In 2008, I installed a pull up bar at the entrance to the stairway of my office. My simple goal was to be able to crank out 10 pull ups without stopping; not too impressive I realize, but a person has to have a goal. My 7 year old son, Caleb, immediately gave it a try and was able to crank out 3 in a row. Later that day I heard him begging, “Mom, can we go to Chuck E. Cheese?” This was pretty persistent throughout the day so… we came up with his goal, if he did one thousand pull-ups, then he could go to Chuck E. Cheese. 1,000 Mind you! Caleb immediately sat down and with Cathy’s help, produced a bar graph to keep track of his progress. He proceeded to crank out pull-ups as often as he could get one of us to lift him up onto the bar. Eventually, we got so tired of being begged to lift Caleb up to the bar, we set a stool next to it so he could get up on his own. Amazingly, he proceeded to do 1,000 pull ups in 4 days; at 7 years old. That is a real big desire to go to Chuck E. Cheese!

This story has been circulated around to many of my friends and colleagues, now people that know the story commonly question – What Is Your Chuck E. Cheese? Have you thought about this? What motivates you, causes you to aspire to greater things, inspires you to do things that you normally would not have even begun, much less accomplished? Caleb’s example struck a chord with me; I realized that it is crucial for each of us to learn and understand what our “Chuck E. Cheese” is.

So, if you have read this far, you might be asking, “What the heck does this have to do with Sundog Media and their blog?” My answer is.. just thought I would share a little about some of the “Chuck E. Cheeses” I have for this company… what motivates me, what is it that I hope motivates and represents the team members of this company.

Here Goes:
• Being a part of and growing a company that puts family first.
• Producing brilliant work that helps our customers succeed.
• Creating more “LIFE” for everyone who comes in contact with us.
• Constantly learning and stretching my skills and knowledge within my field.
• Building a company that is amazing to work for.
• Working with great clients and growing meaningful relationships.
• And of course… Who am I kidding? Earning enough gas money for our boat, the “Sundog”.

So, I am about up to 8 pull-ups in a row now and we’ve raised Caleb to 2000 pull- ups per Chuck E. Cheese visit, it was getting too expensive buying the pizza and tokens. So take a moment and ask yourself.