Get Out. Get Moving. Start.

Action always beats intention.

A dream you don’t have to fight for isn’t a dream—it’s a nap. One changes your afternoon. The other changes your world. Keep fighting.

How to be humble.

Leadership November 30, 2011 • Comments

Someone once told me that the secret to being humble is remembering that it’s not all about you.

“It’s” meaning the world, the day, the conversation at a coffee shop, the traffic jam you’re stuck in, etc.

My friend said that in order to really believe it’s not all about you, you have to believe that everyone is more interesting than you. The person who cleans your room at a hotel, the guy next to you in traffic, the businessman who sits next to you on a plane. Everyone.

I thought this was an impossible feat. And honestly, kind of dumb advice.

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30 seconds to a better resume.

Quitter November 28, 2011 • Comments

People often put their goal or objective on the top of their resume.

They write things like:

“My goal is to be a project manager in a fast growing company at which I can contribute my people skills and forward thinking approach to projects.”

I stopped doing that kind of thing a few years ago.

Why?

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Happy Day Before Thanksgiving!

Misc November 23, 2011 • Comments

Wait, that’s not a real holiday? It should be. So today it is.

I’ll be back on the scene, like James Brown on Monday, November 28. Until then, Happy Day Before Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Day After Thanksgiving.

Jon

 

Bill Cosby & the Songwriter.

Leadership/ Quitter November 21, 2011 • Comments

A few weeks ago, I saw Bill Cosby speak at a conference.

He was brilliant.

He did more with one story and twenty minutes than some speakers do with 1,000 stories and a 1,000 hours of stage time.

And, at the end of the speech, he dropped some knowledge about the secret of hustle that I haven’t been able to shake. Here’s what he said:

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How to fail on purpose.

Creativity/ Leadership/ Quitter November 18, 2011 • Comments

I recently had the chance to interview Nancy Duarte. She’s the New York Times best-selling author of two amazing books about storytelling, Slide:ology and Resonate. She also runs a design firm and helps massive clients like Pepsi, Cisco and Twitter tell their stories.

During the interview, she said something about failure and creativity that was really powerful.

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The secret word that changes the world.

Leadership/ Quitter November 16, 2011 • Comments

“I usually hate books like this, but I actually loved Quitter!”

This is my favorite feedback to receive about my book, because I feel the same way.

I usually hate books like this.

Books that talk about personal growth and chasing your dream and changing the world. Why don’t I like them? Because a lot of them are based on theory, not reality. There’s a whole lot of “what if,” but very little “what is.” They’re fluffy and dreamy and full of unicorn sunshine moments. But very few grind it out when no one is watching, when success doesn’t seem to be coming quickly enough.

And after reading dozens of them, I kind of got jaded.

I started to wonder if you could really change the world. I started to wonder if you could really change your own life and the lives of other people, or was it just hype pitched by people with vibrant skin and attractive teeth?

In 6 hours, I’ll leave to see the answer to my question for the first time.

How? By jumping on a plane to Vietnam.

Today at noon, my wife and I will fly from Nashville, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia. We’ll then fly across the planet to Seoul, Korea and, from there, we’ll land in Hanoi, Vietnam. We’ll get off the plane and onto an overnight train to the highlands area of North Vietnam. And, in two different villages, we’ll see the answer to the question, “Can you really change the world?”

In those two villages, we’ll see two kindergartens that built by the readers of my blog, Stuff Christians Like.

In 2009, on a random Monday in November, I dared them to change the world with me. I asked them to help me raise $30,000 to build a kindergarten in Vietnam. I embarked on that adventure because my 5-year-old daughter saw a photo of a starving child in a book and said, “That’s pretend, right? That’s not real, right?” And when she said that, I heard her saying, “You’re not OK with that are you dad? Do other people know there are kids starving? Are you doing anything to change the world dad?” I wasn’t at the time, and I decided I needed to. That’s when I found the secret word that can change the world.

Want to know what it is?

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1 table everyone needs.

Leadership/ Quitter November 14, 2011 • Comments

My friend Brewster and I invented a table.

I know what you’re thinking right now:

“Of course you did. I’ve seen your photo online. You’re burly and rugged and clearly know your way around a band saw.”

While I appreciate you noticing all of those things, it’s not that kind of table. It’s not made of wood. It has no legs and can only hold one thing, but I promise you it’s a table that everyone needs.

What is it?

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8 words from my 5 year old that changed social media forever.

Social Media November 11, 2011 • Comments

A few months ago, my 5-year-old daughter McRae put on a big backpack. The backpack was almost as tall as she is, and it was an adorable moment there in the kitchen.

I said, “McRae, stay for there for a second. I want to take a picture.” Without missing a beat, she said, “No.” I asked her why, and in the way that only kids can, she threw a grenade into the room:

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How to find a great waiter (and be a great blogger)

Blogging/ Leadership/ Quitter November 9, 2011 • Comments

I don’t like asking a waiter for a recommendation at a restaurant.

The reason is that waiters are often motivated to get rid of certain dishes. At the start of a shift, a restaurant manager will say, “We’ve got a ton of flounder that we need to move tonight. Push the pepper encrusted flounder dish.”

Then you sit down to eat and ask the waiter, “What’s your favorite thing here?” And he responds, “I love the pepper encrusted flounder.”

That’s not to say every waiter does that. A lot of honest ones are out there. But how do you find them? How do you sort through the ones who aren’t going to shoot you straight? How do you weed through the ones who have ulterior motives? Easy.

You ask them a simple question:

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Kill your excuses before they kill you.

Quitter November 7, 2011 • Comments

A few weeks ago, I sat next to two sisters in their 60s on a flight. They were flying back from a trip together. They instantly made me laugh by asking me, “Do you mind if we eat our breakfast?” at which point they pulled out massive barbecue sandwiches.

I told them it was 8 p.m. and most people wouldn’t have described barbecue as breakfast. They just smiled and said, “Oh honey,” as if I’d said the silliest thing. But as we started talking, they ended up asking me a really difficult question.

In the middle of the flight, after telling them what I did for a living, I gave them a copy of my book Quitter. They read the back cover and the description. Then, one of the sisters got deathly solemn and leaned over to me. Somewhere 30,000 feet above Dallas, she asked me this:

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