You & Improved

- - - | written by Jason on 11/17/2021 | - - -

Here Comes the Sun | a film by jason kotecki

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, when all live events were canceled, Kim and Jason Kotecki went from seeing their speaking business go up in smoke to achieving a dream come true that was twenty years in the making. The Beatles song, "Here Comes The Sun," turned out to be a fortuitous anthem for their improbable journey and inspired the first series of paintings to come out of Jason's studio. He created this film as a hopeful reminder that the darkness shall not overcome the light. ☀️ Check out the paintings here! …

- - - | written by Jason on 11/14/2021 | - - -

Stop Waiting to Be Discovered

She has an art degree. Two, in fact. The pottery she makes is beautiful. She has what it takes to make a solid living from her craft.Instead, she tends bar and works part-time on the assembly line for a manufacturing company. I've been thinking a lot about what Jeff Civillico said in an interview on Escape Adulthood LIVE. He is an award-winning Las Vegas headliner, entertainer, speaker, and emcee. He told us that when he speaks to young people, one of the questions he gets asked the most is, "Who discovered you?"After a brief pause, his answer is... "Me!"And it's true. If you listen to …

- - - | written by Jason on 11/7/2021 | - - -

No One Knows Anything (And that’s good!)

In July, the front office of my beloved Chicago Cubs ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and threw the shards into Lake Michigan. Ok, maybe it only felt that way when they traded away all three of my favorite players, iconic heroes who helped end a 108-year World Series drought.Truthfully, I agreed with what they did. The team was 50-55 and appeared to be heading nowhere, especially after a massive losing streak that dropped them from first place to fourth in the standings. With all three players headed to free agency at season's end, most analysts considered it a smart move to get some …

- - - | written by Jason on 10/3/2021 | - - -

Rest at the Lookouts & Savor the Victories

As the final in a series of reflections on the lessons learned from my family's hike up the Lanikai Pillbox trail, this might be the one I needed the most. When we began the hike, the summit was the agreed-upon destination. Anything less would have been a disappointment. We wanted to see the best view.But it's been said that life is the journey, not the destination, and for good reason. There are a lot of cool things to see on the way, and if you keep your head down, you're liable to miss them. Take the pandemic as an example. We haven't yet reached the destination, but perhaps you …

- - - | written by Jason on 9/26/2021 | - - -

Baby Steps Count

Over the last few weeks, I've been reflecting on a family trip to Hawaii and the lessons we learned on our Lanikai Pillbox hike. The journey up the ridge overlooking "The Mokes" was not a reckless one, but some of the stretches were somewhat treacherous for the five- and seven-year-old. During those times, each step was meticulously planned out. I'd help the kids look for, plan, and take the obvious next step."Grab my hand and step over there.""Put your hand there and step onto that rock.""Get down on your butt and schooch to that one."Of course, my layman climbing terms aside, …

[Read more...] about Baby Steps Count

- - - | written by Jason on 9/19/2021 | - - -

Step Right Up: You are the Leader We’ve Been Waiting For

Going alone is usually faster. But it's rarely better.Last week, I talked about my family's trek up the Lanikai Pillbox Trail and the pep talk I gave them beforehand. I mentioned how I initially took a solo scouting mission to make sure it wouldn't be more than our littlest ones could handle.It was faster, but probably too fast. The problem is, I rushed it. I wanted to reach the summit as quickly as possible in order to attain the information I craved. So instead of taking the clear path, I looked for shortcuts. I kept a brisk pace, pushing myself to make record time. I knew what I …

- - - | written by Jason on 9/12/2021 | - - -

You Can Do Hard Things

In September of 2019, I was booked to speak at a nurses conference in Hawaii and we decided to make it a family trip. The gig was in Honolulu, but we spent the first week on the windward side of Oahu, in the shadow of the ridge overlooking Lanikai and Enchanted Lakes, suburbs of Kailua. On that ridge snakes the Lanikai Pillbox trail, boasting one of the best views in Hawaii. There are pillboxes throughout the Hawaiian islands, typically built to be military observation stations. Although this particular one was built after the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II, it is …

- - - | written by Jason on 9/5/2021 | - - -

The Best Way to Deal with Your Worst-Case Scenario

I recently gave the most nerve-wracking talk of my life. It was in front of my peers, at the national conference for professional speakers. It's sort of like performing open-heart surgery on another heart surgeon while hundreds and hundreds of other heart surgeons watch.In other words, tough crowd.At my first convention fifteen years earlier, I was awestruck by the speakers on the main stage. They were polished, poised, and really, really good. I decided then and there I wanted to be on that stage someday.This past July, I had my chance.The theme was Radical Relevance, and Kim and I were …

- - - | written by Jason on 8/22/2021 | - - -

Combating the Pandemic of Loneliness

Long before COVID-19 emerged on the scene like poop in a punchbowl, there was another pandemic that had taken hold of our society. The pandemic of loneliness. We are supposedly more connected than ever, with the little internet-enabled devices we carry with us everywhere. And yet loneliness, depression, and suicide are at all-time highs. Kim and I noticed this phenomenon well before COVID, but the pandemic has exacerbated the problem bigly. This leads me to think about the connection between two seemingly unrelated movies that came out the same year: the wonderfully uplifting A …

- - - | written by Jason on 7/14/2021 | - - -

What’s Your Must Be Nice?

It’s a natural human tendency to compare ourselves to others, especially to people who are in the same field we’re in. Comparison isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it leads us to discover areas where we can improve. But when it shifts into envy or jealousy, that’s a problem. I often attend the annual convention for the National Speakers Association. I always have to brace myself for the “must be nice” game. In the speaker world, it goes like this: Of course he gets booked all the time, he’s a former NBA player. Must be nice. She’s got so many connections from working all …