Learn, Educate, Elevate, Respect: A Comedian’s Advice for Lifelong Success

This post is H/T to James Clear and his Thursday weekly 3-2-1 newsletter dated October 3, 2024. James highlights:

“2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS

I.

Musician and comedian Tim Minchin on sharing what you know:

“Even if you’re not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it.”

Source: 9 Life Lessons

This aligns with the encouragement that #TwinzTalk Don and I share in our personal development work. Relentlessly prioritize and dedicate time to learning and growing your skills – then help others learn. “Spray it.”

Following James’s link led to a commencement address given by Tim Minchin in 2013 at the University of Western Australia. I enjoyed reading the full transcript, and several of Tim’s points resonated.

**

Below, I provide the highlights enjoyed, but I also highly recommend watching the full commencement address or reading the full transcript. Highlights for me included:

Tip three:

“Remember it’s all luck.”

“Understanding that you can’t truly take credit for your successes nor truly blame others for their failures will humble you and make you more compassionate.”

Tip five:

“We must think critically and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and hit them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privileges.”

Tip six:

“Even if you’re not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it.”

Tip seven:

“We have a tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff. As a comedian I make my living out of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro stuff not just anti stuff.”

Tip eight:

“Respect people with less power than you. I have in the past made important decisions about people I work with – agents and producers – big decisions based largely on how they treat the wait staff in the restaurants we’re having the meeting in. I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful.”

**

Speech Transcript

In darker days I did a corporate gig at a conference for this big company who made and sold accounting software in a bid, I presumed, to inspire their salespeople to greater heights. They’d forked out 12 grand for an inspirational speaker who was this extreme sports guy who had had a couple of his limbs frozen off when he got stuck on a ledge on some mountain. It was weird. Software salespeople I think need to hear from someone who has had a long successful career in software sales not from an overly optimistic ex-mountaineer. Some poor guy who had arrived in the morning hoping to learn about sales techniques ended up going home worried about the blood flow to his extremities. It’s not inspirational, it’s confusing. And if the mountain was meant to be a symbol of life’s challenges and the loss of limbs a metaphor for sacrifice, the software guy’s not going to get it, is he? Because he didn’t do an Arts degree, did he? He should have.

Arts degrees are awesome and they help you find meaning where there is none. And let me assure you… there is none. Don’t go looking for it. Searching for meaning is like searching for a rhymes scheme in a cookbook. You won’t find it and it will bugger up your soufflé. If you didn’t like that metaphor you won’t like the rest of it. Point being I’m not an inspirational speaker. I’ve never ever lost a limb on a mountainside metaphorically or otherwise and I’m certainly not going to give career advice because, well I’ve never really had what most would consider a job. However I have had large groups of people listening to what I say for quite a few years now and it’s given me an inflated sense of self importance.

So I will now, at the ripe old age of 37.9, bestow upon you nine life lessons– to echo of course the nine lessons of carols of the traditional Christmas service, which is also pretty obscure.

You might find some of this stuff inspiring. You will definitely find some of it boring and you will definitely forget all of it within a week. And be warned there will be lots of hokey similes and obscure aphorisms which start well but end up making no sense. So listen up or you’ll get lost like a blind man clapping in a pharmacy trying to echo-locate the contact lens fluid.

Looking for my old poetry teacher. Here we go, ready?

One: You don’t have to have a dream. Americans on talent shows always talk about their dreams. Fine if you have something you’ve always wanted to do, dreamed of, like in your heart, go for it. After all it’s something to do with your time, chasing a dream. And if it’s a big enough one it’ll take you most of your life to achieve so by the time you get to it and are staring into the abyss of the meaningless of your achievement you’ll be almost dead so it won’t matter.

I never really had one of these dreams and so I advocate passionate, dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals. Be micro-ambitious. Put your head down and work with pride on whatever is in front of you. You never know where you might end up. Just be aware the next worthy pursuit will probably appear in your periphery, which is why you should be careful of long-term dreams. If you focus too far in front of you you won’t see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye. Right? Good! Advice metaphor… look at me go.

Two: Don’t seek happiness. Happiness is like an orgasm. If you think about it too much it goes away. Keep busy and aim to make someone else happy and you might find you get some as a side effect. We didn’t evolve to be constantly content. Contented Homo Erectus got eaten before passing on their genes.

Three: Remember it’s all luck. You are lucky to be here. You are incalculably lucky to be born and incredibly lucky to be brought up by a nice family who encouraged you to go to uni. Or if you were born into a horrible family that’s unlucky and you have my sympathy but you are still lucky. Lucky that you happen to be made of the sort of DNA that went on to make the sort of brain which when placed in a horrible child environment would make decisions that meant you ended up eventually graduated uni. Well done you for dragging yourself up by your shoelaces. But you were lucky. You didn’t create the bit of you that dragged you up. They’re not even your shoelaces.

I suppose I worked hard to achieve whatever dubious achievements I’ve achieved but I didn’t make the bit of me that works hard any more than I made the bit of me that ate too many burgers instead of attending lectures when I was here at UWA. Understanding that you can’t truly take credit for your successes nor truly blame others for their failures will humble you and make you more compassionate. Empathy is intuitive. It is also something you can work on intellectually.

Four: Exercise. I’m sorry you pasty, pale, smoking philosophy grads arching your eyebrows into a Cartesian curve as you watch the human movement mob winding their way through the miniature traffic cones of their existence. You are wrong and they are right. Well you’re half right. You think therefore you are but also you jog therefore you sleep therefore you’re not overwhelmed by existential angst. You can’t be can’t and you don’t want to be. Play a sport. Do yoga, pump iron, and run, whatever but take care of your body, you’re going to need it. Most of you mob are going to live to nearly 100 and even the poorest of you will achieve a level of wealth that most humans throughout history could not have dreamed of. And this long, luxurious life ahead of you is going to make you depressed. But don’t despair. There is correlation between depression and exercise. Do it! Run, my beautiful intellectuals run.

Five: Be hard on your opinions. A famous bon mot asserts, opinions are like assholes in that everyone has one. There is great wisdom in this but I would add that opinions differ significantly from assholes in that yours should be constantly and thoroughly examined. I used to do exams in here… It’s revenge.

We must think critically and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and hit them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privileges. Most of society is kept alive by a failure to acknowledge nuance. We tend to generate false dichotomies and then try to argue one point using two entirely different sets of assumptions. Like two tennis players trying to win a match by hitting beautifully executed shots from either end of separate tennis courts.

By the way, while I have science and arts graduates in front of me please don’t make the mistake of thinking the arts and sciences are at odds with one another. That is a recent, stupid and damaging idea. You don’t have to be unscientific to make beautiful art, to write beautiful things. If you need proof – Twain, Douglas Adams, Vonnegut, McEwan, Sagan and Shakespeare, Dickens for a start. You don’t need to be superstitious to be a poet. You don’t need to hate GM technology to care about the beauty of the planet. You don’t have to claim a soul to promote compassion. Science is not a body of knowledge nor a belief system it’s just a term which describes human kinds’ incremental acquisition of understanding through observation. Science is awesome! The arts and sciences need to work together to improve how knowledge is communicated. The idea that many Australians including our new PM and my distant cousin Nick Minchin believe that the science of anthropogenic global warming is controversial is a powerful indicator of the extent of our failure to communicate. The fact that 30 percent of the people just bristled is further evidence still. The fact that that bristling is more to do with politics than science is even more despairing.

Six: Be a teacher! Please! Please! Please be a teacher. Teachers are the most admirable and important people in the world. You don’t have to do it forever but if you’re in doubt about what to do be an amazing teacher. Just for your 20s be a teacher. Be a primary school teacher. Especially if you’re a bloke. We need male primary school teachers. Even if you’re not a teacher, be a teacher. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education. Rejoice in what you learn and spray it.

Seven: Define yourself by what you love. I found myself doing this thing a bit recently where if someone asks me what sort of music I like I say, “Well I don’t listen to the radio because pop song lyrics annoy me,” or if someone asks me what food I like I say, “I think truffle oil is overused and slightly obnoxious.” And I see it all the time online – people whose idea of being part of a subculture is to hate Coldplay or football or feminists or the Liberal Party.

We have a tendency to define ourselves in opposition to stuff. As a comedian I make my living out of it. But try to also express your passion for things you love. Be demonstrative and generous in your praise of those you admire. Send thank you cards and give standing ovations. Be pro stuff not just anti stuff.

Eight: Respect people with less power than you. I have in the past made important decisions about people I work with – agents and producers – big decisions based largely on how they treat the wait staff in the restaurants we’re having the meeting in. I don’t care if you’re the most powerful cat in the room, I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful. So there!

Nine: Finally, don’t rush. You don’t need to know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. I’m not saying sit around smoking cones all day but also don’t panic! Most people I know who were sure of their career path at 20 are having mid-life crises now.

I said at the beginning of this ramble, which is already three-and-a-half minutes long, life is meaningless. It was not a flippant assertion. I think it’s absurd the idea of seeking meaning in the set of circumstances that happens to exist after 13.8 billion years worth of unguided events. Leave it to humans to think the universe has a purpose for them. However I’m no nihilist. I’m not even a cynic. I am actually rather romantic and here’s my idea of romance: you will soon be dead. Life will sometimes seem long and tough and god it’s tiring. And you will sometimes be happy and sometimes sad and then you’ll be old and then you’ll be dead. There is only one sensible thing to do with this empty existence and that is fill it. Not fillet. Fill it. And in my opinion, until I change it, life is best filled by learning as much as you can about as much as you can. Taking pride in whatever you’re doing. Having compassion, sharing ideas, running, being enthusiastic and then there’s love and travel and wine and sex and art and kids and giving and mountain climbing, but you know all that stuff already. It’s an incredibly exciting thing this one meaningless life of yours. Good luck and thank you for indulging me.

Dall-E AI Image | #TwinzTalk Brainstorming and Learning

Threads of Inspiration: Celebrating Terri Tomoff’s Quest to Preserve Memories through T-Shirt Quilts

My wife Terri and I share an attribute that makes a huge difference in our lives: We care about what we do and strive to make a meaningful contribution to others.

The greatest fulfillment is derived when we meet a need for others and do it with a unique blend of care, talent, and appreciation. This is not about money and the transactional nature that dominates many business dealings. It’s about the unbeatable combination of care, talent, and appreciation that can lead to meaningful contributions and inspire us all.

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

–Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Quote – Source YouTube Image – Senen Falco

TwinzTalk Don and I bring this to our personal and professional work. We care about making an impact and appreciate clients who trust us to help them grow and develop. Throughout our careers and lives, we relentlessly focus on personal development to upgrade our talents (ultimately, while we control dedication and effort, we don’t control the external assessment of whether our talent meets a client’s expectations) and bring our best abilities to all we do.

This post, however, is about Terri Tomoff and her inspiring work through her Needle On Full t-shirt quilt business. Terri’s talent and dedication grew exponentially throughout our married life together. She is wickedly talented (I am biased!), yet the level of care she brings to her projects and her desire to provide “a one-of-a-kind treasured keepsake” to her customers is the highest compliment. This excerpt from a testimonial on her website articulates beautifully the impact she has made:

“So very thankful that we held onto our t-shirt bins and waited! I am very thankful we waited for the right person to come along before giving over our treasured t-shirts to be made into a quilt. I know from experience that not all T-shirt quilts are made the same way. When I saw the quilts Terri donated to The Talent Machine Company for their gala in November of 2021, I knew she was a very talented and skilled quilter. The quilts I saw were exquisite!”

Terri laughs when I mention that a “happy place” for me is when the family is in the house, and everyone is doing what lights their souls. Time spent on her quilting projects brings Terri joy and fulfillment. I hear the Bernina sewing machine or long-arm machine humming as she works, and I feel comfortable! All is well in the home.

She can have several quilt projects in her queue at any time. Witnessing the process from start to finish is heartwarming as I watch Terri move seamlessly through each stage, from meeting with the customer to delivering the finished treasured keepsake t-shirt quilt! I might even be asked my opinion when the t-shirts are arranged on her design board. No stone is left unturned to complete a compelling project for the customer!

When the quilt is delivered, the final package includes:

  • A stunning quilt highlighting t-shirts from her customer’s favorite memories.
  • A specially crafted label for the back of the quilt, based on the customer’s wishes.
  • A Needle On Full bag to hold the quilt.
  • Cleaning care instructions.
  • A thank you note.

Terri takes great pride in servicing her customers to the best of her abilities. The t-shirts represent precious memories; she remembers these are very important to her customers. 

Needle On Full – T-Shirt Quilt Package to Mail

Reflecting on Terri’s dedication to her craft and customers, I am impressed and believe we can learn much from her. Her Needle On Full initiative is an example of bringing talent and care together to make a meaningful contribution to others. This is not just about a transaction for a t-shirt quilt; it is about preserving memories and honoring life’s moments that are important to the customer. Terri’s commitment to excellence, genuine care for her customers, and appreciation for their trust in her inspires me. Her story is a testament to the power of combining talent with genuine care and appreciation. This lesson resonates far beyond the realm of quilting into every aspect of our lives. 

Terri, thank you for being a trusted ally to many customers and leading by example in delivering “WOW” factor results to your customers with kindness and compassion.

Terri Tomoff – T-Shirt Quilt Package to Mail
August 29, 2024 – Needle On Full T-Shirt Quilt
Bill and Terri Tomoff – Running Highlights T-Shirt Quilt

Multiplying Goodwill: The Revolutionary Act of Paying It Forward

What can we do when it is impossible to pay back kindness and generosity received?

A Learning a Day blog, Pay back and forward, inspired this reflection.

In October 1996, my son was diagnosed with childhood cancer (leukemia) at two years and two months old (see Terri Tomoff‘s memoir The Focused Fight, published in March 2021). What happened over the next ten years was an outpouring of support from family, friends, community, medical professionals, and countless strangers (see my blog regarding a Postcard Project) that we could never possibly pay back. We were touched by kindness and support that impacted our family indelibly.

In a time of great stress and extraordinary circumstances, people stepped forward to help us in an unimaginable and overwhelming movement. “Paying it forward” was the only possibility for us, and we have dedicated our lives to helping others, moved by the thought that “there is no way we can repay everything we have been blessed with thanks to the kindness of others.

The blog post is provided, in its entirety, below:

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“Reciprocity is wired deep within our psyche. As a result, our natural response to getting help tends to involve asking ourselves “how can I pay this back?”

It isn’t a bad question. Every once a while, we might find ways to give back to the folks who helped us.

But, more often than not, this isn’t possible because it is context dependent. Many of the folks who’ve helped us out in times of need in our careers (for example) are often many years ahead of us in terms of the problems we’re facing. The best we can do in such situations is express our gratitude.

That’s why asking ourselves – “how can I ensure I’m paying it forward?” – tends to be a better question.

If someone gives you a great gift, share that gift with two others. If someone gives you great career advice, find two others who would love to receive career advice from you.

There is always someone we can help. There is always an opportunity to pay it forward. And, letting someone know of the ripples their gift to us created is often the best gift we can share with someone who helped us.”

*****

This resonated. Where in your life can you pay it forward for the help others have given you? Hint: Kindness and helpers are all around us–Slow down and intentionally notice! I pray that no one encounters the extreme needs our family has faced, yet I do encourage you to reflect on the countless times someone has helped you in your life and then adopt a mindset of paying it forward every day. Because you can, and it creates a circle of good!

The mindset is about something other than repaying a debt you feel you owe. Instead, strive to pay forward kindness to others continually! Because of others who have selflessly helped our family because they cared, we are inspired to pay it forward throughout our lives.

Join the movement. Remember an act of generosity you have received, and go pay it forward.

July 24, 2004 – Ryan Signing Thank You Gift – Georgetown Basketball
September 25, 2022 – Tomoff Family Volunteering at Just Tryan It Kids Triathlon

Incremental Excellence: Compounding Personal Growth through a Daily Drip

We all have active schedules and tasks that “must get done.” Throughout our careers and lives, twin Don and I have too often seen folks prioritize and let the day-to-day urgent matters overwhelm the opportunity to do the more important work of the long-term potential of investing in their personal development. Our quest is to shine the light on the disservice we all do to ourselves (and others) when we do not prioritize the important work of investing in ourselves.

“But what does Socrates say? “Just as one person delights in improving his farm, and another his horse, so I delight in attending to my own improvement day by day.””

—Epictetus, Discourses, 3.5.14

When we think of “investing,” the common thought turns to investing money or saving for our future. Taking care of our financial needs is another critical topic, but here, the emphasis is investing our resources into ourselves toward developing our best talent and potential. There are no shortcuts to improving ourselves. We must show up daily and persist in doing the work required to refine our talents. The excellent news is that daily small incremental investments in ourselves compound exponentially over time.

“Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.”

—Alice Walker

Seth Godin, in the blogs shared below, makes compelling observations:

Where are your assets?

“Do work and get paid once. Build an asset and get paid for as long as it lasts.

The drip. In this post, Seth shares the magic of showing up and persisting to make real change.

“Change, real change, is the result of focused persistence.”

“The challenging part, and the reason that change doesn’t happen as often as it should is that we get distracted. Today’s urgent is more urgent than yesterday’s important.”

“Keep showing up. If it matters, keep showing up.”

Several benefits of prioritizing personal development include:

  1. Building an asset: As Seth notes, building an asset for ourselves is valuable and something you own.
  2. Leading by example: When we challenge ourselves to grow, we can inspire others to do the same.
  3. Help others: We are better positioned to help others as our skills increase. We must not lose sight of developing ourselves to contribute more to the world.
  4. Increased adaptability: Personal development enhances our ability to adapt to changing circumstances, making us more resilient to challenges.
  5. Enhanced self-awareness: By investing in personal growth, we gain a deeper understanding of our strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations.
  6. Improved decision-making: As we develop ourselves, we refine our critical thinking skills and gain new perspectives, leading to better decision-making in various aspects of life.
  7. Greater sense of fulfillment: Pursuing personal growth often leads to a stronger sense of purpose and satisfaction in life.
  8. Better relationships: Personal development can improve our emotional intelligence, communication skills, and empathy, leading to healthier and more meaningful relationships.
  9. Increased productivity: By honing our skills and improving our habits, we become more efficient and effective in our daily tasks.
  10. Expanded opportunities: As we grow and develop new skills, we open ourselves to new career paths and life experiences.
  11. Continuous learning mindset: Embracing personal development fosters a lifelong love of learning, keeping our minds sharp and engaged.
  12. Increased self-confidence: Our self-confidence naturally grows as we overcome challenges and achieve personal goals.
  13. Enhanced creativity: Personal growth often involves exploring new ideas and perspectives, which can boost our creative thinking abilities.

Personal development is not just a luxury; it’s necessary for anyone seeking a fulfilling and impactful life. The benefits we’ve explored – from building valuable personal assets to enhancing our adaptability and creativity – demonstrate the profound impact that consistent self-improvement can have on our lives and those around us.

I hope my thoughts help inspire you to reflect on how dedicating time daily to personal development, learning, and growth can exponentially improve your day-to-day performance and provide you with much fulfillment. Remember, as Epictetus wisely noted, there’s a unique delight in attending to our improvement day by day. Keep showing up, stay persistent, and witness the small, daily investments in yourself compound into remarkable transformations over time. Choose the steady drip of daily personal development. Don’t say “one day” instead, make today “day one.” Your future self will thank you!

Continual Education – 5 Hour Rule (Compounding impact)

What Are You Thankful For? Thanksgiving 2022

What are you thankful for?

This question is given extra attention on Thanksgiving day in the United States. Along with Seth Godin (see video linked to his free PDF “The Thanksgiving Reader” shared in his blog post below), Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the intentionality around slowing down, sharing precious time with loved ones, and feeling gratitude for the gifts in our lives. I love sharing thanks to and gratitude for others. Seth’s blog post of November 24, 2016, Choose better, highlighted that we have a choice in being “more honest, more caring, more generous.” I will also encourage choosing more gratitude. His blog is linked below but is brief and to the point:

“More honest, more caring, more generous.

It’s all a choice, isn’t it?

We can choose to dream better, connect better and contribute better.

Sometimes, in the rush for more, we get confused about what better means, and how attainable it is.

If you are lucky enough to be with family today, I hope you’ll get a chance to use our beloved Thanksgiving Reader around your table. It’s a free PDF that you can print out and use for group readings.”

Seth Godin Blog Post – November 24, 2016 – “Choose Better”

The Thanksgiving Reader free PDF that Seth provides in his post has been used by our family for several years. The readings around the dinner table are a highlight of our holiday each year. One of my favorite readings is about gratitude:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.

It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

• Melody Beattie •

Page 32 of the reader provides a wonderful list of questions to discuss thoughts on gratitude:

  1. What’s the value of gratitude? Why does it even matter?
  2. Why aren’t people, especially Americans, more grateful?
  3. What can we do to feel grateful the other 364 days of the year?
  4. Are older people more grateful than younger people? Or is it the reverse?
  5. We all know the value of connections, but where did the barriers come from and what can we do to topple them?
  6. Who’s the most grateful person you know? Who’s your gratitude role model?
  7. What is something—a conversation, advice you received, etc.—you became grateful for only well after it occurred? Why did it take you so long?
  8. Have you lived a life that deserves gratitude from others?

https://thethanksgivingreader.com/

Be The Match! Celebrating Ryan Tomoff PBMT 18-Year Anniversary

If you could take action to save a life, would you do it? My guess, because I believe people are inherently good and kind, would answer, “of course!”

People who choose to join the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) marrow registry through the Be The Match organization have made that choice. Joining the registry (see link https://my.bethematch.org/s/join) is available for people ages 18 to 40 (“Studies show that blood stem cells from younger donors provide better long-term survival rates for our patients”).

We all can make a difference, and Be The Match is an opportunity to join a cause that saves lives. YOU may be called upon to be the difference for someone. I will plead with anyone, who is eligible, to join the registry. Why? My son and our family know firsthand the importance of a bone marrow transplant – potentially a lifesaving transplant for the recipient and a guaranteed life-changing experience for the donor!

November 3, 2004. This is transplant day at Duke University Medical Center for Ryan Tomoff. Ryan, my wife Terri, our daughter Olivia, and I wake up eager for Ryan to receive the gift of bone marrow from an anonymous donor. We have no idea how the process works, but we are praying that Ryan’s donor safely arrives at the hospital and that the countless “players” involved are blessed to execute what they need to do to harvest the marrow, process the collection out of the hospital and receive successfully in Durham, NC, at Duke. We know that countless moving parts are involved, and the need for “perfect execution” is on our minds. Unfortunately, so much is outside of our control.

Around 5:30 or 6:00 PM, the marrow in a cold storage pack landed with a flight to Raleigh-Durham Airport, and a courier was transporting the package to the eagerly waiting medical team at Duke. Once received, the marrow needed to be irradiated before transfusion into Ryan. We were made aware that the marrow had arrived and was being prepared for Ryan. Yes, we were excited that the transplant was about ready to happen – Ryan’s preparation through total-body radiation (TBI) had successfully happened over the previous week. November 3rd was his targeted transplant date, the marrow had arrived, was processed to safely administer to Ryan, and at 7:45 PM, the transfusion started. The transplant was not the end, but we prayed the beginning of a lifesaving moment had arrived, and we were thankful and hopeful for his future. Transplants are not guaranteed to be successful, but the transplant was Ryan’s last shot at beating his leukemia. Ryan and our family were embarking on the start of a new journey.

Today, November 3, 2022, we are celebrating 18 years post-transplant. On November 4, 2005, one year and one day after Ryan’s transplant, we met Scott Harris at a beautiful event in New York. Scott was from Teaneck, New Jersey. None of this information is shared without the donor’s consent, and the earliest time to meet a donor is one year after the transplant. We felt blessed and beyond thrilled that Scott and our family both agreed to meet as soon as possible!

Thanks to this experience – the selfless generosity and kindness of a stranger to help a fellow human in such a tremendous and meaningful way – my “lens on life” is enhanced to look for and believe in the “good” of our fellow humans. My energy is dedicated to seeing and celebrating the moments of generosity that ARE all around us.

A thought I hold close that applies beautifully here is:

“The gift of a lifetime deserves a lifetime of gratitude.” – Rajesh Setty

https://bit.ly/RajeshSetty_ThankYou_Gratitude

Scott Harris did not have to show up and save Ryan’s life. He did so because someone was in need, and he was being called upon to help. Wouldn’t we all love the same opportunity? Will you take the step to become part of that community? Please do.

My wife Terri shared heartfelt thoughts about Ryan’s transplant day on her blog, quoting sections directly from her book The Focused Fight: A Childhood Cancer Journey: From Mayhem to Miracles. Her post is available at:

https://www.territomoff.com/post/can-you-be-the-match

You Will Get Tired. Finish Anyway.

Recently, Blinkist introduced their First Original Audio Series titled “Two Minutes with Seth Godin” comprised of two weekly audio clips for the next 26 weeks.

This week, one audio addressed “Where to Put the Tired.” This topic discussed the difficulty of running a 26.2 mile marathon…if you have ever done one, it is clear you can’t finish a marathon without getting tired. To succeed, you must “find a place to put the tired.”

This audio resonated with Don Tomoff and I due to our past history of being competitive college distance runners and marathoners. The “tired” is unavoidable! We both credit our past sports experiences with contributing to our professional perseverance throughout our careers.

As Seth notes:

“The people who finish, they figured out how to do it. To be tired, and finish anyway. And that is the art of being persistently generous, of showing up again and again to do work that has exhausted other people.”

“The act of being a professional is not to do everything when and how we want to. The act of being a professional is to do it despite the fact that we are tired or afraid. We need to figure out where to put the tired.”

Bill and Don Tomoff | Personal best in Revco Cleveland Marathon


Share Your Thoughts! Exposure = Awareness = Leverage

Over the last five years, my interest in social media has evolved and I have become a huge fan of the power and potential of social engagement. The ability to learn, and connect, with others has impacted me in incredible ways. People that I may never meet in person, provide insight and thought provoking content that is invaluable and enables me to continually develop my interests personally and professionally.

Thanks to the kindness and generosity of so many that share their thoughts and expertise with the world, I commit to challenging myself every day to help others and continually pay it forward. In person, and online, I have found that the world is full of people that genuinely care about adding value for others…with no expectations. Selfishly, I do hope that others will share content with the hope that their followers may enjoy value and pass along in their world!

I recently watched an excellent video from Robbie Abed where he talked about the impact Gary Vaynerchuk had on him. The discussion was around that observation that Gary is often asked about the business ROI of his video content for the #AskGaryVee Show. Robbie’s discussion in this 7 minute video elaborates on an excellent observation of Gary’s that “exposure = leverage”. Enjoy!

Coffee With Robbie – Gary V. Exposure = Leverage

Gary V. full thoughts on the business value of the #AskGaryVee Show are worth reading:

The Business Model Behind The #AskGaryVee Show

If you have not seen the #AskGaryVee Show, I encourage you to check it out! I have been watching for quite a while, and find it informative, entertaining, and fun yet serious points are made. Linked below is one of my all-time favorite episodes.

#AskGaryVee Episode 127: What Keeps Good Bosses From Becoming Great Bosses?

Full disclosure – I was so happy with the free content Gary provides in the #AskGaryVee Show that I have now purchased and read all 4 of his bestselling books. As he would say, provide so much value that you “earn the ask”!

Please share YOUR thoughts, expertise, and passion with the world. I trust you will find that Robbie and Gary are spot on…indeed, exposure = leverage! For my purposes, the phrase that resonates with me is “Exposure = Awareness = Leverage“. As you provide value genuinely and consistently, exposure will occur and develop into awareness for those consuming your content. Ultimately, awareness WILL create leverage for you in many ways that cannot be anticipated! Good luck!

 

How Can I Help? 15 Ways We Can All Quickly Make An Impact

A recent article by Ryan Holmes (Twitter @invoker) in Inc. Magazine “The 4-Word Question All Highly Successful People Ask” emphasized the power of asking “How can I help?” and went on to explain that this simple phrase, and the genuine willingness to help others, might be the ultimate networking tool.

http://www.inc.com/ryan-holmes/the-4-most-powerful-words-you-can-use-in-business.html

This is a thought provoking read and a perspective, if adopted, will improve potential for long term success. As Ryan points out, “I truly believe that helping other people sets you up for cosmic success at some level, whether that’s in business or in everyday life (in fact, the less distinction you make between the two, the better). What goes around almost inevitably comes around.”

As I contemplated the post a bit more, I thought about “how can I help” beyond the scope of the post and wondered if we posed the the question to ourselves in our daily lives? Truly, it is easy to take small actions that may truly help others while also helping ourselves. Consider:

1 – Take Ryan Holmes message to heart, and find ways to help others!
2 – Be optimistic.

Continue reading “How Can I Help? 15 Ways We Can All Quickly Make An Impact”

Evernote – Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

In my personal and professional lives, I am always on the quest to identify productivity tools in order to leverage for effectiveness in my day to day life. The goal is to be “touching and feeling” as much as possible which then increases awareness. If you follow me on Twitter @BTomoffCPA you will note a few hashtags for my passion…#EliminateTheFriction and #AwarenessIsLeverage. I Love to help others learn, develop and increase awareness!

In the last 2 years, Evernote has evolved to my favorite productivity tool, so much value to me that I upgraded from the free model to premium for $49.99 per year! PC Magazine gave Evernote an “Excellent” rating and it remains an Editors’ Choice productivity tool. Simply described, Evernote is “one workspace” to write, collect, and discuss / collaborate information with others. The incredible efficiency aspect is to think of “anything, anywhere, anytime” which means information you need is truly at your disposal whether in your computer or when you are out and about with your mobile device tablet or smartphone!

To dig into further information on Evernote, @DTomoffCPA and I have collaborated on a Flipboard Magazine titled Evernote Training!
Take a huge step in 2016 and embrace the power of Evernote. Indeed, #EliminateTheFriction…and enjoy having anything, anywhere, at anytime!