Tag Archives: creativity

Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know What Tomorrow May Bring.

I laid down to take a nap after 9am church this morning and stayed asleep until just a few minutes ago (nearly 9pm!). Clearly my body needs sleep so rather than writing a blog tonight I’m going to repost an article I wrote for Forbes back in 2015 titled “Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know […]

Those Who Inspire Us To Greatness

Nothing serves as better motivation than seeing others you admire doing great things. I was blessed to grow up in a home with a Mother and Father who both did great things on a regular basis. My Mother had ten children and was a devoted full-time Mom who had one of the hardest jobs in […]

If You Want to Increase Your Creativity, Quit Following the Manual

(Guest blog written by Dalton Anderson) I watched “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” recently and I highly recommend that movie. If you enjoyed the first movie, I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy the second. It was—AWESOME! And speaking of the first Lego Movie, it gave me an idea for a blog and since my […]

Turning Spare Time into your Most Valuable Hours

(Another awesome guest post from Amy’s daughter Ashley!)  I can guarantee with 100% confidence that there is at least one common thread between everyone in the world—the rich, the poor, the lazy, the successful, the top dogs, the bottom feeders, and everyone in between. Each of us only has 24 hours in a day. That […]

All Kids Really Want Is A Cardboard Box. Perhaps We Adults Would Be Happier With That Too.

I’ll admit it – I love buying the latest toys out for my grandchild the same way I used to love buying the latest toy out for my own children when they were little kids.  I mean, what parent doesn’t get excited to buy the coolest new toy for their child? Obviously there are lots […]

Sometimes All It Takes Is A Pause From The Normal Routine

Our lives get so entrenched in our daily routines that our minds almost go on autopilot as we do the same things over and over again, not allowing that pause our minds need to open themselves up. During my years as CEO I was always so busy in my normal routine that all I could […]

The things you can think up if only you try

“Think left and think right, think low and think high, oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.” – Dr. Seuss Idea generation and problem solving go hand in hand. They both require us to think and tap into our creativity to identify new and better ways and new and better solutions. […]

The Best Way I Know Of To Help Focus Yourself On What Matters Most

Every six months I get so excited for because there is a semi-annual General Conference that is broadcast on the internet and across the world in many languages, and during this two day conference there are always some of the most motivational and inspirational talks given that I have ever heard. Honestly this conference ends […]

Less knowledgeable doesn’t mean less valuable

There is a natural tendency when a person gains deep knowledge of a subject to begin to elevate themselves in their own mind as being “better than” or above other people who they feel are less knowledgeable.  What is too often forgotten is that while one may have great expertise in one area, there are […]

You are never too old to put on a costume for Halloween!

I am a HUGE fan of Halloween. First off, we all get free candy and who doesn’t love candy?! And second, we all get to put on a costume for a day and pretend to be something or someone else – it’s an escape from our everyday routine lives when we can get creative and […]

You know you have created a good product when…

You know you have created a good product when people feel they can’t live without it, and when it is taken away from them they feel like their universe is falling apart! Our smart phones are the perfect example of that. I was on my way to speak at a High School District Conference today […]

Focus on the unique contribution you can offer the world

“The only unique contribution you can offer the world is to be who you actually are and no one else.” – Ashly Lorenzana Every person is born with individual strengths and talents. Every person brings something unique into this world and each person is able to add something different to this world. And it is […]

When’s the last time you read a book just for the fun of it?

As a kid I used to love reading books. I read so many books just for fun growing up and I absolutely loved doing it. The older I got, however, the more I started reading books for school assignments, and then that morphed into reading books for work matters to try and gain more knowledge […]

Rediscover the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in

As we age we grow wiser from life experience, which is a good thing. But sometimes as we grow older we also become a little bit jaded…almost too realistic…we often lose that sense of wonder and excitement we had as a child, and that is a not such a good thing… Now that I am […]

The Secret To Getting A Job After College: Pick A University That Offers Experiential Learning (Forbes Article)

The approach of most higher education institutions is completely backwards today. Rather than first year college students picking their classes based on their goal of a specific dream job, they end up picking classes based on what the University deems to be generally required, the classes their friends are signing up for, and what time […]

As Communication Improves, Culture Improves, As Does The Bottom Line. 4 Tools That Make A Difference (Forbes Article)

In order to be a successful company you must create an environment that encourages the contribution and open sharing of information. As the CEO of a high growth company I found it necessary to implement very simple, but incredibly powerful software tools to help us create that environment. Each tool served the purpose of facilitating […]

Don’t Lose Hope. You Never Know What Tomorrow May Bring. (Forbes Article)

“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” –Martin Luther King Jr. History is full of stories about people who came into hard times, lost hope, and gave up. We rarely come to learn what would have happened with these individuals if they had given up. We are left to wonder […]

The Do’s And Don’ts of Creativity (Forbes Article)

“Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought.” – Albert Einstein Creativity is one of the most intrinsically rewarding endeavors we engage in.  Creativity requires a combination of innovation, inspiration, and a tremendous amount of hard work. It allows us to explore both the wondrous potential and […]

An Entrepreneurs Perspective On Advice From Iconic Filmmakers Robert Redford And George Lucas (Forbes Article)

Last Thursday iconic independent filmmakers Robert Redford and George Lucas sat down to be interviewed by renowned film critic Leonard Martin at the Sundance Film Festival Power of Stories panel. I was fortunate enough to be present for this discussion which was titled, “The Visions of Independence.” It was clear from the conversation that these […]

Life Is Short: Wear Your Party Pants!

Years ago I came across a speaker named Loretta Laroche, who is absolutely fabulous. She teaches people how to let go of stress and allow humor into their lives. She is definitely one of my favorite motivational speakers. Seeing as how today was a very long and stress filled day, I decided I could use […]

Isn’t it Amazing that We Made It

Tonight I came home after working an incredibly long day with the subcontractors at our home and collapsed into a chair.  My daughter came home and I told her that the rest of the night was all time just for her and I to spend together.  We sat together on the couch and started having a […]

The Ones Who Do

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.   The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.   You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. […]

Before You Do

“Before you act, listen. Before you react, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try.”                                       -Ernest Hemingway I love the message of that quote.  It’s such a […]

Embrace Uncertainty

Security is something we all long for.  Security in our job.  Security in our financial state.  Security in our relationships.  We look for security in certainty – in knowing what to expect each day, in knowing what our tomorrow will look like, in knowing what future we are securing for ourselves. But if you really […]

5 Unique Recruiting Ideas That Paid Off Big Time (Forbes Article)

Attracting the best and the brightest people to join your company is the goal of any good leadership team, but finding those people requires serious creativity in your recruiting efforts. Typically the strongest talent out there is going to be gainfully employed somewhere else. So the challenge becomes finding the people who are not out […]