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In today’s fast-paced, competitive world, building your brain power gives you an edge in the job market as well as other aspects of life. These tips will teach you how to boost your brain and memory to increase productivity and make you a superstar at trivia.
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From Dan Miller:
This week a 36 yr old MBA in an executive position in an exciting industry shared this concern in her coaching profile: “I have a vague sense that my life is too small.”
Living large does not necessarily mean a bigger salary, house, cars or retirement fund. It has nothing to do with fancy vacations or the latest fashions. Rather, it means having a life that is full of meaning and purpose. And that can occur – or be absent – at any place on the continuum of the traditional parameters of “success.” I’ve seen millionaires who are living life “small” and those with scarce financial resources who are living “large.”
Let me ask you this: What is your life saying to the world? Are you living your life too small? Is it so full of meaningless tasks that there’s no room left for the things that make your heart sing? Are you pushing so hard in doing more that you’ve lost the sense of being more? Does more activity really equal greater accomplishment, or does it at some point tip the scale and begin to diminish the meaning of your life? Are you creating the legacy you want to leave for your loved ones?
Reflect back on last month – yes, just this last month. What did you do to keep your life from being too small?
Can you identify:
- 4-5 ideas you had for a better job or starting your own business?
- 3 things that you did just to help someone out with no expectation of payback?
- The books you read or listened to that enlightened your spirit, confidence, knowledge and wisdom?
- The number of hours you spent in quiet contemplation?
- The 2 or 3 things you did that you had never done before? The concerts, art shows, seminars, workshops or other enriching experiences you had?
- 2 or 3 specific things you did to strengthen the relationships that mean the most to you?
If you have no responses to these seven questions, chances are strong that you are living your life too small.
Make it a regular practice to embrace living large times in your life. Wisdom, peace, contentment, and insight about investing your life in fulfilling work will grow in those times. Take a walk, give thanks for simple things, take a bath with music playing and candles burning, turn off the telephones, TV, and computer. Carve out those times for restoration and spiritual breathing. Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment. Even Jesus got away from the crowds periodically. Don’t let your life be too small.
A short but important piece from Dan Miller’s weekly newsletter. Find Dan’s blog HERE.
There is a PBS special running right now on the music of David Foster (Hit Man – David Foster and Friends). As the hosts asked him about his early years in music, one response jumped out at me. David said he loved music as a child and his parents allowed him to take lessons in classical music. But David said: “I was good, but not great.” He went on to explain that if he had been a better musician he would likely have ended up as an anonymous face in some orchestra. Not being great forced him to look for other ways to be involved in music. So he writes and produces for other musicians. It has been said that Foster’s songs have made “many famous singers into superstars.” Many of his songs have become well known through the voices of Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Micheal Buble, and Boz Scaggs. And his own fame and fortune has far surpassed what he could have possibly hoped for as a “great” musician.
In The Millionaire Mind author Thomas Stanley looks at the common characteristics of people who have ended up extremely wealthy. Their average GPA is 2.7. Why isn’t it that all 4.0 students become wildly successful? Maybe their “greatness” came too easily and they missed the benefits of the struggle.
If “greatness” has not come easily for you have you given up the pursuit and settled for mediocrity? Or have you looked for alternative approaches for success anyway?
Maybe “greatness” that comes too easily is itself an obstacle. We’ve all seen athletes, musicians, writers, and speakers who were so naturally great they never had to exercise the discipline to survive the hard times – and quickly faded into oblivion.
Maybe not being “great” is your biggest hidden asset.
Dan Miller, President of 48 Days, LLC, in Franklin, TN, and Founder of The 212° Connection, specializes in creative thinking for increased personal and business success.
all photos ©mikeseverson 2009
I’ve taken many images lately of street markers, arrows, signs, and cross walks. It’s interesting the subject matter the eye picks up at different points in life.
Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for an intimate, nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!
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It is said, “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
Is the music and radio industry insane? How long will we keep trying to do the same thing and expect a miracle?
As long as we have the excuses of a weak economy or if we continue to blame others for our lack of vision, we will perish. There will be no relevancy or need for us.
A handful of companies are diving into the future and embracing new ideas, innovation, strategies, and creativity. They are exploring new business models and coming up with original ways to market and engage the consumer where they are at and the direction they are going. These companies are not only forming atypical and interesting ideas, but putting them into practice.
So many others are still trying to sell people a product they don’t really like much in its current form and not engaging the consumer on their own terms. Typical. Predictable. Boring. Insane.
The radio and music business must grow and be the innovation. Not wait for the innovation to come to them, because by then it will be too late. We’ve seen that happen countless times over the last decade.
There never has been more opportunity than there is at this very moment. Seize it, or move on and let those you claim to lead show you the way.
There is another quote of use here, if we just change the words a bit.
“I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.” – Benjamin Franklin
An excellent and ever relevant quote in itself, but if we change it just for the moment to:
“I think the best way of doing good to the radio and music industries, is not making them easy in their insanity, but leading or driving them out of it.”
Get away from welfare thinking and create a way out of this madness and into imagination, achievement, and victory. Be inspired. And how can you not like a good Braveheart quote for a time like this?!
“People do not follow titles, they follow courage.
If you will just lead them onto the battlefield, they will follow you.” - Bravehart
Have you ever noticed that frequently you end up not doing the very things you enjoy doing the most? Among the things I like to do is read, hike, have quiet time, go see art, work out, take photographs, and listen to great music. I like to do those things, but I get to a point where I become aware that I’m not doing much of them at all and then wonder why I end up feeling so frustrated and irritated with life at times.
When I set time to inventory those things I enjoy and actually take the time to do them, I find it makes me more alive…..more myself. And that only helps in my daily walk with work, family and friends. It better connects me to God as well and nothing is more important than that.
I’ve been re-reading a lot of C.S. Lewis lately and in his fictional book The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape (a senior tempter) is outlining the blunder’s of his nephew protégé Wormwood:
“On your own showing you first allowed the patient (person) to read a book he really enjoyed, because he enjoyed it and not in order to make clever remarks about it to his new friends. In the second place you allowed him to walk down to the old mill and have tea there – through country he really likes, and taken alone. In other words you allowed him two real positive Pleasures. Were you so ignorant as to not see the danger in this? The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality. Thus if you had been trying to damn your man by the Romantic method – by making him submerged in self-pity for imaginary distresses – you would try to protect him at all costs from any real pain; because, of course, five minutes genuine toothache would reveal the romantic sorrows for the nonsense they were and unmask your whole stratagem. But you were trying to damn your patient by the World, that is by palming off vanity, bustle, irony, and expensive tedium as pleasures. How can you have failed to see that real pleasure was the last thing you ought to have him to value? And that the sort of pleasure which the book and the walk gave him was the most dangerous of all? That it would peel off from his sensibilities the kind of crust you have been forming on it, and make him feel that he was coming home, recovering himself? As a preliminary to detaching him from the God, you wanted to detach him from himself. Now that is all undone.”
Lewis has much more to say about being vandalized of genuine simple pleasures and thrown off track in connection to God, but you get the point. Lewis also makes the observation that it is because we are at war – around us and within us – whether we like war or not.
So instead of making resolutions for the New Year, I have decided to be more alert of where my time is being stolen from me and better aware of when I decide to make agreements not to do the things that refresh me, so I can not only have a more enriched life, but be in a healthier position to give back to others.
Do you have the same struggle? Be challenged to take time to do what makes you come alive.
Wishing you countless blessings in the New Year!
I’m sometimes put off by the technology everyone is saying I must have, and then if I choose to purchase it, find that within mere moments it is out of date or has a next generation that is the new must have. Following that there will be a new hype of something shiny that is coming out next month. My wallet doesn’t like it much either. I personally don’t carry a wallet or a pocket book (who calls it a pocket book anyway?), but if I did, well, I promise you they wouldn’t like it.
A question I have from the speed at which technology is moving – will it simply come full circle? Watch this video from the only good anchor/reporter NBC has nowadays, Brian Williams. He goes at the hype of digital media and makes some of it appear laughable.
I get the convenience, portability, and on demand factors. Those are huge selling features. I believe that technology is providing all of us with unprecedented opportunities. But at what point are we just becoming lazy, overloaded with entertainment, and bound up in the overindulgence of consumerism? Can our minds, attention, and, um, pocketbooks possibly keep pace?
I know I am becoming more careful about the hype and waiting to see if the technology at hand will genuinely be a benefit for my life or business; or if I really find that the application or technology hits my lifestyle bullseye. Otherwise what is the point really?
We are always reminded to be thankful on Thanksgiving and what we are to be grateful for. It’s a good thing to do, but this should not be a once a year event; we should be practicing being thankful every single day of our lives.
The obvious stuff always makes the list – family, friends, health, etc., but so many blessings we overlook. I think about my trip to Africa during the summer and it once again reminds me of all the things we take for granted in this country. Water, food, clothing, electricity, shelter, shoes……a list of basic needs of life we do not lack for. My eyes open up again to the stark reality of this world.
Aren’t you thankful that you can have a hope and a future? The same can’t be said for many people we came across during our trip. They didn’t even know what the word “hope” meant. There was no word in their language that would translate it because hope has never existed. It is more like a dream or fantasy – something that they could never actually have.
I just read a post from author John Fischer on being thankful:
It’s hard to think of one vice that the virtue of thankfulness cannot render useless. One does not need to steal when one is thankful. A man does not covet his neighbor’s home when he is thankful for his own. No one craves more when he is grateful for what he has.
You don’t care if you get the important seat at the table when you are overcome with gratitude at simply being invited to the dinner. You don’t put heavy weights on other people’s shoulders when you are thankful that God has lightened your own load. You don’t have to try for the highest place when you are already grateful for whatever place you were given.
In the same way, a thankful heart cancels out pride and arrogance. No need to judge other people when you are thankful for who you are. No need to measure yourself by and compare yourself to others when you are thankful for what God has done in your life.
The point is to be thankful on a daily basis and to be mindful of it always. It’s amazing what a good consistent dose of thankfulness and gratitude can do for not just our own lives, but those who come in contact with us.
Be thankful you can have a future full of hope. And that you have the ability to give hope to others as well. There are many ways to help those in desperate need around the world. You may know of an organization that will put your thankfulness to good use, but if you are open to suggestions, please give strong consideration to Compassion International. You will find no better organization that gives hope to children and families.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday and remember to be thankful on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and all the days forward.
From Dan Miller:
There seems to be a subtle shift that takes place in the history of most businesses. Let’s say Barney was a cave man who made great wagons. But there are only 20 people who live in his known world so as soon as he makes 20 wagons he’s out of business. If he can’t imagine using his skills for anything but wagon-making we might then see him sneaking around at night burning the wagons to rekindle demand. Or the town witch doctor knows he would not be needed if everyone were healthy. So he “creates” illness to keep his patients coming back rather than help them attempt to find ultimate health.
Now fast forward to 2008 in America – same deal. We have auto manufacturers who can’t risk making a car that really lasts – they need 5-year obsolescence. Parts that wear out and systems that malfunction are a necessary component of keeping the machine of making cars in place. It would be self-defeating to make a car that semi-permanently met the customer’s needs. You have to hope the customer doesn’t stay happy with their purchase for too long.
Do you really think we aren’t smart enough to make a lightbulb that would last essentially forever? But what would that do to the sales of lightbulbs?
What if a counselor or chiropractor really helped every client they saw? Got them to a point of healthy functioning on their own? How would he/she pay the mortgage the next month? Keeping people dependent on their services may become more important than seeing them get better.
If you realize your “work” is more dependent on keeping a system in place than on meeting the real needs of your customers, you are indeed vulnerable. Real estate developers, publishing houses, record labels, auto manufacturing and “investment” firms are all suffering in their attempts to keep systems in place rather than responding to the changes in demand of the marketplace.
What we need are new ways to engage our creative skills; not government support to allow us to keep doing what no longer works.
I happen to be a car enthusiast, but I think it’s a joke that someone “decided” we needed new models every calendar year? My primary car is a 1991 Mercedes 500SL – it’s 18 years old! It looks great, has great styling and is fun to drive. I’d love to see a 5-year car – where nothing changed for at least 5 years, or even 10. Can you imagine the streamlining of parts and service, and the reduced waste from excessive manufacturing?
Now – what are you doing in your work or business to make sure you are serving your customer’s needs, even if those needs change?
GO FOR THE GOLD!
By Joel Burke
What does it take to be a gold medal winner in the Olympics? How about an Olympic champion 14 times? Swimmer Michael Phelps has achieved a level of greatness that few people would ever dream of! In the 2004 Olympics, Phelps won 6 gold medals and in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Phelps would win other 8 gold medals!
I believe to achieve any goal in life; three pillars must be in place.
- Pillar of Painful Preparation
- Pillar of Persistence Determination
- Pillar of Precise Focus
PAINFUL PREPARATION
Preparing for success hurts! There are no short cuts. There is no magic wand to wave. I remember in high school basketball practice how players would cut the corners when the coaches weren’t looking. They thought they were being clever. However, all they were doing were cheating themselves. You must go through the fire. You can’t go around it, over it or under it. You must walk painfully through it because the fire of the furnace refines and defines who we are to become. In the preparation for the Beijing Olympics, Phelps was swimming almost 50 miles per week. This training required him to eat up to 12,000 calories a day, about six times the intake of a normal adult male.
I’m sure there were plenty of days through the years that Michael would wake up in the morning and just feel like sleeping a couple more hours of just taking the day off. His desire for training that day was at zero. I have to come learn in life that those days matter the most. Those are days that make the difference. The days when we feel like we running up hill with the wind in our face and it hurts. That’s painful preparation.
PERSISTANT DETERMINATION
Once you have discovered your purpose in life- that gift needs to be sharpened for the goal! I truly believe that persistence always pays off in the end.
- It doesn’t matter how much talent you have!
- It doesn’t matter how smart you are!
- It doesn’t matter how experienced you are!
- It doesn’t matter who you know!
The endurance to fight the fight and run the race to the finish line is truly what matters most. We are not defined by our limitations, but by the intervention of God’s perfect plan for our lives.
Precise Focus
Distractions can be fatal. We can’t be sidetracked by what is happening around us and take random detours along the way and not even realize it. We must have a lazer focus. Just like a Swimmer or a runner in a race, we must never look at what is happening to our left or our right. We must never look over our shoulder and see what is happening behind us. We must have tunnel vision and stay 20/20 focused on the finish line. When we allow distractions to happen, it can easily cause us to waste both our physically and mental energy. All too often we all want to compare ourselves to others. In the process, we actually lower our standards and take our focus on being best we can be.
Author Peter Drucker has said, “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises …but no plans.” What is your plan? No, you probably don’t have the talent to be the next Michael Phelps or be the next Tiger Woods, but you do have a special, unique talent that can allow you to be a gold medal winner in your special place in life! Isn’t that what all of us want?
Joel Burke is PD of multi-award winning country radio station KYGO in Denver, Colorado.
What is wrong with us if scientists have to release studies on how to be happy and stay sane? Read this article from the UK based Times Online. In it you will find 5 simple things you can do to protect your well-being.
“People should try to connect with others, to be active, to take notice of their surroundings, to keep learning and to give to their neighbours and communities.”
Steps to happiness
Connect
Developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours will enrich your life and bring you support
Be active
Sports, hobbies such as gardening or dancing, or just a daily stroll will make you feel good and maintain mobility and fitness
Be curious
Noting the beauty of everyday moments as well as the unusual and reflecting on them helps you to appreciate what matters to you
Learn
Fixing a bike, learning an instrument, cooking – the challenge and satisfaction brings fun and confidence
Give
Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is very rewarding.
All we have to do now and again is look to our children for answers. They do these things - they know the basics. They also have the inability to share most of the time, but that is beside the point.
The wise and learned stumble about trying to build their own happiness and in the end come to the realization that you can’t make yourself happy by wealth, success, power, and fame. You can only choose to make the right decisions and be happy, and that is typically via the basics of life. It is foundational.
If I were to add one item to this list as an adult it would have to be: When thinking about a career choice – do what you love to do. What are you passionate about and interested in? What talents and desires has God given you? Go do that.
Let’s not allow scientists and government to try and figure our happiness out for us.
My wife and I are adopting. YES. A beautiful 5 year old girl from Ethiopia!
Amy and I have literally spent the last 2 months in a whirlwind of a paper chase, gathering our life stories on paper, notarizing this and that, writing checks for this and that. Finally this past Friday, we submitted our dossier to the agency. It will be authenticated next week, then off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
We have talked seriously about adopting for over a year now, but we had not planned to make a move on it until next year. Now here we are, about 3 to 5 months away from becoming parents.
Two days after our return from Africa, July 21, Amy contacted All God’s Children International, our now adoption agency in Portland OR. She signed up for an info packet, just as she had done for several other agencies back in the spring. On our mission trip, we had the privilege of meeting the director of All God’s Children’s transition childrens’ home in Ethiopia. Amy and I were very impressed with her, which lead to inquires with the agency once we got back to the states. Having requested the info packet, Amy’s email was now in their database. Two days later, Wed July 23, AGCI sent out a email to their database about a little 5 year old girl in the orphanage who needed a family.
We talked casually throughout the day, in a what-if kind of way…so Amy decided to call the agency and find out more information about the child. That evening, we decided we weren’t just mildly interested, but very much interested and we wanted to learn more. So on Friday, July 25, we had a conference call with the agency to fully discuss the possibility of adopting her. We hadn’t even filled out the formal application yet! So we busted through that process, and were pre-approved. On Monday, July 28, we called the agency and officially accepted our daughter as our referral–just one week after returning home from Africa.
In a two month span, we have done what most adoptive parents do over the course of 6 months to year or more. Because our daughter was a “waiting child”, the entire process is quickened because we don’t have a referral waiting period like most parents do. We completed our dossier and home study in a month and a half, along with attending multiple adoption education classes. Amy and I can’t believe how quickly things are changing in our lives, and it’s very exciting, overwhelming, joyful, and scary. Just like any first child I imagine.
So, here we are 3-5 months hopefully from bringing home our girl. We have photos of her, but aren’t allowed to share them publicly until we have her home. We feel very blessed and are sure God is guiding this along. We could have never orchestrated this adoption ourselves.
Amy will be doing a lot of blogging about our adventure at ANDIAMO. Follow along if you would like since there will be much to share.
WHAT ARE YOU FAMOUS FOR? by Joel Burke
I was digging threw some boxes and came across a couple of school yearbooks. It was an unexpected trip down memory lane. It was a one-way trip back in time to experiences that are now just a distant memory.
As I flipped through those countless pages of classmate mug shots, some pictures seemed to just jump off the page.
Even though all of the pictures are the exact same size, certain classmate photos just seemed to be larger thanks to what I remembered them for.
The picture of one person was of a natural athlete yet never put forth the effort. He later ended up in prison for armed robbery. Another picture told a sad of story of girl, who was killed in a car accident just two weeks before graduation. The song by Kenny Chesney comes to mind- “Who’d You Be Today.”
As I continue to flip through pages, there were plenty of familiar faces yet I couldn’t remember anything about them. They weren’t famous or even infamous. In fact, I doubt I could even remember their names if it wasn’t listed.
It got to me wonder what am I famous for? What do people remember about me in the past, the present and how do I want to be remembered in the future? There’s not much I can do to repair the past, but there is something significant I can do about the present and future.
If all I’m known now for is awards, the truck I drive, the house I own and my job title, then I’m truly haven’t lived up to what I should be. If that’s all I’m known for, then I have lived a life of vanity. It’s a decision of living a life of vanity or a life of value.
It’s been said, “People will not remember what you said, but how we made them feel.” Reflect on the people you came in contact with today. How did you make them feel? Will those feelings be of someone who had their spirits lifted or just another grumpy person they would like to forget?
If I were to ask 10 people who have known you very well for at least three years, how would they describe you in two sentences? Would their answer be something about how you made a positive difference in their lives? If not, it might be time to get an attitude adjustment.
If you are radio personality, what would your listeners say about you in one sentence? If your audience can’t describe you in one sentence, then you have your work cut out for you or you might just be looking for work sometime soon! What unique quality do you bring to your show that separates you from the rest of the countless pictures?
All of us can be famous! The question is, what have you done with your life to this point to define your fame? I’m not talking about being a celebrity who is on TMZ.com everyday. Rather, it’s about being known for something that truly matters now and in the future.
Joel Burke is PD of multi-award winning country radio station KYGO in Denver.
A hypothetical situation here……
A particular segment of business has certain rules and regulations that companies are to abide by. Some are set in stone and others are unspoken rules. It essentially becomes the accepted framework of conducting fair business. Of course everyone is looking for an edge to win, but they all start from a level playing field.
One day, a particular company finds a loophole in the system and knowingly exploits it. The result is to the advantage of this company, but it clearly goes beyond the framework and fair business practices. They say it is “working the system” or being “creative” while the rest of the competing companies say that they are essentially cheating.
So the question is, did they do what any company would have done to get ahead and to beat the competition or were they caught cheating as they looked to win “at all costs”?
I believe we should aspire to win, but not at “all costs”. There is desperation in selling your ethical soul and a considerable risk of losing integrity and respect within the business community.
I have an idea of how to do business. How about we give all that we can, do the best that we can, be innovative, creative, passionate, and savvy in the process; but do it with integrity and respect for others. Call me crazy.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to make self inflicted changes or allow fate to intervene and shake things up. It is the only way you can regain a vision of the larger story, allow your dormant ideas to take actually take shape, and tackle fresh challenges to bring you back to life.
I’m looking forward to traveling on a new road. A journey that will allow me to reside in the new world of the music industry, to encourage forward thinking, and to make a real impact with people who “get it”.
Interestingly enough, this is not the only new adventure I am on right now. There is another one happening within my life that I can’t mention at the moment, but I will soon…..when the time is right. It is beyond exciting and places this career drama into its rightful perspective.
Life is good and getting better all the time.
Thanks to all of you who have reached out today: Jesse, Jim, Beverlee, Carol, Luke, Kevin, Chris, Patches, Andy, Chad, Tim, Stephanie, Tony, Denise, Nathan, John, Mary, Frank, Rosey, Jim, Bill, Andrew, Jackie, Greg, Randy, Clayton, Tom, Jeff, Elizabeth, Brian, Lisa, Kelly, Erin, Peter, Shane, David, Cara, and Barry. I know I’m leaving some people out, but I appreciate the emails and phone calls from everyone.
It’s refreshing to see how people actually care in what can be a cold hard business. But all is well in God’s time and purpose. I feel good and very hopeful about what is next. There are so many known and unknown possibilities. I will be exploring them all and continuing to blog in the process.
Onward and upward.
There is a sign I often see on the back of dump trucks lumbering down the interstate full of gravel, dirt and rocks. Some of the trucks have top covers and others don’t. The sign is always something like ”Not responsible for vehicle damage” or “Not responsible for damage from debris”. Oh REALLY!? It might as well be a sign that reads, “Not responsible for our trucks inability to contain waste properly”.
Is that all it takes? A sign to make it legally binding? I can think of some much needed signs I need to post on my car, in my office, and on the mailbox if that’s the case.
I also recently saw “No Soliciting” signs on the front door of Bank of America and Sprint. You have got to be kidding, right? They are allowed to solicit me all day if they choose, but I can’t return the favor?
I am back home in Nashville and still in recovery mode. I appreciate Chris, Elizabeth, and Brian for their contributions to the blog while I was away. It feels like I was out for a month, so forgive me if it takes me a while to get in the blogging groove.
Yesterday was the first day in two weeks I have seen any news. I have not watched TV, listened to any radio, read a newspaper, or surfed the net at all. Other than scanning for important emails, I had little idea of what was going on in the world of news and events. And I am one who likes to be aware of things, but to be honest, I find myself in a better place not knowing what was happening.
Now that I’m back, I don’t want to hear anything about Obama, McCain, or the Presidential election. I could care less what ‘disastrous peril’ or entertainment the media outlets are peddling as genuine news. My books and ipod have kept me good company for the last two weeks. I am slowly catching up with what is happening, but it is via online. I tried watching TV news last night, but just couldn’t do it.
Certainly I want to be aware of what is real and truly going on that impacts me and my loved ones, but this trip was not about me at all. It hasn’t been about what the world thinks is important or what the media wants me to believe is imperative. That has been refreshing.
The truth and reality is what we witnessed and experienced in Ethiopia and Rwanda. This is what’s really going on. I am thankful to have put my hands on reality for a change. I’ll try to hold on to it.
In a previous post I explained why it is important for an artist to focus on what they are good at and not try to be something they are not. A little honesty, humility, and introspection can go a long way in that discovery. I think it is true for any of us, no matter where we find ourselves.
It is also important to live out of the box now and then. You can’t get too comfortable where you are; you must grow. The only way to do that is to stretch your heart, mind, and abilities into new places and experiences that will enhance those positive qualities you already own. But you must stay true to who you are and any improvement you make in yourself must also be given to others. This not only strengthens you, but builds up those around you as well. Nothing is worse than acquiring talent, power, money, and knowledge and then using it to manipulate people to make yourself famous or wealthy. I see it everyday in the music industry.
It’s all about choices. You can sell your selfish soul and sacrifice those around you to acquire what you think is respect (but no one will truly respect you); or you can find happiness and satisfaction in striving for goals that will not only bring you success, but will provide that opportunity to others around you because of the way you set an example of true excellence. Not just excellence in what you do, but who you ARE as a person.
Know what you are good at, but also be willing to step out and grow your gifts and talents.
I am in love with music.
From my early years of Shaun Cassidy posters strewn upon every wall, dancing with a leotard to mimic Olivia Newton John, and getting ready in Rob’s room after he left for school…just so I could listen to his Loverboy album.
I carried a Bee Gees lunchbox, and sang Linda Ronstadt songs in the shower. I ripped my sweatshirts and believed I would live forever. I held the line and I fought the feeling. And oh Mickey…you really were so fine.
I remember Matt tripping over his roller-skates asking me out to the song “Truly”. I remember Mike giving me a Madonna cassette at my locker in Jr. High. I remember Julie weeping because we were in the same room with John, Nick, Simon, and whoever those other two were.
My first concert was Elton John. My favorite was The Kinks. But the best memory had to be toasting with tequila in the scorching sun as the sky opened up and the rain soaked us down to the sound of Eddie Vedder singing the lyric “sheets of empty canvas…” at Lollapalooza.
I danced with Dan to Etta James and drove with Dave to Steely Dan.
Greg thought I was the one after he saw me in blue jeans with my pearls. Jim thought that too after a night with Annie Lennox. And didn’t we all make out in the car to Fleetwood Mac at some point in time?
From “Wonderful” to “Witchy Woman” the music has made my mood. And Alanis must have been reading my mind to have gotten those lyrics so right.
I steal the jukebox with 17 picks of classic rock and own the atmosphere with Boston, Journey, Heart, and Robert Plant. Miles and Muddy, Rod and Jethro, Frank & Dean and Aretha too…they all get a spin sometimes.
I’ve played the “Wicked Game” and I’ve bet on “The Gambler”. I’ve even traveled down the “Red Dirt Road” just to find myself “Home” again.
I’m your biggest fan and your loudest cheerleader. Your most appreciative target. Thank you for hitting the bull’s-eye.
You’ve flown me to the moon and made me go a little crazy sometimes.
Through purple rains, down yellow brick roads, up solsbury hills and into jungles…you’ve shown me the way.
You are the soundtrack of my life and my stroll down memory lane. You inspire, encourage, and strengthen me through the strum of your guitar.
Some enjoy a painting, others a sculpture or two. I live for the tune that turns through my head over and over again.
Chord after chord after chord, you wake me and chill me and turn me on. Song after song after song you nail my emotion to the wall and cause me to cry out loud.
Every lyric, every melody, every hook…gets me every time.
And I love you.
Elizabeth Grattan is a freelance broadcast talent/writer and owner of RADIOELIZABETH. Her clients have included Sirius Satellite Radio, Clear Channel Communications, Salem Communications, Relevant Magazine, & Curb Records, among others. For demos and links to additional writings, visit www.radioelizabeth.com.
Joel’s guest blog posted on Wednesday got me thinking more about the process of finding Joy.
It seems that in order to discover the Joy in life or to notice the good, it takes effort and work. It is EASY to do something bad or to reflect on the negative things. Easy to be wretched, to tear someone else down, and to find the worst in everything. Especially easy in our junk culture and 24 hour crisis news media, which are set up not to allow contentment or Joy. It shows just how important discipline, reflection, and awareness are to life.
People tend to just float along and allow life to happen to them rather than making conscious decisions to be on the lookout for Joy, which is all around and calling out. Each one of us struggle with this.
It is time to see with new eyes.
The accompanying photograph I shot, to me, illustrates the process of finding Joy. It ain’t easy, it ain’t always pretty, and we still must go through stress, pain, and loss in this life; but Joy can find its way within us if we let it. Many times the hardship is necessary for Joy to be revealed.
Nothing can be better than living a life of Joy.
KYGO Denver PD Joel Burke has authored another great piece to share……..
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD!
By Joel Burke
I flipped on the television the other night and began clicking through the endless channels. My choices were either reality shows or one program after another featuring bad news or trashy gossip. It made me wonder if there’s anything good happening!
So, in my next round of weekly meetings with each person who works for me, I started off by asking them to tell me something good that had happened to them in the past week, no matter how big or how small!
One person after another gave me a blank stare. Each one tilted their head and looked away like a dog that hears a high-pitched sound. It was as if I was asking for the solution to a chemistry problem. After some prodding and asking questions, I finally began to hear a trickle of thoughts, dripping out like a slow leaky faucet.
This weeklong experiment showed me that if I asked people to talk about “something bad” that had happened in the past week, the responses would be swift. I’m sure I would hear every detail, and that water faucet would be turned on full blast.
Why do we remember and dwell on every bad experience that comes along no matter how big or how small? And why, at the same time, can’t we remember when someone at the grocery store let us cut in line because we had fewer items?
Read the rest of this entry »
WHO’S COMING OVER TO DINNER?
By Joel Burke
It was a hot and dusty day in May of 1927. An 18-year old dreamer was graduating from Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, Texas. He was already enrolled to attend Rice University in Houston to study architecture. He wrote about his hopes and wishes, in his high school scrapbook.
On one page he wrote about his experience while riding a mule, in the mud, to a party. He had a fun night that included chicken for dinner with homemade ice cream for desert. His college years at Rice were fulfilling and he was close to graduation. His dream of becoming an architect was getting closer and closer.
During the summer of 1931, he met a young lady who was a senior in high school. Read the rest of this entry »
Ever stop to think about the newest generation and what their reality of the world is and how it will impact them as they grow up? An interesting article from Media Week on what the implications could be as it relates to media and entertainment. Check it out here.
The “noise floor” is the measure of the signal created from the sum of all the noise sources and unwanted signals within a measurement system. In other words, it is unwanted or unwelcome noise that interferes with peak performance and highest quality. Transfer this to our own lives and it is noise that hinders the way we should be thinking, doing and living.
I was recently in the Atlanta airport and I could not believe all of the ridiculous noises that were keeping me from focusing on my book and from working on my laptop. The beeping of the people cart, the shrill news reporters who sound like they work for Entertainment Tonight, the grinding blender making Smoothies, the big tool on his Bluetooth making sure everyone understands how important he is, the constant flight & airport announcements, other TV’s and radios blaring, and the general decibels rising into the air of people everywhere talking over one another. It’s enough to make one lose their mind.
Since then I’ve noticed it everywhere. The noise floor is consistently too high and people have forgotten the benefits of silence.
Silence that allows us to think clearly and search our hearts.
The common way to lower the noise floor in electronics systems is to cool the system and reduce major unwanted noise sources. We should all be doing the same thing.
A good majority of people define themselves by what they do for a living. It is even more true in the music industry. We like the business because it is more of a lifestyle than a job. Since it is a lifestyle, it starts to define us. Isn’t the question, “So, what do you do?” one of the first things people ask when you meet them? Do you do the same to others? Yeah, we all do.
What is our motivation for that question? Are we just trying to network and hoping this individual can be a stellar contact or are we generally interested in the person? Do we secretly want others to ask that question of us so we can impress our new friend by what we do for a living? Has it happened enough where we actually define ourselves by what we do for a living and not by who were are as a person? That’s happened to me and the struggle continues.
Sure, I am proud of where I work, the people I work with and the artists I work for. It is definitely part of who I am, but it is not ALL that I am. Don’t be defined by what you do for a living, no matter how cool it is or how passionate you are about it. You are better than that. And next time you meet someone, let’s all try to be interested in them no matter where they work.
