The thing I like most about blogging is following an inspiration.  The part I hate is following inspiration and not being able to fully cook my inspiration.  The results of my half baked inspirations lay dormant in my Wordpress and Google Docs as drafts or unfinished inspirations.

Over the weekend I was inspired to share these half baked ideas as cliff notes if you will, a title and a 2-3 sentence explanations of what the blog post was supposed to be about.  I hope you enjoy these.

I am going to call it Inspirational Spring Cleaning.

Last Will and Testament

Blog posts are the new cave drawings.  Blog about your ideas, your wishes for the world and someday you just might get quoted.

The Aladdin Factor

One of my favorite books of all time, ask for what you want and people often will give it to you.  So easy, so simple.  My request, read my blog, make comments on my blog, share it with friends.

Get Out of Your Element

This one of my favorites, that comfy life you have been living might just be holding you back from new ideas and new opportunities.  Carpe Diem my friends, stand on your desk and smell the sunflowers.

The Things I Learned Last Week

This was going to be a recurring blog post, something simple like everything I needed I learned in Kindergarten kind of cheesy.  I believe you can drastically improve the quality of your life by taking a few minutes weekly to reflect on your lessons learned.

Follow the Energy

It has been said the only thing more contagious than enthusiasm is lack of enthusiasm.  I recommend you find someone who inspires you and ride their coat tails.

Just Show Up

This is the little brother of the Aladdin Factor.  In all of my years… my desk and couch are the least lucky places.  Opportunity is directly proportional to the amount of time you place yourself engaging people.

Cash for Clunkers

I think this is a fun concept.  Wouldn’t be great if we could trade in negative co-workers, bad habits and other undesirables for cash.  What would you trade in for cash?

Door Prize

I don’t know where I was headed with this one, but if you are still reading and make a comment on my blog I will send you a book from my extensive business and self help library.  In fact tell me what book you want (ala Aladdin Factor) and If I have it is yours.  Otherwise I will recommend the closest book I have to your topic.  Limit 20 people.  A guess that sounds like a Door Prize.

John Denver and 4 Non Blondes

This was my tribute post about how John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” and 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up” still impact my life.  Both songs reference a certain age 27 and 25 respectively.  The also reference a great big hill, for whatever that means.  But you realize quickly as I knew you would this is a half baked idea and I am still trying to get up that great big hill of hope.  The truth John and 4 Non were reflecting on life just like I am today 38 years old with a new baby in my life and I must say my perspective has changed.

The Power of Being Real

I might have actually touched on this topic in one of my blog posts.  The act of me sharing these “blog post rejects” is an example of being real.  Who gives an “F” what everyone else thinks.  How many years are you going to live someone else’s life.

The Mirror of Life

Your life is a direct reflection of the thoughts and feelings you have on the inside.  Think of it like a report or an account of your innermost desires and beliefs.  Have you taken the time to look in the mirror or do you prefer to live in the dark?

Blind Faith Strategy

A asteroid or a nuke could end it all today, so aren’t we pretty much always living with Blind Faith.  Life is short so why all of the calculated risks?

100 Ridiculous Things to Do in a Lifetime

This would probably be better titled.  100 stupid things I did in college.  FYI this list does not include urinating off the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge just after the start of the New York City Marathon in 1997 but finishing the marathon might qualify if you get my drift.

Tell me about something ridiculous you would like to do in this lifetime.

The Truth about Starting from Scratch

Unless you are headed back to your momma’s womb there is no such thing.  Quit your pity party and take an account of what positive resources you have in your life.  If you’re breathing that is number 1 on your list.

The Quest for Imperfection

Live and learn, live and let die, if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one your with.  Perfection is the booby prize in life.

Does Your Monkey Have a Name

We all have something that is holding us back in life.  Maybe if you name it you might be able to deal with it.  That way you can tell that Monkey to get off your back.

Blogs and Babies Need Lots of Love and Attention

Note:  Babies need more attention, I am short sighted to mention them in the same sentence

We is More Selfish than I, Let me Tell you Why

Don’t know where I was headed with this one but sounds like an interesting blog post.

Limit, Restrict and Condense

Twitter is so popular because we are all immersed and inundated with too much information.  WE are now in what I call “The Over Information Age.”  Your greatest opportunity for success is providing products or information in condensed format as we enter this age.

Make a Big Splash, Go For the High Dive

Physics – More speed, mass and velocity equal more displaced water.  Why are you limiting yourself to the 3′ board when you can go for the “High Dive”

Risk

Take One!

Who are You, Am I Talking to a Wall

This must be my bloggers Pity Party Post, nobody reads my blog, I must be a bad blogger.  Sorry for those who do read, you are not nobody.  Even inspirational bloggers have bad days.

Track Your Life, Innocent Moments of Big Impact

Like the day you met your best friend, the day you met your wife.  I like to contemplate if certain life acquaintances or circumstances disappeared how different my life might be.

I still think the day I was going to look at an apartment and the landlord did not show up and I found another apartment down the street and eventually my “wife to be” moved in across the street and kind of changed my life.  I know that sentence has a lot of “ands” and yes that is how you know something was a big impact in your life because “and something else” happened.

Go First and Change the World

The world has enough followers, Earth needs more leaders!

The Great Pumpkin Post

I love pumpkins and I love pumpkin pie.  I also love the “Peanuts” Halloween special “The Great Pumpkin.”  I think a lot of people have excuses about their life that are more in line with being “Great Pumpkins” than being real.  Is there any excuses you need to let go of to start living your “Great Life!”

I feel much better now, I hope you do too.

I can now move on to some fresh topics and new inspirations.  Thanks for reading!

I said it, “Brass Balls,” like in reference to a pair.

Paul Coulter a great friend and mentor of mine has a pair of Brass Balls, literally a pair suspended in plastic he has on display in his office. Sometimes he takes them on the road when presenting or speaking at business meetings. It’s been a number of years since I heard the story of the Brass Balls but the message behind the balls, still impacts my approach to life.

In fact, I bet you are still reading even though I might have pushed the envelope just a bit. You might say I have “A Pair” to even consider writing about the subject. I must admit it is a calculated risk. I do remember that no one has ever left the room when Paul presented his “Brass Balls” speech to the audience. The meaning behind the “Brass Balls” is so clear I probably don’t even need to tell you what it is.

Sometimes in life you have to take some risks, you are going to have to dig in. If you have no idea what I am talking about some other words for “Brass Balls” include:

• Intestinal Fortitude
• Chutzpah
• Courage
• Endurance
• Vigor
• Heart
• Moxie
• Spunk
• Guts

Since I am sure I have a few women readers, cut me some slack and embrace the intent behind my message.  Yes, I have met a few women over the years who clearly have “A Pair.”

Back to my friend Paul, his message would be hollow if not for his own courage.  I am not sure of Paul’s exact age but its in the 70’s.  I had lost track of Paul for a few years and we reconnected on LinkedIn of all things.  I know people much younger than Paul who are still fearful and bitter about the new business medium called the internet.  I think Paul is on his 3rd website and continues to explore the latest ideas on personal happiness and success.

What kind of risks have you taken lately?

Meet my friend Paul Coulter.

A Book

Ignore Everybody and buy this book.  Hugh MacLeod the artist behind the Gaping Void “cartoons on the back of business cards” takes his stab at how to be creative.  I find the book more of a manifesto for those who are following their dreams.  This book is a fast read.  If you don’t mind reading online you can see the online version by visiting his site.  Click Here.

Or you can buy it on Amazon:

A Movie

500 Days of Summer is a fun chick flick but hotty Zooey Deschanel will save your “Man Card” if you decide to go this one alone.  If your a chick you get a free pass on this one, that’s why they call them chick flicks.

A DVD

The Great Buck Howard is a light hearted movie about “Buck Howard” played by John Malkovich, a mentalist (not a magician) and performer who has lost his luster.  His comeback is launched in Cincinnati, which is a fun movie twist for this Cincinnati native as he performs his biggest feat ever, hypnotizing hundreds of people.  His comeback is almost foiled by Cincinnati’s favorite son Jerry Springer.  Rent it, don’t buy it.

A Museum

The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH  is a one of a kind experience.  Tod Swormstedt, former editor and publisher of Signs of the Times magazine, as his self-proclaimed mid-life crisis project. It began as an idea, with no collection.  He has well surpassed the no collection status.  He currently has hundreds of signs on display.  From Big Boy to Earl Scheib he has some of the country’s most recognizable icons as well as one of a kind historic signs.  Neon and flashing lights are the backdrop for this museum.  You may want to bring your sun glasses.

$10 admission is a bargain, I recommend you visit during a tour time.

More Information Click Here.

Disclaimer:

Some of my links include affiliate links. I could make a small commission on your purchase, however, to date I have only made around $10 with this strategy. Not quite a living but as Expert in the Rough grows it readership affiliate links might just cover my costs of hosting this blog. A man can dream, can’t he?

I hope you enjoy the links.

I have a solution for you.

Call it an experiment.

If you treat it like an experiment there is no wrong way to get started.  You are merely testing.

Once started you can make adjustments to your approach.

Most projects fail because they never see the light of day.

What experiment can you launch today?

It is my belief the biggest risk you will ever take in your life is not being real.

So many people I know are trapped living someone else’s life or vision.

People do this for various reasons, peer pressure, fear of rejection, family values or other social reasons.  I can understand why this happens, maybe you have been made fun of or felt the disappointment in you by a parent or spouse, but is it really worth it?  Do you really want to live somebody else’s life?

I have attended numerous retreats and seminars where people have had the opportunity to be themselves and let their guards down.  The resounding messages I have learned from these experiences are people are very much alike, and people think they are very much different.  That is an interesting statement, we are alike but inherently we feel different.  Maybe the truth is we are all very much different but have the same fears.

Over the last few years I have been focusing on being myself as much as possible.  A favorite business networking event I attend is called “Your Business is Personal,” meaning is there really anything in life that is not personal?   If everything is personal then why are we living such separate lives?  In my quest to bring my personal life to all that I do, I think they call that having personality, I have learned I have missed out an many opportunities.  Opportunities that were not presented because no one knew about my interests or passions.

Earlier I mentioned the well known risks of being yourself, which can be summed up with one term REJECTION, but there are other risks.  If you are not being yourself you might attract friends, spouses, careers and lifestyles that are not a match.  That is a big price to pay.

On the other side, by being yourself you might find there is that life you always dreamed of waiting for you.  How many years are you going to waste being something that you are not?

If you are not being yourself then who are you?

Be Real, it’s worth the Risk and Reward.

Photo Credit – Sundeip Arora of Sundesign

Some people are flat out prepared.

Some people are both.

If I were a betting man, I would bet on the person who practices and prepares for their dreams.  Most people will believe that person is lucky, but more often than not they are prepared.

Preparation and luck are strange bedfellows.  Preparation seems to bring the best out of Luck.

Ladies and Gentleman, my bet is on Preparation.  Are you ready to Ante Up?

Buy your freakin name as a “Dot Com” today.  I am serious.  Go to GoDaddy.com right now and buy it.

“Do Not Pass Go!” until you buy your domain name.  Keeping with the “Monopoly” reference, you have to think of “YOURNAME.COM” as the “BoardWalk” of web properties.  I promise you for only $10 a year you will thank me.  If you should hit it big you will want to develop this web property and promote yourself.

I speak from experience when I say do it now.  I have been trying to buy BrianMonahan.com for over 10 years with no avail.  Some other scum sucker named Brian Monahan bought it up and has squatted on it for years.  I can’t blame him.  He knows I am working hard to build my personal brand.  Luckily Brian Monahan.net came available this past year and I snatched it up.  I am in the early phases of developing the domain but it already shows up well in search results on Google.

If you are still with me and have any web savvy I recommend you go pick up other web properties using your name.

Here is a quick checklist:

• Twitter.com/yourname
• LinkedIn.com/in/yourname
• yourname@gmail.com
• yourname@yahoo.com
• Facebook fan page using your name as the address

If you are lucky and have a really unique name you probably have nothing to worry about but if you have a name like mine which has become almost John Smith in the USA you might have some challenges.  Remember anybody can buy your name and if you hit it big somebody probably will.  In fact I am considering buying up names of friends and family who I think are going to hit it big and resell them their names for a profit later.

Seriously, please buy YOURNAME.com today.  I promise you it is worth the investment.

Warning do not search for your name using Network Solutions you will pay to much for it there and I have heard that people have come back to find their name purchased and hijacked for a ransom (seriously) from a foreign country.  I use a program I downloaded from LiberateDomains.com to safely search the availability of domain names I might purchase.

Once you own your own domain name and other web properties you can now develop web content to promote yourself or career.  This may feel a bit narcissistic but think of it like having a 1-800 phone number with your name in it but better.  When someone asks how can I reach you, just say, “visit my site YOURNAME.com” my contact information is on the website.

If for chance your name is not available, GoDaddy often makes suggestions that are pretty good options.

Good luck, I promise you it is worth it.

For those of you reading Expert in the Rough looking for personal branding tips, this is by far the most important one I will ever give.

I started the Expert in the Rough blog initially with the idea of sharing the wisdom I had learned reading all the experts, but with my spin.  I then thought personal branding just might be the blogs focus, but I have settled into the idea that Expert in the Rough is just my personal inspirational blog.

• A place for me to test the waters
• a place to practice writing
• a place to find discipline
• a place to let the voice inside out,
• a place for you to find ideas and inspiration (I try to convince myself it’s for you) blogging can feel so damn narcissistic sometimes.

I don’t think it’s an accident that last year my creative juices came alive, I believe the spirit of my little girl Ella, cooking in the womb might have stirred up something inside of  me.  If you take a look back I was on par to hit a 100 posts late last year, I was on fire, but I am barely over 80 almost a year later.   I was silly to think that I could possibly continue my blogging with a baby on the way.  For the record, YES I was high on blogging and I had no idea that a newborn was like Kryptonite for blogging.

I hung up my blogs so to speak, and accepted the fact that I had a higher calling but the voice inside started to yell,  “YOU GOTTA BLOG.” The truth is my hard work leading up to the birth of my baby has served me well.  Even with 6 plus months of limited time to blog, my momentum is still strong.  YES, life is settling in and I have found some slivers of time to let my voice out so to speak.

Over the last few months, I have come to terms with my new life.  I have decided Expert in the Rough is going to be a blog about whatever I want to write about, whenever I want to write it and YOU WILL LIKE IT!!!  I have learned blogging is more broadcast and less conversation.  However, my goal is the latter.   I was reading a book this past week and it said, the only way to be successful writing is to write from the heart.  So here it is.  From the heart.

So, what in the world am I up to?

• Raising my beautiful daughter Ella
• Learning what it means to be a family man
• Holding on to my arrogant belief that I can beat the down economy, a good application of arrogance by the way
• Writing from the heart at Expert in the Rough
• Letting my worlds collide; work, play, and passion I no longer separate, I am Brian Monahan no matter the circumstance
• Meeting Point Cincinnati, my Social Media Experiment to provide a venue for the Cincinnati Meeting and Event Industry to Collaborate
• Do You PK? Pecha Kucha Night Cincinnati – a project I am collaborating on with other Cincinnati area visionaries bringing Cincinnati a new medium for presenting
• InnerWorks, LLC a collaborative business with family and friends, created so we all could share our unique experiences helping others to live their dreams.
• Prestige AV & Creative Services, my employer who graciously allows me to live out my dreams and mix and match my passions with my career, and provide for my family
• Taking it day by day, lowering my expectations for the short term, having faith in putting one foot in front of the other.  Post by Post, Word by Word
• Checking off speech after speech at Toastmasters, on the road to the speaking career I have always dreamed about
• Expert in the Rough – you’re here, I think you probably get it by now

I thought this might clear up “What am I doing?”

“If I only had more time to follow my dreams,”

Sure, I could go into all kinds of rants about how this is just an excuse or how they need to re-prioritize their time, but I have a much simpler plan.

First, accept the fact that you do not have the time to follow these dreams. Instead of fighting your lack of time, embrace it. Instead of biting off more than you can chew and filling your life up with more stress, just accept the fact that you life is full indeed!

After all, you have chosen the projects you are currently undertaking for a reason and that is just fine. Maybe you need to pay the mortgage or overdue medical bills. Perhaps you are currently raising a child. Believe me, these are all valid reasons for being too busy. Ok. You are correct. You just don’t have the time. Or maybe you do! Maybe, just maybe, following your dreams might take less time than you think.

Now to my second point, I think its time you lower your expectations! (You won’t see that line in many Rah, Rah motivation books). However, one big dream must start with one small step.

So, here is your new strategy! This pearl of wisdom is something I like to call “Without a Shadow of a Doubt.” It goes something like this…

Without a Shadow of a Doubt:

* I will take one writing class in 2009 (instead of I want to write a book).
* I can walk for 20 minutes a month (instead of I want to be healthy and lose 20 lbs).
* I will not eat Ice Cream on Monday’s (instead I want to eat healthy).
* I will write one Blog Post a Month (instead of I want to share my ideas with the world).
* I will call my sister on her birthday (instead of I want to be closer to my family).
* I will take one long weekend vacation each summer (instead of I want to travel and relax).
* I will request registration information for the local university by the end of the year (instead of I want to study to be a lawyer).

The key is that whatever you commit to must be so simple and so clear that you have no chance of failing.

WARNING: Jedi Mind Trick Alert

My goal for this technique is really just…

* To get you moving and hope the law of inertia takes effect i.e. an object in motion tends to stay in motion (so now you are moving).
* To gain passion through experience. The act of engaging in an action related to your dream builds positive energy.
* To do more than you commit to and that will make you feel good.
* To recognize that you have more time than you think.
* To realize you can drop something less appealing in your life and fit in something in line with your dreams
* To gain confidence by committing to an action and keeping your commitment
* To find new ideas and resources while engaging in your action related to your dream

I just hope you make some step, any step and “Without a Shadow of a Doubt” you will be on your way to the life you always dreamed.

Image Credit: Mike Wade

What can I contribute to Society?

-Make a contribution to my favorite organization.
-Donate things I no longer need to the local mission.
-Donate blood
-Volunteer my time to the community.

After a trip to my local shopping center, I discovered a simple suggestion.

Contribute Courtesy

An effective display of this conduct is to simply smile. A simple smile can change attitudes. A simple smile can create a pleasant day.

So I will simply end this with a simple

-Richard Terpening

Richard is the author of “Literature of a Liberated Runner”

Description:

What do you think about while you’re running? Literature of a Liberated Runner is the Literature of my Long runs. When I am out running I am free from distress. I have a clear mind that explores concepts that I am never consciously aware of. I become a child, a poet, a soldier, a saint, and I find myself in different adventures and with new ideas. I also have the ability to think clearly about issues that need to be resolved. This is a book of essays, poems, and short stories that I created during my long runs.

You can purchase his book on Lulu by clicking here.

I have not read his book yet but I am going to download it today.  I am very excited since my blogging spark began when I started writing my blog Running Revelations.