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That’s my mandate/order/request/challenge to you today. Branch out.
Let’s face it, most of us live our lives on autopilot. We get up at the same time every day, we eat the same things for breakfast, drive the same route to work, listen to the same radio stations, read the same books, talk to the same people. And the sad thing is that we seem fine with that.
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What will your one thing be today?
Back when I was producing my sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live!, I had one cardinal rule that I followed, for each and every show, during the entire 15-year run. That rule was this:
Continue Reading →For each show, there had to be at least one element that would make the audience think, at ...
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First, a status report. My cheese is fine. Nobody’s moved my cheese; my cheese is right where it’s always been.
Cheese, you see, is the reward you get for making it through the maze. It’s the fun stuff. Cheese is:
Cheese is the fun stuff. I’m not going to lose track of my cheese. It’s front-of-mind, and I know exactly where it is.
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It’s that time of year again—time for my annual “Let’s try to see as many Oscar nominated movies as possible” drive. So last night I saw Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which is not exactly the front runner for Best Picture. Still, it’s nominated, as is co-star Max von Sydow for Best Supporting Actor. Conspicuously missing from the nominations, however, is ...
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What decision will you make today?
Every movement—forward, backward, or sideways—begins with a decision. The quality of that movement is determined, to a large degree, by the quality of the decision. Making a decision is like putting your car in “drive.” You’re not going to go anywhere until you step on the gas, but by shifting into “drive,” you’re making ...
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Back in my Seattle TV days, I used to hang out occasionally with a guy named Dave Grohl, who was the drummer for a little trio called Nirvana. Last night, he and his current band, Foo Fighters, picked up five Grammy awards. While accepting the award for Best Rock Album, Dave said something that really struck a chord (pun intended, ...
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So I got a Roku for Christmas. Now, I know that “a Roku” sounds like one of those yappy little dogs that Paris Hilton would carry around in a purse, but it’s not. It’s actually a very cool little device that sits near your TV and lets you stream movies and TV shows from sources like Hulu and Netflix. And the ...
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I just finished co-chairing (with the truly amazing Ruby Newell-Legner) a major conference for my professional organization, the National Speakers Association (NSA). By all accounts, it was a huge success (which translates, of course, into huge relief for me!). In the three days since the event ended, I’ve spent some time trying to discern what it was that made the conference so successful.
Yes, we had some truly great speakers and presenters. Yes, the format flowed ...
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As a professional speaker, I spend a lot of time in airports. In fact, I just returned from about two weeks on the road, and I noticed something interesting about people when they’re in airports. What I noticed was this:
A lot of people in an airport begin their sentences with the phrase, “With my luck…”
“With my luck…
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We’re well into January, and I’m guessing that by now you’ve already begun abandoning your well thought out and well intentioned New Years resolutions. And they were well intentioned, weren’t they? That’s because it’s so much easier to be optimistic when you’re looking at the new year through the rosy vapors of last night’s champagne. But then stark reality ...
