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The Promise Blog

Announcements

When The Promise Changes

  This blog has been written, without a miss, for a decade, delivered every Sunday without fail. Truthfully, I am stunned I’ve done anything this long, and it’s now time for a new promise. Last week, between BLACK FRIDAY CYBER MONDAY GIVING TUESDAY WHATEVER WEDNESDAY …I received more emails of annoyance from companies, peers, and causes than I could keep up with. I was hitting the UNSUBSCRIBE button so fast, being sent to the outer reaches of “Manage my Profile to End your Subscription” and other daunting tasks placed upon me (“do you want to report this as SPAM?”) to release the grip of consumerism, that I nearly gave up! But I didn’t – and I rid myself of many needless distractions, sales I don’t want to be sold on, charities I’d never heard of but didn’t have any money left to give to (already supporting many others), and probably hurt the feelings of my friends whose email lists they stuck me on because we once emailed each other…and they probably check who drops more than I do. It’s too much information, and if I’m interested I’ll come knocking. What I can say to you, Dear Reader, is that I

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Books

The Promise from Italy

This morning I woke up at 5 AM. Sleep eludes me after what I have experienced in Italy. My wife and I, along with our besties, Beau & Courtney Carlson, are in historic Florence, Italy, home of history’s greatest Masters of Art. Yesterday we saw The David by Michelangelo, the day prior we saw The Last Supper in Milan by Leonardo da Vinci. I never thought I would be so blessed to see this in real life. Still can’t believe, and so grateful, they have survived this long. I am at a loss for words writing this blog, as we have driven from one city to the next in this glorious country after picking up our daughter, Ella, who has been an Au Pair (nanny) for the last few months since graduating high school. We head to Rome tomorrow to see more of the greatest works of art in human history, all inspired and guided by the hand of God. As powerful as each are, as overwhelmed as I was standing before these pieces which have inspired my own life’s work and art, weeping at the very sight and thought of what these artists went through to create such glory

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Books

The Silent Encourager Promise

  I just came off stage following a very mediocre response to my performance…which is not something I’m used to. Today I tried a few pieces and customized portions the client requested that changed up my usual rhythm, but those are just excuses. Perhaps I just wasn’t good enough this time. Perhaps it was a room full of accountants silently laughing hysterically to themselves inside their bodies. Perhaps this was my toughest crowd of the year. As I sit backstage awaiting the next portion of the event where I get to muster the courage to go face those same people again, the stage manager asks if someone can come backstage to say hi. The next thing I know, my new friend and I are hanging out in the green room, as he refills my bucket, saying he was not going to attend this event until he heard I was the Speaker and Entertainer. He drove 5 hours one way to attend. He listened to my book, “The Promise To The One” as he drove. Now his 3rd time through it. He suggests the Audible version is way better than the written version, which he gave away once he bought the

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Books

The Honor System

Just before my 2 week run of sold-out shows began at the Hale Centre Theatre I realized I didn’t have the personnel lined up to man our table and sell my book, “The Promise To The One”. My kids were all traveling, we wanted my wife to just attend and enjoy the shows, those on my team either had travels or health challenges, and I had few options left. I remembered driving through Maui a decade ago, on the beautiful Road to Hana, where my wife and I found multiple stops of fruit stands where the Honor System was employed. No one was there to make sure you were honest, it was expected. We often left more money than was suggested, since we appreciated the concept of honesty first. And so, we did the same for the sale of my books at my shows. We discounted them by half price, from $20 to $10, I signed every single one, and we printed a sheet that explained they could pay via Venmo.     We put up the table, set out 40 books, and had to let go of the possibility that someone might steal them and just be ok with

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Books

New Year Ahead – Thank You 2023

  Here are some of the many goals I failed to accomplish in 2023 – Lose 30 lbs and 5% fat Read the scriptures every day Take a cold shower every morning Rewrite and rename “The Promise To The One” so it is a more corporate friendly book for better sales Book 10% more gigs and make 25% more than last year Go on a one-on-one trip with each child For some of the above I was able to come close –  Lost 22 lbs and 3.5% fat Had multiple 100+ day streaks of reading scriptures Bought a cold plunge, replacing the cold showers Some of the goals were redirected –  The Book: We hired a coach to talk through the crisis I was having about my book sales in the corporate market. As it was #1 on Amazon in Self-Help>Spiritual category our sales have slumped at my business events. It was determined I should leave the book as is for the audience that has enjoyed, devoured, and live by it’s teachings, and instead write a different book in 2024, and self-publish. The Bookings: Instead of booking 10% more and making 25% more, we found that I am becoming extremely

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Books

A Story is a Promise

  When I was a kid in high school I received a full ride scholarship for basketball to BYU. I tell this story in my speech, but am taken to a new life journey when Mrs. Hall discovers my singing in the hall, takes me under her wing, CLARIFIES what I had yet to IDENTIFY so I can MAGNIFY my Promise – and the next thing you know I’m performing in Las Vegas!  And yet, I never resolve finishing the basketball story – mostly, because I forget to, and don’t think it’s important with the narrative of where I am headed next. But then I have had so many people come up after the speech and ask, “What happened with the basketball scholarship?”  Apparently, it’s killing them inside wondering if I continued forth with basketball! (Spoiler: The scholarship never manifested due to my serving a mission for my church and the coach who offered it getting a different job in the meantime!) Sometimes we forget to end the story. Other times we don’t think it’s that important. However, it’s my bad, because to the listening and invested audience, even if I resolve the story of becoming a Legends in Concert

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Books

Words to Remember

  As school starts back up for our children this week, it is Senior Year for our daughter, and we have 3 kids in the same high school this year.  Our youngest is also at the end of his elementary run. Unbelievable! It got me thinking about my fascination with education, how much I loved my school years, peers, teachers, and how thankful I am that it set me on the path to a lifelong love of learning. In reading classic works, I felt this week should be a shorter post, dedicated to beautiful words to remember, and hope this sparks some new Promises for your life, as it has mine. From Dr. Frederic Loomis’ “In a Chinese Garden”: “Enjoy yourself – it is later than you think.”  ~ These words above, from a brass plate two feet long, surrounded by the flowers in a garden, written in Chinese characters, translate to what may be the phrase any hard working person may need to read this day. It helped me recommit to this thought for myself: I Promise to be Present. I need to enjoy myself much more in the moment, as the rush of life, accomplishment, stewardship, responsibility, weighs

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Announcements

Taking Calculated Risks

  In the past week I have announced a few HUGE PROJECTS I’m up to, that are also HUGE RISKS, such as returning to my roots and putting together a string of public shows, not certain at all that people would still want to see me perform my one-man show at this stage of my career. I have been stunned by the outpouring of support (if you follow me on Facebook you can see HERE and HERE what everyone is saying, even buying tickets in bulk), and what is scheduled to be 9 shows over a 2 week run are in the process of nearly selling out a year in advance, in a world famous theater of ~450 seats, I am so grateful you would make it clear you’d be there. And of course it doesn’t hurt to have the support of of one of the greatest theaters on earth, Hale Centre Theatre! TIX are HERE if you haven’t gotten yours yet.       On Friday I announced a NEW YouTube Channel that launches this week, and YOU are the FIRST to get a sneak peek at it HERE – this is created with the intention of helping the

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Books

1 vs 100

A teacher stands in front of the classroom. She pops off the dry erase marker cap, dramatically spins, and slams a black dot in the exact center of the board. With flair and enthusiasm, she asks the class, “What do you see?!”  Hands shoot up and everyone shouts, “A BLACK DOT!”  “WROOOOONNNNNG!” she replies. Confused, the class is up in arms. As she shushes the little pupils, she profoundly states, “Class, there’s an ENTIRE whiteboard in front of you that is clear, empty, spotless, and all you see is the little black dot! Where is your focus? It all depends on how you see the world.”  Stunned, they all erase the answer to the question on their pop quiz that shows a glass of water in it, as they all thought it was HALF EMPTY… Ladies & Gentlemen of the Jury, I think we can all admit we’ve noticed more of the little black dots and half empty glasses of water in our lives than we care to admit. Recently, after a rousing standing ovation, a line waited for 2 hours to have me sign books and take selfies. Felt pretty good about myself. And then I received that one

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Announcements

The SHOW is Back!

“We don’t want a Speaker for our holiday party, we want someone to make us laugh, do entertainment, no business talk…just fun!”  Loud and clear, this client wanted what we call in showbiz “The Show”. Oddly, I said yes, and we booked the date for December. When I say, “oddly”, perhaps you don’t know what that means! Well, it has been a few years since I have accepted what I deem as “Show Dates”. Doing “The Show” has physically and emotionally beaten me up since 2000, almost permanently damaging my vocal cords by 2012. I have done (maybe) 1 special show per year in the past half decade. But over the last 2.5 months, as I’ve stared at a ceiling fan in my bedroom and considered my life’s work, while dealing with a debilitating injury, I have made a few new choices that have big changes coming in my life and career. Doing my Show again is one of those. Since 2016 I have essentially turned away every single show request in favor of only SPEECH opportunities. It has been a harsh rebrand, as many former clients wanted the “Make Us Laugh ONLY Jason”, vs. the “Make Us Think, Leave

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