Lead on

Here’s a fun little exercise that a friend and I challenged each other to do a while ago that helped get us out of our current head space and into a hyper-motivated creative space; we called it playing with possibility. It’s only one of many exercises in the whole life-design process (and there are many versions). Ultimately it’s kind of like creating a bucket list but with a shorter time frame. Give it a go….get out a piece of paper and a pen and make a list of 30,40,50+ things you would do if you had $300mil and 5 years. Don’t think too much, just start writing, so I did…

1. Write at least one best-selling book
2. Create and present a seminar/workshop series on doing university debt-free on your own
3. Become a professional speaker and sell out at least 10 events
4. Present at a TED conference
5. Create a global foundation whose vision is to foster an experiential learning environment that teaches youth about goals, visualization, holistic life design, possibility and ultimately builds their confidence as the creators of their own lives
6. Live in an Ashram in India for at least 3 months
7. Build a home in Vancouver, California and one exotic place – being able to see the sunrise, sunset, and ocean is a must
8. Expand my success library…substantially…and build a large room in my house dedicated for it that is hooked up with all the latest tools and gagets to facilitate learning in various forms – visual, audio, kinesthetic etc. etc.
9. Go Sky Diving
10. Pay off my siblings student loans 
11. Fund my parents alternative cancer treatment wellness center
12. Have a tea and chat with Oprah
13. Have a tea and chat with the Dalai Lama
14. Have a tea and chat with Richard Branson
15. Have a tea and chat with Deepak Chopra
16. Earn my black belt in Tae Kwon Do
17. Find  at least 5 people a year that have tremendous potential (that probably don’t recognize the potential they have) and dedicate quality time and resources to helping them realize and capitalize on it. Believing in someone, and letting them know it, is a truly amazing gift.
18. Completely “unplug” for at least one month each year
19. Complete 20, 30 day challenges
20. Help as many people as I can complete their list of goals and ambitions
21. Show up at the airport and buy the next plane ticket out – go on a spontaneous vacation
22. Start and grow a passive income generating business and then coach others to do the same
23. Be financially free
24. Create a global Gen-Y Mastermind Group that is connected to the most influential and brilliant business leaders/mentors in the world
25. Buy a new car
26. Fly a plane
27. Create a viral Youtube video
28. Read a new book every week
29. Chat our family lineage with my mom to better understand where I came from
30. Fund at least two philanthropic causes I am passionate about
31. Help revolutionize the current education system and redefine what it means to educate and learn
32. Give a talk on the parallels between sport and business
33. Become an online marketing maverick
34. Make meditation a daily practice
35. Complete a 10 day silent meditation retreat
36. Learn to salsa dance
37. Learn to speak Spanish
38. Connect with the most brilliant minds on the planet and influence the new paradigm of business

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We then shared our lists with each other (so we could hold eachother accountable to playing big). The really cool thing is that after I made my list I realized that I don’t actually need $300mil or 5 years to do the alot of the things on it. You might feel the same way about your list. The next step was to outline specific actionable goals for each one, we called it playing with creation…Giddy Up!

Although I’m no stranger to new cities, new schools, and new situations - I attended 3 different schools growing up, moved to Texas in my first year of university, to Vancouver in my second year of university, backpacked SE Asia in 2009, moved to Victoria for grad school, am now living in Malaysia for my summer internship etc. etc. - change can still be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. It is often accompanied by such thoughts as: Where will I live? Will I make new friends? What happens if [enter scary scenario]? What if [enter self-defeating thought]? What if its not that great or how I thought it would be? Am I ready? (jobs and travel) What if I don’t meet anyone else as great? (relationships) Blah, blah, blah  STOP!!  I’d be lying if I said change came really easy for me and that every time I have moved, changed jobs, got out of a relationship or started a new one, that I didn’t have some of these thoughts BUT doing 5 things has helped me tremedously:

1) Shifting my perspective by changing my thoughts to ones that excite me:

• Where will I live? becomes: Does it matter? I could be living in a tent. I’ve been camping plenty and I’ve stayed in some pretty dodgy hostels while travelling. What an adventure it will be and a great story to boot!
• Will I make friends?  becomes: omg, I can’t wait to meet new people and learn about their stories.
• What happens if I lose something along the way? or what if I get robbed? or what if? what if? (all negative things or things being taken away from me)….becomes: What can I give? What if I helped at least 2 people a day? How many lives can I touch around the world? What’s one thing I can learn from every different person I come into contact with and/or every conversation I have? What can I create or help move forward?
• What if it’s not that great or how I thought it woud be? becomes: What if it’s friggin better than I could have imagined?!
• Am I ready? becomes: you are always ready, if you waited until you felt 100% ready you’d never do anything, just remember you got this.

2) Reminding myself that we don’t grow by staying where we are, period. Change is necessary for our inner evolution.

3) Reminding myself that thinking too much creates problems that don’t actually exist.

4) Remembering that you’ve done it before, so you can do it again.

5) Lastly, sticking with what I know to be true at the present moment helps keep me grounded when everything is turned on its head.

• I know I’m excited to share my current adventure in Malaysia.
• I know that the company I am working at (MindValley) is a game changer and is full of amazingly intelligent people from all over the world.
• I know that I’ve already engaged in some perspective-changing conversations. Love it.
• I know that profound shifts are happening both inside and out.
• I know that at this present moment, everything is as it should be.

Let’s re-visit that last one - at this present moment, everything is as it should be. Where ever you are, right now, is where you are suppose to be for one reason or another. If you’re going through a transition (easy or tough); whether that be a career/job change, moving locations, going on a trip, taking a leap of faith on a gut feeling, going through a break up or are just at the beginning of a new relationship, try to focus on the present moment – be aware of both the discomfort and/or the excitement that it brings. It’s all normal so don’t beat yourself up or feel that you are alone if you feel frustrated, scared, or uncertain. Instead, acknowledge it and try to find comfort in knowing that things really are happening for a reason, even if it feels like a struggle some times; you’ve created this moment and there is always a lesson to be learned. Always.

Here are 5 more tips that have helped me with transitions:

1) Load up that ipod with songs that get you feelin great and make a “change/transitions” soundtrack. One of my fav songs is Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer.  

2) Be open minded. The more you resist it the harder it will be, just let it go and let it happen.

3) Don’t stop doing things that have been apart of your normal routine even if you feel like there just isn’t enough hours in a day. This includes things like reading  for enjoyment, exercising regularly etc. Whatever is part of your regular routine. Continuing to do these activities no matter where you are in the world or how busy things get or how much everything around you is changing will help you feel more at ease and keep you feeling like yourself.

**This is a BIG note to myself as exercise is my anchor…I’m currently on a mission to find a gym/yoga studio asap!

4) Skype and/or visit with friends/family often. It still amazes me that I can be on the other side of the world, in a completely different time zone, but be skyping with them in a matter of minutes and we always pick up right where we left off.

5) Try not to worry about how it is all going to come together, just believe that will because it always does; maybe not the way you thought it would, but it always does. Steve Jobs articulates this amazingly in his commencement speech at Stanford when he says:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future…because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference.”

12 months ago if you would have asked me where I would be spending the spring/summer months this year, no way I would have said India, Dubai and Malaysia, but keeping an open mind has led to some interesting opportunities and I am estatic about what’s coming up…when it feels right you just gotta run with it…

#1 India

Half my class recently got back from a 2.5 week consulting trip in India for our international business class. We were there learning all about business in India and scouting out expansion opportunities for our client. Those two weeks were jammed packed with meetings with high level exec’s from a wide range of companies – from a high growth venture capital firm to government agencies to large energy  companies to the GE Jack Welch R&D Center to Wipro Technologies to Coffee Day (the Starbucks of India) to trade comissions to Ernst and Young etc. etc. The thing that I was most blown away with, besides the caliber of companies and people we had the priviledge of meeting with, was their grace, humbleness and transparency. Not only were they open to any question we had but I also learned alot just observing their leadership style and demeanor; it was an absolute pleasure. We spent the first 5 days in Mumbai and also 5 days in Bangaluru.

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#2 Our Native Village

In between the hustle and bustle of the big cities of Mumbai and  Bangaluru, we spent 2 nights at Our Native Village, an eco resort and holistic health center. What a treat it was as it gave us a small taste of the spiritual side of India – we did yoga in the morning, we milked cows, we lounged by the self-cleaning pool, we ate only organic vegetarian compassion food (trade marked!), we played games with sticks and cans, we made pottery, we were fortunate enough to meet the founder and hear the story of how the resort came to be and the healings that have taken place there, we drank and told jokes, we got traditional massages and steam baths and we danced like no one was watching. A truly memorable experience it was.

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#3 Amazing Dubai 

I LOVE this city. Although we were only there for about 36 hours at the tail end of our trip, we saw just enough to get a taste of what it has to offer and to intice us to go back one day! We went to the beach, we saw the tallest building in the world and dancing fountain right below it, we went to the markets, we went out on the town and lastly we went on a desert safari where we went sand dunning, camel riding, and finished the day off with a huge bbq and dance/show at a camp in the middle of no where. I can’t wait to go back!

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#4 Bring on Malaysia! 

I’m now back in Vancouver for a few days before I leave for my summer internship on May 14th. I’ll be spending 3 months in Malaysia working at a company called MindValley and I couldn’t be more excited!! The CEO is a true visionary, the company has an unreal culture (read: a meditation room in the office - sign.me.up!), there are around 30 countries represented in the office and I’ll be helping the team with their BHAG of creating the Silicon Valley in Malaysia. More on the experience to come but all I know is it’s gonna be good and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity!

Overall, there’s so much learning to continue to be had and so many moments to be captured in the next short while. I can’t wait to experience it all.

That’s a quick update…stayed tuned!

Being offiicially 27 years into my journey, I found myself reflecting on the people, situations and experiences that have left the biggest footprint on me and that have influenced how I approach and view, well, life. I share this list of learnings with the simple hope that you might think about some of the biggest moments and lessons that have shaped who you are and who you are becoming. Here goes nothin…

1. Collecting moments trumps collecting things
2. People so badly want to be heard, so take the time to listen (cell phone off)
3. Nobody is normal. Joy, love, sadness, anger, frustration, embarassment, fear all make us human
4. Helping people achieve their goals is far more fulfilling than pursuing self-interests
5. A simple compliment can change a life
6. When you accept the fact that you are the one creating your life everything changes
7. Big life decisions are made when there is a discrepancy between who you are, who you want to be and who you think you should be
8. You really are your greatest asset……and your biggest road block
9. Ordinary people become extraordinary simply because they chose to be themselves. Furthermore on that, if someone doesn’t like you just the way you are, move on (and quickly), there are plenty of people out there who will love who you really are.
10. In order to succeed, you need to bet on yourself. Not on degrees, awards, or other external ‘qualifiers’ (thanks Chris!)
11. Turns out that when I was 15 years old I failed miserably at accurately predicting what my life would be like when I was 27. I thought I’d be married, have kids, probably have a dog and a backyard etc. etc….rrrrrright. Time sure flies but the good news is that things are pretty amazing.
12. Most of the time what you are looking for is right in front of you (but you probably wouldn’t have realized it without taking the scenic route….its ok we all do it, don’t beat yourself up when you realize it was right there all along)
13. Once I stopped fighting it, I realized how great it was to be my mother’s daughter
14. The ability to ask the right questions trumps giving answers
15. Simply letting someone know you believe in them can change their life 
16. Vulnerability is not equated with weakness, it is a measure of courage
17. I am lost without my core values
18. You become more and more like those you surround yourself with. Its a bit eerie actually, but true, so choose wisely
19. Business language is often not human language, let’s speak human in business shall we?!
20. Things always work out in the end. Maybe not the way we expected, but they always work out.
21. Being happy is better than being right (thanks for that one Mike!).  For a type-A, this learning was a blessing.
22. Your health is your life
23. Always be kind to strangers because you never know what someone is going through at that exact moment, their world could be crumbling
24. Kids are geniuses
25. The difference between what actually happens and what you think happens in any situation, is a story you make up
26. Everyone is my superior in some way, in that I can learn from them
27. If you never act, you will never know for sure

Bonus (because I’m officially 27 and 1 day old):  You don’t have to do it alone. In fact, you can’t. 

Looking forward to another great year!

Last weekend the most amazing partner in crime, Matt Corker, and I presented two workshops at the UBC Student Leadership Conference on “Getting out of your own way”. 

It was a new experience for both of us – I had never presented at the SLC before (let alone with a remote teammate) and Matt had never presented digitally (which didn’t stop him from bringing crazy positive energy and fun into the room all the way from Copenhagen on Skype). He wrote a great piece on his learnings from presenting digitally here.

It was a blast. It was challenging. It was exciting. Yep, there were some technical hiccups. The delegates were awesome (watch out for these young leaders, they are up to some pretty big things!). 

Overall, Matt and I had a lot of fun and ended up winning a ‘Best of the SLC’ award for our sessions which was an incredibly humbling bonus. Bonus #2 includes meeting Neil Pasricha, the author of 1000awesomethings.com and The Book of AWESOME! woot!

Let’s shift gears here for a second and focus on the leg-work which is where the growth and learning is. In a results-driven world we often lose sight of the process (the prep-work, decisions made, small actions taken along the way, obstacles and fearful “sh*t, not really sure how I’m going to do this” moments overcome) that lead to the result, especially when the outcome is good (we hit targets, achieve goals etc.). 

Whenever we go after a BHAG goal, take on a stretch assignment or do really anything that pushes our boundaries, although our core might not change much, I believe there are envitable shifts that happen to who we are overall. Essentially, we are ‘becoming’ [a better leader, more confident, more innovative, less afraid of uncertainty etc...] along the journey. While the end result can offer valuable feedback and is important, the process leading up to the end result is actually shaping who we are becoming more than the actual result. Why? Because the outcome will come and go, but the shifts made to who we are carry on.

So, sticking with one of my 2012 themes: “Who Am I Becoming?” as a result of the things I take on, the goals I set, and experiences I have this year, I reflect on the process of co-designing the workshop and co-presenting it at the SLC…through which I became:  

• A better planner
• More aware of how much I have to learn (really excited about this)
• More in love with the material
• Inspired to continue to get out of my own way
• A better presenter, co-presenter/teammate and supporter
• A better trouble shooter
• More resourceful and aware of the variety of digital presenting options (distance is no longer a deal breaker like it would’ve been years ago. Cool!)
• More aware of how the choices I am making now are contributing to the kind of leader I want to be
• More connected to my purpose
• More aware of what a difference having  SUCH a great co-presenter can make – who I learned a ton from. Thanks Matt!

This can be applied to a variety of things you do, for example:

• When you have a difficult conversation with someone that goes well – great that it went well (result) but through the process you are becoming someone who is a little less fearful of confrontation.
• When you finish a triathlon for the first time (result), through the process you are becoming someone who is incredibly focused and disciplined.
• When you tell someone how you really feel, you are becoming someone who gets out of their own way and is less scared of rejection.
• When you take on bigger and bigger initiatives, you are becoming someone who expands their limits, takes risks, taps into their potential, perhaps becomes more resourceful and more confident in themselves and their capabilities.
• When you don’t succeed at something (result) but pick yourself up and go after something bigger, you are becoming someone who doesn’t let failure get in your way (huge).

Finishing a project on a high note, achieving a goal or some other great result is always good but don’t forget to take a step back and ask: 

Who was I before?

Who am I becoming along the way?

Who am I now?

You might be surprised how much you’ve grown…..believe it or not, 6 or so years ago I was terrified of public speaking, like terrified…oh how things have changed…

Don’t say a word and control your thoughts. Ready? Go.

When I was in Northern Thailand, the opportunity to go on a silent meditation retreat pretty much fell on my lap. I had wanted to go on one for so long so I jumped on it! Together, a group of around 12 of us from around the world spent a few days at an International Meditation Center up in the mountains of Chiang Mai (Thailand).

Like the majority of us, my mind is constantly on over drive and I’m also quite a social butterfly so the whole idea of not being able to talk AND having to control my thoughts (at the same time!) was going to be a huge challenge…my first thought: lets.do.this!

During those few days, we lived like the monks do. We went on alsmrounds to collect the food we were going to eat that day. We only ate what was given to us and we only ate twice a day (morning and lunch). We were woken up each morning at 5am by the sound of a gong and then made our way to the temple to start our meditation while the sun rose. Very surreal experience.

They taught us several different meditation techniques (breathing, walking, laying down, counting and sound) which I was so grateful for because my chronically tight hip flexor’s were NOT loving sitting for more than 20mins. 

We did have one hour each day in the afternoon where we were able to talk about our experience and ask questions about Buddhism and the life of a monk. It was during these chats that our monk master shared 6 powerful lessons that I’ll never forget:

1. Forgive everyone. Especially forgive yourself and your enemies.

2. Learn to control your ‘monkey mind’ through both silencing it and letting go of negative thoughts. It’s one of the most challenging things to do. Practice. Practice. Practice. Everyday, even if it’s just 5mins day. It will come.

3. Give without expectation of getting anything in return. This is the ultimate.

4. Wish happiness for all. Don’t forget to wish it for yourself also. You deserve it just as much as anyone else does.

5. Think pure thoughts. Your greatest enemy and most powerful tool is your mind. He followed this comment with a story: One morning he left his new shoes outside his temple and that night when he went to get them they were gone. At that moment he had a choice, to be angry or to wish happiness to the person who stole them. His shoes weren’t coming back so being angry and frustrated was a waste of energy. He couldn’t change the fact that they were gone so he let it go and just hoped that the person who had stolen them appreciated them.

6. Live in the present moment. Why worry about events in the past? You can’t change them. Why worry about events that ‘might’ happen in the future? This will drain you.

Being alone and present with your thoughts can be overwhelming; things might come up that you never even knew were in there; they sure did for me. It is estimated that we have around 70,000 thoughts on average per day so trying to control even half of them is no easy task; especially when you are told to not think about anything – the thoughts flood in ten fold at that point…initially any way.

I failed miserably at mastering control over my ‘monkey mind’ in those few days, but that wasn’t exactly the point; it wasn’t about the outcome but more the process. The goal was to make some progress and more importantly to became more aware of the sheer volume of thoughts I have everyday and also the quality of them – which ones are serving me and which ones are holding me back. This I succeeded at.

When it comes down to it, we see the world through the lens of our past experiences, our judgments, and our expectations; it is only our thoughts that keep these things alive and in the present (especially the negative ones). Your thoughts either move you forward in a big way or hold you back in an even bigger way, but it’s always your choice which ones you choose to listen to and act on and which ones you chose to acknowledge and let go because they drag you down. There’s no better time than the present to drop the self-limiting thoughts that are holding you back, to replace “I can’t” with “I must” and to get the out of your own way.

“In the end what matters most is
How well did you live
How well did you love
How well did you learn… to let go.” - Unknown

Till next time..

I was recently chatting with a colleague about one of my favorite topics, Organizational Culture; what it is? how does it form? what elements make some stand out against others? how does it bring out the best in people? or how might it limit people’s potential? To me, the culture is the soul of the organization; it encompasses how we do the things that we do, the things we say, the pictures on the walls, the ceremonies and rituals we engage in, the processes we follow, the processes we don’t follow, the gratitude and appreciation we give and receive, the feeling we get when we walk into the space, the stories we tell…I could go on and on.

If done right, it allows us to be who we are within the walls of workplace and draws on the strengths of the people to take both them and the organization to new levels of excellence together. Win.

If done wrong, things can turn pretty scary, pretty quickly (read: hating your job, never feeling like yourself at work, distrust, burnout, gossip, conflict etc.).

Human behavior  fascinates me to no end and while traditional psychology has focused mostly on what is wrong with individuals, which carries with it the inherent assumption that individuals are ‘lacking’ in some way, positive psychology focuses on strengths and building the best life possible,  it looks at whats needed  to take individuals from ‘good’ to amazing in all areas of their life, to find and nurture genius and talent.

SO, the question that has been on my mind for quite a while is how do we create and foster the principles of positive psychology in the workplace  and is there a term to describe it? Ask and she shall receive: The answer lies in Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS). POS is all about studying excellence and ways in which organizations and the people in them prosper in extraordinary ways. There is actually a Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship in Michigan, and they outline (in this video) four powerful questions that POS asks to shift our thinking:

Question 1: What result do I want to create?  This question puts us in a fundamentally different state of ‘I’m going to create something that doesn’t exist’, which means I have to go to the edge of my abilities and knowledge to create what I want to.

Question 2: Am I internally directed? What are my values? What would I do if I had 2% more courage in this situation? I might do all kinds of things…

Question 3: Am I other focused? Do I know what others really feel? What their needs and interests are?

Question 4:  Am I externally open? This is the heart of how to get there – If I’m externally open I can now learn what I need to do to get to where we need to go.

There’s obviously so much more to POS but this is a start.

Currently, there are organizations out there that ‘get it’ and I call them Game-Changers. These organizations focus on what the possibilities are, they focus on strengths, they replace control with trust, they practice gratitude and develop authentic global leaders. Don’t get me wrong, we can’t negate what’s not working, it’s extremely important to, but it’s easy to get caught in a ‘damage control’ state where all we focus on is what’s not working instead of what the possibilities are and how we can unlock our people’s potential to help us get there.

The coolest thing is that POS, at its core, asks the same fundamental questions that shake individuals into understanding what makes them come alive, as it does of organizations:

For organizations: Who are we? What are our strengths? What’s our purpose/why do we exist? What do we want to create? What legacy do we want to leave?

For individuals: Who am I? What are my strengths?  What’s my purpose/why do I exist? What do I want to create? What legacy do I want to leave?     Because individuals are the basic unit of organizational change, shifting the way we think (and do) individually to become better leaders of our own lives can have a massive ripple effect where the outcome is an organization that embraces authenticity and greatness. Just imagine the possibilities of that kind of entity…

I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface of POS and I feel a project coming on….stay tuned.

I also recently received my Zappos Culture book in the mail so I’m stoked to dive into that; now there’s an organization that ‘gets it’!

New Goals:

1. Chat Culture with MindValley CEO Vishen Lakhiani by December 2012. 

2. Chat Culture with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh by December 2012.

3. Chat Culture with Lululemon CEO Christine Day by July 2012.

4. Chat Culture with Nature’s Path President Arran Stephens by December 2012.

5. Chat Culture with former CEO of IKEA Canada – Done and done!!

Came across an article yesterday from one of the greats – Deepak Chopra – where he shares his wisdom on what a leader is, who becomes one and how to become one. It was too good not to share!

“A great leader is an agent of change who has clarity of visions and knows how to make that vision a reality. Such a person comes from a level of core consciousness, which is what we call the soul. Great leaders take time every day to reflect. they ask themselves meaningful questions. They are conscious of what they are observing. They’re feeling what is needed and know how to fulfill those needs.”

“I believe that everyone can be a great leader. You have got to want to be one. Only people who have the desire to become great leaders will become great leaders. It is a self-selecting process.”

He described steps to becoming a great leader using the acronym below (which he expands on in his new book The Soul of Leadership).

L - Listen and Look: observe without judgement. Use your senses and your heart.

E - Emotional Connection: recognize your emotions. Develop insights into your needs.

A - Awareness: who are you? what do you want? inspire others to ask themselves, too.

D – Do: take responsibility for promises you have made. Offer others the right example.

E – Empowerment: be open to feedback, but don’t let compliments or criticism rule you.

R - Responsibility: take responsible risks. Live according to your values.

S - Synchronicity: know when it is the right moment to act and take advantage of meaningful coincidences. 

Travelling gives you such an incredible opportunity to take a step out of the details of your day to day life and really look in on your circumstances from a far. It gave me a chance to take a much needed time out and re-evaluate my priorities and values. I was able to look at all of my relationships and re-assess who was adding value to my life, whose life I was adding value to and how I could do it better. I was able to recaliberate the surroundings I would be coming back to so that they would bring out the best in me and those around me. I vowed that when I returned I would only surround myself with positive people who saw the world for it’s endless possibilities (not for it’s percieved limitations) and who I could build mutually beneficial relationships with – we could contribute to each others lives, make each other better human beings, push each other to achieve our greatest goals and hold each other accountable to always playing big with our visions for the future. Since I put that vibe out there a few years ago, I have had the privilege of connecting with some amazing, like really amazing, people who 100% fit the bill.

It’s incredible what happens when you make a decision and put the vibe (thoughts, intentions, whatever you want call it) out for what you want. I’m sure it’s happen to you before at least once. If you’ve recognized it’s power and have played with it a bit, good on you! If you haven’t taken a second to look back and connect the dots between your intentions and your reality, I encourage you to try it. Think about the job/career you have, your friends, your finances, your health, your happiness, the people you spend your day with – are they contributing to your best life? What kind of vibes are you putting out? (positive or not?) How it is showing up? (positive or not?)

I can give you a tangible personal example: I gave a up a full-ride scholarship playing volleyball in the US to come back to Canada and play volleyball here while paying for my education on my own. Some of you might be thinking – you’re nuts – but I don’t regret it for one second. Did I have money to pay my way through school? Not even close. Did I have family to help me pay for it? Nope. Was I scared of how I was going to do it? You bet. I was on my own. I made the decision to leave the US based on my values and what was important to me and when I weighed that against one of the biggest things keeping me there at the time (money), it was a no brainer. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I declared that I would graduate from university with no debt, wrote it on a piece of paper, and tacked it in the center of my vision board.    Boom – things just started happening – money was definitely not thrown at me and boy did I work hard for it, but my mindset and as a result my actions changed. The creativity started flowing in terms of how I could support myself - while playing volleyball, while studying and volunteering. It was tough, but lets just say 4 years later I graduated university debt free.

You don’t have to leave the country to reflect on the quality of your relationships, thoughts, finances, health and general circumstances. One exercise you can do is find a quiet place that relaxes you and make a list of the people you spend most of your time with, then go through the list again and think about how spending time with each of them makes you feel – do you feel happy and inspired? or drained and unmotivated? If they were to call you at this very second, would you be excited to answer the phone? or debate turning off your ringer? This is a pretty clear sign…stick with those that motivate you and perhaps it’s time to shed those that don’t.

At the beginning of each day, you get to choose what vibes you put out and where your time and energy goes – believing that you have a choice is one of the hardest things to grasp yet one of the most empowering when you do. I chose to be around those who inspire me – Go Getter’s and Big Hairy Audacious Goal setter’s inspire me – if you’re a runner, I want to run with you!

What do you choose?

Sport is such a great vehicle for teaching many life and leadership skills. I am constantly using the lessons I learned in sport and am lucky to be able draw parallels between these two worlds daily. Here’s a short list of lessons learned and examples of the cross-pollination between sport and business.

1. Cheering for the team, not for yourself

Remember that at the core, everyone on the team has the same objectives. When it comes to sports teams, at one level we are competing with each other for the starting spot, but whoever is performing the best will always have the starting spot on the court and in the spirit of sportsmanship, the second in line should be right their cheering that person on because it is the team’s goals that are the overarching driver. One of the things that sport has taught me is to internalize my own performance. I know when I am not performing as well as my peer and if they are doing a better job at helping us reach our goals, then they need to be ahead of me, period. When I see this happening does it motivate me to step up even more? To do whatever it takes to get back on track? To kick my performance into high gear? Absolutely. But I will never ever disrespect a teammate who is performing better than me, I will learn from them.

2. Building High Performing Sports Teams = Building High Performing Teams in Business

In team sport, everyone knows that when you reach a certain level, you usually specialize and really hone your skills in your chosen ’position’ because its where you are your strongest and perform your best, especially under pressure (quarter back in football, point guard in basketball etc.). Then those who are the best in the different positions get picked to form the team. In business teams, if everyone else ‘does what you do’ (for example your all interior designers, or your all lawyers, or your all marketers etc.) what is the differentiator each person brings that can really take your team from just performing to excelling? Its your unique strengths. To discover these I highly recommend teams do the Strength Finder 2.0 Test (you have to buy the book and then take the test online). It identifies your top 5 strengths and provides you with examples of how to best use them – It was bang on for me and anyone I know who has taken the test. It helps explain why we love and excel at certain aspects of our work, while we dislike other parts - so you can reallocate resources, time and energy on your team to maximize the use of people’s strengths and drive some serious results.

3. Analyzing yourself and your opponent

Sports teams and individual players spend countless hours watching video of both their performance and their opponents - analyzing movement patterns, strategy, preparation, momentum shifts, moments of break down, moments of resurgence all with one question in mind – how can I/we improve and play smarter next time? While you may not sit and watch video of your team in business – ha, could you imagine?! – it is equally important to reflect/de-brief on your decisions and results (good or bad) and the process you took to get there – if you don’t, you’ve missed an incredible learning opportunity that could propel you and your team forward leaps and bounds.

4. Respecting a better performing opponent through emotional intelligence and self-control. 

Respect for your opponent/competitor, especially when you are being out-performed, is a great lesson learned from sport. I find that you learn the most from your poor performances when you are not angry at the opponent or what they are doing but instead direct your attention onto yourself – being angry is a waste of time and also narrows your focus. What they do is out of your control so instead focus on what you can control, your performance and reactions. The beauty of doing this is that it helps keep your attention broad so that key information can come in at the right time to trigger a shift to your advantage. Love those moments.

5. It ain’t over till it’s over

Anything can happen at any time – look at the last 19 seconds of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup!  The same thing can happen in business, the game can shift at a moments notice and being agile to these changes is key.

Others???