It’s time to let them die?
By
admin
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Published
March 8, 2010
 He wasn't struggling with his decision quite as much as he would have imagined... Or is it?
Hopefully, you will never have to face making the ultimate decision in the sort of situations we’re about to discuss, but if you did, you’d want to keep some things in mind
1 You can’t save everybody
2 Not everybody wants to be saved
3 Risking your own life needs to be measured very carefully; this is not just because of the risk of dying, but also because getting injured might mean not dying, and instead living out the remainder of your life with a debilitating injury.
4 Preparing yourself mentally before such an event, will go a long way towards minimizing the long term emotional affects making such a decision will have on you.
5 You are tougher, both mentally and physically, than you think you are; but if you can’t imagine yourself being strong or resilient in a true disaster, then you will likely be the one needing to be saved by someone that is – so toughen up before that ever happens!!
As reported (in part) to the Daily Telegraph – England:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3634463/Joe-Simpson-My-journey-back-into-the-void.html
Joe Simpson
Published: 12:01AM BST 22 Oct 2007
 It's all fun and games until someone get's hurt... Legendary climber Joe Simpson – who famously escaped death in the Andes – tells Peter Stanford of the doomed expedition that tempted him back up a mountain
Joe Simpson was just 14 when he read The White Spider, an epic account of efforts to conquer the North Face of the Eiger.
His first reaction, he recalls, was straightforward horror. Why, the schoolboy wondered, would anyone want to risk their life climbing mountains?
“The stories in the book were enough to put the willies up anyone,” says Simpson, the 46-year-old British mountaineer whose extraordinary tale of survival in the Andes was detailed in the book and 2003 film, Touching The Void.
“But then, when I thought about it, I kept coming back to the idea that these climbers were intelligent people and that there must be something really good to be had from mountaineering if they were prepared to take risks like that.”
Childhood reading marked the beginning of a love affair with mountains that comes full circle with The Beckoning Silence, a documentary being screened on Channel 4 tonight.
In 1985, 11 years after reading the book, Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, made the first ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.
 Eventually one of them would have to leave the safety of the group and risk getting a sweater On the way down, things went badly wrong. Simpson, with a broken leg, ended up dangling helplessly on a rope over a crevasse the depth and scale of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral. Yates, believing him dead, cut the rope.
“At this stage,” Joe says, “I was wishing to God I had listened to my first reaction at 14…..”
After cutting the rope and beginning his own self rescue, Simon (Joe’s climbing partner) had to contend with the guilt of knowing that if his climbing partner wasn’t dead, he had nearly certainly killed him when he cut the rope.
Of course, Joe wasn’t dead and managed to crawl, limp, stagger and generally fight his way back to base camp over the next several days. His miraculous arrival occurred hours before Simon was due to leave camp and head back to civilization.
It’s a great book, and if you want more information about it follow this link – the brief synopsis you read will probably seal the deal!
We will be looking into the first five rules in regards to making these types of tough life and death choices over the next few days, and hopefully giving you food for thought in case you are ever called upon to make such a decision.
Cheers, Terry.
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, exciting speakers, funny speakers, Joe Simpson, Keynote speaker, life and death, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, Peter Stanford, Public speaker, Simon Yates, St Pauls Cathedral, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, Touching the Void
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Do you believe in magic?
By
admin
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Published
February 9, 2010
Do you believe in luck?
 If you do, then you probably also still believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and magic spells….
A long time ago, back when I was young and vibrant, I served with the military. The military is the ultimate place when it comes to rumors. Part of the reason for this is the fact that for the majority of the time enlisted men are treated like mushrooms: Kept in the dark and fed on crap.
One particular day a favorable rumor started in regards to a deployment to Kenya, Africa, but only for a handful of our guys. Of course, the rumor stated that only the most senior guys would be considered and all others should just forget about it…
That didn’t sit well with me as I really wanted this deployment and visit a place I might never get a chance to go to again – and get paid for doing it.
I didn’t even mention my interest to my mates. Most of them would have enjoyed going every bit as much as I would, but they had already stated they didn’t stand a chance and resigned themselves to failure before even trying: I loved that!!
The problem with the military is, it thinks of itself as some sort of dictatorship and everyone should follow the rules. I’m in favor of the system in war time because second guessing orders gets men killed, more often than not.
But during peace time, I believe the rules should be approached a tad more open minded…
Plus telling me not to do something is pretty much a freaking guarantee that I’ll do it. That’s what got me into the Commandos in the first place. Even my own Father didn’t think I could make it. Everyone said you’re crazy, they’ll beat the crap out of you and fail you, and then what’ll you do?
 As if the risk of not making it should be enough to deter one from even trying? WTH?
A plan started to form in my mind: A plan of audacity, rule bending and just a hint of rebelling against the system. But one must be careful. The military doesn’t take kindly to individual free thinking souls – unless they come with a smile and truck loads of charm and persistence. Of which I am amply blessed when my mind is set to achieve something.
My war of persistence began in a very low key and unassuming manner. The day after the rumor began, I showed up at the Sergeants’ office and off handedly remarked that if there were to be a trip to Kenya, I would be willing to deploy, even on short notice.
Did you notice how I twisted it around a bit? Now the trip didn’t sound so much like the glory trip it might have seemed initially. I was actually doing him a favor by letting him know that no matter what happened, I was his go-to-guy if things looked dicey for putting boots on the ground.
It didn’t work – exactly, “Vaughan, you’re a wanker. And that little line making the whole thing sound like you’re helping me out here, that’s ballsy…”
OK. I know. Not the most auspicious of beginnings, but here’s where lesser men would have tucked tail and walked away. I was just getting started.
So for the next two weeks here is how it went for my poor sergeant:
Every morning, after every lunch, last thing in the afternoon, I would “show up” and see what was going on at the office. After a few days of my becoming a regular at his office, he began to relent. I knew I was winning the first time he said he’d put me on the standby list, if anyone couldn’t go due to injury, sickness or whatever, I would be top of the back-up list.
Believe me, that was a victory. The war wasn’t won yet, but I’d certainly let the enemy know he was in for a tough uphill battle. Time to up the ante…
Now I started making tea runs for him, whether he needed a cuppa or not. Or runs to the Naffy, (the on base military shop selling T-shirts, coke, candy bars and other assorted merchandise the boys might need).
I let folks think I was in real trouble and having to do some running around to make it all OK again with the sergeant. Of course eventually he’d had enough, more than enough. He saw me coming and I could see the color drain from his face.
I always smiled, I always managed to make him laugh, but I was also driving him crazy. After two weeks he’d reached his limit.
“Vaughan, if you don’t quit bugging me the only place you’ll be getting deployed to is Arbroath!” Arbroath is a town in Scotland where no one wants to be, not even the Scots who live there… Everything was on the line now. Should I continue or accept defeat?
I rolled the dice. “But, sergeant, this would stop today if you’d give me a shot and put me on that deployment. Do you know how much paperwork is going to be involved with actually re-assigning me to 45 Commando? Sending me to a whole new unit? (Believe me it’s worth mentioning that if there’s one thing warriors hate, its paperwork – and this guy was a soldiers, soldier). I hit a nerve.
What I was saying in not so many words was, this will not stop. I will do this until you re-assign me to another unit, or put me on the list for Kenya. And I said it without actually saying it. I would never overtly threaten a senior rank, especially not his guy, I liked him!
I saw the doubt in his eyes. It was time to seal the deal.
“I’ll not bother you with anything again, ever, if you’ll do me a solid and put me on the list.”
“FINE! Now leave me the hell alone…” He tried to sound angry, but he was already chuckling as he began walking away. He added this as he left,
“If anyone else had worked as hard as you for this I’d have hung myself a week ago… Hell, if the whole Commando Brigade was as stubborn as you I could rule the freaking world…..” I believed him.
Three weeks later the personnel list for Kenya was posted, and would you Christmas Eve it, my name was on the list. Guess what I heard for the next few weeks,
“Vaughan’s so freaking lucky. How the hell did he get on the list?”
“Some blokes have all the luck. It’s just not fair.”
Typically these sorts of comments came from those that had quit trying before it ever began.
Success of any sort isn’t about luck. Luck is something that happens to us. But this line of reasoning means you are at the whim of chance. Something, or someone, has the power to rule your life.
It also means that when bad things happen, when “bad luck” strikes, your mindset is all wrong. You take on the attitude that of course something bad has happened, you knew your luck couldn’t last forever. Right?
Horsepucky!
If you don’t believe in luck, then whatever happens isn’t about the wind changing and your good/bad fortune suddenly slapping you in the face. It’s just what happens. Life happens. There is no good or bad, there are just things.
How you choose to look at them is all a mindset. Saying, “it’s just bad luck” gives the power for your life over to an age old superstition.
If you are stuck on the side of a mountain, lost after a long hike and it suddenly starts to rain, guess what? Mother Nature isn’t kicking sand in your face. She’s just doing what she does, watering the plants. You just happen to be standing in the garden when she does.
When you succeed at something and everyone around you is saying, oh you’re so lucky, nothing like that ever happens to me… Guess what? It wasn’t luck, it was work. It was putting yourself out there and taking calculated chances. It was at least having the balls to try. - follow this link to find out more about creating your own luck.
 You won’t always get the outcome you desire. So what? You’ll still have more than you did before embarking on the journey, even if it’s more experience…
The biggest regrets you’ll ever have in life will be the ones where you didn’t even get in the game in the first place. You didn’t even try.
Life is not a spectator sport.
And it won’t play out the way you want it to if you don’t at least start taking charge of its direction. TAKE ACTION!
Stop using “Bad luck” as an excuse for why you didn’t even try! Make your own luck by working hard and being in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons, and watch what happens.
The situation I mentioned earlier about being stuck on the side of a mountain when the rain begins, well I’m betting half of you said, “What the hell would I be doing on the side of a mountain?”
I have news for you. You’re already on the side of a mountain. That’s where life is played out. Those that succeed and make the biggest contribution to their own happiness are the ones that can say, “Well, I won’t be thirsty tonight” the second it starts to pour.
They didn’t start saying things like, “Isn’t this typical. My bad luck just keeps getting worse and now here comes the rain”…. It might not be what you asked for. It might be a different result than the one you were trying for.
But at least you are trying!
Keep trying and it’s only a matter of time before your luck changes! Hahaha!!
Cheers, Terry
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged beautiful women, changing you out look on life, changing your luck, changing your outlook, charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, community teambuilding, countdown to flash mob, dance, do you feel lucky, energetic, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, flash mob dance, funny speakers, get lucky, happy at work, High Intensity, High Intensity Teambuilding, hot women, im not an aussie, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, motivational speakers, Oprah, Public speaker, public speaking, sick of the bad luck, T-mobile, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, ways to make yourself happy, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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…I could have died…
By
admin
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Published
February 8, 2010
Instead, I just burnt my thumb…
Hello gang, nice to be back and I hope you lot had a dandy weekend.
We are going to be having a look at a few close calls; a few, “I nearly died” incidents; even a few close calls that others have experienced and then see what benefit these brushes with the reaper can be to all of us.
 I’ll start with one instance where we were deployed somewhere hot and sticky (Royal Marines) and had been tasked with putting on a firepower display using 51mm mortar. We were a small cog in a big wheel that day and our “out of the box” (straight out of Officer training at Commando training center) 2nd Lieutenant was keen as mustard to prove what he could do taking charge of our fire-team. He was determined he could set a new record for the amount of H.E. (high explosive) rounds we could have airborne at the same time…
I wonder how many stupid mistakes have been made throughout history by someone trying to impress someone else and all for the wrong reasons? I’m going to be conservative and say probably just a few.
Anyhoow, we had set up the mortars, had opened several boxes of explosives and were now standing by to start dropping them in on an area about 600 meters away.
So far so good…
The order to commence firing came over the radio and so it began. Three of us had a system that went something like this:
One man would pull the tape off the rounds (and extract the safety pin which was a bit like the pin used on hand grenades) before handing them to -
Man number 2 would then feed the round into the top of the mortar tube, before -
Man number three pulled the firing handle at the base of the tube, ”launching’ the projectile down range – tadaaa!
Normal rate of fire for these things is 6 – 8 rounds per minute. Accept if you’re a new officer ready to re-invent the wheel. This guy thought that if he harassed us enough we could send enough of these things into the air it would be as if it were raining rounds…
Bad things happen when the man in charge let’s his ego start dictating protocol.
So there was a nice rhythmic popping soundeach time a mortar round left the tube, only interrupted by the constant babble of the officer behind us insisting we,
“Do it faster..”
I wanted to reply, “that’s what she said” - but of course I didn’t, I didn’t have time…
So we, ”went faster”. As is nearly always the case a wise and well respected Sargeant wandered over from near the high powered gathering of Brass a short distance away, in order to bestow some wise words of caution upon our benevolent leader. Bare in mind, the three of us lowly grunts were already exchanging worried glances about various safety issues that increasing the rate of fire was having. Including heating the mortar tube barrel up dangerously high. Mortars tend not to leave deformed, overheated tubes, in the unfettered state they were intended.
The 2nd Lt. of course ignored the mother hen sargeant and insisted we actually increase speed further.
I now found myself holding a mortar in each hand, pin removed, and trying to drop the explosive into the tube as soon as the earlier bomb had cleared it. Tensions were running high and we were starting to snap at each other when we weren’t performing our individual tasks fast enough.
It was during one of these exchanges that it happened…
The guy pulling the safety pins asked me if the last round he handed to me had the pin still in it. This of course meant I had to turn my head to check, meanwhile, unseen by me, the guy holding the mortar tube and pulling the firing lever, was having trouble getting the arm pulled down to strike the base of the round, already in the tube.
During this heated and rapid discussion the 2nd Lt didn’t approve of our slowing down and yelled over all of us to hurry the hell up; “people” were watching.
I quit trying to talk and feed ammo into the tube at the same time. I began lining up the next mortar round over the opening of the tube, poised to release it, when I had a flash of doubt as to whether I had heard the tell-tale sound of the previous round firing. I withdrew the new round out of the line of fire as the old round left the tube.
In terms of how close we come to spreading ourselves all over the firing line, let me say this, the launched round burnt the thumb holding the new round I was about to drop as it passed. If the two high explosive rounds had met, there wouldn’t have been enough meat left from our fire team to put into a plastic sack.
 For a few seconds all firing ceased. Oddly enough, no-one complained. The “new” officer withdrew, leaving command in the “capable” hands of the sargeant while he went in search of other pressing matters on which to focus his attention. The color had drained completely from all of our faces. In a typically cool tone the sargeant suggested we continue, only this time placing only one round in the tube at a time.
No one on the team felt inclined to contradict him.
The whole exchange only took a few seconds and then we were back to firing at the approved rate of speed. This time the comforting sound of mortars leaving the tube was interlaced with sporadic giggling as we all took stock of how close we’d come to blowing ourselves up.
 Over the next couple of days we’ll have a look at leadership, ego, humor, and how much more effective we all are when the guy in charge has a cool head!
Cheers, Terry.
P.S. “One thorn of experience is worth a whole wilderness of warning.” – James Russell Lowell
www.highintensityteambuilding.com
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged a career in proctology, accidents will happen, after dinner speaker, beating egotistical leadership, beautiful women, beauty, charlotte speakers, commando, community, community team building, community teambuilding, cool under pressure, egotistical leadership, energetic, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, explosives, flash mob, flash mob dance, funny speakers, grow participation, High Intensity, High Intensity Teambuilding, hip hop, how big, how to stay cool under pressure, I could have died, I nearly blew myself up, I nearly died, im not an aussie, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lessons in leadership, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, Oprah, proctologist, Public speaker, public speaking, stupid people, T-mobile, team building, teambuilding, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, why not to impress, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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Friday Fiasco here again!
By
admin
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Published
February 5, 2010
Hello mates,
Have you ever been this tired..?
This should help remind the fellas about their anniversaries….(click anniversaries to follow the link.)
“He’s never been very successful. When oppurtunity knocks, he complains about the noise..” – Unknown.
This video is like a VERY weird train wreck – strange….but you’ll find your foot tappping along anyway about three minutes in..LOL
Lady Gaga http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I
Jk: The children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
“Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, He’s a doctor.’ A small voice at the back of the room rang out, “And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.”
…taking multitasking to a whole new level…
Jk. A guy walks out of a store and sees a traffic cop writing a parking ticket. He rushes over and says to the Officer,
“Come on mate, how about cutting a guy a break and tearing that up?”
The officer ignores the man competely and finishes up by sticking the ticket under the windshield wiper.
The mad gets mad and starts insulting the cop.
“You’d think with a face like yours, you’d be a bit more forgiving of the rest of us! Even your Mother is probably hard pressed to love that disaster…”
The officer smiles and begins writing another ticket, this time for bald tires.
“Shouldn’t you be somewhere else eating a dozen donuts? It must have been at least ten minutes since your last snack, fatty!”
This infuriates the traffic cop and he starts writing another ticket for a cracked winshield.
“Even out here I can smell your breath – when was the last time you laid anything other farm animals?”
For the next twenty minutes the exchange continues, until there is at least 11 tickets under the windshield of the car.
Then the man smiles, walks another fifty feet to his own car, and leaves….
Etrade is rocking it out with the “baby” commercials and this is a pretty good compilation of the “outtakes”… Watch long enough to hear the Wilderbeast reference… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHPg262Kr9c&feature=topvideos
Some funny quotes:
“My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.”
Jimmy Duran
“My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.”
Rodney Dangerfield
“We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.”
Will Rogers
“Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. . as you grow older, it will avoid you.”
Winston Churchill
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.”
Groucho Marx
….of course I’m happy Dear..
I hadn’t heard about this festival in Japan until this morning, but these sculptures are amazing and well worth a look! http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/02/05/8275886.html
Jk: A man left for work one Friday morning but, being a pay-day, instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend, partying with the boys and spending his entire pay check.
When he finally appeared at home Sunday night, he was confronted by a very angry wife and was barraged for nearly two hours with a tirade befitting his actions. Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said “How would you like it if you didn’t see me for two or three days?”
To which he replied with a ”That would be fine with me.”
I don’t know what happened next but Monday went by and he didn’t see his wife. Tuesday and then Wednesday came and went with the same results. But on Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye..! - The Fun Hunt.com
True Story…. A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel plans. So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To: My loving wife
Subject: I’ve arrived Date: April 6, 2006
I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. sure is freaking hot down here!!!!! – The Fun Hunt.com
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “The average American is someone who deplores violence in the street and has seen High Noon five times…” – And I quote. Thomas Dunn Books, ST. Martin’s Press.
Posted in Friday Fiasco, Keynote Speaking
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Tagged always tired, anniversaries, anniversary, charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, community teambuilding, computer, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, Etrade, Etrade commercials, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, funny speakers, getting out of a parking ticket, Groucho Marx, help me, I need more energy, im not an aussie, japan, Jimmy Duran, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lady Gaga, lions, media, media cameras, more energy, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, multi-tasking, Oprah flash mob, parking ticket, pictures of lions, Public speaker, public speaking, remembering your anniversary, Rodney Dangerfield, snow festival, T-mobile, teacher, teaching, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, tigers, toilet, tokyo snow festival, Will Rogers, Winston Churchill, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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We are heading for a GO YACS moment over here – better get out of our way!
By
admin
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Published
February 4, 2010
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Obviously there is more to happiness than just making up your mind to be happy, right?
This was the question I wanted to answer when I started researching Denmark. As THE quintisential happiest place on earth I thought I would start there.
 Their weather is average, the terrain is average, accept for being such a merry bunch, there isn’t much else that differentiates them, from us. I found a mention here and there in reference to what might make a Dane unhappy, but it was always the same thing, their high taxes – understandably. But even those rare rumbles always seemed to be offset by the fact that each mention of the costs, didn’t seem to stop the individual from also stating how safe and looked after they felt, in their homeland. I thought that said a lot all by itself.
It would seem the masses would accept a great deal of fiscal pain, so long as their appointed Public Servants actually served, and did so for the greater good of the people that voted them in.
So does this mean we are doomed to a life of misery over here? It’s very hard to start brandishing praise on most of the politicians we see in the news, because they always seem to be greasing their own pockets first. Maybe this is not a fair appraisal. Part of the problem might lay in the fact that we, as a country, are a huge vessel, and turning that ship in good weather takes an age. In bad weather, it might take forever. Are we too far removed from our politicians to really know what they are up to on our behalf? It’s possible that unless the media kept us constantly apprised of what our elected officials are up to every minute of the day, we may never know how hard they are fighting on our behalf.
I know a local politician and to be honest I have liked her from the first moment I met her. She is very hard working, does exactly what she says she’s going to do, and follows through on everything. After a number of talks with her, I know she’s not in it for the money, ’cause there isn’t any! Nor is she in it for the fame. If Ihad to guess, I’d say she’s in it for all the right reasons and this is the most important reason for her:
Facilitating change for the good of her constituents.
Whereas most of us watch the news and roll our eyes at the constant doom and gloom life seems to offer, some people decide to take action and change something.
There are real tangible reasons why the Danes are happy and we have looked at them on the preceding days, here on my Blog. Some of the things they have, we don’t have, nor are we likely to get them anytime soon. Does that mean we should hide our heads in the sand and wait for things to improve before making the most of things?
Can I get a, “OH Hell, no!” please?
It seems to me we have several choices:
1 Roll over and take it…
2 Get off your ass & change something – or, GO YACS for short. 
 I’m not suggesting you get into politics and try to change our way of life – although if you feel inspired to do so, please don’t let anyone stand in your way!
I’m talking about making some small changes first; like an active decision to be more upbeat each day.
If you aren’t able to change some of the things that make you unhappy, then why let them bring you down?
You can be so much more than you are right now, no matter where you are right now, and that’s how you should start each day by saying that to yourself.
In fact as the subconscious cannot deal with anything other than the, “now” you should be saying something like this,
“I am more. I am happy right now. Today I will do something to grow a little more.” Smile as you say it. Lift your chin. Inflate your chest. Mean it.
Instead of wasting an ounce of your strength complaining about the things that you can’t change, work on improving the little bits that you can – it will make you feel a whole lot less helpless.
The Danes, it would appear, have done just that. They have accepted the need for their taxes to be so high in order for society to run the way it does. So instead of complaining bitterly about that which they can’t change, they focus on improving that which they can.
They focus on small improvements, starting with their own attitudes. They focus on social clubs, family, community, friendships, their kids and the elderly. Then they count their blessings in regards to what they do have and not wasting time worrying about what they don’t have.
If I asked you to get up in the morning and quit your job, run for public office, instigate change to improve the welfare of the elderly and improve our health care system for everyone… You might be a bit over-whelmed. Right? I hope so, because if someone asked me to do that, I wouldn’t sleep tonight worrying about whether my passport was still valid so I could get the hell out of dodge before the morning…
But if I asked you to get up in the morning and smile at the first five people you walked past in the office, or the coffee shop, wherever – maybe you could just start in your own kitchen, smiling at family members? Don’t worry about whether they might think you’re crazy – sometimes a big dose of crazy can serve you very well.
You see, GO YACS doesn’t have to be, “get off your ass and change the whole world.” Just get off your ass and improve your little part in it…
Research a joke. Not just today, but every day and take it in with you. Tell someone a joke everyday.
Next time you go out to eat and the waiter or waitress does an OK job, tell the manager of that establishment they did a fantastic job! Notice, I didn’t say when they do a great job: Because that person is likely doing that job, a second job,school, and looking after a sick parent, or a sick child, maybe both. Maybe them doing an OK job is on three hours of sleep and with everything they can muster just to get your order right. 
Now by all means if the person did a great job, tell someone. But instead of waiting for someone to impress you before we extend a hand, let’s do it because it might possibly make that persons day.
If you think working in the service trade is easy, you’ve obviously never worked in the service trade. It sucks. And I’ll bet dollars to donuts you’d complain like merry hell if they screwed something up. Be as willing to hand out praise as you are to make someone’s life miserable.
GO YACS isn’t always about you either. You can get off your ass just for the fun of making someone elses day. That works, too.
Remember if you come across someone that just doesn’t want to be happy, or make a change, that’s their problem not yours. It’s a bit like not giving money to homeless people because you’re worried they’ll just waste the money on alcohol or drugs: But how much energy have you wasted trying to ignore that person at a traffic light, or on the street near your work.
The fact that you were put into that position in the first place has made you mad, because you’re not the bad guy, right? He/she should not have made you feel that way by being there in the first place, begging for your help….
Why should you give a crap what he spends his money on?! Wherever it goes isn’t your concern. You did the right thing. You can feel good about yourself. Don’t punish the guy begging on the street because life has turned you into a cynic.
He’s freaking homeless! See how you feel about yourself after you drop a dollar in that guys hand. So what if it’s selfish. You only gave money to make yourself feel better….Oh, OK.
What the hell else is philanthropy for?
Do whatever small things you can each day, starting tomorrow, to make your attitude improve. If you didn’t get shot at on the way to work today, and actually hit, chances are there’s something to love about where you live – find it.
It might take a bit of work at first, getting those muscles in your face un-glued and moving Northwards instead of continuing their downward spiral, but it’s worth it.
“Unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talents and our expectations.” – Edward de Bono.
 Forget your undiscovered talents and take stock of your expectations. If you expect to be happy today, no one can change your mind.
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” – Eric Hoffer
I thought this was interesting after what we’ve spent three days looking at - http://povltiedemann.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/tuition-fees-part-of-broader-university-reforms-in-denmark/
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged Abraham Lincoln, adult college, ambitions, ass, bad weather, body language, brave face, change your life, charlotte speakers, choices, confidence, costs, economy going south, energetic, engaging speaker, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, expectations, facilitating change in the workplace, feeling helpless, frog, funny speakers, GO YACS, good weather, homeless, housing market downturn, im not an aussie, inspiring the workforce, kiss the pig, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, Oprah, philanthropy, politicians, public servants, Public speaker, public speaking, pursuit of happiness, relentless, relentless pursuit of happiness, roll over and take it, service trade, smile, smiling, social networking, stocks tumble, take it, tangible, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, upbeat attitude, waiter, waitress, weather, worries about job market
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