BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT

Fellow BLOGGER and good friend of mine, Colonel Thomas Magness had a post this week that I just had to share. The post titled Second Chances is a great reminder to us all that second chances are not only important, but often critical to a person's development. The Ripples we create in the hearts and minds of those in our personal and professional lives in a time of need (especially when they have screwed up) is a gift that will never be forgotten.

It's a wonderful read, as are all of Tom's posts, so I hope you will give it a read.

Click Here to read the LEADER BUSINESS BLOG

Keep up the excellent work Tom and as always.....

Hooah and Ripple On!!!

Ripple Rewind - Power of Passion

I revisit a post that was done in 2005 when I was just discovering what passion meant to me. I had just come out with my book - no one knew me and I was scared to death. Now three years later...I realize it was the passion I had for an idea that fueled me back then...as it still does today.

What a ride! I haven't made it in front of 50,000 people but I keep swinging for the fences and know someday it will happen.

Enjoy this Ripple Rewind!

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(originally published August 2005)

Have you ever seen Bruce Springsteen in concert? I have had the pleasure of seeing him perform three times live and I can still feel the chills on the back of my neck. The thing I love the most about watching Bruce and the E Street Band play is their passion for what they do. Bruce and his band play with such incredible energy that by the end of the concert you know you were just fortunate to be to witness it.

The excitement and energy that comes out of their show is simply amazing. Bruce is over fifty now and yet he performs as if he is still in his twenties. I recently read an interview with him where he was asked about how he has managed to keep up the pace for as long as he has. When most artists are turning into mellow old mockeries of their former selves, he seems to be just getting warmed up. He said one word which resonates with me today....PASSSION. He has passion for bringing the very best experience to everything he does, whether it's writing a new song or delivering a live performance. He knows that with just a few short hours and some well placed words in a song, he can take you away from your troubles, pull you out of the dullness of everyday life and excite you. Without passion for his job, he wouldn't be able to do that.

It makes me think about how many people are showing up to their jobs with little to no passion for what they do? Bruce drinks up the audience like a fine wine and savors it. He feeds off the anticipation of what the audience wants and expects and explodes at just the right moment to give it to them. He transforms people and brings them off their feet and into a state that is simply hard to explain unless you have experienced it first hand.

My point here is his passion is infectious. It turns a moderately conservation chap like me into a raving lunatic when the piano starts to pound with THUNDER ROAD or BORN TO RUN. I reach a level that I feel as if I am almost on stage with him, entertaining, changing 50,000 lives right there with him. Wow...what an amazing feeling!

Though likely none of us are ever going to be performing in front of 50,000 people we do perform every day, in front of the people that cross our path. Our co-workers, our friends and family and yes, the perfect stranger. What if we could find a way to tap into that passion and be on full throttle delivering ourself at a level 10, rather than the level 2 (or below) most of us put out there every day?

If you aren't in a job that is inspiring and filling you with passion, take a hard long look at your life. Time is something you can never get back but the experiences are what our stories will be made up of down the line. Do you want your personal or professional story to be one that is average or one that was brimming with PASSION and inspirational?

If you don't have it, go find it! Quit making excuses and holding yourself back. Don't wait until tomorrow for tomorrow may be too late!

The mood is set, the crowd is chanting your name, the spotlight is illuminated and it's time for you to walk on stage!

Come on......

FEED US YOUR PASSSION!!!

Ripple On!!!

Thinking Tree

I have a thinking tree. That's right, my very own thinking tree. I found the thinking tree a few months ago while out on a long bike ride on the hike and bike trail near my home. Though to be fair I am quite sure the tree doesn't believe itself to have ever been lost and therefore impossible for it to have been found; a point that I would have to concede if the tree were to actually publicly infer it. As of right now, the tree is offering no comment.

The tree is really nothing special as trees go if you ask me. It's a tall tree but there are a lot of tall trees. It has lots of lush green leaves and plays a soothing melody when the winds are up - which has been a lot lately. It splits off in a unique y formation towards the top which gives it some moniker of character and more personality than some of the other trees. But for most of you I am quite certain you wouldn't seek out this particular tree and pay it homage as some amazing find. An eighth wonder of the world I can assure you it is not.

No, the thinking tree is just there when it comes right down to it. It sits directly across from a bench that was put in by the people that put in the trail. The spot has become a perfect halfway stopping point for people like me who venture down through the trail and need a good place to rest before heading back. Though having been on the trail more times than I can count, neither the bench nor the tree seem to be attracting any use which is fine by me - I hate to share.

I discovered the tree a few months back when I started really riding my bike. It was on a perfect spring evening that I decided I needed to rest and stopped at the bench. The birds were singing and having just rained, everything smelled so fresh and alive. I found myself drawn to the tree as it swayed back in forth in the wind. I stared at it for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like five or ten minutes and just enjoyed the time. I was relaxed on a day that had been very stressful. I found myself smiling for no other reason than I was happy. I felt at peace and comfortable just being there.

I made several trips back to the tree over the next few days and each time a similar but uniquely new and inspiring experience took place. I found the thinking tree to be a good place to do just that - think! Hence I aptly named it as such. Every time I was on my bike, I found the bike somehow magically driving itself towards the trail and to what was now a dear old friend.

My boys which have taken to joining me on many of my nightly rides have taken to the tree too. We set out for many different destinations but no matter what we always end up paying the thinking tree a visit. Both Josh and Zachary just love jumping off their bikes, sitting on the bench and watching it for a few minutes. Perhaps somehow they are able to decompress and just think when they are in the presence of it as well. The tree has become a great place for us to talk as ideas and questions are batted about. Maybe the tree has some sort of magical powers over all of us who knows. It must be something because to get those two numskulls to sit still for even a few minutes has to be driven by a power greater than I.

Well whatever it is I am glad to have found the thinking tree. I know, I know, it wasn't lost but perhaps maybe I was and it was the tree that found me. The funny thing is I have never felt more found and more in touch with my creativity than when I am sitting near that old tree. It's incredible what a little think like a tree can do for me but maybe that's the point. It's the little things that often make the biggest difference to us.

What about you? Do you have a thinking tree or a place that you go to unplug and recharge? If not, the bench is big and I would be happy for you to join me for my nightly ride. I don't think the thinking tree would mind a bit.

Ripple On!!!