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Archive for January, 2010

You Just NEVER Know…..

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

I came across this story today and felt it was necessary for me to share…. I trust you will do the same upon reading it…..

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.   His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his books.  I thought to myself,  Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?  He must really be a nerd.

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.  They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him…

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.  My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, ‘Those guys are jerks.’  They really should get lives.  He looked at me and said, ‘Hey thanks!’ There was a big smile on his face..

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.  As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before..

He said he had gone to private school before now.  I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.  He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.  I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends and he said yes.  We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.  I stopped him and said, Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday

He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends..

When we were seniors we began to think about college.  Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never  be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship..

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.  I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.  I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak

Graduation day, I saw Kyle.  He looked great.  He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school… He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.  Boy, sometimes I was jealous!   Today was one of those days.  I could see that he was nervous about his speech.  So, I smacked him on the back and said, ‘Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!’

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled.

Thanks, he said.   

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began…

Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.  Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach…but mostly your friends…..

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.  I am going to tell you a story.

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.  He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.  Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable…

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it’s depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions..

With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.

For better or for worse……

God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

You now a choice, you can :

1) Pass this on to your friends by retweeting it, social bookmarking it, posting it on Facebook

or

2) Say that was a nice story and act like it didn’t touch your heart….

It’s your call…..

As you can see, I took choice number 1…

Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.   There is no beginning or end… Yesterday is history…..Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift…. That is why they call it the present.

Know That You Are Appreciated……..

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More Tribe Talk…..

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

More Tribe Talk

In my last blog post I made mention of the latest craze on Twitter, Facebook and the Internet as a whole…….  “TRIBES”.   Today I want to revisit the idea and explain where I am coming from.

I joined the tribe mastermind 1.0 in late December and was immediately welcomed with arms wide open by approximately 25 other like-minded individuals.

We are all in “Marketing” to some degree and all in different companies, with the exception the leaders of this tribal moment who are part of the same company and exploding things like never seen before.  They are using social media (the skills and attributes they have mastered) to build a business.

I quickly discovered that I needed to create a blog post on a weekly basis as everyone belonging to the community was doing the same and we were required to have open minds to learn, share and discuss any and all content.  It was networking in its purest form.  No selling, recruiting, trying to make money off of each other, no comparing of each other’s companies….. just a time to build healthy and long lasting business relationships.

Each and every member that I have worked with thus far has some sort of talent.  One in particular, Kimberly Castleberry, literally saved my blog!  She is…. and I say this in the most respectful way… a computer techy.  She knows computers and I am…. shall we say a little behind the times but learning every day!

There were a series of classes (webinars) that educated everyone on the call no matter whether you were a beginner or an “expert” in your area.  I learned so many new things about Facebook that I never knew before.  Other topics included Twitter, Youtube, Blogging and Content Creation/Syndication just to name a few.

We are very privileged to have six (6) great Leaders who keep us on track and are the brains of the operation but there are so many other great leaders in training just waiting to break out……  Each and everyone who is in the “tribe” is a Leader in many respects.  We are all going to be great leaders with the guidance of the six at the top.

If you would like further information, feel free to contact any of the following individuals:

Kary Rogney

Michael Feil

Nick Logan

Jon Alfredsson

Ken Pickard

Eric Goldstein

They will be hosting a FREE WEBINAR on Thursday, Jan 28th to further discuss and educate us on a series of topics that will help anyone who desires to take their marketing campaign to the next level, no matter where you currently find yourself.

So, I encourage you to click either of the links

http://tribeformula.createwitheric.com or

http://tribe.karyrogney.com/ and sign up for the FREE

webinar…. no strings attached…..


What are you waiting for?

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Posted in Part-Time Versus Full-Time Entrepreneur - The Series | 5 Comments »

What Is All This Talk Of Tribes Lately ???

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

What Is All This Talk Of Tribes Lately ???

If you have been paying attention to Twitter on Tuesday evenings then you may have noticed the #tribetuesday catch phrase appear.  If you haven’t, believe me…. it is only a matter of time.

So what exactly is all the fuss?  Have you read the book entitled “Tribes” by Seth Godin?  If you answered no, then you better put that on your immediate “To Do List”, not the one that your wife and you make for ‘around the house’ but the one that you try to fulfill each and every week!

I took it to the next level and purchase the CD/Audio set because I do spend some time traveling and also because I can listen to it while sitting at my computer.

Let’s get you up to speed quickly here with a definition of a tribe.  According to “Oxford Canadian Dictionary” 2nd Edition it is “A Group Or Community Of People United By A Shared Profession Or Hobby” I think that fits nicely with what the group of names listed below have set out to accomplish.

I have been very fortunate to meet up with the likes of:

Kary Rogney

Michael Feil

Nick Logan

Jon Alfredsson

Ken Pickard

Eric Goldstein

I learn something new about these gentlemen each and every day either through reading about their content or by means of speaking with them.  They have definitely seen a need for leadership in Education, Home Based Business / Social Media and the MLM Arena.   Not only have they seen the need, they have taken it to a whole new level and set the bar very high in doing so.

You will notice that each of their names are hyperlinked…. which simply means that once you click on it your will be taken directly to their blog.  I have done so because they all have tremendous amounts of value to offer anyone wishing to grow and stretch themselves.

So, what is the purpose of the “Tribe” as we know it?  Well, it serves many purposes but I am going to outline only 3 that I believe are of most importance:

1)      Accountability and Support

2)      Education – Ongoing and Reinforcement

3)      Syndication – Sharing Of Others Content

Let me briefly explain these three important criteria…..

Accountability and Support is more or less self-explanatory.  In life what is easy to do is also easy not to do.  That is why having a support group or shall I say “tribe” so important to your success.  Knowing that I have to complete at least one blog post per week, get on a weekly call, and really stay on top of things is the true power of our tribe.

Secondly is Education. These gentlemen and those who they have as mentors, men and women alike, are staying abreast of the most currently and relevant Education that will only further our continued success.  If you are not Educating yourself then you are not growing.  Leaders are Readers!

Lastly is the power of Syndication.  Without Syndication, I would not have nearly as much traffic to my Blog,Ttwitter or Facebook account.  It is solely because of the Syndication that takes place that all tribe members are being rewarded with traffic and more importantly the creation of relationships.

So, I encourage you to do two things:  (1) Visit the blogs of the individuals whose names are listed above and (2) check out Seth Godin’s Book on Tribes.

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Posted in Part-Time Versus Full-Time Entrepreneur - The Series, The Power Of Personal Development | 19 Comments »

Lego Lesson With My 4 Year Old…..

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Lego Lesson With My 4 Year Old…..

I was sitting and playing lego with my oldest son, Tyson, the other day when it dawned on me that I have a great teaching point here.  But first, a little history on the lego.

It is fact the very same lego that I played with almost 30 years ago.  Yes, my parents were clever enough to save it for me and wow, do I have a lot of lego.

In todays market, I am sure that it would easily fetch over $1000 for all of it.  Not that I have thought about it…… just a good thing that I don’t use Ebay….

So, it is all collected and contained in a large rubber maid container, or at least most of it is….remember I do have two small boys!   Recall the last story I made mention of my 2 year old son, Denver, well he has gotten over the stage of wanting to eat everything (oral stage) but I think it is safe to say he is still in destruction mode

…. makes for some interesting evenings and weekends to say the least.  He is finally understanding that taking it apart will get him 2 minutes in the penalty box! (you can tell I am Canadian, eh?)

What lesson did I learn?  Well, I was sorting through all of the colors, shapes and sizes to build our lego city when eventually I decided that I could work with any color, shape or size to build things.  You see, our lego is a collection of several different sets, purchased over several years.  Most of the instruction booklets have been misplaced or shredded by my two boys so we now simply use our imagination.

Again, this is where my lesson comes into play.  I did a lot of sorting to come up with a final product.

I had to sort, sort, sort and sort some more to get what I could work with, even though the structure may not have been the same color and a few pieces stuck out here and there, I will still able to get it to work.

Isn’t that how things work in the business world?  Sort to find those individuals who will work….

I don’t care how rough around the edges they might be, what skill set they have or their background but I am more than happy to work with those who want to work!

I used to coach competitive volleyball and have since taken a break to raise my young family but again, the same principle applies.  It did not matter to me how rough or polished my volleyball players were as long as I had some raw athletic ability and a strong work ethic.  I could turn them into what most considered to be well equipped volleyball players.

So, just remember when you are forming relationships, looking for those to work with…..you will do lots of sorting and eventually come across many who are keen, focused and have a desire to work.

Oh, got to run… more lego to build!

Cheers – Steve

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Lessons From A Two Year Old….

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Lessons From A Two Year Old

As some of you may know, I work part time as an Educator.  I am in my 11th year of Teaching, 10 of which were full time.  However, this year both my wife and I have decided to work only part-time.  She actually only worked part-time last year as well and I was able to witness the benefits of doing so.  The main reason is that it allows us more time with our children.  My oldest is 4 ½ and youngest being 2 ½

So, what lesson have I learned that I think is worth sharing?

It has to be the lesson where we never give up.  Have you ever watched a child attempt to do something without ever thinking to themselves that giving up would be an option?  Sure the child may get upset, cry a little or have a melt-down but they still want resolve.

The same has to be true of us.  We are going to face difficult times.  I believe that will knowledge comes responsibility.  If we have learned something that the masses have yet to understand, it is our responsibility to share and give, give, give.

The situation that drove home this point of not quitting occurred when we were outside playing in the snow.  We were out playing in what I call our winter wonderland.  You see, we live in Eastern Canada and yes, we get a measurable amount of snow each winter.

I say winter wonderland because we have taken it upon ourselves to build 2 sizeable “forts”, carve into the snow seating around our outdoor fire pit to roast marshmellows and make “smorse” (for those who don’t know what they are….you are missing out big time!) and we have constructed 2 sliding runs that converge at the bottom and run into a huge wall.  The boys love it and are old enough to not only slide by themselves but also carry their sled up the hill (big bonus)

So, back to the lesson….sorry got carried away with the description.

We were outside playing and it was snowing at the time and all of our paths (mazes) were not yet shovelled.  My 2 ½ year old has a great memory and decided he wanted to pull his sled around the house and do the usual laps that he frequently does.

The problem arose when he realized that it would be much more difficult to accomplish because daddy still hadn’t shovelled the 10 inches of snow.  So I think you can begin to see the dilemma?  He is 2 ½ years old, dressed for comfort and warmth, not so much speed and he wants to walk his path…..

It was here that I was able to stand back and take a break from the shoveling and watch.  I was able to watch my youngest attempt to walk through snow that if things were to scale would be like us as adults trying to walk in snow half way up our thigh!  It would be difficult to do at best and we would likely give up.  That was not an option for Denver.  He walked the entire path that was not yet shoveled until he reached the clear path.

So, why is this such a valuable lesson?  It serves two purposes for me.  One, I was able to witness it because I am only working part-time.  It is moments like these that reassure me that taking a leave from my JOB and putting more time into my children and wife was a wise decision.  And two, it helped me realize that at times when I feel like giving up, I need only press on a little further and I will reach my finish line.

With 2010 being only 5 days old, now is the time to map out our goals for the year, the next 6 months, the next 3 months, the next month and every week as they come up.  We need to realize that if we want to succeed, quitting is not an option.  I could see it in the eyes of my 2 ½ year old, Denver, that giving up just wasn’t an option.

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