Tag Archives: banquet

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Book Launch! You’re Invited!

ACAL invitation

Thank you to my talented friend Sean Junkins for creating this awesome invite!You are invited to celebrate with me this Thursday, July 30th from 5 PM to 8PM as I launch my very first book, Along Came a Leader. There are several ways you can join in on the book launch.  First, you can attend the book launch party at the Rocky Point Winery in Marblehead, Ohio.  You can order a softcover or a digital copy from Amazon.com, or you can order a personalized signed copy from www.AlongCameaLeader.com and have it shipped to your house. I will also be sharing some of the book launch event on the Periscope App, using my @WiredEducator user name.

I am really pleased with how well the book turned out and I believe it has the potential to impact organizations both big and small. Leadership is very important and something we teach and nurture.

Hope you join me in celebrating the launch of Along Came a Leader.

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He entertains and amazes audiences across the nation

with his art and words. The art is brought to life with computer animation.

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

info@kellycroy.com

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The Importance of Celebrating Others

Nobody wants to be around people who just tolerate them.

Everbody loves to be around people who celebrate them.

Leadership is a skill which can be learned and taught, and one of the most important lessons is celebrating the success of others.

It’s a refreshing change in a “Me First” world: First and foremost, celebrating others is not only the right thing to do, it places those who practice this unique and powerful craft at the top 1% of people others want to be around. It’s easy to celebrate others and it doesn’t have to cost anything. In an age where “selfies” are the mainstream of social media, celebrating others is a refreshing change of pace. People are enchanted by those who place others above themselves. The greats practice celebrating others. Oprah, Ellen, Jimmy Fallon are all quick to congratulate and share the success of those they are around. We love it! We love seeing others genuinely happy about the success of others.Click to Read More

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Trying vs. Training: How to Win at Anything!

I don’t know what to say when someone tells me they’ve quit. It’s one of those rare moments when I’m speechless.

I grew up in a house where you either succeeded, or you weren’t finished yet.  There was no happy middle ground.  Homework was either completed or I was working on it.  The option of not completing it never entered my mind.

Sports further emphasized this point.  I could not imagine telling my coach, “Well, I tried, but I just couldn’t get the job done, so I’m gonna stop now.”

Nope. No way! I’d never say that! I’d rather walk into a bear’s den beating a pot with a metal spoon with a raw piece of meat tied around my neck than do that.  It’s just not happening.

So, now in life I feel similarly.  I am either achieving what I set out to do, or I am not finished. It’s that simple. I think it can be best summed up in the idea of trying vs. training.

Trying sounds okay when you first say.  “Sure, I’ll give it a try.”  It’s innocent.  You’ll do your best.  The problem with trying though is that it leaves that other option out in the open. The other option being you can walk away if it doesn’t work out.

Training on the other hand takes that other option right off the table. Training is an entirely different matter.  For starters, there is a plan.  You know what you are going to do to make it happen.  No wild swings.  No shooting from the hip.  When you train you measure your progress, make sure you’re on track, and you use every resource you can to achieve success.  When you train you discipline yourself and follow a set of rules or guidelines. If you experience a setback, you get up and begin, again.

See the difference? Training and trying are not the same.  Trying is a half-hearted effort.  Training is focused on a result.  Those who try sometimes get lucky and make it.  Those who train make it every time.  It might take awhile, but they will get there.

Imagine you are given the amazing opportunity to win a million dollars during an NBA halftime show by shooting three foul shots.  Make three in a row and you win a million dollars. The contest will be televised live in three weeks. Would you try to make the shots or would you train to make the shots?  I’d train! You’d find me out on the playground basketball court late at night, even if it was raining, practicing those shots. I’d read books about the psychology of performing under pressure. I’d watch video. I’d consult coaches. And let me tell you this… I’d win.

Our journey in life is no different.  Do you have a plan? An accountability partner? Are you focused? Do you miss practices? Are you disciplining yourself?

You do know you’re playing for more than a million dollars, right?

So, how do you win a million dollars shooting a basketball free throw? How do you win at life?

Simple. You train.

(For even more help with personal and professional leadership,
please check out Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader, or invite Kelly to speak at your next event.)

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He entertains and amazes audiences across the nation

with his art and words. The art is brought to life with computer animation.

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

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The Thirteen Best Productivity Apps for Your iPhone

Businessman working at his workplaceThe iPhone is an amazing productivity tool or an amazing distraction depending on the apps you use. I have my share of apps for distractions, but I also accomplish a lot of work on my iPhone too.  It surprises me that more people don’t know about how the iPhone can help you accomplish more wherever you are at.  You can waste a lot of time and money trying to find the best productivity apps, so let me save you a little of both.

In this post I will share thirteen of my top productivity apps and annotate them with suggestions on how they can be put to best use.  I will elaborate on some of the apps in separate, individual posts later.

I would love to read what apps you would include on this list and how you use them in the comments below.

 

Icon175x175 Day One: I have kept a daily journal now for over sixteen years. I credit most of my accomplishments to journaling, and up until the last couple of years my journals have always been paper journals, like Moleskine. (I still use Moleskine for projects.)  I made the leap the Day One app, and I have no regrets.  The best journal is the one you have in your pocket. It has a beautiful user interface, looks great, and you can search your journal for the information you are looking for.  The search feature is key! So often I tried to find information in my written journals by flipping pages.  Most of the time I never found what I was looking for, and when I did I lost huge amounts of time. Day One is simple to use, is password protected, and has some great advanced features.  I highly recommend this app for your iPhone.

SCOI0091 summary icon 100x100 Evernote: Evernote is my secure electronic filing cabinet.  While I don’t keep a daily journal in Evernote, all of my notes from meetings, conferences, upcoming events, and projects go here.  Evernote is secure and searchable.  I can find whatever I am looking for.  When I want to remember something I use Evernote. It includes audio, picture, web clippings, and so much more.  I keep finding more and more uses for it. You can start using Evernote for free at this link forever; it only costs money when you out grow the free amount of space. Also, and most importantly, it is safe and secure.
(Please click the ‘continue reading’ below in red on the right to read about eleven more great apps.)

 

ImagesNozbe: I have tried just about every single ‘to-do’ app in the App Store in an attempt to replace my index card for my daily to-do list. I finally found the solution, and it’s Nozbe. It is clean and simple, like my index card, and well, it just simply works. I can access my to-do list and projects via any device easily, and it appears in the notification screen on my iPhone. I’m finally done losing my to-do list. I can’t believe I finally found the replacement to my index card. Nozbe also works off your MacBook too, which is a joy to sync the two. Nozbe is an absolute joy to use and I am really utilizing the Projects functions too, which I can share with others.  Plays well with Evernote too.
Unknown Drafts: Drafts is a nice little writing program that if perfect for taking notes and writing posts for social media that you will repost again and again. It gives you a character count and allows you to publish to any social media account and works with many other apps. A couple of uses I enjoy are keeping of lists that I will send to people when they ask, like what books do you recommend.  I also use Drafts for rough drafts of future tweets and posts.  Yes, I actually do that. For instance I occasionally ask readers to purchase my book or leave a review.  I have this post stored in Drafts. Handy.
Images Coach.me: Coach.me use to be called Lift and it is great for creating daily habits with reminders.  Add habits you wish to create into this app and you can opt to collaborate with others working on the same habit, get props, reminders, and so much more. You check off the habit you complete and the app keeps track of your progress.  I really like this app for keeping track of my writing goals, practicing Spanish on DuoLingo, workouts, and so much more.
Dropbox 2012Dropbox: It’s just a great online storage center to store lots and lots of files. I backup writing projects here, some photos, and projects I am working on. I can create a folder to share with others so they can collaborate on a project of keep it private for myself. You can sign up FREE for Dropbox here.
Screen Shot 2015 01 19 at 10 08 10 PMDictionary.com Dictionary & Thesuarus: I’m surprised how many smartphone users don’t have a dictionary installed. This one is free and works offline too.  I still find myself needing a dictionary regularly on my phone and I wish the iPhone had one built in like Spotlight on the Mac. I don’t always have access to the internet believe it or not and I need a dictionary.
Screeny ios app iconScreeny: This little app does one thing really well.  It finds all the screenshots you’ve taken on your phone and gives you the option to delete all of them or pick the ones you want to keep.  I take a lot of screenshots for reference and it fills up my phone. I like this simple little utility app.
Screen Shot 2015 01 19 at 10 10 38 PM30/30: This is a unique timer that nearly makes ‘getting things done’ into a game. The concept is simple, you set the timer for whatever amount of you want to focus on a task distraction free, then when the timer is up you work on another tasks. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.  That’s what this app does… it takes a big task and breaks it up into bite sized time allotments. You will love the user interface. You can keep things simple or explore its more diverse and enriching features.
Screen Shot 2015 01 19 at 10 22 29 PMSkitch: This is a great app that works with Evernote that allows you to annotate and mark up photos. I use it all the time to explain things visually to others, from problem-solving an issue on their phone or computer to annotating a picture or a piece of writing.  Works great.
Images  Mail+: I am still in shock that even the latest iOS does not allow me to create and name groups of people to email. If I have a group of people that meet regularly like my investment club Mail+ does the trick. I use this on my iPhone and my iPad.
App store 5122x365 Countdown: I like to know how many minutes, hours, and seconds it is to my next 5K, speaking event, or family trip.  This app handles that for me. There are several on the app store.  The one I use is no longer listed but is still on my phone.  I recommend one that you like.
Unknown Scannable: I have downloaded many scanning apps for my iPhone to get documents into Evernote and other utilities. Now, Scannable, by Evernote has conquered them all.  It easily scans and manages at the same time. Great for business cards, kids artwork, to contracts and anything else that needs to be scanned and filed. Great app and free.
I have a lot of other great apps that I use for productivity that I’ll share later, but this is a powerful list to get you more productive right away.  I plan to cover a few of these in greater detail in individual posts.
If you would like to learn more ways to be more productive and build your personal and professional leadership skills I hope you’ll sign up for my monthly newsletter by clicking here, and you’ll also receive a free eBook titled, The Greatest Year of Your Life.
Two other quick productivity tips I recommend include the following. First, have an extra charge for your devices when you are on the go and I recommend Gembonics Portable Charger for your iPhone and iPad for only $22.99 it’s a bargain if you only use it once.  Best yet, it is elegant and powerful. I also recommend the Mophie Heilum case charger.  I am waiting for it to come out for my iPhone 6.Second, if you’re not backing up your Mac with Time Machine, you are way past time to start doing so.  Grab a nice hard drive and start backing up. It is easy and important.  No excuses. My favorite is Lacie’s Rugged 2 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive for $169, but there are good hard drives available for half the price too.
Productivity is in the palm of your hand. Good luck.
For even more help with personal and professional leadership, please check out Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader.

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words.  

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

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How to Stay Focused on Your Goals and a Special Offer

Focus

Setting goals has always been a part of my life.  It is something my parents taught me, scouting taught me, school taught me, and sports taught me, and— it works! I have been setting goals my entire life and I finally developed a system that serves me well.  

In this post I will share the method I have developed that keeps me on-track with my goals. It’s easy and it really works. I know it well help you as your prepare to set goals for the upcoming New Year, but first I want to tell you about a special opportunity that someone I really admiring is offering: It is a program called: Five Days to Your Best Year Ever! The creator of this powerful tool is Michael Hyatt, a man I have been gleaning advice from for several years. I highly recommend you check out his video listen to Michael share with you how you can create the most successful year of your life, regardless of your age or current situation.  It is really worth the investment of your time: 

Here’s the link to Michael Hyatt’s video for: Five Days to Your Best Year Ever!

Now, here’s how I stay focused on my goals: 

My recent natural gas bill arrived. While bills are my least favorite piece of correspondence each month, I have to admit the helpfulness of the statement. It included a nice graph of my usage over the last year.  It let me know how much I have paid and what I owe. Interestingly enough, it even predicted my usage for the following month. Each statement serves as a reminder and holds us to a certain level of accountability of what we owe. It lets us know where we are.

Wouldn’t it be great if we received a similar billing statement each month for our goals?

Seriously! Most people never know where they are with the goals they wish to accomplish. It would be awesome to receive a statement each month telling us how much time we’ve put into our dream, what we owe, where we are at, and what we need to finally finish it.

Well, we can. My billing statement each month is in my journal. I choose the 28th of each month as the due date for my dream statements because I was born on the 28th of July and that’s easiest day for me to remember.  It’s like a private monthly celebration of my life and what I plan to do with it.

You can do the same.

You see, if we don’t review our life goals regularly we get behind, just like we would with a real bill. Unlike the natural gas company, we won’t receive any late notices, but what we owe starts piling up. (Most of the time to a level that makes it appear impossible to accomplish. That’s why people quit.)  Can you imagine how hard it would be if you tried to pay two months at a time, or your entire bill all at once? Ouch! The same is true of our goals and dreams.

Just like our billing statements from our utilities we need to make monthly contributions and track our progress.

So, bust out that journal daily or weekly if you can, but especially on the date of your birth each month. Create a reminder or alert on your phone or calendar if needed.

Write down the big three questions that will drive you toward success:

  1. What do I need to continue doing?
  2. What do I need to start doing?
  3. What do I need to stop doing?

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words.  

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

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Tipping the Dishwasher: A Lesson in Recognition

Lesson in Recognition Speaker Artist

My teenage daughter found herself a job on her own at a local diner. Part of the time she was a waitress and part of the time she was a dishwasher. Her mother and I were incredibly proud. A great learning experience in so many areas.

Both of the jobs were hard work, but as a waitress she immediately noted that not only did she receive monetary rewards for her hard work and leadership skills, she also received verbal praise from the customers. On the nights she worked as a dishwasher there were no tips or praise from the customers. Naturally, she enjoyed being a waitress more, but was happy to have any work. (Fortunately the owner of the diner is a skilled leader, and knew how to compensate for both with her workers keeping everyone happy and working hard.)

My wife and I were incredibly pleased with the excitement our daughter had with working and we never heard a single criticism. (Now if only we could instill that at home.) One night after working as the dishwasher, my daughter received a tip and a note of kindness from a customer. Someone had actually tipped the dishwasher!  While the tip was little in comparison to the tips she made as a waitress, her excitement was the greatest I had seen her return from work. She was so surprised by this unexpected act of generosity. I imagine she scrubbed those dishes with greater attention the rest of the evening.

In life there are positions in workplaces like the waitresses in diners that are naturally in the public eye and receive regular attention when they excel. There are also many jobs like the dishwasher that seldom if ever receive praise or recognition.

When we receive recognition our attitudes change. We change.

Let’s seek out the dishwashers in life from time to time and reward them with some recognition.

Remember to tip the dishwasher.

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist. 

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words.  

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

 
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Becoming an Authentic Leader

Kelly Croy Speaker Leadership

If you assembled all of the people you know, together in one room, would they describe the same person?

Authenticity isn’t about being perfect, but it has everything to do with integrity and reliability. Living an authentic life is paramount to maintaing your credibility as a leader and leaving a lasting impact on others. We trust and admire those who live authentic lives. Leaders are people who live by a set of core values regardless of the circumstances, and regardless who is around. 

We can’t follow someone who is hypocritical or a charlatan. 

Authenticity is about who you say you are, who people say you are, and who you really are. Tell me what you truly value, not what you say you value, or pretend you value, and I’ll tell you what kind of person you will become. 

Authenticity is the glue that holds leadership together. Without authenticity a leader falls apart. Nothing will weaken your impact more, or destroy your accomplishments faster than a breach of trust or a lapse in your integrity. 

Be quick to correct a lapse in authenticity.  Do not assume others didn’t notice.  Don’t think you can cover it up. You aren’t correcting it for them anyway, you are correcting it for yourself. 

A friend of mine graduated from the Naval Academy, where authenticity is ingrained into each and every graduate. We went out to eat with some friends once and he was given the incorrect change. He was calculating the error as we were leaving the restaurant. He told us he had to go back in and fix the error. A buddy of ours pointed out that the error was in his favor. He was given too much money back! He replied, “I know! I have to get back in there.” The overpayment was for thirty cents, but he explained that someone at some point was going to have to account for that thirty cents and that doing the right thing, every time, is without equal. 

A person with integrity doesn’t do the right once in awhile, not most of the time, and not just when others see it. The authentic leader does the right thing every single time. Sure, he will make mistakes, but once he knows he has, he will immediately move to correct it.

During my college football practices the team had to run warm-up laps around the field. While running those laps a few of the guys would round off the corners of the field. They didn’t go all the way around the corner, and shaved off a few feet and some time and energy. They didn’t stay outside the white line like we were told. It was easier to round the corner off.

Well, our line coach would yell. “Hey! You cheat on these laps and you’ll cheat on your wife! You cheat on these laps and you’ll cheat your whole life.” It had a nice rhyme and by midway through camp we’d all repeat it once he started and no one ever rounded a corner again.

I still remember that lesson today. There is a lot of truth to it. To cheat in life you have to start somewhere. I’m pretty certain that the guy with a gun robbing a bank probably started smaller, and this isn’t his first time. Did he take a nickel off his brother’s dresser when he was little? Did he steal a paperclip from a teacher’s desk growing up? Graduate to taking classmates’ lunch money? It had to start somewhere!

You aren’t born with integrity. Sure we’re innocent enough when we are little. Integrity, trustworthiness, and loyalty are qualities you build upon your entire life. They’re like bank accounts. Every time you keep your word, and do the right thing you make a deposit. When you lie and cheat, well… you make withdraws from your authenticity and you put yourself at risk to become potentially bankrupt in authenticity. Work at being authentic.

Leaders don’t just look the part; they live it. 

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and speed artist.

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words. 

 Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825

 

 

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The Perfect Day

KCBen

What would your perfect day look like? What would it need to include?

It’s fun to think about a perfect day, but of course, we realize, a perfect day isn’t really possible. Still, how great would it be if your day included most of these qualities you listed? Half? Some?  It would still be an incredible day, right?

I wonder how many of us aren’t even hitting one of these per day?  Why is that?  I’m guessing it’s because we didn’t make time for it and plan it into our day. Sure, conflicts come up and there can always be urgent tasks to finish, but planning some of what we love will brighten anyone’s day. Right?  Let’s remember to schedule blocks of time for some of the activities we enjoy doing along with all those pesky to-do items from our daily rat race.

We cannot have a great day if we don’t even know what it would look like, right? Let’s plan for it.

What does your day look like now? What do you need to start including?

I had the good fortune a few year’s back of asking David Blaine any one question I wanted, so I chose, “What is the most influential book you have ever read?” His answer to me? The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.  I did a quick search on iBooks and found it was a free book.  I downloaded it and began reading.  What a treasure trove of applicable life lessons.

Benjamin Franklin tried to live a perfect day and deduced that while it wasn’t possible, we can do much to improve our day.

Here is a peek at Ben’s schedule from 1750:

KCBFDay

I look at his day and I find some great advice that we can apply:

1) Begin Your Day With an Empowering Question: Franklin asks “What good shall I do this day?”  What questions are you asking yourself and are they empowering you? Create some great questions to help you get yourself moving in the direction you want.

2) Work is for Work: Franklin clearly establishes the need to focus and finish work while at work. He doesn’t bring anything home. Make the best use of your time when at work. Don’t bring work home. What a great philosophy. Make time for work and knock it out of the park, and when quitin’ time hits, well… enjoy yourself.

3) Make Time for Yourself: Franklin made time for himself each day. He balanced this in with his chores and work. He made time for himself. Too often I find if we don’t schedule what is meaningful it just doesn’t happen. To live without a schedule means leaving things to chance and that’s when we either don’t make time for things we enjoy, or we lose hours wandering the internet meaninglessly or watching way too much TV. Make time for yourself and balance it in your day.

4) Everything Has it’s Place: Rather than a huge spring cleaning, Franklin builds in time for organizing what he has. I will take the liberty to assume Franklin is somewhat of a minimalist and avoids clutter. Sure these could be chores around the house as well, but if so, it is not the all-encompassing chores many of us bury ourselves in each day.

5) Make Time for Reflection: I really like how Franklin ends his day in reflection, asking himself what good he has done. I think each of us needs to reflect at the end of the day and examine how we spent it. We should ask ourselves what we should keep doing, start doing, and stop doing. Reflection is key.

6) Rest is Important: For many, a good night’s sleep is negotiable, but not for Ben. he made it a priority and accounted for it. Rest is important to those who want to make the most of life. He didn’t over sleep. He kept to a schedule. He made sleep of equal importance in his day as all of his other activities.

7) Wake Early: We can see the Franklin woke up early and that this was important to him. When you look at his life it is amazing what all he accomplished. Waking early was clearly a key to his success.

Make your day great!

Kelly Croy is a professional speaker and artist.

He has entertained and amazed audiences across the nation

with his art and words. 

Please consider booking Kelly for your next event.

www.KellyCroy.com

1-800-831-4825