Years ago, my son Andrew and I were at dinner and I asked, “Going to VA Tech for Homecoming?” He shrugged, “Nah, I’m exhausted.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Mom, I want to quit. I’m making good money, but wearing a suit, working in a high-rise, and making cold calls all day isn’t what I want to do with my life.”
“What do you want to do?”…
Did you hear that Barnes & Noble’s top book for 2024 is James? In an interview, author Percival Everett said, “What Jim’s seeking in this world is a recognition of his agency – that’s what writing becomes for him.” He’s right! Writing is an act of AGENCY.
Doing a deep dive into your AGENCY history is a great way to come up with your own definition of AGENCY so it’s personally relevant and meaningful for you. You can do that by taking this 10-question quiz.
Do you know the single most powerful shift you can make to go from sabotaging your success to supporting it? Try switching your focus.
Years ago, a woman came up to me at a conference and asked, “How did you come up with the title of your book ‘Someday is Not a Day in the Week?’”
I told her, “I’ve met so many people over the past few years who talked about what they were going to do… Someday.
Years ago, I was the Pitch Coach for Springboard Enterprises (which has helped entrepreneurs generate $37 billion in funding/valuation.)
One of their members, Kathleen Callendar of Pharma Jet, told me, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.”
Pete, the sound engineer for my recent Audible book, pulled me aside after recording and said, “I wish I could tell stories like you, but nothing interesting happens to me.”
I told him, “Everyone has interesting things happen to – or around them – that can be turned into stories.”
He smiled and said, “Like what?”
When I submitted my book proposal for SOMEDAY Is Not a Day in the Week to my agent, she told me, “Sam, you’ll get a better deal if you have a bigger platform.”
In other words, my book deal depended less on my track record or the topic’s relevance and more on my social media following.
So, I did something I have never done…
Challenging times invite us to study the Stoics. Many of our greatest philosophers – Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Epictetus- dealt with life challenges, and all arrived at enduring wisdom – which we can access & integrate.
Years ago, I had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with Ivan Misner, founder of BNI. After hearing about my full calendar of speaking, consulting and traveling, he asked, “What do you do for fun?”
