Do It Today. Do It Now.

August 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Do It Today. Do It Now.Over the weekend, I made a quick trip up to Sparta to meet my 6-week-old nephew. I wanted to be able to see him while he was still a baby, plus it’s been a while since I’d seen my niece, sister, brother-in-law, and my parents. But, I had a limited amount of time that worked in my schedule. I had a day to visit since I had some other things I needed to do in Milwaukee.

I could have pushed the trip off and waited until I had more time. I spoke with someone about a job on Friday, sent some samples of my work and said she’d be in touch with me early the next week. If I had made my plans based on the fact that I could miss a call from her I would’t have made the trip. She didn’t call while I was gone and I would have wasted the opportunity to visit with my family.
How much of life do we put off in anticipation of something else happening? I’m starting to learn that it’s better to just do what’s important at the moment and adjust to anything that comes up later.
A great example of this is when my wife and I took a trip to Paris and London. We had an hour before we had to board our train to Paris. I thought about just hanging out, but the British Library was a few blocks down the street. There were some hand-written lyrics from the Beatles I wanted to see, so I thought I’d give it a go.
The first thing I saw when I entered the room were pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. I saw Lewis Carroll’s diary that had the beginnings of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, scores by Mozart and Handel in their own hand, the Gutenberg Bible, oh, yeah, and this little thing called the Magna Carta! Not to mention that Beatles’ lyrics. The amount of history I took in, in just an hour was amazing. If I had thought that I can’t possibly do anything in an hour I would have missed that entire experience.
We need to put as much life as we can into life. We can’t wait for the perfect time or more time. We each have 24 hours a day to work with. Our days are limited. We need to use them wisely.
Start with whatever amount of time you can. If you want to write a book – write an hour a day. If you want to lose weight – workout for a 30 minutes a day. If you want to catch up with a friend – make a phone call and chat for 15 minutes. No amount of time is ever wasted. You don’t need a month’s worth of time in order to do something. Do it today. Do it now. Spend the next five minutes writing down what you’ve put off for too long. And then spend an hour doing it!
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

6 Ways to Recharge Your Batteries

July 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment

6 Ways to Recharge Your BatteriesWhen life is draining energy from you, how do you get it back? When you need to be at your best you can’t afford to let up, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do. 

We’ve all had those days where, as soon as one item gets checked off the to-do list another pops up. You can get mentally and physically wiped out. How do you keep going when you feel like you’re about to keel over?
Here are six ways to recharge your batteries when they’re nearing empty.
1) Take a nap. A good 20-30 minute nap can do wonders. In many parts of the world, and some forward thinking companies here, this is built into the work day.
2) Go for a walk. It’s always a good idea to get some fresh air. It gets the blood circulating and you can focus on something else for a while. You’ll come back ready tackle your next challenge.
3) Read. Pick up a book and fill your head with other people’s stories, ideas, and motivational words. It could just spur some new ideas of your own.
4) Listen to music. What music makes you want to rock out to some air drums or air guitar? Put that music on. Let that music fuel your next creative burst.
5) Watch a TED talk. These insightful 20 minute nuggets of inspiration will pump you up. Be careful to watch just one. One can quickly turn into three very easily.
6) Grab a drink, or bite to eat, with someone who inspires you. There’s nothing like connecting with someone face-to-face who makes you think differently and helps elevate your game to the next level. Plan these get together as part of your week. You’ll be glad you did.
Have any of these worked for you? What else have you done to recharge your batteries? Next time you feel you’re about to nod off, find an activity to power-up and rock it the rest of the day!
Filed Under: Inspiration, Motivation Tagged With: ,

3 Ways to Get Ready for a Major League Tryout (or for a Major Life Change)

July 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
3 Ways to Get Ready for a Major League TryoutWhen I was in my early teens, my dream was to play Major League Baseball. I used to eat, sleep, and dream baseball; I still have dreams where I’m playing. I thought I was pretty good and if I had kept up with it who knows what might have happened. In my late teens, music took over my life and baseball took a backseat.
When Robin Yount retired in February 1994, it marked the end of an era; the last piece of the team that I grew up with and loved was really gone. Who was going to replace Robin Yount? I felt that center field should be taken over by someone local, someone who understood what taking over that position meant, and I was the perfect person to do it. So, I decided I was going to get myself in shape and try out at County Stadium and take over Robin’s spot in center field.
In order to accomplish that goal I knew I needed to get myself ready physically, mentally, and emotionally. But, I knew I didn’t have much time to get ready since the Brewers had tryouts every July. That only gave me five months to get ready.
Here are the three ways I got myself ready for a Major League tryout:
First, I needed to get myself in shape physically. I started running. The first time I went out, I was out of breath after three blocks. It was kind of shocking since I had considered myself an athlete. After going out on daily runs, it didn’t take long until I was able to run a couple of miles no problem.
The other part of my game I needed to work on since I hadn’t played baseball in 10 years was to go to the batting cage. I played softball a couple of times a week, but hitting a baseball is completely different. I was going regularly to the batting cage to hone my skills. I needed to become a hitter again.
The second part was to get myself mentally prepared. I had to get into a baseball mindset. I went over scenarios in my head. I visualized games where I had played well. I also re-read Charlie Lau’s The Art of Hitting .300. It was like my bible growing up, and anyone who wants to be a great hitter should read it.
The final piece was to get myself ready emotionally. I knew it was a long shot to make the team. I hadn’t played consistently for about 10 years. There were going to be players there that were at the top of their game. I decided that above all else, I was going to have fun with the tryout.
As spring rolled into summer I was getting ready. I saw a flyer at the batting cage announcing a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis at the end of June; just a month before the Brewers tryout. I figured this was a great way to gauge where I was before I tried out for the Brewers and see what I needed to work on.
When I showed up the morning of the tryout, there were about 90 players gathered; a lot of them teenagers. I could see they were nervous as we lined up to register. This was probably the biggest thing in their lives up until that moment. Since I knew I was a long shot I started making jokes and having fun. I wasn’t nervous at all.
The tryout started well. The first thing the scouts did was time us running. I was one of the 10 fastest guys there. I saw scouts looking at me and comparing notes. Major league scouts were talking about me! Things were looking up.
Next, I went to the outfield and took some fly balls. I started joking around some more. Channel 4 had a reporter and cameraman there. They saw how I was making everyone laugh. They asked me for an interview which I was happy to do.
It was my turn and I took some fly balls in right field. My arm was hurting but I didn’t want to hold myself out of this part of the try out, but in hindsight it wasn’t the best move. I was supposed to catch the ball and throw it to third base but when I caught the ball I quickly bounced it into second base and it slowly rolled to third. The next was barely better, at least it bounced around short.
I went in to hit. It was near the end of the day and there weren’t any catchers and the pitcher wasn’t throwing strikes but it didn’t matter, I was swinging anyway. I got wood on a few of them that I popped up in the infield, but no solid hits. What started out so well, ended quietly. I walked to the parking lot, without any scouts running after me, and saw one of my friends waiting for me. We talked about the entire experience. I had a Major League tryout!
Channel 4 did a spot on the tryout for the 6:00 news cast. It was really cool to see myself on TV taking fly balls and being interviewed. I had fun like I had set out to do and I had made a bunch of kids, who were nervous as heck, relax a little. I felt that I had done what I set out to do.
Since I knew I wasn’t going to improve my game much more in the next few weeks, I decided to skip the tryout with the Brewers; although I should have done it just to say I walked on the same field as so many great players.
If there’s something you’re pursuing make sure you are prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally for the experience. If things go your way, you’ll be ready to perform at a high level, and if things don’t go as planned at least you can take away something positive from the experience to help you grow as a person. You may even make a few people laugh in the process and end up on TV.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: ,

You Ain’t Gettin’ No Co-signer

July 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You Ain't Gettin' No Co-signerWhen I was looking to buy my first car (lease actually), I learned a valuable lesson about figuring things out on my own. After putting down $750 and setting a date to take delivery on a new Sentra with the salesman, the owner of the dealership called me and told me I didn’t have enough credit and that I would either need to give them more money up front or get a co-signer.
I told my dad about the situation. He said to me, “You ain’t gettin’ no co-signer.” He asked if I had any extra money. I told him I didn’t. He said it didn’t sound like I was getting that car and that I had better look at other options.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at that point. After going through the hassle of getting a canceled check to get my money back from the dealer, I was back at square one.
I was likely to run into the same thing at other dealerships. I had to figure things out for myself. How was I going to get a car with my credit history at an affordable monthly payment? I looked over the scenarios I had to work with: 1) I could buy a used car with the $750 I had. This made me feel uneasy since I had seen other people buy used cars that didn’t last long. 2) I could save up for a larger down payment. That would take months and I only had a few weeks time before the car I was borrowing from my mom would be traded-in. 3) Find an alternate way to get to work. This wouldn’t work. I didn’t live on a bus line and none of my co-workers lived near me.
I remembered that Ford had sent me a postcard about buying a car and getting a discount for being a recent college graduate. I wasn’t sure what recent meant since I had graduated a year and a half earlier, but it was worth a shot. I wondered how they’d sell me a car when the other dealer wouldn’t let me lease one.
I went to Ford and was able to buy a new Ford Escort without having to get a co-signer and without having to put anything more than $750 into my initial payment.
Had my dad handed over the additional money, or co-signed for my car, I wouldn’t have had to figure things out on my own. It also wouldn’t have given me the same sense of accomplishment. It wouldn’t have taught me the lesson of doing things for myself. I wasn’t looking to buy a car, but buying a car instead of leasing it, got me the transportation I needed.
I’ve learned not to rely on others to help me. Not that they won’t help, but I don’t expect it. If you want something, put the effort in to accomplish it yourself. It’ll feel that much more satisfying when you get it on your own.
Is there anything you’re working on, or a situation that you’ve run into, that seems impossible to overcome? How will you respond when you have to figure things out for yourself? How creative can you get? The impossible might just be possible. It’s up to you.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

How to Keep Your Self-Talk Positive

July 1, 2014 by 4 Comments
How to Keep Your Self-Talk PositiveScience has shown that we have anywhere from 30,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day, which means we are bombarded with self-talk every minute we’re awake. How do we allow ourselves to remain positive when there’s so much coming at us?
It isn’t easy, but in order for us to give our best we need to remain positive.
Here are four tips I use to keep my self-talk positive:
1) Look at your strengths. You need to know what your strengths are. If you don’t know what they are, write them down. Be honest. What have you accomplished successfully in the past? What made you successful? You still posses the talent to be able to do it again. When you know your strengths it also builds confidence, and confidence is a powerful attribute to have.
2) Look at your “secret sauce.” What makes you unique? What makes you stand out? Do you have a skill or talent that not many people have? Look at your intangibles. More often than not, those are the things that will set you apart from the rest of the crowd. When you know what your “secret sauce” is, flaunt it every opportunity you have.
3) Look at the long-term goals. Thomas Edison found 1,000 ways not to make the incandescent light bulb. How many times do we give up when things don’t go our way immediately? Last year, Nicki Minaj gave a contestant great advice after they got rejected during an audition on American Idol. Minaj told the discouraged contestant, “Do you know how many times we’ve been told no? (referring to the judges}. We heard 1,000 no’s before we got a yes. You leave here and hold your head up. If you want it bad enough you keep working until you get to yes.”
4) Focus on pleasing yourself. This isn’t being selfish. It’s beneficial for everyone who comes in contact with you. Look at what makes you happy. If I’m trying to please someone else, or live up to their expectation of who I am, I can’t be the best version of myself I can be. It doesn’t matter if no one else gets you, if you get you, others eventually will. Then they’ll wonder how you do it.
Make sure the conversation with yourself is positive and reinforcing. We can’t completely avoid negative self-talk. It’s bound to creep in, but we can keep it to a minimum if we try. What you say to yourself (and think about yourself) determines how you will succeed. What is your self-talk?

 

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Go Where Your Community Is To Find Your Audience

June 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

 

Go Where Your Community Is To Find Your Audience

Door County Sunset

I’ve been in Door County the last few days enjoying a quiet getaway with my wife. Since I was four years old, Door County has been a family vacation destination and one of my favorite things to do is visit the different artists and their galleries. 

Over the years, artists have flocked here because of the beautiful scenery. (The sunsets are amazing!) Another reason they’re here is because other artists are here, and so is an audience of art lovers. Door County is an artists’ community. Everyone has a chance for their work to be seen here. That doesn’t mean that every artist who opens up a gallery will be successful, but it does provide more visibility that other cities don’t.

If you want to be discovered, sell your wares, skills, or talents, you need to know where your audience is. Make it easy for them to find you. Don’t give people a treasure map with a bunch of clues. Give them the map where “X” marks the spot. In case you didn’t know, you’re the “X”.
Where are other people doing what you want to do? Find a way to get into that community. Not only will that community help you, but you’ll also be helping them. It takes everyone with a similar mindset to keep a strong community going, whether that’s a physical location or an online community.
It’s easier than ever to find your community. If you aren’t sure where to start go to Meetup.com and find a group that you’re interested in and join them the next time they meet. If there isn’t one in your area, start one.
As much as we say we’re independent, we value belonging to a group that feels what we feel and thinks the way we do. That doesn’t mean they can do exactly what we can do, but it means they “get” what we do.
Because you are unique, it makes it easier for you to stand out in your community than it is to stand out on your own.
The artists in Door County found their community and their audience. You can do the same. Find your community and our audience won’t be far behind.
Let me know how it goes.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons, Marketing Tagged With: ,

Showing Your True Self to Stand Out

June 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Showing Your True Self to Stand OutI’ve been working on my resume since losing my job. One issue I had with it, is that it didn’t seem to represent who I was. I’ve been thinking about injecting more personality into it, and in fact, started doing that with my cover letter. I am more than a list of job responsibilities.  

This past week I went to a session by Joe Konop of One Great Resume. He verified what I had been thinking and gave me other useful tips. If you’re looking for someone who knows how to present yourself in the best light, contact Joe.

Here are a three key ingredients to show your true self to help make you stand out: 
1) You need to market yourself. Joe’s had a 20 year career in marketing, so when he mentioned this it made a lot of sense to me, being a marketer myself. You need to show why you are the best product on the market. You need to show what you’ve done before, but more importantly, what you can do for a new employer. They need to feel like they’re making a good decision to bring you on board. You need to quickly and accurately tell people who you are and what you do. Think of it as a tagline. What would your tagline be?
2) Showcase your strengths. Tell the story and give context around what you are really good at. Don’t downplay or diminish your talents. Joe explained that if you just say, “I wrote the newsletter” that doesn’t say as much as “I wrote a weekly newsletter that was 14-15 pages of original content that talked about new initiatives, company news, and new products, that was distributed to 20,000 people.” See how different those two descriptions are? Think of yourself in larger terms.
3) Talk about your unique talents. Joe talked about a client who said they were fluent in Chinese but they didn’t list it anywhere on their resume. That’s a unique selling proposition. Use it, flaunt it, us it to tell the world you’re unique!
What seems odd or different to you could be exactly what somebody else thinks is special. It reminded me of a time after college when I submitted a job application and filled out the Hobbies section by writing that I liked “collecting Beatles records, and watching the Simpsons.” When I went in for an interview the manager said, “Right off the bat, I have to say you scored points because I love watching the Simpsons too.” You never know what will make you stand out from the crowd.
These three ingredients have made me see myself differently. It’s made me update my resume so I’m able to market myself more effectively. Do these tips make you think differently about yourself? How do you present your true self?
Filed Under: Inspiration, Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Five Lessons I Learned When My Job Was Eliminated

May 27, 2014 by 2 Comments

Lessons I Learned from Being BlindsidedLast Thursday was like any other; I got up, went to work, and started my day. Mid-morning, my boss asked to see me. I walked into his office and when I turned the corner I noticed our HR Manager was there and my eyes got wide. I took a seat and was told that because of the way the business was going and job consolidation, he had eliminated my job. HR walked me through some paperwork, I packed my belongings, and was escorted out the door. I got in my car and drove home. I was in shock. 

Friday when I woke up the shock was gone and I could look at things objectively. I started to game plan my immediate future.
Here are five lessons I learned when when my job was eliminated:
1) Look at the Positive – Find what you’re grateful for and focus on that. What can you take from the experience? How does that affect you?
I was given a great opportunity while working there. I learned so many things and met so many valuable people. Being in such environment inspired me to chase a life long dream and get an MBA in Marketing along the way. It made me grow personally and professionally.  I am a different person today (I would even say a better person) than I was the day I started. I can move into my next adventure with the utmost confidence.
2) Close the Door – Don’t dwell on what happened. Stop the internal conversations with yourself. They won’t change anything. Realize, it is what it is.
The day after, my mind continued to follow tasks that were in progress and I was responsible for at work.  I realized I needed to let it go.  I was not working for them anymore, although I was excited about so many of the projects I was involved in.  I needed to close the door and move on. I had to break off my relationship with that job and put it in the past. I couldn’t start a new chapter of my life if I didn’t let go of the previous one.
3) Friends and Family Make Things Better – Don’t try to handle things by yourself. Reach out and be open to help. It’s there if you ask for it. You may be surprised how many people are there for you. Who can you rely on when things get rough?
My wife is incredibly supportive. She was able to help me see that this was the start of something even better.
My mom and sister made me feel better, reminding me of all my strengths and skills. They assured me that new opportunities were awaiting. Dad said my MBA was reason enough to grow and move on.
Calls and texts from my friends made me feel supported and cared for. I could feel the love and it helped me get through quite a difficult day. 
4) You Create Your Future – You are the architect of your life. Don’t let anyone or anything stand in your way.
Friday when I woke up I felt better. In fact, I felt free. I thought about what I would put on business cards for networking – anything I wanted! I could create the kind of future I wanted. If there was ever a time to do it, now was it!
5) Structure Your Day – Devote a certain amount of time each day to things that help you grow. For me it will be time dedicated to my job search, improving my resume, and bolstering skills that employers are looking for. I need to take advantage of my time.
Yes, I was blindsided by having my job eliminated, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get back up and move on. Getting knocked down is a part of life. It’s how you get back up that determines whether you’re in charge. It also determines what happens next. Here’s to bigger and better things ahead!
Have you ever been blindsided? How did you deal with it? What did you learn?
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Starting from Scratch

May 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Starting from ScratchThis past weekend I went golfing with my good friend Andy. Before hitting the course we hit the driving range. He wanted to work on my iron shots and chipping, which have been all over the place lately. So, we did what needed to be done, we started from scratch. He showed me how to swing my irons as if I’ve never golfed before. He had me start with the basics. 

The first thing he did was pull out his phone and show me photos of Ernie Els, who has a similar build to me, and showed me how he stands. That’s how I should look, he said.

He had me address the ball. When I lined up to take my shot he put a club behind my heels and asked me to step away and take a look where I was aiming. When I stepped back and looked down, my alignment was way off. There’s no way I could have hit the ball where I thought I was going to hit it.
We often think about our goals and the road ahead and we think we have a good idea of what we’re doing, but we don’t take a step back to see where we’re really aiming. That’s why when someone says something we deem as negative we get upset. They may be stating the obvious. But, it isn’t to us because they have a different perspective.
We worked on hitting the ball next. He had me take a baseball swing with the club. That’s natural for me. The club just comes around. Same thing with it when it comes in contact with the ball. It’s natural. It’s like a pendulum. If it goes up, it’ll come down and you don’t need to reinvent anything.
He asked me to toss a ball out into the range. He asked how I could do that so well. Why didn’t I drop the ball or mess up? It’s because I didn’t think about it, I just did it. When we over-think things we’re not loose, we’re tight and constricted. He gave me advice that Ernie Els uses before hit strikes the ball; he does a little wiggle of his shoulders to make sure he’s loose.
We went to practice my chipping. Again, we just let the pendulum do it’s thing. I don’t have to use my wrists to strike the ball. I form a triangle with my arms and swing the club back and forth. Further back to hit the ball farther, not so much to hit it shorter. The physics of the club will make the ball go in the air. I don’t have to worry about anything but the triangle and how far back I take the club.
When we went to the golf course, he gave me reminders before every iron shot or chipping scenario. The lesson earlier helped me put together my first complete round of golf in a while. It was the most satisfying round of golf I’ve had in a year.
If you’re stuck and you don’t know what to do and nothing seems familiar, starting from scratch might be the answer. The more you get involved in a project that doesn’t seem to be moving, start over. Re-learning what you already know might make you see things in a different way, and lead to more personal fulfillment and success.
Have you ever tried to start from scratch? What was the result?
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

The Freedom to Experiment

May 13, 2014 by 2 Comments

The Freedom to ExperimentWe’re told early on in life that we need to stay in the lines, don’t be sloppy, be neat. We can’t do things differently than others; that we need to blend in. But, if we aren’t given the chance to experiment, we’ll never know what we are capable of achieving. How do you learn to take leaps into the unknown when so much emphasis today is placed on being perfect? 

While at college, my poetry professor, Doug Flaherty, talked about how he gathered all his poems once and burned them all. This way he wasn’t attached to the work he had done. He could re-invent himself. Plus, he knew he’d write more poems so he’d soon have another portfolio.

I did this, or something like that at the time; I threw out some of my poems. I cheated a bit and kept the ones I thought were good. But, it was a symbolic gesture and I felt like I was getting rid of a part of me I didn’t need. I felt like something new was going to happen after I did that. And something did happen, I started to write good poetry. I was getting better through practice anyway, but I didn’t have to judge myself against the inferior work of my amateur self.
Another way to break free is to pretend to be someone else for a bit. When the Beatles stopped touring in 1966 they didn’t want to be Beatles anymore, so for their next album they pretended to be a different band. They could record anything they wanted without having to sound like The Beatles. It gave them the freedom to experiment and in the process they ended up creating Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Who could you pretend to be? What pseudonym would you give yourself? What would you work on?
People are going to judge you whether you try something new or not, so don’t worry about what others think. Give yourself the creative license to live life how you want.
Who knows what you’ll create when you give yourself the freedom to experiment. Life isn’t about perfection. We can try new ways of doing things, new hobbies, or new careers. We won’t be great at anything immediately but we’ll learn along the way. The journey to self-discovery is the greatest freedom we can give ourselves.

 

Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,
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