Alchemy For Life

Did you lie to the program? Everyone lies, cheats and steals Wow is that offensive, but it’s true. It’s to what degree you do it that makes the difference. Ever been pulled over for speeding? Ever played a board game that you wanted to end sooner than later? Ever find an item in your groceries that you weren’t charged for? How about a pen in your purse from work? Think about the...

The Middle It’s a nice place to visit, but… What is the middle? Well, let me use it as a window to see something you normally wouldn’t. The Bell Curve You’ve probably heard of this, yes? Teachers sometimes grade ‘on a curve.’ I first learned about it many years ago playing Dungeons and Dragons. #NERD. It’s about probability, in which the majority of the st...

Tell me who you are and what you do This is how I start every interview I do on my show, and it’s turned into something that is universally applicable. It’s a deceptively simple question. The Persona and the Job Think about the printer guy, the waitress, the mailman, the cashier. Those are all jobs, not people. When people have a strong and identifiable what you do , people tend to thi...

Are you a “lifelong learner?” do you know anyone who calls themselves that? Oh, you do? What do you think of them and that statement? Are they? What do I mean “are they?” Well, what did they learn…? What are they learning? Does that seem unfair? Is your (or their) reaction one of indignance? Or maybe confusion. Isn’t it good enough that I am the lifelong learner...

There are a lot of people talking about conversations, no pun intended. The curious thing is for something that’s such an integral part of our existence—something we use every day in many forms—we don’t seem to be doing it right. At least according to the experts. We all know how to converse don’t we? I mean, we can’t all be that far off? The Interview A while back one of m...

Want to save about 30% of your communication time in multiple circles of your life? Want to reduce frustration by doing what seems like the opposite thing needed? Want to find out if a difficult person isn’t really difficult? If you answered ‘no’ then i don’t even know who you are any more, man. Just kidding. I know exactly who you are. Hi Japan. Listen in to this surprisin...

So, it’s been a week. Hopefully the coast is clear… We can talk about Valentine’s Day and use ait as an analogy. (click) Hello? No, not that kind of analogy. Listen onward… From the podcast : The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman The Status Game II by Mark Bradford

I have a confession. When the kids were younger and it was my birthday, I couldn’t help myself. When I was married my wife was a stay at home mom. I had no expectations of presents and like the cliche you only learn once you become a parent, it truly meant the most to me to get a present from my kids that they created. I still feel that way. However, I couldn’t help myself, and when we...

Sorry. That’s just the way it is. Have you ever noticed that? Does this sentence ring true to you? Think about your personal relationships. Think about your clubs, associates and groups. Think about your workplace. Examples You’re at a seminar and someone keeps asking “dumb” questions. What happens then? Other people chime in to help, and even the speaker might might an ino...

A crossroads This is our 149th episode. I say “our” because quite literally without you there is no podcast . I mean that. It sounds cliche but that’s why there have not been episodes for the last few weeks. As much as I enjoy my voice, my humor, my unique take on things, I don’t enjoy recording this for myself. There’s gotta be a you out there to balance the equation...

More people in my yard. My poor Christmas lights. This time they are dudes. That’s like 20 people who have been hired, just to appear in my yard. Also, apparently I was drunk on eggnog as I titled the podcast yesterday “ Eighth Nine.” It’s OK if you didn’t notice. Eggnogg. Glug Glug.

Did you ever ring someone’s doorbell and run away? Like, when you were a kid? What if you rang the doorbell and just stayed there, with like eight of your friends, inappropriately dressed.

I live in Wisconsin. Contrary to what the rest of the world things it’s not all farmland—at least where I live, which is a city with 1.8 million people. Sure i take certain things for granted like cheese that squeaks and wine that is based on cherries. But I don’t really have an interest in farms, god bless ’em. But now I have another farm invite. And this one is pretty awkward.

I now have my UAV Pilot license from the FAA. Because I didn’t stay in my lane. Have you ever been told that—to stay in your lane? Or even pick one? 🚁 One of the best pieces of advice to NOT listen to is “stay in your lane.”  If I stayed in my lane I wouldn’t have written six books—especially the two fiction.  I wouldn’t have narrated, I wouldn&#8...

More birds. And it’s too cold for this. Go to this google maps location she said. More presents awaits she said. But this is Wisconsin.

Ok, so I was wrong about the birds being over. And this didn’t end in a triumphant engagement with five other parties in some sort of … arrangement. So, we’re back to birds. But this time I don’t have to keep them. I just have to watch them.

I thought I was engaged. But if I am then there are four other parties involved, because there are four too many rings. At least there are no more birds. I have to say this is the most sensible of all of the gifts so far. Five days of gifts. I’m assuming there is some great meaning to receiving a tree, some birds and then finishing it up with rings. OK, pretty clever. Let me know if you know...

I gi ve up. It’s not even funny. And I thought bird smell was the worst part. Nope, not when you are given birds when are genetically engineered to be really loud. And you know, these also look like chickens, but if the chickens were wearing a bib or something. i don’t know, i haven’t gotten close enough to look carefully. They are in a cage with a towel over it.

More birds. Forget about the fact that she knows that I would never have a bird as a pet, I just got three chickens. Seriously, that’s what they are: chickens . This one had a note about being caught up now, and that there are more deliveries. So I’m getting another one tomorrow. Four gifts is pretty cool, but not when most of them are birds.

I’m receiving gifts from my girlfriend. Apparently she has no idea what I like. And they are odd. So the last gift was supposed to be a couple days ago, and this one was supposed to be yesterday. The shipping/arranging has been off due to the various mandates and lockdowns and things. Apparently. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that I got more birds. Did I mention I do not like birds...

I’m receiving gifts from my girlfriend. Apparently she has no idea what I like. And they are odd. I’m not a fan of birds as pets. Sorry.

The holidays can be a wonderfully unbalanced time of year.  According to Pew Research Center 90% of Americans celebrate Christmas , with about the same celebrating Thanksgiving.  Don’t forget New Years too.   If you’re not in that group you can still learn from what I’m about to say, as it applies to any gatherings of a seasonal nature. The aforementioned holidays...

Passion is for posers That has a better ring to it. You’re told to have passion—and we have covered this in the past in the passion podcast. But today we’re going to talk about two aspects of it that you may not be aware of. You already know that you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you don’t appear to have one… but do you know about the dangers of people who say they do...

Layers Regardless of what you do for a living, there are things between your effort and your final product, or your customer. The more layers, the more things you have to overcome. Organization, physical location, technology, time and even language are all layers. And some of those have sub-layers. Being a yoga teacher, a speaker, an author, a financial analyst—they all have layers. In fact, you m...

Beware of plateaus A  plateau  is a flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side.  Plateaus  occur on every continent and take up a third of the Earth’s land. They are one of the four major landforms, along with mountains, plains, and hills. Annnnd , none of that is related to this podcast. Except in the form of a metaphor . L...