Richard’s Thoughts…
I recently returned to the tennis court. For many people, not big news … but for me, a guy who was told by a doctor nearly three years ago that I shouldn’t play much anymore, this is a big accomplishment. Shortly after playing a tournament in August 2006, my best summer as a tennis player, my back was a nightmare. I could hardly walk at times. I saw numerous doctors until I final received the dreaded diagnosis in the spring of 2007. No more tennis. I could play, but not at the level I was accustomed.

I hung it up. I was done. Since that diagnosis, I have picked up a racquet maybe a dozen times. For a guy who had played a lot since the age of 12, not playing tore me apart. I find it slightly ironic that my best friend also had an injury and had to quit playing at the same time. Until this “retirement,” I had taken playing tennis for granted. It was just something I was always going to do.

Well, a few weeks ago, I started in on one of my goals for the year, to play in four tennis tournaments. Without question my body is going to be sore. I am going to go through a lot of ice. But it is going to be worth it. I love the game and if this is my last season and if my last match is right around the corner, I am going to savor every moment. I will never take it for granted again. What should you focus a bit more positive energy into this week? There is no time like the present.

Related posts:

1. Open by Agassi
2. FOCUS: Your Decision!
3. Life is a Permanent Beta Test

*Beginning in 2010, I started writing a bi-weekly column, “From Richard’s Oft Cluttered Desk” which appears every other Wednesday.

This is the fifth column I’ve penned officially for this blog. Each time I’ve sat down to write I’ve been concerned about the outcome. Heck, half the time I have not had an idea what I would actually write about. It is still scary. And as I thought about what I wanted to write about this time, I have been pulled in many directions.

I could write about the amazing weekend I had at the end of February. Everything has been a dream come true and some has just been really nice.

I could write about the painting I recently finished. I tried a new technique and I’m very pleased how it turned out.

I could write about Joe Mauer and baseball. I could write about my UNI Panther basketball team. I could write about politics or the pulled chicken I’m trying to make as I write this. The options are endless – and welcome to the world of the mind of a writer.

With the completion of my book, Anything is Possible, I’m awaiting my next project. I have a few ideas of what I’d like to write next, but I’m not sure where I will go. I would like to give fiction a go, but I’m debating whether I should do short stories for awhile first. I have a book that I try to use to keep the creative juices flowing, but I find I do one activity and then don’t touch it again for a month. That doesn’t really help keep the creative juices flowing. They just flow freely for five minutes and then dry up.

I have hopes that writing this column will get my mind off the non-fiction writing that I’ve spent the last 16 months perfecting and get me to write more freely. I’m not sure if it is happening. Of course, five columns in, I wasn’t expecting to be amazing. Just something. I wanted to feel like my writing and my passion was getting closer. Instead, I’m just writing about writing. I’m writing about the struggle I’m having within myself to find that one creative spark. I’ll be in the shower and just thinking about a story I’d like to tell, but then it goes away. I’ll be on the treadmill, sweating out the stress of the day and I”ll get a brilliant idea that would be certain to win me an Oscar, but then I still have two miles to run and by the end, the idea is gone.

Creativity is like that – fleeting – always waiting. I hope it jumps out at me soon. Come, I am waiting.

Related posts:

1. What is Creativity for?
2. Anything is Possible – The Stress
3. Finding Inspiration

First, an idea must be born. Then the idea must be fleshed out and sometimes flushed down the toilet. At no time is it easy. Then the idea must be turned into a lot of words… and I mean a lot! Then those words are deleted to the ever growing heap pile of passive verbs and then sentences, paragraphs and sometimes entire pages are re-written.

I had to re-write a whole chapter of Anything is Possible! In fact that’s what this photo is of. The night of editing Chapter 8, I worked until the early morning hours and tried to hand write some thoughts at the end of the night, only to not be able to read them the next morning.

I haven’t even touched on the publishing process which is many many posts worth of information. I’ll just say I learned a lot, got rejected and still found a way to finish this project in a way I am proud of.

After all this work and all the time and energy, the blood, sweat and tears (okay, maybe not blood), the book needed a cover. Nathanael worked for hours trying to find the right cover for me. But as the writer, the artist, I knew what I wanted and we couldn’t find it. Then came the turtle. Within a day of seeing it I knew it was perfect.

I will say this, the stress was absolutely worth it. It was worth it because it was the fulfillment of a dream. And I believe any dream you have and keep dreaming is a dream worth chasing.

Related posts:

1. Creativity, I am Waiting
2. Manage Your Stress
3. Dream Big Dreams, Take Small Steps

Nathanael’s wonderfully cute and sweet Pug, Portia.

(Each Friday, I will post a recent photo.)

No related posts.

Richard’s Thoughts…
Last week’s lesson focused on believing that everything happens for a reason. I absolutely believe it does; both good and bad things. Each experience we have happens to us for a reason. Maybe it is just not the right time to win the race. Maybe you failed the test to teach you to value your education more. Maybe you fell on your roller-blades… well, just because you shouldn’t wear them!

Our past experiences shape our present and our future. The lessons can be 100 percent positive if you choose for them to be. If you take all your failures and mistakes as learning opportunities, you will always be getting stronger and smarter. I lost my election because I was supposed to. There
was a different plan for me.

This lesson isn’t about just letting life happen (although I do believe in that). It is more about understanding and believing that in order to get to your dream tomorrow, you have to learn from your yesterdays and live your todays. We all need a little push now and again to look back at the lessons from our life to make our tomorrows just a bit better. What experience have you had that you need to remember the lesson that came from it to help make your dream come true tomorrow?

Related posts:

1. FOCUS: Opportunities!
2. Are You in Debt?
3. FOCUS: Your Decision!

I recently finished Blink by Malcom Gladwell, and while not as good (in my opinion) of his latest work, Outliers which I already reviewed. While Outliers looked at what created personal success. Blink focuses on the two seconds your mind takes in making decisions. In a nut-shell it was fascinating.

Why You Should Read It:

• If you’re at all interested in how our minds operate, this is a good and quite quick read about our conscious and subconscious processes.
• If you’re a manager or leader, Blink will definitely shed some light on not only why employees react the way they do, but also why you, as a leader, respond the way you do as all.
• If you think you know everything there is to know about how to best make every day and major life decisions, this is a must read.

What You Can Expect to Walk Away With:

• A changed perspective on your decision making.
• Realize knowing everything oftentimes can be a huge detriment to your ability to make quality choices.
• Less is definitely more
• On the flip side, in certain situations, more is better, but you must allow the information to process.
• If not a deeper understanding, you’ll definitely be challenged to look back on the decisions you have made and will make.

I do recommend this book, but it is harder to follow than his later works. Gladwell always seems to take very simple things, that are actually very complex concepts and biolt hem down to real-life stories and research that make sense. I caught myself on multiple occasions having the “ahhh, that’s why that happens,” moments. I think you will too.

I leave you with a quote from the book. It comes from Retired Colonel Van Riper; “What my brother always says is, “Hey, say you are looking at a chess board. Is there anything you can’t see? No. But are you guaranteed to win? Not at all, because you can’t see what the other guy is thinking.’ more and more commanders want to know everything, and they get imprisoned by that idea.”

Related posts:

1. Of Chance and Opportunity
2. 2009 Dedor Awards
3. The Final Thesis

In my life, I’ve often wondered if I am truly happy. Then my mind starts to wander to the true meaning of happiness. Can anyone really achieve it? How can you achieve it? And how, once you reach happiness do you possibly keep it?

Think about your own life. Is it easy to remember moments where you felt truly happy?

Now try to remember moments where you felt truly down, depressed, lost, defeated.

Which was easier? For many I’m sure the bad moments were easier to remember. I still haven’t figured out why that is, but there has to be a reason. And where there is a reason, there is a way to change it. Happiness is out there for each and every person who wants it.

Years ago, I wasn’t happy with the way my career was going, so I started going after my own speaking goals. I can honestly say the last three years of my life, I have never been happier and it is only because I have started living for me.

“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
-Abraham Lincoln

We all choose whether we are happy or not. In fact, Switchfoot has a song called, “Happy is a Yuppie Word.” I’m not sure I completely agree with that, but their argument is that it is much better to feel blessed in life. In looking at it that way, I am definitely blessed.

What about you? How do you define happiness? Is it attainable in life? The real question I’m asking is quite simple: In our busy lives, how do you balance life and all the crazy things involved and still be able to find true happiness?

(flickr photo via Ree Drummond)

Related posts:

1. Live First – Work Second
2. Live Today
3. Are You in Debt?

This star made me smile and yet made me sad. Someone made it for someone special and it was relegated to the trash.

(Each Friday, I will post a recent photo.)

Related posts:

1. Baseball Anyone?
2. Happy Fall

Richard’s Thoughts…
I’m sure we’ve all heard this lesson, but what does it really mean? How can you incorporate it into your life? Well, for me, today marks a very special anniversary. On this day in 2003, seven years ago, I lost my campaign for mayor of Mason City, Iowa. I was disappointed. I was depressed. I had lost. I had poured my heart and soul into the four month campaign. And I lost.

But what also happened – the amazing thing – is that I also won. I found a new passion. I found that politics wasn’t the only place for me. I loved speaking with people and talking about living life full of dreams and passion. It did take a few years after that loss to begin chasing my dream, but the time was worth it.

The great thing about losing the campaign was that it taught me more about myself than winning ever could. Seriously – I ran for office! And I won the hearts and minds of over 600 people; most of whom I’d never met. I lost so I could find my way, my path. What is yours? You are where you are in life for a reason. What is it? Have you found it? The Time is Now.

Related posts:

1. FOCUS: Opportunities (v2n34)
2. FOCUS: You’re Unique!
3. Are You in Debt?

*Beginning in 2010, I started writing a bi-weekly column, “From Richard’s Oft Cluttered Desk” which appears every other Wednesday.

Oh, the insanity. I do a  lot of reading online about personal development and business leadership and some of the writers periodically share the tools they find to use, either online, with Outlook, or with their smart-phones and iPhones. Recently, Google Buzz tried to simplify our social media streams. Brazen Careerist is trying to do something similar.Tools are great, but one of the bloggers I read wrote about a year ago with screen shots of all the applications they had on their iPhone. I laughed out loud. I don’t disagree that technology can simplify life and make certain things easier… but some of the applications that people use to manage their days blows my mind. We’re being controlled by a computer. It can tell you when to eat, how much to eat, to run more or to quit your job.

Now this week I found Award Wallet, a site that boasts the ability to manage and report back to the user all their reward points and airline miles in one simple location. I think I will try it.

Why shouldn’t I? I have about a billion reward points spread across about a billion companies. Seriously… just think of them.

For fun, I’ll list them off. United Airlines. Midwest Airlines. Delta Airlines. (also used to have Northwest Airlines.) US Airways. Southwest Airlines. Credit Card No. 1. Credit Card No. 2. Credit Card No. 3. Hertz Rent a Car. Time Warner Cable. Best Buy Rewards. Hilton Honors. Holiday Inn/Priority Club Rewards. Thank-You Network. Wydham Rewards.

Seriously, that is too many companies to have to log into, know their rules for redemption, only to find out that you need a team of lawyers to understand the actual rewards.

Life was so much easier without all this clutter. Forget the radio. Forget the phone. The cell phone. The television. The iTunes with thousands of plays recorded – and for what – to show me that I’ve listened to my current song 51 times (and I only bought it on February 17 – of this year!)

We are on information overload, but here I sit in front of my computer on a Sunday. We’re connected. We can’t get a divorce. Shoot, it takes an act of Congress to even to get a FRIENDS-like “break” from all this information. I can hardly keep up with my Google Reader.

I remember a study done years ago (which of course I can’t find because there have been a billion webpages made since then) that said the majority of BlackBerry users in Europe would pick their smart-phone over their spouse as their sleeping partner.

Maybe places like Award Wallet is the way to go. Maybe all this techno stuff is for the better. But why then do we all crave and say how awesome it would be to not be so connected. Oh well I guess. Information is here to stay. I just don’t want to be owned by it. Gotta go, another e-mail just came in.

Related posts:

1. iPhone Home
2. Are You in Debt?
3. Holding On, A Journey Awaits