Stuff I Learned Yesterday

I don’t know about you all, but one of the ways I deal with fear is through research. I find that I can reduce anxiety by simply researching and getting to know the object of my fear better. This doesn’t always work, of course. I still have major anxiety before speaking in front of a group of people and traveling to New York still makes me panic… but I deal with those stressors in different ways. They are the exception, not the rule. Read more... The post 471- Super Smeller appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

My willpower used to be pretty strong when it came to donuts. When I was on a low carb diet during the days when Atkins and South Beach were making the rounds, I discovered it was true what they say about your body chemistry changing. After awhile of sticking to high-protein foods and staying away from bread and pasta, you start to lose your craving for those carb-heavy items - including donuts. Pretty cool! In fact, every month on a Friday, the different departments at the high school where I work host a breakfast for the staff. Sometimes the math teachers would bring in goodies; other times it would be the English instructors treating us to yummy food. Whether there were homemade treats or fruit or bagels or eggs depended on what people signed up to bring, but there were always donuts. And for the year I was doing the low-carb thing - around 2003-2004 - I was able to walk right by that table. I considered myself to have good willpower, ascribing the ability to resist temptation to some mental fortitude rath

Elections are not the only time when we need to do our homework and make an informed choice. We do this every day at work and at home. We do it when we make important decisions, whether it is buying a home, deciding which college to attend, accepting a new job, moving across the country.  Read more...

To say that not much in the way of excitement happened in the small town in which I grew up is an understatement. When you're in a town of about 850 people, there's really not that much that goes on. Life is pretty peaceful and predictable. Did I say predictable? About 2 miles outside of town, nestled a stones throw off of old Rt. 66 was a very unassuming single wide mobile home. Many of the folks that lived in and around my hometown lived in mobile homes and so we never gave them a second thought. One day people around school began talking about this one mobile home and how something special was taking place at this particular home after dark. According to rumors, the homeowner got up one night to use the bathroom. For reasons I never learned or can't recall, the homeowner decided to close the lid of the toilet, stand on top of it, and look out the window. What he saw next was something that he believed to be a sign from God himself. He saw three crosses of glistening light out in his yard. Read Mo

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Faith and Bonita. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 467- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm, and different people seem to view the phenomenon in a variety of ways, both positive and negative. On the one hand, video gamers are coming out from behind their screens, getting up off the couch, and breathing some fresh air and feeling the sunshine while interacting with their community. On the other hand, they’re still staring at their screens and sometimes engaging in unsafe behavior while trying to capture those elusive Pokemon. Read more... The post 466- Pokemon Go or Stop? appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

We all have times in our lives that are busy. Some of those times are expected and others come by surprise. I’ve found that the world around me is non-stop and relentless. It is so easy to get pulled in, that I can feel like I’m drowning in busyness and stress. Rest is hard to come by.Read more… The post 465- Finding Rest And Margin appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere! This is the time when many families take a summer vacation. It’s also a time to visit family, friends, to explore new places and to make special memories that can last a lifetime.  Read more...

I've been happily married for over 17 years now so it's been quite a while since I was doing the dating thing. That's a part of my life that I hope I never have to do again. I know that the dating experience is different for everyone, but as I look back on that part of my life now, I just shake my head. What I mean is, when I look back at my 18-23 year old self, I shake my head at myself when I realize how dumb I was. Read More... The post 463- The Date That Was a Dud appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is the Friday Forum!! In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share contributions from Susan and Hannah. You can participate in the Friday Forum by visiting our Feedback Page or calling our voice feedback line at 304-837-2278. Read More... The post 462- Friday Forum appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

My parents make up a lot of who I am. Since my dad’s death, I’ve had more people tell me that I remind them of him than ever before. This was a compliment before his death, but now it’s an honor. My dad was not perfect by any means, but he had so many excellent qualities that I have been trying to emulate for a long time. Without him here, I feel like I’ve been able to see his life more objectively than ever before. Read more... The post 461- Shortcuts appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

If you’re struggling with perspective today I get it! If you’re too close to the situation at hand it’s hard to see other things that are happening and other people that are influencing you—or that you may be influencing.Read more… The post 460- What Really Matters a Year Later appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Criticism can be an attack that tears you down or a method that builds you up. So much depends on how you take it and how you give it. You may remember, from one of my prior SILY episodes, I am someone who thrives on clear expectations and goals. But I am also not great at making my own. So I welcome others setting expectations and goals. Based on that, you would think that I would thrive with constructive criticism. Well not really. Read more… The post 459- Constructive Criticism appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Long time listeners to this podcast know that I am not athletically inclined at all. As a youngster playing t-ball I was sent to the outfield where I'd have the smallest chance of messing things up, as an 8th grader I made the football team but was deep on the roster, as a 9th and 10 grader I never made the varsity basketball team and only made it into the junior varsity teams if the game was a blowout and there was less than 1 minute remaining. I'd like to tell you that it didn't bother me but that would be a lie. Both my brother and step-brother were very athletic so it bothered me a lot. On top of that, I saw the way athletes were treated by everyone at school, and I was jealous. I was a geek before being a geek was cool. I was the guy that girls called sweet and told to never change. It stunk. Read More... The post 458- Putting I Before Team appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday is a Friday Flashback. Friday Flashback episodes feature some of the most popular episodes of Stuff I Learned Yesterday. Today we take a trip back to an episode that we ran last December after Kari and I attended a MUSE concert in Dallas. It’s an episode about taking time to evaluate the course you're on, remember where you started, remember where you're headed, and make sure you're still on the right path to reach your desired destination. It’s Stuff I Learned Yesterday Episode 374- Calculating New Route. Read More... The post 457- Friday Flashback: Calculating New Route appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share my advice about being yourself no matter what people think. Sometimes it can be difficult to turn off the feeling of being judged all the time. Whether you have a scrutinizing mother-in-law or a micro-managing boss, there are plenty of people in our lives who we feel are watching our every move. I can’t tell you how many times my wife has told me a story about some drama that happened at work in which she used the phrase, “And it made me look bad when I didn’t agree.” Now, it would be easy for me to say to her, “No one is judging you for going against the grain,” or “Who cares what people think anyway?” but it’s not that simple. Because the fact is it’s hard to rise above the opinions or indifference of others. Read more... The post 456- I Don’t Care What People Think appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Emilee O’Leary, I am a big fan of the NWSL, or the National Women’s Soccer League, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson I learned after taking a picture of a dandelion field. Read more... The post 455- View From Down Here appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

One of the things I enjoy most about our church is something we call church without walls. Church without walls is a day where we meet at the church for a brief time on Sunday morning and then head out into the community to help people. We've done things like go to 3 different laundromats around town, hand out laundry supplies, and pay for the laundry for everyone for a few hours. We also go to some of the retirement homes around town and hand out flowers and chat with the residents, do yard work and other outdoor maintenance for a neighbor currently receiving cancer treatments, and doing interior repairs and painting for an elderly woman. Read More... The post 454- Saying Thanks to the Forgotten appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

We’ve never been promised that life will be easy in this world. There will be times when your world turns upside down. Either for you or a loved one. It can be a divorce, a serious illness, a terrible accident, a death. When this happens, and it will, each of us needs to make a personal choice – will I let this defeat me or will I fight it, will I survive it, will I find a new path, will I let others help me, will I learn how to live with these new circumstances. Read more...

Today I'm starting a new episode format called Friday Feedback. I don't know how often we'll do these, but after the feedback we've received this week, I'm hoping we'll get to do this more often. So what is the Friday Feedback? We often as for you to participate in Stuff I Learned Yesterday by sending in a contribution to the Friday Forum. We love your Friday Forum submissions and I highly encourage you to share your stories. However, I think it's also important to give you the opportunity to simply share ways that Stuff I Learned Yesterday is impacting your life. So the Friday Feedback is an episode dedicated to sharing the feedback that we've received from you about recent episodes. We'll also include sharing recent iTunes reviews in these episodes. Read More... The post 452- Friday Feedback appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.