Business of Life Archives

How to Stay Relevant in Business and Life?

January 3, 2013 Steve Kayser

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” – Alvin Toffler

I heard a couple of acquaintances talk about a person they work with that was “older” and no longer contributing to their business. This person apparently couldn’t, or wouldn’t, learn new skills. Or, for that matter, even keep up with the skill-set needed for the job. Age was mentioned, and not favorably. They thought this person should be “put out to pasture.”

3 Positive Ways to Deal with the Negative World

April 22, 2013 Steve Kayser

Recent world events that have brought such overwhelming tragedy and negativity can make us spiral downward, creating despairing attitudes and dismal spirits. These affect our work. We’re less productive. We miss our sales goals. We wander away from family and friends. How do we get back on track? Find. Focus. Finish.

No Arms, No Legs … No Worries

March 15, 2013 Steve Kayser

Our times our piled high with difficulty and uncertainty. Stress and anxiety. Problems too big to get your arms around, Too high to climb. Unless … you don’t have legs or arms.

The Stunningly Visual Power of Words

March 13, 2013 Steve Kayser

The words in this video had the same purpose – but not the same meaning.

And meaning is everything. It’s seeing without eyes.

To Know Success Know No

January 2, 2013 Steve Kayser

Too short. Too fat. Too dumb. No Imagination. No creativity. No skills. Face for radio. Voice for print. Too macho. Too Wimpy. Too lady-like. Too butch. Too bald. Too much fuzzy hair. Wrong color. Wrong race. Wrong sex. Out of his depth in a parking lot puddle. Neanderthal brain in a Cro-Magnon body. And … just who in the “H–E-doubLe-hockey-sticks” do you think you are?

Who is There to Mourn for Logan?
No One … Not One

November 20, 2012 Steve Kayser

“I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage superior to Logan’s Lament.” – Thomas Jefferson

How to Defeat Your Inner Deadbeat

September 4, 2012 Steve Kayser

In every person’s life, there is a still, small voice that tries to guide you to a wonderful calling − a destiny. Your destiny. A calling that you, and only you, were put on this earth to fulfill. Near silent, this voice is powerful enough to lift thoughts, dreams and visions to a higher ground. Do you still hear it?

A Jerk In Search of Some Enchantment
… Interview with Guy Kawasaki

October 26, 2012 Steve Kayser

It sneaks up on you. Subtly. Like the floor after your 4th shot of tequila. Next thing you know? Prevaricating, blasphemous, smellfungus ninnyhammer all-foam no-beer mooncalfs are calling you a jerk. Quickly followed by a public JERK INTERVENTION. I know. It happened to me. Don’t let it happen to you.

The “Secret” is a Trick

August 21, 2012 Steve Kayser

Times are tough. If you’ve lost your job, your house, or your hope for a better future it’s enough to make you feel like a loser. Make you feel completely alone. How to turn it around?

The New Employee … Partner of Purpose?

August 20, 2012 Steve Kayser

What type of employee would YOU want to help you in a startup? Or in growing a business? In a struggling business? Certainly someone with drive and…

The Most Important Thing I Have Learned
Interview with “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Author Robert Kiyosaki

July 24, 2012 Steve Kayser

I was going to start off with, “What’s it like to sell 28-million copies of Rich Dad Poor Dad?”‘ but I won’t. because it’d probably bore you to tears. You served as a marine helicopter gunship pilot in Vietnam, winning an air award medal, how did that …

Riding the Complex Sale Alligator Without Becoming Lunch – Interview with Pen Densham, Film and TV Writer, Producer, Director

October 12, 2012 Steve Kayser

To win at the complex sale, one must be a storyteller, strategist, master tactician, cajoler, evaluator, philosopher, psychologist, bean counter and often, magician. But what about a really complex sale? Like selling your story to Hollywood and getting it made into a film? Find out with Pen Densham whose films include; Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, Moll Flanders, Rocky II and Houdini. The films and television series Pen Densham and his partner have produced have grossed over $1 billion.

Can You Make a Living “Thinking” for a Living?

September 25, 2012 Steve Kayser

Is there a magic formula that can enable you to put your feet up in a chair, daydream and think of ideas that can change everything for you? In business and life? Yes, it’s “4 I’s > C2.” Features interview with Joey Reiman, author of “Thinking for a Living.”

An Inconvenient Genius

September 12, 2012 Steve Kayser

How often has one person affected humanity to such a degree that were the fruits of his labor withdrawn immediately from our day-to-day existence, the world as we know it … would essentially stop?

Overcoming Adversity: Lessons and Blessings

December 10, 2012 Steve Kayser

To win at business or life, adversity has to be encountered, faced, fought and defeated. There is no other way. No options. You either beat it, or it beats you. Win, or you lose. Simple. Right?

No. Never. It’s never black and white. Never win or lose. Something always bleeds over. Always. Sometimes good – sometimes bad. Sometimes funny – sometimes sad. Most times a little of both. This is one such story.

What’s Your Difference?

September 1, 2012 Steve Kayser

Through the trials and travails of life we rarely stop to think of what we are doing or have done that makes a difference. A real difference. Something that makes the world a little bit better in any way – no matter how small.

Robert McKee’s “Principle of Creative Limitation,” Stays Inside the Box

May 27, 2012 Steve Kayser

Out of the box thinking. How many times have you heard that? What does it mean? It’s supposed to connote creative thinking. But what happens if you stay in the box… and make it smaller?

How to Create and Finish Anything … Work the Do

May 22, 2012 Steve Kayser

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Do the Work is a shut up and do-it guide. It treads some of the same turf as the “War of Art.” It fights the intractable, implacable, insidious foe of mankind –Resistance. But it’s also an indispensable guide to winning at business or life.

Heartbeats of Healing: A Celebration of People, Process and Technology

January 7, 2013 Steve Kayser

“We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery.” – H.G. Wells.

Queasy easy? Stop here.

This is a true story. It’s graphic. Reality is rough. Truth is tough. So if you get queasy easy, stop here.

This story describes a complex melding of, and interplay between, some spectacular people, processes and technologies that combine to create a real-life, dynamic human organism. An organism that breathes, reacts, corrects, heals and cures. And, it’s powered by the …

Guess Who’s Two?

September 24, 2012 Steve Kayser

So This is Christmas … What Have You Done?

December 14, 2012 Steve Kayser

So fast. Another year past. 2012 gone. 2013 soon upon. How did you do? What did you do? What did you do that really mattered? Have you even thought about it that way? Or …

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Batman Saved by a Cincinnati Love Story?
Interview with Michael Uslan, Producer of the “The Dark Knight Rises”

August 10, 2012 Steve Kayser

Who knew that without the love of a Cincinnati girl and her family, Batman and the Dark Knight would have never made it to the silver screen?

Creative Problem-Solving … Accidentally On Purpose

July 26, 2012 Steve Kayser

A paradox is not a conflict within reality. It is a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality should be like.

The White Knight of the Dark Knight
Interview with Hollywood Producer Michael Uslan

June 16, 2012 Steve Kayser

It started when he was a young boy. An obsession to right a terrible wrong. The Batman that played on television in his youth was a far cry from the original Batman comic books. It was joke. In his mind the real Batman was being dissed – comically. The young man made up his mind that someday he would avenge the Batman. And he did.

Stand Aside for an Officer, You Can’t All be Saved!
Interview with Bestselling Author Dr. Ken Blanchard

May 30, 2012 Steve Kayser

Why is it so critical for great leaders also to be great teachers and storytellers?

Great Leaders GROW – Interview with Bestselling Author Dr. Ken Blanchard

May 10, 2012 Steve Kayser

Successful leaders don’t rest on their laurels. Leadership has to be a living process, not a title, not a business card. “The path to increased influence, impact, and leadership effectiveness is paved with personal growth. Our capacity to grow determines our capacity to lead. It’s really that simple.

How NOT to Stand Out in Any Crowd

January 20, 2012 Steve Kayser

You, your product, your service, your company, is good … maybe great. It’s different, unique, totally rad, awesomeroo and bloggerific. It even (occasionally) delivers real business value; makes an authentic difference in business or life. But … no one has heard of you. You haven’t even heard of you! Here’s how to get your message out – or not. Featuring an interview with Sam Horn, author of “POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd.”

The Power of Resistance: Lessons Learned from Bestselling Author Steven Pressfield

February 25, 2012 Steve Kayser

I’ve had the good fortune to interview and work with many great storytellers over the last few years. J.D. Meier, program manager for Microsoft’s Patterns & Practices team, and author of the “Sources of Insight”blog, asked me what the most important lessons I’d learned from the high-profile “working” writers and storytellers … the ones who actually make a living doing it.

I have sinned and I have suffered,
Played the hero and the knave;
Fought for belly, shame, or country,
And for each have found a grave.

- General George S. Patton

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From the backstabbing co-worker to the meddling sister-in-law, you are in charge of how you react to the people and events in your life. You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead. Take control and choose to focus on what is important in your life. Those who cannot live fully often become destroyers of life.

- Anais Nin

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An Affair Shakes the Presidency … In Scandal or Crisis, Character is the Still the Coin of the Realm

January 28, 2012 Steve Kayser

The story and interview that follows is not about avoiding a scandal or crisis, but how one American President through strength of character dealt with a situation that threatened his presidency, his reputation, his place in history and … America’s credibility.

From Ode to Misery to Ode to Joy

January 25, 2012 Steve Kayser

How could the absolute worst pitch of all-time lead to anything positive? This one did. It was a miracle and soulfully enriched beyond belief. It was meant to be passed on.

How to Really Achieve Your Childhood Dreams

December 7, 2011 Steve Kayser

If you had one last time to pass on all you had learned in this life – in a letter, video, speech or lecture – what would you say? How would you say it?

Ever thought about it?

Who would you say it to? Would you be maudlin or mirthful?