SportsBiz Stories From The Road Chapter One

For the past twenty five years, I have spent the majority of my time traveling the world in and out of airports, hotels, rental cars, onsite at events, visiting and living in places that many people have on their bucket list. I am lucky.
Looking back, I am kicking myself for not starting a blog or keeping a journal of all the crazy things that happened and all the characters that I worked with or bumped into along the way.  But I will try to write about the stories remembered from old pictures and retell them in these "SportsBiz...Stories From The Road" posts because they are worth taking the time to write and share.  Many are about life lessons and people but there are also ones that are so out there I can't believe they actually happened.  

I have reached a point in my life that I realize the most important things are time and relationships.  I love the relationships that have been built over time and the exciting adventures shared with them in my life. Regardless of all the stress, anxiety, worry and all the dumb stuff that happens each day, it really is a great time...if only it didn't go by so fast.

Recently, not sure what triggered it, but I realized for so long that I spent a good amount of time wanting to get to that next step in life and probably didn't enjoy the moments perhaps as much as I should have enjoyed them.  A lot of the anxiety was chasing a career, some of it was eager for the kids to get to that next step (4 kids ages 24, 21, 18 and 7!...a separate story) but I guess most of all it was wanting to get to that next adventure.  

I recently wrote about this great strategy of living the 10-10-10 rule. It basically means..look at what is ahead of you in 10 minutes, 10 hours and 10 days!  I love and live by that rule. Realizing that there are 7 days in a week and none of them are named "Someday".  I doesn't mean that I live reckless and don't care about my families future, I am just trying to focus on today, enjoying the fun moments of each day (They are there) and going after that next great moment.

I have spent many years of my business life selling and trying to figure out what I really liked to do and what I am good at doing.  What I found is that the journey to get to where I am, has shaped what I have become personally and professionally.  I realize now it's all about the people and the process and that each day, each phone conversation, each trip and each dinner spent with family, friends, coworkers, participants and clients is really, really important.
I stopped worrying about the future and embraced the moment.  I decided to live my life as it's a daily bucket list...not to wish for whats next.My stories are about those adventures and the true characters I have met and continue to meet along the way...regardless of the fact that I am at heart still a bit of a pirate!
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Rob Thompson is a 25+ year entrepreneur and executive in the sports and media industry. He is a Keynote Speaker and Mentor for college students and young professionals.  Rob shares his personal and business stories along with one on one interviews with influencers and trend setters in the sports industry. Download  Free Playbook that Rob wrote on the Seven ways to "Make Noise" and grow your personal brand on Linkedin...  CLICK HERE to read and watch more free content and follow me on LinkedIn.
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