Your steps

Writer's note: Today...my "little girl" graduates from college. This post is dedicated to her.



I remember the first steps you took when you were just a babe.
Exploring. You were alive. They were tiny steps but you went so far.
So careful, so trusting, so new.


I remember the first steps you took when you chose to run.
You had a goal, a dream to chase. They were bigger steps, but not large.
So focused, so determined, so you.

I remember the first steps you took when you danced to a song..
They were synchronized steps, but not planned.
So delicate, so beautiful, so blue.

I remember the first steps you took when you started to learn.
Yearning. Growing. Knowing. They were scary steps, but good.
So brave, so noble, so do.

I remember the first steps you took in the fields of play.
Not winning, not a care.. They were awkward steps, but forward.
So striving, so reaching, so few.

Today, you reach and take another step. There will be more. I promise.
Some good, bad. Some small, not all.
Some with promise and some nay. Some to move to and some fro.
But, the one thing to count on,
I will take these steps too as I have for all of the past.
To catch the tears and share the laughs.
To open your doors and to close your wounds.
I will be there too.

With every step,
I look back and forward and can’t help but smile with pride.

Every step you wish can be yours.
I am so proud of you.

Are you Painting in Color or B&W

Writer's note; Huge movie buff...so every once in awhile I am going to reference movies or lines from movies that I feel have made or continue to make a difference.

Writer's note #2; You ever read or hear something where you just say...WOW...that really speaks to me...I wish I would've created that.

Think about this...

We all paint our own surroundings so use the brightest, boldest, biggest colors you can find. Fill the canvas. Make it scream and yell.

That's what this is all about...

What really counts?

OK...I am going to sound like a scrooge on this but really am not...

At this time of year...we hear this phrase a lot; "It's the thought that counts."

WRONG!

It's NOT the thought that counts.

Let me repeat it if you didn't catch that.

It's NOT the thought that counts.

It's the DO that counts.

We have a lot of people who have great intentions and thoughts...but not a lot of people who put those thoughts into action.

"I'd like to do this but..."

"We could accomplish this but..."

The next time you have the thought...make it real.

Give it life. Get it done.

The more things change...

We talk more and more about how technology is changing the way we live our lives.

I disagree.




When you really look at it...technology changes how we do things in our lives...not why we do things.

We used to call people on the phone or write them letters so we can stay connected.

We now text, poke, post, tweet, update...so we can stay connected.

We used to read to be entertained, informed and educated.

Now we not only read...but we contribute so we can be entertained, informed and educated and entertain, inform and educate.

We used to build relationships with our neighbors so we can grow our trust network.

We now build relationships with our communities...so we can grow our trust network.

We used to go door to door before we buy something so we don't make a bad purchase.

We now go site to site before we buy something...so we don't make a bad purchase.

Tradition and technology.

It's not reinventing the wheel...it's just replacing a spoke.

That kid has some talent...

Our start up company is in full swing right now...and so far the results are outstanding! The human puzzle pieces have fit together perfectly.



I was sitting down talking with one of my key people on the team last week and I was talking about the individual talents that we have assembled. The collective heads, hearts and souls of the team are incredibly impressive. It's one of those cases where the sum of the individuals is equal to the sum of the whole.

Do you have someone in your organization who is really good at collecting talent and putting the pieces of the human puzzle together? If you do...you are already half way there to success. If you don't...find someone quickly who can.

Collect talent. Always. Everywhere. It can't be looked at as a hobby or part time thing...it's a passion and it has be a full time focus.

Look at the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. Their General Manager Ted Thompson did a masterful job of collecting talent. He took a lot of heat on some of his decisions but he stayed the course with his plan to collect talent...and look at the end result.

What's the measurement of success for you? Whatever it is...it starts with your talent collection. Envision the goal...and then find the people who can achieve it. Everything else...will take care of itself.

Have it...eat it...do it up man!

Time to debunk a myth...

You not only can have your cake and eat it too...but you should try and make 14 cakes and eat all of them.

I am serious...

OK...it's human nature to want to eat the cake we make. We should enjoy our creations to the fullest.

If we are passionate about something...then eat it up.

Go for it!

Now...granted...you might not get the opportunity to do it all but you should shoot for that.

Make it...eat it. Make more...eat them as well. Don't go away hungry.

Do it all folks. Trust me...you will regret it if you don't try.

Now...whether or not you deserve to get the opportunity to eat it??? Ahhh...there is the question. Only you can answer that one.

For the rest of us...

Dig in!

Koi Therapy

A while back...I talked about a watering hole in the Cayman Islands called Calico Jack's.




Time to pull up a barstool and pop a squat so I can share another little diamond in the rough...or as I say...top shelf amidst a sea of rail.





The Atomic Koi Cocktail Lounge. The name invites questions...but the bar gives answers. It is Atomic...and serene all at once.
Cocktails? Over 100. Lounge? You bet.

On the website, it's billed as an “Asian Infused Retro Lounge." I just bill it as the place to chill.

It's Winston Wolf. It solves problems.

It's Frank Sinatra. It does it it's own way.

It's Charlie Mackenzie. It is poetry in a glass with a slice of a jazz infused beat underneath.

It's Roger Miller, Elvis, the Fonz and Samuel L Jackson all wrapped up in a tumbler of cool.

It's underground but above water.

It's the four minute offense in football. Just running out the clock baby.

It's the milk mustache...it does a body good.

Doctors. Lawyers. Accountants. Consultants. All be damned.
They've got nothing on the bartenders at the Koi.

Relax. Sip. Take it all in.

Lost something...find it again at the Koi.