One of the reasons I love being married is that I don't have to play the dating game anymore. I won. However, there was a time when I thought I would die alone and wrinkly. As a rehabilitated "nice guy" I'm here to offer some hope for anyone stuck in the dating morass. Nice Guy Syndrome First, some quick background. I grew up with military parents, strict discipline, attended church and was raised to be chivalrous. You know, holding doors, pulling out chairs and all that - a modern … [Read more...]
June 20, 2012 By 21 Comments
5 Delivery Room Survival Rules For Dads
My blogging buddy and mentor Michelle Shaeffer told me about this great, free site called Piktochart that enables non-PhotoShop mortals like me to generate cool infographics. An infographic is a graphical representation of information in a highly-visible, easily digestible format. Given that we're about to have our third child, I thought I'd share five rules to help expectant dads survive and navigate the newborn experience. With that, here's the world premiere of my first infographic … [Read more...]
June 12, 2012 By 25 Comments
Me, Myself and Lies
I like to think that I'm an honest person. Unfortunately, that's not completely the case . How Do I Lie to Me, Let Me Count the Ways... Don't misunderstand me. I've never perjured myself on the witness stand. I've never lied to the IRS. I've never lied about using performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. Yet it seems that most of my lying I do - I do to myself. Selective Attention For instance, when I'm late to a meeting I'll ignore my tardiness and tell myself that the … [Read more...]
May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Winners Announced!
Last week I gave away five copies of Michael Hyatt's great new book titled Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World. It's a great resource for anyone who has something they want to share, sell or say. Each of the winners was randomly selected from anyone who tweeted and then shared the respective daily post last week. Those winners are: Patricia Neiger Kimber Vanry Shawn Snyder Ken Hagerman Kevin Haggerty Congratulations to each winner and thanks to everyone who … [Read more...]
May 16, 2012 By 6 Comments
12 Marathons in 12 Months for Wounded Soliders
I've known Eddy Horn for about 5 years, but we didn't become friends until he and I started training for my first full marathon back in 2009. This photo shows him and me after we finished that race together in the pouring rain. We've since run a couple of races together, but he has gotten much faster than me and I can't keep up with his pace. Additionally, the number of full 26.2 mile races he's completed thus far is climbing through the teens while I'm lagging with six under my … [Read more...]
April 24, 2012 By 12 Comments
Is Facebook a Better Parent Than You???
Many people use Facebook to stay in touch with out-of-state family members. For instance, some folks think it's cute to let there kids, who are younger than Facebook's required mimimum age of 13 years old, have a page to communicate back and forth with grandparents. And that's fine if a parent is monitoring the content and establishing appropriate parental blocks. I'm not telling people how to raise their kids, but I will raise awareness regarding some startling Facebook statistics that … [Read more...]
April 6, 2012 By 12 Comments
Our Words Can Rise or Ruin….
Parents often remind kids that, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." That's a great little saying because it rhymes and comes off as conveying profundity - but it's a lie. Name calling and hurtful words can do considerable damage. While words may not actually break a bone, they most certainly can crush a heart, end a relationship or start a war. Words have world-changing power. Unfortunately, people take the power and impact of their words for … [Read more...]
February 24, 2012 By 8 Comments
Fighting the Urgent and Unimportant….
When was the last time you went an entire day, not having to speak to anyone or spent an extended amount of time in self-imposed isolation? Personally, I can’t remember ever going a 24-hour period without talking to another person. While I’m a professional communicator and a natural chatterbox at heart, I think the issue goes deeper. The truth is that the demands of our western society require us to engage with others whether we want to or not. I only raise the question of solitude … [Read more...]
February 15, 2012 By 6 Comments
There Absolutely Are Absolute Truths…
Situational ethics and cultural relativism are all the rage nowadays. Both schools of thought are based on the multi-faceted premise that there is no absolute truth; nothing is fundamentally right or wrong but is merely a matter of personal preferences and our conduct should be driven by each unique situation rather than some arbitrary forced moral code. We’ve all heard the popular statement and current buzz phrase, “Every person needs to define right and wrong for him or … [Read more...]
