November 4, 2008 was an amazing night for America. An African American man wins the general election running as an American who happens to be African American. Many thought that people’s vote may have been swayed by race. In the end it wasn’t even close and America showed that it has come a long way. And many Americans are pretty proud of that, whatever the outcome of the Obama Presidency. With all the problems we face in America, last night was an elixir for many.
I have been privileged to have witnessed similar history before and the emotions this time were seemingly different, but yet the same.Except this time – it was happening around me.Last time, I watched from across an ocean as Nelson Mandela walked out of jail a free man.After spending a lifetime incarcerated because of his strong will and quest for justice, peace, freedom and equal rights regardless of race color or creed.And shortly thereafter I watched as people lined up for hours (some waited overnight) around city blocks and in rural areas as all South Africans voted, many for the very first time. And Mandela was elected President of nation divided for so long, yet hopeful for a new future and at the same time fearful of the unknown. The first black President of a country that never imagined or thought that they would get there anytime soon.
Mandela sworn in as President
“We have fought for a democratic constitution since the 1880s. Ours has been a quest for a constitution freely adopted by the people of South Africa, reflecting their wishes and their aspirations. The struggle for democracy has never been a matter pursued by one race, class, religious community or gender among South Africans. In honouring those who fought to see this day arrive, we honour the best sons and daughters of all our people. We can count amongst them Africans, Coloureds, Whites, Indians, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews – all of them united by a common vision of a better life for the people of this country.”Nelson Mandela at Cape Town’s City Hall on the day he was elected President of South Africa.
Chuck Westbrook is out to help bloggers who write great content reach the audience they deserve. Writing a blog is not easy. Finding a voice, finding time to write, formatting, checking and getting your posts to say what you feel and then doing it again and again with no feedback gets old quickly. And the motivation for staying the course may change for some and for others they just opt out and stop blogging.
Chuck has a great idea where influential bloggers will “introduce” blogs with good content to their audiences and rotate these under appreciated gems every two weeks. Sounds like a great idea for the blogging community to support its fledgling brethren.
I for one would be honored to be considered as having great content and included. I will have to post more consistently which I am sure is easier to do with a larger audience. It is a bit of a cart behind the horse thing.
Was flipping channels this evening and caught the last third of Extreme Makover Home Edition where a remarkable young man (and his family) was highlighted. Patrick Henry Hughes is confined to a wheelchair and he is also blind. He does not see himself as disabled and when you see him play the piano and sing, or speak about talking to people and hear the scores of poeple who are motivated by him, you will understand how able and remarkable he is.
Sitting in a Doctor’s office in late March of 2008, I picked up Best Life magazine - bizarrely it was a Sept 2006 issue. For some reason, I always look at the last page first as I seem to find the personal experiences quicker that way. The article was written by David Keeps as told by the actor David Duchovny in a segment called “my defining moment.” The headline intrigued me: “Father and Son Reunion” so I started scanning and then decided to read it.
Duchovny spoke of how his parents separated when he was 11 and that his father moved to another state when he was 13. And as he grew older the conversations were somewhat superficial, but cordial with updates on what was happening in their lives.
You are reading a preview of Stories Are Personal. Personal Experiences Connect.. Read the full post here.
In a short space of time, we and our kids grow up. We have been skiing on and off for the last few years, but not many days per year. I snowboard. The kids and my wife ski. My wife and I were talking about how they were coming along during school break while skiing in Colorado, and said that someday soon we will be trailing them. We laughed and said in a few years. But we had fun.
Roll forward two weeks to this past weekend when we experienced an EPIC weekend at Mount Snow, Vermont which had collected over a foot of snow on Wednesday night and another foot or more on Friday night. Fresh powder like we did not see in Colorado - on the East Coast.
By the end of the second day - we were proudly riding in the slipstream of our 9 year old son.
One of my great inspirations as a person and as a golfer is Gary Player. Now in his 60’s, he can outlast, outrun and outplay people half his age and still have the energy and dedication to keep a big family and multiple businesses going while traveling around the world. Here is one of the reasons why.
Preparation, practice and lessons learned from sport that we can use to win in business
Gary Player the South African golfer says:“The more I practice, the luckier I get.” Just look at his record. He has also said that winning is a habit and that success breads success.Related to business, preparation is as important or more important than presentation.To understand what it takes to win, one has to understand oneself, and then know as much or more about the audience and potential clients than they do themselves.
Whether coaching, captaining managing or playing on teams in sport or the workplace, sharing credit and giving credit where credit is due is beyond critical from a motivation standpoint. People want to learn and they want to be motivated, connected, recognized and rewarded. If you play sport, think how often you raise your game when you are around better players or how you push yourself to keep up when you are around thought leaders or smart people either socially or at work (some people just run for the hills ).
Part of my journey in finding my “One Thing” (which is different for everyone and it changes depending on stage of life and other variables) was learning about people, life, what motivated me, etc. Along the way I learned about a number of things I did not want to do, and some that I put on my absolutely will do list.
I also began to recognize the importance of people and “fit”. One of the things which people struggle most with is change - people don’t change until the price of not changing is too great. It is soooo much easier to be comfortable and to excel when you “fit” with your surroundings, the people around you, and when you are comfortable in your own skin.
Today is a new day in my evolution - and I am excited by the opportunities ahead. Change is something that I welcome - you gain perspective, see things differently and it creates a host of different and exciting opportunities. Many fear change. It has always motivated me.
Having spent almost 2 years working in “New Marketing”, most recently as CEO of crayon and prior to that with its predecessor jaffe, LLC., Joseph and I agreed that it was the opportune time to part ways. I wish him and crayon well and know they do the same for me.
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