure you’ve heard about Ron Burgundy anchoring a local newscast in Bismarck, ND on Saturday, November 30. It was my good fortune to be in Bismarck that weekend as my family and I spent Thanksgiving in the North Dakota capital city with great friends.
As we sat watching the amazing finish of the Alabama/Auburn football game a scroll came across the screen encouraging viewers to stay tuned for the local news with a very special surprise guest.
Fear, courage and change. These are words that are connected through a linear progression. Yesterday, Sunday, Dec. 1, marked the 58th anniversary of one of the great examples of this progression in our history.
One of my favorite songs to sing in Sunday school when I was a child was This Little Light of Mine. I didn’t really think a lot about what the song meant but it had a good beat and it was easy to dance to.
As I have been on this leg of my life journey over the last almost four years the lyrics to this song have become very clear to me. As a believer and follower of the Baby that changed everything, I believe we are all born with special gifts, talents and abilities bestowed upon us by the Creator of the universe.
Over the last couple of years I have had the opportunity to speak to all kinds of groups ranging from students to CEOs. The main topics I speak on are fear, courage, and change and how they affect us every day. Early in my presentation I talk about how we have reserved the word courage for people like soldiers, policemen, firemen and the like. Those folks live in a world that requires them to be courageous all the time. Yet, we all have the opportunity to work through our fears and be courageous in every day events. Author Christopher Paolini states, “Without fear there cannot be courage.”
