Michael D Walker

You’ve been reading about some of my Minnesota music connections and today will be another series of interesting connections involving the legendary Glen Campbell.

His latest recording is titled Ghost On The Canvas, which is also the first single to be released with an accompanying video.  There’s a lot of different emotions that come up for me while watching the video because I know it’s likely Glen Campbell’s last recording due to his being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  Simultaneously, I’m happy to hear Glen in such great form.  And to top it off there’s a few Minnesota music connections tied in here for me.

The song Ghost On The Canvas was written by Paul Westerberg, who was a key member of  The Replacements, an alternative rock band from back home in Minneapolis.  Paul recorded the song originally in 2009 for his PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys release.  Westerberg also contributes another song to this farewell of Glen Campbell’s with Any Trouble. By the way, that’s Paul Westerberg himself in the video sitting on the couch watching the Glen Campbell video on the television.

While I’ve never gotten to work with Paul Westerberg, my buddy Ken Chastain played bass for Paul on his Eventually tour.  Ken, by the way, is a multi-talented fellow who engineered an album I co-produced with my long time collaborator Mike Atwood at Metro Studios in Minneapolis back in 1993.

Another Minnesota music connection that comes into play on Ghost On The Canvas is some guitar work from Wendy Melvoin, who is one half of Wendy & Lisa, who first gained attention as part of Prince & The Revolution and were featured in the film Purple Rain but more recently have recorded music featured in the hit TV series Heroes.  I’ve yet to work with Wendy, but Wendy & Lisa’s debut album was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge.  I worked with Tom on the Crash Test Dummies’ Grammy nominated CD, God Shuffled His Feet.

Last but not least is Kii Arens, who was part of the Minneapolis rock band Flipp. Kii did the cover artwork for this Glen Campbell CD and also directed the Ghost On The Canvas video, which, in another Minnesota music connection, starts off with a very similar shot to that of the video for The Replacements song Bastards Of Youth.  No, I’ve never worked with Kii although he’s friends with Jody Hanks, who was the lead singer for The Metros—the first band I ever worked with and who you’ve been hearing about in all of my recent posts.

I know that’s quite a stretch of connections there, so let’s make this more interesting for everyone and just watch the Glen Campbell video of Ghost On The Canvas.  I think everyone involved did a great job, especially Kii Arens.

Hope you enjoy the song and the video!

Michael

P.S. I sent Kii a message telling him how much I loved the video.  He replied with a nice note as I was writing this post.  How cool is that?

Minnesota Music Memories II

The other day you read about my dear friend, Larry Stock, bass player for The Metro All-Stars. I hope you took time to watch the video of him singing “Love Has Made A Fool” which is one of my all-time favorite songs.

A few days before I wrote about Larry, I saw a post by another friend of mine, Dugan McNeill, who is also a bass player.  He also happens to be someone I first met back as a 16 year old kid when I worked with The Metros.

Dugan was in a rock band called Chameleon.  They were a more theatrical, hard rock band than The Metro All-Stars. There was some friendly competition between the bands and there were a few times we did some big outdoor concert festivals together. Now it’s not likely you ever heard of Chameleon unless you’re from the Midwest, especially the Chicago or Minneapolis area but you probably have heard of one of Dugan’s band members, a great keyboard player by the name of Yanni.

I think all of us knew Yanni was destined for greatness.  He was a phenomenal musician and an incredibly nice guy as well.  Incidentally, I saw Yanni in concert here in Vegas in September with his 14 piece ensemble of extraordinary international musicians, including another fellow from my Minnesota music days, drummer Charlie Adams.  Charlie was the drummer for Chameleon and has been performing with Yanni for over 30 years now.  So, it’s really a fun set of connections of cool, generous and kind people I’ve known a long time, all going back to our times together in Minnesota when we were all just scraping by.

So, the whole point of this rambling post was to actually show you what my buddy Dugan is up to these days.  His wife, Pamela McNeill, recorded an album last year and just released a video from it for her song Not Giving Up.  Pamela, just so you know, is a remarkable singer and songwriter, having written hit songs for Wynona Judd and Yanni.

I think you’ll like the message of this song.  Be sure to keep an eye out for the dark haired bass player in the video.  That’d be Dugan.  Good to see some old friends still making terrific music all these years later.

Hope you enjoy!

Michael

Life is always interesting to me.  Sometimes I find myself marveling at how it works in rather mysterious and intriguing ways.  Just this week someone posted a video on Facebook of the first band I ever worked with, The Metros (aka: The Metro All-Stars), featuring my dear friend Larry Stock, who passed away earlier this year on May 24th. This triggered a bunch of Minnesota music memories for me.

Note: Andy Bailey does about 1:45 intro to the song before Larry starts singing.

Larry was like the older brother I never had. He looked out for me when I was just 16 years old working in the bars and clubs doing sound with The Metros. He didn’t have to do it but he did.  Sometimes we played some bars and clubs that got a bit rowdy.  Every now and then someone might try to get me to try the harder drugs.  Larry seemed to have a special sense of when I needed help and would suddenly appear like a protective older brother.  He let me have my fun and learning experiences without ever telling me what I should or shouldn’t do.  He always made me feel like an equal, and for that I was grateful.

In fact, I was always grateful for Larry and the rest of the guys: Danny Mangold, Andy Bailey, Dusty Cox, Gene Wilhelmi, Andy Gauthier, and Jody Hanks, because really by all rights they should’ve never let me be a part of their band.  I never lied about my age to them.  But I got lucky.  I think they saw how passionate and knowledgeable I was about music.  They knew how much I loved their music and they saw how hard I was willing to work for little to no pay. This wasn’t some kid trying to go along for the ride.  I wanted to earn my spot, and I did.

Later I would try to re-pay them by playing their music on my radio show or lining up an interview for them on another show I was producing.  Danny still likes to tell the story of the night I brought Tiny Tim with me to see The Metros at a club.  Yes, the Tiny Tim of Tiptoe Through The Tulips fame who got married on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in front of 40 million viewers.

So, I get the credit and the blame for Tiny Tim singing 3 songs with The Metros, who were a unique blend of rock, rhythm and blues, and 80′s new wave thrown into the mix. But that’s a different story for another time.

My main reason for writing this is to give you a sense of Larry, who was so talented, so cool, could sing his ass off, play bass with the best, and was as kind-hearted a person you’ll ever meet.

I always told myself when I grew up I wanted to be just like him. Larry was a hero for me in many ways but more importantly he was a friend I cherished.  It’s still hard, even months after his death, to realize we’ll never have anymore of our long conversations.  I can’t believe he’s gone. Rest in peace, my brother.  I miss you, I love you and I certainly will never forget you and the difference you made in my life.

Michael

Brainstorming Lesson: What To Do With Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress

If you’ve ever had trouble brainstorming ideas, this story may help get you unstuck and running free with creative ideas again.

Kevin Cotter was recently divorced and not too happy about it.  Not only had he lost his relationship of 12 years but he no longer had his two children either.  The only thing he had left from his marriage was his ex-wife’s wedding dress.  When he asked her what she expected him to do with the dress, she succinctly replied, “Whatever the $%^@# you want.”

Thus Kevin Cotter’s brainstorming odyssey began.

Between brainstorming ideas with his brother and soliciting uses for his ex-wife’s wedding dress on his blog, My Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress, he eventually came up with 120 ideas (101 of which are chronicled in his book 101 Uses For My Ex-Wife’s Wedding Dress).

What I love about Kevin Cotter’s story is that instead of wallowing in his misery and feeling hopeless, he took a tough personal situation and changed it into something fun and creative.  My personal favorite uses he came up with for his ex-wife’s wedding dress are: Tug of war toy for the dog, hunting in snow camouflage, coffee filter, and pool skimmer.

In addition to learning from Kevin’s example, there’s also a great brainstorming lesson here.  How’s that? I’m glad you asked.

When I was in the Air Force, we went through survival training, which included some clever brainstorming lessons.  We would be put in a scenario where our plane crashed in some remote, frigid area where our only hope for survival was making good, smart decisions.  Part of making those decisions was using whatever objects we could find at hand to help keep us alive.

It was a great brainstorming lesson because we would invariably have to use objects in unusual ways, substituted for the items we needed but did not have on hand.  This forced us to look at items from a different perspective.

So, how does this apply to an ex-wife’s wedding dress?

Again, I’m glad you asked.

Kevin could’ve done like many bitter divorced people and burned his ex-wife’s wedding dress or shredded it into pieces as way of expressing his anger about his situation.  But instead he’s given us a brainstorming lesson similar to the one I learned in the military survival training.

He looked around his house and thought about using his ex-wife’s wedding dress in unconventional ways.  He used it as a jump rope.  He put it to use as a soccer net.  He even employed it as a yoga mat and later as a Christmas tree skirt.

How many uses could you come up with for his ex-wife’s wedding dress?

Personally, I would have been curious to try it as a parachute (from a very short distance, say the roof of the house) or as a sleeping bag, for wrapping fresh fish and perhaps a target for bow and arrow practice.

But ultimately, it’s not important what I would’ve tried.  I’m curious as to what you might use his ex-wife’s wedding dress for and if you’re willing to tell me.

My friend, Clare Delaney, wrote a fun blog post recently about re-using items for Halloween costumes, which prompted my idea of using the ex-wife’s wedding dress to wrap yourself up like The Mummy for a Halloween costume.

Don’t let this brainstorming lesson end with this fun exercise.  Keep it in mind next time you go to throw something out in the trash.  Take a few minutes and engage in your own brainstorming lesson.  How might you get more use out of that cardboard box before you consign it to the local landfill?

You can also use this same brainstorming lesson for sparking creative ideas in any endeavor, whether it’s writing, coming up with a unique business strategy or a new marketing campaign.  And if you can’t find a way to implement this brainstorming lesson yourself and need some help, you can always give me a call.

Michael

P.S. For a great photo of Kevin wearing the dress as snow camouflage, go visit this MSNBC story about his ex-wife’s wedding dress.

Fly Me To The Moon 2

Yesterday, in my first Fly Me To The Moon post, you learned about the coaching challenge I faced from Art, a brilliant, innovative scientist who pushed me harder than anyone ever had.

You remember that Art was tired of wooing investors and having to play tag with them for weeks afterward to get them to put some money into Art’s company.

After going through the specifics of how he approached investors and analyzing his entire process of delivering his presentation, I could clearly see the one item missing that was preventing him from achieving his goal.  I was excited to deliver the news to Art.  He was much closer to the success he desired than he realized.

We met the day before his flight to New York to meet with investors, and I shared my coaching advice with Art.

He looked at me like I had lost my mind.  “That’s it?  That’s all you’ve got for me is one stupid thing?”

I assured him it would work.  But Art wasn’t buying it.

“I can’t believe this! I put all my trust in you, and all you can come up with is this?”

Things got really tense, but I stuck to my guns.

“Art, you remember when no one wanted to listen to your ideas at NASA?”

His eyes bored into me. “Yeah, who cares? What’s that got to do with anything?”

I knew if I were going to get Art to heed my advice and get the breakthrough he so desperately wanted, I’d have to hit him right in the heart.

“I’ve got a way to quickly get you more money for your company and give you a lot more time for your research.  But you won’t even give it a try because it’s so outside the box that you can’t see why it’d work.  You’re treating me just like NASA treated you. I’ve become you. I have the crazy idea no one thinks will work and you won’t even try it.  You’re a scientist.  Aren’t you supposed to test ideas before you reject them?”

He stood there with his fists clenched, his eyes just staring at me.  The air was so quiet. Time seemed to stop.  It felt like I was staring into a fun house mirror where one moment the room was expanding away from me and then the next moment the walls and Art’s face were quickly closing in on me.

“You’re right,” he whispered.  He turned and walked to the door.  “I’ll give it a try.”

Three days later, the phone rang.  It was Art.  I was afraid to ask, but I had to know.

“How’d it go?”

His voice cracked with excitement.

“You are a genius!”

“Art, what happened?”

“Michael, I took your coaching advice. I did exactly what you said.  It was unbelievable.  They gave me more money in one day than I’d gotten all last year after months of begging!  I can’t believe it!”

I was beaming with pride.

“You did it, Michael.  I can’t thank you enough. You did it!”

I was shaking my head.

“Art, I only gave you the coaching.  I gave you the tool you needed. You’re the one who put it to use.  I didn’t do it. You did it, Art.  You did it!”

Fly Me To The Moon

Art was quite simply a pain in the butt.  There’s no other way to describe him. I’d never had to coach someone like him. Right from the beginning of our relationship he challenged my way of thinking and deliberately pushed my buttons. He pushed all of my buttons as hard as he could. 

He’d get right up in my face.  “Who do you think you are? Don’t you know I’ve already worked with the best,” he’d declare rather than ask. “I’ve been personally trained by Anthony Robbins. What makes you think you’re as good as him!” 

Art was challenging in more ways than one.  When he wasn’t rubbing me the wrong way or intentionally testing the limits of my patience, he questioned my intelligence.  Normally, I could care less about my intelligence being questioned because I could cite IQ test results where I’d been evaluated as having an IQ of over 180 (that & ten bucks will get you a coffee at Starbucks).  But Art was not your typical coaching client you could back down by showing him your IQ rating. 

Art was literally a rocket scientist doing work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was listed as one of the top 10 most influential space thinkers by New Scientist.  He and I would have spirited talks about space travel and research on how technology might enable us to bend space and time.  I would usually hold my own with Art until he got into the finer details of celestial mechanics and chaos theory methods he used to track objects in outer space that would skip in and out of their orbits, essentially disappearing for significant periods of time.

Art was also the first person I’d coached who insisted on getting the biggest result he’d ever pursued in his life at that time; a result he said he hadn’t achieved with Anthony Robbins. Art was demanding the very best of me, and he certainly wasn’t going out of his way to help make it any easier. There were many times Art pushed me to the brink of wanting to quit. 

But something inside me said to not give up despite Art’s combative nature. I’d done my homework on him and knew he was a rebel in the scientific community.  His theories were widely ridiculed and rejected by NASA until he used his revolutionary ideas about capture dynamics and chaos motions to single-handedly save Japan’s space program by rescuing a crippled multi-million dollar satellite and guiding it to the moon to complete its mission. 

Despite this incredible achievement, he was still a lone wolf of sorts, and I could see why he challenged conventional thinking every step of the way.  Conventional thinking and the status quo kept his pioneering work on the sideline most of the time. I couldn’t quit because I believed in Art and felt he deserved a coach who wouldn’t give up on him like the scientific community had.

Obviously, I could never tell him that.  Art wouldn’t accept someone who he believed felt sorry for him.  He operated on intelligence, guts and determination.  I actually didn’t feel sorry for him, but I did feel deeply he deserved better than he’d received.  His ideas were too far out there for most people to give a fair chance.  So, now he was focusing on raising more venture capital to continue developing his pioneering research via his own company.

My task as his coach came down to this: Art wanted a breakthrough in raising more money in less time.  He’d grown weary of doing presentations, wooing investors and having to follow up with them for weeks on end to get a fraction of what he really needed to fully bankroll his innovative company.

After going through the specifics of how he approached investors and analyzing his entire process of delivering his presentation, I could clearly see the one item missing that was preventing him from achieving his goal.  I was excited to deliver the news to Art.

——————————————————-

Come back tomorrow for part 2 of Fly Me To The Moon

Hugh MacLeod’s Evil Plans

Yesterday I struggled to convey to you how much I love Hugh MacLeod’s writing, cartoons, creative advice and marketing/business philosophy as espoused in his terrific book Evil Plans.

Cherie from Guided Meditations Online asked me what I specifically learned from Hugh MacLeod in that book.

At first the question stopped me in my tracks. Not because I didn’t learn anything but because Evil Plans reinforced a lot of my personal outlook on life and continues to motivate me every time I read it.  So, to single out one specific item I learned from Hugh MacLeod’s Evil Plans was difficult.  But after thinking about it a lot, I think the concept I learned from Hugh that I’d like to share with you today is this:

You have a gift to give to the world.

It might be being a caregiver, a writer, a chef or a teacher.

It really doesn’t matter because it’s your gift.  It’s what you are passionate about and what you probably do better than anything else in your life.  It doesn’t matter if you’re the best in the world at it.  But you’re probably one of the best in your immediate area at what you do.

Sometimes you wonder if you really should be doing it.  You may not have any support or encouragement from others but somewhere deep inside you you feel it’s right, it’s your calling.  But at times you really doubt yourself and wonder if you should keep doing it.

Here’s what Hugh MacLeod has to say about this that changed how I look at what I do with all my creative endeavors.

You were given a gift by the Creator, God, the Universe…Whatever.

Until you have returned the favor, life will have a certain, feckless emptiness to it.

…somewhere in the back of your mind will be a feeling that you have something you want to give to the world, something that you haven’t given yet, something the world needs but doesn’t quite know it yet.

I’m not the world’s most talented person at what I do. Neither are you. That doesn’t make the gifts we have any less valid.

Giving the gift is an act of love. And love is the only thing that matters.

That’s why we have an Evil Plan. Because it matters. Because love matters.

What else is there to say? …

I hope Hugh Macleod’s words spoke loudly to you and connected deep within your soul.

Michael

P.S. If you’re interested in checking out Hugh MacLeod’s writing for free, you can visit his gapingvoid.com blog.  I highly recommend you start with his free manifesto How To Be Creative.

Hugh MacLeod

Right now you may be wondering “who is Hugh MacLeod?” On the other hand you may be wondering why you’re at a blog post about Hugh MacLeod when you were searching for nude pictures of Hugh Beaumont, the actor who played the father on the television series Leave It To Beaver. Hey, you were the one doing the search online, not me!

If you have no idea who Hugh MacLeod is, I envy you because you have yet to have the synapses in your brain twisted into origami cheetahs set loose in your head.  That’s what happens when you read either of Hugh MacLeod’s books.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

or

Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination

Since I’m writing a separate post about Ignore Everybody (which you’ll get to see soon, I promise), today you’ll learn why Evil Plans is my choice for the best book published in 2011.  You’ll also see why I feel Hugh’s books should be mandatory reading for every high school student.

It’s actually difficult to encapsulate a Hugh MacLeod book in a few hundred words.  How do you describe his unique blend of artwork, captions, creative advice and business/branding lessons without new words to convey how wonderful, inspiring and insightful he is?

Let me put it another way.

When I read Evil Plans, I feel like shooting bottle rockets out of my mouth and playing pin the tail on the dinosaur.  I know.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to anyone but me.  In short, Hugh MacLeod’s writing makes me feel alive and eager to dust off my dreams, kick start them back to life, and take them for a spin out in the world to see what happens.

It’s hard not to love Evil Plans, which really isn’t evil (as the dust jacket copy says) “except for the side effect that it will make your friends insanely jealous when they see you thriving with your art/small business/writing/nonprofit/tech start-up/etc.”

Perhaps the easiest thing to do is to simply say this book is about following your heart, pursuing your passions and not giving a damn whether anyone else approves of what you’re trying to create in this one very short life you’ve been given.  But it’s the way Hugh MacLeod seduces you with words, stories and inspiration that re-ignites your heart that separates Evil Plans from anything else I’ve read this year. This is also why I believe it should be mandatory reading for all high school students.

Well, come to think of it, I dreaded reading what was mandatory in high school.  So, maybe we could plant copies of the books in every high school and stir interest in them by leaving fortune cookie style quotes from the book on slips of paper hidden inside the algebra and biology textbooks.  I think it’d be worth it if we could give some teenagers the freedom to be themselves and not feel so pressured to plug themselves into jobs and corporate belief systems that reward mediocrity and discourage those who can think for themselves.  But then again I’m a skeptical optimist.

You may still be wondering why you should go buy a copy of Evil Plans as soon as you finish reading this.  I’ve not done Hugh MacLeod justice.  So, I’ll simply leave you with the first two pages of Evil Plans.  If this doesn’t stir the circuits in your soul, I’ll be surprised but grateful that you walked this far down the path with me.

Welcome to the Hunger

It will cost you your life.

The Hunger to do something creative.

The Hunger to do something amazing.

The Hunger to change the world.

The Hunger to make a difference.

The Hunger to enjoy one’s work.

The Hunger to be able to look back and say, Yeah, cool, I did that.

The Hunger to make the most of this utterly brief blip of time Creation has given us.

The Hunger to dream the good dreams.

The Hunger to have amazing people in our lives.

The Hunger to have the synapses continually firing on overdrive.

The Hunger to experience beauty.

The Hunger to tell the truth.

The Hunger to be part of something bigger than yourself.

The Hunger to have good stories to tell.

The Hunger to stay the course, despite the odds.

The Hunger to feel passion.

The Hunger to know and express Love.

The Hunger to know and express Joy.

The Hunger to channel the Divine.

The Hunger to actually feel alive.

The Hunger will give you everything. And it will take from you, everything. It will cost you your life, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

But knowing this, of course, is what ultimately sets you free.

Note: This post was originally written for www.TheSuccessSecrets.net and can be viewed at: http://www.thesuccesssecrets.net/the-success-secrets-acknowledge-the-art-of-acknowledgement/

The Art of Acknowledgement.

Go ahead and laugh if you want.

It’s perfectly okay

because so few people use this success secret these days let alone know how to use this success secret properly that I don’t mind you laughing, pointing fingers and completely dismissing this topic entirely.  That just helps keep acknowledgement all the more powerful and effective for me and those few who still use this success secret.

So, how do you use acknowledgement?

Well, let’s clear one thing up right away.

It’s not about kissing someone’s ass or being phony with a compliment just to gain a favor or good will.   Most people see right through that act and you actually come across as insincere or worst case scenario, a fraud or phony.  Not the type of person to aspire to in my book.

Acknowledgement is about being genuine, being real, being honest and delivering more than just a compliment.

Acknowledgement is about honoring someone by recognizing their accomplishment or something they’ve done that has made a significant difference.

This could be a significant difference the person has made in your life or in the life of someone close to you, or even someone else who has in turn influenced you in some way, shape or form.

For me, it is about acknowledging from my heart in such a way that the other person either feels it in their heart, their soul or their gut.  Or sees it so deeply in my eyes and hears it in the tone of my voice that they receive it pure and true such that it could never be mistaken for an off-hand compliment or simple courtesy.  It is delivered as genuinely and honestly as you would thanking your parents for giving you life or telling your child how much you love them.

Is that a bit too intense or extreme for you?

Maybe so…

For me it’s been a profound life changer in so many ways I could write a book about it and never cover the impact it has made on me and the people I’ve been able to acknowledge.

Let me give you an acknowledgement sample, an acknowledgement example from my own life to help illustrate this.

A few years ago I had the good fortune to go see Motown legends, The Funk Brothers play a concert in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills.   If you don’t know who the Funk Brothers are, I suggest you go get a copy of the incredible documentary STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN.

Suffice to say, these incredible musicians were the backbone of Berry Gordy’s Motown music empire and for most of their lives these musicians were unknown to the public and never given due credit for the amazing contributions they made to more #1 hit songs than the Beatles, Rolling Stones & Elvis Presley combined!

So, after the concert, I had the distinct pleasure of being able to meet the Funk Brothers after the show & spend some time talking to them.

Many other fans were there as well because these men were very accomodating & open to finally meeting their fans after all these decades in obscurity.

But what set the evening apart for me was I knew each man’s name and unlike the other fans that evening, I addressed each man personally by name, looked him in the eye, held his gaze for a moment as I shook his hand & thanked him for the difference he had made in my life.

Because without that soul enriching Motown music, I may not have made it through a lot of the pain & turmoil of my early life when I often contemplated suicide.

Call me melodramatic but the Funk Brothers kept me going when I wanted to give up and quit on myself and what life I had.

I expressed my gratitude to Bob Babbitt,  Joe Hunter, Jack Ashford, Joe Messina, Uriel Jones and Eddie Willis as if my life depended on it.

I didn’t mention that I had ever contemplated suicide or anything so melodramatic.   I just thanked them from the deepest reaches of my soul.

I won’t share each of my conversations with these men, but the last legend I spoke with was guitarist, Eddie Willis.

When we shook hands & I looked him in the eyes, he held my look longer than the others & I said “Mr Willis, my name is Michael Walker and I cannot express how much of a priviledge it is to finally meet you & shake your hand.”

There was a moment of silence as he looked at me & we both had some tears start to well up in our eyes.  I’ll never forget the words he said next.

“Michael, you have no idea what a pleasure it is for me. ”

I choked up a little and managed to say “It’s truly an honor, Mr. Willis.”

He held my hand a bit longer and said “Michael, you are the first person in my entire career to address me as Mr. Willis.  That you know my name is the best acknowledgement you could have ever given me. ”

I smiled back at him, “Thank you, sir.”

He looked me in the eyes just a little bit longer and said “No, THANK you.”

Steve Jobs: Commencement Speech

This past week we’ve been looking at life lessons from Gene Simmons.  During this time Apple founder Steve Jobs passed away.  The airwaves were flooded with Steve Jobs quotes, articles, stories, and anecdotes about the man.

I knew I wanted to write something about Steve Jobs, even though I’m no Apple fanatic.  Yes, I own an iPod and , but that’s it right now.  I hold no allegiance to any technology, although I do appreciate every advancement that comes along.  I’m the same way when it comes to politics.

So, it’s been a tough decision to figure out what to write about Steve Jobs.  But after much consideration I decided to share with you a Steve Jobs speech.  It’s not just any Steve Jobs speech, it’s Steve Jobs at Stanford.  Those of you who have seen it know what I am referring to.  For those of you who don’t, it’s Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford in 2005.

It is not an ordinary college commencement speech.  Steve Jobs’ speech that day spoke of his failures as much as his successes.  He spoke of how he started. He spoke of his pancreatic cancer.  He spoke of his desire to “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”  He also spoke of death.  Rather than try to tell you anything more about this Steve Jobs speech, I’m simply going to post a segment of the Steve Jobs speech and include the Steve Jobs Stanford video for you to watch.

…death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.   -Steve Jobs, 2005