Get Motivated!

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the GET MOTIVATED! business seminar held in my city. (http://www.getmotivated.com/)   If you have never attended one, you are missing something good!  I had a wonderful day and learned alot.  I thought I would share my experience with you.

I found out about the seminar in an email from a friend inviting me to attend.  Being the geek that I am, I went to the website to see what was what.  According to the website, "the GET MOTIVATED Seminar is an action-packed, fun-filled, explosive, exciting, inspiring, skill-building business event that is world famous for its mega-watt superstar speakers and spectacular stage production."  Okay.  I clicked on the event for my city to see who would be speaking.  Scheduled to speak were Rudy Guiliani, Gen. Colin Powell, Steve Forbes, Dan Rather, Terry Bradshaw, Rick Belluzzo, Krish Dhanam and Zig Ziglar!  The advance ticket price couldn't be beat: $1.95 for one ticket and $9.95 for your office.  Your "office" is any sized group.  I was immediately sold!

I arrived at the arena at 6:45 a.m. to pick up my tickets.  I was surprised to see hundreds of people already there waiting for the doors.  The event didn't start until 8:00!  The people were open and friendly. There were lots of smiles and "good morning" and "how are you" in the place.  I was really struck by the number of people there on a workday. 

Needless to say, each of the speakers were

awesome.  In fact, being in the presence of notables who have and continue to do great things was great.  The fact that they were willing to share lessons learned from their own lives for the purpose of helping others to grow as people was icing on the cake.  Each spoke on a different topic: Rudy Giuliani - perseverance; Gen. Colin Powell - leadership; Steve Forbes - business skills; Dan Rather - communication; Terry Bradshaw - teamwork; Rick Belluzzo - management; Krish Dhanam - spiritual motivation and Zig Ziglar - motivation.  I wish I could tell you word for word what each one told us, but that is just impossible.  I can tell you you could feel their sincerity, their passion, and their genuineness.  I can tell you each shared a piece of themselves in the form of their story.  By "their story" I mean, their goals in life, their mindsets, their challenges, how they overcame their challenges and how they re-invented themselves.  The left us with nuggets of wisdom:  

1. Set goals. 
2. Never give up. 
3. Be thankful. 
4. Give. 
5. Take responsibility for your actions. 
6. Listen to others. 
7. Have integrity. 
8. Acknowledge the accomplishments of others.
9. Smile. 
10. And my favorite nugget: Keep Life Simple.

Attending the GET MOTIVATED! seminar made me realize lots of everyday people are looking for encouragement and motivation these days.  I am the first to admit that encouragement and motivation don't solve problems or eliminate challenges.  However, they do give hope. They put you in the right frame of mind so that you do not go under when faced with problems and challenges, so that you overcome problems and challenges so that you always keep going forward.   I call this faith.  Or to paraphrase Marc Gorman, "If you put some hope in a jar, shake it around and out will come faith."

If you get the opportunity to attend a GET MOTIVATED! seminar, don't hesitate to go.  
"Encouragement is the fuel on which hope runs!" - Zig Ziglar

Question for Comment: What do you do to encourage and motivate yourself?  Do you read books?  Do you surround yourself with positive people?