Tag Archives: appreciation

“Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.”

Tonight was the opening event of our Spring Board Conference at UVU where I serve as Chairman of the National Advisory Board for the business school. We have our board conferences twice a year, once in the Fall and once in the Spring, and it takes a lot of work to get ready for them […]

Maybe They Really Are Using You. Do Good Anyway.

I’m sure I’ve probably posted this particular poem before, but it kept going through my mind today and given that I always try to let my blog reflect something I learned that day I decided to share it again: ANYWAY People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people […]

Every Song Begins With A Blank Page

“Every song begins with a blank page.” – Pasek & Paul This evening I had the incredible opportunity to go and hear Pasek & Paul, songwriters of The Greatest Showman movie, speak and perform at Utah Valley University ( UVU ).  Now I was a HUGE fan of The Greatest Showman movie and soundtrack already, […]

We Can’t Control The Filters That Others Choose When They Look At Us

“We can’t control the filters that others choose when they look at us.” –Rachel Wolchin In the teenage years we tend to put tremendous focus on what others think of us and we often allow our self-worth to become dictated by what others think of us. Whether it’s having the person you like like you […]

Stop Being A Worrier And Start Being A Warrior!

“Stop being a worrier and start being a warrior!” – unknown I lost several weeks of productivity when I was down sick with the flu the last few weeks. It put me so behind on everything that I found myself worrying to no end over how I will possibly catch back up again. and worrying […]

Go Back In Time And Be There For One Of The Greatest Moments In History

Can you imagine what it would be like to go back in time and be there when the Founding Fathers were developing the U.S. Constitution?  How amazing would that be!  Unfortunately, Elon Musk hasn’t yet tackled time travel (although if anyone had the brain power to figure that out it would probably be him!).  But […]

Was It A Bad Day? Or Was It A Bad Five Minutes You Milked All Day

“Was it a bad day? Or was it a bad five minutes you milked all day.”  – unknown Boy that question really hits ya doesn’t it?  Because we’ve all done that before – we’ve had something bad happen during our day and we then allowed it to become the focus of the rest of our […]

Feed A Cold, Starve A Fever, but what the heck are you supposed to do when you have both?!

Forever people have said, “Feed a cold, starve a fever.”  So all I want to know is what the heck you are supposed to do when you have both?! Being sick is the pits! And according to the news there are a whole bunch of people painfully aware of how miserable it is to be […]

Appreciate the Excitement that comes from the Anticipation

We all wish we could have certainty life because it takes the fear out of things if we already know what is going to happen. But last night I was reminded that knowing the ending also takes that excitement and anticipation that comes from not knowing. As much as we think we want to know […]

It’s the things that take the most effort in life that end up meaning the very most

22 years ago today, February 5th , my baby girl Ashley was born. Ashley was as beautiful as any baby could be. You see, most babies come out with their heads looking a bit odd shaped and their faces a little swollen, but not Ashley. That’s because while I was in labor giving birth to her, […]

Just Think Of The Things You Are Glad That You’re Not

When my luck seems all gone, and I’m down in the mouth, When I’m stuck in the north and I want to go south; When the world seems a blank and there’s no one to love, And it seems even God’s not in heaven above. I’ve a cure for my grouch and it works like […]

Maybe We Should Just BE GLAD?!

I sat down at my computer at 9:30am this morning and here it is, now 12:50am at night (technically the next morning) and I am still sitting at my computer in the exact same spot…not a joke, although I wish it was. Today has been one of those crazy hyper-focused days of trying to complete […]

How To Be Perfectly Miserable vs How To Be Perfectly Happy

How To Be Perfectly Miserable Think about yourself, talk about yourself, Use “I” as often as possible, Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others, Listen greedily to what people say about you, Expect to be appreciated, Be suspicious, Be jealous and envious, be sensitive to slights, Never forgive a criticism, trust nobody but yourself, […]

Celebrate the Milestones, Have Balance, and Take Care Of Yourself

Today I met with an entrepreneur who is going through the pains of growing their young business. We talked about all the pains that come with learning to communicate your vision with your team, hiring, training, delegating, prioritizing your time, and all the other struggles that are typical growing pains for entrepreneurs. As I shared […]

Assume The Good And Doubt The Bad

Too often in life we allow ourselves to believe what I refer to as “the monsters in our head” -those negative thoughts that too quickly jump to judgement of ourselves or other people. It’s those thoughts about ourselves where we think we aren’t liked, or we don’t fit in, or that we aren’t good enough, […]

Don’t let the backlog of work ruin this week!

Can I just put it out there that facing the real world after a long holiday is seriously terr-i-fying! Really though…there is far little more daunting then having to actually face up to the fact that for the last month you have completely ignored all your incoming emails, phone calls, most of your paper mail, […]

My Christmas Gift To Each Of You

I wish it was possible to give every single person reading this blog a beautifully wrapped Christmas present from me to you.  It would be impossible for me to put into words how grateful I feel for all of you who take time out of your busy lives to read the things I write in […]

Easier Said Than Done

Today’s post is a guest post from my daughter Ashley. She said if I stayed up late to watch a movie with her tonight she would write a blog for me so here it is: “Buttery Flakey Crust” For those of you who haven’t seen this video of a commercial being made, please take a […]

Be That Star On The Hill #lighttheworld

Every night as I drive home the weeks before Christmas I look up on the hill above my house to see a big star that is lit up on the mountainside. It’s a star a neighbor has lit up for years during the holiday and I look forward to seeing it every night. There is […]

Some Unique Gift Ideas To Help You Give That Perfect Gift

Let’s face it – shopping for the perfect Christmas gift can be STRESSFUL! It’s so hard to find something unique or special to give. My personal feeling is that gifts from the heart are the best kind of gifts, but for those who are looking to buy something fun for their loved one I thought […]

All I Need To Know I Learned From Santa

All I Need To Know I Learned From Santa    (written by unknown) *Encourage people to believe in you. *Always remember who’s naughty and who’s nice. *Don’t pout. *It’s as much fun to give as it is to receive. *Some days it’s ok to feel a little chubby. *Make your presents known. *Always ask for […]

Helpful Holiday Diet Tips and the Tale of My Stolen Toffee

I was so happy today when I saw a pretty blue box of V-Chocolates had been delivered to my office…then I was a LOT LESS happy when I discovered that my two business partners at REES Capital had gotten to the box before I saw it and the two of them had eaten almost all […]

Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart

“Sometimes,’ said Pooh, ‘the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” ― A.A. Milne Such true words spoken in that quote said by Winnie the Pooh. When I think of the things that have really touched my heart the most I think of the smallest things others have done that meant the […]

Being On Time

Much of my life I struggled with being on time to things. I would always pack my schedule a bit too tight and then forget to leave adequate driving time in between appointments and inevitably I would end up racing around yet still arriving five or ten minutes late to everything. Until one day someone pointed […]

My Favorite Thanksgiving Tradition

I grew up in a big family. My parents have ten children and nine of the ten are married currently and all ten of the children have children of their own, and some of those children have children of their own. In fact at present my parents have a total of 70 something children and […]

You’ll never get the same moment twice

“Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you’ll never get the same moment twice.” When my daughter-in-law came to drop off my adorable grandbaby this morning so I could babysit him for her while she went to work and I saw her lugging in the car seat and diaper back and […]

A gift to be treasured

As I shared in yesterday’s post, I was honored to be inducted in the Utah Technology Council (UTC) Hall of Fame last Friday. As part of that the UTC hired a company called Avalanche Studios to go and interview a few of the important people from my life as well as interviewing me and to […]

It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful

“Ordinary happiness depends on happenstance. Joy is that extraordinary happiness that is independent of what happens to us. Good luck can make us happy, but it cannot give us lasting joy. The root of joy is gratefulness. We tend to misunderstand the link between joy and gratefulness. We notice that joyful people are grateful and […]

Only 48 Days Until Christmas – Let The Countdown Begin!

Can you believe there are only 48 days until Christmas??!!  It’s just so exciting!  So because it takes so much work to decorate the house for Christmas and put op our 13 foot tall Christmas tree we decided that from now on we are going to enjoy those decorations as long as possible, which is […]

Have you cheated the man in the glass?

When you get what you want in your struggle for self And the world makes you king for a day, Just go to the mirror and look at yourself  And see what “the man” has to say. For it isn’t your father or mother or wife Whose judgment upon you must pass. The fellow whose […]