Posted by Grant on September 16, 2008 – 7:47 pm
Filed under Media, Random
Indulge me for a second while I pimp a CD that I think is killer.
You’ve got to check out this new CD by Clayton Risner. I knew Clayton back in high school and now he’s in Nashville living the dream of a musician. We got together for dinner in Nashville a few months back, and the guy is crazy talented and just a down-to-earth, cool guy.
If you’re a fan of Gavin DeGraw, Maroon 5, or Coldplay, then you’ll love this album. His single “Cmon” has been played nearly a quarter of a million times on MySpace…plus he has nearly 600,000 friends on there!
Check out his website and listen to some of the tracks. The CD is less than $5 on iTunes so stop reading this and go buy it now.
You’ll thank me for it.
Posted by Grant on September 16, 2008 – 5:40 am
Have you ever wondered that? Have you ever wondered why some of your best ideas hit you at the most random moments?
Taking a shower. Driving down the road. Falling asleep. Going to the bathroom. (The bathroom inspires me I guess…)
I read a book last night called A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young. It’s a very short, simple read but has some great content. The book gives a great definition of an idea:
An idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements.
Let that sink in for a second. Ideas come when you connect the dots in a way that you didn’t see before.
Think of it like cooking. Let’s say you had five ingredients out on the table to work with. There may be one obvious recipe that jumps out at you based on those five ingredients, but if you stop to think it through, you will probably find hundreds of combinations of menu items you could produce.
You’re taking old elements (what you already know – in this case, the ingredients) and finding new combinations for those ingredients.
Interesting stuff…
Posted by Grant on September 15, 2008 – 9:08 am
You’ve heard the cliché question before…
Where do you want to be in five years?
But when was the last time you actually sat down and thought it through? Where do you want to be in five years?
Whether we like to admit it or not, we often times live with the mentality that we’ll end up somewhere by accident. But in order to get where you want to be in five years, you need to be proactive about it now.
Let’s say you wanted to drive from New York to Los Angeles. Do you think if you just started driving with no rhyme or reason that you would somehow magically end up there? Even if you knew that LA was west of NYC, you would be foolish to just start driving west with the idea that once you hit an ocean, you know you’re close.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking this question through and am trying to determine the answer.
Where do I want to be in five years and what do I need to do to get there?
Posted by Grant on September 12, 2008 – 8:05 pm
It was a grueling day of travel yesterday, but it was great to get home. After being standby on multiple flights and flying with both Continental and American, topped off by a nearly 3 hour drive, I finally arrived home at around 2.15am. It was a long day, but it was definitely nice to sleep in my own bed last night.
It was a little surreal being in Houston all day yesterday. I was teaching a full day seminar, which we ended up cutting short for obvious reasons. The mood throughout the day among the attendees was obviously a little tense but after lunch, aided by the announcements of a possible direct hit on Houston, people became genuinely concerned.
I spoke with one guy in my seminar who lives in Galveston and was trying to get his family packed up to move inland. I can’t imagine what the next few days will be like for them.
While it was certainly a little chaotic trying to get home, I’m glad I made it. I hope the people of that area remain safe over the next 48 hours.
My thoughts and prayers are with them.
Posted by Grant on September 10, 2008 – 7:18 pm
People worry about a lot of things, don’t they?
Grades. Job interviews. Acceptance letters. Rejection letters. Finances. Car troubles. Relationship struggles.
And yes, even hurricanes.
Right now I’m sitting in Houston, Texas where I will be speaking tomorrow – 24 hours before a major hurricane could hit the area. For all I know, I could wake up tomorrow morning to announcements of evacuations from the area. One worst case scenario would be if I somehow got stuck here and the hurricane hit the area.
Am I worried about all of this? Not really.
It’s not because I’m Superman in any way or think I’m tougher than a hurricane (especially if it is “Hurricane Ditka”…classic SNL/Chris Farley sketch!). It is just because there is not a lot of sense worrying about something I can’t control.
If I sit up all night glued to the Weather Channel and paranoid about what could happen, do you really think all that worry will redirect the hurricane?! Probably not.
So I should do what I need to do to be prepared if something should happen, but there is no need to worry or stress about it. Worry can become an all-consuming battle of the mind. Worry drains your energy, your focus, and just plain sucks the life out of you. I’ll say it again…you shouldn’t spend another ounce of energy or moment of time worrying about something you can’t control.
Your worry won’t change the situation.
Posted by Grant on September 8, 2008 – 5:53 pm
Filed under Books, My Book
I’m stoked to tell you that my new book, Reality Check, is finishing up at print this week and is supposed to ship out to me by early next week!
So because of that, we are running a pre-order special so you can be one of the first to get your hands on a copy of the book! Here are the deals we have:
1 Copy of Reality Check with FREE Shipping – $10
2 Copies of Reality Check with FREE Shipping – $15 (Pick up a copy for a friend!)
Order Your Copies Here!
This is a crazy good deal for a book! We’re just doing this price for a limited time, so don’t wait to pick up your copy (or several copies).
Download the sample chapters if you haven’t already and pick yourself up a copy today.
Thanks for your support of this project!
Posted by Grant on September 8, 2008 – 4:39 am
Have you ever stopped to think about why you do what you do? What’s the motive behind it? What drives you? What pushes you? What are you really trying to accomplish?
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
I’ve been asking myself, “What is it that I’m trying to build/create/do? I’m a speaker and author for students, but beyond that, what is it that I want to be about?”
Don’t get me wrong. I love what I get to do, but I don’t want to be burned out in 12 months because I’m just spinning my wheels. I want to be smart, strategic, and proactive about how I build my business. As I wrote recently, I want to continue to look forward to Monday mornings and be energized by the challenges that lie ahead of me.
But it’s tough to build that kind of business/career/dream/life if you don’t fully grasp where you’re going?
Before any of those questions can be answered, you must answer the “why” question first.
Why do you do what you do?
Posted by Grant on September 7, 2008 – 9:54 am
Filed under Events, Travels
Right now I’m sitting at the Springfield, MO airport getting ready to catch a flight down to Shreveport, Louisiana. I’m speaking at a seminar there tomorrow and then drive over to Dallas to speak on Tuesday. Tuesday night I’ll fly from Dallas to Houston and then be in Beaumont, TX on Wednesday and back to Houston on Thursday. Then I buzz over to San Marcos, TX Friday and fly home out of Austin on Friday night.
Full week!
I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Hurricane Ike as that looks like it could be headed towards Texas. I think I’ll just miss it but I’m wondering if I’m going to run into any evacuations on Thursday going out of Houston. We’ll see…
Posted by Grant on September 6, 2008 – 11:44 am
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I recently finished reading a book called The Spark. Here are a few of the thoughts I underlined or marked throughout the book:
- “The better we get along, the more free we are to let loose and express our ideas and emotions. It’s hard to be creative in isolation. True creativity requires collaboration…and yes, even conflict and confrontation.”
- “Never lose sight of the reason for your work”
- “Passion is key to everything we do, and those without it don’t last long.”
- “Constraints on time, money, and resources can be incredible motivators.”
- “You have to learn to take the right risks – risks that will allow you to fulfill your vision.”
- “If a person is courageous and generous enough, we can teach them the rest. To me, creative is, first and foremost, all about courage – a willingness to take risks, to try new things, and to share the experience with others.”
- “Most people hate deadlines. It hadn’t occurred to me that limitations could be a good thing. What sorts of things hold you back?”
- “If there are too many restrictions, you stop thinking about what you can do and start thinking about what you cannot do.”
- “If you don’t understand the role you play, how can you be excited about what you’re doing?”
- “The perfect job should be a melding of our talents and our passions.”
- “There are no limits; anything is possible. Believe that, live that way, and you can accomplish extraordinary things.”
- “You have to be confident enough to let your imagination spin off in all kinds of directions. And if you really want to make things happen, you have to be willing to crash.”
- The fact is, we WANT to scare ourselves some – to reach our limits and then go beyond them. We have to shove ourselves off the cliff before we start flying. The greatest danger is not failing but getting comfortable, of reaching a certain altitude and putting the show on autopilot.”
- “Everyone is creative and everybody is talented. I just don’t think everybody is disciplined.”
Posted by Grant on September 5, 2008 – 5:50 am
You may have noticed that today is Friday. How do you feel about that?
Are you overly excited, counting down the hours until you are set free for the weekend? Are you anxious, exhausted, and ready to leave by lunch time?
So many people live with the mentality of “Thank God it’s Friday….Oh God, it’s Monday.”
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…life is too short to do something you hate. We all have to make a living and earn a paycheck, so wouldn’t you prefer to do something you love?
Can you imagine what it would be like to wake up on Monday morning and be excited to go to work? (Let me know when you stop laughing at that idea!)
Don’t laugh too hard…I do it every week. While I love the weekend and just spending time with my family, I also know that Monday is coming and I get to go back and do something I’m passionate about.
And you can to.
