Why is it we play one upmanship with our busyness? Today coming out of an early morning meeting, I asked someone how they were doing to which they replied, “I’m crazy busy.” Of course, I immediately responded with something like “I’m insanely crazy busy” as if I had to play the game with him. I stopped dead in my tracks as I realized I was caught in what my professional speaker buddy Victoria LaBalme refers to as the “Crazy Busy Nuts” syndrome (take time to watch the video clip - it’s hilarious).

As the father of five young children, an author, full-time, professional speaker, foundation president, avid outdoor lover, daily exerciser, etc., etc, etc., I think I could compete with most people in the busy department. As I think about it, I am not really very proud of that and who cares whether my friend was busier than I or I was busier than he. Does it really matter? What should matter is who has the most free time. The people who should be bragging are the ones who manage their time so well they have lots of discretionary time. I aspire to be like Timothy Ferriss author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller The Four Hour Work Week. Why don’t we brag about how much free time we have, how much time we spend with our family or on a favorite hobby?  What is it about life that makes us want to be (or portray to be) the busiest person we know?

The next time someone tries to play the crazy busy game with me, I think I will respond with “I’m totally caught up.” Then I’ll look at my watch and say, “Forgive me, I have nothing to do now and nowhere to be and I need to get there before nothing else comes up. Gotta run.” Then I’ll saunter (or maybe I’ll skip) away slowly…very slowly.

…well not really. My birthday was June 6th (D-Day if you are a history buff). However, I have several friends who have a birthday today. One friend is president of his own company and makes my wife and me laugh about as much as anyone we know. We were at his house to bring in Y2K admist rations and supplies he is still using. He was a hoot that night interviewing a group of friends ala Jay Leno until 4:00 am (we were waiting for something BIG to happen - we were all disappointed!)

Another friend whose birthday is today now who works for Starbucks. He was a high school buddy at Spruce Creek High School who got me into a lot of trouble. He made me do all kinds of things I NEVER would have done without his influence (like walking our biology cadavers to our Math Analysis class, trying to sneak into Disney World on Valentines weekend and Grad night - we were caught both times and really got into a heep of trouble, and mooning an activities bus returning to school after a field trip. Our girlfriends were on that bus along with my very loud and obnoxious English teacher). He too created a lot of humor but most it wasn’t very funny then and is less funny now.

My best friend’s birthday is today too. He LOVED to laugh and would almost gag he would laugh so hard (particularly He was a great audience but also a funnyWe had way too short of a life as he died ten years ago this year of melanoma. I call his parents and widow every year on this date. I try to tell them a story of something he did that made me laugh. Fortunately there were a lot of those times.

Some people don’t like having birthdays. They think getting older is a bad thing. I say laugh and remember something fun from your childhood or make someone else laugh on your birthday. What do you have to lose?

Now that I am another year older (and wiser of course), I have some observations about living a RICH life. If you have been a reader of this blog, you probably know that when I write about rich I mean money driven and when I write about RICH I mean purpose-driven.

Last Friday, June 6th was my birthday and now that I am as old as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, I am thinking I should have run for president! Actually, I am probably too dumb to offer much and too smart to want to put my family through what a politicial family experiences.  However, if Barack can talk about things for which he may not fully be knowledgeable, I am going to take that risk When I reach John McCain’s age, I may have the life knowledge but perhaps I won’t have the memory!  So here goes my stroke of insight pondered on my birthday (but NOT in my birthday clothes):

1. Listen. Thursday my wife and I flew to Daytona Beach, FL for the funneral of a 48 year YOUNG man. He was exuberant, intelligent, witty, a brillant musician, a talented dentist and a doting father of two young girls - an infant and a 2 1/2 year old.  Somehow in the midst of everything he had going for him, he felt he had nothing going for him. He took his life one week ago today. As I heard the words spoken about him at his memorial service, saw over 1000 people in attendance, and spoke with his many friends at the reception, I realized that there were probably some people, who IF they had reached out in love and with a listening and helpful ear, his death MAY not of occurred.  Listening to my best friend talk about it recently, I am convinced that listening is the key to many things, including healing.  Listen more. 

2. Go out on a limb.  Friday, I gave a speech to the Vermont Independent Insurance Agents. During the speech, I had an idea of something that would fit perfectly into my Living Rich speech. It was a concept I hadn’t intergrated into the speech before. It was a bit of a risk. I played the ”do it or not” tape in my brain a few times as I was speaking.  I choose “do it” and am glad I did. It worked and added value to a point I was trying to make.  Don’t let a potential fall keep you from going somewhere you haven’t been.

3. Travel the road less traveled.  Traveling to the Basin Habor Club where I gave my speech, the driver took the back roads. We could have traveled via interstate and made our trip a bit quicker.  Had we done that, we would have missed out on a tour through rural Vermont. We would have also missed  hearing some history about this great state.  Today on a bike ride in the rural area surrounding this beautiful place, I saw some incredible scenes and even met a few locals. The road less traveled was paved for me. How about you?

4. Live like you’re dying. Yesterday I met a retired physican. He is 57 years old and has esophageal cancer (which isn’t a cancer you want to have if you have to have cancer). I met Bob and his wife in the healthclub here at the Basin Harbor Club. He exercises everyday and lives an active life.  He bikes, kayaks, explores lakes, rivers and oceans by boat. Over a five year period, he and his wife canoed over 8000 miles across North America. He’s recently taken up golf.  He told me that he wasn’t afraid of death but he wasn’t going to let statistics ruin the life he had left to live. Today is the best someday to start living, particularly IF you feel like you aren’t living now.  

5. Breathe. That’s one reason I am here. To soak in the beautiful mountains and lakes of Vermont. I know there are three things that fuel me: 1) Time with my wife without our kids 2) Tim Time - taking time alone to renew, revitalize, and recreate and 3) Breathing - slowing down and smelling the roses. There’s a sign here at the resort that says “Slow Down and relax”. Nuff said. I’m off for a walk around the lake and back to my cabin on Lake Champlain. 

Note: This post title was inspired by a coment posted by a reader on my post about the Last Lecture.  He recommended I find out about Jill Bolte Taylor and her book My Stroke of Insight. Sounds like a good read. 

 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.

Breathing is something most people take for granted. I am taking a class called Outdoor Emergency Care where I learned some new things about breathing and how an area of the brain stem, controls breathing. I think breathing is something we need to focus on more. The very process of breathing both clears our mind and opens us up to new and better thinking. So today I write about things related to breathing - after all, we can’t be RICH if we can’t breath in air and breath in life. 

- Tuesday was National Organize Your Home Office Day (NOYHOD). I read about it on professional organizer and National Speakers Association colleague Barbara Hemphills blog. Barbara provided 15 useful tips including - my favorite, take a deep breath – and smile! Good advice. A good, well-timed breath makes me smile.

- Just for fun, I Googled breathing and found out that there was a song called breathing by a group named Yellowcard. Hmm!

- Professional speaker colleague Jeff Davidson paraphrased some dealing with stress tips from best selling author and business speaker Harvey McKay on his Breathing Space blog 

- I received a package in the mail this week from a great friend, New York City based comedian and professional speaker Victoria LaBalme. In the package, she sent Victoria Lip Balm. Clever! I met Victoria with some speaker friends at Catch a Rising Star in New York ten years ago. She is indeed a rising star. When I first saw her perform, she imitated Marcel Marceau for whom she took acting lessons. I can see her now imitating him as he told her, “breathe”. 

- Some people have trouble breathing . Lance Mackey is a throat cancer survivor who won his second Iditarod this week. It’s people like Lance that make me appreciate how something I do subconsciously is so under appreciated. Take a deep inhale and appreciate that you haven’t had to go through what Lance has.

- Just yesterday, I read in the New York Times that the Environmental Agency tightened smog standards - hopefully we’ll all breath easier.

- My wife just came and hugged my neck as I wrote. Her gentle touch and scent made me appreciate the best breathe of all… breath on.

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.

I love it when “chance” meetings happen. Last week, my son and I were walking on the World’s Most Famous Beach (or as I called it in high school - the World’s Most Vagrant Beach) and I “accidentally ” bumped into a wonderful family from Israel. While the mothers English wasn’t perfect, we could easily communicate. Her daughters and their friend spoke excellent English and I greatly enjoyed our brief encounter. They were on vacation and of course I played tour guide giving them several suggestions of places to go and things to see that were unknown to them. As we were talking, a dolphin surfaced in the ocean. My son built a sandcastle at the oceans edge and the sun came out from hiding to add light to the darkness.

A few days before, my son had made a comment which I hadn’t thought about until I started writing this. He told me that he had been watching me on some recent outings and he noticed that I could just start talking to anyone. He further observed that soon this person and I would be communicating by email. I hadn’t noticed he was watching. It was a reminder to me of how important my actions are and how I have little eyes (five sets of eyes) observing, mimicking, and learning from my every move, whether positive or negative. Fortunately this was one of those rare positive moments which I was able to use to make a point about personality differences and strengths. I talked to him about making connections and how in life it’s not what you know but who you know. I talked about keeping a Rolodex of contacts and how to use those contacts. I told my son I was a connector - a person who could help bring people together. (BTW, a great book on the subject is Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point”). We have had some great conversations on this trip that I will remember forever - all because of a “chance” meeting.

Today was an AWESOME day. I slept like a baby with the windows open and woke up to a quiet cabin in Pomona Park, FL. I slipped out the door and was soon joined by my son on the dock. We watched the morning unfold and listened to the sounds of night become more and more faint until they left with the dark sky. Then the fun started. The Master Craft ski boat roared to life and I watched with pride as my son learned to ski.  As much as I had wanted to be the one to teach him, it didn’t happen after many attempts in the summer of 2007. Just because you can do something with a certain level of competence doesn’t necessarily mean you have the skills (or patience) to be a great instructor. It seemed fitting though that the same person who taught me to ski many years ago also taught my son. Later as we drove away from the lake, we talked about how cool it would be if he also taught my son’s son. Though my daughter didn’t learn as I had hoped, she is now more motivated and wants to learn when the water is warmer (we have “booked” both older kids in the Bill Walter Water Ski Camp for two sessions in 2008!)We spent the day on the lake, eating breakfast and lunch outside. My heart pined for my native Florida as we rode in the boat and even jumped in the lake without wetsuits. After a picture perfect day, we drove to Daytona Beach, my old high school stomping grounds. The most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen stretched from the north end of Daytona to the south. We met my best friend Roger at his parents house and enjoyed a fabulous dinner. My 11 year old cast a line out on the dock, behind Rogers parents home, and caught the biggest fish he’s ever caught. I caught up with Rogers parents as Roger helped my son fish. I heard Rogers parents talk about the day they met (Friday the 13th in 1947). They told of their first date. They also described dancing all night while the band at Chicago’s Glass Slipper tried to play a music for which they didn’t know a dance. We sat outside and watched the night sky until what seemed like forever. Then I relented on my decade ban on Krispy Kreme doughnuts and ate right by the HOT sign with my kids thinking ‘”dad has lost it and we LOVE it!”. Now it’s lights out and I feel a sugar induced coma coming on!  

Today (this was written for yesterday) was RICH:

- A beautiful sunrise

- A walk in the woods with my son

- Ginger granola and walnut cereal

- Synchronized swimming meet

- An awesome non-salesy new car salesman(yes it’s possible)

- A zap nap

- Visit with an elderly neighbor

- Sushi

- Good friends

- Laughter

- A great deal at Office Depot on clearance

- Reconciliation

- Rain

- Sleep

(A Sunday addition: John Rutter music)

BTW, I have been looking for a place to put that roll of important paper with the gold seal that I borrowed from the Peabody Hotel. I thought I would put it at my church (and I couldn’t break into the complex system). I tried over at Maryville College and they had locks on them. Then I thought, where can I put it that would be most likely to be unexpected (the gas station and it didn’t work their either)…has anyone trying stalling?

The coming attractions posts below are still coming but may be booted because of Mr. Mom week! For her birthday, I gave my wife a week off  child care. I am taking over everything, baby and it’s going to be scary fun. All the homeschooling for the three older ones, childcare for the younger two. All meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. All diaper changing, baths, everything that I can do except the ONE thing God didn’t equip me for… nursing. Hey, I’d give it a try but I fear it would be frustrating for everyone! My plan is to blog about it but IF you don’t see it this week, it will be the same reason my wife checks her email every other month (We haven’t a clue how other H.S. moms can be so timely with email, know the news, look good in public, be on time, be involved, know the gossip happenings, and have a good hair day) - I am thinking they are sneaking more than ten items through the express checkout* or cheating on their taxes.

* There IS a name for this. First correct answer wins a donation to any charity on the World’s Biggest Blog Party.

(Still) Coming attractions (future blogs I am pondering/writing in my mind):All I want for Christmas is a few good books

Meet me in Memphis - Everything I needed to know in life I learned from the Memphis VA hospital

Rendevouz How “chance” meetings changed me.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and that’s not necessarily a good thing).

A professional speaker friend emailed and asked for some ideas to help businesses keep focused during the holidaze. She is being interviewed by the Atlanta Constitution Journal and asked me for my input. Here’s the email I sent her (warts and all)Here’s what I am doing to keep focused on work:

1. Working on creating a vision for 2008 (I’m working on a plan to have a 4 Hour Work week starting 4^th Q in 08 – it’s very ambitious but attainable IF I develop a good plan and work the plan. That is helping keep  big goals on the big picture.
2. Revising, updating, and planning for 2008 (revisiting goals, refining my company positioning statement, working on printing new materials, creative communications - thank you cards, birthday cards, etc.)
3. Working on tech kinks and getting all office equipment working at it’s highest level to maximize efficiency (I think before Christmas is a great time to get more tech support as most consumers are busy for the holidays) If we are using tech more efficiently, it helps increase productivity and will result in less stress when there is down time.
4. Take time to appreciate my 2007 customers. I don’t usually send out x-mas cards. Instead, I  call and give a tailored genuine thank you either via voice mail or preferably live. Not only is it very different than what most companies send out, it’s also A LOT less stressful and is very focusing as well. IF you set it up right, customers will both tell you what you do well and give you suggestions for improvement (to any one local - Merry Christmas! That’s my card. Hey I am not being callous, I LOVE Christmas but I refuse to get worked up this year. I am spending time focusing on why we celebrate and enjoy moments with those I love and cherish. 
5. Give time and money away.  As trite as it sounds, it is the reason for the season. My family and my company are actively seeking ways to give back to make our community a better place to live. I believe giving employees PAID time to give, improves productivity, decrease absenteeism, and improves morale – all which affect focus, in my view.

 In the news: 

“Today is National Ginger Bread House day. Let me know if you had a party”.

There’s been a ban on “sagging” in Atlanta public schools. In case you don’t have or know a teenager, sagging is wearing your pants so low that you show your ….let’s just say it’s easier to moon someone today than when I was in high school. My personal motto: ”Keep crack out of schools”.

I watched the early news this am (which I rarely do) and you’ll see why. Apparently, a little boy named Trey, age 6, killed a black bear this week. According to the report, he is related to Daniel Boone. As you can imagine, the males in his family are ecstatic. His grandpa was asked by the TV reporter, “How did you feel when you heard the news?” To which grand pappy said, “Tears rolled down my cheeks.” If  you live in East, TN, please do something news worthy and call WBIR or WATE…quickly before some five year old girl shoots a buck to make “me maw” or grand pappy proud.

The local Angel Tree organization needs clothes, shoes, and toys (GI Joe with Kung Fu grip type stuff) as they are short $7000 in donations. Drop off to West Town Mall or send donations to:

I never thought walking would be an exercise for me. I have been at it every day for one month and I have not only liked it, I’ve loved it. It has caused me to think and be more observant than when I fly by on my mountain bike, which was my preferred form of exercise until surgery to have my gall bladder removed.

Today, as I often do, I walked through the Maryville College woods. I noticed trees I had passed by dozens of times, perhaps more than a hundred. I really studied them. I looked at a tall pine backdropped by the blue sky. I saw a knotty maple with withering leaves. I saw a tree with a scar. A scar caused by a fatal impact of a careless young man with his life ahead of him. A tree that wishes it had never been in the way of a speeding automobile. A tree surrounded by flowers and words written by people equally as young, forever changed by a loss. I read the notes left by friends and looked at the flowers wishing they had never been bought. I walked alone and said a prayer for the grieving friends and family of a young man who, only days before, had walked tall in his life.

Note: I don’t often “steal” things. Today I was a thief. I stole this post from my other blog.  That blog is what I call my X-blog - my plan to exercise every day for one year. Jan 1st will be six months of intentional exercise every day (yes even the day on, and day after my surgery).

On or near January 1st, I’ll be encouraging people to join me like my friend Laurie who has her own X-blog and is active again after a hiatus. Link to the X-blog and read Laurie’s posts. She is on a quest to loose 75 pounds by next summer.

Things I have THOUGHT about blogging about this week and likely still will:

- Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Grahams’ daughter) who I heard speak yesterday, but it required some thinking which I will do over the weekend.

- Attitude: I experienced a great story today involving two people who lost jobs with the same organizations, but had two VERY different responses. I’ll write that one later too.

- Marriage: Tomorrow  is my wife’s birthday and on her day I’ll likely write about being married to her. She’s an incredible wife and she deserves every bit of the special day and surprise evening I have planned.

- Maryville High School football (recently ranked in the top ten of teams in a USA “Today” poll). Last week I went to my first game after four and a half years living here. They are an amazing team who have won several state high school championships in the last seven or eight years. I am hooked. Wanted to go tonight but alas, I had a party to plan. Please come if you are local.

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. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com

I happened to catch the end of NPR this am, and heard that yesterday (like every November 21st), was World Hello Day. The object is to say hello to ten people during the day. To me, it just seems like a natural thing to do, but as I looked around on World Hello Day I realized that most people just aren’t interested in saying hello. We are all interested in what is going on with us, where we are going, how much time we have, and what we are eating for Thanksgiving.  SO…doing my job as a proud support of World Hello Day, I am saying Hi. Pass it on…with a smile. It will make your day and another persons as well. By the way, the message is for world leaders to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts. This event started in 1973 in response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel. Perhaps George Bush and a few other world leaders might want to practice saying Hello World!

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. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com