Stuff I Learned Yesterday

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” Those are the words of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, son of David, celebrated king of Israel. Once I started working with TV talk, it became clear pretty quickly that I was finally on the path of leaving the corporate world. In fact, just 6 months after I first started working with TV Talk, I turned in my resignation....

When I started working at the bookstore as a part time cashier in the fall of 1994, I considered it to be a good job that would help me pay my way through college. After I dropped out of college, I put all my focus toward excelling at the bookstore so that I could get as much experience as possible until I figured out what I wanted to be now that I was growing up. At some point along the journey,...

Internet Sales Manager. That was the title my boss gave me as I started this new adventure. Technically, he asked what title I wanted, and said that he was thinking about Internet Sales Manager. Since I really don’t care much about job titles as long as they don’t contain the word “waiting” in them, so it sounded good to me. This job turned out to be one of my best adventures so far. Looking back...

Last week I ended the episode with me FINALLY landing what was my dream job at that time: a buying position within the company I was working for. My first day on the job was preparing for a business trip to our industry’s annual conference taking place the following week. My new assistant got me up to speed, and out the door I went. The new team I was working with was enjoyable. My assistant was v...

So there I was, a 19 year old killer. The first sign of difficulty had crossed my path, and I had no Samwise Gamgee. Can we just pause here for a minute? I want to make sure you get that reference. I know most of you wonderful nerds got it. But for those who didn’t, go find a copy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, or go watch the movies. Samwise Gamgee might just be the true hero of that entire ad...

The year is now 1994. I was fresh out of high school and ready to head out into the world and conquer it. Warner Brothers, I’m coming at you! My plan was to enroll at the University of Central Oklahoma for two years, then transfer to the University of Oklahoma to finish up my final two years. My freshman year would be spent living in the dorm, and my roommate would be one of my close high school f...

In the fall of 1991 I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. I did well in school, but didn’t really take all my classes seriously. English was one of those classes that came naturally to me, and that year we had a brand new teacher for English by the name of Mr. Harrison. Mr. Harrison was different. He not only had an English degree, but he was fluent in French and Spanish, and knew a f...

Let's get dangerous! What comes to your mind when you hear those words? I was a child of the 80’s and entered high school in 1990. When I was in high school, my afternoons after I got out of school consisted of me coming home, turning on the TV, and for the next two to three hours, watching cartoons like Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Tailspin, Ducktails, Darkwing Duck, the Animaniacs, and Batman: T...

Back on March 17, 2014 I launched Stuff I Learned Yesterday, a podcast to inspire, bring hope, and be a spark of light in the world.  After 562 episodes, the sun set on SILY on December 30, 2016.  A new day has dawned, and SILY is back, this time, the launch day is March 17, 2021.  I’m looking forward to sharing the new episodes with you.  Here’s a preview of the first two episodes.  Subscribe or...

When I was in high school I would occasionally go camping with my friends Van and Jason. It was always a lot of fun just hanging out with my friends and goofing off. We'd find a good spot on one of the hundreds of acres owned by Van's parents, and make camp for the night. We'd build a campfire, stretch out our sleeping bags, and eventually we'd go to sleep right there under the stars. No RV. Not e...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Angela, Therissa, Andrew, Jess, and No One Special. Read More... The post 561- Final Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More .

My last story here on Stuff I Learned Yesterday occurred nearly 13 years ago. I’ve told this story a couple times over the last couple weeks, drawing out different applications each time I tell it. In hindsight, some experiences become more meaningful the older I get. At the time they’re awkward and hard, but time eases the pain of their acute sting and I draw more insight about who I was then bec...

Today I talk about the next steps. You see sometimes taking sabbaticals or even vacations are not enough. Sometimes we have give things up or step back. But there are right ways and wrong ways to transition. I know things happen for a reason. A lot of these transitions started earlier in the year. So when I sat down in August to write a SILY episode, transitioning well was fresh on my mind. I had...

Here we are. We've arrived at what will be the final week, the final 5 episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday. Before I say goodbye on Friday, I want to spend some time today and reflect back on the stories that comprise this podcast. In taking a look at the stories of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, it's clear that the stories are nothing without the people who willingly shared them. So I want to take...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Jason. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 557- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More .

When I was five years old, I asked Santa for a car. It’s all I wanted. A convertible to be exact. Under my Christmas tree Christmas morning was a cream-colored Rolls Royce convertible with tan interior. It was the coolest Power Wheels I’d ever seen. Santa came through! That was the last Christmas gift I ever got from Santa. After that, all my Christmas gifts came from my family, and I knew about n...

For me, SILY has given me the opportunity to look at life differently. Especially now that I’m a co-host I look and analyze the experiences of my life for teachable moments. I don’t think I did that very well before. It has been great sharing SILY with my family and friends and I know for certain that there are new folks in the facebook group that are there because I introduced the podcast to them...

“We don’t need to pay those invoices. We bought that inventory as a favor to your Chief Financial Officer to help him make his year end numbers, and we’re going to send it back.” What did he just say? I had been employed by my publically traded company for 8 months, and was already troubled by some of the business and financial practices I had seen. I was visiting one of our out-of-state customers...

The year was 1986. All I wanted for Christmas was a Hot Wheels toy called Dynamite Crossing. I told every member of my family that Dynamite Crossing was what I wanted and I probably told them each 10 times or more. It looked like one of the coolest toys I'd ever seen and I couldn't imagine life being any better than if I had one to play with. When our family gathered for Christmas that year, my un...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Joshua. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 552- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More .

Another student was picking on a smaller classmate in the back of the bus. I was only seven years old at the time, but someone told me what was occurring and then asked me to do something about it. So I got up and proclaimed in my strongest, and very childish voice that I would stop it. I did, but it must have been a “set-up” because the “friend” who was sitting next to me on the bus opened my met...

What is your word? What is your calling? What do you strive for? A word cannot fully define us but it can help us capture our calling. Read more… The post 550- What Is Your Word appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More .

You may recall that I first started singing by mistake shortly after I graduated high school. I was hanging out with the youth pastor of my church one afternoon, sitting in the back seat of his car singing along quietly to the song on the stereo. I was looking out the window just minding my own business and in my own little world...or so I thought. It turned out that I was singing loud enough to b...

I tried to tell this story two years ago, but I couldn’t do it without crying. Now, I feel more confident in my abilities, but to be on the safe side, I have my Kleenex right here. But let me go back a little further into the history of this story. My story begins on October 25, 1977 when Ruth Anna Bonge was born to loving parents in Norman...wait, that was probably too far back. Let’s get to the...

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Susan, Faith, Lillie, and Dani. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 547- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More .