Ric Keller - Chase the Bears: Little Things to Achieve Big Dreams

Chase the Bears

Little Things to Achieve Big Dreams

Ric Keller

Ric Keller hits just the right note in Chase the Bears. Not only is it engaging, inspiring, and funny, but it also offers readers a solid plan for achieving their dreams. I love this book!

Jack Canfield, coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series and The Success Principles

Chase the Bears is a gem of a book that everyone will enjoy and find benefit in. With humility and humor, Ric Keller guides us to pursue our dreams and find happiness not through blind ambition, but rather through character and relationships.

Arthur C. Brooks, professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author

Chase the Bears inspires you to use your gifts and take action. You are where you are today based on the choices you made before today. If you want something different, simply start making different choices. The greatest risk of all is to take no action. The stories are heartfelt and inspiring, and also humorous!

Sharon Lechter, coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestselling Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich for Women, and 17 other books

If you want to network the right wayand achieve your highest potentialread Chase the Bears. Ric Kellers book is insightful, useful, andbest of allincredibly witty and a pleasure to read.

Dorie Clark,Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game and executive education faculty, Duke University Fuqua School of Business

Ric has a great sense of humor. Chase the Bears shows why leading with boldness, civility, and a little humor will make you a leader worth following. Its a fun read.

Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida

The only things that will change you from where you are today to where youll be five years from now are the books you read, the people you meet, and the dreams you dream. Ric Kellers new book, Chase the Bears, will definitely change your life for the positive in the next five years!

Lou Holtz, national championship head football coach at the University of Notre Dame

Chase the Bears inspires you to trust your intuition. It can change your life and maybe the world.

Michael Smerconish, SiriusXM and CNN host

Every new day gives you the opportunity to change direction and head on a path to achieve your dreams. Chase the Bears will show you the tips, techniques, and practical actions to take your thoughts and aspirations and convert them into reality. Ric Kellers book is wise, witty, and truly inspirational.

Brittany Wagner, nationally respected athletic academic counselor, motivational speaker, star of the hit Netflix documentary series, Last Chance U, and author of Next Chance You

I first met Ric Keller when we were both new members of Congress and always valued his intelligence and his ability to see the big picture. Ric is a fine leader who understands the importance of mentoring, which is one of the values we share. I have devoted the last thirty years of my life working at mentoring. I think that you will enjoy reading Chase the Bears as leadership and mentoring are huge factors with our young people today.

Tom Osborne, three-time national championship head football coach at the University of Nebraska

Ric Keller has written a tremendous new book, Chase the Bears. The term, chase the bears, is often a metaphor for chasing your dreams. In my own life, I have learned that chasing dreams takes hard work and involves risks. But in the end, the biggest risk of all is to simply take no risks. I urge you to read Ric Kellers new book and let his experiences help you create the life you are dreaming of.

Don Green, executive director, The Napoleon Hill Foundation

To Lori, for inspiring me and for secretly letting me win in Scrabble.

(You think I didnt know?)

To Grandma Lora, for making me feel loved and for guiding me from Above.

To Linda, for being twice the stepmom you didnt have to be.

O ne sunny Florida morning, my wife, Lori, and I were sitting at our kitchen table, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper. All of a sudden, a big mama bear and three cute little cubs scampered across our front yard just outside the kitchen window. It had never happened before; we lived in a condominium complex miles from any wooded areas. Without saying a word, we looked at each other, jumped up, and quickly ran outside to chase the bears.

It might not have been our smartest idea. Florida black bears can run up to 35 mph. In comparison, Olympic sprinters run only 28 mph. Black bears typically mind their own business and wont charge after youunless youre foolish enough to chase them. And, of course, we were.

But it was an educated risk. If the mama bear decided to turn around and charge after us, I knew the front door to our home was nearby. Plus, I was pretty sure I could outrun Lori.

Interestingly, we never saw the bears again; they had disappeared.

Afterward, we laughed. What did this say about us as a couple? Dont most couples have at least one person who is supposed to be rational? Shouldnt one of us have been the cautious one?

We also realized that chasing the bears is a metaphor in life for chasing your dreams. Most people are content to stay inside, play it safe, and look out their windows as life passes them by. Eventually, the clock runs out. On the other hand, a few people take a risk and chase their dreams. They chase the bears.

This book is written for people who want to pursue their dreams and be happy. Spoiler alert: a huge part of that equation is deciding what YOU really want (not what your parents, spouse, friends, or coworkers want), and thenonce you are aligned with your purposeuse your gifts, trust your instincts, and take risks to achieve one baby-step goal at a time.

Why did I write this book?

This book is very personal for me. I didnt meet my father until I was fourteen years old. At our first meeting, he handed me a newly purchased paperback copy of his favorite book, titled Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. Unbeknownst to him, I would read it six times before graduating from high school.

It would take me another three years until I was ready to call him Dad and to finally put the books secret formula to a practical test. I was going off to college, and as an experiment, I set a goal to graduate first in my class with a 4.0 GPA, despite being an average student in high school. It happened. The second experiment was setting a goal to get elected to Congress. That happened, too.

Of course, like anyone else, there were also plenty of setbacks. But I learned that if you can laugh at yourself and at life, you will be unstoppable.

Ive been to hell and backand took notes. What I know for sure is that there are little things you can do to achieve big dreams. I hope this book can change your life just like that gift book from Dad changed mine.

If you aspire to leadership, I will share lessons I learned from my dealings with CEOs, generals, Supreme Court justices, government leaders, and a legendary college football coach about the common denominators of great leaders, including boldness, authenticity, and civility.