Every closing of a year we all make a goal or 10 that we will change to make our lives better.  Changes start with a realistic gut check of where you are, then it takes the courage to act to make things happen! This is a great visual to meditate on for the beginning of a new year! Have a great time tonight and please be safe!

Happy New Year!

If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least I bring you hope
For nothing is more precious
Than the time we have and so
We all must learn from small misfortune
Count the blessings that are real
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
At the closing of the year
Let the bells ring out for Christmas
At the closing of the year.

If I cannot bring you comfort
Then at least I bring you hope.

Now all the winter bells are ringing
Hear them echo through the snow
And the children’s voices singing
on the streets so far below

This is a time to be together
And the truth is somewhere here
Within our love of people
At the closing of the year.

Today we lost a great leader of wisdom in life and business, Zig Ziglar.  If you haven’t listened to his messages or read his books you are missing out. Rest in Peace Mr. Ziglar

“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”

A brilliant short talk on the science of happiness.  What I loved is not only did he outline why we are happy, but also how to increase our happiness using easy techniques.  If we had a consistent positive mindset how much more efficient would we be? How much more creative could you be?

“90% of your long term happiness is predicted not by the external world but by the way your brain processes happiness”

We must start acting like the change we want to see in the world. Set the example

Thought provoking message worth meditating on from an amazing lecture from the late Alan Watts.

“better to have a short life doing what you’d like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way”

A long time ago my cousin Wade gave a message to a group of us camp counselors (that deeply changed my life) to CHOOSE JOY vs. looking for happiness. Do you know the difference? Happiness can be affected. It can rain. You can not get that promotion. OR MY FAVORITE…Your team can lose. Always amazes me the tone people let things take on their lives. BUT JOY! Joy is an attitude! A mindset. Did you know that? To choose joy means taking control of your mind and heart rather than let other things dictate your life’s experience. Yes bad things do happen. Let downs are inevitable. And yes that does suck! I’m not saying it doesn’t. But choosing joy lets you make the best of your time here, remember not another minute is promised or guaranteed.

These days we’re moving fast and filtering one hundred times the information a day people were twenty years ago. Us Amerrrricans are buyers. We like our stuff. More vacations, bigger faster sexier homes, cars, phones, and tv’s. And no matter who I meet and what they have they usually are pretty much always looking for that next thing to make them happy. I myself am twice as guilty of this as anybody. Nice things are nice. Absolutely. But no matter what we have or don’t, do for a job or still waiting to… Choose Joy.

Positivity is contagious. Disagree? Did the video not put a smile on your face? Choose Joy my friends.

Words can’t express how much respect I have for the what Andrew Zuckerman has to say in this video interview series on photography and creativity. A must for all creatives. Also, if you aren’t familiar with his work….you’re missing out! One of my top 10 photographers.

“How are you supposed to live a life where you are bound by a teeny little category? If you can allow yourself to not be bound to be part of the medium your working in, especially now,  there’s more of a possibility of you creating things and finding satisfaction in what your doing”

“Not Working is bad for creative people. Creativity is transformation. Any sort of transformation in your life, in your day, is part of your life is part of your creative life….your work is your life”

Wisdom of the Day: You might want to figure out who you are fighting and what are you really fighting about BEFORE you start swinging, physically-emotionally-or legally. Cheers!

There are few people that impress me as much as Tom Ford. The man is a design genius. At 30 he took over Gucci when it was on the serious decline and not only designed the fashion lines but also the advertising and even the stores!  I posted this video about him because A. I feel it is so important to study talented people outside your profession, (Like photography)  and B. Because even he says in this video that he feels his success has come from his work ethic! (NOT AMAZING NATURAL TALENT, which he has)

“My creative drive is an obsession, perfectionism is almost an illness with me….you can only control so much you just have to let go, you’re not really in control of anything, of life, the older I get I learn that”

“Do things first and then talk about them”

Ford remains on my top 20 people to photograph their portrait.

Ask my parents, brothers, or childhood friends and they will tell you I was nuts about LEGO’s growing up! So when I found this video about the history of the company you can imagine my excitement. When I was a kid I was pretty sickly….like in and out of hospitals all the time sickly. So my parents would buy me lego’s to play with since I was often pretty limited to what I could do! Confession: I still can’t help but look at what LEGO’s are out when I go to stores that have them. I can’t wait to play with them with my kids…some day.

As a business owner and entrepreneur I can certainly relate to the ups and downs of the founding family that started this great company. Lego fan or not it’s definitely worth a watch! Great story of perseverance and business strategy!

Were you a fan of LEGO’s? Still are?