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It’s How You Look at Things

June 11, 2014
Perspective

Photo courtesy of Yohann Legrand.

Life is often times not about what happens to us but how we perceive what has happened to us.  This is why some people can have a traumatic experience and they get depressed while others with a very similar experience go out and change the world.

I came across a talk from Janine Shepherd back in March that put this thought into focus.  She was an Olympian training on her bike when a vehicle hit hurt and put her in the hospital.  She would have multiple injuries that most people would have certainly thought her whole life was over.  While she did have to give up her athletic career, she turned the accident into an opportunity to change lives through her speaking, writing, and determination.

You can view the video below of Janine’s speach.  After watching it ask yourself when something rough is going on in your life “How can I turn this into an experience that helps me instead of hinders me?”  That question can help you get through just about anything.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX32U_hfri4&w=560&h=315]

Filed Under: Life Coaching Tagged With: , , , ,

Woo Woo Woo… You Know It

January 7, 2012

Zack RyderIf you watch WWE you know who Zack Ryder is. What you may not know is that he should be an inspiration to anyone who has goals and dreams in life.

I am going to be honest, prior to about March I didn’t know anything about Zack Ryder.  He was a name that came up every now and then on TV and then he would come out, lose, and would disappear.  Not much going on is it?  However, in February of 2011 Ryder uploaded a video to YouTube that would change the course of his career and make him a household name.

Zack had started his own campaign to further his career –  it was make it or break it time.   He laid it on the line.  In his web series on YouTube, Z! True Long Island Story, he would take jabs at himself about being on the back burner, almost getting over with the fans, and being put on ice by the higher ups.  This series led to him amassing over 10 million views and over 118,000 subscribers in under a year.

Along with starting his series on YouTube he is also very active on Twitter connecting with fans.  At the time of this writing he has over 444,000 followers and was listed as one of the top 100 most influential sports personalities to use social media by  Sports Illustrated.

Now, why should he be an inspiration?  He realized he could be more than what he was being used for in the WWE.  He knew he had value and knew the fans would enjoy his work.  He was willing to put everything on the line to show the executives and writers that he could carry the ball.  In short: he had goals and a plan.

Ryder could have had a victim mentality.  He could have kept asking the executives “When are you going to do something for me?”.  Instead he asked himself what he could do to help himself – he then went and did it.

Zack is a perfect example what you can do when you have a plan and are willing to take a risk to get what you want out of life.  He took it upon himself and proved he had it.  In December of 2011 he was awarded the United States Championship which I hope is just a stepping stone in his career.

Take Aways:

  • Have a goal with a plan.
  • Be willing to take some risks.
  • Get rid of victim thinking and figure out how you can position yourself where you want.
  • Go for it!

You can find Zack Ryder at the following sites:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LongIslandIcedZ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZackRyder
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/longislandicedz

Filed Under: Goal Setting Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Other Perspective

November 19, 2011

Perspective - Disney's Hollywood StudiosHave you ever thought about what the other person is thinking?  Even if they are being hateful what might be going on in their lives?

When someone cuts me off in traffic my first reaction is to get agitated.  Then I calm down and often the way I do this is to think to myself that I don’t know what is going on with that person and maybe it was an honest mistake.  When we have knee jerk reactions we tend to do or say things that we don’t mean or, at least, don’t mean them to be as hateful as we said them.

When someone pisses you off do you stop to think about what they are going through?  Do you try and look at it from their perspective?

Each of us are individuals with our own thoughts and minds and three of us looking at a picture might perceive three different things.  If you look at the picture to the left you might see something totally different than me.  Let’s say three people are looking at it and these are their perspectives:

  1. A quiet street.
  2. A nice shot of San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.
  3. A picture of a building.

All three people have legitimate perspectives.  It does look like a quite street (maybe it is early morning and the sun just rose.  You can see a bridge in the background which may very well be the Golden Gate leading you to believe this is in San Francisco.  And the brown building on the right tends to stand out a little so maybe that really is what this picture is of.

However, all three would be wrong.

This is a picture I took at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.  This was a backlot like they shoot movies on.  Those buildings are fake and the sky and buildings in the background are plastered on a wall.

This is simply a rather long explanation to say when someone does something you don’t like, don’t agree with, or what have you take a moment and try and see their perspective on the matter.  You still do not have to agree but looking at it from both sides can help you understand where the person is coming from and in matters where a decision has to be made can help to make one that satisfies all parties involved.

Filed Under: Life Coaching, People Tagged With: , , ,