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You are you wherever you go. By Dave Blum A wise man once told me, “You are you wherever you go.”    Little did I know how true that might be — until disaster struck. It’s 2001, a warm muggy day in southwest Costa Rica.  My travel partner, Donna, and I have just finished our walking […]

“How ya doing, how ya doing?” says the giant as he lumbers into my cramped San Francisco apartment, extending his right hand. “Gre—at.  You must be Mike.” “That’s me!” At 6 foot 5, 250 pounds, his shaven head as shiny as a mirror, Mike Franklin is a man who commands attention. He’s the kind of […]

If I asked you to guess what’s inside this chest, what would you answer? –Jewels? –Golden doubloons? –A Faberge egg? Regardless of what’s actually inside the box, opening it is exciting to think about, isn’t it?  “What could it be?” Your heart beats faster.  Adrenaline floods your system. Your breath catches in anticipation.  For this […]

SCARFing Down Fear By Dave Blum Are you a scarf person?  It’s all right.  No judgement here. To be honest, I’m not big on scarves, myself.  I find them to be hot and scratchy, plus they cover up my long, elegant neck.  😊 I wore a scarf to work today, however, because S-C-A-R-F is a […]

Refreshing Your WHY By Dave Blum I was re-watching Simon Sinek’s great TED talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” and realized it had been far too long since I had refreshed my “Why”. Now what do I mean by my “Why”? As you can see from Sinek’s chart above, your “Why” sits at the center […]

Worthy Rivals Who do you think of when hear the word “mentor”? Mr. Miyagi of course!“Wax on/Wax off” Obi Wan Kenobi:“Trust the force, Luke” Yoda:“Do or do not, there is no try.” Why is it in that in movies, the mentors are always old, wise and male? That can’t be right!  In real life, a […]

Not Fair I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust tests. They’re just not fair!  I blame it all on that day in the 4th grade. It’s 1973, Meadows Elementary School, Millbrae, CA. I’m 10 years old and my homeroom teacher, Mr. Ramos announces, “Today we’re going to take a test.   You have 30 […]

Beaming Up Trust Hearing a “BEEP”, Ensign Smith flips open his Communicator device. “Ensign Smith here. What’s that? Kirk and Spock want me to go on an away mission to planet Theta Epsilon 6? Great!  I’ll meet you at the transporter room.” Closing his Communicator, Smith’s eyes widen with a sudden realization: “Oh wait, crap, […]

If I told you that somewhere in the universe, there was a duplicate you, sitting in a duplicate room, in a duplicate chair, reading a duplicate article, would you believe me?   Well according to modern science, it’s almost certainly true.  And I’m afraid to say, your duplicate self might just be a better version of […]

Superstar How far would you be willing to go to become famous? Meet Kaylee, a 14-year-old from Louisiana, otherwise known as “Hammer Girl”. A die-hard fan of the Korean K-pop band, BTS, Kaylee got so excited about a band-member’s new hair style that she tweeted: “He’s so beautiful I could shove a hammer in my […]