Personal Growth

Your Reach is Greater Than You Realize

May 13, 2013
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photo by Matthew Field

We affect more people than we realize. We affect the barista at Starbucks when we buy our coffee, our clients and coworkers, and certainly our dearest loved ones. This is a powerful blessing and a huge responsibility and needs to remain in the forefront of our minds.

Claudia reminded me of this just the other day. We had about 100 people together for our music school’s Spring concert. The afternoon was wonderful. The students did a marvelous job and the time was a real joy for me as a teacher and a business owner.

Claudia pointed out how I am impacting all those people. My students, their families, our teachers, and even the grandparents indirectly. This realization gave me a deeper appreciation for what I do and also a sense of responsibility to use this influence to bless others and make a difference.

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Entrepreneurship Personal Growth

Throw Your Heart Over the Bar and Your Body Will Follow

May 9, 2013
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photo by Siddie Nam

The story goes, a famous trapeze artist was instructing his students on how to complete a performance on the high bar. After finishing his talk, he asked his students to demonstrate what they had learned. One of his students stood looking up at his precarious perch, pictured himself falling, and become completely frozen in fear.

“I can’t do it. I can’t do it.” he gasped. The instructor put his hand on his shoulder and said these words:

“Throw your heart over the bar and your body will follow.” 

For a year and a half now, Michael and I have been on this adventure of entrepreneurship and praise be to God and a LOT of hard work we are doing it!

Well, the time has come for me to embark on another adventure; to throw my heart over a new bar.

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Entrepreneurship

How I Got Free Water Ice for 100 People

May 6, 2013

I recently donned my door to door salesman hat and was extremely successful selling ad space to local businesses for our music school’s spring concert program.

In the video below, I share five key elements which helped me cover our $400 concert expense, get FREE water ice for 100 people, and get FREE printing for all our programs.  All this in only 3 hours of my time!

There’s one thing I don’t mention in the video that was super helpful in coming up with the five key elements.

Before starting, I thought about how I would want someone to approach me as a business owner and ask me to buy ad space. I knew I would want someone to be clear and to the point, quickly explaining the opportunity. And, I would not want to feel “sold” to.

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Personal Growth

The Rift

May 2, 2013
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photo by Prince Roy

My first encounter with The Rift was when I danced wildly across a stage in high school. I then encountered him while embarking on a journey alone to Colorado. I glimpsed him again while driving through the mountains into Tibet, and later in the red dust of Australia.

Then, something happened and I turned away from The Rift. He disappeared for quite a few years. I was disgusted with myself for letting him go out of sight but it gradually became easier to avoid the places I knew The Rift would be. I never went towards challenge, or fear, or anything new. I never went towards the things I was afraid of and neither did I move towards forgiveness. I new The Rift would be there.

I carried things, heavy things. They rolled around in my head and weighted my steps. I let them fill my mind with doubt and fear, anger and indecision. I let these things distort my thoughts, my marriage, my life.

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Entrepreneurship

My Latest Failure

April 29, 2013
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photo by Zach Klein

Recently, I gave a free class at one of our local libraries. My purpose was to build the student base at our music school. I have done these classes in the past and they have been extremely valuable for us. We have actually gotten more than half of our students this way!

The classes have worked out so well because they are a win-win all the way around, for the students, the library, and our music school.

For this particular class I had been preparing for a couple of weeks. I was planning on doing something a little different and had thought through how to add more value for the students and parents. I was excited to see how it would work out.

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Personal Growth

We Need You!

April 25, 2013

Did you know there are some brackets of people who tend to live longer than others? These people are often farmers, teachers, writers, or anyone else whose work continually begins anew. Why do they live the longest? Because they constantly feel both useful and needed.

A teacher needs to prepare for a new year of students, a farmer needs to plant new crops and feed hungry animals, a writer finishes one book and begins another one. The cycle continues.

Eleanor Roosevelt in her book, You Learn By Living, says feeling both useful and needed are the necessary requirements for happiness.

“Usefulness, whatever form it may take, is the price we should pay for the air we breathe and the food we eat and the privilege of being alive. And it is its own reward, as well, for it is the beginning of happiness, just as self-pity and withdrawal from the battle are the beginning of misery.

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Entrepreneurship

Belly to Belly is Best

April 22, 2013

Claudia and I just made it back from a conference in Chicago on internet marketing. We had a great time meeting new people and attending the great seminars. Not to mention, we got to spend time with one of our mentors, Dan Miller.

One of the things we realized once again on this trip was the value of meeting people in person. Blogs and social media are great and all, but your relationships and opportunities strengthen and grow when you share a cup of coffee or a bit to eat.

Watch this short video to find out with whom we had the opportunity to spend time!

video note: Sohail Khan 

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Personal Growth

Busy

April 18, 2013

It’s a great disguise! It is one no one can argue with. “My kids are in sports, I’m selling the house, I’m overloaded with work.” The list goes on and on.

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photo by -sel

“I’ll get to you and everything else another time.”

The thing is, we can choose what to be busy with. We often don’t take the time, however, to evaluate if what is keeping us busy is the stuff we really need to be doing.

Is our busyness helping us become the people we want to be? Is it pulling us towards generosity, towards the things that are truly valuable? Is it fulfilling? Does it touch the place deep in our souls which say, “Yes, I am doing what I was put on this earth to do!” Does it?

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Personal Growth

Fighting the Urgent

April 15, 2013

Sometimes it’s extremely hard to not let the important things in life get crowded out by the urgent things.

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photo by Iguana Jo

Let me explain.

You see, urgent things are things like email, paperwork, phone calls, social media, busy work, etc. Important things are the real meat of your life. They are always directly tied to your long-term vision and goals. Important things are the things you dream about getting around to doing but never actually do.

For me, doing urgent things often makes me feel temporarily fulfilled because I am DOING something. But, it is pointless doing all the urgent things in the world if they are not leading me where I ultimately want to go in life.

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Uncategorized

The Thrill Of Change

April 11, 2013

Could change be your ticket to a full and rewarding life?

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photo by ShutterRunner

I am listening to Julia Child’s audiobook “My Life In France,” and am finding it intriguing to say the least. When Julia was 36 she had the opportunity to move to Paris with her husband Paul. Open and willing to embrace the opportunity before her she sailed to her new home across the ocean.

Little did Julia know France would release something in her she never even knew existed, a captivating adoration for French cuisine! This discovery transformed her entire life.

She eventually became a household name by bringing French cuisine to the American public.

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