As a speaker for more than 20 years, I typically spend more than 250 days a year on the road. In that time, I can honestly count on two fingers the number of seminars I’ve canceled. Last February, while finishing an event in Phoenix, I received word that my 83-year-old father had been rushed to the hospital. After hearing the words, "You’d better come now," I jumped on the first available flight and subsequently canceled an upcoming speaking tour. Fortunately, Dad was released from the hospital a few days later.