One of the items on the Route 66 is choose something to master and practice every day. I’ve been thinking about what I want to master over the course of the tour. I have 5 months. I chose two things—pool and motivation. I love pool. I had a table when I was at UCLA and I think I can be great at it. In regards to motivation, I am stepping into my new role as a motivation teacher which is different than a motivational speaker. Motivational speakers get you all hyped and rah rah, but then as soon as they leave with their big check and you leave the event, that energy just dies. I’m committed to leaving people with tools, systems, and processes that will help them sustain their motivation even after I’m gone. I going to go more in depth with Albert Bandura, Daniel Pink’s book Drive, and Steven Reiss’ 16 Basic Desires. I’m also going to send out a survey on motivation soon, so I’ll need your help.
The tumultuous weather seems to be following us. The weather was terrible at UC San Deigo and Davis. It was snowing in Albuquerque when I landed, and now a hale storm is approaching Oklahoma. The event at Oklahoma State got canceled because school is closing for the next two days. The event at The University of Oklahoma was great! We had 87 people show up. Last night, we were competing against a OU basketball game, music festival, Dr. Drew interview, and Obama’s State of the Union address. I told them that the real scoreboard is in their head, the real song is in their heart, and the real healing is in their spirit.
We also had a lot more males than normal. A fraternity filled up the first few rows. EJ Carrion, the Student Accelerator (http://www.ejcarrion.com), an up and coming motivational speaker told all of his freshman pledges to come. Normally we only have one freshman, but they were a majority this time. EJ and I are forming a relationship. We talked on the phone today and will hopefully meet in person this weekend. He has a lot of potential. You can see it in his YouTube videos.
The end of the event is where I always get the power of the message reflected back to me. A young woman came up to me and shared that the Route 66 stopped her from dropping out of school. She has been disappointed and frustrated with her time at OU and was ready to leave, but Route 66 made her think about college in a new way. Instead of relying on OU to do things for her, she felt empowered to use OU to get her where she wants to go. Amazing! Quite a few people came up to me afterward, more than usual. I think I’m getting better at connecting with the students and making each one feel like they’re being spoken to.
I’m at the Wydham now. My bed is so comfortable. I talked to my lady in the evening before going right next door to Club Rodeo to see how they party out here. Black and White people of all ages were in their having fun. A lot of people were smoking and beer only cost a quarter. They played a mix of hip hop and country music. I have a new favorite song called “She’s Country” by Jason Aldean. It’s like the country version of the Hot Boyz “Hot Girlz” song. Remember that? On the weekends, they have an actual rodeo in the club, but tonight was just ladies night. Entrance was about $6. I observed for about 30 minutes until I couldn’t deal with the smoke anymore.
Finally, I got a call from Cheri Peter, the mother of Jackie from Boise State. After my presentation there, Jackie said that her mom and I have to meet. Cheri is touching millions of lives all over the world through faith-based programs for youth and addicts. She has built a multi-media empire and successful brand that allows her to follow her passion and make a living doing what she loves. I love it.
Off to the grocery store to stock up for the next few days. They say that the chances of the power going out it high. By the way, a Chipotle burrito only cost $5.95 in Oklahoma. They costs $8.95 in New York.
