An Army of Normal Folks - If... We Can Be Positive

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

For "Shop Talk", Coach Bill reflects on a listener's question with some inspiration from Rudyard Kipling's powerful poem "If". Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an Army of Normal, folks. Welcome into the shop. Hey Alex. Hey Bill. How are you? Good, I've been with you all morning. I, I, what? I've been with you all morning, so it's been a good morning.

I know, well then your morning should be fabulous. It is. You looking for anything in particular? You are just so good looking. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. Are you looking anything in particular today, or are you just hanging around? I'm just... In the shops? I'm still looking for a wife, but Are you just hanging around? I'm just in the shops.

I'm still looking for a wife, but I don't think I want to say that. I don't think I want to say that every week. It could get weird for people. OK, here's a PSA for any of you. Single ladies out there, there is an available, attractive, hardworking, kind Catholic gentleman with beautiful children Looking for a Long meaningful relationship. So there how's that? That's good. Thanks, Bill. Anytime

Today we're good. Oh Ironically, we're gonna talk about positivity today. Oh, yeah. Yeah. In the shop today, we're going to talk about positivity. And here's why. Jim Victor from Boise, Idaho sent this, the importance of positivity in a world where it seems to be difficult. Find sometimes I manage a team where negativity can dominate a couple of members. And I see that negativity out of a couple of members, and I see that negativity out of a couple of members, the impact it can make on everybody they work with. I never want anyone to be fake in regard to how they feel, but we also have much to be thankful for and be positive about,

and that can be motivating and inspiring. And thank you, Jim. When I read that, I thought about today and the divisiveness and the negativity and the fear that comes from it. And I thought it'd be a good idea to discuss some shop talk and draw some inspiration from 1895. So we'll get to that right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims but heroes or villains

or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I am Bob Pitman, Chairman and CEO of iHeart Media. I'm excited to share my podcast with you, Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. This week, I'm talking to the CEO of Moderna, Stephane Boncel, about how he led his team through unprecedented times to create, test, and distribute a COVID vaccine

all in less than a year. It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world. Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math, and the ever-important creative spark, the magic. Listen to Math and Magic, stories from the frontiers of marketing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Why would you do that to me when I thought we were friends? We are friends. Los Angeles, 2021.

A friendly neighbor appears out of nowhere and promises to make all my dreams come true. Let's not forget that David Bloom was a professional con artist, so you didn't stand a chance. But my dreams soon turned into a nightmare. Bloom generally targeted people with money. And I was not alone. He took over 100 people for over $15 million.

One of the victims was his own grandmother. I was married to David for almost 10 years. It was insane. I was barely functioning. And I just had this realization that he will not stop until he kills me. Getting a con artist to pay for their crimes isn't easy. I'm Caroline DeMore. Listen as I take down my scammer on Once Upon a Con on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Snakes, zombies, sharks, heights. Speaking in public, the list of fears is endless.

But while you're clutching your blanket in the dark, wondering if that sound in the hall was actually a footstep, the real danger is in your hand, when you're behind the wheel. And while you might think a Great White Shark is scary, what's really terrifying, and even deadly, is distracted driving. Eyes Forward. Don't Drive Distracted. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. I'm Mark Seale. And I'm Nathan King.

This is Leave the Gun, Take the Canole. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture. Leave the Gun, Take the Canole is based on my co-host Mark's best-selling book of the same title. And on this show, we call upon his years of research to help unpack the story behind the godfather's birth from start to finish. This is really the first interview I've done in bed. Ha ha ha ha! We sift through innumerable accounts, I see 35 pages in the re-enactment.

many of them conflicting. That's nonsense. There were 60 pages. and try to get to the truth of what really happened. And they said, we're finished, this is over. They know this is not going to work. You gotta get rid of those guys. This is a disaster.

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli features new and archival interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Evans, James Kahn, Talia Shire, and many others. Yes, that was the real horse's head. Listen and subscribe to Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everybody. Hey everybody, Shop Talk number 45. Welcome back.

The importance of positivity. Jim Victor from Boise, Idaho reached out and said, enjoy your podcast. It's inspiring. I had a couple ideas for Shop Talk that I was wondering if you would consider. The first one was this one I read before the break about the importance of positivity and you're right you don't... nobody likes the fake positive people that always come in with sunshine shooting out their rear end and act like there's no problems in the world. I mean that will will grate on your nerves. So, you know, positivity needs to be refreshingly honest. And we all have problems. It's hard to stay positive all the time. And nobody don't know, it feels like in our political world right

now, with all the divisiveness and all of the categories we separate ourselves in, it leads to more and more negativity. And oh, I don't know, I guess the there is an uncomfortability around so much of the unknown about what tariffs are going to do what the border is going to be and all this other stuff. And I think uncertainty leads to negativity and makes it really hard to be and all this other stuff. And I think uncertainty leads to negativity and makes it really hard to be positive. And so I think Jim's questions or point is really good. Could we talk about the importance of positivity in a world that it seems difficult to find sometimes. Well, I've been weak, by the way, we got this email months ago and I keep reading and I kept thinking, you know, how do I talk

about it? It's a great point. But you know, where does the where does the inspiration to be positive come from? How do we put aside negative thoughts and be positive? Nobody wants to be the Debbie Downer negative Nancy that brings everybody down around them because they're always they're always in the doldrums. But there's a poem by English poet Rudyard Kipling written around 1895 as a tribute to a British politician, Starr Jameson. And I just want to read it. If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you. If you can trust when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too. If you can wait and not be tired of waiting

or being lied about, don't deal in lies or being hated. Don't give way to the hating and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise. If you can dream and not make dreams your master, if you can think and not make thoughts your aim, if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, if you can barely hear the truth you've spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you gave your life to broken, and stop and build them up with worn out tools. Stoop. What? Stoop. Stoop. Oh. And stoop and build them up with worn out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn, a pitch and toss, and lose and start again at your beginnings and never breathe a word about your loss. If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them, Hold on. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you but none too much if you can fill the unforgiving minute with 67 worth of 60 seconds worth of distance run yours is the earth and everything that's in it and which is more you'll be a man my son

Rudyard Kipling you wrote that the title of the poem is If. I was about to say Rudyard Kipling wrote that poem around 1895 and it's called If. And it's it's a tribute to a British politician. It's basically if you can do these things then you will be inspirational and you will be successful But it's also basically saying this is what this politician was able to do which is keep your head when everybody's losing theirs You can be trustworthy even when people doubt you but make allowance for their doubting You don't lie even though you do and lies. You don't hate and you don't give way to hating. It's all about being positive. It's all about

meeting the challenge of the day. Always relying on the fundamentals of your character and your value and your word and not being overcome by the challenges of the day, not being overcome by the negativity of the challenges of the day and staying positive. And the way you stay positive is that you have this basis, this foundation of character, honesty, integrity, hard work, and grace. And if you have the courage to set aside the times that are negative, and set aside the impulses that are negative and remain positive based on those fundamentals, then you can change the world. So that's what Rudyard Kipling has to say about staying positive in his poem, If written around 1895. So back to Jim Victor, the importance of positivity in a world where it seems to be difficult fine

Sometimes I manage a team where negativity can dominate from a couple members when I see it impact though It can make on the whole team I never want anybody to be fake in regard to how they feel But also have much to be thankful for and be positive about that can be motivating and inspiring What do you say about that bill? Here's what I say, if in the words of Rudyard Kipling, if we can always remember that the sun's gonna come up tomorrow there's air in our lungs, if

we can understand that there are all kinds of challenges in the day. But if we can always remember that we have to build our own personal foundation on character, commitment, integrity, honesty, and grace. And if we can forgive those failed, fallen folks that surround us that make mistakes and not get negative and mired in a bunch of tit for tat. But if we can show grace, if we can show hard work, if we can show a foundation of commitment and character and integrity, and if we want to rise above it in a positive way to counteract the negativity that can

surround us, we can inspire those who are mired in negative situations maybe to follow that kind of lead. It's a big if. The question for shop talk is, in the words of Rudder to Kipling in 1895, yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And which is more, you'll be a man, my son. Now there's men and women. This is 1895 conversation. But the point is, if you're willing to do the things that you need to do to stay positive in terms of your foundation your character and your word and your grace then yours is the earth and everything that's in it and this will make you positive in the

face of negativity and therefore inspire those around you to also be positive and make great change in the world. So, Mr. Victor, thanks for bringing that to us. It's interesting that we were able to weave an 1895 poem into this, but honestly I've read this email over and over again and didn't know how to respond until Alex showed me this poem. And then I thought, well, that's how we do it. Let me give a shout out for the poem. Do it. And you know where the poem came from? Where? So you've met them, my friends in Oxford, Blake and Sarah Cannon. Yeah. And they're car people. No, he's a real estate agent. Real estate agent. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The king of real estate in Oxford. The king of real estate. But their son Noah, and I'm ashamed of forgetting his exact age, but he's probably 10 to 12 years old, somewhere in there. He just remembered that entire poem. You're kidding. Yeah. I'm super impressed by him. I mean, you can recite that. Look how long that is. That's unbelievable. Yeah. And so what, he recited to you one day or something? Mom was just telling me, Sarah just said. So then you look the poem up. Yeah.

And I'm like, oh yeah, I know that poem. And it's beautiful. It's like, man, this would be a great shop talk. That's fantastic. And it fits great with positivity because the truth is, if you can do all of these things in this poem written by Rutherford Kipling, then the negativity won't consume you and you can inspire Positivity in our world. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah, and a good challenge for all of our kids

I kind of want my kids to remember this and it's a challenge for all of us. Yeah I feel like I'm my brain too old. I can't remember stuff that long anymore. So chap. Talk number 45 guys brought to you by Jim Victor, a listener from Boise, Idaho. If you're willing to do the things you need to do, you can overcome negativity, you can walk your life with positivity, inspire others to do so. And if you do that, we got a chance for an army of normal folks staying positive and making amazing change in our world. Jim, thanks for reaching out. I hope you are pleased with our response to your email. And for those of you listening,

guys, email me anytime at Bill at normal folks dot us. And if you send me an email, even if it takes me months to respond, I will. And if your ideas are something I think we can add something to I may not come to it immediately but eventually something will spark and we'll try to bring it up on Shop Talk. What else do you want these people to do Alex? Go to normalfolks.us, join the army, become a premium member, subscribe to the podcast, ready to review it, share it on social, all the things that'll help us grow in Army of Normal Folks.

Yeah. That's Shop Talk Number 45. We'll see you next week. I'm Mark Seale. And I'm Nathan King. This is Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli. The five families did not want us to shoot that picture. And I'm Nathan King. This is Leave the Gun, Take the Canole. This podcast is based on my co-host Mark Seale's best-selling book of the same title.

Leave the Gun, Take the Canole features new and archival interviews with Francis Ford Kobla, Robert Evans, James Kahn, Talia Shire, and many others. Listen and subscribe to Leave the Gun, Take the Canoli on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now. Women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photojournalists, lawyers, writers, and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal,

gory details of horrific acts. I delve into the good, the bad, the difficult, and all the nuance I can find, because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice, and the fascinating workings of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes, or villains, or often, somewhere in between.

Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRad Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Bob Pipman, Chairman and CEO of I Heart Media. I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic, Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. I'm having conversations with some folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reach the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use. I'll be joined by innovative leaders like Chairman and CEO of Elf Beauty, Tarang Amin. Legendary singer-songwriter and philanthropist, Jewel. Being a rock star is very fun, but helping people is way more fun.

And Damian Maldonado, CEO of American Financing. I figured out the formula, I just have to work hard, then that's magic. Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math, and the ever important creative spark, the magic. Listen to Math and Magic on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. My name is Brendan Patrick Hughes,

host of Divine Intervention. This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests trading blows with J. Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war. J. Edgar Hoover was furious. He was out of his mind, and he wanted to bring the Catholic left to its knees. Listen to Divine Intervention on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. Why would you do that to me? Los Angeles, 2021. A friendly neighbor appears out of nowhere and promises to make all my dreams come true. Let's not forget that David Blume was a professional con artist, so you didn't stand a chance. But my dreams soon turned into a nightmare. I'm Caroline DeMore. Listen as I take down my scammer on Once Upon a Con

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.