February 9, 2021

Aaron Davis

Announcer:

Welcome to Agency for Change, the podcast that brings you the stories of people creating positive change in the world. We explore what inspires these changemakers, the work they’re doing and how they share their message. Each of us can play a part in change. And these are the people who show us how.

Lyn Wineman:

Hello, changemakers. This is Lyn Wineman, founder and president of KidGlov. Welcome to another exciting episode of the Agency for Change podcast. Now, according to a Stanford Research Institute study, the path to success is comprised of 88 percent attitude and only 12 percent education. Right? I think I want a refund on my college degree.

Aaron Davis:

Yeah, I’m writing that down. I like that.

Lyn Wineman:

Right now you’re meeting Aaron Davis, and I’m really excited to talk with him today. He’s an entrepreneur, an author, a coach, a speaker and a great friend to many. He’s presented to over a million people in the past two decades. And we’re lucky to have him here today. Aaron, how the heck are you?

Aaron Davis:

I’m doing great! It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for the privilege.

Lyn Wineman:

Absolutely! Fantastic. As I was preparing for this, I couldn’t think of anyone else I know who makes their living helping people improve their attitude. I would love to get started just by having you talk about the work you’re doing.

Aaron Davis:

Lynn, again, thank you so much for having me on the show. And to all your listeners, I hope everyone’s doing well and staying healthy and safe as best as you can. Now, more than ever, attitude is important. It’s paramount because all of our attitudes are being tested in a very deep way, in a way that maybe they haven’t been tested before. Right now how we protect attitude, how we mold it and how we shape it is more important than ever. And I love trying to help people do that because as I help them, it helps me. Every time I share with an audience, I always put the disclaimer out there: I need this more than anybody.

Lyn Wineman:

I love that. Practice what you preach, right?

Aaron Davis:

That’s right. That’s right.

Lyn Wineman:

That’s great. You have an entire series of keynotes based on having the attitude of a champion. I started this today with a little bit of research, but in your experience—and I’m setting you up here—is attitude really that important to success? What have you seen?

Aaron Davis:

Yes. Lyn, I always say, “I’ve always believed that attitude isn’t the only thing, but it’s the main thing.” And it goes right along with the research you just mentioned that 12 percent is the skills we may have, the mental capacity resources, but 80 percent is the attitude we take towards those tools and those resources. You and I both—and many of your listeners—have worked with people in professional and personal settings where they had all of the tools, but their attitude was a liability, so it disqualified them from so many things. We see people get let go from jobs every day where it wasn’t because of their ability to do the job, but the attitude they took towards doing that job that disqualified them.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah. That is really true. There’s the nature/nurture thing, right? There’s a certain amount of our attitude that is biological, right? We’ve inherited from our parents. And a certain amount of it is nurture. But obviously in your work, you are seeing people actually improve their attitude and their mental toughness in addition to the gifts they’re born with.

Aaron Davis:

I see both of those in that, like many things, we have nature/nurture. And my background is in psychology. That was my degree—my undergrad in psychology. So the nature versus nurture argument is huge. But when it comes to attitude, like a muscle, we can develop it. Now there’s only so far we can go genetically, as far as our physical body. It’s just if you don’t have the genetics, you don’t have it. For years, researchers thought the brain was static. But the beautiful thing about the brain is no, the brain grows! It can be added to. It can be enhanced. The more we practice on this skill of attitude—how we think about our world, about our conditions—the brain grows. But here’s the kicker, though, Lyn, a negative attitude is formed the same way.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah.

Aaron Davis:

It’s all about the decisions you make and how you think. It’s a decision every day of how you’re going to look at the circumstances ahead of you. You can either strengthen that negativity muscle or you can strengthen your positivity muscle. It all depends on you. And once again, it’s the attitude we take towards that.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah. That’s a really good point. At the beginning of this COVID-19 pandemic, some of us built couch potato skills, right? Our gyms closed, and we didn’t want to go outside. And we had to figure out new things. Some of us developed some bad attitude skills at the beginning of the pandemic as well. Aaron, would you mind giving us a few of your top recommendations? We’ve been in this COVID pandemic for a long time. What are some key things people can do to rebuild that healthy attitude muscle?

Aaron Davis:

The key thing is just getting yourself back up. When COVID first hit here in the Midwest March 11th, I remember sitting right here in my home office getting calls. My agent out in California was like, “Aaron, we’re going to have to cancel. Aaron, we’re going to have to reschedule. Aaron, we’re going to have to go until all of 2021, 2022 or even 2023.” And I was sitting here, Lyn, the motivational attitude guy, and I was furious.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah.

Aaron Davis:

I was thinking, What is going on? And I had to make a decision. That’s one of the things. We have to make a decision that either we’re going to allow this thing to break us down, or we’re going to allow this thing to help us pivot and plan. A lot of people just stood there. They just froze in panic, which I understand that. That’s human nature. For someone to say, “Oh great, it’s a pandemic. Let’s just keep moving” isn’t natural. When I talk about a positive attitude, it’s not ignoring the elephant of obstacles in the room. It’s acknowledging it and having a plan, and you pivot. What I had to do was say, “You know what? This is the situation. What’s the decision I’m going to make in how I look at it? What’s the decisions I’m going to make in how I plan from here—how I pivot from here?”

Aaron Davis:

The reality is, Lyn, there are a lot of individuals, a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of businesses, a lot of families who panicked at first, like all of us, but didn’t stay there. It’s not about whether or not we panic, it’s about whether or not we stay in that place of panic. That’s the key. And when you form and you fight every day to keep a positive attitude, it helps you pivot and plan. One thing folks have to understand is you have to protect your mind, and I always say, “Protect your peace.” If you want to keep a positive attitude, you have to protect your peace. It doesn’t mean there’s not going to be obstacles and intruders and villains and thieves who try to come and steal your mental peace, but you have to protect it. Protect your peace at all costs.

Lyn Wineman:

That is so good. And even though you might be working from home and staying home, there’s a lot of potential negative influencers that enter your home, right?

Aaron Davis:

Yes.

Lyn Wineman:

Social media. I mean, gosh! We could watch news all day every day and all night every night.

Aaron Davis:

Lyn, what you just said is so key right now. Social media is a beautiful thing, but it is also something we have to be mindful of. It can be a dangerous thing, and I remind myself daily to be informed but don’t be infiltrated by the negativity, the maliciousness. And that starts with your routine. I talked about protecting your mind, but it starts with your routine. It starts the moment you get out of bed, regardless of whether you’re an early riser, late riser, or night owl. I always say the first 30 minutes of your day is a huge indicator of how you’re going to be mentally set up for the rest of the day. I made a switch about five years ago. I stopped listening to the news to start my day. Now I listen to music or I listen to an upbeat podcast. YouTube has a ton of them. As I’m getting dressed for the gym, I’m listening to music. I have never become angry listening to Earth, Wind and Fire. I’ve never gotten pissed off listening to Journey or Elton John. But when I used to listen to the news to start my day, it was like, “Okay, who was murdered? Who was killed? What tsunami? What forest fire? Who got arrested?” And then they say, “Go have a great day.” Are you kidding me?

Lyn Wineman:

It’s like, “I want to go back to bed now, please.”

Aaron Davis:

Exactly. One of the key things is just whether or not you can win your morning.

Lyn Wineman:

Win your morning. I love that idea.

Aaron Davis:

Yes. If you win your morning, you have a better chance of winning your afternoon. You win your afternoon, you have a better chance of winning your day.

Lyn Wineman:

That is so good. You have been doing a lot of really inspirational work on social media. Your social media is one of my favorites.

Aaron Davis:

Thank you.

Lyn Wineman:

But I’ve seen you kind of change and increase your messaging during the pandemic. What spurred you to do that? And what kind of feedback are you getting?

Aaron Davis:

That’s a great question. Again, I’ll go back to March 11th when I saw my business—just like a lot of people’s businesses—start taking the hits. I thought about it, I prayed about it, I journaled about it. And I’m not talking about a week or two. That next day, on March 12th, I started focusing on the “cans.” What I can do.

Lyn Wineman:

Ah, good.

Aaron Davis:

If you focus on the things you can’t do, it’ll drive you crazy. It elicits anxiety, depression, anger and panic. But when you think about the things you can do, that brings hope, that improves your attitude. That also elicits creativity. I made a decision that I was going to make a short, motivational, inspirational video every day—60 seconds long—and I called it 60 Seconds with Aaron, just enough to give someone a quick boost to start their day, or even throughout their day or during the evening. I did about 55 straight daily videos, weekends included. They were just short vignettes of a boost of inspiration—truths, things that inspire—because the echo chamber for negativity and maliciousness is so loud right now.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah.

Aaron Davis:

So why not be positive? For me to say something negative and hop in that fray is like taking a teaspoon of water to the ocean and saying, “I’m going to contribute to it.” I said, “You know what? I’m going to do what I was supposed to do anyway when I was going to be on those stages or sharing with people on podcasts. I’m going to share as much positivity, as much inspiration, as much hope.” People want hope right now. People are afraid. People are hurting. Suicide rates are going out of the wall right now—child abuse, substance abuse, depression, anxiety. I don’t want to add to that by adding more angst and angry posts and angry messages. I want to supply hope, and be a hope and a beacon of light. I focused on what I could do. And it was time for me to do even more. That’s why I’ve continued to be on this campaign of positivity.

Lyn Wineman:

Aaron, I wasn’t planning to talk to you about this, but when you said that you stirred something in me. I remember what that day was like, too. Since a big part of your business is doing live presentations to large groups of people, that was a day when everything you’d worked for looked bleak. Your clients were calling, and they were all very sorry, and you couldn’t argue with them. We can’t bring thousands of people into a room right now. But you saw it all happen in one day. I almost felt like that day I could hear that whistling sound of a bomb crashing.

Aaron Davis:

Yes.

Lyn Wineman:

At the end of the day, it was like, “All right, I am panicked. I am afraid.” But I had a group of people looking at me, counting on me—a family, employees, clients. The next day my team asked, “Lyn, what is going to happen here?” I had to say, “You know what? I don’t know what’s going to happen. But the one thing you can count on is I’m going to fight like hell!”

Aaron Davis:

That’s right.

Lyn Wineman:

“To keep us whole.” Right? “And we can count on each other and we can have each other’s backs and we can figure this out together.” But that’s been my mantra, and you know what I’m going to say? There’ve been some good things, as terrible as it is. There’ve been some good things that will come from this, and that’s what I’m going to look to.

Aaron Davis:

I totally agree.

Lyn Wineman:

One of those good things is I like getting up in the morning, scrolling through my social media and seeing the 60 Seconds of Aaron, so thank you. Thank you for that.

Aaron Davis:

Thank you.

Lyn Wineman:

All right. I’m going to switch gears in the idea of protecting our mindsets here. I mean, one of the things I love about you is that you were a member of a football team that I am a big fan of. And while we have listeners across the country, please do not turn off right now. Aaron was a member of the University of Nebraska 1994 national championship football team. And I also have to mention that some people say that was the best team of all time, and I’m going to agree. But, Aaron, how does something like that impact your life?

Aaron Davis:

Lyn, I wasn’t a superstar or starter for the team, but it was an amazing experience that I had a chance to be a part of just a great group of individuals. The night we won the national championship I’ll never forget. Coach Osborne, the former coach at Nebraska is one of the winningest coaches of all time in college football. We were 18, 19 years old at the time and were down in Miami at the Orange Bowl stadium—the old Orange Bowl stadium. And it is absolutely pandemonium in that locker room, as you can imagine, because that was Coach Osborne’s first national championship, and it was 10 years after he coached his first one and lost by a tipped pass. All of those things are going through our heads, but at that time we just wanted to go hang out and party at South Beach.

Lyn Wineman:

I love that.

Aaron Davis:

We were a bunch of college kids, but there was something that Coach Osborne said. There were many things that he said, but this one stuck out. He said, “Guys, the older you get, the more you’re going to appreciate what you just accomplished tonight.” He said, “You really don’t know the gravity of the accomplishment you just accomplished. But the older you get, the more you’re going to appreciate it.” And Lyn, I’ll be 47 next month. I look back at that time. Even when watching the championship game last Monday night, the Alabama vs. Ohio State game, and watching those players from Alabama celebrate, I was thinking to myself, They don’t really even know what they just did tonight, but as they get older, they will. And that still all goes back to attitude.

Aaron Davis:

Our team had an attitude that we were not going to be denied. Yes, there were injuries. There were bumps in the road. There were hiccups. There were times where there were major obstacles off the field we had to deal with. But we had an attitude that no matter what happened, we would not be broken. That was a mindset, and Coach Osborne and his amazing staff at that time instilled a culture of dominance. They instilled a culture of excellence. And those are the same things we can do, whether we have a team of one or a team of 1,000, whether it’s in the personal setting or professional setting. You develop a culture and attitude of excellence and resolve, and good things happen. It doesn’t mean there won’t be obstacles and setbacks and hurts and pains. But you say, “I am going to use all of these stones as stepping stones rather than injuries that make me quit this race.”

Lyn Wineman:

That is fabulous. I have never been an athlete, but football’s a painful sport, isn’t it?

Aaron Davis:

Yes, it is.

Lyn Wineman:

You could want to quit all the time. I had a son who played football, and just as a mother it was hard to watch. I do have a question to ask for my son Scott. Since you brought up Tom Osborne, who is revered as a top coach and is a psychologist, is he as cool in person as we all think he is from the fan’s point of view?

Aaron Davis:

Coach Osborne has a lot of people who just see him in the media or the newspapers. They think he’s just this guy who’s so nice and laid back, but he’s also one of the most fiery, competitive and hilarious people you’ll ever meet.

Lyn Wineman:

Interesting. I don’t think people see that.

Aaron Davis:

He’s very competitive, very fiery and hilarious. Lyn, there was a time (my only catch at Nebraska) we were playing against Missouri and I caught a pass for like 20 yards or something like that. But in Nebraska—and those of you from around the country, this may not resonate with you—there is a restaurant called Runza.

Lyn Wineman:

Yes. Big fan of Runza.

Aaron Davis:

Well, if Nebraska passes for 200 yards, there were certain people who had a certain thing on the back of their ticket …

Lyn Wineman:

… And they got free Runzas.

Aaron Davis:

Yes, if we passed for 200 yards. Well, I had the last reception of that game. We ended up passing for 199 yards. Coach Osborne still teases me and says, “Aaron, if you would’ve just laid down forward. You cheated the whole state out of Runzas.”

Lyn Wineman:

That’s funny. And I think Becky Perret, who’s the marketing director for Runza, might be listening. She might thank you for saving the budget from that day. Although, I don’t think she was the marketing director at that time. But that’s hilarious. What a great experience.

Aaron Davis:

Great man. Great man.

Lyn Wineman:

So I want to switch gears just a little bit because I mentioned at the beginning that I don’t know anyone who does exactly what you do. And I’m curious, how does someone get into this line of work? Did third grade Aaron write papers on “I want to be an attitude specialist when I grow up”? What led you here?

Aaron Davis:

Lyn, it’s been an amazing journey. I’m the youngest out of six kids—four boys, two girls.

Lyn Wineman:

That’s a big family.

Aaron Davis:

Big family. And my parents moved to Nebraska in 1963 from Pittsburgh. My dad became a pastor, a man of faith, a few weeks after they moved to Nebraska. This is a story I didn’t share with a lot of people until about a year ago. I started sharing it more because of things that have happened in my life. But my parents told me I was doing the speaking for about a year and a half, and they set me down and they said, “When you were born, we didn’t name you right away.” They said, “We prayed about your name.”

Lyn Wineman:

Wow.

Aaron Davis:

My parents said, “We prayed about your name and we named you Aaron. We were led to name you Aaron.” Because in the Christian faith, Aaron was the mouthpiece. He was the spokesperson for Moses when he led the children out of Israel.

Lyn Wineman:

Oh, that just gave me chills.

Aaron Davis:

When Moses led them out of Egypt, Aaron was his spokesperson and Moses tried to get out of this job. “I don’t want it.” He said, “I can’t speak.” And God said, “What about your brother, Aaron? He’s well spoken.” Now I’m not saying I’m well spoken …

Lyn Wineman:

I think you are.

Aaron Davis:

But when my parents shared that story with me, they didn’t share it with me to say, “Well, this is what you’re supposed to do because your name is Aaron.” No, they waited until I accepted my call and started speaking for schools, colleges, faith-based groups and corporate America. It’s really more than just an occupation for me. It’s a calling for me to do this. It’s grown over the past two decades. And I’m grateful for that, but that’s how I got started. I was in corporate America for a while. I was in sales and worked for the University of Nebraska (their multicultural affairs department), but the speaking kept increasing. I left full-time work and have been doing it ever since.

Lyn Wineman:

Wow, that’s fantastic! I think it’s a gift to the world that you decided to do that. As a matter of fact, I want to share this because I wrote down a comment that’s on your website from someone I don’t know named Ivan Benson of Pepsi Bottling Group. He said, “Aaron has the unique ability to make you think while making you laugh at the same time.” And I’ve seen that too, Aaron. How do you do it? Is it just something innate in you? Do you practice it?

Aaron Davis:

We all have our gifts and talents, and to the person who may have that talent or gift it looks easy. But I look at the things you do. You manage a company of diverse individuals from different backgrounds. You took a trumpet player and a flute player and a clarinet player and a saxophone player and you’ve created this beautiful orchestra of a company at KidGlov. I couldn’t do that. I’m too ADD. I look at the fluidity with which you’ve created that culture, and I’m in awe of it.

Aaron Davis:

And my son Keenon is an amazing artist. He does it and it looks so easy, but that’s something he was gifted with. He’s worked on it. You’ve worked on that with your companies. You see behind me in my office is just one slate of books. I have books surrounding me and a reading room downstairs with more. I read a lot. I listen a lot. I’m constantly jotting notes down from movies, commercials, sporting events, and more because I want to grow. I never want to stop learning. I never want to stop enhancing my skills. I’m still nervous before I talk, whether it’s an audience of 10,000 or an audience of 10. And to be honest, the audience of 10 is more nerve wracking than the audience of thousands because it’s more intimate. I want to keep growing. I appreciate that. I believe all of us have gifts and talents. It’s whether we choose to develop them or not.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah. Public speaking is one of people’s great fears. And I appreciate you saying that you still get nervous, because I can’t even imagine that. It doesn’t seem like you could possibly be nervous.

Aaron Davis:

Oh, big time.

Lyn Wineman:

You just learn to deal with it, I imagine. It’s one of those muscles, right?

Aaron Davis:

That’s right. That’s right.

Lyn Wineman:

All right, Aaron, I want to ask you a question. I want to get your permission to ask you a question, actually, that might make us both a little uncomfortable. Is it okay?

Aaron Davis:

Absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

In everything that’s happened over the last several months, one of the areas that’s come to light is the reality of racism and institutional racism. I think there’s a lot of people who maybe didn’t think about that issue much. Gosh, I even feel terrible saying that.

Aaron Davis:

No, not at all.

Lyn Wineman:

I’m curious, Aaron. What has your experience been like, and what would you really like people to know?

Aaron Davis:

Lyn, first of all I’m glad you asked the question, because until we start asking questions we can’t become enlightened to what’s going on. We can’t become knowledgeable about what’s going on—or aware is the keyword, just awareness. Things that don’t impact you don’t impact you. It’s the simplest way to say it. I have three kids. Aden is 22 years old. He’s a senior at University of Nebraska, and will be going to law school this fall. Keenon is a junior. He’ll be 21 in April, and entering his senior year next year. Niya is a junior in high school. My wife and I are in a relationship where there’s two side. See my wife is white, I’m black. When you’re in a relationship and a marriage like ours, there’s two sides.

Aaron Davis:

There are conversations that my wife didn’t have with her parents—she didn’t have to—that I have to have with my kids. When you get pulled over, for example. I have a number of friends and family members who are in law enforcement and the military, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for those guys and gals who risk their lives every day to protect our freedoms and protect our neighborhoods, towns, etc. But, unfortunately, you have bad ones like in any occupation. You’ve got bad garbage men. You’ve got bad doctors. You’ve got bad teachers. You have those.

Lyn Wineman:

Bad advertising people.

Aaron Davis:

Yeah. But when those people were chosen and they made an oath to protect and serve, there were a little bit different of circumstances. I’ve had the talk with my kids, the talk meaning if you ever get pulled over, you keep your hand at 10 and two. You get your license and registration out before they even get to your car, you put them on your dashboard. You do not ever move your hands. You say, “Ma’am” or “sir,” with all due respect. You don’t mouth off; you don’t smart talk. You don’t run. To see the things we’ve seen in our country. This past summer with Ahmaud Arbery and, of course Floyd and the others, unfortunately that’s not something new to your fellow Americans and people of color. We’ve seen this. You go back clear to 1992 with Rodney King. You go back to the days of the Civil Rights era. We’ve seen this before. We’ve seen this movie before. Many of your friends of color are mentally tired.

Lyn Wineman:

Right. How could you not be?

Aaron Davis:

We’re mentally tired. But the blessing in all of this is that America has been awakened, and not just awakened because we can hear our alarm clock but we don’t get out of bed. Many Americans have not only been awakened, they’ve gotten out of the bed. They’ve gotten dressed and they’ve stood beside their fellow Americans to say, “This is wrong.” It’s not enough to be awakened. We can always say, “Yeah, I was awake for work.” Well, did you go to work? America is now going to work. Not everyone, but many, many more than before, because now they have seen social media again and the news. When people saw the way those murders took place, they said, “This is wrong.” Now it’s impacted them, so they’ve walked arm in arm with their brothers and sisters and their fellow Americans of different races, backgrounds and genders saying, “You know what? This is wrong.” It’s not about agreeing with everybody, because you’re not always going to agree. It’s about saying what’s right for humanity. I’m going to stand for humanity. We’re starting to see that now more than ever. And that’s what I’m encouraged about. Sure, there are things that upset you and make you afraid, but more than that, it saddens you.

Lyn Wineman:

Yes.

Aaron Davis:

It saddens me because I’ve personally had experiences where I’ve been pulled over. Things were just wrong. Put it that way. You learn to develop calluses where you shouldn’t have to develop calluses. But in order to survive, that’s what you do. America has not only been awakened, but America has gotten out of bed and is getting to work. And that’s what I’m glad to see through all this chaos.

Lyn Wineman:

I really appreciate you sharing that. I think you’re right. A big shift in not only attitude, but action.

Aaron Davis:

Yes, absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

And hopefully better things to come.

Aaron Davis:

Absolutely. I truly believe that. I truly do.

Lyn Wineman:

All right, Aaron, I’m getting to everybody’s favorite question. I ask it on every podcast. I am so inspired by motivational quotes. I fill journals and my computer and my phone—everything—with words of wisdom. I’d like a few Aaron Davis words of wisdom to motivate our listeners.

Aaron Davis:

The one I always leave—I sign off with—is: “It’s your attitude. It’s your choice.”

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah.

Aaron Davis:

It’s your attitude. It’s your choice. In everything we do, we have a choice on how we’re going to look at that day, and until we keep that fresh and foremost in our minds that we do have a choice there are a lot of things that we don’t have a choice about. Right now in Nebraska, as we know, it is snowing. But it’s not so much the snow, it’s the 45-80 mile per hour wind gusts that’s making it a blizzard out there.

Lyn Wineman:

Right. Snowing, blowing like a banshee.

Aaron Davis:

That’s right. Those are things we don’t have control over. We don’t have control over how fast the vaccine will be distributed. Those are things that are totally out of your and my control. But we do have a choice on the attitude we take towards it. I truly believe this. I believe one of the best gifts we were blessed with by our Creator—by God—is the ability to decide.

Lyn Wineman:

Yeah.

Aaron Davis:

We always have that ability. I have a couple of buddies who I grew up with. One is doing an amazing job with his life, his career, his family, etc. The other buddy is not doing so well. He struggles. And I think about them, I pray for them. They grew up in a home that was a very abusive home, alcoholic, etc. The one buddy will say, “I don’t do those things because of how I grew up, how I was raised.” My other buddy who’s struggling says, “I’m this way because of how I was raised.” Same household, same home, same parents.

Lyn Wineman:

Same people.

Aaron Davis:

Exactly, but they made a decision. It doesn’t mean that our backgrounds, our past hurts, our past experiences do not form who we are, because they do. But at the end of the day, we decide how much those things are going to influence our life going forward. We have the ability to decide.

Lyn Wineman:

That is so good. I love that. Your attitude, your choice. I’m also writing down by your name “Win your mornings.” I think that is such, such good advice.

Aaron Davis:

Absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

Aaron, for people who would like to learn more about you—maybe book you for a keynote, grab one of your books, engage in your coaching community—how can they find you?

Aaron Davis:

Go to my website, and that’s aarondavis.co. Also if you go on Instagram, it’s @aarondavisattitudeexpert. If you go to LinkedIn, it’s just my name on there, Aaron Davis. On Facebook it’s Aaron Davis Presentations. You can reach me via phone. You can call 1 (800) 474-8755.

Lyn Wineman:

Aaron. You’re the first person who ever gave us a phone number.

Aaron Davis:

Yes, absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

We’ll put all of those in the show notes, too.

Aaron Davis:

Absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

Anybody who didn’t get that written down, there’ll be a link to the website there in the show notes, too.

Aaron Davis:

Yes, please do so.

Lyn Wineman:

Aaron, this has been so much fun. As we wrap up our time together, what is the most important thing you’d like our listeners to remember about the work you’re doing?

Aaron Davis:

I want them to remember the conversation we had right here. Again, I’ll loop it back to: Every day we have a decision, the moment we get out of bed, what type of day, the type of attitude we’re going to have. We don’t have control over a lot of the things coming our way. Many of those things we don’t even know are coming yet. But we always have a choice on the attitude we take towards those things. Again, we can strengthen that muscle, but you can strengthen the negative one as well. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, “What did I strengthen today?” And a quick thing that I do at the end of each day. Lyn, I call it my four Gs. My wife gave me the idea.

Lyn Wineman:

Four Gs. I’m writing them down, Aaron.

Aaron Davis:

Absolutely.

Lyn Wineman:

Four Gs.

Aaron Davis:

I say, “What was good today? What was a glitch? What am I grateful for? And what is one goal for tomorrow? Those help steer that attitude in the direction you want it to go.

Lyn Wineman:

I’m giving you one more G. I think that’s pure gold.

Aaron Davis:

As the amazing marketer you are.

Lyn Wineman:

Really good stuff. I’m going to loop back and say this has been so much fun. And I’m going to agree with Ivan, who has that quote on your website. I have been entertained. I’ve laughed. I’ve been touched, but I’ve also been very thoughtful. You’ve encouraged me to think throughout this conversation. Aaron, always great to talk to you. Thank you for everything you’re doing, and have a great day.

Aaron Davis:

Lyn, thank you so much. It was a privilege and an honor, and I have so much admiration and respect for you. Continue to keep impacting lives, my friend. God bless you.

Lyn Wineman:

God bless you. Thank you so much.

Aaron Davis:

Thank you. You bet.

Announcer:

You’ve been listening to Agency for Change. If you’re enjoying these inspiring stories, please subscribe. Is there a change maker you’d like to recommend for this podcast? Just visit the KidGlov website at kidglov.com to share or to listen to more stories about the people behind positive change.

 

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