Save a life – crack a joke!
By
admin
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Published
February 10, 2010
 Save a life – crack a joke!
How do you cope when the chips are down? I mean when it really hits the fan?
If you were to face a life or death situation right now, would you remain calm or panic?
People often associate panic with a colorful scene in their head of people running around screaming and generally making fools of themselves. In most cases people don’t panic like that. They tend to freeze, and perform no task of any use, whatsoever.
I personally favor those kinds of people that perform the freeze panic, because the screamers, they are an unwelcome distraction to those of us that tend to remain relatively cool headed. Also, those that just stop doing anything are usually easier to get moving again, particularly if the cool headed person can give them a simple task to perform.
So which are you?
I recall spending a great deal of time working in and around helicopters during my time in the Commandos, and, as a means of transporting troops, they make great paperweights.
They don’t glide worth a damn when they stop working which can be very troublesome when you are 3000ft up in the air.
It was during such an occasion that the “cab” I was riding in decided to be a tad temperamental and not work in accordance with our plans for the day. I was a door gunner in the Lynx Attack Helicopter and we were practicing low level insertion for a section of 7 men. Prior to dropping down and beginning our low level approach we were flying at around 3000 ft when the, “heads-up” console (a panel of lights located where the heat & A/C vents are in the dashboard of a car) between the pilot and co-pilot, lit up like a Christmas tree.
Nothing is more alarming to anyone than the sound of alarms and flashings lights in an aircraft that’s already airborne. It just screams problems…
I heard the pilot and co-pilot chatting amongst themselves and running through various drills to find the source of our predicament. At first I thought there really couldn’t have been that much wrong, as the conversation between the two of them, sounded much like they were ordering breakfast at some low key restaurant. 
This of course served to sooth my nerves and I was about to go back to scanning the ground far below me for signs of the enemy patrols, when the “cab” dropped like a stone for a couple of hundred feet. If you happen to be kneeling in an open doorway of a helicopter when this happens, I can tell you from personal experience, you will float up into the air weightless… If you are not securely gripping the headrest handle on the back of the co-pilots chair, you will now involuntarily exit the aircraft.
I didn’t want to do this, so I remained holding on firmly to the small handle and began asking a few choice questions of the crew…
“Any chance you lads can keep this thing in the air long enough for us to make it back to base for lunch?”
Imagine my confidence souring to an all time high with the pilots reply,
“Unless they’ve changed chefs, it’s gonna be the same crap as yesterday, so I don’t think you’ll be missing much, mate…” Nice.
At which point the “cab” did it again, this time dropping even lower than before, and seemingly faster.
I turned to face the boys behind me and they were all laughing. The pilot told me to tell them to “assume the position” which I relayed through various facial expressions and hand signals.
I received several varieties of hand signal in reply and none of them were very polite.
I repeated the instruction insisting that they put their heads down between their legs and grasp around their ears to help prevent whiplash upon impact. I can’t tell you how funny this is to do when you aren’t strapped to anything.
‘Cause if the helicopter hits the ground from that height, it won’t matter what you’re grasping, the last thing that will pass through your mind will be your ass….
They knew it, and so did I. But sometimes it’s still better to do something rather than nothing when facing your own impending death. It gives you a sense of facing things on your own terms – kind of.
The smiles faltered on their faces when the “cab” dropped for a third time and this time dropped so hard and fast several of them floated into the air too, even laden down with all of their kit…
 I performed the universally accepted signal for death by drawing my hand across my throat. They were all looking at me wide eyed as it dawned on them the pilots weren’t actually messing around attempting to scare them, we really were in trouble.
Everyone quickly went through the unnecessary drill of double checking safety catches were applied to their weapons, followed by helmet straps pulled a little tighter, followed by shuffling a little lower towards the floor of the “cab”.
We dropped for a fourth time and one of the guys threw his hands up in the air and screamed…. At first I thought he was panicking; then he started laughing his ass off.
He looked like a kid on a roller-coaster, which was his intention.
It’s so loud in the back of these aircraft you can’t hear diddly unless you are hooked into the communications system. But that didn’t stop everyone from starting to roar with laughter. Now the entire section was poised ready to throw their own hands into the air should we drop for a fifth time.
We didn’t drop again and the pilots had already begun a controlled descent the moment the first trouble had begun. As the skids touched down on the grassy hillside in the middle of know where, I heard the pilot say to the co-pilot,
“That was interesting.” As if we had all just taken part in some mundane high school science experiment.
What stopped my panic? Well, it helped me to hear firsthand the complete lack of panic in the pilots’ voices. Later that day they told me my question about us making it back for lunch helped them remain calm – I know they were just saying it to be nice, but I liked it anyway. LOL.
The guys riding in the body of the aircraft were helped by the clown who threw his hands into the air and pretended he was riding a rollercoaster.
No one panicked. People looked a bit concerned for a minute. But no one panicked. Of course, what would they have done if they had of panicked? It wasn’t as if there was anywhere to go… Jumping wouldn’t have helped; you weren’t going to get there any faster than the helicopter.
 In just about every case I can imagine, nothing good occurs with panicking: It solves nothing and typically only adds to the problem. These days most folks have had their fill of stress anyway – why would you want to add to it? Good leaders seek out ways to alleviate not only their own stress, but also that of their teammates, so that everyone can perform more effectively.
It’s not just in business where maintaining a sense of humor can help balance the status quo, either. It can also help maintain perspective on family issues, your friends’ problems, debilitating health issues; in fact, just about every facet of your life becomes easier to manage when approached with a sense perspective. - Follow the link.
The higher up the rankings you are in terms of influence within your peer groups or work, the more important this talent becomes. When others look to you the moment the proverbial, “merde” hits the fan, it’s time to step up and lighten the moment.
Any asshole can add stress – your challenge is to think of a way to lessen it, and quickly!
The faster you can do this, the faster people will come to trust you to be their anchor whenever things go awry. Do you want to be a truly great leader? Make people laugh and relax in a crisis. Defuse the situation by risking a little of yourself in order to bring about some levity. Problem solving becomes a whole lot easier if someone has the ability to temporarily relieve the tension.
It has to be someone; it needs to be someone – so why not you?
Cheers, Terry.
P.S. “Experience: A comb life gives you after you lose your hair..” – Judith Stern.
www.highintensityteambuilding.com
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged absurdity, amazing girls, beautiful women, challenge, charlotte speakers, comedian, commando, community, community teambuilding, cool in a crisis, countdown to flash mob, dance, denigrate, embarrassment, energetic, engaging speaker, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, eye opener, family, first move, flash mob, funniness, funny, funny man, funny speakers, generosity, gorgeous women, happiness, having a sense of humor, High Intensity, High Intensity Teambuilding, hotties, humor, im not an aussie, irony, joy, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, laughter, leap, listener, listeners, motivational speakers, motivational speakers nc, Oprah, president obama, rebuttal, risk, save us, sense of humor, show of strength, solving personal issues, staying cool in a crisis, strategic self-presentation; impression management, success, survival, T-mobile, thin line, triumph, troubled times, truth of the matter, unease, vulnerability, winning
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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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Danes and their happiness – the common theme and GO YACS!
By
admin
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Published
February 3, 2010
G’day. 
Have any of you had trouble moving past the tax rate thing in Denmark?
 I decided to deal with the issue another way; like a Dane in fact. I asked myself would I still do my job if I had to pay 68% of the money it made to the government, and the answer was yes. This, in fact, is what most Danes say too!
There is much less hang up in Denmark over what you do for a living, and more emphasis on whether you enjoy what you do. The way they have achieved this is to tax their citizens so highly that everyone earns about the same amount, no matter what line of work you’re in.
So, if you don’t fancy making Mom and Dad happy by becoming an attorney, you’ll earn about the same working as a truck driver, with less responsibilities and potentially more “alone” time. Of course, Denmark might be the only country in the world where your parents might still talk to you, after you tell them you are ditching Law School and going to learn how to haul big-rigs.
It’s certainly not for us to second guess a system that seems to be working. They are, after all, very happy folks. So what seems to be the common theme?
If we start to list things it becomes clearer as to why they might be such a cheery bunch:
1 Education spending is one of the highest in the world – they really do put their money where their mouths are when it comes to, “our children are our future.” This also includes further education, too. Yep, college (university) is practically free as well. I wonder if this system would help American families…?
2 More is spent on the elderly than any other country in the world too. It must be nice knowing the bills you are accruing in a nursing home are already covered…can you say missing Social Security Funds?
3 There is a major emphasis placed on social networking and social groups – both of which promote well above and beyond normal levels of interaction. If you want to develop lasting relations it’s important for people to see firsthand how much they have in common with their counterparts; this applies to neighbors, work colleagues, and community.
4 Health care is also provided and from what I have read their system is working fine. I know that on a personal level health insurance is one of the most expensive monthly costs for me and my family – and we are a relatively healthy bunch. I second guess going to the Docs ever, just in case he finds something really wrong and we can’t afford to fix it. At least if an illness finishes me off, there is my life insurance policy to sustain my family’s livelihood, while I get to feeding the grubs…
Some of life’s biggest hurdles and stressors are already taken care of in Danish society. As these things make up a large portion of what we as individuals are most likely to be concerned with, maybe paying such a tax rate wouldn’t be so bad – if you could actually trust your government to do what it promises to do with your money…… That, it seems, is the common theme.
Stress relief….sounds terrible doesn’t it? 
This week’s Blog isn’t meant to be a gripe about all that is wrong over here, in comparison to, “over there..” It was supposed to illuminate legitimate reasons for the Danes general level of happiness.
If being happy was just a simple case of getting out of bed every morning and telling yourself today was going to be a good day, wouldn’t we all be doing it?
.I don’t believe we would Even if all the things that are wrong over here were right, some folks would still manage to find something to complain about.
It’s human nature to want to improve your lot in life and want the best for our offspring. Unfortunately, those that seem to complain the loudest are also the ones least likely to actually take action and do anything about it.
 I would like to revisit something I mentioned earlier in regards to career. I immediately dumbed down the career choice of someone that declined going to law school in favor of being a truck driver, because there’s no money in being a lawyer.
What about the flip side of that? If money isn’t the driving force behind a young person’s choice towards any particular career, doesn’t that mean that those who choose to commit their lives to a particular line of work, do so for the noblest of reasons?
I know I risk coming off as some age old romantic here, and that’s not easy for me to do, but it seems to me that if you just want a career based on nothing but the merits of the profession itself, wouldn’t that attract the best kind of person to do that job?
Obviously they are passionate about their choice. Why go through all that work to do a job that pays the same as your neighbor the welder, or trash collector?
We all know passionate people are the most inspiring. If what you do fires you up each and every morning, you’re sure as hell a lot easier to be around than some grumpy old ass that drags him or herself to work every morning, looking like the sky is falling in around them.
The power of passion can never be under-estimated as a driving force towards becoming successful and happy.
** Take Steven Spielberg for example; legend has it that as a young man he took a tour of Universal Studios at age 17 and upon realizing he was only getting half the story in regards to movie making, snuck away from the tour group and found his way to a sound stage to watch the production of a “real” movie.
His interest was now well beyond just piqued. In fact the next day he put on his best suit, borrowed his father’s briefcase and walked confidently straight past the security gate and onto the Studios lot, once again. He located an empty trailer and used plastic letters to put his name and self appointed title, “Director” on the door.
He then spent the remainder of his summer chatting with anyone he could find in movie making; directors, editors, special effects people, script writers, sound people, literally anyone he could learn from.
At age 20, having become a regular on the Studio lot, he won a seven year contract to make movies on the back of a modest movie he had put together in his spare time. He was off and running.
That’s the power of passion!
Would you go to such lengths for your current career? If not, what would you go to those lengths to do?
I want you to memorize this acronym:
GO YACS.
I’m not going to tell you what it stands for until tomorrow, just start memorizing it for now, and when you say it in your mind, or out loud for that matter, say it loud and powerfully.
Lift your chin, inflate your chest, pull your shoulders back and project it – LOUDLY.
Until tomorrow team members,
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “Men who are unhappy, like men who sleep badly, are always proud of the fact!” – Bertrand Russell.
** Information in reference to Steven Spielberg was originally garnered from Anthony Robbins National Bestseller “Unlimited Power” – I love this book by the way. And yes, I read an awful lot of books. For all those of you that had me pinged as a knuckle dragging Neanderthal, occasionally I pick ‘em up off the floor and try deciphering all the letters….Hahaha
Posted in Keynote Speaking
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Tagged anthony robbins, being happy, bunnie suit, career choice, career development, cash, charlotte speakers, college costs, college girls, commando, engaging speaker, enjoy your job, enjoying your job, enjoyment, enthusiasm, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, fun, fun at work, funds, funny speakers, go yacks, grumpy, health care, health care reform, High Intensity Teambuilding, im not an aussie, lessening the cost of college, missing funds, missing social security, money, motivational speakers nc, movie clips, movie maker, movies, networking, Oprah, passion, pleasure, professional development, Public speaker, public speaking, social networking, social security, Steven Spielberg, stop being grumpy, stress, stress reduction, success, successful, tax, teambuilding, Terry Vaughan, Terry Vaughn, where is the money, youtube.com/tcvaughan34
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Happiness…it’s only 3,227 miles away..
By
admin
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Published
February 1, 2010
Hello mates! Hope you had a lovely weekend.
Happiness….is a country called Denmark.
“What price would you pay to be truly happy?”
 Happiness is relative. Everyone wants to be happy and yet most people I know subjugate their own happiness in favor of having a job, (even if they hate it) a huge home, (in comparison to the rest of the world the average American home is huge) and more material possessions than they know what to do with… Guilty as charged…
But does any of that make us happy?
And if it doesn’t, what price would you be willing to pay in order to be truly happy?
I know if I moved back to England today with my family and crammed all five of us into an average sized English home, my happiness would decline significantly… If we didn’t have a far reaching room to send my three kids to when they are driving us crazy with their incessant jibber-jabber, my happiness scale would decline into the negative category – rapidly.
IF I ventured out onto the streets, Jay Leno style, and began asking the general public about their own happiness, most would likely decline to answer. We seem to come with some sort of build in “micro” chip, physiologically speaking, that sounds like a klaxon horn whenever we are asked, “how are you doing?”
For some reason we are supposed to feel a little guilty about even saying we are happy. Paradoxically, we feel that in pronouncing our own happiness, we are sentencing some other poor schmuck to a life of suffering: That by our proclamation of happiness we will set another goal in their troubled lives they will fall short of.
No one seems willing to stand up and say, “Yes, I’m so freaking happy!”
Even writing the words I can’t help but conjure up images of some demented cheerleader on helium yelling and bouncing around in time to her announcement.
No one is that freaking happy!
WHY?? Are we afraid of how others will perceive us?
I, for one, would decline to say so enthusiasticaly because of how it might be perceived by others. What if they are less fortunate than me? What if their lives truly suck, am I the one that should be illuminating this for them?
Surely they would already know, right?
Did you know there is such a thing as a World Map of Happiness? No, I’m not kidding…follow the link.
Or my favorite, http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_bib/bib_fp.php
Check this afore mentioned website the next time you can’t sleep. Forget counting sheep, this will put you in a coma…
Who knew happiness could be so….scientific!
In a study undertaken by the University of Leicester, (England) it was discovered that citizens of this great nation didn’t rank among even the top five of happiest countries in the world. Nor the top ten, not even the top twenty!! The United States superpower came in at number 23… Worst yet was the UK, who only mamaged to make it up to a disappointingly lowly 41. We did about as well here as we do in at the Olympics….
So the leader of the free world, (US) and a country that used to rule half the planet (Great Britain) , now can’t qualify in the top ten countries around the world for suppporting happy denizens in their respective habitats..WTH??
 Is happiness that hard to come by?
It would seem to depend on whom you are asking. Whatever happens don’t stop in Denmark and ask around. These people seem to be the most at peace, at ease, at oneness with their happiness as any people can be. They ranked number one in the world as the happiest and most content people, anywhere! Why?
In case I need to point this out, Denmark isn’t exactly a world leader, accept maybe in the export of Lego. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Denmark
But they seem to be getting something right over there..so why can’t we?
Over the next couple of days we’ll explore possible reasons for why Denmark has such high happiness rankings and see if there’s anything we might be able to do to emulate them here.
Areas we might focus our attention over the next couple of days are these:
1 Are we too Politically Correct? Why on earth should we feel guilty about being happy in the first place? Have we become so PC about everything that a simple declaration of our happiness is now cause for concern.
2 Annual taxes. Would anyone like to guess what the Danes pay in annual taxes? Could this whole thing just boil down to a simple case of if my government looked after me I’d be happy – promise…
3 It must have been an off day. Did we just happen to have an off day at the time of our “survey” about happiness, and if we took it again would all manner of strange things come to light.
4 It might be religions’ fault. Over 80% of the population that does believe in some sort of ”all-seeing all-knowing God” belong to the same religious affiliation, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. Those that aren’t “believers” make up some of the greatest numbers of atheists and agnostics in the world (per capita).
5 Even social clubs are rampant. Over 90% of Danes belong to some sort of social club. In fact starting a group or club could earn government subsidized money to aid you.
After we’ve finished running a sort of laymen’s comparison, I’d be very interested to hear what you might think on the topic, so please email me your thoughts:
Hit819@gmail.com
Cheers, Terry
P.S. “Happines, like youth and health, is rarely appreciated until is has past.” – Marguerite, Countess of Blessington
P.P.S. “Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.” – Robert Anthony
www.highintensityteambuilding.com
Posted in Keynote Speaking, inspired, teambuilding
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Tagged after dinner speaker, attitude to happiness, charlotte speakers, commando, community team building, community teambuilding, Danish, developing happiness, elusive happiness, energetic speaker, engaging speaker, example of public speaker, exciting speakers, funny speakers, happiest, happiest people on earth, happy, High Intensity Teambuilding, Keynote speaker, keynote speakers nc, lego, oceans, oceans apart, Public speaker, public speaking, seeking happiness, ways to make yourself happy, what makes you happy, who makes you happy, why aren't we happier
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