Dave Douglas is a new breed of entrepreneurs who wants to make a profit while making a difference. His business, Social Planet, is a global philanthropic network located in San Francisco, CA. They help companies that make a difference attract new customers. Social Planet feels that customers will want to support these businesses because of their social responsibility and fair trade policies.

I was impressed with Dave before I knew of Social Planet and now I am even more impressed. Dave has discovered the kind of RICH life that this book is all about. I met Dave a few years ago after a speech I gave in San Francisco. We connected for a few minutes after my speech and then shared a ride to the airport. We have stayed in touch via email, Facebook, Twitter, and phone calls.  In one of our many phone conversations, we have discussed Social Planet as well the project I am working on to find the REAL Richest People in America. Dave also kindly offered to review my book Living Rich in the early stages. A few weeks after he read it, I received an email from Dave that defined his RICH experience:

“I want to share something with you that made me realize how RICH my father was even though he was a pipe fitter working a blue-collar job in an oil refinery for 35 years. I’m not sharing this in hopes that you will put it in your book (you’re in Dave!), but more as an explanation of my personal “epiphany” of what it means to be RICH.

When I was 35 years old, my father passed away at the age of 71 on February 19th, 1995 after years of being ill. He lived with my mother in Tulsa, Oklahoma where my other three siblings lived.

With their blessing and excitement, I left home for a life of adventure when I was 18 and ended up living in California. I saw my family quite a bit, but in truth it was always a vacation - either they were visiting me in California or I was home for the holidays or some other event. It was great seeing everyone, but in truth I didn’t really know what went on in their day-to-day lives. I didn’t even know the friends that they had except for visiting their church when I would be back in Tulsa.

I kept a viewpoint of my father that I had had the last time I lived with him and saw his life up close and personal. I always respected him and was never ashamed of him. In fact, I wished I could be more like him. People always praised my father, but being a kid in high school I only could see us being “middle class” and not having the “big house” or “extravagant vacations”…my fondest memories now or my childhood are the very vacations that I thought were “second class” as a kid. We would spend TWO WEEKS camping at the lake fishing, swimming, boat rides, burgers, and campfires; God, how I miss that now.

I couldn’t believe how many people were there to pay their respects! The chapel in the funeral home and couldn’t hold everyone. People flowed out into the foyer and into the garden.

I was shocked to hear people that I didn’t know, people of serious wealth and influence in Tulsa, tell me how much they were going to miss “Pete”…(that was his nickname.) His legal name was Elza LeRoy Douglas. I can’t remember anyone calling him Elza except family members at our family reunions; and that was usually when they were giving him a hard time about something or other.

They would tell me about ways that he helped them at one time or another, they would tell me fishing stories, they would express how he touched their lives or supported them when they were down. I learned that my father was the president of the Tulsa Rockhound society. I learned how much he loved his small church and how devoted he was to its success. I found out that he still had friends from high school, even after 50 years. I met people that he worked with from 15 years earlier. There were so many people from so many walks of life and from so many levels of society that I literally had to take a moment and gather my emotions.

I realized that day that my father was one of the RICHEST people I have ever known and that he always taught me how to live my life…even in his death. I thought it would give you maybe a little inspiration to your writing to here that I’ve been trying to live RICH for about 13 years now and it took at least 5 years to get to the point of living RICH the way I wanted to. I basically retired from working for a living at 40 in 2000. For most of my working life, I pursued monetary riches. I was making nearly $500,000 per year, but it wasn’t until I saw what my father had accomplished through his life that I realized I was on the wrong track.

Dave is on track now. I know you’ll hear more about Dave and the great work he and a growing breed of social entrepreneurs are doing to change the world and make a living in the process.

“People have no idea how good they have it,” my cab driver said. I had asked him one question and somehow that turned into a sermon. I make it a point when I travel to engage my cab driver, shuttle bus driver or whoever I first encounter when I arrive at my destination. Inevitably, I get a quote, a useful tidbit, or insight into what is happening in the local area. Rarely do I get a speech, but I feel like I did today.

My driver’s name was Thierno Hamet Babb Ba and he was from the Islamic Republic of  Mauritania, a small country in West Africa.  He shared stories with me of hatred, prejudice and even slavery. What Thierno and his family and friends have experienced sure makes any troubles most of us complain about seem insignificant. If you have ever complained about not having enough money, driving a clunker, or not being able to afford having a bigger house, imagine living on $1.25 as 20% of Mauritania’s population does. To put that in perspective:

- A visit to  Starbucks would cost you about four day’s wages

- Admission to a movie would cost you eight day’s wages

- A $50 dinner out would cost you forty day’s wages

- A new I-pad would cost you 400 day’s wages

Most Americans and others living in democratic countries are so RICH by the world’s standards. Yet many of us complain about not having enough.  Thierno’s passion for his freedom was emphatic. It’s a privilege that is often overlooked. Freedom allows us both the opportunity to become rich monetarily, as well as in the way we live our lives.  Freedom allowed him to share openly with me about the RICH life he lives in the U.S. and to give me some advice to pass on to others.  I asked him what advice he would give others coming to the U.S. from other countries.

1. Anyone can make it.

2. Whatever you want to be, you can be or do.

3. Take every opportunity you get and make the most of it.

4. Work hard.

5. Don’t blame other people.

There are probably thousands of stories similar that cab drivers, lawn maintenance workers, hotel staff and others could share.  I would encourage you to engage someone in conversation at your next opportunity. You might just get an inspirational speech on living a RICH life.

I am writing this en route to Miami a few days before the Super Bowl. On the plane were a number of current and former NFL players, boxing great Evander Holyfield, and singer Usher. There was a lot of talent on that plane – people who were very good at one point before breaking through to greatness. Quite coincidentally, I had been thinking about the book From Good to Great by Jim Collins.  There’s no denying that many of the passengers had made that transformation. To be great in boxing, music or as an NFL player, takes more than being good, you have to be great. To play in the Super Bowl, an even higher level of greatness has to be achieved. As fate would have it, a former NFL player sat down in the seat next to me. In the course of our conversation, I learned that he played wide receiver for 15 years. He told me that his best years where his last few years before retirement. That made me curious as that is not always true for an athlete in their mid 30’s. He seemed interested in talking and I was interested in asking questions so I asked questions and he answered them. Below is part of our dialogue:

How do you go from Good to Great? It’s all about getting a chance to be great. I started my career with one team and I was labeled a C player. After a few years with that team, I was traded and with my new team I was given a chance to shine. My new teams belief in me and the chance I was given gave me confidence. When people believe in you and give you a chance, it boosts your confidence. Plus I knew that if I made a mistake they weren’t going to bench me. When people feel confident in you and your abilities you can achieve any greatness you desire. But someone has to give you that chance.

How does one obtain confidence? First you must work hard to learn your skill and be very good at it. Then you have to believe in yourself. Finally, you have to be prepared – mentally and physically when your chance comes.  You can’t be standing on the sidelines not paying attention. Sometimes getting a chance is like a fast ball that comes at you quickly. You can’t leave it to chance that you will be ready. You have to have done the hard work so you will be ready. Whether it’s business, sports, or life, you have to work on your skills, have the right attitude and not get down on yourself when you make a mistake.

Describe how your confidence and abilities changed in your career? In your early years you just try to make the team. Even if you just barely make the team, you are satisfied. When you are in your middle years, you have to be a starter. If you aren’t a starter by this point, it’s likely the team will get rid of you.  I tell everyone I was in the league five years before I became an ”every down player”. During those five years, I was watching and learning.

What advice would you give a rookie today? Watch the guys in front of you, particularly the ones that are successful. When I was a young player, I would watch how best players practiced. I would watch how they ran routes and how they prepared. I made it a point to take what they did and work to do it a little better. I believe if you do this, things will fall into place and you will achieve greatness.

 To what do you attribute to a long successful career? Three things:  Hard work, confidence, and attitude. It was during the last phase of my career that I had my best years.  As my skills began to diminish, I worked harder and played smarter. I kept my attitude in check and knew that because I had accomplished a great deal already, I could still get the job done. I think you achieve greatness when you are no longer in your prime and you can still get the job done at a high level.

Whether you are an asipring athlete, musician, artists, corporate manager or business owner, the journey of going from good to great starts today. Do something great today.

I ran across the blog post below written by Generation Why speaker Eric Chester. Chester and his company have recently released a powerful new training program called the A - Game.  It an entire training program geared toward helping young people become prepared for the workplace. I have following Chester’s career and he is the go to guy for Gen Why. Enjoy this post and if you employ Gen Why employees, you might want to check out his training program.

In 1860, a lithographer by the name of Milton Bradley introduced The Checkered Game of Life to the nation. His game took players on a journey from infancy to happy old age, earning points for qualities like perseverance, honesty, ambition, and industry. Players lost points for idleness, intemperance, gambling, and a number of other vices.

Bradley wasn’t focused on making money with his invention; he had a much larger vision. He wanted to exemplify and promote the values his game espoused. And he had the right environment in which to do it: the late 1800’s were a golden age when it came to formulating America’s unparalleled, unabashed, uncompromising work ethic.

The old world view of labor as a distasteful practice best avoided by the upper classes had been replaced by the spanking new notion that a man could earn his place in the upper class through determination, discipline, and self-sacrifice. Parents, schools, and churches stressed the value of hard work and taught children how to live a virtuous life. Bradley’s game struck a resounding chord by perpetuating these principles.

It was not a coincidence that one hundred years later in 1960, the U.S. was one of the two international super-powers. A century of applied work ethic had seen the nation grow incredibly, and with this growth Milton Bradley became a highly profitable toy manufacturer. A hundred years after its original release, their signature product The Checkered Game of Life had been updated to reflect the prevailing mindset of the baby boom generation and was rebranded as The Game of Life.

The object of this revised edition was no longer to accrue points, but to accrue money. The ultimate destination of Happy Old Age was replaced with the wealthy neighborhood of Tycoon Estates. Losers didn’t gamble themselves to ruin or wind up impoverished as a result of their intemperance; they simply moved onto The Poor Farm.

The great religious and moral charges of the sixties—like the civil rights movement and the fight against communism— centered on the way individuals viewed others rather than the way they viewed themselves. Schools focused time on developing social responsibility leaving parents in charge of developing work ethic and virtues. However, the emergence of the dual-wage earning family meant less face-time for accomplishing this task at home.

The next version released in the 70’s and 80’s brought three significant ‘something-for-nothing’ changes to Life. A new “Share The Wealth” card enabled players to either steal 50% of an opponent’s cash windfall, or force them to pay half of their personal tax burden. Additionally, players were now ‘entitled’ to receive cash presents from other players for ‘life events’ like getting married or having children. “Lucky Day” spaces were also added to the game board offering players lottery-like cash prizes just for landing on them, with the option to keep the cash or risk it on a roll-of-the-dice gamble to multiply it. This was a far cry from the original version in which gambling was punished, rather than encouraged.

Revamped again in 1991, Life began to reward players for community service activities like recycling and helping the homeless, and there have been additional modifications since then. While civic-minded activities are certainly admirable, what is totally absent from the 1991 revision of The Game of Life is any reward for honesty, hard work, perseverance, and ambition. But when teaching and reinforcing these kinds of values and virtues are no longer a priority in our homes and our schools, why should they be tenets in today’s version of Life?

If you want to test this, go survey your friends and co-workers who have kids under the age of 25 and ask them what they want for their children.  Seriously, try this. You’ll find out that the goals of Baby-Boomer/Gen X parents are to make certain their kids are safe, happy, healthy, and have a high self-esteem; not necessarily in that order.  Work ethic won’t be mentioned.

It is into this environment that Generation Y has been born and nurtured.

And is why Eric Chester developed the A Game. It’s highly worth checking out.

Last Friday, I spoke with a friend from Haiti who told me stories of surgeries happening without medicine, amputations being done with a hand saw, and people calling loved ones from under rubble to say goodbye. When tragedies happen like the recent earthquake in Haiti, it can be difficult to know how to help.  Sometimes we’re hindered by not knowing what to do or by thinking “what good will my small contribution make?”. Below are some cool ways people are thinking BIG to make Haiti help happen:

- Scott Harrison of Charity: Water is doing some cool things with social media like Facebook and Twitter. His office is also collecting supplies in Charity:Water’s New York office.

- In England, seven year old Charlie Simpson has raised over $240,000 (I think it was just $160,000 yesterday so he’s still on the move).

- Twitter’s Hope140 site give tips for using social media to help in Haiti

- Send A Nurse is helping to raise money to send nurses to Haiti

- Hope for Haiti Now is using the talents of pop music stars to raise money

- In my own profession, motivational speakers, keynote speakers, inspirational speakers and other business speakers are working on a February 1st event called Speak Out For Haiti. During this professional development day, all the speakers are donating their time along with members of an MPI (Meeting Professionals International) chapter to raise money.

Of course. there are the relief organizations and other charitable organizations like the American Red Cross, Habitat, UNICEF, Compassion, and many others that are making Haiti help happen too.  You can help too - even if it’s just by sharing the great stories you hear and forwarding cool links to others.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

Sitting to the left of my computer screen is a book entitled “The Greatest Salesman in the World” by Og Mandino. It was given to me as a graduation gift from Dr. Rob Tate, a professor at Florida Southern College where I earned my undergraduate degree. In the front of the book, Rob wrote the following:

Tim,

Please accept this book as a token of my appreciation for the friendship you have shown me. Thanks for providing a listening ear, a strong shoulder and an occasionally needed kick in the seat.  Maybe someday I can repay the favor.

He did…many times.

After I graduated college, I started working with IBM in a marketing branch office. It wasn’t a good job fit and over time I became less and less motivated about my career there. One day, after being put on a 60 day performance improvement plan, I picked up the book Rob had given me. I devoured it and read it exactly as Og suggested (reading the scrolls three times per day). I am convinced that the book not only helped me turn around a very difficult work situation, it also helped inspire me to start my career as a professional speaker.

Though I never actually had Rob as a professor, his simple gift had a profound affect on me and my life. Rob was a great and well liked teacher and influenced many young people including me. As you think about gifts this holiday season, think about giving something that will have impact and lasting influence and take time to thank people for both the tangible and intangible gifts you have been given.

Eleven years ago today, my best friend of 22 years passed away of melanoma after a noble fight. He was an incredible guy with a passion for living life fully. My last memory of him alive was spoon feeding him in his hospice hospital room. He couldn’t even lift his own hand and 32 tumors filled his brain. That’s the bad part.

There are good parts too:

- I had 22 years to know him, laugh with him, and get in all types of trouble with him.

- I was honored to serve as best man in his wedding and he in mine.

- We had many snow ski adventures together in Colorado.

- We taught each other lots of water skiing tricks and had many of sunset runs on glassy water  in a quiet cove (see my post playing catchup) .

-  I learned to see the good in bad situations. He was a constant reminder of that.

- I learned about being a good father, a good friend, and how faith heals (though sometimes not as we want).

- I’ve played a role in helping start a melanoma foundation in his memory. To date our foundation has raised almost $500,000. This money is used to help people who can’t afford treatment and to educate people on the danger of over exposure to the sun.

- His family and I have stayed in close contact and recognize both his death anniversary and birthday each year.

- I have had the great pleasure to share part of his story in my keynote speaking all across North America.

Maybe, just maybe, by telling his story, I have inspired someone to change something in their life or to connect in a deeper way with someone they love. I really hope so.

A few years before my grandfather’s death, I made a list of questions that I wanted to ask him - questions about his youth, his family, how he lived, his early career and marriage, and his experiences in World War II. On a visit one Christmas, I recorded hours of him talking about these things as I asked him questions. I loved listening to his stories particularly the ones that made him laugh.

Recently, when my parents were in town, we listened to one of the tapes I had made many years ago. We listened as grandpa Richardson talked about his experiences as a Navy chaplain. While there were many aspects of being a chaplain that he found interesting, there were mundane tasks as well. To liven up his day, he would sometimes go out on the PT boats near where he was stationed. One day, he was listening to a young sailor who had come to see him. The sailor lamented about how much he missed his girl back home. He went on and on as my grandfather checked his watch hoping the young man would finish before the boat left to search for enemy destroyers. As soon as the young sailor left, my grandfather ran down to the dock and watched as the PT boat left the dock. He had missed it by just a few moments. That boat never returned. He later learned that it hit a mine and all on board were killed.

I can’t imagine how my life would have been if my grandfather had been on that boat. I spent a lot of time with him growing up and he influenced me in many positive ways. Grandpa was a great joke and story teller and someone who loved his family dearly. He was one of the most amazing, humble, kind, and loving men I have ever known.

Today, I am particularly grateful for the many people who, like my grandfather, served or are serving our country. It’s always sad to hear the news of a soldier who sacrificed his life in defending freedom. So many will never make it to 90 years as my grandfather almost did. Thankfully, I have stories that I can listen to and pass on to future generations in my family. That’s what today is about … remembering and being grateful to people like my grandpa who made life for others better because they served.

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies. He is founder of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go towww.TimRichardson.com