Category: Dear Son

Senior Year Day 3 mentally

Video pulled from VSI’s Instagram feed. Had no idea we were being recorded.

Your mentor should be remarkably happy.

dad

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Senior Year Day 2, mentally

Magic Kingdom Town Square
Change what you see – even a small change in perspective – and what you see changes.

Remember that everyone is a beginner at first. Cherish the opportunity to be a competent incompetent. This was me when i became a public speaker in 1999. It was me when i started blogging in 2008. It was me becoming a father all those years ago.

Lean into any and all discomfort.

Have fun.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Senior Year Day 1, mentally

empty apple store
You Son, are a first generation, original digital native.

Senior Year Day 1, mentally…

i see you connecting life’s dots in inspiring ways.

dad

Update March 22, 7:45 AM (Orlando time)…It is safe to go to Lane 8. Working right now with GoDaddy to ensure that every auto-renew (through 2028, for real) website security certificate is auto-updated seamlessly to eliminate this inconvenience and my embarrassment.

Website security warning
Thank you to those who texted or emailed that you received this message. i got it too.
Website security message
The auto-renew security certificate didn’t auto renew last night. Again, i’m sorry.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Push like you mean it

21-second video: Never saw it coming. Turned bitterness into blessings.

Push yourself like you mean it – to .think differently about everything. Your future self becomes appropriately indebted to encourage you to encourage others.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.

Spring Grove mindset

Small town sign

Dear Son,

Spring Grove, Pennsylvania revolves around a massive, 160-year old Paper Mill.

Your Great Grandfather worked there. Your Grandfather worked and retired there. Your dad worked there for two summers during college.

Spring Grove is a small town, never needing a traffic light. Eventually, however, it got its first traffic light on the East end, a flashing yellow caution light, in the 1990s or maybe the 2000s.

road sign
The yellow caution light alerts drivers to the new roundabout that replaced a three-way fork in the road. There is 24/7 Tractor Trailer traffic bringing in lumber and hauling out paper. As the rural area attracted city folk, it became increasing difficult and dangerous for school busses, trucks, and rural residents to coexist without a more fluid traffic flow at this pinch point.

The mindset growing up there was laid back, hospitable, and as stereotypical small-town as you can get. Nothing fancy. Practical. Slow.

Laughman’s Market (and gas pump) was the size of a 7-11. Across from the High School, it parked maybe 15 cars tops. Eventually we got a grocery store, Kenny’s. An Arby’s followed years after Kenny’s.

While our High School was one of the smallest, our geographical region was one of the biggest. Why? Beyond the small town and Paper Mill was nothing but Farms and Farmland. Definitely not a growth-mindset community.

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This website is about our MIND. To read today’s post about our BODY, click here.