October Recap

In case you missed a post or two this month, here’s a quick recap of what I wrote about during the month of October:

Questions I Asked –

 

Is Maury C. Moose and The Basketball ChamPUNship Now Available? – Yes!

Why do we say ‘boo’ on Halloween? – I am not sure if there were Halloween decorations in the year 1515, but if there were, they very well could have featured the word boo.

Things We Learned –

I Have Many Reasons To Say Thank You! – Here’s one in particular.

The One Thing Happy People Do Differently – Guess what? You can do it too.

How To Get Some Luck On Friday The 13th – Spoiler alert: these things work on days other than Friday the 13th.

You Need To Understand You Don’t Understand – Confusing, right? Read the post and it will make more sense.

It Is Not About Brushing Your Teeth Today – Check out a lesson I learned right before I went to the dentist.

Fun With Numbers –

3 Indispensable Virtues That Make Teams Successful – Many times, I will read something online and immediately think, “that was great, I wish I wrote it.” I may not have written it, but I can still share it. Here’s the latest…

5 Good Things – Having a rough week? Feel like there is nothing but negative stories online, on TV and in the newspaper? Looking for a little pick me up? Here are 5 good things going on in our world…and as you’ll notice, this month we have a theme: Sports.

 

It Is Not About Brushing Your Teeth Today

I have a dentist appointment in a few hours and I have something to admit.

I have flossed twice and brushed my teeth three times — all before noon.

It is not like this is a first date and I want to make sure I don’t have anything embarrassing in my teeth. I am not trying to impress the dental hygienist with my minty fresh breathe.

I know it is silly. They are going to clean my teeth professionally, so if there is ever a day to not brush, today would be it.

But here I am brushing and flossing right up until the minute I leave for the appointment. Deep down I know that if there is something wrong with my teeth, it will be exposed. I won’t be able to hide it from the dentist this late in the game. But that doesn’t stop me from thinking I can make things great at the last minute.

How many of us do that with our writing? We go days without practice and then on the eve of a big presentation or book pitch, we cram like crazy. We think we can make up for lost time at the last minute.

But much like my teeth, no matter how much we work on it at the 11th hour, it won’t make the difference we am looking for.

It is not about brushing my teeth today. That should have started long ago.

3 Indispensable Virtues That Make Teams Successful

Many times, I will read something online and immediately think, “that was great, I wish I wrote it.” I may not have written it, but I can still share it. Here’s the latest…

3 Indispensable Virtues That Make Teams Successful by Dan Schawbel

I think this is the first interview in “I Wish I Wrote It” history. This article features an interview with author Patrick Lencioni. There are two reasons why I was drawn to it. 1) It has a great title. 2) the second question Schawbel asks: “What types of people does every team need and how do you find these people?”

This is a great question and Lencioni has an equally great answer. Check it out here.

5 Good Things

Having a rough week? Feel like there is nothing but negative stories online, on TV and in the newspaper? Looking for a little pick me up?

Here are 5 good things going on in our world…and as you’ll notice, this month we have a theme: Sports. These days, between protests, violence and dumb decisions, sports get a bad rap. But there is actually a lot of good going on in the sports world. Let’s take a look at 5 examples…

1. Eagles player Chris Long donating the rest of his season’s salary to charity – Long is putting his entire $1 million base salary behind his belief that education opens doors for all Americans. He is donating his final 10 game checks from this season to organizations supporting educational equity and opportunity in Philadelphia as well as Boston and St. Louis, where he previously played with the Patriots and Rams.
2. Pro Hockey Player Purchases Suite So That Underprivileged Children Can Attend Games -The Montreal Canadiens announced on Wednesday that Jonathan Drouin has partnered with the Canadiens Children’s Foundation to host less fortunate children at a Bell Centre suite for Habs games.Drouin is making a personal annual contribution of $165,000 for the suite, which will bear the name “Jo et ses champions” (Jo and his champions).
3. Oakland A’s answer young wildfire victim’s letter in person – Loren Smith, 9, of Santa Rosa lost his home and his cherished collection of baseball cards and memorabilia. Teams from around the country are coming together to help replace what he lost.
4. Oklahoma football team lets opponent in wheelchair score touchdown – An Oklahoma high school football team rallied around a player on the opponent team, who was in a wheelchair, and let him score a touchdown.
5. New York Islanders ‘recruit’ boy with cancer, making his ‘dream come true’ -A little boy from New York had his wish granted Tuesday after he got to spend the day practicing and hanging out with his favorite hockey team, the New York Islanders.Brandon Bloom, 8, of South Setauket, on Long Island, became an NHL athlete for a day.

Thank You!

Four years ago, Maury C. Moose was brought to life thanks to the generosity of 89 amazing people.

When I was first looking to create a children’s book about a moose with a punny name, I realized one thing very quickly…I needed help. I didn’t know what I was doing or how I would actually make this book a reality. I turned to Kickstarter and simply spoke from the heart.

I explained my idea, my struggle and how I could use some help. I clicked submit on the Kickstarter page and was scared to death. What if people didn’t like my idea? What if they didn’t like me? Would my dreams of writing a book be destroyed before they even started?

What happened next was amazing…

I got my first backer (shout out to Will & Julie Heher). Then I got another one. And another one. Maury C. Moose was becoming a reality right before my eyes.

On October 23, 2013 my Kickstarter campaign ended and I raised $5,725. All thanks to 89 amazing people. 

Four years later, I have turned my small idea into a children’s book series with 4 stories and dozens of ideas for what Maury can do next. I am so excited for the future of Maury and if you are one of the 89 Kickstarter backers (or anyone else who has joined along the way), I have one thing to say…

THANK YOU!

The One Thing Happy People Do Differently

Have you ever noticed that some memories are just more powerful than others? More often than not, these memories are negative.

Why is that? And what can we do about it?

To find the answers to those questions and more check out this article I wrote for Fulfillment Daily. It takes a science-based look the one thing happy people do differently, and how we can apply that mindset to our lives.

The One Thing Happy People Do Differently – Fulfillment Daily

Why do we say ‘boo’ on Halloween?

I am not sure if there were Halloween decorations in the year 1515, but if there were, they very well could have featured the word boo.

Boo, and the variations “bo” or “boh,” date back to around 500 years ago. The word is of Scottish origin but some trace it to a Greek word that meant “to cry aloud, roar or shout.”

In the 18th century, booing began being used as a sound of displeasure, as Italian opera fans were often called boo birds when they did not enjoy a show. According to linguists, the word is such a great word to show discontent “because ‘ooh’ or ‘oh’ sounds can be pronounced at a higher volume than other vowel sounds, such as the ‘ee’ in ‘wheel.’ Since boo is a monosyllable, it can also be said very quickly, which may add to its scariness.”

So let’s recap…the word boo is based on a Greek word that means to roar & it is easy to say loudly and at a rapid pace. A loud & fast road. Seems like the perfect scary word for Halloween.

But not everyone agrees. In Spain, they say “uuh” to scare somebody. In France it’s “hou” and in Czech it’s “baf.”

Luck on Friday the 13th

Looking for some extra luck since today is Friday the 13th? Click here to read the post I wrote for Fulfillment Daily about 4 secrets to getting lucky. I think you will especially like secret #2.

40% Off Sale

To celebrate the release of the latest book, I would like to offer a special 40% off sale for books #2 & #3 in the Maury C. Moose Children’s Book Series. For one week only, you can get Maury C. Moose and The Facebrook or Maury C. Moose and The Ninja Worrier for just $6 on Amazon.

Click here to buy Maury C. Moose and The Facebrook

Click here to buy Maury C. Moose and The Ninja Worrier

Or, if you already have both of those, click here to get the brand new book — Maury C. Moose and the Basketball ChamPUNship.

The sale will last until 11:59pm PT on Monday, October 16th.

Understand You Don’t Understand

A third grade math teacher understands that his students do not understand complex long division of the first day of school. This knowledge helps the teacher and student succeed.

A football coach understands that his rookie quarterback does not understand the play book on the first day of training camp. Without this awareness the coach and player would fail.

Taylor Swift understands that not every music listener will understand her hit songs. This understanding allows her to tune out the critics.

It is not difficult to look and see what others do not understand. We see their past experience and we are able to recognize what they know and what they don’t know.

It is easy to see it in others, but how many of us understand what we do not understand?

We think we need to know everything and we hate to admit that we do not know something. We get in trouble when we do not understand that we do not understand.

When I started writing a book a few years ago, I didn’t understand what it took to publish a book. It took me quite a while to admit that. Only when I fully understood that I was lost, was I able to look for help.

We are powerless if we think we already know everything. A coach or a teacher is more powerful with the knowledge that his player or student needs teaching. This allows the coach/teacher to tailor a program to get the pupil on the right track.

The same goes for us when we are both the coach and the player.

It is okay to not understand. We aren’t experts on day one. Understanding that we don’t understand is the first step on the road to improvement.