I went to a local Toastmaster’s meeting. It was convenient - within a block of where I work, and from noon to one. So, I didn’t have the excuse of inconvenience.

I have been meaning to check out toastmasters for a while. I want to improve my speaking and presentation skills and they seem to be a great venue for doing this. So, I bit the bullet and went.

It was a lot of fun!

And also very scary.

There were only 7-8 people there. All very friendly and supportive.

One of the exercises they do at toastmasters is “Table Topics.” This is where someone has a topic they speak on, and then call on 3-4 people around the table to talk further on some aspect of this topic for a minute or so. This is to help improve your ability to extemporize or improvise on your feet. They asked me if I would be willing to participate in this, and then informed me that “everyone else did on their first day” - well with that kind of peer pressure how can I say no?

So, the topic was “Self Development” with other speakers called up to talk on “The law of attraction” and “Faith” it got around to me. I was asked to speak on the quote by W. Clement Stone: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

So, I gulped a big breath of air, stood up, and walked to the lecturn.

Looking out at the people sitting around the table, searching for something witty and brilliant to say, I started talking. I have no idea what I said. I know that I said “Uh” at least once because they have someone assigned to keep count. I also repeated myself saying things like “the . . . the . . ” and so on. Finally, the green light came on signalling that I had talked long enough. I could sit down! but only if I could pull it all together in a nice, concluding statement.

Big problem - I had no idea what I had been saying!

So I said something like “I believe that whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve - except for maybe a good conclusion to this talk - my mind is blank!” and then I sat down.

Of course they applauded. Of course they laughed. I felt pretty good about myself - I had survived!

Then I discovered that they vote on who gives the best “Table Topics” address. I should have been taking notes so that I could vote. I was even told that I could vote for myself.

Well, I didn’t. Vote - that is. I hadn’t been paying as close attention to the other talks as I should have. And there was no way I thought that mine was any good.

But when the votes were tallied, I tied for first place. They gave me the ribbon because I was the guest. I think they were just being nice

But I learned a lot of things:

1. (duh) stepping outside of your comfort zone is uncomfortable!
2. I need to work on my listening skills probably even more than my speaking skills
3. Don’t hesitate to look up something you are interested in - it may even turn out to be convenient to participate in!
4. being uncomfortable doesn’t kill me
5. Making new friends is fun, if scary
6. I can always accomplish more than I think, simply by attempting it,
And finally, this thought applies to pretty much everything in life and is directly stolen from Nike, that is - just DO it!

James Braush is creating a book from content on his blog.

I am excited about this!

If you read his blog (or the book) you will understand why.

He takes his readers step-by-step and teaches them exactly what to do and how to do it to become one of the 2% who are making incredible amounts of money on the internet.

The information presented here is priceless. He teaches how to (easily) create your own products, how to make websites to sell them, how to drive traffic to your websites, and how to automate the whole process so that you can continue to make money even in your sleep.

James also teaches how to change your life so that you can become successful at anything. This is much more than a “How to make money on the internet” blog, it is a “How to become Free” blog! He writes on time management, self improvement, relationships, and much more.

You can receive a complete education on business, especially internet business, just by reading his blog.

I very much appreciate it James, I can sincerely say “Thank you!” for making this information available.

-Steve Oliphant

I posted a review at amazon.com about James Brausch’s latest CD. Go read it. Buy the CD. You will be glad you did.

James Braush has been blogging about throwing away the TV. I recently purchased his CD on Life/Time management and was playing it for them.

I had told them before hand that “this was a multi millionaire who was sharing his secrets on how to do it” so they were listening rather closely. And when he said to get rid of the TV, they ran screaming from the room!

I had to laugh - and wonder - at the pervasiveness that the television has in our family’s life. Long ago we got rid of Cable - and the TV is not hooked up to an antenna - it is used for watching videos (that my wife and I approve of) and for playing video games. But, I have noticed that our children (ages 5-16) spend a lot of time in front of the boob tube.

I wonder what would happen if the TV disappeared. I imagine that we would read more, play games together more, and get more done around the house.

We homeschool most of our children - and we do use the TV as a supplement to their education.

And my wife pointed out that “TV is not bad, it is mindless entertainment that is bad - whether it be TV, internet surfing, reading trash or whatever.” She seems to be against getting rid of the TV altogether too.

And I must admit that I really enjoy being a couch potato myself.

But I think that if I want to join the 2% of people who are truly free, the TV may have to go.

Hmm . . . How to convince the rest of my family?

Maybe it will conveniently break. <evil grin>