Hi , I want to warn you ahead of time that this will be a rant. You may get something out of it and you may not. You could even be upset that you wasted time reading it but I felt inclined that I needed to share what was on my mind. In October of 2012 I started looking for a life coach. Some people had told me that I would make a good life coach, or a good financial advisor, or a good Country Singer 🙂 or some sort of presenter. So I contacted a life coach and went and met with her. The first meeting was not what I was wanting. It was a totally different experience and was all about energy work, and energy readings, and many things that I was not interested in becoming certified in. So I contacted another coach that I had heard about. She was not considered a life coach but a business coach. When I met Carol Leavitt for the first time it was a free consultation visit at a little food place down town where I live. I told her of my aspirations of being a coach. How I wanted to help other musicians and singers achieve their dreams. Or how I wanted to help people get healthy. I told her what I envisioned about having a book, and traveling all over helping people achieve their dreams. She laughed at me and said “you don’t want to be a life coach. You are talking about being a motivational keynote speaker, thats what you want to be.” This was the first time anyone had ever mentioned to me that what my goals were, was being a motivational speaker. Fast Forward to January of 2013. My book is now out. I can’t believe I wrote a book, but it’s now out and it happened. I am at an expo selling my show to fairs and festivals when I see this amazing speaker named Brad Barton. I loved his message, I loved his book, I felt something when he talked to me. There was a whole crowd, but believe me, he was talking just to me. So afterwards I waited in line to meet him. I wanted his book. He met me and asked me who I was and what I did. I told him I was an Inspirational Country Music singer. He said he loved Country music and wondered if I would trade a cd for his book. This was a deal I was willing to do. So I went my separate way and Brad went his. I read his book and I loved it. It was such a great book. A few weeks later Brad e-mailed me and told me how much he had enjoyed my music. How much he was blown away and inspired by my music. He asked me if I would come to an event in Salt Lake City and sing Why Not Today for en event centered around Speakers from the National Speakers Association in Utah. I went up to this event and I sang my song and told my story. I got a standing Ovation and I was encouraged to join this organization to get my message out. Well you know me. I have to do things totally opposite of everyone else. So instead of joining the Utah Chapter I joined the National Association and went to the National Convention without knowing what I was doing and not belonging to any chapters. I posted on the facebook group and a very kind lady named Laurie Guest shouted out to me. She contacted me and welcomed me and took me in. She helped me my first year and got me on my way and became such a great mentor to me. I learned so much my first year and even became friends at the National Convention, with some of the Utah members. I was so inspired and loved where I was so I joined the Utah chapter of the National Speakers, the National Association of the National Speakers, and I started going to all the events and even joined the Mountain West Speakers academy. The ride has been amazing. So I just returned from my second annual National Speakers Association convention. It was in San Diego, California this year. Each year I go by myself so I can observe and learn and meet new people. I even went out to eat one day all by myself and just sat there listening to all the conversations around me. I saw a very rude woman ask the waitress for so much and the waitress bent over backwards to make her happy, even making her a whole new meal for free because of her complaining, only to have this nasty woman leave her a 1 dollar tip. That’s a whole different story but if you ever want to have an experience, just go out and eat by yourself sometime and observe whats going on around you. So as I was sitting by myself another day over by the harbor watching all the boats pass by, I started thinking about my journey. Why was I here? How come after 2 years I still don’t feel like I belong?, how come I don’t fit in with other musicians? how come I don’t fit in with other speakers? Where is my place? Why do I not really belong anywhere? These were very serious and very discouraging questions. On the other hand I knew that I was supposed to be there. Doors were opening to me left and right to get me to this place. I was sitting in the same room with some of the greats in the whole world of speaking, and business. At the end of the conference I hurried home to do a 4th of July concert. All the way home I was taking notes and thinking about what was going on in my head. Then something dawned on me. I don’t know if I will ever be a top name Keynote speaker, I don’t know if I will ever be a top name Country singer. I have had people tell me that maybe it’s time to settle down and stop chasing something that probably won’t happen for me. Well here is my answer to that. Life without me singing would be a mistake. I know to my very core that i was meant to be a singer. I know to my very core that I was meant to join the National Speakers Association. I know to my very core that I am where I am supposed to be. I have made so many friends and lived such an amazing life in these last several years. I am living a dream right now. As I looked out at the audience last night I was so enlightened. I do fit in. I fit in with all my friends and people who support me in my journey. The concert last night was a result of one of my friends telling their hair dresser about me and then spreading the word to the city and the city bring me in. It was a total grass roots concert. One of you made that happen for me because you believed in me. Every one of my successes has come from one of you. I owe you so much and I owe all of my friends for this. I may not fit in with all those other people but I don’t need to. We have our own group. We started this thing and if we are all a bunch of big dreamers then so be it. Coach Carol said to me on my first lunch meeting. “Eric, go and write down your dreams and make them BIG. Shoot for the stars and land on the moon my friend. Don’t shoot for the tree tops and land on a branch.” This means make your dreams so big that you land higher than ever imaginable. We don’t have to fit in any molds. Yes some days I really want to fit in with those different groups. That’s just human nature. It won’t stop me though. I am a singer who has a message and my message will continue to be heard. I can’t wait to see what is around the next corner. Why Not Today?

Eric

P.S. I am going to be doing a giveaway for the complete set of Eric Dodge Cd’s. It will be for all 8 cd’s autographed. It will only be available to those who are members of this newsletter on www.ericdodge.com and it will only be available to those who actually read the message on the contest when I send it out. So keep watching.

Here is a link to a blog my mother wrote that goes along with this message I am sharing now. Must be something that is going around. Subscribe to her blog if you like the messages.

http://www.laureldodge.blogspot.com/2014/06/i-dont-belong.html

PPS. My next concert is on July 24th in Vernal Utah at the Uintah County Fair.