I used to complain about the amount of time I spent on the sidelines of my children’s sports. Today I worry that those days are running out too quickly. And – a special think yo to a listener. ———– Randy Fowler came to my house Saturday morning with his daughter Julie. Randy was in Mobile from Tuscaloosa to see his grandson’s football game and wanted to meet me – his daughter, Julie, lives a few doors down. Randy listens to these Keepin’ It Real commentaries each Friday morning sitting in his car outside 5 Java in downtown Tuscaloosa and then… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2Sometimes when escaping the rat race you find yourself becoming a rat. ————- Air travel brings out something in people that, in normal life, stays hidden. It’s the combination of the expense, non-negotiable departure times, lots of uncertainty, and lots and lots of people packed into tight confines. Then add travel disruptions, crying babies, potentially rude airline staff and it escalates the tension. During air travel you see who people really are. And you may learn some unpleasant things about yourself. Years ago, I watched a father change his baby’s diaper while laying his baby across two tray tables during… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2A young man asked “My customers keep telling me I remind them of their children. What should I do?” ————- A young man approached Tuesday after my seminar in Orlando. “I’m twenty-four years old,” he said “and when I’m making sales calls, people say I remind them of their son. How am I supposed to take that?” he asked. He felt he wasn’t being taken seriously. He worried that he wasn’t doing a good job. And, he felt it was kind of an insulting to say. I remember being in his shoes. I launched into my career intending to kick… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2My friends and I attend an organ recital together each week. It’s not what you think… ——————- The pickle ball bug has bitten. A buddy put together a group of guys all about the same age to play each Wednesday evening not long ago. We all showed up, most of us knew each other, debated the rules for a while, and we got started. It’s now a regular thing. Each time we gather we shake hands, we catch up and bit, and each of us, whether we’re asked or not, goes through what’s called The Organ Recital. It’s a part… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2Lots of talk about “quiet quitters” with my clients these days. Here’s what I’m learning about them and about the companies who aren’t having any problems with them. ——————— Quiet quitting is all the talk with my corporate seminar clients these days. Many don’t understand it, nor do they understand why someone would do it. My clients could, of course, go through some extra effort to ask their employees about quiet quitting but most won’t because it’s too much work. Which is, ironically, what quiet quitting is all about – not willing to go the extra mile because of the… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2I had a seven hour delay home back from Dallas last week. While I waited, I finished the biography of Alabama-born biologist Edward Wilson and began applying Wilson’s research to the problems I was experiencing with the airline. ———————- Let’s talk about ants. Not females, like Aunt Martha. But bugs. Ants create complex colonies where every one of them exists to support the growth and safety of the colony. Ants can’t help it. It’s not their choice. They’re driven entirely by instinct. No ant finds food and considers keeping it for themselves. They turn and tell the colony and then… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2On this week’s Keepin’ It Real, Cam Marston tells us about the Three Poisons and the three good things taught to us by the Buddha. About 2500 years ago, the Buddha listed the three things that bring unhappiness. They’re referred to as The Poisons and these things, he essentially said, will put you into a pit that’s very hard to get out of. My take on it is this: any harm caused between humans comes from these three things. What are they? They’re Anger, Greed, and Ignorance. I can say, with confidence, that any harm I’ve done to others… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2On today’s commentary, I share a little bit of my family’s history and, maybe, a bit of my family’s future. —————————- My grandfather, George Allen wrote a weekly column in the Mobile Press Register from 1967 to 1975. He was chief of the Seafoods Division for the Alabama Conservation Department. He proposed the column after the many unsafe boating practices he witnessed. After about a year his columns meandered into personal stories and memories. The paper let him keep going. And even after moving to Atlanta, the Press-Register kept his columns, called Adventures with Old Cap. He died in 1979…. Read More
Categories: Libsyn2My wife and I have done this twice before and we can do it again. I think. ——————- A ballistic object is defined as something that behaves like a projectile. However, when you and I refer to a ballistic object we usually mean something that goes fast and when it hits something else it causes lots of damage. Ballistic missiles come to mind. A car can become a ballistic object. They can go fast and if it collides with something else the damage can be awful. And mature drivers know this, and self-preservation keeps their automobile ballistic object running safely… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2Some tactics used by masters of propaganda back in some dark times are still in use today and remain very effective. ———————— Leni Riefenstahl is known today for her savvy efforts at creating Nazi propaganda during World War II. She constructed images that deeply influenced the masses. And today, many organizations who are hoping to gain followers, whether they know it or not, copy her manipulative techniques. Big bold colored banners placed in highly visible places showing the symbols and emblems of their group. Pictures of frenzied crowds wildly cheering their leaders who stand waving, smiling, showing quiet confidence, their… Read More
Categories: Libsyn2