Happy 2013! There’s something about the New Year that causes us to use it as a milestone for starting over. Perhaps it’s the act of replacing our desk or wall calendars or maybe it’s the fact that it’s a new tax and financial period. Whatever the reason, most of us use this opportunity to drop old bad habits and pick up new good ones.
If you’re not sure what to do for your resolution, here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Quit drinking/smoking/over-eating.  Read more... (1054 words, 1 image, estimated 4:13 mins reading time)

The story that has dominated the news over the last several days has been the heinous and cowardly murders of moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado. My prayers go out to the victims: those killed, injured and their loved ones – it’s an unfortunate and unnecessary way to die.

Given the way the story has trended on news sites, the killer’s name and photo have been all over the place. More people are talking about him than the latest Hollywood scandal.That’s the problem with our news outlets: criminals tend to get famous quickly and the more heinous the crime, the more they are talked about. How’s that for incentive for a psychopath trying to get significance in this world?  Read more... (375 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

If you’ve been a follower of this blog for some time, you’ve probably noticed that prior to this year, I’ve never gone more than a month without posting – in most cases, I’ve rarely gone more than two weeks. So what happened? Where have I been for the last five months?

The last five months have been challenging for me both personally and professionally. I won’t get into all of the details here as they aren’t that exciting. I’ll just say that I’ve been really busy and put some other priorities ahead of blogging. Also, other than a bad case of the flu in March and some other minor issues, I haven’t been sick either physically or mentally.  Read more... (977 words, 1 image, estimated 3:54 mins reading time)

With this year being a Presidential election year here in the United States, more and more people are following the issues and the political process which I think is a good thing. But as a result of this, many people are sharing their thoughts and opinions on particular issues which is within their right as far as I’m concerned. The big question is whether or not it’s the smart thing to do.

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One of the benefits of improving your speaking skills is that you can actually uses these skills to make money, even a living. It’s a great way to put your speaking skills to use and can be rewarding in more ways than just monetarily. If you feel comfortable speaking to groups, becoming a professional speaker can be quite lucrative provided that there are people willing to pay to hear what you have to say.

Professional speakers can make money a number of different ways. We’ll talk about some of them, both the obvious and not so obvious.  Read more... (970 words, 1 image, estimated 3:53 mins reading time)

I see a lot of motivational quotes from my friends on the various social media services that are related to living life to its fullest or making the most out of your day. Thinking like this is a great attitude to have but it is one of those things that are easier said than done. After all, we often get caught up with our day to day tasks and by the time we get around to making the most out of our day, it’s practically time for bed.

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Speech contests are a huge part of Toastmasters and can be interesting to watch. While I’ve never competed, I’ve had the pleasure of acting as contest master and chief judge (on separate occasions, of course) and have really enjoyed being a part of them. But the big question about speech contests is whether or not it’s worth all the time and effort.

Like anything, it really depends on your goals. I know people that make thousands of dollars for each speaking engagement they do, yet have never participated in a speaking contest. I also know of people who have won the Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking that haven’t been able to leverage their win to create a successful speaking career. But on the flip side, I know people that haven’t participated in contests that have struggled to make a career out of speaking and people that have won contests and have done well for themselves. And of course, there are thousands of us in between.  Read more... (959 words, 1 image, estimated 3:50 mins reading time)