Inspiration

Remember that Leonardo DiCaprio movie “Catch Me if You Can” — the one about the con man Frank Abagnale? After running away from home when he was 16, Abagnale posed as a Pan Am pilot. Free airplane rides. Hotel stays and fancy dinners charged to his airline “expense account.” No one caught on until he…

Every weekday morning, I wake, pour a cup of coffee, and write an email for you. Most mornings it’s easy and fun. I’ve done this for a long time, and I’ve mastered methods to assemble content without getting stuck. But today it feels hard — as hard as it’s ever been. I’ve been sitting in…

I haven’t spent much time on social media or news sites this week. So it goes after a tornado destroys half your roof and levels your backyard (here’s that story). You tune out the noise and hyper-focus on the stuff that matters most. All of the petty conflict, anger, and hatred that fills the news…

On Friday, May 16, a tornado ripped through St. Louis. At 2:42 p.m., it struck my house. A direct hit. It tore off half our roof and left the other half buckled. It destroyed every tree in our backyard and one in our front. It pummeled our backyard kitchen. It tore hundreds of bricks from…

In the early 1930s, Robert Johnson was a good guitarist. But he wasn’t great. He wasn’t a stand-out. No one imagined he would be the “King of the Delta Blues.” Johnson was just another nobody, struggling to break through in Mississippi juke joints. Then he disappeared. No one heard from him for months. When he came back,…

It’s twister season here in middle America. On Friday, the twisters struck hard. Thirteen touched down in Missouri. Twelve people died. No twisters hit where my family and I were. But they hit nearby, including down the road in Rolla. An EF-2 (120 mph) tornado touched down southwest of Rolla at 7:50 p.m. and barreled…

Melissa and I have this holiday routine where we buy ourselves something we like and then announce to the other, “You got me such-and-such for Christmas.” So, this year, I’m happy to announce: My dear, sweet, generous wife “got” me an Oura ring for Christmas. It’s one of those “smart” rings, measuring heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen,…

I love my job. Last night, I was especially feeling it. I ran a successful training (“The Tech-to-Profit Formula”), and I was still hopped up on adrenalin at bedtime. So rather than floating off to Slumber Town, I grabbed my Kindle and opened “No Shortage of Good Days” by John Gierach. Gierach is one of…

A long, long time ago, I used to post “Gratitude Snippets” on Facebook. Most days, I would post a short message, expressing gratitude for something or someone. Sometimes I expressed gratitude for the server at the restaurant who was having a hard day but still met me with a smile. Sometimes I thanked a client…

Yesterday… …my publisher sent the final proof of my upcoming book… …and I approved it. Next step: Finalize some of the resources and special gifts I offer to readers, submit some information to Amazon, and publish this puppy. Exact date TBD. Stay tuned. By the way, the book is called: Story Power MarketingProven Methods to…