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.

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Fantasy vs. Reality.

Misc May 15, 2013 • Comments

I have a board on Pinterest titled “Writing Spaces.” (You should follow it.)

It’s full of photos of amazing cabins, vistas that stretch for miles, and perfect places to write a book.

It’s fun to think that I’ll write there. Maybe you have a similar fantasy. As you work on a dream, you imagine pursuing it in some fun, creative setting.

But the reality is, I write in the space in the photo below more than just about anywhere else. That’s inside an arena somewhere. I’ve found a chair to sit in as I wait to go speak at an event.

It’s not sexy.

It’s not romantic.

It’s not how I might have dreamt it.

But it’s the space I have to work with, so work I will.

I don’t know what your dream is, but I know you have to hustle on it wherever you are.

Don’t wait for a snowy cabin in the woods to start working.

Just start.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jon on Pinterest

The importance of perception.

Misc May 13, 2013 • Comments

Does how you perceive things matter?

Does your view of the situations in your life make a difference?

Does your filter change things?

It does.

And I’ll let tennis legend John McEnroe sum up his career and the critical importance of perception in one quote.

Tennis

Nicholas Sparks doesn’t want you to quit your day job.

Misc May 10, 2013 • Comments

Sometimes people hate my book Quitter.

Why?

Because the first chapter doesn’t tell them what they want to hear. They expect a book titled Quitter to be full of dreamy, rainbowy fluff about how you should “just go for it” or “step out in faith.” Instead, they find a first chapter titled “Don’t quit your day job.”

That’s a bit of a bummer, but it’s the best way. Ask Nicholas Sparks.

Regardless of what you think about his romance novels, there is no questioning his unbelievable success. He has sold tens of millions of books in the last ten years. But did he quit when he got his first deal?

I’ll let him tell you via a Vanity Fair interview:

Reporter:
I have never heard of an unknown author getting paid a million dollars. What was the first thing you did?

Nicholas Sparks:
I was immediately struck by disbelief. It felt like I had won the lottery, but at the same time I didn’t even know if people would buy the book, so I didn’t quit my job for another year.

Let’s recap for a quick second. Nicholas Sparks got a million dollar advance. Instead of assuming the whole planet would buy his book, he kept his day job. For a whole year.

I love it.

May we all have the patience of Nicholas Sparks and be deliberate about the cliffs we jump off on the road to chasing our dreams.

Slow down.

Misc May 8, 2013 • Comments

I saw the product below recently and it made me laugh.

Why?

Because how fast is our culture getting? One second? Really? Is that now a product benefit? Something has to win your attention by promising you only 1 second per usage.

But I get it. Life is full right now. Life is busy right now. That’s why people have phone conversations in the bathroom. Unless you’re a heart surgeon inexplicably performing surgery via phone, you can hang up for 60 seconds. Do you know how many people have died because I don’t talk on the phone in the bathroom? None.

Slow down.

The best things in life take time, and when we don’t give it to them, they just become OK things.

 

Source: Uploaded by user via Jon on Pinterest

A brilliant way to respond to insults.

Misc May 6, 2013 • Comments

A few years ago, I read an interview with a musician whose name escapes me.

During the interview, the journalist said something surprising. He said:

“I have to confess. I’m not at all familiar with your music.”

This is a subtle insult.

Why?

Because when journalists interview musicians, they research them. They listen to their music. They listen to a lot of their music. They prepare.

This journalist didn’t, though, and instead deliberately brought up that point.

How did the musician respond? Was he insulted or angry?

Nope.

He simply said, “Well, that’s quite all right. I probably haven’t read many of your articles, but this is the beauty of our business.”

That insult didn’t even have a second to land on his shoulder. He brushed it aside before it could touch down.

Let the little insults go. They tend to cause big damage if we hold on to them too tightly.

#StartBook Tour Update

Start May 3, 2013 • Comments

This is Jon’s friend, Grant, checking in once again from the road on the #StartBook Tour.  Since I last updated you about a week ago, the tour has made stops in Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampa, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. Today we’re in Houston doing some media hits, the live #StartBook Tour Q&A and a book signing later today at Mardel.

One of my favorite things about this tour has been the broad range of events where Jon has spoken. In Nashville he spoke at Kairos, a young adult worship service. In Atlanta he spoke to several thousand Kids and Youth ministry pastors, leaders and volunteers at the Orange Conference. The next day in Tampa he spoke at an event sponsored by the Center for Non-Profit Leadership that brought together leaders and influencers from the city’s non-profit and for-profit sectors. Last Saturday and Sunday he spoke at 4 services across 2 campuses at Central Christian Church in Phoenix. Monday it was a private event for the sales team, executives and clients of a radio organization in San Antonio. Tuesday was a sold-out Start Night event in Austin. Wednesday was a leadership break-out with Rachel Cruze at Catalyst and Thursday was a main stage talk at Catalyst. It’s been incredible to see him connect with such a wide array of audiences in so many different settings.

Undoubtedly one of the many highlights of the tour happened while we were at dinner Wednesday night before the Dallas book signing and got the news that START had debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Sellers list! Minutes later, Jon was walking into Barnes & Noble and doing his first book signing as a New York Times Best-Selling author. Pretty awesome!

To celebrate the success of the launch of START and the New York Times debut, Dave Ramsey made arrangements to fly in to Dallas a day early, bringing Jon’s family from Nashville, to surprise and congratulate him following his main stage talk at Catalyst. And that’s exactly what happened.

image

It was such a great moment and was a shining example of how much Dave believes in and supports Jon and his message.  Dave also announced that everyone at Catalyst Dallas was receiving a free copy of START immediately following the session.

After today’s stop in Houston, the tour has 2 more stops; Albany, Georgia this Sunday the 5th and the Los Angeles area on Monday the 6th. You can get more details on those dates here.

Jon will be sharing more about the whole book release and tour experience in the coming days, but I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to share a bit with you from my perspective on the road with him. It’s been an amazing experience! I’ve had a blast being part of this adventure with Jon, supporting, encouraging and working alongside him as his dream became a reality and I can’t wait to start hearing stories from people whose life trajectory has been impacted by START!

 

Does design matter?

Misc May 3, 2013 • Comments

On the left is Scrabble for the Blackberry.

On the right is Scrabble for the iPhone.

Which would you play?

Design

Start Book Tour Live Q&A

Start May 1, 2013 • Comments

I’ll be doing a live online video chat right here this Friday, May 3! We’ve been out on the #StartBook Tour for nearly 2 weeks now, having all kinds of adventures and meeting some incredible people all over the country. I’m excited to do this live chat to talk about my new book START, the tour and answer as many of your questions as I can in an hour!

The chat will take place Friday from 11am-12pm CDT right on this page.

*UPDATE: The live #StartBook Q&A was awesome! Thanks to everybody who watched and submitted questions! We’ll have to do that again soon. If you missed it, you can watch the full video below!