2009 December

Monthly Archives: December 2009

My 2009 Highlights…

Posted by Grant on December 22, 2009 – 7:50 am

Filed under Family, Personal, Speaking, Travels

As we wrap up 2009 and begin to turn the page towards 2010, I know a lot of people are happy to leave this year behind them. And while it has been an unusual year (the economy, housing market, bailouts, Speidi, Susan Boyle etc), it’s always a good thing to pause and reflect back on the past year. Sure there were some low points, but I’m confident everyone had some great moments as well.

Here were a few of the highlights for me from 2009…

Moving into our new house back in March
Building a fence at the new house (a labor of love)
Going to Hawaii with my hot wife and no kids (she couldn’t keep her hands off me)
Traveling through a true blizzard in North Dakota
Being named to GO Magazine’s “20 Under 30″ list
Taking my girls on trips to Chicago (twice), St. Louis, and Dallas
Completing several puzzles with my daughter
Being able to speak at NPC several times
Attending the Home Run Derby with my Dad
Taking a cruise to the Bahamas with my hot wife (she still couldn’t keep her hands off me)
Driving a convertible around Yosemite National Park
Visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame with my Dad
Ordering a 2nd printing of my book Reality Check
Doing the opening keynote at the BPA National Leadership Conference
Both my sister and sister-in-law got married (and my daughter made a lovely flower girl)
All the time spent at the pool over the summer with my girls
Creating the student money website www.BrokePiggy.com

Here are some additional stats from my travels and speaking schedule from this year…

55 Events
134 Presentations
73,000+ People Spoken To
51,000+ Miles Traveled
19 State Spoken In
61 Nights In Hotels

As I was going back through my calendar, I could recall so many of the places I was able to go, the students and teachers I was able to meet, and am once reminded how fortunate I am to do something I love.

What about you? What have been some of your highlights from 2009?

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Making 2010 Great Starts Now

Posted by Grant on December 14, 2009 – 7:34 am

Filed under Thinking Out Loud...

As we begin to wrap up 2009, it’s a chance to start looking ahead to 2010. It’ll be the beginning of a new year, and we all get a fresh start and a clean slate.

So what are you going to do with your fresh start? What are you going to do that will make 2010 your best year yet? How are you going to improve on 2009?

If you haven’t started figuring that out, now would be a good time to do so. Because a year from now when we get to the end of 2010, if you’re in the same spot in life that you’re presently in, whose fault is that?

It’s not your parents’ fault. You can’t blame the government or the President. Stop whining about your circumstances.

If you accomplish nothing in 2010 and continue to settle for mediocrity, it’s your fault. So if you’re going to make 2010 your best year yet, it starts by planning now.

What do you want your life to look like in the next 30 days? 3 months? 6 months? What are you willing to do/sacrifice/risk to make that happen?

Create a plan. Write it down. If you’re taking a road trip somewhere, you make a plan before you set out on the journey. Why wouldn’t you make a plan for your year?

You won’t end up where you want to be on accident. You get where you want to be because of planning and hard work.

Making 2010 great starts now in 2009.

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Stop Saying “That’s My Goal…” When It Isn’t

Posted by Grant on December 8, 2009 – 6:59 am

Filed under Thinking Out Loud...

We’ve all been guilty of this before. We’re talking with someone and they make some type of comment related to something you want to do.

You should travel the world.

You should have your own business.

You should go to XYZ college.

You should do this with your life.

And if we’re even remotely interested in accomplishing that thing, a lot of times we respond by saying, “that’s my goal.”

I don’t know why we’ve programmed ourselves to respond that way, but it drives me nuts. Why? Because for most of us, it’s not a goal. It’s a dream. It’s a wish. It’s something we’d like to accomplish but will probably never get around to doing it.

Now I know I’m supposed to be a motivational speaker and you’re probably thinking, this guy’s not very motivational! But here’s why I say that…

Goals require planning. Dreams are supposed to just magically come together.

Goals require work. Dreams just happen.

Goals require an investment of time, energy, and resources. Dreams don’t.

Are you seeing the differences? Goals are much more difficult to accomplish. So here’s the deal…think twice before saying “that’s my goal.” Determine if what you really want is worth all the effort and energy to make it happen or is it simply a wish you hope will magically happen someday.

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Thank You Upson-Lee High School!

Posted by Grant on December 4, 2009 – 7:05 am

Filed under Events, My Book, Travels

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak at the Upson-Lee High School Career Day in Georgia yesterday. The school also gave every senior a copy of my book “Reality Check,” which was very cool.

The picture above is with Betty Thurman, the assistant principal who organized the Career Day, and Cleve Hendrix, school principal. Both were outstanding administrators who clearly care about the work they do with students.

Thank you to both Ms. Thurman and Mr. Hendrix and all the seniors that made Career Day a success!

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Dear Tiger Woods…

Posted by Grant on December 3, 2009 – 12:38 pm

Filed under Current Events, Thinking Out Loud...

We tend to forget how often our actions can influence others (even complete strangers) without us even knowing about it. I’ve noticed this through something I’ve been try to do more of lately: running.

Let me explain…

At the beginning of the year I started running and had a goal to run a few races. A few months into it my knee started bothering me, and I eventually threw in the towel on the whole idea. So for most of the summer I was frustrated with myself that I started something but didn’t finish it.

Then I was influenced by a stranger.

My wife and I were on a cruise back in August and while at dinner one night, I found myself eavesdropping on a couple of guys at the table next to us. One of the guys said he had just run a race and it all started by simply walking each day. Keep in mind, this guy was an older, larger dude…he wasn’t some elite beast of an athlete. Well that got stuck in my head and I started thinking…

“If that joker can do it, then I can do it.”

So when I got home, I started walking and have got back into a running routine again.

Here’s another quick example…Last night on my flight I ended up seated next to an old friend. We were getting caught up on life, and he told me he recently finished the Chicago marathon. I was totally impressed and immediately started asking lots of questions. He told me a story about traveling out West and stumbling across an ultra-marathon being run in Death Valley. This wasn’t just any race…it was 135 miles through temperatures reaching 130 degrees…that’s freaking insane!

But my friend said he saw those people running this race and thought…

“If they can do 135 miles in these conditions, I can do 26 miles.”

Influenced by a group of strangers.

You have no idea how your words, actions, and attitudes influence not only your friends and family but also complete strangers who you’ll never meet or know how you impacted them. Therefore…

Think before you speak. Pause before you react. Be cautious how you treat others. Why? You have no idea how it will impact others…both positively and negatively.

Are you reading this Tiger?

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The Value Of Living In The Moment

Posted by Grant on December 1, 2009 – 7:59 am

Filed under Family, Personal, Travels

I’ve written before about why memories matter more than possessions…last week was one of those experiences for me.

After speaking at the New York Student Council state conference (video here), I met up with my dad who flew in so we could visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. We’re both big baseball fans (specifically for the St. Louis Cardinals…the greatest team in all the land), so this was certainly a field trip we’ve always wanted to take.

It was truly an amazing experience I’ll never forget. To me it was more than just the experience of visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame, but it was being able to share that with my dad.

It was a simple reminder of the importance of living in the moment. Someday when my life wraps up, I won’t remember how fancy of a car I drove, the square footage of my house, or my high score on some random iPhone game. But I will remember trips, experiences, and moments.

Take advantage of every opportunity you have to live in the present, to live in the moment. It’s what life is all about.

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