Today I was in Virginia Beach, VA for taping of the CBN show Living the Life. The segment I was on will air on September 19th and it’s about discovering REAL Richness and the Richest People in America. It was a very cool experience which enabled me to see the behind the scenes look at how a show is produced. I was treated like royalty starting and ending with Humberto who picked me up at the airport and took me back. Humberto is a security officer with CBN who aspires to be an actor. He lived in New York City but after 9/11, he became very depressed and almost ended his life. At 3:00 am after a night of heavy drinking several years ago, he walked by a downtown church, a place where he didn’t feel at home. The church looked like a theatre which was a place he felt at home. He decided he would go there the next Sunday which ultimately turned his life around. Later, he moved to Virginia Beach and began a new life where he LOVES his work and serves the people he meets as part of his job and the homeless people there with great passion. 

The lady who did my hair, yes I had a makeup artist and hair dresser (there are a few pictures of that but to see them, people like my friend and former journalist Rick Laney would have to pay ALOT of money). My hair dresser had a story too. Somehow it came up during our short time together that today was both the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina as well as the anniversary of her son’s death. He was a commercial diver who was killed off the coast of New Orleans. Later that day, she had planned to commemorate that occasion with family and friends. She was a beautiful woman both inside and out and looking at her and the joy she radiated, I would never of thought she had a worry in the world.

It was somehow at bit twisted that while sitting in a dressing room, with a gown on and a hair net, I heard the announcement that McKain’s VP candiate was Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Here I was surrounded by cheering ladies supporting someone who could make history as the first woman to be elected Vice President of the United States. The evening before I had watched Barack Obama make history when he accepted the Democratic nomination on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Needless to say it was an interesting week and one that made me glad that I was living the life in these historic and interesting times.

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, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

As a young boy, I remember my grandmother always had a “Christmas in July” Bazaar. She would take a few small tables and place them outside the Hazelwood Pharmacy near her Waynesville, NC home or set up at a church rummage sale or potluck dinner where she would proudly display her “treasures”. They were simple things made from discarded items she had collected, things donated, or items she had “rescued” from the side of the road. She always seemed to be one step ahead of the garbage truck. As one of eleven children and a depression survivor, thriftiness and resourcefulness defined my grandmother. With her creativity, an empty spool became a Christmas decoration, milk caps were transformed into pieces on a checkerboard, and an empty dish soap container became a doll.

My grandmother weighed about 100 pounds and stood about 4′10″ tall, but she was as feisty as she was frugal. She would take an empty Tupperware to covered dish dinners to bring home “leftovers”. My grandpa would always tell her, “You are the only person that takes home more food from a church dinner than you bring”. Then he would add, “but I still love you” and he’d kiss her on the cheek. I can’t remember a time when after the blessing at a meal that he would not lean over and kiss her before they ate. He loved her, idiosyncrasies and all.

While Grandma was a little different and marched to the beat of a different drummer, she made her mark in the world. She’d write the President if she didn’t like something he was doing. She was proud of the many presidents who wrote her over the years. She gave away a lot of money and sponsored many families to the United States by paying for college, graduate school and even medical school and a PhD for some. She made thousands of school bags for an organization called Church World Service for children in developing countries. Grandma and her sewing group would work each week to fill semi-truck trailers which would ship their contributions all over the world. As recently as a few weeks before her death in 2003, my grandmother, though not speaking, was doing things for others. As I reflect back on it, she as much as any other single person, she may be responsible for my speaking focus “Living Rich: How to Get Rich by Giving”.

This month commemorates the 5^th anniversary of my grandmother’s death. Every day was like Christmas to grandma as she was always thinking of others and worked year round on gifts for those in need. A few years ago, I decided that Christmas time should be about spending time with family and focusing on doing things for others NOT burning the midnight oil just to mail out cards. Don’t get me wrong, I still like getting cards at Christmas, I have just decided for the short term, I am not going to send them (at least not in December) as I have done in the past.

So in memory of my grandmother and her annual summer Christmas celebration, I am offering my Christmas greeting (or Holiday if you’d like) early. Merry Christmas!

This post is for the great folks at First Premier Bank for whom I spoke yesterday and today. Thank you for the warm welcome you gave me and the ways you have demonstrated richness in your community.

- Give selflessly to causes you care about
- Have a vision to create change
- Use your work skills to make a difference
- Use adversity as an inspiration to create change
- Think I am the one person who can make a difference in the lives of others
- Pursue passion in EVERYTHING you do

Below are the names of some of the groups that I spoke about today:
- Dreams for Kids
- Free the Children
- Airline Ambassadors
- Food for the Poor
- Katrina Krewe
- The Bill Walter Melamona Foundation

Get plugged in. Make a difference today.

I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new book that should be in my mail box when I return home. The book is entitled The Power of Giving: How Giving Back Enriches us all.  Authors Azim & Harvey hope to raise over $500,000 to give to charity. it appears they are really walking their talk.

Speaking of giving, today I spoke for First Premier Bank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This company believes in the Power of Giving. As a company, First Premier donated over 28,000 hours of volunteerism in their company last year. They understand what this blog is about - getting rich is not about having, it’s about giving.

Michael Phelps, the decorated U.S. Olympic swimmer, could become the richest Olympian ever. He has shown competitiveness, hunger to win, humbleness and a great team spirit.  According to an article I read today USA Today by Christine Breenan, Phelps isn’t talking endorsements and going to Disney World, he is talking spending time with his mother, two sisters and friends.  Associated Press writer Paul Newberry writes that Phelps is the antithesis of Mark Spitz who was aloof and arogant according to team mates. Phelps is very popular with his team mates hanging out with them and serving as the unofficial ambassador for first-time Olympians. Somehow I bet that will carry over to the fortune that will likely be his when the endorsements start to roll in. 

Interesting, another AP National Writer Pauline Arrillaga wrote a thoughtful piece entitled Joys, burdens of being best face Phelps now. Arrillaga’s article put Phelps among some pretty good company including Sir Edmund Hillary, Chuck Yeager,  Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Bill Gates,   Stephen Hawking, Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong, Dr. Ben Carson, Barry Bonds, Pete Sampras, Carl Lewis and even fourteen year-old Sameer Mishra National Spelling Bee Champion.

I’m writing this post while at the Sheraton Hotel in Sioux Falls, SD. Believe it or not, a piece on Michael Phelps just aired on the CBS Evening news. Everyone stopped talking and tuned in to the segment. When it was over, conversations changed to Phelps and fellow U.S. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres. Phelps and Torres both have lots of richness that await them. We have all become richer with pride, astonishment, and admiration just watching them.

 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, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

When you look around at what life has dealt so many people, it’s difficult not to feel RICH. I just finished speaking to participants at the Melanoma Research Foundation volunteer training weekend in Chicago. I’ve met so many people who have been impacted by Melanoma. Some are living with it’s cloud around them daily. Some struggle with low energy due to medication and chemo; others are reminded each day of the waging war with visible scars from an aggressive cancer with no cure.  These people are my hero’s and they are making the lives of others more rich with their giving. In the last twenty-four hours, I have heard about golf tournaments, comedy nights, walks, runs, nights runs, raffles, musical events and other ways people touched by melanoma are raising money and awareness. It’s rekindled a desire I have to use a foundation I serve to make an even bigger difference.

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August is an important month on the calendar for many. It marks back to school for students. It signals the end of summer. The days are starting to get shorter and fall is creeping up on us. It also happens to be the 20th anniversary of starting my business full time and it marks the anniversary of the death of my grandmother Richardson who died five years ago this month. I’ve been thinking a lot about her and the legacy she left and I’ll be posting her story soon. I hope it will inspire you to think about the people in your life who have created a legacy and who made a difference to you.

I knew I would post about today being 08-08-08. A few years ago, my birthday fell on 06-06-06. While I don’t buy into numerology (it was a normal birthday without incident), I think it’s kind of cool, perhaps more than coincidental that today is considered a lucky day for the Chinese. According to a post I read this morning from my professional speaker friend Terry Brock, the Chinese consider the number 8 to be a number associated with prosperity and abundance. Of course today also marks the beginning of the Olympic Games. As you’ll read in Terry’s post, it’s also his fathers 80th birthday. Terry wrote a thoughtful post on his father who has Alzheimer’s. 

Earlier this week at my National Speakers Association convention, I heard author and Fast Company columnist Marshall Goldsmith speak. Interestingly much of his presentation was geared toward quality relationships. He told a touching story of how one of his children called him a promise he had made but didn’t keep. He challenged us all to reach out to those who make the biggest difference in our lives and ask the questions, “What can I do to be a better father, son, brother, friend, etc?”  In honor of my friend Terry, I am going to reach out today and do just that. I’d like to invite you to do the same. If we listen and act on the answer we are given, it could lead to gold medals that matter and more prosperity and abundance than you or I deserve.

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Book recommendation of the week: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshal Goldsmith.

Today is my Independence day. I wrote about it last year on this day. It’s the day I left the IBM Corporation in search of life as an entreprenuer. I LOVE being self employed. It’s made me have a RICH life (and if you have been reading this blog, you know what I mean by RICH). I love to hear from readers who have an independence day. What was your freeing moment? How did you break free? How do you celebrate? Right (and write) on…

I just returned from my NSA convention in New York (not National Security Administration, not National Safety Association but National Speakers Association meeting). Over the next few days, I’ll be posting about some of the speakers I heard while there and some of the other RICH experiences I had. It was fabulous being in New York. I LOVE the energy of that city and the addition of almost 2000 professional speakers with a theme of NSA Rocks made it even more energizing. At our opening, our members were encouraged to dress like rock stars and we had lots of rock music playing throughout the weekend - thus the title of this post adapted from the ACDC song Back in Black.

Our closing speaker today was Cathie Black, CEO of Hearst Publishing and author of the new book Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life). She had a great message but unfortunately for the audience (and for her), it was obvious that someone else wrote the speech which she practiced a few times then read it to us. Now she read very well and occasionally wandered from her script with supportive examples but her speech wasn’t nearly as effective as it could have been had she prepared a bit more and trusted her gut. She is a very powerful speaker who no doubt can move an audience. She has proven herself over and over again with many successes including leadership of USA Today and launching Oprah’s O magazine. I have little doubt she could have stood up in front of our membership and spoken extemporaneously with great success. Right out of the gate she broke one of her own rules from her book:

#1 Take risk that are calculated not crazy. It wouldn’t have been crazy in my view for her to  have taken risk with us. What did she have to lose? She wasn’t paid for her speech, we weren’t a group of executives evaluating her presentation and we weren’t shareholders, board members or a leading client. Taking a risk in presentation style or delivery would have underscored a valuable point and driven it home. She choose the safe route. Most do which is why few rise to the top. There’s certainly more dialogue that could occur here and I invite some discussion. Here are the rest of her points which I thought were excellent.

#2 The worst-case scenario is rarely as bad as you think

#3 Go two steps beyond what you are asked to do

#4 Know when to give up control

#5 Never stop learning

#6 Don’t personalize things that aren’t personal

#7 Make your boss look good