Stuff I Learned Yesterday

Rat Race. No, I’m not referring to the 2001 film starring Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, and Cuba Gooding Jr. I’m referring to that trap many of us fall into. Wikipedia says a rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. Don’t get me wrong, this is not entirely bad. After all, our career is how we earn our income and our income is how we provide for our family. Providing for our family is honorable, right? Yes, of course it is. I think we all have a desire to create a better life for those we love that is better than the one we ourselves have experienced.  The post 628- Stop Chasing Cheese appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

The Bible is alive, it does speak to me. As I read it and go through my day, it shapes my thoughts and actions. It challenges me to grow in every part of my life, teaches me how to be a better husband, father, and worker. It teaches me about the character of God, morality, history, how to manage money, and so much more. It reveals my shortcomings and transforms my mind.  The post 627- Daily Bread for Daily Needs appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is Monday Mailbag day and we have contribution from John. Here's John's submission. The post 626- Monday Mailbag appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

During the second quarter of a football game last season as the crowd was raucously cheering on the home team, my friend leaned over to me and said, “Can I ask you a question?” “Sure,” I said. “What’s the secret to raising girls?” Of all the questions he could have asked me in that moment, I never would have guessed that would be it. The post 625- Committing to Growth appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

The fact is, AI and robotics are coming. If they haven’t already started to change or disrupt some part of your life, it’s only a matter of time before they do. For me, I’ve discovered ways to use AI to better my skills and provide improved services to my clients. But I’ve barely scratched the surface of how AI can be used in my industry. It’s challenging because AI is changing quickly and what AI once did in a way that was sloppy is quickly becoming quality. The post 624- The Obsolete Man appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

As a parent, I have tried very hard to keep this principle in mind. I haven’t always been good at keeping my emotions in check so that I can assess the situation objectively, but when I have been able to check myself, my kids and myself have been better for it. We are all going to mess up and cause accidents, especially the youngest among us. The post 623- Remembering Happy Accidents appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Many depictions of the Christmas story include the wise men at the manger most likely for the sake of simplicity. That doesn’t mean the Bible is incorrect, but that depictions of the story are incorrect. What some skeptics do consider to be a contradiction is the differences in where the family lived and traveled after Jesus was born. Are these indeed contradictions that disprove the Biblical story of Jesus' birth? The post 622- Navigating the Nativity appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Elephants do indeed have excellent memories. If you’re like me, you think of this fact as a good thing. That is, if someone says you have a memory like an elephant, you’d take it as a compliment. Today I’m going to flip that on its head, show how it can be a negative, and hopefully help you examine your own life to see if you have a memory like an elephant. The post 621- Finding Freedom Through Forgetting appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

John looked at my problem and offered up his idea of the best solution. Like C-3PO I looked at that path as too rocky. Not only was it more than I had the budget for, I knew that building the app was just the beginning. I’d have to keep a developer on retainer for bug fixes, updates, and security management. I didn’t want to be in the software development business. So I looked for a smoother path. The post 620- Avoiding the Rocky Path appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Growing up I always enjoyed adventure and platforming games best while my brother enjoyed sports games best. In fact, whether it was in physical sports we played in the yard or virtual sports we played via video games, I never once beat my brother. That is, until one day while spending the weekend with our grandparents we rented Joe Montana Football. That fateful day I discovered he was unable to defend the bootleg pass and I beat him something like 100-7.  It was a glorious day and one that I have never let him live down. It was my one bright shining moment in a lifetime of athletic failure.  The post 619- Dust Covered Trophies appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

We had each channeled our inner Grandpa Joe and allowed the alluring wonders of a chocolate factory to serve as our motivation for getting out of bed that day. After a quick stroll down the pier to meet up with our driver, we soon found ourselves standing at the curb of Graycliff Chocolatier. Once inside we were given protective gowns and hair nets. I first assumed these were to protect the chocolate from getting contaminated by those of us on the tour. I eventually discovered it was also to protect our clothing from all of the chocolatey goodness we’d enjoy that day! The post 618- Lessons From a Chocolate Factory appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Whether it’s your heart, brain, or gut, there’s definitely something to be said about these intuition moments. I’ve used my gut to make thousands of decisions over the course of my life, some of which I was very aware of how my gut played into the decision, and I’m sure many others where it happened so naturally that I didn’t even realize it. I’m sure you’re the same way too. Today I want to share two stories that haunt me to this day that taught me at a young age the power of being sensitive to your gut. Both of these stories happened after I’d moved off to college, but before I’d reached my 20th birthday. The post 617- Following Your Gut appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Maybe we should start our own procrastinators anonymous group. They say the first step to recovery is acknowledging you have a problem so here goes: My name is Darrell Darnell and I’m a procrastinator. Feel free to acknowledge your procrastinating too if it seems fitting. For me, I find myself procrastinating mostly around one of two types of tasks. Those tasks are anything related to invoicing and anything related to writing. The post 616- Procrastinating Your Day Away appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

When we face uncertain times, we are wise when we tap into the experience of others who have walked down the road before. We have to face our fears and move forward. Once we make that decision to move forward, it’s best if we have a friend and confidant to hold us by the hand and carry us through. We don’t need to go through those experiences alone, and we’re much better off when we have that trusted friend to support us along the winding path that gets us to our destination. The post 615- Seizing the Incredible appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

In case you’re wondering if there was a time in my life when I was a pastor that I’ve not shared with you before, I have not. In fact, I have never been in full time ministry. With an episode title of Professing Your Faith, you might think that this episode is about how to tell other people about Jesus. Whether you think that episode topic is a good one or not, that’s not where I’m going today. Well, I guess I kind of am, but not really. You’ll see. The post 614- Professing Your Faith appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Today is Monday Mailbag day and I’m always excited to hear your stories and feedback. We have two contributors today: Jason and Andrew. Thanks to Jason and Andrew for the contributions. I appreciate your willingness to share your lives with us and you’ve made this episode a great one. The post 613- Monday Mailbag appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Back in episode 597 I mentioned that I sold my beloved 1972 MGB GT. For those of you who have followed me on social media for a while, you may have seen me first mention that I sold it back in February of this year, and a few days later I first mentioned that I’d actually purchased its replacement last October, fixed that car up, and had been driving it ever since. So WHY did I sell my dream car just a few years after buying it? Several of you asked me to share that side of the story, and that’s exactly what I’ll do today. The post 612- Letting Go of a Dream appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

I think we’ve all been in a situation where either we as kids or when we were older with kids of our own ran into someone that we hadn’t seen in a while. Maybe it was a family member at a reunion or perhaps it was an old friend at the grocery store. Either way, that person looks at the kid and is surprised at how much they’ve grown. Even us as parents can have this experience with our own kids when we look at their first day of school picture versus their last day of school picture. We’re so close to them every day, that we’ve not noticed the small incremental changes that have taken place over time. The post 611- Beating Yesterday appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Okay let me be real with you. When I put together an episode, I start with a moment from my life that has impacted me in some way. In the process of impacting me, I can typically look at it and see a clear, big lesson. This story is not like that. It’s obvious that the story I’ve shared with you today has impacted me in a deep, emotional way. But what is the clear, big lesson? I’m not sure. However, I do have a few things that come to mind as I ponder this story. Maybe they are big takeaways, maybe they aren’t. I’ll let you be the judge of that. The post 610- Field of Dreams appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

For today’s episode, let’s think about the disciples. If you were to gather up 12 of your friends for a meal, you can imagine the different characteristics and personality types that would be represented around that table. Jesus’ disciples were no different. Today we’re going to focus on one of the disciples named Peter. Before Peter encountered Jesus, his profession was a fisherman. He would have been educated at a young age to understand the Jewish laws and customs, but as he grew older he would have to have been selected by a rabbi to continue studying and learning the Jewish law at a scholarly level. If he was rejected by all possible rabbis, he would have had to enter a trade, most likely the family trade. It would have been a high and exclusive honor to have been selected by a rabbi, and the vast majority of people were not. Since Peter is a fisherman, we know that the latter was true of him. In fact, at that time his name wasn't Peter, it was Simon. The post 609- Campfire Encounters appeared first on G