Mark McIntosh's Blog, page 45

"Thinking of my Old Man"

It's Father's Day 2009 and let's see: awakened next to my sexy girl friend, read, worked out, had an unbelievable conversation with my weekend Pep Talk Partner, wrote, hit golf balls with my neighbor, watched U.S. Open golf, Rockies baseball, sipped a beer and – thought of my father.

For the record, at the time of this writing, 4:25PM Mountain time on the 100th celebration of Dad's special day – where's the big celebration? – neither child has called. I try not to take it personally.

But that's no

"Burn the Bridges"

One wonderful byproduct of co-hosting a television show that occasionally features authors is you receive lots of free books. Recently a Colorado and Company guest handed me an updated copy of Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich. I decided to re-read it. First released in 1937, millions upon millions of copies have been sold – I can only wish the same for Lemons into Margaritas!

To refresh your memory, Hill worked for steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie and was commissioned to interview more th

"A Father's Day Promise"

It was Father’s Day 2007 and it gave me a sense of empowerment. “Rachie,” I suggest to my then ten-year-old daughter. “Let’s ride our bikes down to Starbucks. You can’t say no today, it’s my special day!” Without hesitation, a smile beamed across her face. “That sounds like fun Dad, lets go.”

Once we arrived, I was so impressed that my daughter was being, as the Comeback Coach likes to say, “limited only by her imagination, not fear, in creating productive choices to the challenges she faced.” He

"The Expectant Father"

I’m in my office Sunday afternoon, listening to motivational speaker Earl Nightengale – he’s talking about success – and finishing cliff notes for a future Pep Talk about connecting wonderful memories with current events, when the phone rings. It’s my buddy Scott Berger.

“Hey man, what are you doing? He asked. “Waiting for Rachel to tell me what she wants for dinner,” I respond. He proudly shoots back, “I’m walking out of Whole Foods with lots of groceries to take home to Jamie, my wonderful and

"Allow Wonderment to Win"

I was recently speaking to a real estate Mastermind group. The discussion turned to what I feel is the biggest challenge we face on a daily basis: allowing courage and wonderment to win the battle with fear and self-doubt. Everyone in the crowd admitted, as we grow older and life continues to surprise and bruise us, how difficult it becomes to carry that mantra forward.

Real estate professionals face brutal market conditions right now. But they’re not alone. Our nation’s economic challenges have

"The Terrific Trio"

I really enjoy Saturday afternoons for a nap, catching up with my neighbor and writing Pep Talks. Anyway, in the “watch some sports and have a beer with my buddy” portion of the day, conversation sparked by an early-season Rockies and Dodgers game at sunny Chavez Ravine from Spring-storm-buried Denver, jumps to football. It jumps to something I witnessed long ago during my sportscasting days.

I was in Lake Tahoe, Nevada covering the annual celebrity golf tournament held beside that incredible bod

"Resist Zero Gravity"

While recently flying to and from Tampa, Florida for a speaking engagement, I read “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowing Day.” It’s a delightful book where author Mark Batterson expresses views about many things, including adversity.

The Oxford American dictionary defines the word as: misfortune, trouble. That’s it. While it is simple to define the word, we know from personal experiences, misfortune and trouble can appear in many different forms: a marriage or relationship falls apart; a job is lost

"Catch the Wind"

Do you ever find yourself at that spot in life where you have a theme song? A song you listen to over and over again? It’s a tune that stirs something within invoking joy, sadness or inspiration? Ever been there?

Earlier this year, I had one of those moments surrounding the song “Catch the Wind.” I would listen to it constantly while in the car, still do. Sung by Irish legend Donovan, the 1965 ballad describes the desire to “catch the wind” in pursuit of dreams and goals.

The song makes me think o

"Extend or Unclench"

It’s been interesting to observe discussions, pro and con, to President Barack Obama’s recent overture toward Cuba after almost half of century of strife with our Caribbean neighbor. This is not to say the overture is right or wrong, but it reminds me of our 44th president’s inaugural address. When speaking to our country’s adversaries, he said: “We will extend a hand, if you unclench your fist.”

I found that to be the most profound statement America’s first bi-racial president made during that h

"Focus on Improvement"

I don’t know exactly how this happened, but I ended up coaching my daughter’s middle-school volleyball team. Well, I’m actually co-coaching the team along with Myriah Storrer, a talented and energetic young lady who played high school and junior-college volleyball and knows her stuff.

On the eve of our first practice, I was trying to think of wise words for a group of fifth and sixth-grade girls who comprise the Good Shepherd Grizzlies junior varsity team. At this age, the focus is having fun. Bu