Melody Beatty, bestselling author of several self-help books, said it perfectly about what gratitude does for those who practice cultivating it:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Wow! This is precisely why I’ve managed to find a sense of gratitude for 29 weeks in a row at Adversity University. Simply put, it feels good to put myself (and others) in a grateful state of mind because even if we’re having a difficult time, the simple act of expressing gratitude has the power of instantly shifting our focus from negative to positive.

Just like that (snapping of fingers) !

Grateful for Other People’s Achievements

Anita Bruzzese for selling Turkish rights for her “45 Things…” book yesterday and China a while back. (Would you believe the publisher couldn’t be talked into having a book signing at the Great Wall?). The Japanese rights are currently under negotiation. Wow! I’m thrilled for her - can’t wait for the same thing to happen with my book one day. A very hearty congratulations to Anita!

Peter Shankman, a new friend I discovered on Twitter, just made the front page of Mashable - a major PR coup for him because Mashable is a social news media authority (an area that he specializes in). I found out about Peter because his Twitter photo showed him skydiving with a skateboard of sorts and that got my attention (I’m a pilot, remember?). One thing led to another and I ended up following him both on Twitter and his very interesting blog. He sure knows how to live life to the fullest!

Bryan Kress is a an impressionable, energetic young fellow I met at SOBCon08. We’re shown talking on the SOBCon08 boat ride around the city of Chicago one evening. He’s still in college but already has the mindset of a budding entrepreneur, establishing himself as the go-to guy if you need help pitching your start-up business at places where it really counts. Bryan recently gave a presentation that went very well. Kudos for a job well done - nothing ventured, nothing gained! I’m proud of him. See a recent newspaper article about him.

Congratulations goes to Karen Putz, A Deaf Mom Shares Her World, for FINALLY taking the plunge and getting rid of the kiddie “training-on-wheels” blog and making the God-fearing, knee-buckling, nail-biting, hair pulling switch from Blogger. com to Wordpress. Just when the hair on her head was beginning to show signs of extinction, she made the transition last night and now has a brand new home with a very cute theme.

Please go on over there and stop by to leave a comment for her - reassure her that the move was well worth it and that she has a lot of good things coming to her.

New Lease on Ways to Communicate, Taking My Life and My Business to a Whole New Level

When I was a kid, I had to rely on my mother to make phone calls for me whenever I wanted to get together with a friend or go out on a date (how embarrassing for a gawky teenager that I was). Then came TTYs and the relay phone service. That’s where I could finally make calls on my own, relying on the relay operator to type back to me (via TTY) what the other party was saying. While this certainly gave me much desired independence, it’s been frustrating at times because either the operator couldn’t keep up with the conversation (i.e. couldn’t type fast enough) or there were technical glitches that ruined an otherwise important call.

Well, no more!

Thanks to the advance of technology, I now have the ability to make phone calls through the use of a webcam, allowing me to either see the party I’m communicating with or an operator who appears right on the screen, acting as an interpreter (combination of sign language and lip movements). Instead of waiting for the operator to finish typing the other person’s conversation, all of my telephone conversations are done in real time, with minimal delay. The intepreter/operator is often right at the heels of the other person’s words, a vast improvement over the old method.

As you can imagine, I’ve been going crazy calling family, friends, clients, subscribers and everyone else I can think of, excitedly telling them about this. It feels like I’ve just been released from the shackles of….. what’s the word…… (fill in the blanks).

For the first time since I started my professional speaking and life coaching services, I can now participate in multi-participant conference calls and conduct other important business on the phone. Thank you Sorenson, i711 and HOVRS for making this possible - you’ve literally changed my life!

Conducted a First-Ever Seminar with a New Business Partner

In business they say two heads are better than one. For the last 10 years, I’ve been a one-man operation, doing almost everything myself but I’ve begun to realize that this will only get me so far.

One day, I met Jim Cermak of Cermak Marketing (based in Cleveland, OH) at a networking event. We connected right away and I knew we’d be working together in some sort of professional capacity.

Because I specialize in keynote presentations, I rarely give 3 hour workshops because it’s not something I want to do, especially by myself. I’d rather give an hour to an hour-and-a-half keynote speech and then move on. But when Jim and I talked about possibility doing a joint seminar, I agreed to give it a try. Boy, am I glad I did!

Just two days ago, we gave a wildly successful joint marketing and inspirational workshop that exceeded my expectations in terms of how well Jim and I would work together.

Yes, There were a few mishaps along the way like me spilling water on the table next to me (and on Jim’s laptop - OOPS) and a slight error on the flyer but other than that, it was very well received and I’m excited to announce that we’re definitely planning to give more seminars later this year.

We plan to target specific companies in the area versus advertising via our respective mailing lists and putting up flyers. We think this will bring in more people the next time we do a seminar. A great learning experience, for sure!

It was awesome because the chemistry was just right. We both used my exclusive H.E.A.R. Principle as the foundation of the 3 hour entire program. While I shared my inspirational stories, Jim tied his marketing tools and tips into the principle rather seamlessly.

For those of you who are not familiar with the H.E.A.R. Principle, it’s an acronym I use to describe how I’ve dealt with and overcome adversity on the way to achieving the impossible.

H means “Have a passion.” E means “Entertain the Possibilities.” A means be Authentic. And finally, R means “Remember who helped You.”

As soon one of us was done with a letter, we’d switch places, hi-fiving each other in passing. It was a hoot. The audience loved the synergy. They got to hear two distinctively different experts talk about how they can apply the H.E.A.R. Principle in their businesses (marketing) and in their own personal lives (overcoming adversity).

Here’s a testomonial from someone who was there:

This workshop presented the ideal blend of ready-to-use techniques and the motivational tips to put them in action.  Janet Gehring, Marketing Specialist, CRU Solutions

I’m grateful to discover that collaborating with other people is smart business and can pay off big, given the right circumstances with the right people. Thank you God, for this experience - it was flipplingly GREAT! (I just made that word up)

Holy Moley, A Nationally Syndicated Columnist Wrote an Article About Your Favorite Blogger!

Beginning today (Friday, May 23, 2008) an article about my Wall Street career, speaking/life coach services and aviation experiences is scheduled to go national, appearing in several newspapers simultaneously. It will get heavy play on the East Coast as well as places including, but not limited to, Des Moines, Seattle Times, Indianapolis, Detroit and other major cities. I’ve been told this article will gradually filter its way throughout the country over the next several weeks.

It’s a fabulous PR bonanza that took me completely by surprise. I met the reporter at SOBCon08 where she was one of the featured speakers. At the end of her talk, I raised my hand to ask her a question.

Does this sound familiar?

Remember the fifth grade teacher story? What about the Merrill Lynch CNN story?

Little did I know that this would be a virtual repeat of the Merrill Lynch CNN experience. In the mid-1990’s, I had gone to a Merrill Lynch function honoring Heather Whitestone, who had just become the first woman with a disability (deaf) to win the title of Miss America. I had raised my hand at the end of her talk to ask her a question. Apparently this caught the eye of a CNN producer who was overheard to ask his assistant, “Who’s that guy? Find out more about him.” A week later, they came in with an entourage of production people and did an interview at my Merrill Lynch office, the results of which was national TV exposure.

This time, the speaker was not Miss America but Anita Bruzzese (who actually looks like she could win the competition - see her photo above), a nationally syndicated columnist with 8 million readers. Unbelievable.

Since neither of us know which paper the article will appear and when, she advised me to sign up for free Google Alerts using my name and/or hers so that I am automatically notifed each time the article comes out. If you’re interested, you could also sign up for Google Alerts. Update: You could also go to Gannett Co Wire and do a search there in case Google Alerts misses.

Anita, I’m very grateful for this enormous PR opportunity. Thank you.

Update Alert - the articles are starting to pop up - here are a couple I found so far:

• Tucson Citizen (AZ)
• The Salt lake Tribune (UT)
• Courier Post Online (NJ)
• Poughkeepsie Journal (NY)
• The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, CA)
• APP.com (NJ)
• Indianapolis Star (Indiana)

Grateful for “The Celebrity Experience” by Donna Cutting

I’ve been meaning to tell you about this fabulous book for several weeks now but just couldn’t find the right moment to give it fair play here. While I was planning the weekly gratitude article the other day, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I could talk about her book (and others) in here because I’m very grateful for books that I truly enjoy reading.

Donna’s book fit the bill perfectly because I LOVED it. It made me laugh, cry, smile and contemplate. I’ll tell you more about it in a minute but first let me tell you how we met.

As it so often happens, I find people on the Internet in ways that can be described as mysterious because I often don’t remember how I discovered them in the first place. But something or someone led me to her blogs and speaking website, both of which I felt a strong sense of positive energy. I felt compelled to introduce myself via email.

Soon we became Internet friends. Next thing I know, I get a nice big package in the mail. Who doesn’t like being the recipient of a big, yellow bubbly package? It was her book. Take a look at the cover - doesn’t it make you want to at least open it? What you may not know is that when I was a little kid, I always dreamt of being a famous movie star. To this day and age, I allow myself to imagine walking down the red carpet. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want that experience at least once in their life?

The moment I opened to the first chapter, I was hooked. It was a combination of the writing style, the overall “feel” of the pages and the stories. It’s a well organized book about giving your customers and employees the red carpet treatment. Full of entertaining real life examples. Even if you’re not a business owner or deal with employees, you can still apply what she teaches in your own life.

The funny thing about all of this is that while Donna and I were going back and forth via email, I kept saying, “One day, our paths will cross.” Well, lo and behold, it came much sooner than that.

We ended up meeting at SOBCon08! Good gracious. The universe certainly sped things up didn’t it? Here we are, being photographed by the paparazzi at a famous Greek restaurant somewhere in Chicago.

“The Celebrity Experience” is a definite BUY. If you’re like me, you’ll be highlighting, making notes and talking about her book long after you finish. In fact, you’ll probably become a raving fan - like me!

Thank you Donna for giving me yet another book to inhale - it was a pleasant experience!

Tipping Point for Adversity University

Finally, but not least, according to the Feedburner statistics, for the first time ever, we are only 6 subscribers away from reaching a major milestone - 500 subscribers!

Yipee!

It’s been a long, hard road, slowly but surely building a strong, vibrant community here and because of YOU, we are just about to cross that 500 mark threshold. Hey, would you mind helping me give this a little shove and see if you can invite your friends to become a new subscriber at Adversity University? Then all of us will celebrate a new chapter together - how’s that?

Thank you to all of you who have come on this journey with me. I’M SO FRIGGIN THANKFUL FOR YOUR CONTINUING LOVE AND SUPPORT. YOU GUYS REALLY ROCK!

Food for thought: Can you come up with a gratitude quote for this week?

If you liked this post and you want to be notified of the next one, subscribe via Email or Full Text RSS Feed. I would love to have you as part of the community!