Were you ever asked a question, the answer to which was so obvious, that you just knew there had to be a catch?

Sometimes I hate those questions, and other times I love them… here is one that I remember from years ago.

“So there are two frogs sitting on a log and one decides to jump off… how many are left?” a friend asked.

“Uh… one…,” came my response, followed immediately by his exclamation, “WRONG!”

As I said, sometimes I really hate those questions :)

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My friend then explained that DECIDING to do something and ACTUALLY DOING IT can be mutually exclusive events. In fact, the doing could come years later, and often comes NOT AT ALL.

Hmm… so there were still two frogs sitting there after all.

Who knew? The truth is, the stories I REALLY don’t like are the ones where, as the listener, you suddenly realize you’re the frog… but alas, I digress.

But this is important.

I spoke in the previous article about the first key to success being the belief that we CAN achieve whatever it is we want to achieve, and the second and more critical component being the DECISION to act.

But like our little frog friend, there can be a huge disparity between the decision to act… and the acting itself.

In fact, it wasn’t until some time later that I realized that belief in our ability to achieve, and the resolve to some day act on that belief, are present in virtually every dream that was ever accomplished, and… in all those dreams that weren’t.

That’s right… the belief and resolve are often present in the goals and dreams that sit idle… that want for action.

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Procrastination is a dream stealer… a powerful force that keeps frogs on logs and people in ruts.

Simply put, nothing gets done… when nothing gets done.

So there is a third component… the act of taking action. To be sure, until we are doing, we are dreaming only. And if we never get around to acting, that dream may be better identified as an hallucination :)

Not good.

So what then? Certainly, the I CAN spirit is necessary… as in, I CAN do this thing! Likewise, the I WILL component is critical… as in, I know that I CAN and have now decided that I WILL do this thing!

Finally, there is just one way to push it forward, and that is to act. Success in any endeavor begins to taste real when we put away the “should’s” and “some days”, the “gonna’s” and “going to’s”, and honestly proclaim, “This is what I AM currently doing!”

I Can… I Will… I Am.

“Don’t tell me what you’re going to do,” a mentor once prodded. “Tell me what you’ve done, and what you are doing now… period.”

P-e-r-i-o-d… depending on the context, I sometimes don’t like that term either… but I’m learning :)

I look forward to speaking with you.

 
Photo Credit:

Clearly Ambiguous

Many years ago, a friend walked into my office, asked if I had a few minutes, and handed me a cassette tape (yes, a cassette tape – I said it was a long time ago).

The tape contained a talk entitled If You Think You Can… You Can, or You Can If You Think You Can, or something similar. You’ve no doubt heard it or, at least, heard these sentiments expressed.

“Great title,” I said before even listening… “just one problem.”

I continued, “I’m not saying that belief isn’t important, but believing you CAN do something and actually deciding you WILL do something, are two completely different mindsets.”

And I wasn’t done yet! I continued along the lines that “potential” exists because of our belief… but real success begins with our decision; with our will.

At the time, I remember thinking how profound that argument was… no, the truth is that more than likely I was thinking how profound I was :)

What I didn’t know, of course, was that I was missing a major component, a piece without which success becomes impossible!

Do you know what it is? And yes, of course, there may be more than one!! I look forward to hearing from you!

 
Photo Credit:

khrawlings

Yeah, check it out… another week has flown by!

As in, I cannot believe it’s been seven days since my last article. Oh, shoot… it’s actually been eight.

C’est la vie.

So last week, I was trying to sort out this whole “Time Flies” thing when I ran into a couple of, well… old guys.

And suddenly, I had my answer!

No, it wasn’t because they possessed wisdom from all the experience they had gained from their many years. In fact, on the contrary, it was because they had grown old and weary (without the wisdom) long before their time!

Yes, these old men were younger than me… and no, time was not flying for them.

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“Same old… same old.”
“Same stuff… different day.”

Same… same… same.

These were the responses I received when I asked what was going on… what was new… what was exciting!! Unfortunately, their answers were eerily similar to the responses that I got from some of the really old guys at my last class reunion… but I digress.

So, I’m thinking it was George Washington or Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison or one of those really smart guys that figured out that time flies… when you’re having fun!

Yes, when you’re engaged… creating great art or building a Country or doing good works… you know, something interesting or important or… yeah, just plain fun!

It’s why vacations or childhood summers or honeymoons fly by! It’s why life for some seems like a whirlwind and for others resembles trudging through quicksand. And it is why time is flying by tonight!

We’re in the process of building the foundations of several new ventures right now. And I do mean right now… as in, I had to stop doing that in order to sit down and write this!

At midnight.

So, until I can give the details… please know my hope for you is that you are getting younger… and that there’s just not enough time in your day!!

I look forward to hearing from you!

 
Photo Credit:

oddsock

Eight weeks ago this minute, I was just walking up to my front door after driving home from the Minneapolis area.

The trip had taken just under 4 hours, but it really seemed like only half that long… strange.

Interestingly, Google Maps told me it would take 4 hours and 52 minutes so I was likely going just a little faster than I should have been!

Then again, I don’t necessarily put my faith in Google and I also think that if I go just the right speed, my car becomes invisible… sweet!

But here’s the really weird part – as I think about the conversations I had while I was there… the interactions with others… yes, even the dinner we ate just before I headed for home that evening… it hardly seems like a few weeks have passed, no less several months.

Hmm…

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You’ll recall my theory from Part 1 about time actually being perceived as speeding up as we get older. Now, I’m no physicist (and neither was my grandma), but it seemed to make sense to me at the time.

A friend of mine then suggested another cause could be at work. Maybe, just maybe, he said… we are surrounded by so much technology… so many stimuli… such a multitude of sensory activity competing for our attention… that we simply lose track of time.

Sounds reasonable, I thought.

After all, I was listening to music… and I was on and off the phone more than a few times… and I did pull out my mp3 and record my thoughts for an upcoming presentation that I was to deliver. Oh, and there was also traffic and there were deer and raccoons and… and… and I was excited to sleep in my own bed, and…

You get the picture.

Gee… was I really so distracted that time just flew by? And if so, have I really been THAT distracted for the LAST EIGHT WEEKS?

I hope not.

So to prove it, I pretty much went off the grid for about five days last week and weekend. That’s right. With the exception of a handful of texts, almost completely away from my cell. And no laptop… no Internet or e-mail… no social networks… no television, radio, sports, news… nothing.

Nothing… and guess what?

Those five days seemed like about thirty-six hours, but at least this time, I think I know why. The answer… next time.

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

Skyseeker

Sometimes time just flies, and other times… IT REALLY FLIES!!

Maybe you’ve experienced it, you know… where you just can’t believe weeks or months have passed because events LITERALLY feel like they happened yesterday.

A friend and I were talking about that phenomenon awhile back and we came to several conclusions about why we sense such things. The most simple explanation seemed to be one that just makes sense from a perceptual point of view.

The idea is that time, relative to our entire life, actually IS speeding up. I learned this from my grandmother when I was just a boy. At the time, she was seventy-two years old and I was seven, and we happened to be remembering an event that had taken place about a year earlier.

Suddenly, she exclaimed something to the effect of, “I can’t believe that was last year already… it seems like only yesterday!!”

I don’t remember encyclopedia volumes of information about that time of my life, but I do recall being puzzled by her comments. After all, that year certainly seemed like a VERY LONG TIME to me.

Only later did I figure out why.

You see, at that point in time, seven years was an ENTIRE LIFETIME for me… and that year literally represented 1/7 of an entire life… mine. For my grandma, however, that year was perceived as a far smaller number, representing a mere 1/72 of her life.

In the end, she would be Blessed to have a year take up just 1/92 of her time here. What a lovely, kind and beautiful lady, but ahem…

Back to the point of this article… you have your own grandma stories to tell :)

I have just experienced a couple of weeks that really seems like just a few days… and it’s not because I’m 72 or 92 years old!! No, I believe there are other factors at play here… factors I’ll explore further tomorrow!

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Photo Credit:

Nathan Eal Photography

Early next week, I’m meeting with a client to tell them that they don’t have to pay me.

That’s right, I’m going to tell them that they don’t have to pay me for thousands and thousands of dollars of work that I’ve already done for them.

I am, shall we say… canceling the debt.

Did I mention it’s thousands of dollars?
Enough to live on for a month or so?
And that I am releasing them of all obligation?
Okay, just checking.

Now, one other thing I have to tell you… my client doesn’t know about all this yet. Right now it’s just between you and me and readers from all fifty states and about seventy-three countries around the world.

Shhh… it’s our little secret :)

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Back to the client.

When we sat down and put the project together a few months ago, I was told that the State of Wisconsin had a grant that would cover a significant part of the expenses (and my profit), and that the funds were to be dispersed about 11 1/2 weeks ago.

So, we went to work.

Since 1987, I have signed exactly two contracts or work proposals… every other dime was done on a handshake. I took care of my part… I simply expected the other party to take care of theirs. And yes, there were times where we got the short end of the stick, but that happens WITH contracts as well.

Interestingly, each of the jobs where firm contracts were in place involved public funds, and each ran into headaches that could have easily been avoided if commonsense, and not the contract terms, prevailed.

And in retrospect, each would likely have cost less as well.

Gee, now that I’m walking down Memory Lane, I’m thinking that over the years I was told more than once that I needed contracts and purchase orders and documents written in Legal-ese to make sure I wouldn’t get raked in certain business deals, and my response was always the same…

“If I need to bind them legally, I really don’t think I want their business.”

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So now back to today.

The State Application Process went well and was right on schedule. However, along the way, within that state office there were some very difficult (and ultimately tragic) circumstances which delayed the process. Regardless, the contract has now been awarded – months behind schedule, and states that it will not pay for work done before it’s official approval date… which is last week.

Time for the commonsense part.

There are some times and some industries where you need to make your hay when the sun is shining. This is pretty simple. The Farmers’ Markets begin in June… contract or not, you don’t wait ’til August to begin your work! The Department of Agriculture certainly understands this… it is the reason that the initial approval and award dates were scheduled for May.

So herein lies the issue. The small farm owners involved have suggested that they don’t have the funds to pay for the previously completed services without the grant money, and I have no reason to doubt them or question their integrity. As I said before, I work on a trust basis and a handshake every day and have for years.

The part that stings a bit is that the work we did was really, really good… almost like art. This is frustrating because being “Whole-Brained”, sometimes my Right Brain tells me that we occasionally just need to give our art away. Almost always, my Left Brain disagrees.

So now, as I see it, I am left with three choices:

1) Submit generic, vague, or post-dated invoices for the previously rendered services and get them paid by the state (not an option)

2) Forgive the payment for the work already completed, then do thousands of additional dollars of work and submit THOSE invoices for payment by the state, or

3) Forgive the payment for the work already completed, part friends, walk away and perform my art somewhere else.

Well, I guess there is also number 4)… we could get into a peeing contest over it (not going to happen).

So here’s where we are. I’ve already told you that #1 and #4 are out… if the owners tell me they cannot pay, I will trust their word and write off the remaining balance for the previously completed work. Still, I’m interested to know what you’d do :)

I look forward to hearing from you.

Photo Credit:

Marco Raaphorst

When I was a kid, I remember some adults… in particular, a number of teachers and a (supposed) well-meaning relative or two… telling me that I was “nothing more than a dreamer.”

It usually started this way:

THEM: “So, Steve… what are you going to be when you grow up?”

ME: “Oh, I don’t know… I don’t want much… I only want to change the world.”

And then it usually ended this way:

THEM: “You are SUCH a dreamer… you know, one day you’re going to need to get REAL SERIOUS about getting a job somewhere.”

ME: “Oh… yeah, thanks.”

Now, please understand… from my perspective, there were at least two points that were glaringly wrong with this argument:

1) From the time I was about eight years old, I never thought much about working my way up someone else’s ladder… figuring instead that, one way or another, we’d just make it on our own, and

2) All this talk of real serious job-getting tended to come from the same people who told me that I could be whatever I wanted when I grew up… after all, this was America.

Yes, it seemed, I could do anything… I could be anything… just as long as the “anything” was within their comfort zone.

Hmm…

Well, my dear teachers… thirty-five years later, I have some good news. This is still America… technology has made it a lot easier to be whatever we want to be… and yes…

In spite of all the politicians and posers, the nay-sayers and haters… we can still create our own success… we still have the freedom to fail… and I still believe we can change the world.

Photo Credit:

Kıvanç Niş

A few days ago, while parked at a red light, I glanced over and noticed an old car next to me at the intersection.

It was spotless… no, it was flawless… the maroon and cream colored paint as thick as the chrome that decorated the bumpers on both ends and the window frames and mirrors in the middle.

Must have cost a small fortune in dollars and an even greater investment in time and energy and passion. One look at the driver and you could sense the emotion… the pride… the desire to be noticed and acknowledged.

At once, I rolled down my window, threw my thumb into the air and exclaimed, “Beautiful… that is AWESOME!!”

You should have seen his face… he was beaming.

Minutes down the road, we’re now approaching a line of cars that is moving far too slowly for this particular stretch of highway. As I move to the fast lane, I suddenly realize that there are several more vintage automobiles in the group… each as incredible in their detail as was the first.

Without thinking, I slow as I pass each one… nodding approval to each driver as we make eye contact. Those with women in their vehicles seemed especially proud, as if the added attention somehow justified that the results of years of intense labor and commitment had all been worth it.

At that moment, a friend riding with me asks, “What year was that car?” (I have no idea). Another asks about the make and model (of which I also have no clue), and then the first states, “Gosh, Steve, I never knew you were so interested in old cars…”

“I’m not…” I say. “Don’t know the first thing about them…”

“Huh?”

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Over the years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve suggested to others that the next words out of their mouth could lift up or knock down, encourage or harm, create or destroy.

I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve lived to regret the choices I’ve made so often in this regard.

The truth is that the life-givers are far outnumbered by the energy-takers… and a kind word or an unconditional act of support or encouragement or approval may be the only one an individual receives that day… that week… or in what seems like forever.

You see, the cars mattered only because the people mattered.

And each day… at each intersection… and in each interaction… the choice is ours to add or subtract from another’s sense of happiness, value and pride.

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Questions:

Do you know people who others just love to be around?
What about those who drain emotional energy and put everyone on their guard?
What are the main differentiators of those in each group?
When was the last time you had the chance to really acknowledge someone?
Did you do it? If so, how did they respond?

Photo Credit:

Makdune

Don’t mean to get all heavy on you here, and maybe it’s just me (though I doubt it)… but in speaking with people about life decisions, I often hear the request, “If you think about it later, pray for us that… [whatever the issue happens to be]“.

My response is always the same, “Okay, well let’s just take care of that now then…, ” and I begin.

No big deal… no incantations… no craziness.

Now, of course, it seems to be especially common when there is a serious relationship or health issue at stake… but nearly every week it also comes up in conversations regarding the mundane and ordinary.

You know, the stuff that probably falls under freewill as opposed to God’s Will, but I digress.

For example, earlier today, and yes… I did clear this with her… a friend was very concerned about a possible career move and was fairly wound up about it. Not wound up about the job change, mind you… but wound up about whether the job change was “in God’s Will”.

“It’s just so hard to know,” she said.

I disagreed.

You see, I’m no preacher (tho’ my dad is), but the way I got it figured is that God’s Will is actually pretty easy to sort out. Love Him… love others… be content… and whatever it is we’re doing, don’t be an idiot.

Well, that last part is really my translation… as far as I know, the word “idiot” doesn’t appear in Scripture. However, it does say to do whatever we’re doing to His Glory, so I think that “don’t be an idiot” actually works :)

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So in the last few months, I’ve been asked to pray for all sorts of stuff from what college to attend to where to vacation in August to whether I felt God would prefer a domestic or import.

“Domestic or import…,” I asked, “Are we talking fine wine or automobiles?”

“Cars!” came the answer, “I’m buying a new car!”

Wow, I had finally figured out what the WWJD bracelet meant… literally,
“What Would Jesus Drive?” :)

Reminds me of the story of the kid whose dad tells him to get his hair cut before he can get his driver’s license. The son tells his father that Jesus had long hair and he wants to be more like him, to which the dad replies, “Yes Son, and if you read a little further you’ll find out that Jesus walked everywhere!”

Hmm… so just what would Jesus drive? Hard to know, I told my friend, but given the choice (and he definitely would have the choice)… I’m thinking BMW.

Of course, it is very possible that many of these material desires and decisions may not really concern God at all. What car to drive… what job to take… what team really has His Favor?

Then again, with all due respect to my friends in Minneapolis, Chicago and Dallas, we kinda know, don’t we… that the streets of Heaven are paved with Green And Gold…

:)

I look forward to speaking with you soon!

Photo Credit:

edoga

Recently I made the decision to leave an organization that I have been part of and that I have strongly supported and promoted for the better part of fourteen years.

Now certainly, my resignation wasn’t something that just developed overnight. To be sure, these things rarely are, though it is likely that the end came much quicker than anyone might have imagined.

That said, there is little doubt in my mind that we’re all better off for the time we had together… and we’ll all certainly be better off by going our separate ways in the future.

Without naming names, it is important to realize that, over time, organizational rules and processes can become a burden and hindrance to growth… and it is my opinion that this particular organization’s rules and processes have done just that. Similarly over time, personal ambitions and missions change… and mine most definitely have.

No question.

But there was a bigger issue… one of integrity and character. You see, some time back many began to see a large disparity between the stated purpose of the organization and the demonstrated results of the organization. In fact, an analysis of the previous decade reveals red flags missed on virtually every leadership level.

What for me started as concern several years ago now began to grow into doubt, culminating in a near-complete loss of faith in the ability of the organization to deliver on its stated purpose.

And while goals and dreams and purposes and priorities may be God-given, I believe organizations and clubs and companies are man-made.

Period.

I also believe that not every fight is a necessary fight, and not every hill is a hill worth dying on. Further, I believe that as much as Pride says otherwise, there are times when it makes sense to agree to disagree, part with respect, and walk away.

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Now, here’s what’s interesting… at least to me :)

Those beliefs mentioned above led to a very enlightening conversation about character and integrity earlier this week… a conversation which looked at the same situation and saw two opposite points of view, at least until I asked the big question.

For nearly fifteen minutes, I listened intently as this gentleman described the past, present and future issues of this organization. I agreed that at one time they were on the right track and that given the right set of circumstances, the leadership could do a one-eighty and begin to serve the field teams again. And I also acknowledged that at one time, many believed I would lead that charge.

So, he asked, would I consider changing my mind?

No.

Frustrated, he continued, “How can you leave an organization that you once promoted? After all, there are those who look up to you… those who are counting on you! That’s an integrity issue… a character issue… a commitment issue!”

I let the dust settle, and then asked this simple question.

“I spent years within my sphere of influence trying to correct the situation… and within the last three months have been told the changes needed would not happen… at least not before the Second Coming :) What do you see as greater integrity… to go out and vigorously sell something you do not believe in? Or, would it be greater integrity to stop promoting what you don’t believe in, and provide a different solution entirely?”

He just smiled, and said, “You know we’re going to miss you.”
“Hey, you didn’t answer my question,” said I.
He was still smiling, even more broadly now… yes, his smile said it all.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Photo Credit:

Darwin Bell