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http://www.thebrooker.com Every day I have the privilege of delivering an important message about the incredible power of gratitude. Check in once a day to see and hear how this amazing belief can transform, re-focus, and re-frame your life into one of appreciation and thankfulness. You will look at your life much differently, and will feel a level of joy that escapes so many people as they cope with the trials and tribulations of everyday life filled with struggles and challenges. I promise you, this power will change your life.
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0:00
I love to speak
0:01
Neil George Brooks, they call him the Gratitude Guy, has been a speaker, a teacher, a life coach
0:08
and best-selling author for over 25 years. He's a former Nordstrom sales manager
0:13
and has managed in the corporate world for over 30 years. He is the author of the Brooker's Daily Gratitude Journal
0:20
and Happiness Starts With Gratitude, and Gratitude Nuggets to Chew On. He was recently featured on New Day with Margaret Larson on TNT
0:29
and Chat With Women on KC Radio. With over 400 gratitude videos posted on YouTube
0:35
thousands have seen his message, and he is now considered a leading authority on gratitude
0:39
and how living a life of gratitude can enhance and improve your life
0:43
So let's give a warm round of applause for Neil. Applause Thank you, Jason, and thank you, Scott, for inviting me
0:55
In fact, Bill Taylor. I was looking at Bill, and I have such a good memory, typically
1:01
and I thought, that's Bill Taylor. Let me ask by a show of hands how many people here
1:07
have suffered a significant personal loss in your life. Thank you. About 90% of the room
1:16
I am fortunate enough to speak all the way from 18-year-old kids. I'm doing a couple of commencement speeches this June
1:22
and up to 90, 95-year-old people at rest homes. And regardless of that age range
1:28
it's anywhere from half to 80-90% of the people that raise their hand when I say that
1:33
Now, I'll tell you very briefly about my significant personal loss in my life. It was September 29, 1998
1:38
It was a Tuesday. I woke up, and I looked over in bed
1:42
and my wife, Dana, wasn't there. I thought, that's awfully strange. And just then, Connor, my 4-year-old, comes in
1:48
Where's mom? I don't know. So we get out of bed, and we go down the hallway
1:52
and here comes Kyle, my 14-year-old. Same question. I don't know. We can't find her
1:56
So we look in a couple of rooms, and we walk down. We look downstairs, and in front of the washer and dryer
2:01
here's Dana all crumpled over. So we go running down there, turn her over
2:06
Stuff's coming out of her mouth. It didn't look very good. Connor starts crying
2:10
What's wrong with mommy? And I said to Kyle, go call the police and fire them. Within a matter of a few minutes, 20, 25 people are in our home
2:17
And I've never seen anything like it. It was the most surrealistic thing I'd ever seen. Wires and tubes and those paddles, just like you see on TV
2:24
And they had her out on the floor and everything, and they were working on her. And when I talk to people that raise their hand about having suffered from something
2:31
and I'm always glad when I sell my books and journals and things
2:35
but regardless of that, whoever comes and talks to me afterwards and talks to me about their personal experience
2:40
one of the things that people share is that when something like this happens
2:44
you lose all measure of time. And I wasn't sure how much time had gone by
2:50
and this little short fireperson comes over to me and says, Mr. Brooke, we've been working on your wife for 45 minutes to an hour
2:58
We still have no heartbeat. Do you want us to keep going
3:03
And I remember thinking, even in a state of shock, there's still some part of your brain that's still working
3:09
And I thought about it for a few minutes, and I said, no
3:13
You can stop. And she was dead. She was 38 years old
3:18
And what made this so amazing to me is not only the passage of time
3:23
but within about two or three days, people would come to my home and family and friends
3:27
Everybody's trying to help out, and they're bringing food, and just we're teaming with people, trying to help through a tough time like this
3:34
But I remember a couple days later walking up to this little deck. We lived down by Green Lake
3:38
And I remember sort of pinching my skin and just going, I'm just another little guy here trying to get through life just skin and bones
3:46
and I'm nothing special. But I clearly saw for the first time in my life why people kill themselves
3:53
I remember thinking about it for a few minutes. I just kind of looked up at the sky, and I thought about it for three or four minutes
3:58
I thought, you know, I'm not going to do that. My boys have already lost their mother
4:03
I'm not going to go jump off some bridge. It sure felt like it, but I'm not going to do it
4:08
But what made it so challenging for me, Jason was asking me, did you grow up in Seattle, and I graduated from Queen Anne High School
4:14
with the University of Washington. I had lost so many people. My father was a pretty doggone good attorney, and he killed himself one day
4:23
This was when I was fairly young. My mom had died of cancer
4:28
A couple of my buddies the night I mentioned I graduated from Queen Anne High School on Dexter crashed
4:33
It just went on and on and on. And I remember thinking, how are you going to survive this, Dave
4:41
And I was kidding Jason, and I mentioned I think to Scott too, about this whole thing with PowerPoint
4:46
My favorite part of talking to groups is get to look at people's eyes. I don't need a PowerPoint, and I need to flip slides and all this kind of thing
4:52
And you get to see people, and I get to see these looks in the eyes
4:56
that have gone through similar roads, and my question is always the same. How did you survive
5:00
What was your coping mechanism? And one of the things I decided right at the outset is it all depends on how you look at something
5:08
So I'd like to ask you all just to stand for a second if you'd be so kind
5:12
Take a second. And I want you just to take your right hand and just start turning, raise it up
5:18
and turn it in a clockwise manner. Now I know we're in a digital world, so here's a watch if anybody's uncertain
5:26
That is clockwise. Just keep it going clockwise. Kind of stretch out for that nice dinner
5:30
Now just start bringing it down real slowly, keeping it going clockwise
5:34
Down to your forehead, your eyes, chin, chest, and waist. Now what direction is it going? Counterclockwise
5:43
Who said counterclockwise? Taylor. Taylor did. Okay, you can sit down. Now you see, I want you to look at Eric, because Eric is doing what is my favorite thing people do
5:57
They go, what the? And I've had friends of mine, fraternity brothers, come up to me and go
6:03
you know, I saw you speak the other day. It wasn't any big deal. But what's the story with that circle thing
6:08
Do people like change? I go, no, you idiot. You graduated from high school, from college
6:13
You look at it above or below. I could say your glass is half full or half empty. It's just a way of saying you have a choice
6:20
We were talking about that earlier with a choice. So I realized at that point I had a choice, and I thought I'd made up my mind
6:27
I'm going to go forward. I'm going to raise these two boys of mine. I'm not going to let this thing defeat me
6:32
But I'm going to have to figure out something along the way that's going to help me
6:36
But I realized, first of all, it takes as long as it takes
6:41
I keep talking about looking at these eyes. I can see Doug, and I can see John, and I can see James, Scott
6:49
Let me see, who else am I? DV, Angela, Eric, Joanne, Bob
6:55
I'll tell you why I remember names in a little bit. But I can see people, and they figure out what is your coping mechanism
7:01
and it takes as long as it takes. I am 64 years old
7:06
A couple of people are looking, God, he didn't look a day over 63
7:11
I wanted to be a speaker when I was 19. It took me 42 years to realize my dream
7:17
I'd worked at Nordstrom, as you heard Scott or Jason say in the bio. I was actually a store manager for Nordstrom for several stores
7:24
That wasn't my ultimate dream. But I realized it was going to take as long as it took
7:28
I don't care how long it was. So here's Connor, who's 4 years old
7:33
and I'm now being told by the nursery school thing or the preschool thing
7:38
he's got problems. We need to have him tested. I said, his mom just died for crying out loud
7:44
Yeah, well, he's messed up. So they put him through all these tests
7:48
They were bouncing balls and doing all these different things with him. I remember it was about an 8-hour day
7:53
And then later they said, have him go sit in the lobby, and we want to talk to you, the dad
7:57
So they said, your son is really messed up. I said, I know, I heard that earlier. He's going to need all sorts of meds, all these things, occupational therapy
8:04
And I couldn't believe it, and I said, well, let me tell you something. I was a pretty decent athlete, and even though he was 4 1⁄2
8:09
it was about 6 months after Dana died, I said, he's going to be the quarterback at Roosevelt High School someday
8:15
And she starts laughing. Never forget it. She goes, ha, ha, ha
8:20
No, he's not. In fact, he's going to have a tough time in life
8:24
So I went out to the car. I got in the car, and I'm a pretty emotional person. I started crying
8:28
I couldn't stop crying. I just drove all the way home, and Connor kept going, daddy, what's wrong
8:32
I said, nothing, Connor. It's okay. Daddy's just having a tough day
8:36
But Connor was going to keep trying, and I noticed something about both he and Kyle after Dana passed away
8:42
They were going to keep trying, and I said, you know, you can't give up. Winston Churchill, never, ever, ever, ever give up
8:49
So Connor's big thing is he may not want to go into football, but he wanted to play baseball
8:54
Now, for those of you that are parents, there's coach pitch and there's tee ball
8:58
Okay, now, tee ball, the ball doesn't even move. It just sits on the tee
9:03
I'm not quite sure how hard it is to hit a ball that just sits on a tee. Connor couldn't hit it
9:08
So he'd be swinging up here, and I'd go, Connor, get the concept here, bud
9:12
The ball is right here. Dad, I'm doing the best I can. So he adjusts his swing
9:17
He finally goes down. He hits the tee. The ball goes forward. He goes, I got a hit
9:23
And I liked his positive attitude, but that's not how the game was played
9:27
But he kept trying. He just kept trying, and he couldn't hit
9:32
He couldn't run. He couldn't catch. He couldn't throw, and he couldn't hit
9:37
Outside of that, he was okay. But I remember August 31, 2005, he was about 10 or 11 at the time
9:45
I was playing the game, and it was actually at Evers Park. And it's 7-6
9:50
They're down. It's the bottom of the seventh. And I think they're out of guys because there's nobody else left, and he doesn't play
9:56
So I look over to the dugout, and it's the bottom of the seventh. Two guys are out
10:01
There's a guy in second, a guy in third. Guess who comes out of the dugout
10:05
I look over. Oh, Lord. Here comes Connor. He's walking all confident, swinging the bat like he's, you know, Willie Mays or somebody
10:15
And then he goes, Dad, I'm up. He looks up in the stands
10:19
Oh, kids don't talk to their parents in the stands. This is tough. So he gets up, and ball one, ball two, ball three, or strike two, rather, full count
10:28
Next pitch comes in. He just rips it down the third baseline
10:33
Goes inside the bag, goes into left field. The guy from third comes in
10:37
The guy from second rounds hits third, goes home. The ball comes in
10:41
The catcher catches it. They all crash together, and the ball pops out
10:45
And they win the game eight to seven. Connor's standing out in second base
10:50
Dad, I got a hit. The entire team comes out of the dugout, goes out to second base, puts them on their shoulders
11:02
and carries them off the field. I couldn't talk for an hour and a half
11:06
I had such a big lump in my throat, even though this had been a number of years now, nine or ten
11:11
It still gets me choked up, because I remember when we came home that night, and we sat down on the bed, and I said, Connor, it was never, ever, ever about baseball
11:20
It's the fact you never gave up. And he didn't. And I think he got that from me, and he got it from his older brother
11:26
that even though Dana died and all these other people had passed on, he's not going to go that route
11:31
And he graduated from Bothell High School last year, and he was the leadoff hitter on the baseball team
11:36
Best hitter on the team. And I remember thinking, if you're not going to give up, you've got to have these examples
11:42
There's all these people. I mentioned I'm 64. Colonel Sanders started KFC at 64
11:47
All these guys, Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, Disney, they never gave up when they went to banks to get their finances
11:52
They didn't take no for an answer. But as I said, the same thing with the circle exercise
11:58
A lot of it depends on how you look at things. So when you go out and get in those cars tonight, notice that this windshield is about this deep, and it's about this wide
12:08
It's a pretty good size. And then notice the rearview mirror. It's about like that
12:14
And keep that in mind when you're going through your life. I don't care what the average age is
12:18
I'm easily right in the target range at 64 of the group here
12:22
It doesn't matter. I don't care how old you are. It makes no difference
12:26
Look mostly in the front. Pay attention to a little bit in the back. If you see some flashing blue lights, you may want to pull over
12:37
But for the most part, pay attention to what's in front of you and learn it
12:43
Along the way, I realized that you've got to get rid of this junk
12:47
And the same thing with the windshield and the rearview mirror. People do it all the time. They drive over junk
12:52
They pick it up from behind them, put it in front, and drive over it again
12:56
Again and again. And I am blessed enough to do workshops. I'm not going to do any tonight with exercise
13:01
I have a lot of exercises that talk to you about how you get this crap out of here and you make room for gratitude, which is what changed my whole life
13:08
One of the biggest things that people keep driving over is ex-spouses
13:12
I've just had it with old Fred. He messed up my life. Hey, when did you get divorced
13:16
Uh, 63. Did you really think that's 50 years ago? You think it's time to get over that
13:23
Yeah, well that guy's a… You know, get over it and kind of move on
13:28
So I have this buddy of mine and he says, just like the lady told me about Connor
13:33
Dave, you're kind of messed up. My fraternity brothers I know very well, graduated 40, 50 years ago
13:40
This buddy of mine says, you need to get a gratitude journal. Now how many have ever heard of a gratitude journal
13:46
Angela, a couple others, Bill. Well, I'd never heard of one. I'd heard of a journal
13:52
I'd heard of a diary and things. So I got one. I ordered one from Amazon
13:56
This is my own I made, but not this one. And I started writing in it
14:01
And I started noticing a lot of good things happening. Because we live in this world where everybody seems to focus on the negative
14:09
What we don't have versus what we have. And what this journal does is it gives you an example
14:15
Every single thing takes five minutes. I've timed this a thousand times
14:19
Five minutes to write in this gratitude journal about what you're grateful for
14:23
And I feel it really started to change me. And I have a little saying in the front of it
14:27
It says, if you think about it, it's like a dream. If you talk about it, it inspires you
14:32
But if you write about it, it empowers you. And people always say, especially the kids in schools
14:38
sometimes they get questions out of the assembly. Do you have an app? Is there an app for our phone
14:43
And I go, well, actually there is. I actually have an app. And you can, it says, the Brooker's Daily Gratitude Journal
14:49
And you press a button. I'm so grateful to Scott Rethke and Jason Overlies for inviting me today
14:53
Types it. Oh, there it is right there. It's not the same
14:58
It's the reason why we, something visceral about how it gets connected. It starts with a thought up here in our CPU, our brain
15:05
Maybe it goes to our heart, our arm, our hand, the pen, the paper, and you write it down
15:09
I'm glad I got a chance to meet DV. There's something about it that you write it down
15:15
Five minutes is all it really takes. So here's what I'd like to do. You don't have to stand up or anything, but I just want to do a little exercise
15:21
One of the things I do in here, it says day and date
15:25
This is my journal. In fact, you're not going to be able to see it, but there's a picture of my little four-year-old son, the leadoff hitter
15:32
who's now down in college in San Diego, who was told he wasn't going to be good enough, he wasn't smart enough
15:37
and is doing quite well. I'm extremely proud of both my sons. They did not give up
15:42
And again, when I get to hear those stories, I hear stories that make my stories look like nothing
15:47
I'm so proud of people that are looking for a healthy coping mechanism in this world of all these deadly ones
15:53
I didn't mention that Dana died of a prescription pill overdose. 38, tall, blonde, absolutely gorgeous
16:00
Our first date was running Green Lake. I'm a fast runner. She could beat me
16:05
And she got hooked on Vicodin and Oxycontin and all this stuff and overdosed one day back there
16:11
So right here, it says day and date. It says daily number
16:15
So here's what your daily number is. I want you all to think about this for a second. One to ten
16:19
Ten is the best day of your life and one is maybe one of the toughest days of your life
16:23
I just want you all to think about what your number is right now. No how
16:27
Just pick a number. So get that number in your head. And if you're between a one and a five, I don't want you to raise your hand because I don't want to embarrass anybody
16:37
But I just want to get a pulse. How many people here are six
16:41
Okay, one, two, maybe. Sevens. A few more. Eights. Okay, bigger number. Nines
16:50
Two, three. And any tens? Joanne and Bill. Joanne, right? Yes. Okay, so here's what I want you to do
16:57
Thank you. I want you to think about a couple of things
17:01
Now, I usually have you write this down because it's very effective, as I just said, but we don't have time for that. I've only got limited time tonight
17:06
But I want you to think about what's the number one thing you're most grateful for in your life
17:11
And I'm not going to give you any hints. I know what it is for me. I write it every single day along with a lot of other things
17:16
But what's the number one thing you're most grateful for? So think about that and plant that in your brain. Okay
17:22
Now, I want you to think about the second thing you're most grateful for
17:27
You got to pick one. Now you get to pick two. And these are very personal. You don't have to look at anybody or compare notes
17:33
It's just you, whatever it is in your life. So there's those two things
17:37
And I'm going to ask you to add one more thing. Today or yesterday, what was the highlight of your day
17:45
What was the best thing that happened? I will tell you this
17:49
Typically, the highlight of my day is one of these talks. I get to do two or three of these a week
17:53
And every time I, no matter what frame of mind I'm in, I get in that car and I look in that windshield
17:58
And if I'm an 8, I'm always a 9 or a 9.5 or a 10. Because I get to meet people and I get to impact some lives
18:04
So think about that. The thing you're most grateful for, the second thing you're most grateful for
18:08
what was the highlight of your day? Now I want you to think in terms of that number again
18:13
See if there was any difference. So think about how that frames your mind, just thinking about those three things
18:19
And once again, I'm going to have you raise your hand. So 1 to 5, don't raise your hand. Sixes
18:26
Okay, no sixes. Sevens. A couple. Eights. Quite a few. And nines. Okay
18:36
And tens. Thank you. It's been great to see you. I appreciate it
18:43
So we had Joanne and Bill and then we added about four or five more people
18:47
When I do that on paper, and thank you so much for that. I appreciate that because people go, how much did you pay those guys
18:54
I didn't pay them anything. But that is just a quick example of how we frame this with gratitude
19:00
And when I do these workshops, I talk about embracing gratitude and why it is such a healthy coping mechanism
19:07
Clear out your brain and make room for gratitude. Get rid of that junk
19:11
Just like stuff in a garage. It takes as long as it takes. It's never too late
19:15
I don't care how old you are. And then get a gratitude journal
19:21
I am fortunate enough to do radio. And they always ask me, the last thing is, what can you tell listeners today
19:27
What's the one message? So I go, just try it. Just try it
19:31
Try it for a week. Of the 20 or 25 people that died in my life, half of them were of their own hand
19:40
Suicide, pills, booze. It's ridiculous. It's just ridiculous. I mean, if Dana had been hit by a bus or something, it would be different
19:47
But that was not the case. So I would like to do something real quick
19:51
I want to give away a book. So I'm going to ask Jason. If you guys have your business cards, I want to do a drawing for a book real quick
19:57
I don't know if everybody has cards. But I always like to give away a book
20:01
And I want to tell you about this book. I've done a number of books why Jason is getting those cards
20:11
Oh, and by the way, I do send out a video on Monday. If you don't want, I send out a two-minute video on Monday about gratitude
20:18
If you don't want it, don't put your card in there because I usually will send it. But you can always unsubscribe too
20:24
But here's what I wanted to tell you about this book. I did a couple of books that were collaborations
20:29
Collaborations where they had a bunch of authors. You'd send in your article. And mine, of course, was on gratitude
20:35
And I did one that's actually back there. I sent in 27 different articles about gratitude
20:40
And got rejected every single time until the 28th one. And I remember seeing it because it always said
20:45
the email was from the publisher. And the first part of the email said
20:50
Thank you. And you knew it was for your contribution. But we don't want you
20:55
And then finally an email came one day and it said, Congratulations
20:59
And they took it. Well this happens to be the book I'm giving away today is
21:03
50 Gratitude Stories to Direct, Inspire, and Empower You. Thank you, sir
21:09
So thank you. Let me just grab one real quick here. We'll see who this is. And the winner is
21:16
John Pruitt. Oh man. Thank you, John. That's great
21:28
Well, thank you. And John, you segwayed perfectly. I want to tell you what happened to me recently
21:34
I was at a group. And I always like to give away a book
21:38
Sometimes the kids, they don't have them, so I'll do tickets or something. But it was a chamber
21:42
And so it was like 200 people. And so I draw the gal's name. Sally
21:46
Clap, clap, clap, clap. And she comes up from the back. And I walk off the stage and I hand her the book
21:50
And I said, Here you go. Congratulations. And she goes, Yeah, great. And I said, Hey, if you'd like later, I'll sign that for you
21:55
She goes, That's okay. So I make no, I don't think I'm John Grisham or something
22:08
I'm just trying to make a difference here a little bit. The last thing I want to just mention, a couple more things and I'll wrap up
22:18
is that I mentioned that my, this daily number. And thank you again, because there was a couple of tens and then there was six or seven or eight tens
22:26
My mother had died of cancer, but before that she was manic depressive
22:30
And it used to just irritate the heck out of me. I'm the second of five, but I was the closest
22:35
She always leaned on me. And I was working at the university bookstore, going to the University of Washington
22:40
And she'd get these depressive states. And she would call me and she'd get me on the phone
22:46
And she'd take these pills and she'd go like this. I have the sleeping pills right here, David
22:52
If you don't come over and see me over in Magnolia, I'm going to take them all right now
22:56
Because you just shake them. And I just, Mr. Gallup, I need to leave. My mom isn't feeling good
23:03
I didn't know what to do. Well, she never killed herself, but she later died of cancer
23:09
But I think I got some of that depression stuff from her. And it used to really bug me
23:13
And I'll tell you, the last thing I'm going to do is take a pill. I know there's valuable pills out there
23:18
But after what it did to my wife and friends and things. So there was one day I woke up and I was at two
23:24
And I was really depressed. And I thought, you better get your rear end down to Starbucks
23:29
You better write in your gratitude journal. So I went down to Starbucks and I rode in and it bumped me up to about a four or five
23:34
And I felt a little better. Grateful for my health and grateful for my two sons
23:39
And grateful for the Jasons and Scots that invite me to places. And all these different things
23:44
But it still wasn't usually the 7, 8, 9 where I usually am. But I was doing a talk that day at Burlington Chamber of Commerce
23:50
So I drove up to Burlington and I did the talk. And after about 250, it was a big chamber
23:54
These people are all lined up and they're buying the books. And this gal comes up to me and she's crying
23:59
Can I give you a hug? I'm single, so you can imagine
24:03
That was nice to get a hug. She goes, my name is Janice
24:08
And you just changed my life. And I looked at her and I said, thank you, Janice
24:14
I don't know if I changed your life. Maybe I gave you some tools
24:18
But she goes, well, whatever. Thank you. And I said, what was it
24:24
I can't tell you a couple of your stories. It was a little longer presentation
24:28
And I walked out and I said thank you. And she bought a journal or something
24:32
And I said thank you and talked to some other people. And I walked out to the car
24:36
And if you ever wonder, every one of you sitting here, who's the first person you call when you get really good or bad news
24:41
I think that's one way you know. It was really good or really bad
24:45
So I wanted to call Connor. Tell him about what had just happened
24:49
And it was Connor first and Kyle second. But I elected not to
24:53
And I was running a Lowe's home improvement at the time. And I quit to do this full time
24:57
And I got back in my car. And I said, I'm not going to call anybody
25:01
I'm just going to enjoy this moment. And I realized I was a nine now
25:05
I was a two, to a five, to a nine. By writing in my journal and by helping somebody that day
25:09
And I took the rear view mirror. I'm driving along I-5. And I just turned the mirror and I go, I'm so freaking proud of you
25:15
It's not where the hammers and nails. Who cares at Lowe's? Goofball company. Anyway. Sorry
25:25
But I really realized that I was making a difference. And that's what something like this can do
25:29
And I tell people that are struggling. A lot of people struggle
25:33
I heard something yesterday on Jim Cramer. It was one of those
25:37
There's two types of people in this country. The unemployed people and the people that hate their jobs
25:41
Well, if you hate your job. I'll tell you life's going by fast
25:45
I've lost a lot of people as I mentioned. You may want to think about changing
25:49
I'll tell you. Something in embracing gratitude can make a big difference
25:53
So last thing I want to do is, as I mentioned, embracing gratitude
25:57
It takes as long as it takes. Don't ever give up. Make room for gratitude
26:03
Get rid of the crud in your brain. Get a gratitude journal
26:07
And the final thing is, which you'll notice, anybody that's enthusiastic about something
26:13
talks about is sharing it. So I want to do a little exercise
26:17
I call this the four T's. So how many people here by show of hands
26:21
have used their smart phone since I've been talking? See, there's always a few honest people
26:25
Thank you. Thank you. There's always... So I'd like you all to take out your smart phones
26:33
Assuming most of you have them. Do you want to know what I did it for? No
26:39
Nice, John. Really nice. Okay. Yes. I'll tell you what I did with it
26:47
I put down a gratitude journal. Good job. Thank you, John. So here's what I want you to do
26:53
I'm going to go for hair. Here's what I want you to do
26:57
Everybody take out your smart phones. I'm going to give you 60 seconds
27:01
And I want you to do one of the four T's. Text, tweet, telephone
27:05
or tell somebody in 60 seconds how grateful you are to have them in your life
27:11
I don't care which method you use. Most people do texting. I'm going to give you 60 seconds
27:17
Start right now. Thanks, Scott. Do you guys want to be honest
27:27
Don't worry. You can do it today. You can do it again
27:33
You can never do it too many times. I don't know. She gets tired of me
27:39
All right. Okay. About 30 seconds left. Looks like most people are texting
27:49
Yes, Mike. Text, tweet, telephone. These used to be called telephones. Or tell
27:57
10 seconds. I'm very, very grateful that you're in my life. Goodbye
28:05
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:11
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:17
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:23
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:29
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:35
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you
28:41
I shall never forget you. I shall never forget you. When John said that, it cracked me up
28:47
I did a big teacher's conference a few weeks ago. I hear this guy in the front row
28:51
I'm very grateful for you. Yes, I am. I don't know. Some speaker just told me to call you and tell you
28:59
I just went, no. It's supposed to be your idea. Last thing I want to talk about
29:09
is just this concept of sharing. Don't let them know it's me
29:13
I was never a guy that did drugs and all that crazy crap
29:17
As I said, it killed so many people. I have a very adamant attitude towards
29:21
dope and coke and all that nonsense. Pills, prescription medication. I was always kind of an adrenaline junkie
29:27
I was skydiving. I had seven friends. We all signed up. It was a long time ago
29:35
It was out at Issaquah when they used to have skydiving. I know this by Monday
29:39
It was for the following Saturday. It was Monday. Then there were six of us
29:45
Then on Tuesday it was five. Then Wednesday I think two guys dropped off
29:49
It was three. Then on Friday I get a couple guys call
29:53
Hey Dave. I've got a sore throat. I'm not sure if I can make it tomorrow
30:01
I walk up to Issaquah Skydiving to the counter. Can I help you
30:05
I go, yes. David Brooke, party of eight. He goes, where's your friends
30:11
I go, I don't have any. It's just me. I went skydiving by myself
30:17
There's nobody to share it with. Whether you're texting, tweeting, telling, or
30:21
telephoning somebody, make sure that you let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life
30:27
The thing that I would say with a gratitude journal, as I said, I sell my own
30:31
I don't care if you get a spiral notebook. I urge people to try it
30:35
It's the healthiest coping mechanism. It can change your life. It can transform your life
30:41
In my case, I truly, truly, truly feel it saved my life
30:45
It can save you guys' too. Thanks a lot. Applause Applause Questions
30:55
Questions at all? John, do you put down gratitude journals? No, I trust you. Laughter Laughter Laughter
31:07
Real quick, you do work for the Pacific Institute as well, correct
31:13
Can you just share what that is? How many people know about Lou Tice and the Pacific Institute
31:17
Oh, wow, a fair amount. How's Lou doing? Lou passed away a couple years ago
31:21
I was telling Jason... Laughter Laughter Laughter Laughter Laughter Applause Applause
31:37
What's your name? What's your name? Ivy Ann. Ivy Ann? What a cool name
31:45
I speak to a lot of groups around Ivy Ann's age in schools, as I mentioned
31:49
No offense to your generation, they don't have half the sense of humor this group does
31:53
I think some stuff's really funny and they go, it's not funny. Laughter
31:59
No, but the Pacific Institute, Lou did pass away. I mentioned, again, I think it was to Jason
32:05
or maybe Scott, that when the iconic figures like the Steve Jobs passed away
32:09
it's tough, but his whole thing was transformational leadership and what goes
32:13
on between your ears. And this whole idea of reticular activating system
32:17
and scotomas and how we have blind spots and how we think
32:21
Who was it? It was Eric. I'll tell you the reason I make such a big deal about the
32:25
names. Is it Bob? Is it Bob? Tax season? I wanted him to get a P score
32:35
on that. Bob's good. I got to tax season though, he must be a CPA
32:41
But the reason, and I heard Angela and I heard Eric and I didn't hear
32:45
your name, and I know Joanne and John and so Ivy. Anyway
32:51
did you say your name? It was on the key she dropped
32:55
right in front of me. Oh! Oh! Oh! My name's Bob. Oh! Oh
33:09
Why did you drop in here tonight? I have no idea. That's amazing
33:15
The parameters are amazing. There's a lot of... I was talking to Eric earlier with a C
33:25
I asked her yesterday thank you guys for support. And about this idea that when people
33:33
say I don't have a very good memory or I don't have time to write in a gratitude journal and you keep saying that
33:37
that'll be the case. And so to me one of the reasons why I pay a lot of attention to names is because
33:41
it's not that difficult to just pay attention and just focus for that minute and
33:45
if it's that and if it's five minutes for a gratitude journal to change your life
33:49
I look at it just like brushing your teeth and all the other things that we do but it can make such a big difference
33:53
So what is your name by the way? I'm Shelly. Shelly, nice to meet you Shelly
33:59
I'm debating when John said do you want to see it? No I know what John is showing so it's okay
34:05
No I just am debating with this crowd. I have a friend who's a stand up
34:09
comedian and I'm just thinking is this too risque? Yeah. Okay. We have a teenager. I know. Okay
34:19
No I'll pass. Thank you all. You did a great job. Thank you so much