You are in control!

Aristotle said We ARE what we repeatedly do. So what do you repeatedly do?

Let's go to the good list first. Think about your habits that are good for you. Answer these questions:

1. Is there a way to extend those habits?
2. What is your mindset when you are doing those habits? What drives you to continually do the right thing in that certain area of your life?
3. How do you feel when you are done?

Now let's think about the habits that are not taking us where we want to go in life?

1. What could you do to replace that habit? For example, I still struggle in working out and running as I should. It is vitally important for me to come straight home from work, change clothes, and work out immediately. If I sit down to do anything once I get home, the chance of working out diminishes greatly.

Repeat two and three from the good habit questionnaire.

Life is a series of habits. Habits will always take us places, but not always where we want to go. Breaking habits and creating positive habits can be difficult, but the harder something is to do, usually the bigger reward. I have created a list of five habits to think about, please allow me to challenge you to look at the list and pick one to start working on. If you don't like my list, mark your own.

1. Diet. Pick an area and cut back. If you drink too many sodas, cut back one a day. Stop eating 15 minutes earlier than you usually do.

2. Exercise 5 minutes more per day than you did last week. Continue you that time frame for 12 weeks and you will be exercising an hour a day.

3. Write/call/email/smoke signal three people this week who mean a lot to you and thank them for being an important part of your life.

4. Read 5 minutes more per day than you did last week. Continue for 12 weeks.

5. Pick a habit that you know is bad for you and taking you to a place that you don't want to go and cut back 10%.


Life happens. If we manage ourselves and our habits, we can be in more control. If we don't, life still happens. There will come a time when we wished that we had taken better care of our bodies. It won't be out of vainness, it will be because we realize that we aren't able to play with our grandkids, or travel with our spouse, or walk outside to get the mail.

Are today's bad habits worth that kind of tomorrows? We are what we repeatedly do. What are you repeating?

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

What is your Legacy?

Saturday was a very cool day in Ozark Mountain Country. Two big celebrations lasted the entire weekend. Hollister celebrated their Centennial and Silver Dollar City had their 50th birthday party. What can we learn?

Sacrifice: The Herschend Family is one of the wealthiest and most successful families in the country. However, they do not get the credit they deserve for the sacrifice and hard work in the early days. Hugo, Mary, Jack and Pete left Chicago, where they were comfortable and enjoyed most of the conveniences of the day. When they moved to Stone County, they did without the conveniences of indoor plumbing, running water, electricity, etc and they worked. What do you need to sacrifice to reach your goals?

Hard work: The Hollister and Silver Dollar City communities have worked hard in their history. Jack Herschend tells the story of carrying sacks of concrete into Marvel Cave. Similar stories could be told of the Hollister pioneers. Are you willing to work hard to achieve?

Regroup: Not every decision made by Hollister or The Herschends worked out the way that they wanted them to. Mistakes were made. But each seemed to admit those mistakes and get back on course. It always amazes me how some people will allow mistakes to embarrass them to the point that they are afraid to move forward. If you are not making mistakes, you are not doing anything. Admit the mistakes, realign, and recommit.

As you look at your life and the legacy you want to leave with your family, will your day to day actions lead you to success?
Will they talk about how much TV you watched, how you were focused on your computer all the time or will they talk about you being a get it done type of person? Your call and you can change it starting today.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

Has it been that long?

Last month, my daughter turned 27. Today, my son is 20. I have two quick questions. Where did the time go? Is it true that the next 20 years will seem like 10?

Let me answer my own questions. The time went by one minute, one hour, one day, one week (etc - etc) at a time. In those moments, the questions went from daddy do you want to play ball with me to why can't I stay out until one am?

Yes the next twenty years will seem like ten and there is nothing we can do to stop father time. Accept it, enjoy it and make the most of it. Have you ever noticed that most of us keep time in years, quarters, and months. But the real champions track time in hundredths of seconds. Olympic Gold is usually determined in time that is quicker than a blink of an eye. Some things to consider:

1. Stop worrying about making this be your year. Make today be your day. If you put enough of "your" days together, the year will take of itself.

2. Have your goals and work hard to achieve them. But always remember, if you can't be happy striving to hit your goals, you won't be happy when you hit them. Enjoy the journey.

3. Don't ever forget that little kids will soon be big kids. Don't ever take for granted the question "Daddy, do you want to play with me?".

Happy Birthday to my son. I am very proud of you and your sister. Love you both.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

Do you see yourself as successful?

I am not a golfer. I have never played the game. But I enjoy magical moments in sports. None were more magical than watching Phil Nicholson win The Masters earlier in April. As I heard Jim Nantz make the call, I remembered something that I read in Jack Canfield's book, "The Success Principles."

It seems that Jim Nantz and Golfer Fred Couples were suitemates at The University of Houston. Both had major goals. Nantz wanted to be the lead announcer on CBS and Fred Couples wanted to become a professional golfer and win The Masters. They actually playacted the event.

Fast forward 14 years to a magic moment. Couples won The Masters and he was interviewed by CBS's Jim Nantz. After the broadcast, both men shed a tear as they had reached a milestone goal. Here is what we can learn.

1. What is your goal? Nantz and Couples had clear goals of what they wanted to acheive.

2. Allow your sub concious to see yourself reach that goal. See yourself winning the award, making the speech. Think about what you will do and how you will celebrate.

3. Be willing to work for it. Couples did not win The Masters because he had a goal. He won it by having the goal and working hard to prepare for it. The same with Nantz.

4. Allow yourself the emotion once you win. Emotion is a God given thing, stop fighting and feel it.

Life is too short not to have goals; too long not to take chances; to hard not to enjoy your successes. Have a great week.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

Take it or leave it!

KRZK 106.3 FM had two events this past week that gave me an idea for this week’s blog. The latest one was our giveaway trip to Vegas. (You can find out more at www.hometowndailynews.com)

During the giveaway, we played “Take it or Leave it.” Contestants had a chance to take the sure prize, which meant they would forfeit on the big prize of going to Vegas for The Academy of Music Awards Show. Most people wanted to stay in for the big prize; we did have two folks that took the sure thing.

Earlier in the week, we had a loyal listener night at The Paul Harris Show. (I should note that this is my perception of The Paul Harris Story and, although I consider Paul a friend, I did not interview him for this entry and he did not pre-approve it)

Paul Harris has been a star in Branson for a number of years. When you mentioned comics, Paul was at the top of the list. When people talked about the shows that Paul was in, the conversation was usually about Paul. Paul played take it or leave it, he left it and he has won big time.

Paul dreamed of having his own show, he got it. However, he knew he wanted more and he was willing to put in the work for it. A few years ago, he moved to Nashville and focused on his skills. He put in the time, he always believed in himself, and he was willing to “feel the fear” and do it anyway.

Recently, Paul was a co-host on the Steve and Janet show. That weekend he opened for Jeff Foxworthy. He was a hit and the producer of the show continued to hold him over asking him for more time. This is a brief look at The Paul Harris story but here is what we can learn from it.

1. You have to decide if you want to keep what you have or go for more. Success in a job or career that is not your dream can hold you back. Paul could have always been a comedian in about any show he wanted but he knew he wanted more.

2. Wanting success and working for success are two different things. You have to be willing to do what you need to do. These are dirty words to some like sacrifice, work, become a student, be willing to fail.

3. You have to believe in yourself. Many people, frankly including me, questioned why Paul would want his own show. When uneducated fools question your goals and aspirations, you have to follow Paul’s example and belief in yourself.

I am proud of Paul and I am proud to call him a friend. I hope that you can learn from his example of hard work, dedication, and follow his example for success. Perhaps you need to play Take it or Leave it.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

Can they speak the language of success?

Recently, my sister and her family came in to visit us. My brother-in-law has done a lot of business travel. He told us about being a vendor at a trade show in Russia. Out of the four day show, there were only 10 people who spoke English. His company had paid for one of their major customers, who was originally from Russia, to work the booth and communicate with their prospects.

Think about how frustrated my brother-in-law would have been to see all the prospects at the trade show and not be able to communicate with them. It is the same frustration that we can feel when we are trying to hit a goal but we can't seem to understand how to do it. We just need to take my brother-in-laws lead and find someone who can speak the language of the success you are trying to reach.

You want to be financially secure. Go find someone who can speak the language, who has achieved that goal. Many have written books; many give seminars; many may be your friends. Find one that wouldn't mind talking about the concepts that helped them achieve.

The same can be true for losing weight, being a better spouse, parent, manager, salesman, etc - etc. If you think about it, most people don't mind talking about their successes. So ask them. (One word of caution -- if people are constantly talking about their success without being asked, they may be working hard to convince you of their success)

This week go find someone who "speaks the language you want to obtain" and talk to them. Have a great week.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.

Where you are and where you are going!

Something a little different this week. Please be patient, I don't have plans of starting to copy other articles as an entry, but this will make a point.

You, like me, probably have people who forward you so many emails that you just delete them or block them. But hopefully, like me, you have at least a couple of people who forward you emails that you know, if they are forwarding it, it will be good. This week, I got such an email from a friend. This is an entry about the power of our brain -- as you can see this work is credited to Cambridge University.

More Brain Stuff . . from Cambridge University

Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas it on

I believe that the same is true for our goals and our lives. If we know where we are and where we want to go, we can get there. Consider these points.

1. What are you goals? If you know your goals and you write them down, you have created the desired end result. (The last letter of the word)

2. If you will honestly describe where you are right now (the first letter) you can begin seeing what you need to change to get to your goals. For example:

A. To hit your end goal you need better time management. So you might set aside some weekend time to make sure you are ready for the week to reduce the stress of getting ready everyday. Perhaps, you start getting up earlier in the morning.

B. To hit your end goal you need to become an expert on a subject. So you might reduce the amount of TV or computer time and read more. You could buy an audio series on the subject and turn your drive into learning time.

C. To hit your end goal you need to get into better shape. You go to the grocery store and buy healthier food, you set aside exercise time, and you begin the walk to a healthier you.

Once you know where you are and where you want to go and start the walk there, your powerful brain will figure out what you need next. If you have no goals, then life just happens and life is too precious to just happen. So how about it? Why don't you spend some time this week figuring out the details? Take the first step and engage your brain and subconsious mind and you will be amazed on what happens.

The next time you need a speaker, make it easy on yourself and call me. I will inspire, motivate, and entertain your group. Check out my speaking demo at www.bransonbusiness.blogspot.com then call (417) 339-6568 for availability. The only way I look good is making you look good for booking me.