Dear Friends and Fans:
A lot good things are happening on the business front.
I am busy, traveling around the country making appearances, with the focus of most of these appearances being on teaching teamwork and inspiring organizations (more on this below).
I am also active as a national spokesperson for Ultimate SAAAVE, a public affairs campaign that urges those at risk for an abdominal aortic aneurysm, commonly called a triple-A, to get screened for the condition. Twenty-one years ago, my dad entered the hospital complaining of back pains. We didn’t know that a triple-A, undetected, caused the pains. Within hours, my dad died suddenly when the triple-A ruptured; he was 68. (It is important to note, though, that while my dad had symptoms, many triple-As cause no symptoms; hence, it being tagged the “silent killer”.) A triple-A can be discovered with a simple and painless ultrasound, and repaired through a minimally invasive procedure. It is imperative for those with the triple-A risk factors – men or women 65-75 years old who have ever smoked, or men or women 65 to 75 years old with a family history of vascular disease – to get screened.
A project about which I am particularly excited is a book that multiple New York Times bestselling author Don Yaeger and I are collaborating on that focuses on and explains my Gold Medal Strategies for Success. These are strategies I teach and present – the primary objective of which is improving teamwork and motivating – for corporations and other organizations throughout our nation. We have received an offer from a major publisher to publish the book, and I am confident we will sign a deal soon.
I also want to encourage people to send in stories via email or snail mail (visit the contact us page for the address) about where you were and how you felt when the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team was winning at Lake Placid, and how our victory affected your life. If you were too young to remember where you were, or if you were not even born yet, perhaps watching replays of the games, or watching the movie “Miracle”, or reading about the “Miracle on Ice’, or listening to friends and family talk about the episode, inspired and affected you; we want to hear from you as well.
I plan to start posting these stories at www.jimcraig.net and www.goldmedalstrategies.com – different addresses for the same place on the web: a site which combines info on me and my company Gold Medal Strategies.
****
Memorial Day is observed every year on the final Monday in May. Memorial Day is our most solemn federal holiday, a day on which we honor and remember those who gave the supreme sacrifice in defense of our republic. Of course, we honor and remember on this day all veterans and men and women presently in uniform.
Honoring and remembering our armed forces personnel – through American sports culture – is the focus of The American Patriot Program (TAPP).
TAPP has my enthusiastic support. TAPP presents beautiful and specially designed Enduring Remembrance baseball bats to wounded soldiers – and in the memory, and to the families, of those who have fallen. On July 4th, TAPP will unveil the American Patriot Goalie Stick Award –it too to be bestowed on those who were wounded and those who died to preserve our freedoms.
On the subject of defending freedoms, in early April I was out in the San Diego area for a series of appearances. In one of those appearances, I was fortunate and honored to share the stage with a true American hero, U.S. Navy SEAL Cmdr. Thomas Chaby, chief staff officer with the Naval Special Warfare Group ONE. Both Cmdr. Chaby and I spoke at an event honoring the Poway High School wrestling program, one of the top prep wrestling programs in the nation. Cmdr. Chaby has been in the Navy for more than 20 years. Among his many assignment and missions are leading a 50 man team conducting combat operations in Afghanistan in the initial stages of Operation Enduring Freedom – and leading more than 500 men and women in combat in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Courageous, poised, smart, and a gentleman, he represents the best of this nation.
****
Loving the weather. Golf, boating, and fishing close on the horizon. I’m looking forward to all of it.
Believe in Your Dreams – and Believe in Miracles.
Sincerely,
JIM CRAIG
Comments on this entry are closed.