Back from Russia!

Just got back from five days in St. Petersburg, Russia. What an amazing place, rich in culture and history! Also, the people there were the most warm and welcoming people I have met! They were so gracious and generous. I spoke three days, six hours each day. The first two days I spoke about success and leadership and the third day I talked about Winning with Influence. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to going back there (and Moscow as well).

The Art of Influence continues to sell well. Thanks again for helping me get the word out on the book. I am also doing a lot of radio interviews.

Next up in my travels are Australia, Toronto, and Boston!

The Art of Influence is Released!

Hey there, a quick update: We hit it hard on our release of The Art of Influence and got as high as number four on Barnes and Noble and number nine on Amazon. Pretty amazing! Thanks for all your help in getting it going. If you still haven't bought the book, jump on over now to either:

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Influence-Persuading-Others-Begins/dp/0385521030

or:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Art-of-Influence/Chris-Widener/e/9780385521031/?itm=3

Hope your summer is going fantastic and you and your families are enjoying great success!

A Graduate!

Well, my firstborn has graduated high school! Christopher and his class from Issaquah High School celebrated their graduation ceremony at Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners) on June 12th. Last night we had an open house for about 40 people who came over to help us celebrate. My mom and step-dad were here from Tucson and my wife's parents came in from Minneapolis. It was a fun night with friends and family.

Three more children to go!

Busy month

It has been a month since I last blogged. Mainly because it has been a busy one. The really cool things about the last month were a couple of speeches and a couple of interviews I did. The speeches were in Irvine and San Antonio. I had never been to San Antonio before so that was fun. I called up some old friends of mine from when I lived in NJ in 88-91, who now live in San Antonio and they picked me up from the airport and we went for dinner on the River Walk. Very nice to catch up with them and a very pleasant evening.

My two interviews were fascinating. First, I flew to Park City and interviewed Paul Zane Pilzer, a noted economist and small business expert and author of the Next Millionaires and Unlimited Wealth. Next, I flew to Phoenix to the home of Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, where I spent a few hours interviewing Robert, the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Really two very interesting people!

Life continues to roll on. My son just turned 18 the other day. My first child to reach that age.

Hope all is going well with you and that you are living your dreams!

Halfway Home!

Well, I turned 42 yesterday and that means I officially outlived my father. He died at 41 when I was just four years old. So 42 was always my first "age goal". Now I just have one more: 84. Yep, that means I am halfway home.

So, just like a team does at halftime of a game, I have been looking at what I did in the first half and what I want to do in the second half.

The first quarter started out rough but by the second quarter I was doing well. I have a great life. I have been married for 19 years, with four fantastic children who now range between 13 and 17. I have wonderful friends. I live in my dream home that I drove by for 21 years, believing that someday I would live there. And I have a job that I love that makes me great money. All in all, pretty good!

So what about the next 42 years? There is a lot I want to do. I want to give more. Give more money, give more to people, give to society. Andrew Carnegie said he would spend the first half of his life making a fortune and the second half giving it away. I certainly don't have a Carnegie sized fortune, but we all have things we can give away and be generous with. Our money, yes, but also our time, our kindness, our wisdom and knowledge, and our love.

We live in interesting times. There are lots of challenges for us. I believe, as I always have, that we need great leaders. I hope to spend the next half of my life dedicated to being one of those leaders and helping raise up new leaders.

Thanks for all your support and friendship. And thanks for making a difference in the world around you! Here's to a great next 42 years!

Home for a while...

After so much travel for the first quarter of 2008, I am actually home for a while! So, in my "down" time, I am writing a book and doing lots of teleconferences on my new topic: You CAN Live the American Dream! I have done a CD on it, but it isn't out yet.

The book is called "Dreamer" and is about a young man raised in poverty who learns from a mentor about how to live the American Dream. I am excited about the story and think it will be inspiring to those who read it.

Looks like I just got booked to go to Russia in May. First time there if I end up going.

I hope you and your families are having your best year ever!

Australia and SUCCESS!

Just got back from a week down under. Beautiful! I spent a couple days in Sydney and four days in Brisbane. It was summer there so it was H-O-T! I spoke at a conference to two thousand people. Amazing folks. I also had the pleasure of speaking alongside two fantastic people. Willie Jolley from Washington, DC, and Pat Mesiti from Sydney. Both are dynamic speakers and terrific people (Willie can downright SING as well). Willie brought his lovely wife, Dee, along with him.

The one thing I missed while I was gone was the launch of the all new SUCCESS Magazine. The first issue is just out and yours truly has a column in every issue called "Insights on Influence." The conference was a smash hit with John Maxwell, Robert and Kim Kiyosaki, Denis Waitley, John Addison, and Ron White. One day with those speakers an 1300 people all together to re-launch SUCCESS as the foremost authority in personal and professional development.

Do yourself a favor and take a jump over to http://www.successmagazine.com/ and subscribe today. As they say, "It's What Achievers Read."