Throwback Thursday

Today’s post is going to be short and sweet.  To the point. Down and dirty.

My mentor, Mike Dooley shares some great news every day in his newsletter  TUT (which I highly recommend).  He reminds us that every single day we have at least ten thousand reasons to be happy.

Ten thousand.  Let that sink in for a moment.

With that many reasons to be happy how can anyone not smile?

Here’s one…be happy that you have another Thursday to celebrate Throwback Thursday.

Smile. Remember YOUR reasons to be happy. Like remembering Robin Williams in this Throwback Thursday video…

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

Inspiration

Today I’ve gathered some inspiring quotes to share…Okay.  I know you can see right through that…the truth is, I found it difficult to get going this morning so I thought, “I’ll just share some quotes.”

That’s true…but then it hit me that by sharing these great quotes, I’m not only sharing inspiration with you but also inspiring myself by re-reading these gems. In fact, I feel better already. I hope you will, too.

So with that in mind, here we go….

“Man is not made for defeat.” Ernest Hemingway

“The greatest achievement is not in never falling, but in rising after you fall.” Vince Lombardi

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill

“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” Jonathan Winters
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do…or not do. There is no try” Yoda

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” JFK

“You don’t get into trouble because of the things you don’t know.  It’s the things you don’t know you don’t know that can really make a mess.” Anonymous

“Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.”-F.P. Jones

“You can disagree without being disagreeable.”-Zig Ziglar

“Unless you change how you are, you will always have what you’ve got.”-Jim Rohn

“If you haven’t got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want.”-Unknown

“Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.” – Chang-Tzu

“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” – Barry LePatner

“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.” – Buddhist Proverb

“The best words to resolve a disagreement are: I could be wrong; I often am.” -Brian Tracy

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

Remembering Barbara Orbison

Barbara Orbison was a force of nature.  Artist, entrepreneur, visionary, my employer and friend.  She left us 5 years ago today.  Her passing was on the twenty third anniversary of Roy’s death.

Barbara hired me to run her publishing company, Still Working Music in the late nineties.  Upon arriving, she told me, “I want you to run this company like it’s your own.” It was certainly a defining moment for me.  (Of course, when I was let go the reason given was, “You’re running this company like it’s your own…”) She offered me the opportunity to rise from an independent song plugger to a general manager of an international publishing company in a flash. My new address book included not only contact numbers for every record company president on the planet, but also (at that time) the home numbers of the three remaining Beatles! (Almost called Ringo several times.)

She allowed me to travel abroad and create new business for the company. Those were incredibly hectic, crazy and amazing times.

A lot of industry people didn’t “get” Barbara, but the ones who mattered did. She was eccentric, for sure. But she had the gift of creativity and knew exactly where art and commerce intersected.  Her production of Roy’s “Black and White Night” is one shining example. And the success of her publishing company continues today.

I will always be grateful to Barbara for the break she gave me and for the chance to learn the business from her.

Remembering Barbara Orbison today.  Thank you!

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

Where Are You Going?

In one of his columns, my friend and former pastor, Jon Roebuck wrote that he, like millions of others had purchased one of those fitness trackers…you know, the ones you wear on your wrist that track all kinds of information, including how many steps you take during the day.
He went on to share that his goal (10,000 steps per day) is one that he meets more often than not. But then he raises some very important questions…”Were those steps significant?…Did those steps make a difference in the lives of others?”
The point is this, we all get focused on moving…maybe moving forward, maybe not, but moving, nonetheless. The activity. The steps.
But are those steps making a difference for us and others?
Maybe we should challenge ourselves to pay attention where our steps are leading us because if we aren’t careful, we could end up not only somewhere other than our intended destination, but somewhere we don’t want to be at all.
Now, don’t get me wrong, activity is essential to growth…but taking steps just for the sake of taking steps isn’t the answer.
My suggestion for one of your steps today is to take my Gratefulness Challenge. Simply put the challenge is this… Beginning today, be more grateful than you were yesterday. I think this small step can make a world of difference.
Where are you going today?

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

There’s Always Something

Indeed.  Every day I seem to be running on equal measures of excitement and fear. My mind seems to race from one thing to the next, some good and some not so good. There’s always something.

For whatever reason, I tend to get caught up in that daily madness. There’s always something.

But last night, for about an hour and a half, I was transported to Habersham Road in Atlanta by a talented group of high school students in their play, The Last Night of Ballyhoo.  The play, written by Alfred Uhry and performed by the Forensics Club of Lipscomb Academy is a comedy drama and the cast included my daughter, Maddi.

In fact, Maddi had more lines than anyone and I had the joy of running lines with her for the past week.

The play was a defining moment for me in that it allowed me to forget everything else and be right there, right then and let my monkey mind be still and enjoy the acting, the dialogue, the set, the atmosphere and the story. (Thank you, mindfulness!)

There’s always something to worry about.  There’s always something to be joyful about. The path we choose to take is always ours.

Last night I chose to be in the moment and enjoy the play…and I’m glad I did.

Thank you, Maddi and the Lipscomb Academy cast for the wonderful play and the lesson that there’s always something.

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

The Gift

As part of our commitment to Lipscomb University’s Joshua Project mentoring program, Nordista Freeze and I meet about once a week for coffee and conversation. I always leave our meetings feeling as though I have received a gift.

Freeze shared some news with me about some incredible opportunities he has in front of him.  He and I talked about the aspects of certainty versus uncertainty and, more importantly, the reality that if you don’t ask the right question or accept an opportunity, the answer is always no. I mentioned to him that I had heard that in any question or need for a decision there are only three possible outcomes: yes; no; or renegotiate. And I went on to say that this knowledge of only three possible outcomes should give us the confidence to take whatever that next step might be.

After more conversation we ended our visit and went our separate ways.

Last night, as I was pondering some next steps I needed to take for my business,  I realized I was procrastinating in asking some people some very important questions…then the gift appeared out of the blue. I remembered my conversation with Freeze about the three possible outcomes. I had to smile and be grateful to God for the gift.

Today I am asking those questions and accepting one of the three outcomes because of yesterday’s gift.

Thank you, Lord, for the conversation and the gift..and thank you,  Freeze, for the reminder.

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

The 30 Second Rule

Rob Hatch, President of Owner Media, writes a weekly newsletter on productivity, personal management and success. He is an author speaker and colleague of Chris Brogan. I highly recommend you subscribe.  Today’s post comes from Rob’s newsletter.

No, this 30-Second Rule is NOT a more disgusting version of the classic, dropped your food, 5-Second Rule. I’m talking about small steps to make challenges easier.
Everything is hard
I mean that. It’s hard for an infant to walk, or for a toddler to wait. It’s difficult to do homework or start a business. It’s all challenging at first.
But in nearly every case, there is one thing that makes almost anything easier; starting.
Of course, for some of us it’s also tough to start.
One thing that makes starting easier though, is to break things down into smaller steps.
Give it 30-Seconds
My wife and I love spending time with our extended family, surrounding ourselves and our children with all the love and support that comes with it.
When our boys were younger, having a conversation with aunts, uncles, and grandparents didn’t come easily. It was overwhelming actually and we were lucky if they got more than a few words out.
As young parents, it also felt a bit frustrating that they couldn’t even take time to do more than give their grandmother a requisite hug and a few grunts.
Then on one particular trip to visit Grandma, we came up with the 30-Second Rule.
Instead of chiding them again about ‘why they couldn’t simply talk with their grandmother’, we decided to break it down.
All we asked them for was 30-seconds.
“Just talk with your grandmother for 30 seconds. That’s it.”
Knowing what Grandma was likely to ask them, we gave them a few possible phrases to reply with. We gave them some questions they could ask. We even practiced a few times. And I reminded them, “Just give it 30 seconds and I promise you it will be like magic.”
Our boys are now 17 and 15. At family gatherings I sit back and watch as they stay engaged in conversations with aunts, uncles and grandma. It’s not natural for them, but over time, 30-Seconds at a time, it’s gotten easier.
How much will it take?
I’m betting you have something you’ve been meaning to do. There’s something difficult, you just can’t seem to get started on.
What would a first step look like? Is it something you could try for just thirty seconds? Could you try for a day, two days, a week?
Maybe it’s a distance challenge. Could you try going around the block or to the end of the street?
Is it hard to write? What if you just wrote a sentence or two or three a day?
Whatever it is, take a small step and do it again and again. I promise you, it gets easier and the best part is, Grandma will love it.
Have a great week.
-Rob Hatch

http://www.owner.media
Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.

Jon and Valerie Guerra

Sometimes a song says it all.  Music changes peoples’ lives and I must say when I first heard Jon and Valerie Guerra perform this a year ago at Lipscomb University’s Lighting of The Green, it certainly changed mine and I was in tears.

The joy. The creativity of the idea. The voices.  The moment. I will never forget it. It honestly moved me as only music can.

And then, this week at this year’s Lighting of the Green, I received a gift.  I got to see Jon and Valerie again and got to hear this again.  Same result.  Tears of joy.

As we enter the Christmas season, I just want to say thank you, Jon and Valerie.

Until next time, friends….be nice!

Chris Keaton is a Nashville TN based entertainment industry executive, music consultant, bon vivant and lover of great music, wine, fashion and fast cars.