When I Try to Impress People

It was the first night of the conference. I’d psyched myself up for this moment for months. The worship portion went perfectly, and now it was time for a game and some emceeing by the team and me. I’d created a really cool piece of equipment for the game. I’d used a device called a…

Are You Limiting Yourself?

For a long time, many highways in Texas had a 70 MPH speed limit. I must admit, I always pushed that boundary a bit. Not to incriminate myself, but I’ve heard you can easily get by with 5 over the limit. That of course, doesn’t keep me from slowing down to the correct speed when I…

How Video Games Reflect Life

Remember that game Zelda on the Nintendo? I know there were many sequels, but I’m talking about the original one. Crummy graphics and a rough attempt at a 3-D world. What frustrated me about this game to no end was that it wasn’t a side scroller. You didn’t necessarily know where to go when you first…

Step 1 to Accomplishing Your Dream

On Sunday, I was in Los Angeles talking to a group of 20/30-somethings about accomplishing a dream. One of the questions we discussed was what the first step should be. And I think that’s really most people’s number one problem with accomplishing a dream. They don’t know where to start. Say you want to write…

Are You Any Different?

I think we’ve all seen a guy who still lives his life like his senior year in high school. Maybe he hasn’t gone beyond the day he won the championship for his football team by throwing a perfect spiral to his teammate in the in-zone. He still goes out an drinks with his buddies and…

Are You Satisfied with the View?

I was hiking one day in a Texas park. The main natural feature of this particular park  is a giant, pink granite rock, although rock is an understatement. The thing is basically a mountain with caves, wildlife, and a spectacular view. My wife and I were on the trail, trekking to the summit, when we…

Want a Defining Moment?

In the life of every successful person, there come a few major defining moments. They get the venture capital… They meet someone who will propel their platform… They meet the bandmate that takes the band to the next level… Everyone’s looking for moments like this. These are the things that make fascinating back stories in…

What’s the Real Story

I’ve been dabbling in fiction writing. I have a short novel I’m slowly working my way through. And something hit me about the storytelling process: In a book, the characters think they’re living one story, but the author knows they’re living a different story. Think about a book like Harry Potter. Harry and his friends…

Are You Swallowing Bull?

I came to a scary realization the other day while I was writing. I was outlining a book, and was ready to start writing, when I realized I didn’t actually believe the premise of the book I was about to write. I could have written all 30,000 words, published, and not meant a single word…