General – Page 16

What’s your story?

September 26, 2011 by Alan R 1 Comment

(photo by Felixco, Inc.)

We all have a story. When someone ask you “what’s your story”, what do they mean? Your story is not only about your past, but your present and future. I recently started reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (a book suggestion from Kevin Miller at Free Agent Academy among others) and the main point of the book is story. What is your story? If you are a parent, what part are your children playing in their stories? The quote that started me thinking was on page 51; “She’s not a bad girl,” my friend said. “She was just choosing the best story available to her.”

We often hear horror stories of teenagers and their behavior. They rebel, they don’t listen, and they do all manner of other bad stuff. Some get into drugs, some get into the wrong crowd, some just experiment with strange behaviors and clothing. As a society, how do we view those young people? Strange? Trouble makers? Bad? What are we teaching them with those labels? What roles are we placing them in?

If you hear encouragements that you are special,you are great, and you can do anything, for long enough you start to believe it. What would you believe if you heard that you are strange, a trouble maker, or just bad? For the teenager trying to find his or her place in the world, the only story they hear is negative. They choose the best story available to them, but that story is negative. What can we do as parents and society in general to make that story positive?

Justin Lukasavige at CoachRadio.tv is a coach. More importantly, he is a storywriter. He helps people write a better story for themselves and their businesses. How much better would your life be if you had someone to help you write your story? Famous people often employ ghostwriters to make their life stories or book ideas more appealing. Instead of using a ghostwriter at the end of the story when we share it, what if we get help while we are writing our story? Even if we don’t get help writing our story, how much better would it be if we actually paid attention to the story we are living?

At then end of your life, are you going to look back and be happy with the story you lived?

When your kids are grown, are you going to be proud of the story you helped them write for their lives?

What is your story?

Tattoo Design – The Deathly Hallows

September 14, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

I enjoy good symbols, logos, and designs. One particular interesting design is the Deathly Hallows from Harry Potter. Here are some great tattoos of that design from around the web:

IMPORTANT: Do you have a minute to answer 3 quick questions about laser engraving and tattoos? If so, click here to be taken to the survey and thanks for your time

Do you have a minute to answer 3 quick questions about laser engraving and tattoos? If so, click here to be taken to the survey and thanks for your time

Saturday morning baking

September 10, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

I enjoy bread. I enjoy eating it, baking it, smelling it. My wife decided this weekend would be a good time for me to bake some bread so of course, I just had to.

Finding a recipe

There are bread recipes everywhere on the internet. Just go to Google to see. Having a lot of choice is good, but the sheer number is often overwhelming. Since I don’t bake all the time, it is hard to choose the right one. This time I was looking for wheat bread and found Tammy’s Recipes and decided to give it a try.

The result

Outstanding bread. I am still a novice bread maker but this turned out great. It had a soft crust, great texture, and the size was just right…..well, maybe a little small but then again, all good bread recipes are too small…. Next loaf, I will take a picture of it once it is cut, but this one did not last long enough.

Party like it’s 1899

June 1, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

(Photo by nuchylee)

What could you do if you had an extra 4 workdays in a week? No, no, no, not to work, what would you do with that much FREE time? That is a question posed by Dan Miller on his 48 Days blog. How many things have you been putting off because you had no time? Months ago, we canceled our satellite service. Friends and family were concerned with how the children would cope. Some felt sorry for us having to go through this. What did people do before TV? Before DVRs? Before mass-media distraction?

People back in 1899 had books to read. They met with friends and discussed issues. They had their own businesses. They learned and they did. There were distractions then as there will always be, but think of what they accomplished with what was available. What could you do? What WOULD you do if you had a million dollars and could not fail? What if…..

Think of something, great. Now we have the “what”, the next step is the “how”. Dreams are great, but if you don’t turn them into actions, the never become reality. Yes, you will make mistakes. Most likely, it will be hard. Great things in life are often difficult or seemingly impossible. What would you do if you could not fail? How would you do it? Life is too short to look back on and wish things were different. People often regret what they were unable to accomplish rather than their mistakes. If you want a different life, why not take those 32 hours a week and make it happen? What now….

We have the “what”, now are you going to use those 32 extra hours per week to take action on the “how”…. to take action on your dreams…. to take action on your future….

Creativity, Classical Music, and TED

May 21, 2011 by Alan R Leave a Comment

Have you seen TED?

No, TED is not a friend from down the street or a buddy from work, TED (short for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) is a non-profit organization with the focus of “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It is a truly amazing organization. Great videos. Learn more about TED here.

After learning about TED, I occasionally look for interesting TED talks to get information or inspiration from. Some of the more interesting TED talks I have viewed dealt with directional speakers and growing adult molars in a dish. I recently wandered upon this talk entitled Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion. Not terribly interesting title to me except for the presenter, Benjamin Zander.

The Art of Possibility

A few months ago, I happened upon a book, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander. To say this book changed my life is a little dramatic, but it did and still does have a profound effect on me. One specific topic, Give everyone an “A” (explained briefly in a previous post), has greatly changed the way I look at people. So, after seeing that Mr Zander was giving a TED talks, I was very anxious to watch. [Read more…]