Tell me what you think.

Thank Vinny for finding this treasure.

There are several things that I learned in my life that truly made a difference – learning how to walk, talk, and other essentials most of us know. But something that I am still learning to this day and believe is a real ‘game changer’ in this thing called life is being yourself.

———-> Are you REALLY being yourself? The weird, goofy, spontaneous, outgoing, shy, or fun self?

The REAL DEAL if you want to really make it and become successful not only in any career but in life: be authentic and genuine with people. Remember, no matter how weird or crazy you are, you will always find your tribe.

You might be thinking -> What if the world doesn’t like me that way? I’ve been taught by society  to act so people don’t think I’m weird or different. This is all a bunch of (you know what).

Challenge yourself as I have been recently, to catch yourself being disingenuous. What do you mean? Do you talk about things you don’t really care about or have real passion for? Do you really enjoy watching hockey on Friday nights with the boys or are you just doing it to fit in? Do you act important or unapproachable at events or public places? (f.y.i most important people are pretty easy going and if they are not they are probably not that important in the first place.)

Some of you might also say -> I am a shy person and that is just who I am!

Really? Well, here is the last question:

When did you sit down and define yourself?

Trying to Stop Listening to Your Lizard Brain

I am grateful to have many opportunities and great people around me. I have an enormous potential to make things happen or to ‘ship’ as Seth Godin likes to say. The reality is – SO DO YOU! But how come we always stop ourselves from trying to make a dent in this world (a positive dent)? How come so many of us are afraid to stand out and not be average?

Instead many of us are just cogs.

We are afraid to get criticized, to fail, be judged, laughed at, or looked the wrong way. We often think of the bad things that may happen when we undertake an endeavour. This is your lizard brain speaking and we all need to stop listening to it and instead- SHIP!

To tell you the truth, I’ve been battling my lizard brain for some time now; see the last time I posted anything on this blog. Yes, I was busy, yes I was making things happen but we all have time to do something extra that we are truly passionate about and I wasn’t doing it. Instead, I was afraid of what people will think of my grammar or my ideas.

WHAT IF?

A phrase that many of us face… What if what?

You fall flat on your face?

I recently witnessed someone achieve one of their dreams and overcome their fears, quickly being brought down after getting hate mail right after. The reality, people will always laugh, point, and criticize… no matter how successful you become or how nice you are.

You have to do it for yourself and for the people that you inspire to ACT and make a difference in their life. Ignore all others and your lizard brain!

Highly Recommend the video below…

As I keep getting a little older, the years keep on getting better. 2009 was no exception as my experiences encouraged me to grow and learn more about myself and the people around me. This post will be personal as we had enough business lessons this year.

Last year has been filled with soul searching as the pace of our western lifestyle has got me asking myself questions. One question that kept being repeated was – “Who am I?” Not my job title, not the small acronyms after my name on a business card, or the business I run or work for.

I.

My biggest realization this past year has been that we often forget who we are or never knew in the first place. We all have been procrastinators. Not just procrastinating at work but procrastinating pleasure and taking time to think and ask ourselves questions. (Further Reading: Procrastinating Pleasure)

Well, it’s true.

Finding yourself and especially finding your Element (The place where the things you love to do and the things you are good at come together) isn’t easy but the search for these vital elements is required. I believe that if we find ourselves, it will be easier to cope with the present moment and future events that we sometimes can’t control. Read More | Comments

Image Credit: Kendall Helmstetter Gelner

One of my favourite speeches of all time is Ken Robinson’s TED talk on “How School Kills Creativity”. I even have it featured on the top slider above (Yes, it’s that good!). Ken Robinson opened a whole new world to me, a world that made total sense and answered a very important question that I frequently found myself asking throughout high school and university – “Why do I suck at statistics and math in general?”

I’m not horrible and quite frankly very capable of achieving a tolerable mark, got a C+ in my university quantitative methods course. However, solving math problems never felt natural to me. Preset methodology and a complete lack of creativity in following steps to get the one and only answer. And it was this idea that the answer will always be the same without having the ability to re-invent* the set equation or model that made the course and many months in university dreadful. I am not saying that statistics or math cannot be creative, it certainly can. I am just not a creative mathematician.

Back to Ken Robinson and Creativity

Ken Robinson believes that creativity is about having original ideas and that creativity is where you are pushing the boundaries to new and unexplored territories. This can certainly be achieved in statistics but you cannot make anyone learn anything, some are just better at other things.  Even though people may look similar, they still think in very different ways. People also see the world in different ways and people certainly have different strengths. And the problem that lies within our education system is that we are putting everyone through the same mill except for a few in specialty schools.

Read More | Comments

The following is not related whatsoever to digital marketing or advertising but it is important for those working in the field and frankly applies to us all. I challenge you to apply this philosophy in your own life, as it will not only make you a better speaker and a presenter but also make it easier for you to connect with other people in regular life and in business.

If you are too lazy to read my summary of the Second Circle philosophy or enjoy watching videos instead, then watch Patsy explain it herself at the end of this post (10 min). One word- Awesome!

“To be or not to be, that is the question.”- You might recognize this line as being one of the most famous Shakespeare creations and Patsy Rodenburg explores this exact line in her vocal philosophy of the Second Circle. Patsy explains the three energy states or ‘circles’ that we tend to be in (First, Second, and Third) and further proves that we all have a choice to live in the present in the Second Circle with yourself and others. Patsy Rodenburg’s focuses many aspects of her philosophy on Shakespeare for the reason that“he revealed to us that we can only love unconditionally, find intimacy, be equal with each other, use power well, if we are present to each other and the world.“ Read More | Comments

Image Credit: Verne Ho

Many people ask, how can you monetize social media? Where is the ROI? These are questions with long answers and sometimes with no answers at all. But they don’t have to be, as some companies simply get it and don’t stress over the minor details, always ready to take on a challenge.

One of the best recent social collaborations that I’ve seen is the Pay It Backward event organized by the DailyChallenge with a major sponsor being Second Cup and Silk. It was a special event because I believe everyone turned out a winner at the end of the day – Second Cup probably had the best return on their investment that was probably a fraction of a 30-sec TV Spot, Sick Kids Hospital receiving up to $15,000 in donations, DailyChallenge receiving great coverage on traditional and digital media, and most importantly people who get felt great about their small effort to make a difference and realizing that being a Do Gooder can be contagious.

I wanted to share with you Mimi’s story on that day and how it connected her with not only the Second Cup brand but also with other do gooders in our community. Here is the guest post by Mimi of La Mimi: Read More | Comments