Play Room

(Motivational) music to my ears

Da Coach and I had an (unlinkable) email exchange yesterday that hearkened back to the comments he made on this post, in which he cataloged Bruce Springsteen's critical yet unsung (so to speak) contributions to the field of personal coaching.

Since then, I've been hearing rock 'n roll motivational masters all over the place. Just this morning on the way into work, this little gem blasted its way through my speakers and into my awareness:

So often times it happens
That we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key

Simple, powerful, and -- if it caught you at the right moment -- potentially life changing. Questionable grammar aside ("So often times"??? Someone get me a comma.)this could have come right out of Earl Nightingale's esteemed mouth.  But I believe Eagles frontman Glenn Frey provided the vocals on this one. Lead the Field? Uh-uh -- try On the Border.

Even the darker end of the rock spectrum has its inspiring moments. I found myself getting pretty fired up (and even a bit misty) the other day listening to -- dare I admit it? -- Eminem's "Lose Yourself", the lyrics of which I cannot reprint because the Play Room does not come equipped with a Parental Advisory warning. But if you can handle the moderate-for-Eminem-but-still-pretty-bad language and you're in the mood for some unorthodox success advice, go listen to it. It's really rather awesome!

I don't know that it's possible to compile an official Nightingale-Conant compendium of Rock 'n Roll motivation (a personal development audio program by Eminem would give us an awfully sharp edge -- a fatal one, I'm thinking.)

But I do know this: if your mind is open to the kinds of great ideas you get from N-C's programs, you'll start to hear those ideas everywhere.

What about you? Got any rock 'n roll "coaches" you call on when you need a motivational shot in the arm -- or ear, as the case may be? Who are they, and what are the lines that lift you up and make you better?

Nightingale-Conant Meets The Apprentice!

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to talk with Donald Trump's first female "Apprentice"---Kendra Todd--a.k.a. Agent 53!.  If you didn't have the chance to watch this incredible woman hear those immortal words---"You're hired!" from Sir Donald, you can read more about her accomplishment here. 

I must say, after talking with Kendra about a potential new product opportunity with N-C, I was even more impressed with her than I was watching her on television.  Even over the phone, Kendra's energy is amazing, her focus and intelligence are notable, and she has a professionalism of someone ten years older (she's only 26!).  Kendra was introduced to us by our good friend and author, Joe Polish---thanks Joe!

Stay tuned for Episode Two of "Nightingale-Conant Meets the Apprentice!"

Danno

(Oh, by the way, would you buy a program from Kendra, if we were to produce it?  If you have an opinion on that, I'd love to hear from you!)

Who says I can't...

I love great examples that defy rational logic. Every time I see a video of this dog on the internet I can't help but think... there is a dog that knows he can.  I have no idea how he learned to ride a skateboard but I doubt it was just training. When you watch him, you can tell he loves it. He has no idea that dogs aren't supposed to ride skateboards.  How many of us are like this dog (no idea of what we can't do) and how many of us just accept the norm (not riding the "skateboard").

If you have not seen this video you must. It is great!

The Power of Irritation

The Power of Irritation - doesn't exactly sound like the next Nightingale-Conant blockbuster, does it?  Well, we're not far from the truth.

A TV show I've really become enthralled with is American Inventor.  While I'm not a huge fan of TV reality shows or exactly TV in general (besides ESPN, TV Land and my recently discovered Food Channel), American Inventor is kind of a reality unto its own. And, American Inventor has two great tie-ins to the World Leader in Personal Development, Nightingale-Conant!  How's that for a lead in?

Doug Hall, one of the judges, has a wonderful N-C program titled Jump Start Your Brain. Maybe in the future, I'll do a whole blog on just that.  All I'm going to say now is that Doug is a really cool guy and not the curmudgeon they sometimes make him out to be on the show. He's a super-creative guy as his record attests to and really knows his business. But, like I said, more on that another time.

I recently had the pleasure of working with a gentleman named Bob Maurer. Dr. Bob Maurer actually. As with many N-C authors, I found his material fascinating, but one aspect in particular. Now I've been producing programs at N-C for 12 years now and many people seem to think that there's no new ideas under the sun. Not in this case. Now Bob deals with something called the Kaizen method. All I can say about Kaizen is it's a different way to reach your goals. And, it's been used by a whole bunch of successful folks from Dr. W. Edwards Deming to John Wooden to J. Willard Marriott to a whole bunch of folks in-between just like you and me. But what I found even more fascinating about this whole process is that many great inventions in recent years came from situations that you and I and probably many others would consider annoyances, frustrations, petty irritations and probably just bug us to no end. Well these enterprising people turn these annoyances into a great idea and eventually a ton of cash! For example:

The guy who invented Velcro got the idea from all these burrs that got attached to his leg and all over his dog while he was out for a walk. Now wouldn't that bug the heck out of ya? Pull 'em all off one by one, mutter a few choices words and get rid of 'em, right? How dare they infringe on our time!

The guy who invented Post-It notes wanted to mark his place in his hymnal at church because the bookmarks kept falling out every time he raised the book up. There was a glue at 3M that wasn't quite strong enough for normal functions and the rest is history. Wouldn't that bug ya, too?

While on vacation Edwin Land took a picture of his 3 year old daughter - well, she wanted to see the picture right away!  Instead of being irritated by the kid (how many of us wouldn't be?), Ed saw the possibility. Five years later, the first instant camera was developed.

There many, many, many more but I'm starting to get bugged by the great things people have done instead of getting bugged!!

Bob and Kaizen give you the steps to get there. Thus, The Power of Irritation (maybe a future N-C program, but not Bob's) What's great is that Kaizen is not only used for great inventions, you can use it to lose weight, get better health habits, improve relationships, gain control of your finances, become the next contestant on American Inventor or just become a swell human being!

What's buggin' you today? Turn it into something great.