Stuff I Learned Yesterday

We eat a Taco Bell a lot. It’s not my favorite place to eat by a long shot, but the rest of my family really loves it. It’s also cheap. A few weeks ago my son and I were out running some errands and we decided to stop in to Taco Bell for lunch. We went inside and there was only one person in line ahead of us. Instead of the line advancing quickly, it. was. slow. The problem was with the cashier. It was clear that she was new. Maybe it was even her first day. The guy in front of me ordered something, and she couldn’t figure out how to put it into the register. She called the manager. The manager came right away and helped her put in the item to the register. She thanked the manager and he walked back to the kitchen area. The customer then ordered something else, and once again, she needed help. She once again called for the manager. The manager came up right away and helped her. She fumbled around with all the buttons on the register but the manager very patiently helped guide her to the right se

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, my favorite number is 38, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum. Today’s featured client is Jim Cumbee. Jim has over 25 years of experience buying and selling small business and uses that experience along with the knowledge he gained while getting his MBA from Harvard to each episode of his weekly podcast, Entrepreneur’s M & A Journal. Each week Jim interviews entrepreneur’s who have built their business up and sold it to a third party. They discuss the challenges and rewards of selling a business, provide unique insight to the listeners, and help educate those who are looking at a merger or acquisition. You can check out Entrepreneur’s M & A Journal at www.tnvalleygroup.com. Friday Forum Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Do

There is so much happening all around us every day. I regularly receive comments like, “I could never do that show because I don’t really learn that much.” Or, “I don’t know how you come up with so much stuff to talk about.” Honestly, it is a real challenge on some days, and other days, it just flows out and I’ll have ideas for 2 or 3 episodes all at once. If you’re someone that thinks they aren’t learning anything, I’d like to challenge that. Maybe you aren’t the type to be able to put your life lessons into a story like I do. Maybe the stuff you’re learning doesn’t seem as inspiring, or important, or life changing as my stuff. I don’t know about that. Don’t sell yourself short. What I’ve learned is that because I have put myself in a situation where I MUST come up with stuff to share with you, I’m a lot more aware of stuff around me. Literally everywhere I go, every conversation I have is now viewed through the lens of “what am I learning from this.” That’s not a bad thing. Because I’m more focused

When I was in college I wanted to be a rock star. I was in a band and we were good. We toured around Oklahoma and Texas sometimes playing five shows a week. We had t-shirts, stickers, and two full length CDs. It was a lot of fun, even more work and yes, it got crazy every now and then. I would do it all over again given the chance. Well, I wouldn’t do it again now, but if I had to re-live my younger years I totally would. Read More... The post 98- Living Your Own Life appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

A couple of weeks ago my family had dinner with a friend and his family. This is a friend that I worked with at my previous job. I hadn’t spoken with him since I’d left nearly 15 months prior. It was great to see him again. We talked about some of the current geeky movies, our thoughts on the upcoming FOX series, Gotham, and some of the creative projects he was working on on his own time. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the conversation turned to the stuff happening at my former job. Since the time that left, the company hired a new president. They were without a president when I left. When the previous president left, I started reporting to the director of operations. He was and is a great guy, but he didn’t have a lot of knowledge about what my department did. Remember what I told you about my last review back in episode 64? Here’s a recap: At one point I was asked to make a list of ideas [by the previous president]. The ideas could be anything. They wanted ideas on how we could i

Well as I said in the intro, today’s episode is about something that we can never get enough of. Can you guess what it is? No, it’s not bacon, but that’s a good guess. Let me give you a clue. Here’s one way it is defined by Merriam-Webster: knowledge that is gained by having many experiences in life Another definition is: the natural ability to understand things that most other people cannot understand Have you guessed it yet? Here’s a final definition: knowledge of what is proper or reasonable : good sense or judgment By now I’m sure you’ve guessed that today’s topic is wisdom. As I said, we can never get enough of it. Where does wisdom come from? That is, how do we gain wisdom? Does gaining wisdom even matter? Is wisdom the same as knowledge? First off, wisdom and knowledge aren’t the same thing. A wise person once told me that wisdom is the the ability to know how to properly apply knowledge. That is to say, we can have all the knowledge in the world, but if we don’t know what to do with i

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I prefer Captain Picard over Captain Kirk , and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum. You know what I love? T-shirts. I don’t know who invented them, but I know who has a nearly perfect supply of them: Think Geek. Look, the truth is, when you step out of your house, you need to let the world know that you are a proud geek. One way to do that is to adorn your torso with a Think Geek t-shirt proclaiming your geeky one-uppey of all things Star Wars, Firefly, Iron Man, Lego, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Star Trek, classic video games, and other pop culture spoils. Get your 100% cotton geek uniform by visiting www.goldenspiralmedia.com/thinkgeek today! Friday Forum Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a contribution from Angela. You can participate in Friday Forum

I don’t know how many episodes I’ve done on perspective but it’s at least 3. I talk about it frequently because I believe that perspective is vital. Perspective changes everything and it’s almost always mental. I don’t know anyone who is successful in the things that matter that doesn’t have a positive perspective. When I worked at my previous job I had about a 40 minute drive each way to work. If you’re like me, the drive just turns into a blur after a while. I’d pass by the same stuff every day and really not pay any attention to the things and buildings I drove by. Sure, I noticed a few things, but you miss a lot of stuff when you’re passing it by at 70 miles an hour and trying to keep your eyes on the road. One thing that I had noticed was that there were a few American flags along the way. There was a flag at a school, a church, a car repair shop, and at the entrance to a housing addition. There was a small cemetery on the side of the road that I drove past every day. However, one day I noticed

I didn’t learn about the 80/20 principle yesterday, I learned about it a long time ago. But I was recently reminded just how helpful and real this principle still is. It’s just as true now as it was when I first learned about it. The 80/20 principle suggests that 80% of your output comes from only 20% of your effort. To put it in business terms, 80% of your profit comes from the top 20% of your customers. And to apply it to productivity, 80% of your output comes from 20% of your time or effort. Let’s shift from productivity to real life for a moment and then we will link real life back to productivity. Here we go. Read More... The post 93- Applying the 80/20 Principle appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Doorbell, dorknell, Darlene, four-eyes, big ears, dumbo, are those your girlfriend’s glasses, hey Larry Darrell and Darrell, where’s your other brother. Those are just a few of the things kids said to me growing up. I’m sure you can make your own list too. This teasing reality is part of growing up for most kids. Just because it’s normal doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sticks and stones do break bones and words hurt in deep ways too. I’ve always been insecure. It has come a long way over the last 15 years, but it some situations, it’s still very real. As a teenager I struggled with the fact that I was so skinny. I wasn’t very muscular or athletic, I was scrawny. I remember someone once told me that fat would turn into muscle and peanut butter would make you fat. So one day I went to the store and bought a jar of peanut butter and ate on it all day just to try and put on some weight that would maybe turn to muscle. Even throughout my college years I couldn’t seem to put on weight. At the age of 22 I weighed

We went to church fairly regularly when I was a young kid. My parents divorced when I was 9, and we really didn’t go much at all after that. My grandparents went every time the doors were open, so if we stayed the weekend with them, we went to church. Their denomination was the Assemblies of God. The youth program at the Assemblies of God is called Royal Rangers, and it was awesome. For the boys, it was a lot like Boy Scouts. The girls were called Missionettes. They may have been like Girl Scouts, but I really have no idea. As I said, I was pretty young, so I didn’t get to do as much as the older groups did, but we did get to go camping. It was awesome. We’d go out to a campground that was nothing but a blank canvas of earth. We’d set up tents, make a campfire, and cook our food over the fire. We all had mess kits to eat with and I felt like a kid from a century before while we were out there. Partially because I enjoyed the Royal Rangers so much, I wanted to join the Boy Scouts. I wasn’t old e

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I once had someone mistake me for her dead son, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum. Are you a podcaster or have you ever thought about starting your own podcast? If so, I want to invite you to Podcast Movement. Taking place in Dallas on August 16 & 17, Podcast Movement will be an incredible opportunity for you to network with and learn from some of the best podcasters and teachers. There will be over 40 breakout sessions that will be broken down by beginner sessions and advanced sessions. Featured speakers included Chris Brogan, Cliff Ravenscraft, Jamie Tardie, Rob Cesternino, John Lee Dumas, Cynthia Sanchez, and MANY more. I will be there leading an advanced session on audio editing, and Derek will be there too. If you want to take advantage of early bird pricing, act right now as early bird p

I’m really excited about Podcast Movement. As the days tick by and Podcast Movement draws closer, my excitement grows. I love the opportunity to learn from other people and this conference will have some amazing leaders and teachers. The thing I look forward to the most is meeting new people and reconnecting with others. I learned quite a while ago that the best moments from conferences are normally found in the hallways and the coffee lines. Those are the moments when one-on-one conversations and real connections are made. I’m also looking forward to this conference because it will mark a milestone achievement for me. It will be the first time I have have led a solo session at a conference. Back in 2012 I had a goal to speak at a conference. That was really the entirety of my goal. It didn’t matter what context or conference. I simply wanted to be invited to be a speaker at a conference. I saw it as an opportunity to test the waters for the future career goals that I had and I saw it as a way to challenge my

Have you heard the philosophy that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react? I believe in this idea 100 percent. I’ve noticed that people who believe in this idea are happier, pleasant to be around, and even more successful in everything they do. Sure, I’ve found that it’s easier to believe in this philosophy when things are good, and not as easy when life gets hard. But, in the good times and in the bad times, it’s my reaction that counts. My reaction is the only thing I have control over anyway, so, might as well start there. Now I’d like to talk with you about a related idea that comes wrapped in a slightly different color paper. Read More... The post 88- The Second Arrow appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

When I was growing up I can remember talking with my friends about what we thought our families would be like when we got older and what we thought life would be like when we graduated. I thought that I’d graduate high school, go to college for 4 years, find the right girl along the way and get married when I was around 22. I then thought after I’d been married for a few years that I’d have kids. I wanted 2 or 3 kids. I think most of my friends pretty much had the same plan. Funny how things change once stuff gets real. I didn’t graduate college 4 years after graduating high school. I didn’t get married at 22, but I was close. I got married shortly after my 23rd birthday. Once I got married, something weird happened. As a kid and even a young adult, the thought of having kids and starting a family was a really cool idea. I looked forward to it. However, once I got married, that all changed. I don’t think it happened immediately, but some time very soon after I got married I realized that the idea o

It’s been exactly 30 episodes since the last time I talked about my flower beds. When I first mentioned my flower beds and my neighbor with the green thumb back in episode 31, I mentioned that I was committed to the hard work and dedication it would take to keeping the plants alive and making sure the flower beds were more beautiful than they’d ever been. It’s been nearly 3 months since I recorded that episode and I’m happy to report that not only do the flower beds look better than they ever have, I continue to learn new stuff through the process of keeping the beds looking good. Before I get into today’s story I want to let you know that some of you have asked to see pictures of my flower beds. Now, they still aren’t going to win any yard of the month club awards, but you can see a picture of my yard by going over to the website and checking out the featured image for this episode. Again, this is episode 86 of Stuff I Learned Yesterday. I’m really enjoying taking care of my flowers. I still don’t lik

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I’ve never traveled outside of the US but hope to do so one day, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I’m pleased to bring you another installment of the Friday Forum. When it comes to your website, you want to make sure you’re hosting it with a company that is reliable and it’s using technology for today’s internet standards. That’s why we recommend HostGator. HostGator offers hosting plans for as little $3.96/month and offers unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and a 45 day money back guarantee. Visit GoldenSpiralMedia.com/hostgator to sign up for HostGator web hosting today. Friday Forum Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Mark and Karen. You can participate in Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... T

I love my job. As you know, I left my job of nearly 19 years in May of 2013 so that I could become an entrepreneur. I had the dream of making a career out of podcasting and it’s been a great first year. I’ve acquired several new clients over the last year, and I’ve been privileged to help a lot of people start or improve their podcast. It’s fun to think about the relationships I’ve formed, especially when I think about the fact that most of my clients were complete strangers to me this time last year. I wonder who I’ll be working with this time next year? Just the thought of all the opportunities heading my way and people who will be a part of it really excites me. One of my clients is Zac Johnson. Zac is one of those guys who realized at a very young age that he would be an entrepreneur. He’s been in business for himself since he was in high school and has achieved a lot of success. Zac is now 18 episodes into his podcast, Rise of the Entrepreneur. In each episode of Rise of the Entrepreneur Zac int

Have you ever had someone ask you question that rocked your world? I have. I was asked a simple question by a guy I had never met before and it changed my life. Several years ago I had a job that just wasn’t working out for me. There wasn’t anything wrong with the company, the people I worked with or even the job itself. It just wasn’t a good fit for me. I had been looking for a way out but didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So, I hung on to that job a lot longer than I probably should have. Then I was asked the question. The question was in a book. The question changed my life forever. Read More... The post 83- The Question That Rocked My World appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

I mentioned in a previous episode that I sing and play guitar at my church. What I didn’t tell you is that I’m the worship leader and I’m, shall we say, rhythmically challenged. Most of the time I’m fine. That’s not to say that I alway keep in rhythm. I don’t. I have a tendency to speed up as a song goes on. I have to really focus to keep from speeding up the tempo. However, speeding up the tempo isn’t usually that big of a deal. The band sticks with me and we all stay together. The drummer has worked with me in rehearsals to help me more aware of my tempo during the entire song and I don’t really ever get so fast that it’s hard to sing along, it’s just faster than it was when we started. If gradually getting faster as songs progress was my only problem, I probably wouldn’t bother telling you about it. After all, it’s a problem that most people won’t notice. My bigger problem is that I will flat out lose my rhythm from time to time. That is, I’ll be strumming along, playing a song that I’ve done a