Category: John

There’s a great scene in the movie “The Hunt for Red October”, a submarine action flick from 1990.

The Red October is running from the Russians and while everyone is chasing the submarine…the following dialog takes place:

Captain Davenport: They’re pinging away with their active sonar like they’re looking for something, but nobody’s listening.
Jack Ryan: What do you mean?
Captain Davenport: Well, they’re moving at almost forty knots. At that speed, they could run right over my daughter’s stereo and not hear it.

The scene resolves with Jack Ryan understanding that the Russians are actually not looking for the submarine, they are trying to drive it somewhere where they can destroy it.

The world today is operating a lot like that scene.

Everyone’s blaring about something. Social media is alive with e-cards, pictures, boo-hoo and look-at-me statements, a veritable wall of “me first” noise. Everyone’s talking, very few are actually listening…and in the tidal wave of “me” noise, something critical has gotten lost: our attention.

Read More at John’s blog: johndregan.info

I don’t want to hear about New Year’s Resolutions!

The concept is so cliche that it’s been reduced to a Meme, reduced to a poorly executed joke by D-list celebrities. Worst of all, the concept has been forced upon people as “required”…So, what’s your New Years Resolutions?

The heck with Resolutions!

Resolutions don’t work! Tell them that John said “Don’t even bother setting any this year”.

There, I said it, now you’re free.

If you decide to take the start of a calendar year and desire to make a change over time, then let’s talk about setting goals.

Read more at John’s Blog: johndregan.info

We all have expectations, especially around the holiday seasons.

Whether it’s a family gathered together in harmony, a trip to the in-laws, or a quiet time with a few friends, there’s always an idealized picture in our mind of how things are going to be.

It rarely happens.

This leads us to frustration, unhappiness and in some cases anger.

This holiday season let’s approach things a little differently.

The only expectations that you can control are of yourself. You can have a desire that others will do something, but realize that you have no control over them.

If you set expectations of yourself to be present in the moment, understand that we are all imperfect and in process, and enjoy people for who and where they are, you’ll have a great holiday season.

Experience your holiday with no expectations of others, it will make for an enjoyable holiday!

A few evenings ago we had a scare. At around midnight we were awakened by what sounded like our little dog choking! Of course I shot out of bed and ran to see what was going on. Thankfully she was fine after a few minutes, must have had something caught in her little snout that irritated it, but it was a very scary situation.

After things calmed down (mostly me, the dog was back to normal like nothing happened), the event really brought a key life concept back into focus for me.

A life well lived is focused on our priorities.

All the things that I had been worried about as I fell to sleep no longer mattered. Only the really important things matter. But it’s very easy to let the little things in life get blown way out of proportion.

There’s a great example, shown in the video below, about how we can focus on prioritizing our Big Rocks, those things that are really important to us,  and letting all the other “little” things fall where they may.

Click Here to read more at John’s blog: johndregan.info