Captain Ray Ashley had a dream of building a replica ship, the San Salvador, as a project for the San Diego Maritime Museum.
He made a brilliant decision to build it in PUBLIC (right by a busy freeway near the airport) instead of in PRIVATE (where it’d be out-of-sight-out-of-mind).
People talk about finding their calling as if it exists out there somewhere. I think our calling – doing work we love that matters – emerges from doing and pursuing things that matter to us. It’s not found, it’s forged.
As Emcee of the Maui Writers Conference, I walked the beach every morning. One morning, I saw Pulitzer-Prize winning author Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes) writing away on two high-school composition notebooks… I was intrigued and asked, “Frank, quick question, what are you doing?”
Years ago, I judged a pitch competition called The Dolphin Tank. I reviewed the business plans the night before, including one for a hook you put in your car to put your purse on…
Years ago, while writing my book What’s Holding You Back?, I had just a week left to submit it to my editor—except the Intro wasn’t even finished.
It wasn’t for lack of effort. The more I tried, the more the right words eluded me.
Years ago, my son Andrew started a non-profit called Dreams for Kids in D.C. He landed a 15-minute meeting with Dr. Roberta McLeod, the Director of Howard University, where he was going to ask to use their Campus Center—for free—to host the Dreams for Kids annual holiday party. A few minutes in, Andrew realized…
A few months ago, I did a book-signing at the Conscious Capitalism Summit. I asked a man near me what he wanted to set in motion by the end of the year. He said, “I want to do more speaking.”
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.”
