On Father’s Day I was taking my children to play at a water park. In route, I was listening to the radio when a Michael Jackson song played. I listened briefly as I remembered an event from high school where the song was played. The event (and even the song) brought back happy memories. Though not really a Michael Jackson fan, I must admit the man could crank out the tunes and could shame any winner of Dancing with the Stars. He no doubt created many memories for those who loved his music and attempted to mimic his dance moves. 

When I heard the news of his death today, I was saddened - saddened for what his life had become and how it could have turned out differently. His greatest contributions were helping to pave the way for the celebrity philanthropic movement with his “We Are the World” and “Heal the World” hits. “We Are the World” reportedly raised over $60 million for children in Africa. Reading about his death, was a sad reminder of what could have been. I wonder what more Michael Jackson could have done had he focused more on using his talents to make a difference. What a bigger and greater legacy he could have created had he lived another 50 more years. Fifty is too young to die for the King of Pop, or for that matter, for a pauper who was helped by his incredible talent. He will be greatly missed.

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

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I’m not a golf fan but I am a sports fan and I am a BIG fan of people who fight against all the odds and succeed. DJ Greggory is one of those people and an inspiration to both able bodied and physically challenged athletes. He’s one of my new hero’s too. Born with Cerebral Palsy, his parents were told he would never walk. Yet walk he did - 900 miles in one year and he did it because he was passionate about golf. I think passion and determination are two of the most enduring qualities for success in life. DJ has both in big doses. Watch this clip entitled Walk On maybe it will inspire you to do something that you might have never imagined. Walk on…

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

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Having just celebrated a birthday, I have been thinking about milestones. Though it wasn’t a milestone birthday, for some reason this birthday got me thinking - thinking about getting older, thinking about the past, and just generally contemplating the stage of life I am in.  It seems the mirror isn’t as kind as it used to be. I see things in the mirror that I didn’t see in recent years. Until recently, I thought of myself as “young and hip” (though I am quite sure that the true young and hip wouldn’t think of me as either young or hip!).  In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I began to wonder about milestones and thinking a little about the aging process than I usually do.

To celebrate my birthday (and to prove my youth and hip-ness), I went camping and mountain biking with my son. After a few rainy days, I was excited to get on the trails when the sun broke through late Friday afternoon. In my haste to get biking, we took off on the longest trail possible. For some reason, I had thought the ride we were taking was the shortest and I had told my son that.  At every half mile, there was a mile marker indicating the distance we had ridden. After a few rigorous uphill sections, he began asking me to let him know when we got to a mile marker. The further we rode, the more frequently he asked about the mile markers. Finally, I told him that he would enjoy the ride so much more if he worried less about the mile markers. I think that is true about life too.  I think I’ll stop thinking about milestones and start enjoying the journey more.

I am amazed when I read about the things kids do today. Yes there are some bad kids who are way worse than kids were when I was young but the good kids are SO much better. Zach Bonner is one of the good kids.  At age 11, Zach is walking from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo (actually Atlanta to Washington, DC) to raise money for homeless kids. He started his Little Red Wagon Foundation in 2005 and has raised nearly $50,000 in two previous walks (see the story of Zach Bonner in yesterday’s USA TODAY). What is amazing about Zach and the many kids like him who care, is the many ways they are giving back. I know when I was that age, I was more concerned with making my classmates laugh, trying to pull a prank on my teachers without getting caught, and other things equally as unimpressive.

Last week, when I was speaking in South Dakota, I had an epiphany. I was speaking to an audience member who told me she had moved from Southern California because of all the crime, drugs, and shootings. We talked about how to change things and her response troubled both of us (She told me she decided it was easier to move than to get involved). Our conversation lingered in my brain until I had the idea of developing a Kids that Care presentation. In it, I will talk to kids about other kids who are making a difference. My hope is that I can inspire another young “Zack Bonner” by telling his story. So, I’m looking for some kids that care and a school where I can talk about them …

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

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- The black rich soil in the Dakotas

- Farmers who live here and farm this land

- Great meeting planners like the one I worked with today

- The workers who made our Interstate system 

- Back roads that meander through rural America

- Towns like Henry, SD population 68

- The encouragement of a great audience after a poor night of sleep

-  Clients who bring me back to speak two years in a row

- a WONDERFUL wife who holds down the fort while I travel

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

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I am not sure where I would be today if it weren’t for mothers. There are many women who played a role and are playing a role in my life. I’m so grateful for them all:

For my Mother -  who gave birth to me, raised me, taught me right from wrong, showed me God’s love, who helped me launch my career when, in 8th grade, I had to memorize a speech for which I was petrified (little did she know then that she also helped plant the seed for my career  as a professional speaker). I’ll forever be indebted to you, mom. 

For my grandmothers for whom I still think of fondly. They were as different as night and day and I so appreciated the contrast. My mothers mother was quiet but caring. She made blackberry cobbler every time I came to visit and she turned down the sheets on my bed - sheets that were crisp from drying in the sun. Love was the common ingredient in every meal she cooked. She was dependable, steady, predictable, cautious and despite what I thought when I was a young child, she was not only the meanest grandmother ever but the kindest. 

My fathers mother was rambunctious and outspoken. I can still hear her voice as she read to her grandchildren and great grandchildren. As an adult, I still loved to hear her to read. She loved to entertain with dialects and accents as she read classic old books and tales. She also loved to tell stories of her childhood. There was always something interesting to do at her house and she made sure to be in the thick of it. She modeling giving unlike anyone I have ever known and gave freely and regularly to many causes in her life. It was ingrained into her character and her generosity is still evident several years after her death.  

My best friends mother who took me under her wing for a year of my life when my parents moved before my senior year in high school. She made me eat vegees that I now love, laughed at my jokes, nursed me when I was sick and put up with my many teen allergies. She treated me like I was her own and asked questions when I didn’t want to give answers. 

My mother-in-law who raised my wife to be the loving and caring person she is and who loves me unconditionally despite my many faults. She never forgets a birthday or special occasion and makes me feel almost as comfortable in her home as I am in my own.

My wife who is my best friend, my confidant, my idea sounding board, and an incredible mother of our five children. She is witty, loving, caring, and is modeling so many positive character to young minds who watch her daily. She has a long memory of the good things I do and is quick to forget when I mess up. I hope my son is as fortunate as I when he finds his life long mate someday.

Thank-you mom. Thank you mothers. I love you all. Happy Mother’s Day!

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

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Recently one of my girls asked me if I were rich. I told her that I was very RICH - I have an incredible wife and five wonderful children, I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, I am fortunate to have traveled extensively, and I am blessed to do something I love - professional speaking. What could make one more RICH?

Though the activity level was at a peak this weekend, the experiences contributed to the wealth I feel. I had a relatively “local” speaking engagement for which I took my eight year old daughter. She just loved the hotel, the swimming pools, and the food. She asked me if my client had the cookout the evening before my speech because she was there! She couldn’t have been more pleasant and we had a ball together.  We drove back into town for her upcoming dance recital practice and then I was off to my son’s soccer game with another daughter in tow. Last night, my son and I attended a campfire outing in which he was “tapped” into Order of the Arrow, a leadership honor for which he was elected by his peers. I couldn’t be more proud of him and loved sharing in the experience. The tapping occurred at dusk on a peninsula on a lake and started with two canoes arriving on shore with six older boys dressed in Indian costumes. It was very cool to watch and reminded me of my own Order of the Arrow experience when I was a scout.

The weekend concluded tonight with my younger girls playing “daddy’s playground” - which basically means they climb all over me like playground equipment. If they hugged me any more, I might have bruises.

While I might someday have more money, I’ll never be as RICH as I feel right now.

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

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Last weekend, I attended the 12^th annual Rayz Awareness Melanoma 5K run in memory of my best friend, Bill Walter. Bill was an incredible guy who lived more in a life cut short by cancer than many do who live twice as long as Bill did. To date, the Bill Walter III Melanoma Research Foundation has raised almost $500,000 and helped provide education awareness about the dangers of overexposure to the sun and provide financial assistance to those who can’t afford treatments. 

While I hate hearing stories of people suffering, I am inspired by young people who, like my buddy Bill, decide that they are going to make a difference while fighting with everything they have.

Today, I saw a Tweet on Twitter from professional speaker colleague Gina Schrek about a young man named Nathan White who , at age 15, is fighting cancer. While fighting he is also trying to make a difference and help others. Impressive – a teenager thinking about others while dealing with a life threatening cancer.  Check out his blog and follow his story on Twitter.

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

Twitter with Tim or get LinkedIn

Tonight my wife and I went to hear Fox News show host and best selling author  Dave Ramsey speak at the University of Tennessee. He gave five points to creating wealth which he admitted were simple. Yet most people don’t do these things. I thought it was good advice, particularly the last point. 

1. Act Your Wage (live on less than you make).

2. Get out of debt, stay out of debt.

3. Budget (before the month begins and stick to it).

4. Learn to save.

- create an emergency fund equal to 3-6 months of your living expenses

- pay cash (on average people spend 18% less when they use cash)

- invest to build wealth (he suggested mutual funds that include growth funds, aggressive growth, international, and cash)

5. Give. 

He said that giving was the most fun part of creating wealth. To be able to help someone else was what really made him rich. I couldn’t agree more.

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

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Today I spoke for the New York Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. I shared this story with them given to me after speaking to a group of administrators at the American Health Care Association.  

I was in training at the beginning of my career. At the facility where I worked, there was a woman in a wheel chair that only stared. The staff said she hadn’t spoken since she became a resident several years before. This lady, Mary, who hadn’t spoken in years became my project. I was determined to get her to talk as there was no documented medical reason for her not to verbally communicate. Every time I saw her, I would get down on one knee and talk to her while patting her hand and smiling at her. After months of trying and without getting a response, I began to treat her the way the rest of the staff did which was to treat her like she wasn’t there.  Then I went to work for another facility and totally forgot about Mary and my goal.  After six months, I returned to my original position. As I stepped off the elevator onto the floor to greet the staff, Mary was there sitting in her wheel chair looking at me. I walked over and patted her hand and started to walk on by. Very unexpectedly, she reached for my arm. “Where the hell have you been?” she asked. I was speechless and floored with emotion. The staff went crazy. After that day, we couldn’t her to stop talking. She had very foul language but we welcomed her communication. She died seven months later. But she died back in touch with her family, the staff, and with me.

When you think you aren’t making a difference, don’t give up. That experience was a defining moment in my career. 

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

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