Dan’s Surfing Snippets

I recently purchased a book that once I started reading it I could not put it down it was so compelling. Wow! It is so packed with knowledge and insights that I had to share it with others.

The book is “Chosen for Greatness” by Burnette Clingman www.burnetteclingman.com also available on Amazon.com.

As a weekly radio talk show host of Rise! Burnette was able to be one-on-one with a large number of famous and influential people.

Her book is comprised of many of the best such as Immaculee Ilibagiza, Susan Jeffers, Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, John Maxwell, Susan Taylor, Leonard Pitts Jr., Dr. Myles Monroe, Dr. Dennis Kimbro, Jack Canfield, Nancy Chen, Les Brown, Kim Kiyosaki, Donna Richardson Joyner, Zig Ziglar, Colleen Barrett, James Brown, Marc Morial, Joyce Beatty, Valerie Coleman-Morris, Stedman Graham, Dr. Lorraine Monroe and Tavis Smily.

Tavis Smily summed it up, “Chosen for Greatness is inspiring and empowering! It will move you beyond fear to seize the opportunity to live a life of faith and greatness.”

I personally found each and every one of these interviews intensely interesting. However, some even more so like Immaculee Ilibagiza’s story of hiding from the genocide in Rwanda that spared her life but not that of her family; like embracing the Kingdom Principles in our lives espoused by Dr. Myles Monroe; and Dr. Dennis Kimbro’s quest for why some succeed and others do not.

This is a powerful book with so much great information that you will want to read it over and over again.

Burnette Clingman feels that each of us has a purpose and was born for greatness and the world is awaiting you. Her book provides practical techniques and knowledge that everyone can understand and use in their own lives to achieve greatness.

Burnette travels the country as a renown trainer, keynote and motivational speaker, and author. Read this book and you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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A few years ago on a hot summer day my wife, Marcella, and I were going for a morning walk in the park. We passed many trees but when we passed a beautiful large oak tree she said that she just received an inspiration.

I asked what was it about and she said that the tree was crying. I again asked what she meant and she said that she got an inspiration to write a children’s book about two boys who were beating up and hanging from the branches of a similar oak tree and it made the tree cry. She said that trees must have feelings just as humans do and when we abuse them they hurt.

Fast forward to this Spring and she told me that she needed to write that book about the tree. She is a math and science 6^th Grade school teacher and has been busy with work, caring for her 95 year old mom and getting through about 10 months of a serious eye problem that rendered her in constant paid during that entire time. Now she has a little breathing room, if you can call it that. But, she said, I am sure God wants me to do this book.

By the beginning of this Summer the book was completed. Her goal as a teacher was to reach each child even one at a time. However, through books, she would be able to reach many.

Her intent is that this book would be used as a starting point for discussions on how we should respect plants, animals, the environment and each other, especially those different from us and also the elderly. Yes, that is saying a lot but when she read it too me I knew she was on to something big.

“And The Tree Cried Out” is a story about two boys, Rodney (who is African-American) and Alex (who is Caucasian). Their mothers pack them lunch and snacks and they pulled their red wagon down the path to the local fishing hole on a hot and sunny summer day.

On the way they played and paused under a large oak tree both to get shade from the heat and also to beat the tree and climb and hang on its branches.

Feeling some raindrops they became disappointed that their fun day would have to prematurely end. But, looking at the sky, it was still bright and sunny. That was odd.

They paused from their playing to eat and drink their juice and then fell asleep. Alex dreamed that “Mr. Tree” was actually talking to him and explained that the drops they felt were not raindrops but his tears! He explained that trees have feelings!

He went on that he observed humans through the years and how they mistreated many things including each other, especially if they are different, and even their grandparents and that it wasn’t right.

Alex woke up and told Rodney about his dream, which they discuss in detail and agree to try to treat others and the environment with respect.

The book is only available online at www.BarrettBooksDayton.com. The book has been translated into Spanish and will also be available soon.

Networking is about building relationships. However, it is not the quantity, but the quality of these relationships that actually help others and you to grow your business.

Networking is not hard but it does take time and effort for it to work. And, special attention should be placed on making better use of down time. A particular down time that many people overlook is the time you take for breakfast, lunch, a coffee break or dinner.

We get so caught up in our daily routine that it sometimes takes a conscientious effort to make room in our daily routine to prospect for new contacts, sales leads and additional business.

That’s why this book’s title got my attention. And, while I don’t promote trying to go crazy and schedule every meal with a possible client or referral contact, I do suggest that we all can ratchet it up a bit and make better use of sharing the time we eat with someone that can make an impact on increasing our business.

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time (Hardcover)

by Keith Ferrazzi

Two good friends of mine, Elizabeth Riley of Insignia Signs and Jeff Senney of Pickrel, Schaefer & Ebeling, have been making use of this concept for a long time and I have personally witnessed their business grow by leaps and bounds.

Not only do I see them at every networking event in the Greater Dayton Metro Area but they also make use of Not Eating Alone.  Jeff often states that he doesn’t understand how some business people will eat lunch at their desk all of the time when they could be having lunch with a potential client or a great referral contact. And he remarks, It’s not fun to eat alone anyway!

He continues, Its one thing if you have a project that has to get out and you grab a bite to eat while working on the project. But this doesn’t happen all the time. You need to get out there and meet people. Get out there and make things happen.

Elizabeth will also do something called a tag team, which is, calling on clients with a colleague to serve both as an introduction for that person and also as a customer courtesy to see if they have any needs. Then the process gets reversed. They call on the colleague’s clients and Elizabeth gets introduced. This is a great sales technique and my hat is off to her for taking the initiative and time to get out there. She also meets with business people for breakfast, lunch, coffee and dinner!

Doug Barry of BarryStaff has also used this technique for many years.

So the next time you have lunch think about these thoughts and ask yourself if you are networking or just eating alone.