Tuesday, May 28, 2013

20,000 Days And Counting



Nearly 40 years ago, Robert D. Smith, author of 20,000 Days and Counting learned the one business lesson that became the foundation of every success he's ever enjoyed.

Robert Smith, (THE Robert D) was out of college for the summer and working as a door-to-door educational material salesman for the Southwestern Company. He learned that there is no better introduction to the feeling of rejection than having a door slammed in your face over…and over…and over again.

He was truly on the verge of packing his bags and quitting when he got an idea that totally revolutionized his way of thinking—what if, instead of making his goal about the number of sales, he made it about the number of sales pitches he did every day?

From that moment on, he stopped focusing on getting sales. Robert Smith's single focus was on the goal of doing 30 sales pitches every single day, no matter the outcome. So, even if he did 30 pitches and was rejected all 30 times, he would still accomplish my goal.

But here’s the funny part—he never could get 30 “No”s in a row. When he succeeded in doing 30 pitches, he always got at least one “Yes.” Robert Smith ended up becoming one of the best salesmen…simply by not caring whether he made the sale or not.

Eating “No”s for Breakfast

Years later, Robert Smith took this concept to another level. He had just started managing a young comedian, and was trying to get him bookings in the college market. Smith's goal for each day went beyond simply doing 30 pitches. Smith was now trying to literally receive 30 “No”s every day. On each phone call, I would actually say, “You wouldn’t be interested in booking a comedian would you?”

Inevitably, someone would always end up saying, “Yes, actually, we ARE looking for a comedian.” Smith truly never succeeded in reaching his goal of 30 “No”s per day.

By making rejection his goal, Smith got to the point where “No”s meant absolutely nothing to him. He was eating them for breakfast. Worrying about rejection became a thing of the past. And when that happened, the “Yes”s started rolling in, one after the other.

Sounds crazy, right? How in the world could this have possibly worked? Here are five reasons why:

1.  Seeking rejection makes you fearless.

If you truly commit your mind to getting 30 “No”s every day in whatever goal you are trying to achieve, whether it’s making a sale or finding an investor, you can train yourself to actually feel happy when you get each rejection.

2.  It forces you to do something.

When you take fear out of the equation, it becomes much easier to take action and pick up the phone, write the email, make the sales pitch, etc. Taking action is always better than doing nothing. Even if you’re doing it wrong, just do it so wrong that it looks right!

3.  It will make you stronger in all areas of your life.

This concept goes beyond your business. If you get good at seeking rejection, that fearlessness and boldness is going to sneak into every other area of your life as well. Pretty soon, you’re going to become a fearless friend, a fearless parent, a fearless spouse. You can become the person who steps up and takes bold action.

4.  You will feel massively motivated.

You know what happens when you force yourself to do something 30 times in one day? You end up feeling crazy productive. You know what happens when you feel crazy productive? You end up doing even more! Real motivation is always the result of intense action and productivity. Motivation doesn’t lie within a self-help book; it lies within you.

5.  You’ll get rich.

History has proven this again and again. Show me a successful person who didn’t spend years trying things that ended up being massive failures and I’ll show you a dancing unicorn. Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple. He came back and made them the most valuable company in the world. Michael Jordan got cut from his eighth grade basketball team. He won six titles in the NBA. You know the stories. Why can’t the same be true for you? It’s time to believe.

Whether you seek it out or not, rejection is going to find you. Why not meet it head on? If you’re ready to succeed tomorrow, you better start by failing today. What 30 “No”s will you find before the sun goes down?

Get Robert D. Smith’s free eBook, Battle-Tested Branding, at TheRobertD.com.

Robert D. Smith is the author of 20,000 Days and Counting, a crash course in living each day with maximum purpose and intensity. He also writes about entrepreneurship, personal growth, and more at www.TheRobertD.com.

This short, easy to read book is full of practical, take-action advice designed to give you a new perspective and it has the power to change your life if you apply it.

Robert D. Smith, known affectionately to those around him as THE Robert D, is a leader in providing life-changing entertainment resources, a global customer service rep, and a favorite uncle.

For more than three decades, he has managed and overseen the career of Andy Andrews, a three-time New York Times best-selling author and in-demand speaker. He has served as a private consultant to numerous best-selling authors, speakers, entertainers, and cutting-edge organizations, educating them on the unique methods he has employed to sustain massive success and growth across multiple industries for the past 30+ years.

Characterized by his never-say-die attitude, Robert has made a habit of powering through adversity and closed doors at every turn. He was rejected 51 times while pitching Andrews' first manuscript, "The Traveler's Gift." While most would have quit, Robert persisted through "no" after "no."

"No's don't scare me...I eat no's for breakfast," he says. "All a 'no' means is that you're one step closer to a 'yes.'"

The Traveler's Gift, of course, went on to become a New York Times bestseller and a featured selection of ABC's Good Morning America. It is now available around the world in over 25 languages, another volume in a catalog that continues to sell at an impressive rate. "They tell us that a book by Andy Andrews sells every 60 seconds somewhere on the planet," he says with a grin.

His unique lifestyle, magnetic personality, and uncanny ability to get the best out of those with whom he works shine through in his debut book "20,000 Days and Counting," which he describes as a crash course for anyone wishing to get the most out of each and every day, hour, and minute they spend on Earth.

"20,000 Days and Counting" shows you how to maximize every moment and live purposely with tremendous certainty of who you are and what you are here to do.  I definitely give it a solid 3 1/2 stars!  

Robert spends his spare time mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs and creative thinkers, teaching them lessons in business, finances, and living lives of meaning. He enjoys creating lasting memories with those around him by seizing opportunities for magic moments in seemingly ordinary settings. If you find yourself out to dinner with him, he will insist that everyone order dessert first.


He currently resides in the countryside of Franklin, TN, just south of Nashville.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Under The Sea Splashes Into Fernbank Museum’s IMAX Theatre



Experience the sea and its marvelous marine life in the giant-screen film Under the Sea, returning to the IMAX® Theatre at Fernbank Museum of Natural History from May 25-September 5, 2013. Through the visual majesty of the IMAX® format, audiences are transported to the crystal blue domains of diverse underwater dwellers, including the Leafy Sea Dragon and the Flamboyant Cuttlefish.

Under the Sea journeys to some of the most exotic and isolated undersea locations on Earth, including South Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Coral Triangle islands of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Audiences experience face-to-face encounters with some of the most mysterious and stunning creatures of the sea. It offers a uniquely inspirational and entertaining way to explore the beauty and natural wonder of the oceans, as well as the impact global climate change has on them.

“Most people will never encounter these creatures face to face in the wild, and IMAX is able to bring audiences as close to swimming alongside them as they’ll ever get,” said producer Toni Myers.
The film is narrated by Jim Carrey. Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX Corporation present Under the Sea, which has been rated G for general audiences and has a running time of 40 minutes and 45 seconds. Under the Sea will show at Fernbank Museum from May 25-September 5, 2013.

Fish Face Contest

To celebrate the return of the family-friendly underwater IMAX® adventure Under the Sea, Fernbank Museum is having a “Fish Face” photo contest! Send us your wonderfully wacky, flippingly funny or just plain silly photos showing your best “Fish Face” and you could win one of several great prizes including tickets to see the film, a “Sea to Shore” prize pack from the Museum Store and more.
Contest closes June 30, 2013. Winners will be announced on Fernbank’s Facebook page.
Send your photos to marketing@fernbankmuseum.org or post on Fernbank Museum’s Facebook page. Please read the full contest rules before taking the fish face plunge at www.fernbankmuseum.org.

Ticket and Visitor Information

Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s IMAX Theatre is located at 767 Clifton Road in Atlanta. IMAX tickets are $13 for adults, $12 for students/seniors, $11 for children ages 3-12 years old, $8 for Museum members, and free for children ages 2 and younger. For tickets, please call 404.929.6300 or visit www.fernbankmuseum.org.  

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Sylvia Browne - DEAD WRONG AGAIN


In 2004 Louwana Miller appeared on the Montel Williams show in hopes that psychic Sylvia Browne would help her locate her missing daughter, Amanda Berry.

"She's not alive, honey," Browne told Miller on the show. "Your daughter's not the kind who wouldn't call."
Louwana Miller died a year later from heart failure or perhaps heart break believing that her daughter was dead. Louwana spent three years searching for her daughter and the stress and emotional turmoil took a toll on her mind, body and soul.

On Monday, Berry was found alive after she broke free from a home in Cleveland where she says she has been kept a prisoner for the past decade.

In 2003 Browne famously told the parents of  of missing teen Shawn Hornbeck that their son was dead, and his body could be found somewhere near "two jagged boulders," according to her premonition.  Furthermore, according to Browne, Hornbeck was kidnapped by a very tall, “dark-skinned man, he wasn’t Black, more like Hispanic,” who wore dreadlocks.

In fact, Hornbeck and another boy were found very much alive January 16, 2007, in the home of Michael Devlin, a Missouri man accused of kidnapping them. Hornbeck had been missing for four years, but his parents had not given up hope of finding him despite Browne’s misinformation. Devlin, a Caucasian, is not Black, dark-skinned, nor Hispanic and almost certainly did not have dreadlocks at the time he allegedly abducted Hornbeck.

Sylvia is a carnival fortune teller and not a very good one.  She's predatory grief vulture.  Her narcissistic personality enables her to look into the face of a bereaved or desperate person seeking answers about their dead or missing relative and spin a story to enrich and aggrandize herself.




Saturday, May 4, 2013

Fernbank Museum Hosts Butterfly Bash on May 4


Grab your wings and prepare for a soaring good time as Fernbank Museum of Natural History celebrates the giant screen adventure, Flight of the Butterflies, with a family-friendly Butterfly Bash on Saturday, May 4, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Live butterflies, special activities, crafts and cultural performances will be part of the fun.

Scheduled Activities Include:

Live Butterfly Tent
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Stand among live butterflies and see these remarkable insects in action.
Specimens courtesy of Jaap de Roode of Emory University.

Day of the Dead Display and Craft
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Learn about the Day of the Dead and its role in discovering the monarch butterflies’ overwintering grounds, then decorate your own Day of the Dead paper skull. 

Brought to you by the Instituto de Mexico and the Consulate of Mexico in Atlanta.


The Georgia Bubbleman
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Butterflies won’t be the only things soaring. Join us outside for big bubble fun.

Butterfly or Moth?
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Do you know the difference between butterflies and moths? This fun activity will test your identification skills.

Chicahua Yolotli- Aztec Dance Troupe
11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.
You will be immersed in the music, movements and attire as authentic Aztec dancers demonstrate the beauty of this ancient dance tradition.
Brought to you by the Instituto de Mexico and the Consulate of Mexico in Atlanta.

Tissue Paper Butterflies
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Create your own beautiful tissue paper butterfly.
Brought to you by Macaroni Kid.

Butterfly Tattoos
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
After you become a butterfly expert, you’ll earn your wings with special temporary tattoos.

Book Signing
10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Museum Store
Meet Vicki M. Fisher, author of Cambio: The Best Blue Butterfly. This children’s book tells the story of a caterpillar trying to discover who he will become. The author will be signing copies of the book, which are available for purchase in the Museum Store.

Butterfly Life Cycle
10am – 2pm, Great Hall
Metamorphosis comes to life! Investigate living examples of a butterfly’s life cycle and discover the important role milkweed plays in caterpillar biology.
Live specimens provided by the Monarch butterfly lab at UGA's Odum School of Ecology

Flight of the Butterflies*
Showing in Fernbank’s IMAX® Theatre at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
Enter the enchanting world of monarch butterflies, in this film that follows their annual migration and the moving story of a scientist’s decades-long search for their winter home. Soar a mile high alongside one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world, as half a billion Monarch butterflies head south on an epic journey up to 3,000 miles long between Canada and Mexico.
(*Separate IMAX® ticket purchase required. See Value Pass prices below.)

Fernbank Museum of Natural History is located at 767 Clifton Road NE in Atlanta. Museum admission tickets, which include Butterfly Bash activities, are $17.50 for adults, $16.50 for students/seniors, $15.50 for children ages 3 to 12, and free for Museum members and children 2 and younger. Value Pass tickets, which include Museum admission, Butterfly Bash activities, and IMAX® admission to see Flight of the Butterflies are $23 for adults, $21 for students/seniors, $19 for children, and $8 for Museum members.

Tickets are available online at fernbankmuseum.org or by calling 404.929.6400.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Did The Rape Threat Justify The Means?

A female liberal blogger and radio host at the University of Wyoming Meg Lanker-Simons, has been accused by police of fabricating a rape threat against herself.  It appears that Ms. Lanker-Simons posted an obscene message on a college “crush” Facebook page earlier this week.

The message appears below:



At first glance if this post had actually been written by some anonymous individual there is no wonder that such a post would ignite outrage as it is clearly disgusting and vile.  A demonstration and protest against rape culture, spurred by the UW Crushes Facebook incident, happened Monday on the UW campus.  Lanker-Simons was a speaker at the event, where she called out the the anonymous poster.



Then in a surprising twist,  Ms She was cited for interference with a police investigation for making false statement to UW Police. You see the threat actually originated on Ms. Lanker-Simons' computer, while the computer was in her possession.”

I'm certain Ms. Lanker-Simons originally felt that the accusation against this unknown individual served her purpose.  She became the "victim" in the eyes of her supporters of an obviously misogynistic conservative and therefore a hero.

I find this EXTREMELY despicable   As a rape survivor I denounce people who falsely claim rape or even a threat of rape as it makes it even more difficult for women who have been raped to come forward.  Did Ms. Lanker-Simons ever once give thought to the fact that every false rape claim diminish the integrity of every legitimate rape claim.  Ms. Lanker-Simon if you really cared about violence against women, why would you manufacturer such a blatant lie?

Now we discover that this hero has her very own Facebook support site claiming that Meg Lanker-Simons is not only innocent but they believe that what she did was justified.  Furthermore, they believe that Lanker-Simons deserves not to be held accountable for her accusations.  In other words, the ends justifies the means.

What do you think?