Provocative Questions?

Boy, I just love this ability to submit a blog entry via email! I know I've said that already, but I'm just dazzled by the convenience and the potential.

I'm writing this on the drive back from Oakland airport. I was in Phoenix teaching a coaching class..... Yes, it went great! Thanks for asking.

I'm a bit........all over the place with ideas for what my blog and my website should be about. I like the idea that any topic can be fair game, but I don't want to be so random that there is no 'center'...... No focus.

Self development is what I keep returning to. There a lot of room in that topic, it's multi faceted..... and it's my passion.

The idea of the day is to blog some provocative thoughts. It's amazing the power of a question to challenge us to think.

What good have you done today? What did you contribute?

Whatever you hand found to do....did you give it all your might?

Did any of your actions benefit someone less fortunate?

Are you enjoying what you are doing?....is it your passion?

What is the plan for tomorrow?

Are you challenging yourself? ...Setting goals?

Did you smile enough today?

And maybe I should make a habit of finishing the list with a wacky question..... Yes, I think that's a must: Wacky question of the day - What's the difference between a duck?

Stay tuned! - thanks!

Interesting

Exercise may actually work as well as drugs for treating depression. A study done at Duke University recently tested this theory. They recruited 156 men and women age 50 and older who suffered from major depression. One group walked or jogged for 30 minutes 3 days a week, while another group took the anti-depressant Zoloft. At the end of 4 months, both groups had improved dramatically ... 6 months later, 38 percent of the Zoloft group had fallen back into depression but only 8 percent of the exercise group saw their symptoms return." - Jorge Cruise, Best Selling Author

What we say....

Just a thought of the day. Eph 4:29-LET NO CORRUPT COMMUNICATION PROCEED OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, BUT THAT WHICH IS GOOD .....to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers... When we catch ourselves trash talkin' ... or speaking negatively about someone..... we might feel really wonderful about ourselves at the time.... and how special we are in comparison.... but let's not. If it's not productive, solution oriented... drop it. It's a COMPLETE waste of energy and time. It's a similar effect when we beat ourselves up, justify our failures and limitations. We're better off focusing on outcomes, results.... future oriented solutions. When we catch ourselves doing this.... we ought to throw $2. in a can and when it builds up, give it to a charity of our choosing. I had this scripture posted in my office when I was working as a manager, on a file cabinet where only I could see it. It was a helpful reminder.

Remember the crying Indian?

It seems we have a generation in need of the crying Indian commercial of the 80's..... I forget the name of guy (Native American, I should say)... I heard he died a few years ago...

It went like this: out of a passing car window a bag of garbage is carelessly thrown...... I remember it looking like a finished bag-o-fast-food.... Next scene is the stoic native american with a tear running down his cheek.

.... It was a powerful contrast.

Didn't we used to "pitch in" ? There was a social awareness of 'we put trash in it's place'....

I can think of numerous examples where I've seen people intentially put garbage on the ground...... Plastic bottles in the bushes, In N Out Burger on the parking lot only 8 feet from the dumpster!!!!!!! You Lazy sonofableep! ... It just blows me away....

.... Even the straw wrapper to the wind. ....

Are there any parents out there who are teaching this?

How 'bout a little social pressure?..... A little media blitz? C'mon ...

I'll try to get a copy of that commercial and post it here.

Meanwhile please bail me out of jail if I get into an altercation while I'm wearing my "Garbageman" cape and tights...

I realize there are grander causes.... This is just the Rant of the Moment. Found it ... here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k197LOJof9Q&search=crying%20indian

Positive Deviants

The 'Powerful Presentation' seminar was...... Interesting.

It was an unique mix of people, 3/4 of which have attended some of Marshall Thurbur's classes and were more familiar with some of his concepts and lingo.

He's clearly an out of the box thinker and encourages others to be the same. I picked up some good things I can definitely benefit from. The use of story and metaphor to make an emotional connection was something a was pleased to hear more about....

Though we may not be on the same page politically.... And I may not subscribe to the same new age-ish philosophies...... I ate the meat and left the bones.

...Blogging from the Blackberry.

Seth Ponek Corporate Trainer

blog from email?

This is cool ... I can add an entry to my blog via email!

 

I like this...   I can 'text' you ear off with that kind of technology!

 

.........  I dig technology.

Eliana a few years ago

Powerful Presentations

Headed for Salt Lake tomorrow for a seminar called Secrets of Powerful Presentations. Marshall Thurber is dubbed as one of the "great minds of our times". His Bio Marshall Thurbur - Bio This ought to be interesting.... and different than other more generic 'presentation or success fundamentals' type events. I'm getting exposed to some ideas I don't think about every day.... -Network Science -What is a 'positive deviant' -Dynamic Value ... ....Looks like I'll be able to walk away with more than just "how to spice up a presentation" :o) I'll let you know how it goes. I was invited by my friend Mike Brouse - Mortgage Planner and Sales trainer for CTX Thanks Mike! ................................................. Also: Roy W. Jones - Sales Trainer for Hertz Equipment Rental, and owner of www.wealthwithinyou.com , and his own publishing company, turned me on to oldy but a goody by Charles Haanel called The Master Key System. Roy has found and published the original from 1916 including 4 'lost' chapters and a study guide. I don't know if he has it posted on his site, yet... but check out some of the other classic works available by e-book or CD. Roy is one of the most fascinating people you'll ever talk to and has put together a great line up of resources for your "life changing" library. more later.

RSS and Netvibes.com are my new friends!

I'm just setting up my www.netvibes.com home page and I'm all fired up about it. I've had a vague understanding about what RSS feeds are for a long time..... I keep up on the lingo at least... I heard Leo Laporte (Twit.tv) mention that he liked netvibes.com when he made a little cameo appearance on one of the video Podcasts I like (commandN.tv), so I thought I'd check it out. What I really like is the ability to create tabs for your own catagories of RSS feeds. I know I'm just scratching the surface in my exploration of what's 'out there' in the world of RSS.... In addition to the basic news services CNN, ABC, FOX, REUTERS, WiredNEWS, I've added feeds from my favorite Vid Podcasts like Diggnation, Geekbrief, ... There's a Google search feed that you can place right on the top of the page, and there's a great little "webnote' feature - which is like a post-it note for the page.... If I place a website in there it makes it a clickable hyperlink. I've found that I can grab the rss feed of a blog by 'viewing' the page source code and copying the http which ends in ...atom.xml. Some have a link to their code, but many don't .... But many aren't worth 'bookmarking' anyway..... like this one? I've just gotten excited about the idea of blogging. I've been 'ho-hum' about it for a long time. Who has time for this, right? I set Suzanne and the kids up with blogger.com accounts and I'm starting to bug them everyday to get into it. Yeah, that'll work!
Suzanne's Site. Sewzanne's Blog - SEW What?
Kyle's Site. www.kylefranco.com
Gabriella's Site. www.gabriellafranco.com
Landon's Site. www.landonponek.com ... at 4 yrs old Eliana is a little young for blogging.. We'll wait for next year for hers.

In The Beginning....

...was the Word. This begins without form and I'm eager to see what develops. In this case... If it is to be, it is up to me! I'm allowing for anything, any topic to be fair game. Every day is a different day. God-Family-Health-Education-Career-Financial-Political-Technology.... There are soooo many exciting topics. stay tuned.