Posts tagged Jack Bergstrom
You Only Have 19 Weeks Left!
Sep 2nd
“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” ~James Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955) – a two-time Oscar-nominated American film actor
That right. You have just a bit over 19 weeks left to achieve your goals for this year. How are you doing? Are you on track to achieve your top five goals for this year? If you are – great! If not, what are you going to do to get yourself on track to achieving your top five goals for this year? Wait. Hold on. You say that you don’t even have your top 5 goals for the year selected, never mind a plan to achieve them? Well, the next series of entries will change all of that. I am going to focus on goal selection, and most importantly, goal achievement – so come back tomorrow.
Till next time…Jack
“Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.” ~Stephen Vincent Benét – (July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) – an American author, poet, short story writer and novelist; best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown’s Body
Deadlines
Jul 8th
“I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.” ~Douglas Adams, 03/11/1952 – 05/11/2001 – English humorist & science fiction novelist
I found out today that one of my favorite authors was dead – not just dead, but dead for more than 7 years already. Wow. The quote above is from Douglas Adams – dead at 49 from a heart attack while working out at a private gym in Santa Barbara. I think he would have appreciated the irony in that statement. If you aren’t familiar with his work and you like British humor, go buy some of his stuff. You will be in for a treat – I still smile when I think of the dolphins from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe series – “So long, and thanks for all the fish!”
I’m not sure why his death affected me so deeply tonight. I was thinking of the upcoming deadline for my first book, September 17th, 2008 to remind myself again, and I went searching for nice quotes about deadlines. I found this one from DNA, as he was known to many of his friends and attached to it was a date of death. Wowsers!
My entire idea for this blog entry changed and I started to think about deadlines in a different way. None of us knows the date of our personal life “deadline” but as my mother is known to say: “No one gets out alive, make the most of today.” I think that is good advice and maybe I’ll take it to heart.
Till next time…Jack
“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.” ~Rita Mae Brown
Could “A Simple Twist” Enhance Your Company’s Results?
Jun 30th
“Things do not change; we change.” ~Henry David Thoreau
Questions. I love a good question. Good questions take my brain in new directions and put me into different and useful perspectives. Let me ask you a few questions today:
- How is your company doing this year? Is it doing all that you want or need?
- When was the last time that you evaluated how you and your company perform critical tasks?
- When was the last time that you brought in an outside (not already part of your company culture) trainer or consultant?
- Did you know that there is a very strong correlation between you and your company’s commitment to ongoing training (especially outside training) and the ultimate success of your company?
I asked you these questions today to “prime you” for a testimonial. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage earlier this year with an outstanding trainer and consultant: Tim Murray of “A Simple Twist”. Tim immediately grabbed the attention of the audience, entertained the heck out of them, gave them some memorable new ideas and left them energized. He can breathe new life into material that you already need your employees to learn and he comes already equipped with a great breadth of timely and critical trainings that it would serve you and your employees very well indeed to see. If your budget permits, do yourself and your future a favor, and have a conversation with Tim about what he can do for you. More >
Memorial Day in Iowa 2008
Jun 18th
“All we have of freedom, all we use or know – This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.” ~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899
The next batch of articles will all be about my time in Des Moines, Iowa. As many of you know, my original intention for the summer of 2008 was to travel the world with my family. The health of my mother and sister, both living in Des Moines, made it prudent for me to go to Iowa for awhile. ( Since I have lived virtually my entire life so far avoiding or neglecting all things ‘prudent’, I decided, for variety, to go to Iowa. ) My younger daughter and wife were left with the task of world travel. You can read about their adventures on my wife’s blog. My adventures will be chronicled here.
My father is buried in Iowa. When I lived out of state, I made a point of visiting his grave-site whenever I was in town and tidying up the area. Since he is buried next to his parents and one of his sisters and her husband, I would also tidy up their areas. I happened to be in town for Memorial Day this time and made a point of visiting on that day. The pictures that follow are of the American flags on display, the watchtower that my father is buried near and the Masonic part of the cemetery. My Swedish grandfather and my father were both involved with the Masons, a requirement to be buried in this part of the cemetery. ( For fans of the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, I don’t think either of them knew the location of the Holy Grail, but they died before I could ask them. )
I never served in the United States Military. My father did. He fought in World War II in what was then called the Army Air Force and survived horrible times fighting for a cause that he believed in. He would never talk about the war, unless really pressed, and none of his three children really know a great deal about his time there. He did instill in me a great respect for the many men that served and died in the military and I have that respect still. To the armed forces of the United States, living and dead, thank you!
I miss my father still. He died in 1985, after a short, but valiantly fought, battle with cancer. He was a vibrant, intelligent and charismatic man. I hope he would be proud of some of the things I have done – I like to think he would.
Till next time,
From the flood and mosquito capital of the world – Des Moines,
Jack
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” ~Joseph Campbell
Getting Leverage on Yourself to Achieve
Jun 3rd
“How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I’m committed to?” ~Anthony Robbins
Yesterday, I made a public commitment that I would have my first book for sale, in at least 2 formats, by 5pm Central Time on Wednesday September 17th, 2008. Why did I make that commitment here on this blog? I did it to get leverage on myself.
For me, and for most people that I know, it is easy to break promises that are made just to ourselves. When the promise is made to someone else however, someone that I like and respect, I feel terrible if I don’t fulfill that promise. Since I know this, if I am having an issue getting something done, then it is time to make a public commitment. This is exactly what I did on this blog yesterday and I can feel the power of this working already.
This is negative motivation and it is very powerful. I do most of my work, with myself and with others, from a place of positive motivation. There are times however, and this is one of them for me, when I also need the away from “push” of a strong negative motivator. I don’t want to feel the bad feelings that would be there for me should I not achieve my public goal; so I know I will take the actions that I have been putting off.
This power of the commitment to someone else, someone that you like and respect, is one of the reasons that coaching can be so effective. A good coach will be asking you to make well-planned and achievable commitments each and every time you work with them. What is well-planned and achievable? That is another conversation.
Till next time…Jack
“Nothing interferes with my concentration. You could put on an orgy in my office and I wouldn’t look up. Well, maybe once.” ~Isaac Asimov
A Deadline and a Public Commitment
Jun 2nd
“I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.” ~Author Unknown
I have been trying to write a book, actually a number of books, for nearly 3 years now. Some are nearly done, others are ready to present to publishers – title, 3 chapters or so, concept and market research; still none of them are done! Time to change that.
The reasons for completing the first book are compelling. The excuses for why the first book is not yet published are seeming trivial now. So here is my commitment: By 5pm, Central Time Zone, Wednesday September 17th, my first book will be for sale – in at least 2 versions – in at least a physical paper version and a downloadable version. That is my commitment to myself, my readers, my family and friends and my clients.
What will the book be about? I haven’t decided which one to bring out first. I will make that decision soon and you can read about it here.
Till next time…Jack
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.” ~G.B. Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, 1893