Old School is New School?

Happy  June 1st!

I have been reading a lot lately! 3.5 books last month! I have the goal of reading one book a month this year! I've read studies that say the average person reads one book a year! A friend told me about a story where the most successful people in the world read 12 books a year. I want to be successful!

Here is a great article I found on reading and success:
Success and Reading More (CLICK HERE)

I recently began reading the book "4 Hour Work Week." I'm about 1/4 of the way through the book. It's been on the best sellers list for years. It talks about how to make ourselves more productive and how to create more free time to do what we enjoy. People around the world are going crazy of this book. The more I read, I recognize that the philosophies being taught are the ones I was taught a long time ago and I've used at different points of my life to be successful.

When I was a little kid, my mom would always say, "Finish your work and then you can play!" I loved going outside to play, so I finished my work as quickly as possible so I could have more time outside.  Get your work done, get rewarded. As I grew I became the same way. In college, I'd take as many morning classes as possible so I could do whatever I wanted to in the afternoons. I could work, I could spend time with friends or I could participate in clubs.

When I joined the workforce. I would often tell my employees. "Unpack and Merchandise 100 boxes, when you do you can product test an item." I was the manager of a toy store. I'd also let them leave early with pay if the work was completed before we were scheduled to leave. That was a great motivator instead of staying in the store until 9:30 PM, we'd often leave at 9:10PM. Do your work and get rewarded.

We are very much in a play first society. Play than work or Play and don't work. This just piles up more work. I like the comment I read by John Maxwell, "In life, you will always pay, you can pay now or pay later." I would like to pay as quickly as possible so I can enjoy more free time. Why work 8 hours if  you can get everything done in 4?

I'm really starting to work on how I spend my time. They're are some many things that can distract us...TV, Internet, FB, Shinny objects. They all take away from our work time and time we want to spend doing our thing (family, friends, traveling, calling our own shots.) The key is to focus, be productive and finish your work so you can play.

Thanks Mom! I'm enjoying the book, but it's reminding me that I didn't need the book to learn the philosophy,  I just needed to remember what I was taught a long time ago.

Stressed at work?

Work can be very stressful. We often tell people that they need to plant themselves in a rich environment. Plants grow an unbelievable rates when they are planted in a rich soil.

The same goes for people. When you are in a nurturing and supportive environment, your production levels sky rocket. You have positive results. When you're constantly beat up in poor environment, the stress can not only effect your mental health, but it will effect your physical health too. Eventually this can have a major effect on your fiscal health. Very negative results.

Below is a cool diagram we recently found that gives you tips and tricks on how to create (build and develop) a positive work environment.

Where we've spoken

It's fun to sit back and reflect on where you've been. The key is to remember the past and focus on your future. There are a lot of new places we will go this year. The reason we will get to visit new places is because of where we've been in the past. Here's the list of places we've been invited to speak. Can't wait to see what the future has in store!

Non Profits
Boys and Girls Clubs of Lorain County
Compass Retreat Center 
Lorain County Job Development Center
Lorain County Library Association
Lorain County Skills Max 

Schools and High Schools
Euclid Charter School
Crestwood High School 

Corporations, Associations and Conferences
Arizona DECA
Arizona FCCLA
APCA National Convention
Campus Computer Resellers Alliance National Conference
FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference
Florida HOSA
HR.com
LCCC Staff Council  
National Conference on Student Leadership
NACA Mid America Regional Conference
NACA Mid Atlantic Regional Conference
NACA National Convention
NACA Northern Plains Regional Conference 
NACA West Regional Conference
Nestle Corporation 
Northeast Ohio Leadership Association
OSCHE Leadership Conference
Ohio Financial Aid Conference
Ohio Charter School Leadership Assoc. Conference
Ohio University Staff Assocication
Arizona Skills USA
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital  
Wisconsin Tech. College Leadership Conference  
Utah Court Employees Conference 
Wyoming Student Leadership Conference 
Youngstown School Employees Union

Colleges and Universities
Aurora College
Blackhawk Technical College
Canisius College
Central Michigan University
Century College
Colgate University
Cuyahoga Community College
Davenport University
Edgewood College
Franklin College
George Williams College
Grand Valley State University
Hudson Valley Community College 
Joliet Community College 
Lakeland Community College
Lewis University
Lorain Community College
Northwestern University
Our Lady of the Lakes College
Ohio State University at Mansfield
Penn State University
Quinnipiac University
Rutgers University at Newark
St. Louis Community College
Trine University 
University of Nevada Las Vegas 
University of Akron  
University of Wisconsin 
University of Miami-Florida  
Urbana University
Villa Julie College  
Wichita State University

Frank Kitchen - Solo
Advanced Auctioneers Academy
Albright College
Arizona CTSOs
Arizona State University 
Auctioneers and Appraisers Academy
Australian Rotary Clubs
Best Buddies Arizona
Brophy Preparatory School
Cabrini College
Compass Networking Community
Drew University
DECA Western Regional Leadership Conference
Emporia State University
Graceland College
Grand Canyon University 
Hustle PHX
Illinois College
Lake County Folk Festival
Madison #1 Middle School 
Mosaic Arizona
NACA Northeast Regional Conference
NACA Great Lakes Regional Conference
Ohio Rotary Clubs
Ohio Baseball Heritage Museum
Park University 
Quincy University 
Park Central Toastmasters

Phoenix Zoo
Rio Hondo College  
Small Business Cafe
Special Olympics Arizona 
Squaw Peak Rotary Club
State Farm Insurance
Vertical Hiking Tours

Rodger Campbell  - Solo
Anime Society of Lorain County Avon Public Library
Bluffton University
Costal Carolina University
CWRU K. Smith Library
Elyria Ministerial Alliance
Hofstra University
Iowa State University 
NACA South Regional Conference
Ohio Staff Council of Higher Education
Ohio University Panhellic Association  
Students in Free Enterprise  
T. Roosevelt High School  
University of Pittsburgh- Johnstown

 

Watch what we do!

We just got back from Florida. We were invited to speak at the Florida HOSA State Leadership Conference. We were the keynote speakers for the opening session. Before we went on stage we learned that our presentation would be broadcast live around the world on the internet. We had several family and friends watch us live.

Many of you get to see photos of us performing, but get the opportunity to see us perform. Here is a link to the video of the opening session. We're come on stage about 50 minutes into the video.

Enjoy!

2014 Florida HOSA Opening Session Video

An Apple's Wish

You are an Apple. You have value and impact. You need a rich environment to grow!

Dream Big, Dream Often

Have you ever noticed that children have the greatest imagination in the world?  What is just an ordinary box to us, is a car, a fort, a jet ski, a swimming pool and more to a child. There imagination can go on and on.

Children are great because they posses a great sense of wonder and amazement.  They always know exactly how to DREAM:  They Dream Big and They Dream Often. When children dream of ice cream, they dream of the whole world made of ice cream not just an ice cream cone.  When it comes to dreaming about themselves they always DREAM of success.  More often than not, you’ll find a child dreams of winning the Super Bowl,  being first-place in a race or being the best at whatever they are interested in at the moment.   When things go wrong, they call "Do Over" and work at it until they make it right.  They live their dream out everyday through their imaginations.  

Childhood is great for that reason.  As adults we lose some of the childhood wonder because we are conditioned over time or jaded by negative experiences which damage our ability to dream.  This conditioning pushes us to the unhealthy acceptance that our Dreams can’t come true.  We begin to live our lives in the daily rut.  Farmers use the plow to create ruts in the ground.  Within these ruts they plant the seeds for the development of a crop.  Therefore, the farmer creates ruts in the ground in order to make the dream come true.  Like children we need to Dream Big and Dream Often. We need to look for opportunities to make our dreams come true. Like Farmers, we need to use the rut to plant the seeds for the next success.  

Are you living your Dream? or have you let the Dream escape?  When we lose sight of our Dream our lives become stagnant, uneventful and dull.  However, when we keep our dreams in sight hope abounds and possibilities are endless. As we end our summer of fun and sun and head into the cold and gray skies of autumn and winter, the question one must answer is:  Are you in a rut or creating one?

Rodger

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Austin William Campbell. Today he turns 16 years old. He is also the first born..."the gift that keeps on giving" of Rodger Campbell. When he was younger, he told us, that he is taking over The BAD BAD Apples when we "expired."