Recently I was interviewed by the Philadelphia and South New Jersey December “Parents Express” publication for an article on parenting a negative child. Check out the article “Changing Negative Thinking.”

Just quoted in an article about providing good customer service during tough economic times. Check it out here.

LOS ANGELES, CA — Nationally renowned youth motivational speaker Scott Greenberg of Jump Start Performance Programs has scheduled a tour of keynotes and student leadership training at high school student council conferences throughout the United States. The inspirational speaker will be covering topics such as leadership, resilience and peak performance, as well as the importance of service and promoting school unity.

Each U.S. state has an association of student councils elected by their peers to plan school activities and represent their interests to administrations and school boards. In addition to their campus-based responsibilities, they attend state and national conferences with hundreds and sometimes thousands of other student leaders.

Recently Greenberg presented motivational keynotes, leadership workshops and advisor sessions at state conferences in California, Oregon, Texas and Pennsylvania as well as for the National Association of Student Councils and the Southern Association of Student Councils. He’ll soon be keynoting state conferences in Nevada, Arizona, Louisiana and Indiana. In the past he’s spoken for 21 other state associations.

“The students attending these conferences are the leaders of tomorrow. They already have tremendous influence at their schools, so it’s imperative that we inspire and train them now,” said Greenberg.

In addition to youth programs, Greenberg is one of the nation’s top motivational speakers for a wide variety of corporate groups and industries. As a former student council member himself, he avails himself to youth leadership organizations at a discounted fee. He has facilitated his own leadership conferences for a number of youth groups, and served on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Student Councils.

Additional information is available at http://www.ScottGreenberg.com.

About Scott Greenberg:

In 1992 Scott Greenberg dropped out of the New York University Graduate Film School after being diagnosed with cancer. Inspired by his grandmother, a “Schindler’s List” holocaust survivor, Scott beat the disease and went on to run the Los Angeles Marathon to raise money for cancer research. Since 1996 he has become one of the top inspirational speakers on the subjects of leadership, resilience and peak performance. Clients include Cargill International, the Young President Organization and the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has written three books on leadership and is a contributing author to “Chicken Soup for the College Soul.”

I love stories about naysayers being wrong, and I just experienced one first hand.

I needed to extend a holiday trip for my family of four using frequent flyer miles. It being the holidays, there’s limited availability and airlines are less flexible. The date change was going to cost me an additional 100,0000 miles (on top of the 100,000 I already applied) and $150 – per ticket!

I politely expressed my shock to the customer service representative and asked how to at least get the $600 fee waved. His response was respectful but emphatic.

“I’m sorry. That’s not possible. You’re traveling during the holidays and this is a tight policy. You can try asking a supervisor, but they’re not going to wave the fee.”

His certainty and tone conveyed an attitude we’ve all seen too many times. It was that of a non-believer, of a doubter, of one of those countless people who think nothing is possible and feel it’s their duty to let you know.

Unless they are themselves the decision-makers, no one else is an authority on what is possible, and on what others will say. They have an opinion, which may even be informed, but it’s not a certainty. Too often we listen to their predictions and stop trying.

You can guess how my story ends. The airline supervisor I spoke to not only waved the $600, he even reduced the additional mileage fee from 100,000 miles to 52,000. He gave me more than I asked for, building strong goodwill and increased loyalty.

There will always be people who say “nay.” When they do, say “bye.”

Some of the greatest business leaders are horrible at balancing their time. When it comes to money, they know how to create a budget and stick to it. There’s only so much money to go around, so they prioritize, make the necessary cuts and allocate accordingly. These are basic, yet critical skills for balancing a budget.

The same skills can be applied toward time allotment. Set your priorities, make the necessary cuts and be consciencious about how your time is spent. And just like with money, don’t go over budget.

While we worry about money, we take time for granted. Ironically, time is much more irreplaceable than money. We can always make more money. But time is an account from which we only make withdrawls. And none of us know our remaining balancing.

Time is precious and extremely valuable. We must spend it with care, and not waste a single moment.