Stuff I Learned Yesterday
About Stuff I Learned Yesterday
Stuff I Learned Yesterday is a podcast that aims to encourage, inspire, challenge, motivate, and improve the lives of those who listen to it. Stuff I Learned Yesterday is released each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each episode ranges from 5-15 minutes long and contain short stories based on real events and lessons learned by the hosts. Friday episodes are called the Friday Forum and are filled with inspirational and motivational thoughts submitted by Stuff I Learned Yesterday listeners. Submit your story for a Friday Forum episode by calling 304-837-2278, visiting our feedback page, or click on the Send a Voice Message button on the left hand side of this page.
576- Get to Work
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When I was 5 years old my parents bought me a Mighty Tonka Off Road Adventure Buggy. The Tonka Adventure buggy looked something like a Ford Bronco of the era. It was about 14 inches long and about 8 inches high with large wheels. It was great for playing in the dirt, and turned my backyard into an off road race track. I’d stand behind the Tonka, lean down and put my hands on top of it, and push it while running laps around the yard. In my mind I was at the wheel of a life-sized 4×4. It’s my first memory of loving a car. Read More…
575- Objects Not to Scale
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Tucked away at The Factory at Franklin sitting at the table farthest from the door, there I sat listening to Cliff talk about goals and limiting beliefs. After teaching on these topics for a while he instructed us to turn to a blank page in our workbook and number it 1 through 25 down the left hand side of the page. He then gave us 10 or 15 minutes to fill out all 25 places with things that we wanted in our life 5-10 years from now.
Last week I asked you to perform this exercise, except I only asked you to come up with 20 things. How did it go? If you were like me, you came charging out of the gate like a racehorse at the Kentucky derby, only to run out of steam when I came to the back stretch. In this exercise, I only came up with 11 things. Here they are: Read More…
574- No Limits
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In March of this year I brought back Stuff I Learned yesterday after being on hiatus for over 4 years. I had a burning desire to share the story arc that comprised all of last season. For some of you that listened to the original run of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, several of the stories shared last season were familiar because I’d shared them in some capacity on previous episodes of SILY. I shared them again and in more detail because I felt it was important to tell the whole story as an arc.
This season will be taking a similar approach in format. That is, the entire season is one continuous story, with each episode being a story within the larger story. Last season was titled, “The Dream,” and this season is called, “The Car.” Read More…
573- Community Feedback for “The Dream”
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When I first had the idea for what would eventually become last season’s episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, it wasn’t so I could share the story on SILY. What is now collectively known as “The Dream” season of Stuff I Learned Yesterday started as a yearning to share my story from the stage. In the fall of 2018 I attended a conference called Free the Dream which you’ll hear more about starting with the new season next week. After that conference I felt compelled to share my story and inquired about the possibility of being a speaker at the next year’s conference. However, I was not approved to be a speaker for that conference. Read More…
572- Let’s Get Dangerous
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As I mentioned last week, I just started my ninth year as a full-time entrepreneur. I also said that it wasn’t my dream until it was my dream. We’ve spent this entire season looking at my dreams. We started when I was in high school and visited several dreams along the way. So how about you? What’s your dream? I’m serious I want to know. Not sure? Hit the pause button and give it some thought. If you can, close your eyes, clear your mind. Allow your mind to wander and think. Don’t restrict yourself. Don’t tell yourself anything is too silly or too big. Don’t say you’re not smart enough or you don’t have…whatever. Don’t shut yourself down. This is a judgement free exercise, and that means no judging yourself. I mean it. NO JUDGING! Now, hit that pause button and let your mind wander until you’re uncomfortable, and then wander some more. I’ll wait. When you’re ready, hit play. Read More…
571- Uncle Rico Doesn’t Live Here
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Eight weeks have passed since we started this season. The name of that first episode was called Birth of a Dream. That dream was to one day be an animator for Warner Brothers. I then killed that dream and then had no dream for the next few years. Then, after working at the bookstore long enough to see all the opportunities, I dreamed of becoming a buyer within that company. A few years later, I achieved that dream, only to have it smashed when I was fired from it 18 months later. Read More…
570- Counsel of the Wise
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“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors they succeed.” Those are the words of the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, son of David, celebrated king of Israel.
Once I started working with TV talk, it became clear pretty quickly that I was finally on the path of leaving the corporate world. In fact, just 6 months after I first started working with TV Talk, I turned in my resignation. That’s right, I got to leave on my terms. Handing my boss a resignation letter felt so good and so right. But that’s not the focus of today’s story. Read More…
569- The Spark of a New Dream
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When I started working at the bookstore as a part time cashier in the fall of 1994, I considered it to be a good job that would help me pay my way through college. After I dropped out of college, I put all my focus toward excelling at the bookstore so that I could get as much experience as possible until I figured out what I wanted to be now that I was growing up. At some point along the journey, I realized that the bookstore was a great place to make a career. Read More…
568- Forgiving the Unrepentant
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Internet Sales Manager. That was the title my boss gave me as I started this new adventure. Technically, he asked what title I wanted, and said that he was thinking about Internet Sales Manager. Since I really don’t care much about job titles as long as they don’t contain the word “waiting” in them, so it sounded good to me. This job turned out to be one of my best adventures so far. Looking back on it now, it prepared me for my current phase of life more than I ever could have imagined. But–spoiler alert– I didn’t imagine then that I’d be doing what I’m doing now. Read More…
567- Forged by Failure
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Last week I ended the episode with me FINALLY landing what was my dream job at that time: a buying position within the company I was working for. My first day on the job was preparing for a business trip to our industry’s annual conference taking place the following week. My new assistant got me up to speed, and out the door I went. The new team I was working with was enjoyable. My assistant was very knowledgeable and really delightful to work with. The other junior buyer in our department was amazing. I’d known him for a number of years and he was a rock star. In fact, he was the guy that got the buying position I mentioned last week. He was a couple of years younger than me, but had a reputation throughout the company for being smart, analytical, humble, and a hard worker. The senior buyer was…different. I was used to working for bosses that took the work seriously, aimed to perform at the highest level, but still had a way of being very personable. This new boss did not have any of that last attribute. He was aloof and quiet. There were days where the only thing he’d say to me was hello and goodbye.