Author Archives: David

Being Thankful on the Hunt

It’s that time of year again, hunters, to put gratitude at the forefront of our lives and give thanks for what we’ve got.

To my wife Nadine, thank you for being my rock. You go above and beyond with your patience and caring. You’ve always got my back and are a constant source of sound advice.  When I’m low, you go high. Your strength and compassion are always a light in the darkness.

To my boys, Hunter, River, and Fischer, thank you for making me a better man. You provide perspective when the world gets crazy on me; I know I can go home to your bright faces and inquisitive minds and find love there. You are my blanket fort of childhood, and I cherish you and all the moments we spend together.

To the team at Carbon Media Group, your creativity, skills and acumen never cease to amaze me.  Thank you for your dedication to the outdoors and to introducing something we all love to a bigger audience.

To the team at HealthRise Solutions, thank you for getting on this roller coaster with me.  The culture we have built together is a powerful thing and reminds me daily that we can achieve our targets when we hold our values close. We will achieve our goals!

To the team at Farbman Group, thank you for doing our family name proud!  The company was built on service and your exceptional attention to the high standards set by my father, Burt Farbman, ensures success.  My brother, Andy, takes it to the next level and is the MAN!  He’s my best friend, a kickass partner, a trusted confidant and a total badass in the boardroom.  There’s no one I admire more.

To the universe in general, thank you for the amazing people that come in and out of my life on a regular basis.  Thank you for clear skies and fresh water, for the earth, and all that springs from it.  Thank you for beauty that leaves me breathless and the moments of joy I could never explain fully.

We are blessed every day that we open our eyes to a new morning.  Every day is an opportunity, every hunt a chance to hit a bullseye. I’d love to hear how you celebrate.  Drop me a note and have the best Thanksgiving ever.

How to Face Change like a Hunter

Fall is my favorite season. Not only because it affords me the best chance of getting out and hunting here in Michigan, but because everything changes.  The weather, the trees, the tires on my truck.  Suddenly, in a world of business casual, I am back in camo and fleece, ready to take on nature’s challenges.

I love change. Change provides opportunity! If the weather didn’t cool, my bucks wouldn’t be out in the woods waiting for me. Change forces us to wake up and take in our surroundings in a whole new way. Once the leaves start to fall, we can see things that were hidden by the foliage.  We can see the shapes of things we had forgotten, the roofline of a neighbor’s house or the glimpse of a doe’s profile, in stark relief against the bare trees.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if you hate change or love it like I do. It happens with or without our permission.  Here are a few tips, from one hunter to another, on facing change:

  • Keep learning: Continuous improvement is a core value at HealthRise and one I foster in my home life as well. Learning changes YOU. And then you can change the world.
  • Flow like water: too often, we act more like the boulder in the stream, wanting the world to flow around us. Go with the flow, slip and slide around obstacles and you’ll find you can get further, faster.
  • Enjoy the process: people love to watch the leaves change. Why not approach change in your life like the color show we enjoy each year?  It’s all in how you perceive it.  Look at it as beauty, and it will be beautiful.

Change is inevitable.  It is the only constant.  I want you to take some time this weekend, hunters, to embrace one small change and make it your own.  Take it down like a trophy buck, like I know you can.  Let me know how you did! Email me.

 

Feeling Stuck?  I’ve Got a Fix for That

I had a meaningful discussion with one of my key executives about fear. It was insightful enough that I have been thinking about it and mulling it around in my mind for the last few days. What he said was this: “It’s not that I’m afraid of being wrong, I’m worried about being stuck there.”

Now this guy is a big picture thinker. I can tell him an issue and almost before I get the words out, he’s already found an answer. Recently, he has had a revelation about his big thinking: he has a tendency to project a future reality, and it’s so real to him that he used to get stuck right there, feeling like that was the only answer, rather than a possible one. Over time, he’d gotten so accustomed to his ability to project this reality that it became a warm blanket and he stopped questioning whether or not it was right or wrong.  And then he would get stuck.

Being stuck is the worst. Think of your car, stuck in the mud. Think of a deer, mesmerized by headlights, frozen by fear. Wrong is wrong in some direction. Even if you are wrong, you are moving. Being stuck has no direction. There is no compass that can help you, no map, no sun to guide you. So how do we get unstuck?

MOVE.  It doesn’t matter if it’s the wrong direction. Being wrong is better than being stuck.

CHANGE YOUR VIEW.  If you’re sitting down, stand up. If you’re inside, go outside. Work in a coffee shop, look out the window. Take a shower, take a drive. There is countless evidence that by changing your environment, you can change yourself.

ASK FOR HELP.  I know, I know. But do it anyway. Find a few colleagues you trust and make the following deal: if you see me stuck, say something. If I don’t move, say it louder.  And when you counter with fear, ask them to remind you: any direction is better than no direction.

Get out there, my hunters and get unstuck from whatever is holding you back from hitting your targets.  There are worse things than being wrong about a future that doesn’t exist.

Appreciate Every Moment on The Hunt

As a young man, I planned and plotted and spent most of hunting season doing exactly that, hunting.  Ok, maybe I also spent some time doing some other things, but time in the woods felt endless; all obligations fell to the wayside as I pursued whichever big buck I had my eye on that year.  They say youth is wasted on the young, but I say it’s time…time you can never get back or even grasp the value of when you are 18 and invincible.  Now we must focus our time and energy more carefully.

Back in the day, I spent the summer watching the deer that roam our family farm.  I wandered and stalked and picked out my trophy long before hunting season began.  It’s that process that taught me to be patient in business, to do my homework, learn and prepare.  It is also the thing that gives me the experience and expertise, now, when I don’t have the luxury of time, to jump in and just go. Well, that and the invention of trail cameras. 🙂

As I enter the pre-rut of this year’s hunting season, my anticipation is no different than it was years ago.  What is different is how much time I have to pursue this passion of mine.  Now I need to make every moment count, every second in the blind, every scuff mark on every tree.  Heading up to northern Michigan this weekend, I can’t wait to breathe the early morning air as I hike the property in search of what will undoubtedly become the obsession of this year’s hunt.

There is another difference, a shift in my attitude about time.  Time used to be infinite, a long stretch of road with an end I’d never reach.  Lately, especially as I watch my boys grow, I’ve come to realize how quickly time is passing.  Some might think of that is disheartening or stressful, but for me it’s a reminder to be present, be aware and most importantly, be real.  We get only one life.  I plan to spend mine doing all the things I love: hunting, enjoying with my wife and boys, growing businesses with my brother, Andy and hitting targets in all areas of my life.

Get out there and do the things you love. Find balance in your time.  Appreciate each moment, my hunters.  Email me and let me know how you make every moment count, I love hearing from you!

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Moments Which Make You Stand Still

There we stood, fifty different business people gathered together, staring at one of the last sizable pieces of steel found at the site of the World Trade Towers with our tour guide taking us back to the moment. As an experience, the 9/11 Memorial is surreal. Immediately, it takes you back to the precise details of what was going on that day as if it were happening right there in real time. The immersive aspects of both the museum and our tour guide brought the events of September 11, 2001, into the present, and reminded me of the strength and beauty of our collective American spirit.

Tears rolled freely. So many people with lost friends, relatives, siblings. The guide spoke about the shared memory of the event. She told us stories of the overwhelming kindness and grace of strangers coming together to save lives, often to their peril. As I stood there, surrounded by friends and colleagues, I felt how blessed we are to live in the greatest country in the world!

Recently an NFL starting quarterback began his own tradition of not saluting the flag and participating in the national anthem.  Standing there in the face of such incredible patriotism and American fortitude, I thought to myself: what if Colin Kaepernick were on this tour right now? Would he possibly continue his inappropriate, absurd, unpatriotic behavior? I think not.

While I believe in our Bill of Rights and the blessings afforded to us because of our Constitution, there is still a certain sense of patriotism, loyalty, and responsibility we should take on for our country. Our privileges are afforded to us with a moral price tag, to be honored, rather than abused. When you’re a professional athlete with national attention on you on a weekly basis, this onus is very much upon you.

So, Colin, I suggest you take the 9/11 tour, start living your life more in the moment and loyal to our country, and maybe you’ll even get back to winning both on and off the field. The current path isn’t accomplishing much of either.

GOD Bless America!

Start Planning Your 2017 Hunt Now

Sometimes I watch as the colors change and the leaves start to fall, it serves as a reminder that now is the time to start putting into play the changes I need to make for 2017.  Goal setting is a huge part of the Hunt, determining targets and finding the paths that will take you there.  All of that takes time and preparation.  We are often pressured to make resolutions at the holidays, a time of year when we are entrenched in family and tradition and change feels harder than it is.

Fall has always been the start of something new.  A new school year, a temperature change here in the Midwest, we start breaking out the flannels and fleeces, even the way we dress and act suddenly takes more focus as we adjust.  It is the perfect time to think about change!  Take a walk and feel those leaves crunching underfoot as you create a vision for hitting your upcoming targets.  There is no need to race the clock in late December, you can take all the time you need RIGHT NOW.

Those of us of Jewish faith recently celebrated our new year, Rosh Hashanah, followed closely by Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and a day of self-reflection.  This is when I start planning my New Year.  Rosh Hashanah kicks off my thinking and Yom Kippur allows for reflection on the past year and the pivots I can make to be better and keep hitting my targets.

There is no reason that you can’t pick a day in October to be the start of your “New Year” thinking. Set goals now so that when all the leaves have hit the ground you have the clarity to see through those bare branches and envision the future you want for yourself, your business, your family.  I challenge you to come to a resolution on the things that are most important for you in the coming months and create a strategy now to implement in the new year.   Go hit your targets!