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.

It’s graduation time and I my first graduation speech last week.  My professional speaker buddy Beth Terry sent a link to a great clip on failure (one of the points I discussed in my speech). Watch the video of famous people who failed here (President Grant, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney, Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison)

The headline in today’s Life Style section of USA Today is Randy Pausch’s Life, ’Lecture’ goes from Web to book. If you read NOTHING else today, read that article. It’s an update on Randy Pausch for whom I posted in my Living Rich blog last fall. The Carnegie Mellon professor, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, has just released a new book. His book is now on the top of my reading list as is the ABC News Last Lecture special airing tomorrow night. In my series of writing about people who are passionate about their work and life, this man takes the prize. No one else will even come close for a long time. His attitude toward death is astounding. He simply is unbelievable. Make time to watch tomorrow night at 10 pm and let me know your thoughts. Randy is the epitimy of someone who lives RICH. He is the poster child for the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

 Some of his quotes:

” People will show you their good side.”

” I have never found anger to make a situation better.”

When asked if he is made about dying and leaving his wife and three kids he responded with:

“I can curl up in ball and cry or I can sew a net.”

His interview is “most see TV”.

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.

What you have no doubt already gathered if you are a regular on this blog, is that this blog is not about making more money or people who have great financial richness. It’s about being RICH ( I will write about the difference in being rich and being RICH in a future blog). Know this for now: my definition of RICH is not how the world defines it. It’s not about investments, or how to retire early or anything like you see in on the cover of Money, Fortune, or Forbes magazine. The realty is, as you no doubt have already heard, he (or she) who dies with the most money, still dies. When I die, I hope to be darn near broke. I hope to give away a lot of money and have a lot of fun while doing it. I hope to have visited every continent on the globe, to have had RICH conversations in remote areas of the world including some with indigenous people who haven’t experience the “RICH” experiences I haven’t had. I hope to have left a legacy of love, adventure and caring to my five children. I hope that the love I feel for my wife will be ten times stronger than it was the beautiful June day we were married at the oldest church in St. Augustine, FL in 1992. I hope that I will have richer and deeper relationship with God and that at the end, someone will say, “WOW, that guy sure was RICH!”

Of course, I hope the same for you. But I know none of that will happen for you the reader or me the writer without being intentional about it. Without creating the picture of the kind of RICHness that you want and then working at it tirelessly, Living RICH won’t happen. I am convinced that you have to create it in your mind first. So what does it mean to really be RICH vs. rich, to be wealthy beyond measure, to live like there’s no tomorrow?

Care to chime in on the conversation? I’d love to hear what you think. I’ll tell you what I think (if you don’t already know!)

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 am writing this post from the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. I am awaiting the arrival of the famous Peabody ducks. As you MAY know, every day the ducks come down the elevator from the top floor penthouse where they live to swim in the lobby fountain for the day. When I arrived on Tuesday, I was sitting near where I am sitting now listening to the piano player play a variety of Broadway show tunes, Christmas Carols and classical music. As I looked around at the ornate and festive surroundings, I reflected on a conversation I had with the rental car shuttle bus driver (June) who took me to pick up my car. On the way to the lot she asked me where I was staying. I told her and quoted the ridiculously low price I was paying for a Four Star/Four Diamond Hotel. She responded with “that is more than I make in a day.” Wow! She truly thought I was wealthy…if she only knew howI defined “rich” and how “rich” I really am. Further conversation revealed that June was born in Memphis and that she had never been to the Peabody. Never stepped inside one of the south’s most historic and celebrated hotels. I couldn’t believe it.

My travels have take me to Memphis many times and I have had the pleasure of staying at the Peabody both here and in Orlando several times. I have also seen, or stayed in many historic and luxury hotels including; The Breakers in Palm Beach, The Phoenician in Scottsdale, The Homestead in Virginia, several Ritz Carlton Hotels, The Four Seasons Palm Beach, The Biltmore Miami and Asheville, The Grand Hotel on Macinac Island, The Warwick Hotel in New York and many others. I have also worked for the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, a beautiful ocean front Five Diamond property. These experiences have helped me experience thifestyle of the rich and famous without being either.

I am truly a shorts and flip flop or jeans and sweat shirt kind of a guy. I can be just as happy staying at a motel on the beach with sandy floors or at a mountain cabin that might have the aroma of years of visitors. BUT the place I stay that brings me the most comfort and love is the one I will stay in tonight (my home with my family). But it’s fun every now and again to stay at or visit an ornate hotel (particularly an older one).

So as result of meeting June (an African American woman in her late 50’s), I am going on a date in January. June and I have exchanged phone numbers so when I come back to Memphis, I am going to ask her to put on her Sunday best and meet her at the Peabody for dessert and coffee. We’ll watch the ducks march out of the lobby fountain and raise a glass, as they make their way to the elevator to the top floor of the hotel. Those rich, spoiled, overfed ducks…

It’s been awhile since I’ve read the book, but I had a day like Alexander recently. Most of it was small stuff (except hearing of another possible divorce…this one is for the couple my wife and I have most enjoyed doing couples things with).But when a bunch of small stuff adds up, it becomes big stuff. So Alexander, I feel your pain! On terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, I am glad for emails like the one I received from Pat Tyler of VHA for whom I just spoke. You rock Pat! Thanks for making the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day end just fine.

Dear Tim:

Thank you very much for your outstanding presentation at our Fall Conference! I have had many e-mails from participants thanking us for inviting you to be on the program and for sharing your many talents and gifts! You brought laughter, tears and inspiration to the participants at the conference.

Thank you for being you and for sharing your richness with others. You helped make the conference a great success! You touched the health care professionals in a very special way, bringing hope, new vision and fulfillment in all they do.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family. It is a time to reflect on all God’s many blessings. I feel blessed with a wonderful family, health, achievements and good friends. I want you to know that you were in my Thanksgiving prayers this holiday weekend. I am very thankful to God for enriching my life with special people like you. Thank you for your friendship and for caring!

With heartfelt thanks and appreciation,

Pat

I received the email below from my professional speaker colleague Barbara Glanz . Barbara wrote the book the Simple Truths of Service with Ken Blanchard about Johnny the Bagger. Barbara seems to find great inspirational stories where ever she go including this from her pastor in a recent sermon (I have pasted her email exactly as she sent it:)

My pastor told a story this Sunday that really touched my heart. He said he
was traveling on Delta from Atlanta to Sarasota, and although usually he is
in the very back of the plane, this time his boarding pass said zone one.
Being one of the first people on the plane, he got to do some wonderful
people watching as others were coming on board.

He was in the third row of coach, when soon a young man in uniform came in,
stowed his pack in the overhead bin, and sat in the row ahead of him. Another young lady was seated in that row, and he was able to hear a bit of their conversation. The young man told her that he had just finished a tour in Iraq, was coming home on leave, and then would go back in several weeks.

As they were talking, a woman who had been seated in first class, came back
to the young man’s row, introduced herself, and asked him for his boarding
pass. A bit puzzled, he handed it to her, at which point she, in turn,
handed hers to him. She said, “I would like to trade seats with you.”

The young man immediately responded, “Oh, no, Ma’am, I couldn’t do that.”

She smiled a huge smile and said, “Oh, yes, you can, Soldier. It’s an
order!”

So, as everyone around wiped teary eyes, the young man reached up for his
backpack and went up to sit in first class.

Just a few moments later, he said another woman came out of first class,
went down the row to another young soldier and said, “I just want to thank
you for serving our country. Would you please trade seats with me?”

And the end of the story is that by the time that plane took off, EVERY
SINGLE PERSON IN UNIFORM was sitting in first class!

What a testimony this is to the difference each of us can make every single
day in every single situation when we are in touch with our hearts! That
one act started a chain of kindness that touched every single life on that
plane that day.

How can YOU reach out to someone today to thank them for the difference they
are making?

Blessings,

Barbara

The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have
sought and found how to serve. Albert Schweitzer

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

When I receive emails like this one, it is confirmation that people are ready for a new message of richness:

I spoke to you briefly after your recent presentation at the NECA convention in San Francisco. I was glad to hear of your organization and your stories about all the people who have done so much for so many. I can relate first hand what a wonderful experience it is to volunteer your time and talents to help someone who is less fortunate.

Our church, Sonrise, in Rotterdam, NY, learned about an organization called YUGO in Mexico. They needed volunteers to rebuild a local church in a poverty stricken village in Mexico, south of Tijuana. The pastor there could not afford to rebuild, and the people had no money. The old church had been torn down because it was unsafe. Our church sent a team of adults and teenagers to YUGO, which provided facilities to set up tents so we had a “home base” to operate from. Every morning our build crew, which I was a part of, drove in a van over twisting dirt roads through the worst poverty I have ever witnessed to reach the church site in the village. We spent a week there rebuilding their church, and the people started coming back even before we were done. They held a bible study one night in the main structure once we had four walls and a roof, they were so excited. The pastor was very pleased and appreciative of the work we had done. You could see his mood improving every day as the work was completed. While we were building the church, the teen groups were out visiting the nearby orphanage, playing with the kids and just showing them love and attention. My son was there, and the stories he told me brought tears to my eyes, to know they made such a difference in those kids’ lives, just by being there. He had the time of his life being there, and I know he will do it again, I was so proud of him. I make a good salary at my job, and I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country, and abroad. I never considered myself rich, but I never felt so good or had a better time than when I volunteered my time and energy to help those people who could not help themselves. I can’t wait to do it all again someplace else, our pastor said we may be sending a team to Africa next year, I’m already saving my money, I will be there, and I will encourage my friends to go as well.

God bless you and your organization for sharing your stories and motivating people to serve others, to “Love their Neighbor as they Love Themselves”.

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 am almost finished reading a book called The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. If I am able to implement what I am reading, October will be a much difference month than September. I probably worked 15 days in a row in some form or fashion and for many more hours that either my wife or I would have liked. I must confess I haven’t been working smart and on more than one occasion I have lamented that I should have been doing things like playing with or reading books to my kids, spending quality time with my wife, having devotional and quiet time, or exercising. I set a goal (and a blog) to exercise every day for one year and until last week, my X-plan wasn’t going as well as I had hoped. Though last week, I achieve a goal of doing seven different types of exercise in seven days. But I digress. 

Ferriss synthesized things for me that weren’t new but the context in which he structured it has caused me to re-think some things. I am making a note to post in one month with the results - results that IF I follow through on, will make my work and life more rich. I’d like to do more of what I talk about in my Living Rich speech and give away my time and talents. It will take awhile to get to the 4-Hour Week but I’m planning on working more efficiently and I think my family, my clients and I will all benefit. Plus implementing some new procedures and new thinking will create time for the things that matter most.

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

During a recent routine annual physical, my doctor noticed some swelling in my stomach. That led to x-rays, a sonogram, and then last Friday a HIDA scan. It looks like a pretty good possiblity that I will be selling my gall blader on ebay.

When doctors start having to look carefully in places inside your body, one can’t help but wonder. I am NOT a worrier but the earlier findings did cause me a moment to pause and ponder my mortality (you can imagine my wife thought about it a little too). It’s reassuring that my doctor isn’t worried, so I’m not. If even it was something serious and I was looking at a shorter life than planned, I really have no regrets. Life has been good. I have experienced lots of love, laughter, and living and thankfully the gall blander just doesn’t seem to really be necessary.

I like to think that IF I were looking a the end of life (and I’m NOT!), I’d handle it with the grace, dignity, and humor of Carnigie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch who has cancer is only expected to live a few months. He gave his last lecture last week. It’s worth more than a quick watch. It’s worth a lifetime semester. His ”last lecture” was delivered without the sad tone one might expect. In fact, Pausch is quite funny and totally gets what this blog is all about…Living Rich. He values what is important and has lived a live with passion, meaning, and purpose.

Both Wall Street Journal and ABC news covered it. There are two versions below:

1) WSJ version - about five minutes 

2) ABC News Version - about 18 minutes

What would you say if you were giving your last lecture?

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