Determination

As I woke up this morning I was content in the thought of not moving, and I was not feeling very determined to start the day or for that matter any of the rest of the week. There is so much to be done at work, so much shopping to complete before the holidays; my household chores have been neglected, and my children have several activities that I must attend. With all these thoughts weighing on my mind, I felt myself getting weaker and less determined to move from the warm happy spot I was in and then I remembered a quote a good friend once said to me:

"Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen." - Horace Mann

Thinking of these words helped me slowly redirect my thought process to make those thoughts part of my daily to-do-list so I could have the determination to get as many things checked off my list today as possible. So my first lesson to myself today was to get out of bed and start the day with the determination I needed to make things happen for myself. Each item I cross of the list today will be a small accomplishment that at the end of the day I can look back on and realize who I am through what I have done.

Teammates Mentoring Program

Scott Frost, Wide receivers coach for U. of Oregon

Teammates is a mentoring program started by Tom and Nancy Osborne in 1991 that aims to provide support and encouragement to school aged youth, and after meeting Tom Osbourne at a Teammates fundraiser a few years ago, I decided I wanted to sign up as volunteer.

A couple of years passed and I still had not signed up. Well, a couple of months ago a friend of mine nominated me to be a mentor. Teammates contacted me, but again I failed to sign up.

I had every excuse in the book. What could I teach a kid? I don’t even have kids of my own. Why would they want me to mentor them? The only person I mentor is my dog Oscar. I am too busy and my work schedule varies.

Then I read an article about former Husker Scott Frost. Reading this changed everything and made me jump off the fence. Click here to read the article.

If you would like more information please contact Chris Bauer at 402-510-1300.

It's Raining Pink

Every October it "rains" pink all across the United States because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. This year I joined up with my sister (who is an eleven year breast cancer survivor) and her friends from Tennessee and we participated in the three day walk in Atlanta, Georgia.

To describe this experience is difficult because it is so personal and heartfelt - and every year is more special than the last. As I was walking through Atlanta's convention center where all 3000 of us participants were staying, I found it amazing that for three days, there were 3000 different personalities, and yet we all co-existed with no problems, there were no fights, everyone was happy to be there and you could just feel the love and caring!! Seems like such a simple process. I wonder why this doesn't work on a day-to-day basis in real-life situations?

Cheapest Decorating Tip with Biggest Impact

Paint is the best way to decorate on a budget. Let's continue painting, but move to the walls. But let's go a step beyond just painting the walls. Let's paint wall designs!

My husband and I just completed painting our basement family room. It had a been a dark green flat paint, and it made the basement feel like a dungeon. We chose a lighter eggshell paint and wow! What a difference. But I decided to take it a step further and paint some designs. I will post pictures in an upcoming post. But for now, let's take a look at some of the possibilities.

Tools needed: A level, tape measure, pencil and blue painter's tape... and a calculator if you're not very good with math. The rest is up to your imagination. Take a look at some of these colorful ideas.

Happy Painting!

Risk

I know this is not the kind of advice that I should be giving, but I will give it anyway: Go to work today and quit your job. You are thinking, "What?" You heard me. Go into work and tell your boss you quit.

Have I fallen off my rocker? No, I have not. I think that we should all be self-employed. Not only that, I think you should take the greatest possible risk you can find. People who make a lot of money look for business opportunities with a great amount of risk. Truly the time to start a business is when you are younger; the older you get the less time you have to make up for a big business loss. Here are some tips for what you should do when you start your own business:

• Get married. Studies show that married people are happier.
• Learn to live off of just one income not both of yours and your spouses.
• Work for someone else in the business you are going to start before owning one. For example if you want to start a pizza business, go to work as the manager of a pizza business.
• Cut your living expenses to the bone.
• Rent don't own, try to find a landlord that will agree not to raise the rent or sell the house you are living in
• Find a business that you love to do.
• Build up a cash savings. You will need a down payment for the business.
• Educate yourself about the business. Read everything you can.
• Talk to a lot of people who have done what you are planning to do.
• Develop mentors that you can bounce ideas off of.
• Surround yourself with like-minded people.
• Develop a support group of people that you can go to in confidence with your problems.
• Read the book E Myth.
• Take some accounting classes.
• Hire a really good CPA.

Nebraska 34, Ohio State 27

Attribution: Bobak Ha'Eri - Wikipedia

As some of you know I am a huge Nebraska football fan. I attended the Ohio State game with my 12 yr old son, Alex.We both were very confident that Nebraska would win. Well, as the game unfolded it was Ohio St. that was running right through our defense.We could not contain their pass either as they took a 20-6 lead going in at halftime. Fans booed the Huskers as they made their way to the locker oom.

As the second half started, Nebraska went three and out and Ohio State took their opening drive in for another touchdown to make it 27-6. Nebraska stalls again and Ohio St has the ball back. At this point I thought we were dead. Nothing was going right and I turned to Alex and told him "this is going to be a blowout just like Wisconsin."

Then all the sudden Ohio State fumbles.Nebraska's ball and I am about to witness something I have never seen in my 35 years of attending Nebraska football games. They score in two plays and then stop Ohio State cold, and then they score again with a long pass. Now it's 27-20 and the crowd is really loud. We hold them again and drive down and score another touchdown to tie the game 27-27. Nebraska then intercepts an Ohio State pass and proceeds to score its fourth consecutive touchdown to win 34-27! And they recorded the largest comeback win in the history of Nebraska football!

Why am I telling you this? Well we can all take something from this and that is never ever give up and always stay persistent. Nebraska needed a spark and got it with that fumble which then resulted in avalanche of touchdowns to seal the win. So when things are not going your way, when you feel like quiting just think about the cool damp Saturday evening in Lincoln, Ne. when our beloved Cornhuskers decided not to pack it in but to keep fighting, even when the score was 27-6.

Acting

"However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do if you do not act upon them?" - Buddha

One thing many people seem to remember about Landmark Group and Dino's Storage is that we are the ones with "those boards." We put biblical quotes on our reader boards at every Dino's Storage location and on the Landmark Group board, often offering advice to live by, lessons to remember or warnings for those who stray.

Every morning when I drive into work, I see the message on the reader board and think for a moment about the words it's sharing, but that is not enough. Contemplating these words is one thing, but doing them is another step entirely - much like many things in life. Like Buddha said, what good are these words if we don't act upon them? Why even spread the messages if that's as far as they get?