Peak Performance

Just Do It… Right Now

November 3, 2010

Last week a colleague pulled me into her office to ask advice. She’d met a man she’s really falling for, but couldn’t invite him to her birthday party because she had a date with another guy. The first guy found out about the party and was hurt he wasn’t invited. My colleague didn’t know how [...]

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The Value of Pain

October 28, 2010

In a recent interview on “The View,” Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” shared lessons he learned from his mother, a courageous woman who raised nine kids on her own after Colbert’s father and two siblings were killed in a plane crash. Barbara Walters asked him how his mother did it. “Strong faith,” [...]

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Motivational Speaker Asks: Can One Bad Apple Spoil The Bunch?

September 22, 2010

Conventional wisdom suggests that group values and norms influence individual members. People naturally want to fit in. They’re inclined to be agreeable. But what if one person rejects the group’s norms and acts out? Can they adversely impact an entire group? I came across an interesting archived interview on “This American Life” the other day [...]

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Coping With Criticism

September 11, 2010

As a motivational speaker I’ve had my share of criticism. My programs are often formally evaluated by the audience. It’s amazing how one harsh review can negate a large stack of accolades. Criticism feels like a knife wound and heals more slowly. It demoralizes us. And although most criticism is directed at behavior, we usually [...]

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Get In Over Your Head Because You’re Taller Than You Think

September 8, 2010

“What am I doing on this stage?” I wondered. “I have no businesses speaking to this audience.” For three years, I had been a youth speaker, giving presentations exclusively to teenagers. Now I was giving my first corporate keynote at a national sales meeting for a sporting apparel company. I’d worked like crazy to prepare. [...]

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To Step Towards What You Want, Step Away From What You Don’t

September 4, 2010

I recently coached one of my employees to discuss her life goals. She’s got big dreams, all o f them achievable. In the two years I’ve known her, however, she’s made virtually no progress. She has no problem with the idea of a new life. Her problem is letting go of the old one. To [...]

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Student Leadership: Helping Students With Insecurities

August 15, 2010

Recently the California Association of Directors of Activities interviewed me for podcast. As a motivational speaker, I facilitate a considerable amount of student leadership training programs. Much of what I discuss is on how to bring out the best in others, including ways of helping student leaders overcome self-doubt and insecurity. In this podcast I [...]

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Motivational Speaker Tip: Don’t Take It Personally

July 29, 2010

Not long ago I was brought in as a motivational speaker for the National Teen Leadership Program and noticed someone in my audience put her head down to sleep. This threw me, and I began to wonder if I was boring my audience. It was a terrible feeling during a speech that required my focus. Surprisingly, I [...]

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Motivational Speaker Asks: “Why Are You Reading This?”

July 13, 2010

Right now you should be doing something else. Something brought you to my motivational speaker blog. If you’re here, I’ve tempted you away from more pressing matters. There’s work to be done, goals to pursue. But instead of doing your work, you’re looking at mine. Don’t worry. I’m not trying to sell you anything here. [...]

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Motivational Speaker Tip: Finish What You Start

July 6, 2010

We’ve all taken that first step. We’ve acted on a brilliant idea. We’ve reserved the domain name. We’ve purchased a great “how to” book. Maybe we’ve written the first few pages of our own book. We’ve all started something. But then we gave up. Perhaps we got distracted by our daily tasks or responsibilities. Or maybe we [...]

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