Tag: Lane 8

Rosa Parks Was Not, Was She?

Rosa Parks was not out to win a popularity contest.  Was she?

She also was not the first to refuse to give up her bus seat for a white man.  But thank goodness she did on December 1, 1955.  She was 42.

  • Where did her courage come from?
  • Why did she demonstrate it?
  • Did she have a plan?
  • What was she prepared to give up?
  • What did she think she’d gain?
  • Was she scared?

Rosa Parks is one of my heros, inspiring  me to use courage for the right reasons.  So today I commit to asking  the same questions.

And, by the way, it’s not a popularity contest.  Courage rarely makes you popular until years later.

Indescribable?

Indescribable?  Completely.

Meeting with a writer this morning after Church.  We’re collaborating. I’ve written somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,300 jeff noel blog posts, from five individual jeff noel blogs.  Began writing consistently six months ago.

He agreed to read every single Mid Life Celebration blog post prior to today’s meeting.  While it wasn’t required, I decided to do the same. Wow.  It’s pretty inspiring content, because it is written by a common man.

Here’s an example from August 1st, entitled “Indescribable“.

Hope you day is, well, Indescribable!.

It’s The Worst I’ve Seen

My friend is a small business owner.  He’s been in business for over 30 years.  Yesterday he told me, “This is the worst I’ve seen it”.

No one is coming into his store.  He has gotten creative and started, for the first time ever, going out looking for business. If business won’t come to him, he’s going to go to it.

I congratulated him on being successful for so long, and mentioned I started an LLC in January, and the odds are (overwhelmingly) stacked against me. In fact the odds are stacked against anyone starting a (small) business.

History and statistics don’t lie.

What to do?

Figure it out.  Failure is not an option.

History and statistics do not lie.

Shut Up And Push

T-shirts.  We all have a few.  Some of them are part of who we are.  A form of self expression.  They are usually priced right, which is why many people have too many.  Plus, it’s difficult to part with them.

The other day, while driving in Central Florida, a man was wearing a t-shirt that caught my attention.  It read, “Shut Up And Push“.

Instantaneously, this led me to wonder about the slogan and how it applies to business.  This is the way my crazy mind works.

In today’s economic crunch, in addition to doing all the daily things we always do, there are two other line items that demand our attention.  Number one – worry about the future.  Number two –prepare for the future.

If you think about it you will realize, the future is extra work, but only if you focus on it.  Not to mention, the future is hard work, but only if you focus on it.

What I decided I need to do is, “Shut up and push“!

John F. Kennedy said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”.

Manner Of Speaking Blog

Manner of Speaking WordPress blog.  It’s a good one.  Click here to check it out.

If you have no interest in Public Speaking, that’s ok.  May I offer this different perspective for still paying attention to this jungle jeff blog post?

As a Professional Speaker, sometimes a “sports story” is appropriate. There are people however, that will immediately turn off and tune out.  Why?  Well for starters, they’ll say things like:

  • “I don’t like sports”.
  • “I never played sports”.
  • “I don’t watch sports”.
  • “I hate sports”.

So let me just say this, when I tell a “sports story”, it’s not about sports, it’s about excellence.  When I blog about public speaking, it’s not about public speaking as much as it is about passion, and the pursuit of excellence – in any endeavor.

That’s why you should pay attention.  “You can observe a lot by watching”. – Yogi Berra