Before I went to bed last night, I was forwarded the video below. It is a compilation of different interviews Will Smith has done over his career that shows his philosophy on success and achieving your dreams. I just sat there listening to him in awe. While what he says may not be earth shattering or extremely different, the conviction he has as he says it is! It means something more to him because he fundamentally believes it. He truly lives it!
This reminded me that there are times when we should talk about inspiring minds, loving what we do, and making an impact – and then there are times when we need to go out and do it. As Will says: “there is a redemptive power in making a choice.”
This past weekend, Warren Springer and I were asked to present at the SFU Student Leadership Summit, so, naturally, we talked about creating Purple Cows. The room was packed (and hot) and Warren was just nailing it. We had a blast up there and, as a result, we saw lightbulb after lightbuld turn on above all the delegates’ heads. I love getting that wide-eyed look of “wow – I get it” when we present.
More importantly was the brief conversation I had with a delegate that filtered in as we were cleaning up. She was taking her seat for the session that was after our presentation. Our exchange went something like this:
Matt: <turning down our loud music> Oh, sorry, this isn’t for the next session.
Girl 1: <big sigh of relief with disgusted look on her face> Thank God! Sounds pretty stupid.
It was in those 2 seconds that I was thankful we had found our target audience for our presentation (and she wasn’t in it). Creating raving fans from your attendees always feels good, but having a critic was SO reassuring. It’s important to have critics – it means it is worth critiquing!
So Girl 1, thank you for being so disgusted with how you thought we presented. You were our critic of the day! And while critics are important to have, its the raving fans that are important to listen to.
“[Critics] can say whatever they want. I’m not back on my bike for them.”
With only 18 days to go, I must admit, I’m officially drunk off the Olympic Kool-Aid.
When the first call for volunteers for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games went out, I was looking forward to the opportunity to help “welcome the world” to the city I call home. As you may now, I would love to be a professional volunteer, so me signing up to volunteer for the Games wasn’t a big shock to anyone.
However, it wasn’t until recently that I finally reached that tipping point – the one between “this is kind of neat” and “HOLY WOW THIS IS AMAZING!” Being a part of the Games has made me smile a little bit bigger and hold my chest out a little prouder each day. From the free transit rides, the cool volunteer gear we get, the e-mail from John Furlong asking all staff & volunteers to donate to Haiti relief, to the heart-warming videos (like the one below):
For the first time I can remember, I am truly, genuinely, and fully proud to be a Canadian. No slam by Shane…
can truly sum up what I am feeling. (They do a pretty good job though!)
This is my last full week of work before I go into my own little “Games Time” mode. I couldn’t be more excited to spend the month of February at Thunderbird Arena volunteering as part of the on-site Communications Crew and in rehearsals for my gig with the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. (I wish I could tell you more about the later, but you’ll just have to tune in to see the magic unfold. You won’t want to miss it – THAT I can guarantee!)
If this is just the start of the inebriation, I don’t even want to think of what the hangover is going to be like. Like everything in life, let’s enjoy this while it lasts.
Having lunch yesterday with the always hilarious Conor Topley reminded me of the power of “no.” As he put it:
Saying no to something is really saying yes to something else.
TRUTH BOMB! Sometimes we feel guilty about saying no. We feel like we “have” to do things. But, next time you feel you “need” to do something, remember you always have a choice. And may I recommend choosing to say no every once in a while. Why?
When you click “not attending” you are able to click “attending” to something better. When you refuse to add something on your to do list, you are making time for the things you want to do. When you say “no” to the voices inside your head that are telling you “you’re not good enough,” you’re saying yes to your true abilities!
Clearly, no is the new yes!
Random sidenote: This week I was asked to comment on the UBC AMS elections by a blog called the UBC Spectator. If you’re interested, check out my post on how to choose your AMS candidate in 7 minutes (or less). Saying yes to voting will allow you to say no to many people running – which is, again, a good thing!
Pick of the Post: Super Junior – Sorry Sorry (music video – why this song is stuck in my head I have NO idea)
Every year, over 30 alumni from the Sauder School of Business help coach the UBC delegation for the JDC West Business Competition. We spend about 4 months running the teams through cases, presentation techniques, training practices, and team building exercises. I can proudly say that coaching the Social Team is one of the best parts of my year. (These four just light up my days!)
Last night was the awards ceremony for JDC West 2010, but, unfortunately for all the proud supporters of the UBC team, it was all the way up in Prince George. This year – however – we (and 200+ people) were still able to participate and celebrate with our teams.
Using USTREAM, a free online broadcasting system, we were able to be right there with the action as they streamed the awards ceremony live. They even played all the team videos while we were waiting for it to begin. Even better, the viewers were able to chat with each other online and tweet updates directly from the site. The online viewers cheered each other on and also held our breathes in those moments of intense anticipation. Sitting in my room felt like being surrounded by all the other UBC coaches (and supporters) and the alumni from the different schools. It felt like we were really there.
Best part of the night was also seeing Sauder clean-up with the awards:
1st in Debate
3rd in Accounting – Academic Case
3rd in Business Strategy – Academic Case
1st in Finance – Academic Case
2nd in Human Resources – Academic Case
1st in Management Information Systems – Academic Case
1st in Finance – Academic Case
1st in Marketing – Academic Case
1st in Participation
This hard work and commitment to excellence helped them bring back the title of SCHOOL OF THE YEAR to Sauder. 1st Place overall! The crowd, both online and offline, went wild! Below is the entire gala, but if you fast forward to 2h:06, you can join in the excitement of the big announcement:
Next time you are planning an event, take a note from the JDC West 2010 planning committee’s book and think about how you are engaging the community of those who aren’t able to attend. Technology can help remove some of those pesky geographic boundaries. After all, great communities want to celebrate (and learn, and laugh) together.
Congratulations, again, to the JDC West 2010 UBC team. You made us proud this weekend.
When energy is able to flow without resistance, we feel more fully alive. When challenges, confusion, and wrong information block our energy, we tend to feel restricted or frustrated. That breath of fresh air that comes after overcoming a challenge in life is that awesome feeling of letting the energy flow again!
I strive to keep energy flowing so try removing resistances (both mental and physical) whenever possible. I call this my “easy philosophy.” I believe it should be easy to be successful, easy to feel happy, easy to be a part of your community, easy to share, etc. One way of making things easy is to find solutions (or ways of presenting the pre-determined solution) to frequently asked questions/problems.
UBC student’s common question/problem? “How do I get involved?”
The easy answer? “Go to the new Centre for Student Involvement in Brock Hall.”
Finally(!!) a one-stop shop for students that wish to explore the variety of involvement opportunities available to them in the different faculties, clubs, and units on campus. The space is close to the SUB and the bus loop, and in the same building as where students would pay tuition, pick up transcripts or get a campus tour. Better yet, some friendly students greet you on the way in and are there to help provide advice and different options to visitors if they wish to get a student’s perspective!
Dreamed of 10 years ago, designed by an incredible UBC alumna last year (who is an interior designer by day, jewelery artist by night), and then championed by a rockstar student and staff team – the space is now open and ready to keep the energy flowing.
A new (and easy) answer to a common problem! I think I just heard another silo fall. Sherry, Geoff, and Chad – you should be very proud.
My Dad (a pretty accomplished sales guy before he retired) would always attend the introductory sales training sessions hosted by his company. He would get puzzled looks and strange remarks throughout the sessions as new hires (and the workshop facilitators) never really understood why one of the top performers in the company would want to “waste his time in an introductory seminar.”
He would always reply with something like:
“A lot of this is review, but it’s important to be reminded of the fundamentals. But the real reason I am here is that if the new guys are learning anything different than what I was taught when I started, I need to learn that too. Because, if I don’t, I will be quickly left behind as they begin to create new best practices.”
This past weekend, I understood what my Dad was trying to tell me in these stories.
So, like many asked me yesterday, why would I “just attend” the Student Leadership Conference this year. I had no presentations to deliver, no responsibilities as a staff advisor – I was just participating and conversing with other great minds all day as a delegate. But MAN did I ever pick up some new “gold nuggets” (as my Dad would say).
They came from the student presenters that reminded me of the power of community.
They came from the alumnus who stood up and proudly said “Yes, I have my own successful business, a UBC degree and I’m only 18.”
They came from the conversations had at lunch, en route to workshops, and later that night at the bar.
They came from that toast to the invisible leaders given by this year’s Nestor Korchinsky award winner.
They came from the slam poet who opened the conference with a reminder about the importance of finding your own voice.
All these nuggets challenged me to apply a new lens to all the research and readings I had been doing. This generation of leaders is doing things (and thinking) a lot differently than I did when I was a student. And I’ll admit, if I don’t keep myself up to speed, “I will be quickly left behind as they create new best practices.”
There is a power in the moments where new knowledge is created – when things become clearer, when motivation is provided, or when new steps for action are unveiled. This year’s SLC had that power and I am so glad I was able to experience it. A huge congrats to the entire planning team.
… is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
- Marianne Williamson, Return to Love.
This lovely quote was read to me by a kickin’ yoga instructor, and good friend, Will Blunderfield, during one of his classes. After much convincing by my sister (who not so secretly loves him), I finally took his hot yoga class, and he totally rocked my muscles and my mind. His infusion of song into stretching was like nothing I had ever experienced – in the best way possible.
Anyone who can make my body burn while filling my head with music by Jason Mraz and truly inspiring quotes is more than talented in my books. If anyone is looking for a mind-elevating experience, be sure to check Will out at either Yogapod or YYoga | Northshore Elements. You won’t be disappointed.
My staycation this year took the form of a “to do” list 2 pages long. This included everything from errands I needed to run, chores around the house that needed to be finished, phone calls that needed to be made, and everything in between. In classic to do list fashion, I also marked down a date beside each item to remind me when it needed to be completed by.
I took one look at this massive to do list and was immediately overwhelmed. Not a good way to start a staycation if I do say so myself. I needed to revisit how I was creating to do lists.
Enter the “to be” list! Instead of focusing on things I wanted to do, I focused my energy on the person I wanted to be. When people asked me “what did you do over the holidays,” I could then reply with “lots – and I felt so happy, healthy, organized, (etc) while doing it!”
Each day I would write down adjectives (note: plural) that completed the sentence: “Today I will be…” I would then look at my massive to do list and figure out which things I should accomplish in order to help me in being those adjectives. It’s a pretty simple concept that totally skyrocketed my productivity. Now, 16 days later, I have crossed off ALL of my 53 things to dos (plus some that never even made it to paper).
This may just be the way my “to do” lists of 2010 are completed…
