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My wife’s next minivan
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"Never doubt in the dark what God has taught you in the light."
- Bob Walz -
My Great Uncle Joe died last week. I previously wrote about him in a previous post you can find here: http://michaelc.tumblr.com/post/85227139
My family spent the weekend in St. Clair, Michigan attending the visitation and funeral. It was cool to reflect on his life in a manner of appreciation and thanks much moreso than sadness.
My brother wrote an excellent article that you can find here: http://ping.fm/1J1gA
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Learning to Ride a Bike
Last night my son rode his bike without training wheels for the first time. What an exciting thing for a dad (and his mom who had the video camera) to experience…and what a fantastic memory that Bennett will always carry with him.
As I was uploading the video to my Macbook I couldn’t help but think of the power of commitment. Bennett saw I had removed his training wheels and said “cool, let’s go!” I’ll admit I was shocked at his excitement but went with the flow. I held on to the seat for about 5 feet and let go…and he pedaled across the street-success!
As I reflected on the moment I focused on Bennett’s committment. He jumped on, let me help me him gain momentum and then went for it. His decision to commit gave him focus, confirmed the belief in his own ability to do it and gave him the desire to succeed. All of the things that Bennett did well to reach his goal (subconsciously, of course) are precisely what adults do to acheive theirs.
A commitment is an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. I believe lasting committment can only happen when we have a significant purpose to the thing we are committing to. For example, Bennett was committed to riding a bike so he could be like his friends and because he knew that only “big boys” ride a bike without training wheels. In his mind, being a “big boy” was more important to him than crashing his bike-so he gave it his all.
Think of the significant purpose as a vision: a preferable picture of the future. Committment to that purpose requires focus, persistance and the will to constantly work towards strengthing that decision to better the future. Commitment to a relationship, career, religion or sport demands that we constantly strive for positive change, thus giving us a reason to stay committed when times get tough.
Next time you are faced with making a committment, think back to when you learned to ride a bike…make sure you can do what’s required to make it lasting-and enjoy the ride!
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Harnessing the power of Social Media to help establish your Personal Brand
I’m sure by now you have heard of one or many of the social media tools available today. Congrats if you answered “no” because by reading my blog you are taking part of the web 2.0 phenomenon! Aforementioned blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Ning and countless other platforms are helping people connect in ways we did not imagine possible just a few years ago.
I will confess that I am not a Social Media expert nor a self-proclaimed “Ninja”, but I have successfully taught myself a lot just by jumping in and using some of the tools I mentioned earlier. Through my experiences I have found the biggest benefit to be how quickly you can build your personal brand. Personal branding lets you choose how you want to be portrayed online and should create an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_branding
If you are into meeting up with friends online the context you post will be relational and personal. If you are trying to sell a book you have written you will provide valuable information on the topic of your book and work to drive traffic to a site where they can buy it. In my case, I have simply been posting random personal information to get comfortable with blogging, but soon I will start to brand myself online in a more professional manner to drive those I connect with to a new site (yet to be released!).
All of this can be done in many ways but it breaks down to the context you post…this can help you connect with like-minded individuals and eventually establishes you as a credible source for the information you provide. The biggest key is to offer valuable insight to others and try to connect with those you can gain value from. Social Media is named appropriately-and I love the opportunities it holds for my future ventures. If I can help you understand more about it-or if you have anything to add or pass along then let me know!
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The Chudy men’s fishing trip! We enjoyed walleye fishing on Lake Erie, hearing G Chudy’s story of coming to America, hanging out with Uncle Joe (103 yrs old), and spending time with Uncle Bob in a NASCAR fan-filled bar. Good times.
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Wordle
Check out this cool new way to view the content in a blog or home page.
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"Few worthy rewards come without risk so let your desire to succeed conquer your fear of failure"
