Category Archives: Personal Development

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What I Learned from My First Homework Assignment in 16 Years

A Letter to My Middle-schooler's Teacher

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I got home from work a couple of weeks ago, and my wife informed me as I walked through the door that I had a homework assignment.

What?!

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Last week, I announced the formation of Massimo University with my friend and partner, Rod Santomassimo. As a way of marking this new venture, I have produced a free video training series on creating digital presence. You can access this free training by Clicking Here. And it is only up for the next 8 days…

My oldest son is in middle school. One of his teachers sent home an assignment called “In a Million Words or Less…” The idea was for us – as parents – to tell the teacher what she needs to know about our son.

The premise of this assignment was heartwarming. She explained that she simply does not get to know every student like she would like – especially the introverted ones. She wants to be able to tailor her teaching to the student (she calls them scholars).

I very much appreciate that!

My wife also shared with me that I was going to get to do this as the “writer” in our marriage. (My wife could be an incredible writer if she wanted to be, by the way.)

So I sat down to write the following letter. Before I share it with you, I want to challenge you to do a couple of things:

  1. Become a student of your child(ren) – I have 3 children and they are completely different. I don’t want to parent them the same. I want to understand them and get on their level. I want to know how best to communicate with them. I want to relate to them on their level.
  2. Understand a little about personalities – Luckily (or providentially), my sister is a Meyers-Briggs consultant with her own business. She’s incredible. And she has taught me a bit about personalities. This has opened up to me a world of possibilities in parenting my kids. As a result of this knowledge, I think I will be able to avoid some mistakes that would have led to some scar tissue on their hearts.
  3. Support their teachers – You don’t have perfect kids. I don’t have perfect kids. Your children’s teachers have a very difficult job. They are overworked and underpaid. They don’t need crazy parents blaming them for everything their children do wrong. That doesn’t help the teachers. It certainly doesn’t help your children.
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The 6 Mindsets Holding You Back

And the Truths that Will Set You Free

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I have poison ivy. Both arms. My stomach. And my ear. I kid you not. I have poison ivy on my ear lobe.

The reason? I love my wife.

look upinto the stars.

Earlier this week, she asked me if I would help her trim the landscaping in our back yard. Evidently – there is poison ivy back there.

When I do yard work, I binge-listen to podcasts. This week, I was listening to Michael Hyatt’s podcast – What if the Barrier’s Were Only in Your Head? It got me thinking about the things we believe in our minds.

Some of those beliefs are rooted in truth. Some are not. What we believe is true about ourselves has a tremendous impact on our performance. Our mindsets are rooted in truth, or they are rooted in a lie.

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The 7 Proven Steps to Finding and Winning More Business

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Do you remember the scene in Good Will Hunting where Robin Williams and Matt Damon are discussing the painting? Williams has this great line. “You know the real b**** of it? It’s paint by numbas [hear Boston accent].”

I’ve got some great cheat sheets for you. The first one is on prospecting, and you can get it at the bottom of this post. Can’t wait? Click here.

There is a real wisdom in the idea of paint by numbers.

What you need to know about finding and winning the business you want.

What you need to know about finding and winning the business you want.

In bootcamp, they taught us everything “by the numbers.” I’m not exaggerating. They taught us how to get dressed like a Marine – by the numbers. They taught us how to eat like a Marine – by the numbers.

The Marine Corps is fanatical about systemizing everything based on best-practices. They debrief after every exercise. What went well? What didn’t go well? What could be improved? The result of this disciplined approach to learning from everything is they have a specific way of doing everything. And it works.

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Why You Will Never Dominate Your Market – These 7 Reasons

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If you are reading this blog, it is likely that you want more.  You want to improve your productivity, your prospecting, your presence, your something.  Nobody gets up every morning with the goal of being mediocre.  Ultimately, you want to dominate your market.  But the truth is, you can’t.

7 Reasons You Will Never Dominate Your Market

My kids are in the driveway right now playing basketball with the neighbor kids.  When I was their age, the Bad Boys version of the Detroit Pistons were winning championships.  I remember playing in the driveway and pretending I was Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars.

I wanted to dominate a basketball game the way they did. But I topped out at 5’7” with less than average athletic ability and a suspect jump shot.  I was never going to dominate a basketball game.

And you are never going to dominate your market because of these 7 reasons.

7 Reasons You Will Never Dominate Your Market

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8 Reasons a Coach Can Accelerate Your Personal Development

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“Clock in – let’s go to work!” ~ Bobby Grant

I ran cross country and track in high school.  I was active duty Marine Corps for 5 years, 2 months, and 4 days (who’s counting?).  In the ten years I’ve been out, I’ve gone through spurts of working out.  Nothing has prepared me for this.

couple woman man exercising workout

One of my personal development goals for 2015 is to work out with a personal trainer 2 times a week.  I’ve never done this before.  I’ve been active my entire life.  I know how to work out.  However, I want to get in the best shape of my life.  I want to be able to out-play my 3 kids.  I want to become the best version of myself and maximize my effectiveness.  I want to be healthy for as long as possible.

I love when my trainer says the quote above.  It motivates me.  It reminds me that the breath I’m trying to catch can be caught later.  I’m there to work.  After just a couple workouts, I regret that I haven’t worked with a trainer sooner.

You may be thinking, “I don’t need a trainer/coach.”  Consider this.  The elite in any industry have coaches.  Obviously, all elite athletes have coaches.  Did you know that most of the CEO’s for fortune 500 companies have coaches?  The best of the best rely on coaches.  They relentlessly pursue personal development.  It is the mediocre and average who think they don’t need it.

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How You Can Use the 7 Levels of Personal Development to Become More Valuable

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You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.  ~ Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.

I love this quote.  I was listening to Tony Robbins this morning while working out, and he said something to the tune of, “If you want to make more money, become more valuable.”  This is what I’m talking about when I write about personal development.  How can we become more valuable?  In our careers?  In our relationships?  In life in general?

Photo by iStock.com

Photo by iStock.com

I may have told this story before, but my 2nd grade teacher changed my life.  I used to cut up my worksheets and send notes to the girls in class.  Mrs. Hastings moved my desk behind hers separating me from the rest of the class.  She then pulled the best out of me.  She introduced me to what achievement felt like, and I liked it!

The Marine Corps introduced me to what excellence felt like.  They demanded it.  Boot camp was the first time I experienced a culture of excellence.  Until then, I’d done just enough to achieve and meet expectations.  Exposure to the Marine culture taught me how to dream about what was possible.  I’m so thankful to have had that experience.  It unlocked a passion in me for personal development – or becoming more valuable.

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Why Intentionality Could Be the Most Important Factor in What Matters

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I’ve missed you all.  Last year, when I left commercial real estate for the excitement of food safety, I knew my blog would change.  I wasn’t sure what I had to write about.  My posts have always flowed from my life.

Photo Credit - iStock.com

Photo Credit – iStock.com

Additionally, I wasn’t sure how my new role at a new company would play out.  I can tell you that it has been awesome.  We are disrupting a $3 billion dollar food safety industry and having a blast doing it.

But I have missed blogging.  I’ve missed having a place to clarify my thoughts.  I’ve missed engaging with you.  So this year is going to be different.

I heard Michael Hyatt say something this week that has stuck in my mind.  I can’t shake it.  It is the perfect thought to channel through your mind as we start a new year.  He said:

You never drift anywhere that is worthwhile.

Think about that.  The idea of being at sea with no force of direction.  You are just at the behest of the current.  The opposite of drifting is being intentional.

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5 Podcasts that Will Make You Smarter

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Recently, I was able to connect with one of my closest friends while driving home from a trip to Chicago.  This guy is the kind of friend that everyone needs.  He was in my wedding.  I was in his.  We were fraternity brothers at Murray State University.  He was the quarterback.  I was the receiver.  We even dated the same beautiful Southern girl (not at the same time) who I now get to call my wife.

iStockPhoto via jodijacobson

iStockPhoto via jodijacobson

He is the kind of friend when you haven’t spoken for a year, it is like it was yesterday.  Everyone needs at least one friend like this.  I am blessed to have a couple.

My friend was sharing with me an opportunity he has to leave the corporate world and start a business.  He has created something special that could be incredibly valuable to his customers and himself.  However, he told me that he doesn’t think he’ll do anything because he doesn’t have a clue about starting or running a business.

Fifteen minutes later I had brain-dumped all this information on him.  Now, I have started a business (that failed), and I have owned a business that I sold.  But the stuff that I was telling him surprised me.  How did I know this stuff?

Then it occurred to me that I was repeating a lot of great information that I had learned through listening to some incredible podcasts from businesses leaders across the United States (actually, most of them are in Nashville).

If you are not familiar with a Podcast, it is literally someone recording themselves speaking about some subject.  It is much like a radio show.  However, you can download these podcasts on your iPod, iPhone, or other smart-phone or mp3 player.  You simply subscribe through iTunes – for free – and they automatically download whenever a new episode is published.

Before I share with you which ones I love and recommend, let me share with you how I consume this information:

  • While working out – I can kill two birds with one stone when I engage my mind and my body at the same time.
  • While driving – great content is so much more effective than coffee at keeping me alert.  Not only that, but I can transform my car into a classroom and make the most of every moment.
  • On a plane – I’m actually on a plane as I write this somewhere between Nashville and Atlanta.  Were I not writing, I guarantee that I would be listening to one of the following podcasts.

My Top 5 Recommended Podcasts

  1. This is Your Life, A Podcast by Michael Hyatt – If you aren’t familiar with Michael Hyatt, you should be.  He has a top 100 (in the world!) blog on intentional leadership.  He has recently written a New York Times Bestseller called Platform:  Get Noticed in a Noisy World.  His is by far my favorite blog and his content is amazing.  His podcast is awesome too.  He is authentic.  You end up just liking him.  I get to meet him next month at our company’s National Conference where he is giving the keynote address.  I am also going to his Platform Conference the following week in Nashville.  Can’t wait!
  2. 48Days Online Radio Show by Dan Miller – Dan Miller rocks.  A mentor of mine suggested that I connect with him last year.  I ended up hiring him as a career coach.  He is also a bestselling author of 48 Days to the Work You Love and other books.  His podcast centers around careers, business plans, business models, and other career related info.  You can’t listen to him and not get fired up about what is possible.
  3. Ray Edwards Podcast – Ray probably has my favorite podcast.  He is very transparent and genuine, and he basically let’s you in on his life.  He is a productivity freak (I mean that in a good way).  His podcast is broken up into segments which I love.  He has a main message of each podcast, but also has a tech tip of the week, a spiritual foundations segment, and a segment with Stu McLaren who is great.  Ray is also a marketing genius.
  4. Entreleadership Podcast – I can’t believe that this is 4th on my list, but the others are just that good.  This is the podcast from Dave Ramsey and his main man Chris LoCurto.  Every show has a short message from Dave that sets the theme, but then they move to a guest interview.  The guests are amazing and are a who’s who when it comes to business.  You can’t get this kind of access to this kind of wisdom and experience anywhere else I’m aware.
  5. Podcast Answer Man with Cliff Ravenscraft – This podcast is obviously a little more technical.  I include it because at least the first three podcasts listed above are a result of Cliff’s expertise.  He is the expert when it comes to podcasting.  I hope to introduce my own podcast this year so I have been studying up.  Cliff is also a Kentucky boy like myself!

In one sentence, these podcasts are like being able to sit at the feet of these guys and learn from their wisdom.  And it’s free!

So who do you listen to that I don’t?  Who would crack your top 5?  Let us know in the comment section below!

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