To the best of my knowledge, I won’t be passing from this earth into eternity any time soon, but none of us know when our last breath will come. As motivating as that might be to cause one to contemplate his legacy, it’s a different life event that has caused me to focus on it. That life event involves my kids. That is, last year was my daughter’s senior year of high school, and this year is my son’s senior year. While I think Addi may continue to live with us for another year or even two...

I never get tired of hearing the sound of the MGB GT starting up, and I thought it might be appropriate to record this final episode of the season in the very object that this season has been about. So I hope you don't mind the sounds of my car. I thought we'd take it for a little drive today. Every time I get in this car, it's a satisfying and joyful feeling. I can't help but get a smile on my face. I just love this car. I mean, I love the car, I love the look of the car, and all that stuff....

Where does one begin rewiring a car? For me, the answer wasn’t as hard as it may seem. That decision had been made months before. You see, during the research and education phase of this process, I’d done a lot of work to figure out what wiring harness would be the best fit for my car. Because the MGB and MGB GT were made nearly unchanged for almost 20 years, getting parts for them is still quite easy. And believe it or not, that includes getting brand new wiring harnesses. However, my...

On February 17, 1986 I turned 10 years old. Four days later Nintendo released a game that would become my favorite game franchise of all time. Released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, The Legend of Zelda captivated me like no video game, including any Mario game, had ever done before. The problem for me was, I owned a SEGA Master System, not a Nintendo. Fortunately, my friends down the street had a Nintendo, and I loved going to their house to play Zelda. From time to...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve admired the way my dad has the ability to create with his hands. Some of my earliest memories involve interacting with his creations. My dad was a carpet layer, and a good one at that. He drove a full-size fan, and it only had seating of the two front captain’s chairs. The rear cargo area of the van was completely covered in carpet that dad installed himself. On the driver’s side of the cargo area was a large tool chest made of plywood and covered in...

Walking home from school discussing the flagpole moment that would live in infamy, Ralphie, Flick and Schwartz relived the triple dog dare moment as Randy toddled behind them. And then, they heard the laugh of Scut Farkus. Scut and his toad henchman, Grover Dill, yelled at, intimidated, and twisted the arms of the boys until the boys ran away, screaming for their lives. I’m sure most, if not all of you have seen this scene from the movie, “A Christmas Story.” Later in the movie a...

A curious boy once asked a wise owl how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop. The owl opted to conduct an experiment to determine the number. One…Two…Three…crunch! Three, the owl declared. In the longer version of this famous commercial, the cow, fox, and turtle all confessed they’d never been able to make it to the center without biting it, and clearly the owl had no more patience than the other animals when it came to enjoying the sweet taste of a...

I could feel the wind jostling my hair. It wasn’t the kind of wind that knocks you back, but it was there letting me know that at that height, there was nothing to obstruct it. Behind me I heard the words of my friends Charles and James cheering me on. When I took the first step that would eventually lead me to this place, my heart was full of courage and confidence. The obstacle seemed small, the danger non-existent. But now I’d come to the end of my journey. My perspective had...

When I was 5 years old my parents bought me a Mighty Tonka Off Road Adventure Buggy. The Tonka Adventure buggy looked something like a Ford Bronco of the era. It was about 14 inches long and about 8 inches high with large wheels. It was great for playing in the dirt, and turned my backyard into an off road race track. I’d stand behind the Tonka, lean down and put my hands on top of it, and push it while running laps around the yard. In my mind I was at the wheel of a life-sized 4x4. It’s...

Tucked away at The Factory at Franklin sitting at the table farthest from the door, there I sat listening to Cliff talk about goals and limiting beliefs. After teaching on these topics for a while he instructed us to turn to a blank page in our workbook and number it 1 through 25 down the left hand side of the page. He then gave us 10 or 15 minutes to fill out all 25 places with things that we wanted in our life 5-10 years from now. Last week I asked you to perform this exercise, except...

In March of this year I brought back Stuff I Learned yesterday after being on hiatus for over 4 years. I had a burning desire to share the story arc that comprised all of last season. For some of you that listened to the original run of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, several of the stories shared last season were familiar because I’d shared them in some capacity on previous episodes of SILY. I shared them again and in more detail because I felt it was important to tell the whole story as an...

When I first had the idea for what would eventually become last season’s episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, it wasn’t so I could share the story on SILY. What is now collectively known as “The Dream” season of Stuff I Learned Yesterday started as a yearning to share my story from the stage. In the fall of 2018 I attended a conference called Free the Dream which you’ll hear more about starting with the new season next week. After that conference I felt compelled to share my story and...

As I mentioned last week, I just started my ninth year as a full-time entrepreneur. I also said that it wasn’t my dream until it was my dream. We’ve spent this entire season looking at my dreams. We started when I was in high school and visited several dreams along the way. So how about you? What’s your dream? I’m serious I want to know. Not sure? Hit the pause button and give it some thought. If you can, close your eyes, clear your mind. Allow your mind to wander and think. Don’t...

Eight weeks have passed since we started this season. The name of that first episode was called Birth of a Dream. That dream was to one day be an animator for Warner Brothers. I then killed that dream and then had no dream for the next few years. Then, after working at the bookstore long enough to see all the opportunities, I dreamed of becoming a buyer within that company. A few years later, I achieved that dream, only to have it smashed when I was fired from it 18 months later. Read...

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” Those are the words of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, son of David, celebrated king of Israel. Once I started working with TV talk, it became clear pretty quickly that I was finally on the path of leaving the corporate world. In fact, just 6 months after I first started working with TV Talk, I turned in my resignation. That’s right, I got to leave on my terms. Handing my boss a resignation letter felt so...

When I started working at the bookstore as a part time cashier in the fall of 1994, I considered it to be a good job that would help me pay my way through college. After I dropped out of college, I put all my focus toward excelling at the bookstore so that I could get as much experience as possible until I figured out what I wanted to be now that I was growing up. At some point along the journey, I realized that the bookstore was a great place to make a career. Read More...

Internet Sales Manager. That was the title my boss gave me as I started this new adventure. Technically, he asked what title I wanted, and said that he was thinking about Internet Sales Manager. Since I really don’t care much about job titles as long as they don’t contain the word “waiting” in them, so it sounded good to me. This job turned out to be one of my best adventures so far. Looking back on it now, it prepared me for my current phase of life more than I ever could have...

Last week I ended the episode with me FINALLY landing what was my dream job at that time: a buying position within the company I was working for. My first day on the job was preparing for a business trip to our industry’s annual conference taking place the following week. My new assistant got me up to speed, and out the door I went. The new team I was working with was enjoyable. My assistant was very knowledgeable and really delightful to work with. The other junior buyer in our...

So there I was, a 19 year old killer. The first sign of difficulty had crossed my path, and I had no Samwise Gamgee. Can we just pause here for a minute? I want to make sure you get that reference. I know most of you wonderful nerds got it. But for those who didn’t, go find a copy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or go watch the movies. Samwise Gamgee might just be the true hero of that entire adventure. Frodo never would have finished his journey, he never would have survived, he...

The year is now 1994. I was fresh out of high school and ready to head out into the world and conquer it. Warner Brothers, I’m coming at you! My plan was to enroll at the University of Central Oklahoma for two years, then transfer to the University of Oklahoma to finish up my final two years. My freshman year would be spent living in the dorm, and my roommate would be one of my close high school friends. It was going to be awesome!! Read More...

In the fall of 1991 I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. I did well in school, but didn’t really take all my classes seriously. English was one of those classes that came naturally to me, and that year we had a brand new teacher for English by the name of Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison was different. He not only had an English degree, but he was fluent in French and Spanish, and knew a fair bit of Latin. He was well-read, articulate, quick-witted, and knew how to command a...

Let's get dangerous! What comes to your mind when you hear those words? I was a child of the 80’s and entered high school in 1990. When I was in high school, my afternoons after I got out of school consisted of me coming home, turning on the TV, and for the next two to three hours, watching cartoons like Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Tailspin, Ducktails, Darkwing Duck, the Animaniacs, and Batman: The Animated Series. And I absolutely loved watching these cartoons.  Read More...

Back on March 17, 2014 I launched Stuff I Learned Yesterday, a podcast to inspire, bring hope, and be a spark of light in the world.  After 562 episodes, the sun set on SILY on December 30, 2016.  A new day has dawned, and SILY is back, this time, the launch day is March 17, 2021.  I’m looking forward to sharing the new episodes with you.  Here’s a preview of the first two episodes.  Subscribe or follow the podcast, and enjoy new episodes each Wednesday starting March 17.  Read More...