Brady's Blog

This morning while I was getting ready for the day and as I was travelling between the few errands that I had to do, I decided to try to find some audio files of motivational speeches to try and reset and refresh my mind. If I haven't raved about Spotify before then here is yet another time that it had exactly what I was looking for. There is a full playlist curated by a user with the name Fearless Motivation that has 20 hours worth of 3-10min audio speeches with the sole goal of empowerment and motivation. As I have been listening to all of these different motivational clips, there are a few common themes that are coming through in almost every single one of them. Whether it actually is the basis for success or it is just the things that I clued into this time around, the message of two individual words rang so clearly to me that I had to write my thoughts out. What are the two words?  Capability and Control  Capability The term capability relates directly to ...

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get paid just for having an opinion? For whatever reason, my brain cannot stop thinking about this tonight and I am losing sleep so I have to write this out the best that I can. It also helps that I haven't posted here in far too long so it makes sense logically to finally post something. I have heard a saying once that said, "Opinions are like armpits, everyone has them and most of them stink." What I think is interesting is that there are people out there that have crafted the simple idea of having an opinion into a mode of funding an extravagant lifestyle. Critics. Food critics. Movie critics. Hotel critics. Book reviewers. You name the industry and it has its critics. How did these people manage to get people to pay them to stay at a hotel or eat their food and tell them everything they are doing wrong. The masses on Twitter can easily tell you everything you need to know about a place and they don't get paid for it. Wh...

As many of you know, music is one thing that really keeps me going, especially when the middle of the week hits and it's hard to make it through. I have found that when I start feeling down, sometimes I just need a good song stuck in my head or a great find on new music to improve my mood. Yesterday morning, I had the hardest time even listening to music. That's when I knew I was having a problem. Once I had finally conquered the workplace, I made an extra effort to dive into music to help turn my frown upside-down...and it kinda worked. This last weekend, I had a friend introduce me to the Chris Lake, a major EDM artist who has hit some of the biggest stages in the world including Coachella this year. I enjoy EDM music. It has never been my top genre but I like to make it a point to explore all genres and I am really glad that I found Chris Lake tonight. Normally I am partial to lyrical genius with a soulful melody. You know, those songs that you fearlessly belt out in...

When friends call me at one o'clock in the morning, I never answer. If they text, they'll be lucky if I hear it and even luckier if I respond. For what ever reason, not only was I awake but I saw my phone, read the texts, and was the one who made the phone call. When a friend is in crisis mode, it is only right to answer the call...or make the call in this case. The conversation centered around something I have been thinking about (and writing about) for a while now: How did I let my life end up here and what motivation can I give myself to make the necessary changes? The specifics of the conversation revolved around setting up a plan. Interestingly enough, I had a few other conversations throughout the day yesterday that were all about planning. An influential person in my life once said, "If you fail to plan, then you are planning on failing." I always thought that I took that seriously.....until now when I realize that I have had no plan...just dreams. Drea...

Many of you know that once upon a time I wanted to be a sports journalist. Since that time, things in my life have changed so much that I still am not sure exactly where my life is going to take me. Anywho, I was listening to ESPN radio at just the right time to hear a conversation that the two hosts were having regarding jobs and breaking into the industry. Their conversation was very generalized toward any job and how many people take some time to figure out what they want to do. Some people have a moment or a breaking point that pushes them to finally buckling down to find their occupational euphoria. They cited a podcast that I am currently listening to (That's What She Said with Sarah Spain) with guest Adam Amin who is a new star in the sports journalism community who exemplified the process of "making it". It is something that has gotten me thinking about the many nights that I have spent lying awake hating the job I am in (which has varied based on times in my ...

So many people love Christmas and Thanksgiving. I have heard a lot of people lately mention Halloween as their favorite. For me, I love the Fourth of July. While I have heard some mention it being their's also, it is not the front runner. But come on guys, what isn't to love? It's summer and barbecues and fireworks and colors and excitement and swimming and watermelon and lemonade and everything that is good in life. I love it so much that I decided to extend that holiday this year for four extra days. With the Fourth being on a Wednesday, it just felt awkward having a random day to celebrate so I took Thursday and Friday off of work and made the holiday so much better! To be honest, on the Fourth and the day after I didn't really do too much. On the Fourth, I attended the obligatory parade which, let's be honest, was a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong parades are my favorite....beyond favorite, but a parade should not be a line of Ford F15...

As you may have noticed (or maybe I am arrogant and you haven't), I took a couple months away from the writing game. There are a few reasons for this, none that I will really get into too much at this time. Let's just stick with the simple explanation that things didn't go according to plan and I didn't feel super inspired much of the time...especially the last month. During the past couple months I have been more and more connected to my phone. Those of you who know me know that even before these past couple months, my phone has been inseparably connected to me. THIS IS BAD. My incessant need for human connection in the most inhuman form has become a major distraction. The things that I love (although my phone is an outlet for some) have fallen by the wayside and instead I am constantly watching my Snapchat and Messages  waiting for something to come through. I am constantly connected to Facebook and Instagram feeding off of what other people do instead of doing th...

One of my friends has been constantly reminding me lately that as we approach decisions in life, whether they are big or small, we must always make our choices based on our values. This has had me up late at night thinking on multiple occasions about what it is that I value and if I am living my life in accordance with my personal set of values. I value the building of relationships . Over the past three years (or so) I have made friends with individuals who have changed my life in major ways. I could list them all here but without their permission I probably better not. The list of their accomplishments in my life have ranged from helping me be confident in who I am (a person who I never thought I would be) to helping me gain confidence in my abilities. Some of these people helped me release myself from the stresses of the world and others brought me back down to the ground when my mind started wandering too far. Finding friends, however long- or short-lived those friendships we...

I don't know of anyone whose favorite season is Winter. If you do fit into this rare and offensive category, you really ought to sort out what is important to you. I mean, I guess you can have your own opinion (but you also have the right to be wrong). Where was I going with this? Ah yes. Spring. It's officially here. Even Mother Nature has decided to play along some. Rain instead of snow. The beginnings of flowers. Wearing shorts outside. Little things that detail the beautiful time of year that is Spring. It is most often the little things that make the biggest differences in how a person feels. Think of a house....a happiness house, if you will. The structure of the house will be the same as the structure of any house. A foundation. Load bearing beams. Far too many nails. A roof. These represent the basic structures of our lives. We have families, friends, education, and ambition but with just those things all we have is bare walls, empty rooms, and possibly a ba...

My faithful followers have been asking for another post and for the past few week I just haven't been able to produce words. In fact, a running joke I have with one friend is that we can have a full conversation just using the word "words" with varying tonal inflections. The fact that English has had a difficult time expelling itself from my inner sanity means that writing has become blocked. This is a phenomena called writer's block. A lot of changes have been happening at work over the past month and a lot of inner personal changes have been forcing themselves to the surface as well. The combination of internal and external factors really weighed me down. It wasn't completely bad but it sure was heavy and taxing. In response to everything that was going on, and in the midst of one of the points of highest stress, I did something I have never done before. I called in to work and took a day off. Now, I have used sick days before. Sparingly. But I use them w...

As I mentioned in my last post, there were two weekends in January that really elevated the month as far as the extracurricular activities that I am bringing into my life. The first was detailed in the previous post meaning that now I must detail the second of the two. January 26-28: Oscar Prep Movie Marathon Weekend One of my New Year's Resolutions was to go to a movie each week as a way to get out of the house and do things. Let's just say that on this particular weekend, I far exceeded my goal of one each week. In fact, I hit five movies in three days. Flashback to 2011 with me for just a moment. For whatever reason, I fell in love with Natalie Portman during 2010 and 2011 and when she was nominated for (and won) the Golden Globe, the Screen Actor's Guild award, and the Oscar for Best Actress in "Black Swan", I took notice. Now, I have always loved awards shows but never paid close attention to them until Ms. Portman ushered in my fanatical love of movie...

I have been holding onto this post for a couple weeks now. As a part of my New Year’s Resolutions, I have been wanting to get out more and have experiences that will make me happy. Ya know, find the things I love and just do them. Let’s just say January has been a good month for this and there are mainly two weekends that prove this. This post will be about only the first of the two weekends....and there are pictures this time for proof. January 12-15 (MLK Day weekend) To start out with you need to know that I am not rich at all. Money doesn’t come super easy to me but that is something that I don’t want to have holding me back. This particular weekend, I spent a lot but I had one of the greatest weekends of my life. I’ve that weekend I made the decision that no matter what it took I was going to see two Broadway traveling shows. The first one was “Rent” in Idaho Falls on Saturday. Prior to this show, it had been a while since I had seen a show that was neither a high school/col...

Some recent experiences have caused me to dive deep into reflection mode regarding a topic that I have pondered far too often over the past five years. Friendship. When I was young, my life consisted of going to school, going to gymnastics practice, and then playing with my friends as much as I had the chance. It is easy to say that when I was at school or practice, I had friends there but what exactly made someone a friend. In my naive and jaded years of idealistic young-adulthood I once came up with a method of measurement to determine if someone was my friend, or better yet, a best friend. It all circulated around the idea of trust on three criteria. 1. My Wife 2. My Life 3. My Possessions The use of the term "wife" is obviously quite loose in my situation but it essentially was meant as a representation of the trust I would have with another around my significant other in not trying to steal that special someone away from me. My life is rather obvious, if a gu...

If you Know anything about me then you know that I love making New Years resolutions. Do I keep them? Sometimes. Okay maybe only once but still, I love the idea of change and growth. So 2018 started yesterday and I am super excited about my resolutions. The way I decided to do it this year was I picked a theme and then set a couple minor goals that will compliment and enforce that goal. My theme: Me I am my theme. A lot of my failure this past year (and for many years) have stemmed from my incessant need to please other people. This year, I'm gonna please myself Now the hard part. How? The pieces that make up the puzzle have to be simple but only need to be loosely connected. Then, as a whole they can boost the overall goal together. In thinking about these simple pieces I had to think about things I like to do. Things I want to do. Thing that are fun or bring me happiness. Things that have some level of productivity either physically, mentall, or emotionally. My puzzle i...