Thursday, March 24, 2005

Take The Road Less Traveled

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost


I watched Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, a very controversial film on Hitler’s 1934 Nuremberg Rally put on by equally controversial Toronto film connoisseur, Reg Hartt, at the Cineforum (a make-shift theatre in his home). The movie blew me away. It was a powerful, real-life portrayal of Hitler’s propaganda machine and the horrifying consequences of mass media manipulation. An eerie chill went through my spine as I saw aerial footage of column after column of endless soldiers marching through the streets of Nuremberg. Little German boys and girls hailing the Fuhrer with innocent smiles and outstretched hands of youthful idealism. Little German youths beating the drums of death. Hitler parting a sea of loyal soldiers. And watching a nation mesmerized by the spell of this diminutive, unassuming, and rather plain looking monster.

What really hit me though was Reg Hartt’s commentary after the movie ended. A lady had kept coming to the viewing of that movie, over and over again. She had attended the viewing over sixteen times. When he asked her what she found so fascinating about the film. She told him that she was the young smiling girl in the movie looking down from a rooftop at Hitler’s parade. She was with her Mother, Father, sisters, and brother. They were waiving the Nazi flag and cheering Hitler on. They were Jews. She was the only survivor in her family.

What flag are you waiving? What herd mentality have we accepted without further thought, without scrutiny? I challenge you to take the road less traveled by. It is uncommon knowledge that gives rise to uncommon leadership.

Do something uncommon. Go to the library and pick out a book that you would never touch in a million years. Watch a film in a genre that you rarely see. Attend a lecture on a topic that would make most people go, “Huh?” What is one thing you can do or experience this month that is uncommon? Go do it.

Sharif Khan is a writer, speaker, coach, and author of “Psychology of the Hero Soul,” an inspirational book on awakening the Hero within and developing people’s leadership potential. You can reach him at sharif@herosoul.com. Website: http://www.herosoul.com/ Blog: http://www.sharifkhan.blogspot.com/ Phone: 416-417-1259

Copyright © 2005 Sharif Khan

Hero Soul Enterprises






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Monday, March 21, 2005

In Pursuit of Excellence

It is very easy in today’s ‘quick fix’ society to sacrifice quality and give in to mediocrity. There are too many products in the marketplace that are nothing more than junk with a pretty package, (sometimes even the packaging is garbage) put out by individuals with false hopes of making a fast buck at the customer’s expense. Unfortunately, everyone ends up losing in this scenario: the customer ends up with a bad experience and they tell all their friends, the product ends up being returned or in the recycle bin, and usually the company in question eventually ends up bankrupt.

Hero Souls are rare individuals who are always striving for more, always striving to improve, always committed to doing better than their best. They are in pursuit of excellence 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To be your best, you have to be willing to do more, to strive a little more, to know a little more, to reach a little higher and go beyond yourself.

Whether you are a student, office worker, entrepreneur, or artist, I encourage you to make the extra effort in bettering yourself and your craft every day and commit to excellence. If you are a student, learn more than just the assigned topic; bring an extra dimension into your research by digging further and offering more than what is expected. If you are an entrepreneur, learn from other disciplines outside your expertise and research the competition to genuinely improve your product instead of just mouthing, "we’re the best at what we do." If you’re an artist, risk rejection by putting your soul on the line by grasping at truth beyond yourself, even if you can’t quite fully understand and explain what lies beyond you.

I promise you that if you commit your life to excellence, now, today, you will separate yourself from the crowd and stand miles ahead. People will seek you out, and be willing to pay a premium for your service or product. Why am I willing to pay three or four times more for a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream or a Starbuck’s coffee when I know others are selling for less? Because they genuinely have a quality product and don’t have to B.S. me by saying ‘they are the best.’ Don’t boast about how good you are, commit to excellence and let the facts speak for themselves.

Sharif Khan is a writer, speaker, coach, and author of "Psychology of the Hero Soul," an inspirational book on awakening the Hero within and developing people’s leadership potential. You can reach him at sharif@herosoul.com. Website: www.herosoul.com
Blog: www.sharifkhan.blogspot.com Phone: 416-417-1259


Copyright © 2005 Sharif Khan

Hero Soul Enterprises




Leadership Training * Success Coaching * Meeting and Workshop Facilitation * Problem Solving * Entrepreneurship * Creativity * Ideas * Motivational Books * Reward and Recognition * Human Resources and Personal Development * Network Marketing Business Motivation* Performance and Achievement * Inspirational Keynotes * Leadership Lessons from the Hero Soul * Conferences and Events

Sunday, March 13, 2005

COURAGE

“Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne


"Courage is the cliché hallmark attributed to the hero. I say cliché because people talk about courage as if it is some mysterious force only a hero is born with. Courage is a vague and fleeting concept for many people because they lack it themselves. People lack courage because they lack knowledge. They have no idea where the true source of courage comes from. Even worse, they don’t know it and continue to live in fear. As Socrates pointed out, 'People not only don’t know, but they don’t know that they don’t know.'

This is why so many people on earth live in fear. Fear of death. Fear of life. Fear of living their nightmares. And fear of living their dreams. Most people are followers because they lack self-confidence and live in constant fear. Anyone who is brave and can show them how to overcome fear, they follow and respect. But...anyone that reminds people of their own fear, they attack and abuse viciously! This is human nature in its lowest, animal form.

What is fear? Fear is the perception or misperception of the unknown. Perception of how we negatively view reality, but not reality itself. I once heard somewhere, a useful acronym for FEAR: False Evidence that Appears Real. The ‘false evidence’ being our own manufactured worries, doubts, and negative images often of events that haven’t even taken place yet. William Shakespeare understood this principal well when he said, 'Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.'

The cause of fear is lack of knowledge. Therefore, ‘knowledge is the antidote to fear’ according to the great American hero philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. That is why heroes are brave souls. They immerse themselves with knowledge, plus knowledge, plus knowledge. Heroes know that they don’t know, but are willing to learn. They are humble and learn from everyone regardless of rank or status. Leaders know their potential. Followers ignore their potential. Courage and self-confidence comes from knowledge and self-knowledge...

This being said, no human hero is entirely fearless. Great heroes are not born fearless and brave. Nelson Mandela had this to say about courage: 'I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it...I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.'" [Excerpted from, "Psychology of the Hero Soul," by Sharif Khan, Chapter 16.]

Sharif Khan is a professional speaker, coach, and author of “Psychology of the Hero Soul,” an inspirational book on awakening the Hero within and developing your leadership potential. You can reach him at sharif@herosoul.com or by visiting http://www.herosoul.com

The Hero Soul is available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fundraising, or educational use. ISBN 0973192208. Call 416-417-1259 for details.






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Saturday, March 12, 2005

What I Learned from Jack Canfield

I had the good fortune of attending a talk by world-renowned speaker and author, Jack Canfield, who co-created the widely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul Series with Mark Victor Hansen. Over 80 million copies of the Chicken Soup series have sold world-wide, and both Jack and Mark entered the Guinness Book of World Records for having 7 New York Times Bestsellers all in the SAME day!

Mr. Canfield was speaking in Toronto promoting his new book, "The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be." Needless to say, he is highly qualified to speak on this topic. Mr. Canfield charges organizations thousands of dollars to hear him speak, so I consider it a great privilege that he has given me special permission to share my notes with you based on his lecture. This is my summary of his talk, and instead of the usual article format, it’s a potpourri of stuff highlighting some of his key principles. (We may think we already know all this stuff, but there are some real gems here that will serve to remind and reinforce to us what’s really important in that journey we call success).

WHEN YOU HEAR “NO” SAY “NEXT”
Mark and Jack were rejected by 144 publishers. Even their agent returned the book
saying he couldn’t sell it. They heard all kinds of excuses like, “Chicken Soup was too nicey, nicey, and that no one would want to read it.” Every time they heard the word ‘no,’ they said ‘next.’ And they asked a very important question: “What would it take to say YES?” The publisher responded with saying they needed to know, with certainty, that they could sell 20,000 copies. Now Mark and Jack had a target to work with.

INVEST 10% TO 20% OF WHAT YOU EARN
Albert Einstein once said that compounding interest was the 8th wonder of the world. Make a regular 10% to 20% deduction from your paycheck and invest it. $150 a month invested at a 6% return would yield you a $280,000 return in only ten years. Not bad! Go do it!

APPROACH YOUR MARKET DIRECTLY AND “ASK”
A Lexus auto dealership was facing a crisis situation where their sales were flat and beginning to decline. Nothing was working including expensive ads in radio, TV, and print. Finally, they decided to go direct to their target market audience by visiting country clubs, golf clubs, and upscale establishments, and asking members if they would like to test-drive a Lexus. Their sales increased by 65% as a result.

Ask yourself if there’s a product or service you offer that your main target market can ‘test-drive’? For example, in my case, I could ask influential people, opinion molders, and media personalities to ‘test-drive’ a copy of my book, Psychology of the Hero Soul. In your case, it could be getting upscale residents to sample your gourmet cookies.

STOP SETTLING FOR LESS THAN WHAT YOU WANT.
Say: “my needs are as important as your needs.”

TAKE 100% RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE AND YOUR RESULTS.
Stop blaming and complaining. It takes power away from you. Know that you have full responsibility to create your future and you are where you are today because of your thoughts, actions, and reactions/interpretations to outside events.

NEGATIVE ATTITUDE ALWAYS LOSES TO A POSITIVE ATTITUDE.

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT.
Your mind is a road map. You have to show it where you are now and where you expect to end up. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” [Alice in Wonderland]

GET A BHAG: BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL! (Pronounced bee-hag)
In deciding what you want, don’t short change yourself – think BIG! It takes just as much time to think big as it does to think small. People wanna play with you if you’ve got big aspirations. Create a break-through goal for yourself and do 5 things everyday that will help get you closer to that goal. Remember, the purpose of achieving goals is to achieve mastery. It’s about who you become in achieving them. Write your goal on the back of your business card and carry it in your wallet to remind yourself everyday.

For example, Jack Canfield’s goal is “to positively impact one billion lives through inspirational tapes, CDs, books, training seminars, etc.”

BE CLEAR ‘WHY’ YOU ARE HERE AND WHAT’S YOUR PURPOSE.

E+R=O EVENTS + RESPONSES = OUTCOME.
Our responses to events that affect us will eventually determine our outcome. In other words, you can see the glass half-empty or half-full.

CREATE AN IRRITATION LIST
Write down all the things that have been bugging you for some time (the missing button on your shirt, the rip in the sofa, the chipping paint on the wall, the messy desk, etc.) and just take a day or two fix it. Throw out old stuff you haven’t used in years and make space for the new.

WHO DO YOU ENVY AND WHY?
Write down a list of who you envy and why? Jack Canfield used to envy Kenny Rogers because he had famous sports celebrities over for bbq’s. Canfield realized he was envious because he was missing ‘guy-time’ (time with the boys) so he created his own social functions where he could play football and do guy stuff with the guys.

CREATE AN “I WANT LIST” OR “101 GOALS LIST”
Write down at least 30 things you’d like to do, have, and be. Commit to accomplishing 3 a year.

VISION EXERCISE
Visualize what would it look like, sound like, and feel like to have all your deepest desires in the 7 key areas of your life (finances, social, things, contribution, relationships, romance, career, health, etc.). Vividly imagine these, making the sounds clear and the colors vivid. You are in a sense creating some dissatisfaction or cognitive dissonance with your current situation and that which you desire, causing a gap that your subconscious mind will want to close or narrow.

SCHEDULE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO DO FOR THE NEXT DAY THE NIGHT BEFORE, USUALLY THE LAST 45 MINUTES BEFORE YOU GO TO BED. This is a great way to save time, stay focused, and get your subconscious mind to start thinking, while you’re sleeping, about the accomplishments and activities for the next day.

WHO DO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH?
According to Jim Rohn, you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.

INTERNET VS. INNERNET
Your innernet is more powerful than the internet. Think of an emotionally charged thought as broadcasting an email to everyone in the world. Broadcast your desires, send out a mental image of what you want to the world. See what you want, and you’ll get what you see. We attract what matches our vibrational energy.

CREATE A VISION BOARD
For example, get your picture taken sitting in your dream car or standing in your dream home, and paste those pictures on a board where you can see them everyday.

ACT AS IF. EXPECT TO WIN. VISUALIZE YOUR GOALS AS ALREADY COMPLETE.

CREATE A ‘MONTH OF MAGIC’
Visualize and act on what you want for 30 days without any complaining. It usually takes 30 days to change a habit. Create 4 new empowering habits a year.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK
It’s important to ask for feedback. Ask: “On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate my product/service? What would it take to make it a 10?”

And on that note, on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate my Blog? What would it take to make it a 10? :)


The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, by Jack Canfield, can be ordered from http://www.amazon.com/ and is available in bookstores. Visit http://www.thesuccessprinciples.com/ or http://www.jackcanfield.com/ for more information on the book or Mr. Canfield’s work.


Sharif Khan
www.HeroSoul.com
Speaker, Coach, Author of Psychology of the Hero Soul
Delivering Inspirational Keynotes and Leadership Seminars that Energize, Educate, and Empower audiences to unleash their inner hero and live their highest life





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