Author Archives: David

May the Hunt Be with You

Summer has passed; the leaves are in peak color and hunters are choosing their targets during what is called the pre-rut. The bucks become less nocturnal, and it is the smart time to start learning their routine before things start to heat up. If you’ve been sitting back, waiting for the right time to get in the hunt, now is the time to study your targets and set a strategy for success.

Pre-rut is a bow hunter’s favorite time to be in the woods. If you’ve found yourself in a downturn lately, follow the lead of the bow hunter and use this time to observe and gather intelligence from the activity going on around you. Information taken from reading the signs of the woods around you can be the difference between a walk among the trees and a successful hunt.

I have my pre-rut rituals, the gear I always wear, the way I pack my cooler, when I head out and when I head home. This year, I’m mixing it up. New bow. New arrows. New camo. I am a hunter reborn, ready to pivot on my old plan and embrace something new.

As the leaves continue to drop, this is the right time to adjust your plan, tighten up your strategy and get focused on your Desired Outcome. My DO this weekend, instead of watching Star Wars with my boys, I’m headed north with my oldest son, Hunter, to get into the woods and do some scouting in the beautiful but hard-to-hunt northern Michigan. We will watch for grey ghosts and set the stage for what I hope is our first shared trophy. I will use my time in the tree stand to connect with Hunter and consider how I can use this late fall time to maximize tracking skills across all areas of my life. The hunt is on!

How to Build a Lasting Legacy: Life Lessons from The Taubmans

Last week I turned 44 and in a moment of introspection I realized this is the middle of my life (if I am lucky). Coincidently, I attended a charity function that featured a video about Al Taubman and his meaning to Metro Detroit and the Jewish community. With at least half of my life in the rearview mirror, I have been thinking a lot about legacy and how I can make an impact on the world that my children and their children will feel in the times ahead. While most of us will never live out the legacy of Al Taubman, we can still make a meaningful mark in our family, community and the world as a whole if we live a life focused on leaving the world better than how we found it.

I find that having role models can help to guide us down the path that leaves a clean wake even when it is not the easy thing to do. Bobby Taubman, Al’s son, is a man who emulates living out the legacy of his father and even taking it to the next level. Taubman is the CEO of Taubman Company one of the most successful real estate companies in the world, and he is growing them across the globe. Day in and day out he is a member of an elite class of real estate professionals. Taubman has a tireless work ethic, he is a committed member on countless boards, a world renowned philanthropist, yet he still remembers the things that matter most.

Bobby somehow makes the time to take his kids to school, and to support his wife and family through thick and thin. He also makes it a point to be there for his friends and the community as a whole, and if I failed to mention it, he is one heck of a crack shot with a shotgun. One might ask, when does this guy sleep? Having known Bobby for years, I am relatively certain that the answer is “not much.”

Having witnessed both of these legends in action, I find that I do not hit the snooze button too often in my life. They inspire me to build companies that develop powerful cultures that create jobs, maximize potential and are on the path to becoming something memorable. Legends like the Taubmans inspire me to give more of my income to charity, to be there for the Jewish Community in a way that makes me proud. They inspire me to take my boys to school, to be there for the flag football games and to make sure that we are having fun in the process. While building companies can be demanding, stressful, and at times thankless, I wouldn’t have it any other way. As Bobby and Al show us, it does not stop there if you desire to build a true life legacy. No legacy can be of the highest meaning if it does not include family and community.

This year, it is my 44th birthday wish that when I blow the candles out next year I will have made significant strides towards my life legacy.

Believing is Seeing

Last week I attended FUEL: Cleveland, a day-long conference featuring some of the greatest motivational speakers in the country. First up was Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist of Apple. He shared his lessons learned from working with Steve Jobs. And then he offered a bonus: “Some things need to be believed to be seen.” This slide resonated so profoundly with me that I’ve been thinking about it for over a week and constructing this blog in my head since then.

Flashback to the weekend prior to FUEL. I was setting up a massive Halloween display in my yard for my boys. Here it was, broad daylight and they we so into it! Their excitement of what it was all going to look like, how it was going to scare everyone, was infectious and had absolutely nothing to do with the reality of the end results. They believed in what it was going to be, long before I got all the extension cords hooked up, buried the skeletons and activated the fog machine. (It’s awesome, by they way. I love it, and they do too).

That childlike excitement, the ability to believe in something that you can’t see is what drives visionary entrepreneurship. Before you can lay down the bones of a business you need to believe in the idea, the spark, the gut feeling that makes starting and growing a business the rush that has pushed me to do it three times over.

From our belief comes creation. When you believe it, you can see it. Like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, ghosts and spirits alike. Our minds are powerful things, and belief can conjure reality from imagination. So the lesson today is to ask: what do you believe? Can you create a hunt based on that belief? Is it strong enough to become something you can see, hear, touch?

If my success is proof of anything, it’s that I am a believer. Long before any of my companies became reality; I had the unshakable faith in each idea that allowed me to pursue my goals. Believe, hunters, and go out and hit your targets.

Tree Stands and Timing

As I sat in my favorite tree stand on the opening day of bow season in Michigan, I find myself thinking about timing. I’d had quite a week and fought my way up north through a sea of business meetings, family commitments and, you know, life.

Here are two things you should know about bow hunting and timing:

If you let the arrow go too soon, you will miss your target.

If you let the arrow go too late, you will miss your target.

Bow hunting is all about picking your moment and letting the arrow fly. A one-shot, one arrow opportunity does not allow for flying off the handle, letting your excitement or anxiety carry you away or taking time out to second guess yourself.

My advice today is this: treat every opportunity like it’s your only arrow. Trust your gut, pay attention to the wind and maximize every chance you have to take down a target.

Now, I have to get back in the stand. My next opportunity is somewhere in the trees, and I’ve got to be present to take advantage of it. A successful hunt is what I’m after each and every day, tree stand or not. Mind your arrows, hunters, and may they fly true.

Let Go and Get in the Hunt

I was beyond excited this past week to go to New Mexico for an Elk Hunt in Vermejo Park, a 587,000-acre elk haven. Back in mid-summer, I took out my bow and started slinging arrows until my arrow groups became tight. I packed up my camo and gear and got fired up for this adventure. And then the plane landed. And my I-Phone had no service. I said to myself “Uh, oh – this is not good Farbz.” My good pal and hunting companion Pete handed me a burner phone that was sexy for about 30 seconds. Then I realized this was old-school texting, multiple pressing of buttons to spell kind of deal. I will admit to you there was a moment of panic (maybe an extended moment of panic…). And then I let it go. And then the burner phone didn’t work, and I freaked out a little more, and then once again I let go. It was beautiful. The land was stunning, the elk majestic and I was All In on the Hunt. No checking stocks, no texting, just me and my bow and the clean New Mexico air to breathe with nature all around me soaking into my body the way I remember from when I was younger. Back in the day before you could get a call or check your Facebook profile in a tree stand. I thought to myself “God I have missed too much of the things that matter trapped in the addictive clutches of my phone.” I experienced this hunt as it unfolded, with no distractions…and it was life changing, a true wake up. Was this fate? A missing cell tower signal was representing the need for me to slow down, unplug and release myself from the every moment “I need to know everything going on in life real time mentality.” You know, this false prop that makes you feel important and needed when what you truly need is to be right here, right now, in the moment, totally present. For me this meant feeling my feet on the ground, tasting the coffee in that thermos cup, waiting for an 800-lb. animal to come to my cow call and cross my path within 30 yards. I decided to put the rest of the world on hold, and the payoff was incredible. I’ll take an intense, bugling elk over the annoying ring of my cell phone, anytime. This elk hunt is one I would call a true success. Not because of the trophies we brought home, but because I took the opportunity to trust this bump life had put in my path. Knowing my wife would take care of our family, my teams would take care of the businesses, and I could have this time to reconnect and come back recharged and ready for the next hunt.

How to Choose your Best Life

In the morning, we wake up and start our day with a simple choice – get out of bed or stay put. Do you get up and stretch, prepping your mind and body for tasks ahead, or do you hit the snooze button? Are you fired up to seize the opportunities you’ll face or are you just punching the clock, day in and day out? The list can go on and on, but the bottom line is crystal clear: we choose how we want the day to go.

No matter what happens to you throughout the day, you choose how you’d like to process it. When a setback happens, do you view it as a problem or as an opportunity to fix the situation, grow and do better next time?

When I start on a hunt, my attitude is hopeful, of course. I try to use all my skills and tools to the best of my ability the whole time I’m up in the tree stand, down in the brush, or wading through a riverbank. Even if it’s a day some people would call “unsuccessful” in the end, I always view it as a win. I got to spend the time out in nature, had a chance to work on my tracking patterns and learn the land – all of which I can use the next time around.

It’s just the way I choose to look at things – it can help you, not just on the hunt, but in the board room and at your family’s kitchen table. If things aren’t going right, and you’re feeling discouraged, stop blaming everything and everyone else. The choice is yours – start today. Adjust your attitude and watch what happens.