Keeping It Fresh

I don’t watch a lot of television, but one show used to love was Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. Tom and I would record it and watch it together as we ate our Sunday morning breakfast. Once, Osgood did a segment on the origins and traditions of Christmas caroling. In it, one gentlemen who led a group in Seattle called the Dickens Carolers was asked, “After 40 years of caroling, does singing these same songs each year ever get old?”

He replied, “I’ve sung these songs hundreds of times. What makes it fresh is not how often I sing it. It’s who I’m singing it for.  They are the ones who make it new.”

I understand that sentiment. I’ve given speeches on developing exceptional leadership hundreds of times. What makes it fresh is not how often I give those same speeches. It’s who I’m presenting it to, every time, like the brand new dental assistant who writes to tell me she’s taken on a whole new attitude of service, professionalism, and accountability or the office manager who waits to talk to me after the speech to thank me for giving her some tools to hold her team accountable in a non-judgmental and respectful manner or the practice owner who emails me to say he feels reinvigorated about his career and is excited to now share a new vision and clear direction with his team on Monday morning.

They are the ones that make it new. Every time I witness these “light bulb moments” in the eyes of my clients or participants, I’m re-motivated to keep going, to keep banging the drum of exceptional, non-scripted communication skills, to keep singing the song of empathetic, non-judgmental, crystal clear leadership skills, to keep preaching the gospel of strong personal leadership using personal accountability and a platform of possibility-thinking.  They are the ones who keep it fresh for me.

As you ruminate on the close of 2025, don’t focus on how many times you’ve sung the same song but rather how many light-bulb moments you’ve created along the way. Make the creation of more and more of those moments for your clients, patients, co-workers, and colleagues one of your top objectives for 2026.  Reach out for help in making sure that your life and work are full of those moments for them and for you.

At LionSpeak, we stand ready, willing, and anxious to help you in that quest.  There is absolutely NO reason to live a life or work at a “job” that is anything but amazing!

Here’s to keeping it fresh and keeping it amazing!

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

~ Oprah Winfrey