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.
86- Street View Vs. Porch View
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It’s been exactly 30 episodes since the last time I talked about my flower beds. When I first mentioned my flower beds and my neighbor with the green thumb back in episode 31, I mentioned that I was committed to the hard work and dedication it would take to keeping the plants alive and making sure the flower beds were more beautiful than they’d ever been.
It’s been nearly 3 months since I recorded that episode and I’m happy to report that not only do the flower beds look better than they ever have, I continue to learn new stuff through the process of keeping the beds looking good. Before I get into today’s story I want to let you know that some of you have asked to see pictures of my flower beds. Now, they still aren’t going to win any yard of the month club awards, but you can see a picture of my yard by going over to the website and checking out the featured image for this episode. Again, this is episode 86 of Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
I’m really enjoying taking care of my flowers. I still don’t like the planting part, but the rest of it has become quite enjoyable. I go out to look at them 4 or 5 times a day and see how they’re doing. When we started the project at back in April, we had 2 plants in our 2 flower beds. We now have about 65 plants. We’ve had 3 or 4 die along the way. I bought a few new plants last week, and before I planted some of them I tracked the sun pattern over a 7 hour period before choosing the spot I thought would be best. Obsessive? Maybe. But those plants are looking good! Read More…
85- Friday Forum
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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I’ve never traveled outside of the US but hope to do so one day, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum.
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Friday Forum
Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Mark and Karen. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More…
84- Thinking of My Future Self
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I love my job. As you know, I left my job of nearly 19 years in May of 2013 so that I could become an entrepreneur. I had the dream of making a career out of podcasting and it’s been a great first year. I’ve acquired several new clients over the last year, and I’ve been privileged to help a lot of people start or improve their podcast.
It’s fun to think about the relationships I’ve formed, especially when I think about the fact that most of my clients were complete strangers to me this time last year. I wonder who I’ll be working with this time next year? Just the thought of all the opportunities heading my way and people who will be a part of it really excites me.
One of my clients is Zac Johnson. Zac is one of those guys who realized at a very young age that he would be an entrepreneur. He’s been in business for himself since he was in high school and has achieved a lot of success. Zac is now 18 episodes into his podcast, Rise of the Entrepreneur. In each episode of Rise of the Entrepreneur Zac interviews other entrepreneurs and talks to them about their successes and failures, the stuff they learned the hard way, the new projects they’re working on, and picks their brains for advice that other entrepreneurs would find beneficial. You can check out Zac’s blog and podcast at ZacJohnson.com. By the way, this is not intended to be a commercial for Zac. Zac doesn’t even know I’m talking about him today.
At the end of each episode of Rise of the Entrepreneur Zac gives an inspirational quote to help motivate and inspire his audience. As I was editing episode 18, his closing quote really hit me, and it inspired this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday.
The quote is, “Go do something today that your future self will thank you for.” Read More…
83- The Question That Rocked My World
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Have you ever had someone ask you question that rocked your world? I have. I was asked a simple question by a guy I had never met before and it changed my life.
Several years ago I had a job that just wasn’t working out for me. There wasn’t anything wrong with the company, the people I worked with or even the job itself. It just wasn’t a good fit for me. I had been looking for a way out but didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So, I hung on to that job a lot longer than I probably should have.
Then I was asked the question. The question was in a book. The question changed my life forever. Read More…
82- The Rhythm is Going to Get You
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I mentioned in a previous episode that I sing and play guitar at my church. What I didn’t tell you is that I’m the worship leader and I’m, shall we say, rhythmically challenged. Most of the time I’m fine. That’s not to say that I alway keep in rhythm. I don’t. I have a tendency to speed up as a song goes on. I have to really focus to keep from speeding up the tempo.
However, speeding up the tempo isn’t usually that big of a deal. The band sticks with me and we all stay together. The drummer has worked with me in rehearsals to help me more aware of my tempo during the entire song and I don’t really ever get so fast that it’s hard to sing along, it’s just faster than it was when we started.
If gradually getting faster as songs progress was my only problem, I probably wouldn’t bother telling you about it. After all, it’s a problem that most people won’t notice. My bigger problem is that I will flat out lose my rhythm from time to time. That is, I’ll be strumming along, playing a song that I’ve done a hundred times before and add in a extra beat or even skip a beat. When I make this type of mistake, it’s noticeable by everyone. We’re all off. Well, actually, the band and the congregation are together, but the guy singing into the microphone and leading everyone is off.
When this happens it creates an awkward moment. I instantly realize what I’ve done, of course, and try to figure out how to get back on track. I think what normally happens is that once the odd beat has passed, I’m back on the normal rhythm and the band and congregation just have to sync back up with me. This process usually takes a couple of seconds. Then we’re all back together and the awkward moment is behind us. Read More…
81- Lessons From the Links
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I played golf over the weekend. You might be impressed to hear that I shot a 68. You might be less impressed to hear that that is just my score for the first 9 holes. In case you don’t really know that much about golf, professional golfers will easily score below 68 for an entire round of 18 holes. Unfortunately for me, golf is one of those sports where a higher score is better.
I really enjoy playing golf, but I am also really terrible at it. I hate that it’s so expensive to play, and I’d play more often if it didn’t cost so much. In fact, it had been about 2 years since the last time I’d played a round of golf.
I typically play with my dad and brother. Before we ever approach the first hole it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that my dad and brother will be competing for the top spot and I will claiming third place. That was certainly the case this weekend. After the first hole I was down by 3 or 4 strokes and that was the closest I would come to the lead all day. Since I know that I’m terrible at it, I adjust my expectations accordingly.
If you’ve listened to the previous episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, then you should be very aware that I am not athletically gifted. You may think that golfing is not an athletic activity, but I believe it is. At the very least, it requires having good eye-hand coordination, and that’s usually a problem for me.
I have no expectation that I will hit a shot that Tiger Woods would be proud of. I don’t even have an expectation that I will hit a shot that Happy Gilmore would be proud of. My expectations are simple: have fun, do my best, and try to improve as the round progresses. Because I know I can’t really compete with my dad and brother, my competition is with myself.
This competition may seem false or insignificant, but it’s enough to push me to do my best and cause me frustration when I fail to achieve my goal. My dad and brother are both very encouraging when I hit a bad shot or a good shot, and they give me pointers along the way. Read More…
80- Friday Forum
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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my favorite Dum Dum flavor is root beer, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum.
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Friday Forum
Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Doug and Coop. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More…
79- The Declaration of Independence
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When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. Read More…
78- Staying in the Same Place
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Just last week I was at my favorite coffee shop. I ordered my usual cup of black coffee and sat down at my favorite table to get some work done. At the table next to me there were two men enjoying coffee and chatting away. One of the guys was younger and one was a little older, perhaps a father son relationship, I don’t really know, but it was clear that the older one was a sort of mentor or teacher to the younger one.
I am an expert at working in noisy, busy environments, I can tune out everything going on around me. You could let the zoo loose inside the coffee shop and I wouldn’t even know it. And that is exactly what I did on this day, tuned the world out to focus on my work.
I can’t even tell you what the two men were talking about, I was focused on my work. But out of nowhere I just happened to clearly hear one sentence that the older man said in response to something the younger man had said. It was such a simple thing, but it really caught my attention and I have been thinking about it ever since. Read more…
77- Three Ingredients For Ignition
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Are you ready for a lesson on auto repair troubleshooting? Good. There are 3 things required to make an engine operate: air, fuel, and spark. These three things not only have to be present, but they have to be combined in just the right way at just the right time. If you have just 2 of them, you get to call a cab, hop on a bike, or take off walking.
Last Saturday the kids and I hopped into my car to go grab some PVC pipe from the hardware store, but my car wouldn’t start. It had given me some trouble the week before, but after a couple of attempts at starting it, it fired up. However, on Saturday, it was a different story.
While I knew the car was not out of fuel, my first thought was that fuel was not getting into the combustion chamber. The likely candidates would be the fuel filter, or the fuel pump. Since the fuel pump is located inside the gas tank on my car, replacing it would require removing the gas tank and mess of other things that are beyond my ability to do myself. So I decided to start with replacing the fuel filter. However, before I headed off to the auto parts store, I decided to give it one more chance to start. It didn’t start up, but I noticed something new.
Now as I tried to start it, I could smell fuel. This meant that I was wrong. Fuel was making it to the combustion chamber, so one of the other two ingredients must have been missing. It seemed very unlikely that it was an issue of getting air into the motor or that the motor was losing compression. It was more likely an issue of not getting spark.
Now it was about this time that my son had decided that he wanted to watch me work on the car. As is the case with most 9 year olds, he’s very inquisitive. He wanted to know what was wrong and how I was able to figure it out. I told him all the stuff I just told you. Since he was just in time to help me troubleshoot the electrical system, I let him help me out. Read More…