Thought Changer

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Welcome! If this is your first visit or if you’ve been here before but haven’t had a chance to subscribe, would love to have you as a part of the Thought Changer community which has moved to Substack! Just sign up in the box to the left. You’ll get a welcome email from me at Substack. Don’t forget to click the confirmation link. Thought Changer looks at everyday life metaphors. We explore new ways to think about what we do, improve our mindset and live more consciously. And, if something moves you, please share! Thank you and enjoy this Thought Changer.

“You’ve been given a great gift, George. The chance to see what the world would be like without you.” ~ Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life” What a great line from an iconic movie. I saw the Frank Capra film on the big screen for the first time this year at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. It was such a treat seeing it as a feature film with 300 other rapt moviegoers, popcorn and all. The comment we made as we left the historic theatre was “they don’t make movies like that anymore.” Then, last night a friend took me to see “West Side Story” at the Pantages Theatre. It’s truly the perfect evening of musical theatre, the brilliant re-telling of Romeo & Juliet set to music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. After seeing both of these treasures that have stood the test of time and whose… Read more →

Dinner guests were arriving when the electric igniter went out on my oven. And, then a few minutes later I discovered the igniter on my gas grill was also out. After a momentary panic attack I re-thought the evening, ordered in and we got a laugh out of it. But, being aware of metaphor and the subtle epiphanies it can bring, it got me thinking about where in our lives the igniters go out from time to time. For both the grill and the oven it was an easy fix to re-ignite the mechanism. What about re-igniting our lives and careers? It’s a powerful act and allows you to live your life rather than your life living you. Taking it a step further, it got me thinking about the impact other Re’s can have on us and all we do. Think about your own life and career for a moment…. Read more →

“I belong to the clean plate club.” This is what a friend said recently as we were dining at a scrumptious eatery. He ate every last bite. I said, “I belong to the full plate club.” Which had nothing to do with the food. I was, of course, referring to how full my life plate is – it seems – all the time. What’s interesting as that my mind keeps telling me how full my plate is so that constantly becomes true. Sometimes when our life plates are very full with projects, deadlines, obligations and expectations, our ego mind plays tricks on us, telling us that we’re going to fall short or we’re not good enough. And, it can particularly happen when you’re asking yourself to stretch. In other words, when you’re asking your brain to operate on all cylinders, the chatter to stop yourself can get really loud. Sometimes… Read more →

By the age of 20 you likely have developed the core values by which you’ll live your life. Today is my niece Dana’s 20th birthday and she has become a lovely, centered, self-motivated and compassionate young woman. She’s already a leader. And, this Mother’s Day week in particular it got me thinking about what an incredible mother my sister has been, instilling that admirable sense of self and value in both of her children. And, how she became that mother is in large part because of the amazing example set by our mother. It also got me thinking about whether we realize it or not, we are setting examples every day, in our businesses, careers and lives. But, since many times the focus is squarely on what’s in front of us on that given day, we don’t realize the potential impact and influence, large and small, we may have on… Read more →

“Seeing is believing.” ~ American Proverb The past weekend symbolized for many, new beginnings, re-birth and revitalization. It seemed the perfect time to create a vision board. So, my two best girlfriends, Ferrell and Kelly, and I spent Saturday exploring our goals, dreams and visions and then created vision boards full of images, words and phrases that brought those to life. Yes, mimosas were involved, but we took this very seriously. So much of this process is changing your mindset from one of “maybe, if and possibility” to one of “yes, now and probability.” Possibility is awesome; but probability is the seed of certainty. We brought the goals and visions that we had each laid out at the beginning of the year, educated ourselves about vision boarding principles and then spent an entire afternoon supporting each other’s bold, dream-big-live-big visions. And, what was truly beautiful about it, in that ‘yes,… Read more →

By Ferrell Marshall “I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn’t know, I held opportunity.” Hazel Lee Today the world is coming together to help our planet by doing one simple thing… turning the lights off for one hour at 8:30pm. This da y symbolizes that by working together with a common goal, we can each make a positive impact on our future. Earth Hour was launched in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. I remember seeing pictures on the news of the city skyline going dark and was so impressed and inspired. The founders of this effort had a global vision and after proving it could be done, have each year invited more cities around the world to participate. “Since its inception, Earth Hour’s non-partisan approach has captured the world’s imagination… Read more →

“You’re changing that boy’s life.” “No, he’s changing mine.” from a scene in the film, “THE BLIND SIDE” I recently watched the movie again (and again), and was once again entranced not only by the transformational journey of football great Michael Oher, but equally by the how helping him also changed the lives of his adoptive family, Sean and Leanne Tuohy and their two kids. And, while the film focused primarily on Michael’s story and Leanne’s crusade to give him a leg up on life, on closer examination much of the real-life story began with Sean Tuohy’s personal vision to help poor Memphis kids when they needed it. And, although they went the whole ten yards with Michael Oher, he was not the first, nor the last who received an outstretched hand from Sean Tuohy. It got me thinking once again about how having a clear vision brings so much… Read more →

That’s what Tiger said in one of his five minute interviews this week when asked how he could have done what he did. “I got away from my core values.” To me that says everything. I believe when you live your core values the results take care of themselves. What I mean by that is when you are connected to, stick to and live by your simple truths, otherwise known as your core values, your life sets itself correctly on your right path. Read more →

I love connecting with extraordinary people; it’s part of my amazing journey in this life. And, in my current stead of helping people build meaningful and successful careers I have had the esteemed pleasure of running across remarkable folks who are really out there DOING IT, people who have exploded their personal brands! Your personal brand is the most important factor when laying out an effective career blueprint and then building and executing that blueprint into an targeted action plan. So, I have gathered 50 Seriously Greats Tips to Elevate Your Personal Brand in 2010 from people who are certainly doing it themselves and who were very quick to come forward, offering help to you. Many of them will be thought and game changers for you in your career and business. Your personal brand is the most important factor when laying out an effective career blueprint and then building and executing that blueprint into an targeted action plan. So, I have gathered 50 Seriously Greats Tips to Elevate Your Personal Brand in 2010 from people are certainly doing it themselves and who were very quick to come forward, offering help to you. Many of them will be thought and game changers for you in your career and business. Read more →

By Sarah Shaw So I have been thinking about fearlessness all week since sending my 26 month old twins off to daycare/preschool this week and how they just love it and seem to be thriving – total fearlessness. Deepak Chopra says there are no coincidences so I take that to heart! Everything happens for a reason – which leads me to this story. A friend of a friend called last summer and asked if we’d be open to housing and feeding a 17-year-old French girl named Marion, in exchange for some babysitting for two weeks. She wanted to experience America and work on her English – which I must say is quite impressive for an 11th grader. Her father has given me strict instructions to ONLY speak to her in English – I speak fluent French. Anyhow, Marion arrived, tired after a long flight, but cheerful and adorable all the… Read more →