Like many of us, my wife has a bad case of “doggie bag guilt”. You know, when you can’t finish your meal at the restaurant and you take the food home only to leave it in the fridge for a week (sometimes more) and the whole time knowing that you would never get around to eating it. You even knew this when you were taking the time to scoop it into the Styrofoam container, but you did it anyway.   You know damn well you will never reheat that pasta. French fries suck when you microwave them. What the hell are you going to do with just 5 nachos anyway?   Guilt. Guilt is the reason you brought that food home. […]

 A while back my dad asked me to help him move a tree.  It was getting choked out by the larger trees around it and in order for the tree to thrive, it needed to be relocated to a new spot on the Murphy ranch. Of all the things to ask me to help with-he wanted me to help him move a tree?  Moving and protecting trees isn’t exactly something my dad is known for. You see, my dad spent most of my formative years looking for standing trees, fallen trees and stacks of brush to cut up for fire wood. He didn’t just settle for cutting the trees he owned, he would go and seek out trees to cut […]

I’m sitting in front of a large swimming pool watching my daughter swim; separated by a 1/2 inch piece of plexiglass. She swims from one end of the pool to the other as she practices different skills and drills shouted out by her instructors. This is how I have spent my Saturday mornings for the past few months. This is also when I have a tendency to write. I would say that my eyes lock in on my daughter 60% of the time, while the other 40% is spent looking at the screen and fixing the words that I typed without looking. Yes, most of my blogs and words that are to be put into this book were written on […]

I always preach the importance of being memorable. I spend a good bit of time calculating ways of making sure that I “win” most of my first impressions. I assure you this is not something driven by ego or competition. By “winning”, I want to make sure I take away knowledge from the conversation and I want to ensure that they remember me or things about me. Good things.  First impressions are important in business and in the general establishing of healthy relationships. Picking up takeaways in conversations not only help your relationship with that person, but also helps in future conversations with similar subject matter. (I’ve never ran a marathon, but I can talk about it because I know […]

Too often we believe what we read. We believe what the people on TV tell us to believe. Sometimes we dismiss our doctor’s advice and buy into something we read on someone else’s Facebook wall. I “learned” how to be a better shot with a rifle because of something I read in a Jack Reacher book. We are more influenced today than ever before. We are all a bunch of sheep. We believe what sounds the most rational to us and what, most likely, asks us to do the least amount of work.  We take pills because it’s easier than going to the gym or facing the fact that we eat too damn much. If it sounds good in our […]

Kanye West is crazy.  So there I was, sitting in a room in LA, listening to all the major and indie record companies pitch their new artist projects for the current year.  Heads of companies came out, played parts of songs and introduced sizzle reel after sizzle real in hopes that the room would fall in love with a project and look for me, and others like me. to support that artist on the radio.  Lives are often changed in meetings like this and fans are created.  An artist can go from Starbucks Barista to chart topping pop star in just one catchy song hook.  It’s an amazing event and it’s a blessing to be able to experience it.  Then […]

After you watch a football game the sidelines reporter almost always grabs a player that made a noteworthy play during the game, for some sort of postgame interview.  When it’s a Quarterback, you usually get the routine answers, accompanied with a big “aww shucks” smile, talking about how great the team played and how he, personally, needs to work on a few things and his team helped him out and blah blah blah.  It’s pretty much the same formula each time and you aren’t going to get a great or memorable quote from the leader of the team. When you get a player that doesn’t usually get the camera time; that’s a whole different interview!  I love it when the […]

  Life is too short to… Not drink, smoke or eat the “good stuff”. Smoking-meaning the good cigars. Anything else is classless.   Life is too short to… Never actually cash in the rainy day fund. I don’t know anybody that didn’t cry during the first 15 minutes of the Disney/Pixar movie UP.  Learn from Mr. Fredricksen. Life is too short to… Not make goals, but don’t make those goals your master.  Set them. Own them. Just know that they are marks in life and not something that should blind you from other wonderful things. Life is too short to… To be petty.  Yet, it’s important that you age better than your classmates or exes. You can’t let them win. […]

It shouldn’t have to be said, but we all need to take some time to remind ourselves to not be an asshole. It’s easy to be an asshole. Say what’s on your mind all the time, no filters, do whatever you want and not care about the thoughts or feelings of others. Being an asshole is liberating and there are times in life where it should be the perfect option for what’s on deck. Yet, some of us are too comfortable living in this world and we find ourselves punching the asshole card way too often. Today I am picking up my niece for a week of fun in Texas. I fly up to Chicago, pick her up and fly […]

I want to do more in my career and grow as a professional.  Like many of you, I would welcome having a big fancy title, huge corner office or become the owner of something successful and profitable. Watching my professional worth accumulate while my bank account grows would be an amazing thing and I hope that it happens someday.  Big professional and financial goals, along with many smaller ones, are always good to have.  Yet, it doesn’t make a huge difference at the end of the day does it?  Years from now, nobody will care about your fancy title. Yes, money affords certain opportunities and gives you the ability to spoil yourself and others in your life. Money helps you […]