A few years ago I was teaching a radio class at Appalachian State in Boone, NC and I happen to get there early to watch the guest speaker before me. He and I had never met and I only caught the tail end of his lecture, but it was what he said at the end that really hit me.
"You can't get into the hall of fame unless the next generation votes you in".
Brilliant! It's essentially how I have lived my life, but crafted from someone who I had never met till that day. Giving back is imperative. Sure, I walk by bell ringers in front of the mall all of the time and I don't give as much to church or charity as I should, but I do give my available time to the betterment of people. I invest in people and make myself available to those who truly want to learn.
You should never pass up a teaching opportunity. If you are knowingly doing this - shame on you. If you are someone in need of learning more about your craft or life and do nothing to attain that knowledge - shame on you as well.
Education needs to be both shared and sought.
It's the season of giving back and giving thanks. Don't pass up the opportunity to learn from others or provide insight to those seeking knowledge. Each of us have something to contribute to the betterment of people and the words or actions don't always have to be life changing or incredibly motivating. It's what the receiver of that information does with the new knowledge that determines the overall impact.
#thansgiving #givingback #motivation
A friend and former employee of mine was up for a promotion and needed some advice on what to say/do during the interview process. This person is a very talented and I am their biggest fan for sure. My friend just struggles with balance. Balance between self confidence and ability. My friend has all the ability and is extremely talented, but lacks the confidence to be able to sell those talents to others.
Yes, it is good to be disarming, but not to the point where you cannot gain credibility or emote confidence that people need to see in you. Many people derail their point or success by clinging to the crutch of self doubt. If you believe in yourself, speak with confidence and project ability- people will see it. Rather than thinking you are an egotistical jerk or loudmouth they will believe in you more than you believe in yourself. You have to properly sell yourself and be comfortable and confident with the delivering of this message. Presidential candidates, coaches, heads of companies and cult leaders all take themselves seriously and project ambition, drive and confidence. People believe in them and buy what they are selling.
The easy way out is to blow the interview. That way, you have an exit. It's easy to derail success and afterwards just convince yourself that maybe you wouldn't have been good at that job anyway. This helps you feel better about the whole thing. Giving yourself a break and a way out as helpful as eating your emotions at the buffet table. It's a defeatist's crutch and shame on all of us for leaning on it.
Sure, we are not all going to succeed at everything. It's a challenge for me too. I want to be great at everything and feast off the success of winning, but that's not realistic. I know this, but it doesn't stop me from always wanting to better myself and build a better me.
Do the homework. Invest in yourself and in your craft. Take yourself seriously and set real goals. Working towards the success you want, opposed to wasting time trying to find the exit, is far more productive and healthy. Most of us have a total of 80 or 90 years on this planet, so we should have plenty of time to figure this all out right?
Take yourself seriously and others will too.
#success #interviewing #invest #goals #dotherightthing.
I have mentioned before, in an earlier blog, that I have never been a fan of Robert Frost. I never could get into his stuff. I once got into an argument with a college professor about Frost and how I thought his poetry was fluff (still got an A). His largest contribution to the literary world is "The Road Not Taken". (The snowy woods one wasn't bad I guess).
Sometimes in life and in business we take a left turn. "The road not taken". More often than not, it was a choice made out of necessity-not always out of desire or spawned from your original goals. Survival sometimes opens doors to new jobs, relationships and adventures. Often, your climb in life goes a different direction than up and thats ok.
The natural direction for climbers is up. Up is not the only direction.
Billy Beane was one heck of a baseball player and was expected to do great things in the Major Leagues. If you have ever read or watched Moneyball, he's the main character in the story. Billy didnt know how to lose. He had never really faced adversity and when he finally stumbled in life he became lost and consumed with self doubt. The weight of his expectations and the things that had always come "easy" to him pretty much crushed his ability to move up. Billy climbed because it was expected. He climbed because that's what he thought he should do. When the ladder ran out of rungs for him....he made a decision to go left. He survived before the decision was made for him. Billy found another ladder.
Goals are wonderful things. I love them. I write them down, share them, visualize and work to make them real. If you don't have any...you should get some. Just make sure you are not so blinded by the expected climb that you don't see the other ladder. The ladder that will possibly take you in the direction of your true purpose.
Things do happen for a reason and sometimes divine intervention steps in. If you don't believe in a higher power, than you can at least admit that there are things in this world that are much greater than who we are. Have the courage to take the step to the other ladder. Sure, you might be shoved towards it and it wasn't where you thought you would or should be, but be open to the potential experience. Like Doc Graham in Field of Dreams, who walked away from baseball to become a Doctor, you too might be destined to make a different and sometimes larger impact in life by stepping over the white chalk line and embracing your destiny.
Go the distance....
#fieldofdreams #baseball #billybeane #religion #robertfrost #poetry #ladder
Admittedly I have said those words to my wife and I am not proud it. Her point was made and chances are I was wrong. There is no need to keep beating a dead horse or in my case, reminding me that I am wrong. I get it. Shut up.
My beautiful wife Christal is a 2 sentence too many person. Go with me on this- I promise you I am not writing this to pick on her, but rather making a point about people and word economy. She has a tendency to pile on words and it does muddy communication. Telling me to pick up my socks is a one statement request. Telling me to do it with 3-4 sentences causes tune out and I lose focus with all the details.
It's not the number of words it takes to make a statement-it's the power of those words and the "thickness" of the sentence.
Politicians craft beautiful statements when on the campaign trail. Reading things that they, or someone they hired, wrote. They speak with lines reminiscent of positioning statements for brands and look for buzzwords that would hopefully catch fire with the audience and could be easily communicated to others. It's as if they are up on stage shouting "where's the beef" or something very similar. It's not till you see the debates or when someone is asking them a question that is not off the script, do you see how efficient they are with their words. Those moments can make or break their campaigns. These same moments shape people's opinions of you.
Be careful with the amount of words coming out of your mouth-specifically in times where you re trying to get a point across. A friend of mine asked for my advice about a big change that he had to relay to his staff. He wasn't sure how the message would be received or how to convey it to the team. His goal was to make it more of a statement and less of a discussion. Admittedly, he was very concerned that certain members of the staff would push back and possibly take over his moment. I suggested he watch the scene from Moneyball where Jonah Hill's character has to break it to a player that he has been traded. Brad Pitt gave him the advice of saying very little and being direct. Sure, it's not the warmest way to conduct business, but there is no other way to do it easily. Watch the movie.
Chances are, if you are feeling like you are talking too much...you are. Everything can be said in fewer words than you think. In this A-D-D crazy world, you have to be direct and pointed with your words. Statements need to be made with fewer narratives in order to get your point across. We are are members of a blog and status update society and in some ways that makes us cold and detached. Sad, but true.
In the end, ask yourself this... Do you want the other person to pick up their "socks" or would you rather debate the topic for 10 minutes?
#Moneyball #bradpitt #Jonahhill #marriage #shutup #wordeconemy #wheresthebeef #obama #romney