A sign …
I hope you’re smiling and I hope you’re challenged !
Zero to hero ?
Gilbert Arena’s is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic in the NBA. He is a 3x NAB All-Star, 3x member of the All-NBA Teams and was voted the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2002-03.
Sounds great doesn’t it ? … well is wasn’t always great … listen to his story.
To use his own words …
My number is 0 – it reminds me of what people thought of me.
Noone believes in me anyway. So I’m going to fight for it.
Believing in myself when noone else did.
Prove everyone wrong.
1st 40 games sitting on the bench. Feeling depressed, useless, full of doubts. Tears. Pain.
Zero to hero.
My challenge:
When you want to do something great in life; when you have a vision and a dream for what you want; when you’re going after something … never be surprised that there will be doubters, sceptics, mockers and opposition. But never let anyone else’s expectations define your future. Choose to believe more in yourself than other people might believe in you. Choose to think differently. Choose to take responsibility for your own life and define your own success adn journey. These are the internal choices you will need to make. Noone will see them but these are the iron clad decisions and lines in the sand you will make inside. And from there you will add hard work, strategy, talent, perseverance and everything else it takes to get to where you want to … Just like Gilbert Arena ! From zero to hero … and your story is next …
Pure Inspiration III – Pass the Bucket with Amy Purdy
It is funny isn’t it how someone’s raw and real-life story smacks you in the face and makes you realise how lucky you are. Whether it be the beggars you pass in the street in India, the smiling face of an African child playing in the dust, or … Amy Purdy !
Stop and be thankful for how blessed you are to even be watching this. And determine that these little shots of inspiration will move you to live a significant, meaningful purposeful life – a life that counts !
You’ll know it when you find it ! (Steve Jobs)
I’ve said this before, but when I was interviewing the 10 famous Australians for my recent book ‘A Life That Counts’ I found it both an inspiring opportunity but also, surprisingly, a somewhat frustrating process. These highly successful Australians had many common traits but one thing stuck out to me – they LOVED what they did and I was struggling to find that out for myself. So I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what this is for me. And I want blogs like this to inspire you to do that for your own life.
In many of my personal development workshops I teach on this. Finding the core, authentic you. Finding what you love. Following your heart and the outworkings of this is passion and energy which ironically enough makes you more successful at what you do, as well as making life a much more enjoyable journey.
I’m reminded of people like:
* Walt Disney who said “I don’t make movies to make money, I make money to make movies”.
* Or Oprah Winfrey who says that “I have never interviewed someone who is extremely successful who doesn’t love what they do”.
* Or Steve Jobs in this video who says “I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going is that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love … to do what you believe is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it.”
My Challenge
You’ve got to find what you love ? So what excites you ? What are you passionate about ? What do you think about a lot ? What do you wish you could be doing ? What gets the motor firing on the inside of you ? Maybe it’s not one thing like is the case for me. But why go through life not doing what you love – we have only one life after all.
And if you don’t know – I would be honoured to try and help you. Go and buy my workbook at
www.alifethatcounts.com.au/shop.php
That is exactly why I wrote it. To make my book come alive in your life. To help you on this journey of discovery. To help you find your dreams (the what and the why) and have the guts to not only dare to dream but to follow them. And then to have tools, strategies, techniques and examples for how to chase those dreams successfully (the how).
And as you live an inspired, purpose-driven life that counts – then I am inspired to do the same !!!
Tell me I can no longer fly – I want you to !
Michael Jordan is one of my heroes. Not only because he is the most famous and incredible basketballer to have ever walked the planet, but also because in many ways he epitomises everything a great sportsperson (and indeed successful person) represents. Sure he is mentally tough. Sure he is talented. But he also worked extremely hard for it. It was not given to him on a silver platter. He earned every success he had.
Remember when he made a comeback to the NBA in 1995 after pursuing baseball. Everyone doubted he would be as good … well after leading Chicago to another 3 more NBA championships (96,97,98) I expect they were silenced. Then after retiring a 2nd time in 1999 he unexpectedly made a comeback to play for the Washington Wizards frpom 2001 to 2003. Again, people doubted he’s be up to it. Again, he proved them wrong.
Michael Jordan you inspire me … you inspire me to define my own path and not let others define what is possible for me or what I will do or wont do. To use your own quote “Limits, like fears, are often an illusion”.
And to add a personal touch to it, here’s the actual sign I had on my wall in my room in the Olympic Village in 2006 when I made my first Olympics and equalled the Australian record. I also had this made into a sticker and it sat in the bottom of my sled so I would see it just before I raced off the top. Inspired by people like Michael Jordan – impossible is nothing.
An inspired and passionate rat in the ratrace or not a rat at all ? …
When I was writing my book I interviewed 10 famous and successful Australians. And it was confronting.
These people include the likes of Dick Smith, Gai Waterhouse, Louise Sauvage, James Tomkins, Lydia Lassila, Alexandra Croak, Matthew Burke, Matt Shirvington, Jason Stevens and Michael Milton. They are Australians of the Year, Olympic and Paralympic Gold medallists, World Champions, household names. I wanted to get behind the scenes – to find out what makes them tick. Why are they successful ? Why do they make the decisions they do ? How did they confront and conquer disappointment and obstacles ? What ha they learnt and what was their advice after their own journey’s and the success that came with it.
But the thing that struck me was that they were all PASSIONATE about what they did. They loved it. They would have probably done it anyway. There I was at 4:30am in the morning standing next to Gai Waterhouse at Randwick racecourse and she was as chipper and friendly as I imagined her to be. She loved being a horse trainer and the challenge of making a horse run fast. She loved conversing with the jockeys. The old experienced ones. The young 16 year old apprentices that she ‘mothered’. She loved talking to the owners. She loved running a business and all that that entailed. She loved racedays and the glamour that came with that as much as the early hours that noone saw. And then there was Dick Smith. He loved adventuring. He made money to facilitate this. He was happiest out in the Blue Mountains bushwalking or flying a helicopter and exploring. Matthew Burke – he loved sport. he loved the challenge of reaching of his potential and of being the best he could be. He loved touring. he loved being in a team sport with good mates who he had fun with and with whom he battled with whilst representing his country.
It was very confronting for me. Why ? because I was trying to figure out what ‘thing’ I was truly passionate about. There was no one thing. And it irked me. I wanted it to be easier – to know what that one thing was and pursue it with all my heart. To not just settle for doing something because it was easy or because the money was good or because that was what I’d done in the past. I think I’ve now figured out that for me there is no ‘one’ thing – I love life and I want to live an amazing life with everything that goes into that melting pot.
So what that in mind, whether it is ‘one’ thing or many – the challenge is still the same – the challenge of this bill board. May it inspire you to follow you heart. For remember there are many things that will capture your attention, but very few things that will capture your heart. Pursue those !
The biggest legacy Steve Jobs left wasn’t the mac / ipod / iphone …
RIP Steve Jobs. An amazing man. An entrepreneur. A visionary. The founder of Apple and Pixar and Next. A man who changed the world as we know it. But more than that. A great human being. A family man. A man who did what he loved.
Watch this video – his commencement address at Stanford University. There is no need to say anymore. What he says in this is the biggest legacy / lesson he could leave us – far more than the Apple Mac computer, the ipod, the iphone etc.
“I love what I do … You’ve got to find what you love … if you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. And as with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it !”
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve encoutered to make the big choices in life … the best way of avoiding the thinking that you have something to lose.”
Are you asking the right questions ?
You may have heard the expression “If you ask a good question, you’ll get a good answer”. Well, with that in mind, guest blogger Tim Birch once again offers some great advice, wisdom and challenge for us around this topic. Over to you Tim …
Questions can be a powerful motivator if asked in the right way, context and by the right person…namely you!
The ability to ask the right questions of yourself when faced with challenging situations or when you require extra motivation, help you add the necessary layers of confidence that you need to propel you closer to your goals and dreams. If you’re able to ask courageous questions that cause you to then take positive action it will further reinforce your ability to achieve your desired outcome.
For example, questions are great at interrupting your thinking pattern and get you to focus on what matters. They also help filter the information in your environment; what you take notice of and what you ignore. Asking the right questions can also dramatically change the meaning you give to any experience and can cause a change in perception; ‘What can I take away from experience that will help me grow into the person I want to be?’
Here are four types of questions you can use in your own life:
1. Questions that focus your mind on solutions and get us to consider options: ‘What are five ways to solve this?’ or ‘Who else has done this and what can I learn from them?’
2. Questions that get us to take action: ‘What must I do right now to get the result I want?’ or ‘What is the cost to me not taking action right now?’
3. Questions that get us to take responsibility: ‘What can I do about this situation to turn it around?’ or ‘Who can I speak to in order to achieve the desired action?’
4. Any question that changes how we feel about an experience: ‘How can I learn from this?’ or ‘How will this make me stronger?’
Challenge: Remember, the deeper your level of self-questioning, the greater depths of self-awareness you’ll have to convert into actions. So what questions will you ask of yourself today?
‘Some men see things and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).
ACKNOWLEGDEMENT: The context of this post was taken from an extremely well-written and powerful book, ‘How To Take Control Of Your Brain’, by George Lee Sye…well worth a read!
How bad do you want it ?
Today I have invited a good mate of mine Tim Birch to write the weekly blog. Tim is an inspirational guy and one of those good guys all-round. In many ways we’re cut out of the same stone and we often trade quotes or videos or thoughts. That was why, as expected, I knew he’d come up with something inspiring and challenging. Over to you Tim …
“How often does ‘life’ get in the way of our best laid plans and intentions? So often the things we know we want to achieve get pushed further and further away due to the circumstance we let limit us…
I say ‘let’ because there is always a choice. A choice to say ‘Yes, I’m getting up when the alarm sounds to take a step in achieving my dream’, or ‘Yes, I’ll spend my weekend focussing on my studies’. The alternatives to these two scenarios may be staying in the warm, cosy bed or heading out to see friends for dinner…but at what cost.
You need to make your goals and dreams mean something and often it is only when these things seem like they will be taken from us that we start to really fight for what we want.
The below clip illustrates that, “when you want to succeed, as bad as you want to breath, only then will you be able to succeed”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowB5wNPvWQ&feature=player_embedded
Don’t tell me how bad you want to succeed. Get up each day and show me. No one will remember you for what you planned to accomplish in life. You will only be remembered for what you actually did.
My challenge – What will you do today ?
It is more blessed to give than to receive
We have so much STUFF ! And so much that we don’t use or don’t need. Do we really need that extra gagdet, that extra dish or kitchen utensil, that next toy, more wine …
I have tried to start a tradition in our family at Christmas that we don’t waste money buying each other big presents that we don’t need but instead put money in to buy someone else less fortunate a present that they will truly value. We are so blessed after all. So after reading an inspiring post of Sarah Wilson’s recently I thought I’d share a thought. Why not buy an inspired gift.
Basically, you buy a gift for someone that goes to someone else in need. A goat. Or a bike! I do this at Christmas. Do you really need another toaster ? Does someone else at the wedding need another bowl ? Are there people in serious need in the world ? Are you blessed ? … then here’s a smart, easy way to bless others. (There’s lots of organisations that do this – Unicef, Oxfam, Childfund to name a few).
Here’s a few of my favourite gifts:
- A Bike: $87. UNICEF has found that in some parts of the world a bike is one of the most important modes of transport for villages. It is particularly helpful for health workers to reach vulnerable children in remote communities. It is often used to transport other Inspired Gifts like the vaccine carrier.
- Measles vaccines: $31 will protect 100 children from measles.
- Family water kit: $127
- Goat: Sarah tells the hilarious story of wondering how the goat she and her family gave at Christmas was going and of writing “sponsor letter” from the goat and posteding it six months later…”thank you for my life, milking time is always fun”…). Hilarious !
Here’s what others’ gift-giving antics delivered around the world last year:
So my challenge today … consider giving an inspired gift. After all, it is more blessed to give than receive and in any case … the fragrance of the rose always stays in the hand of the giver !!!