With the Beijing Olympics over, here are a few thoughts for all of us to take back to the office:

1) You don’t need to be perfect to compete.  Natalie Du Toit from South Africa did not take the gold, the silver or the bronze. In fact, she came in 14th. She DID, however win our hearts. Being the first amputee to compete in an Olympics, she did better with ONE leg than MOST of the competitors did with two. I guess it’s not what you have it is how you use what you have and the heart and desire to use it.

Question: Are you complaining about what you are missing or celebrating and using what you have?

2) Michael Phelps takes a record 8 gold medals for a total of 15 in his ‘lifetime’, and he’s only 23. It doesn’t take age to be great. It takes a great champion with the heart and desire to be great.

Question: Do you have the heart and desire to make your career soar, your marriage glow and your life catch fire?

3) Singapore, a tiny nation of 2.5 million citizens took on China, a land of 1.5 BILLION, Korea with 48 million and even the USA with 300 million. Across the table, their table tennis stars shined and came in 2nd in the world, capturing the silver medal.

Question: Are you willing to take on insurmountable odds to get what you want in life, even if it means coming in second, third or fourth? In other words, are you willing to do battle where the odds of winning are stacked completely against you?

4) Usain Bolt takes 3 gold medals with 3 new world records. Amazing!

Question: Does winning just mean being the best or does it require us to smash old standards and put the competition so far behind us they have no hopes of catching up? We can do this by training and education, through drive and creativity and by always doing our best.

What an amazing Olympics. What an amazing opportunity we have every day in life to win our OWN place in this world and take our OWN gold at work and in Life. Go for the GOLD!

SMILE MAKER: Patience is a virtue!

3 inmates on death row were asked what they wanted for their last meal.

The first asked for pizza, got it, ate it and was promptly executed.

The second asked for a steak, got it, ate it and was promptly executed.

The third asked for strawberries and was told, “They are out of season.” He said, “I’ll wait.”

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Most people do not understand what speakers, trainers and facilitators do. IF WE ARE GOOD, we make connections between information and people’s memories. These connections do not happen because we use PowerPoint or lecture, they happen when we relax the their minds and allow the information to be absorbed in their brains.

A very serious participant in a workshop may think there is too much humour in a session. Reality, that humour is what ’softens’ the mind to allow the ideas to sink in and become permanent.

The human brain needs connections with past, present and future. We constantly ask attendees what they have done in the past so they think about their past behaviours. Then we reference the current information we are sharing. Finally, we MUST ask them how they are going to use the new information. They will remember because of past, present and future references.

The 3rd way people learn and the way we teach is to shock the system a bit. The book, Making It Stick tells us we need to stand out from the background ‘noise’ of everyday life to be remembered. This only comes from being a bit outrageous or at a minimum, very unique.

We teach speakers, trainers and facilitators how to be more effective at their jobs. I can personally conduct 2 full weeks of training in the area and not repeat any material so these short tips are just the ‘tips’ of the iceberg. Give us a call or drop us an email if you would like to learn more about learning or teaching.

SMILE MAKER:

True story. Our son Tony hands me a ‘picture’, “This is for you papa. I made it for you.’ It’s a blank piece of paper. “There is nothing on it Tony.” He thinks for a moment. “Maybe it’s for blind people.”

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Happiness is not a function of what you own, but it is related. Here is my formula and theory on happiness.

If your NEEDS exceed your income, you are in POVERTY. Remember needs are food, clothing, shelter… not a 52 inch LCD TV. Poverty can buy you a load of misery. It is very hard (though not impossible) to be happy when you are starving, homeless or cannot provide for your family.

If your NEEDS are exceeded by your income, you have the potential to be happy. In fact, most of the people in the 2nd and 3rd worlds are happier than most 1st world people when their needs are exceeded. They may live in a shack, but they spend a lot of time with their family and friends and have a good life often very low in stress.

If WANTS exceed your income, you tend to be unhappy. IF ONLY I had one of those. IF ONLY I could drive one of those. IF ONLY… This is usually where unhappiness and misery come into the lives of those who have more than they need. The ‘If Only’ mentality takes over like a cancer. We compare ourselves to the rich, the famous, the TV and magazine advertisements and start to feel inadequate.

When INCOME exceeds WANTS, we have the potential for happiness and savings and security follow naturally.

HOW to get there? Either earn more (difficult). Or spend / want less (easy but for some, because of attitude and input, very difficult). Start learning to be happy with what you are earning. OR get busy and earn more by making you more valuable. Either you control your WANTS or you need to gain control over you INCOME.

SMILE MAKER: Things you don’t want to hear during surgery:

“Save that… we may need it for the autopsy.”

“Did anyone see where I left my scalpel?”

“Oh oh… I think I just removed the wrong organ.”

“I forgot… why did we open this guy up again?”

To your success and find out how Michael Podolinsky will help you and your organization by browsing through the links below:

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