A gift for Covid Campers everywhere!

The Heroes Climb, The Ascent from I to Us

Think back to the first time you realized you were meant for something greater. That thought was your first step. You set-out towards a peak beyond your sights. What happened to that journey of yours? Are you isolated in your Covid Camp? Moreover, what will you do in the months ahead?

There are scores of heroes. Look past the iconic heroes of legend or stardom. Turn your gaze to everyday heroes who pivoted from I to us.

As you widen the scope of possibilities, you become aware of a mountain, patiently waiting for you. As you ascend, your power will shift from I to us.

Normally, I give motivational keynote speeches about how “I” went from recreational skier to the Olympics in just four years. This was followed by how others could accelerate towards their goals through an award-winning speaking career and as a New York Times bestselling author.

Then, the “Great Recession” hit. And the journey uphill to find “Us” began. With this new mountain of a health and economic crisis, your opportunity awaits. This book is for you to venture on your Heroes Climb.

#setbacktobreakthrough

Hey COVID campers, good morning.

Starting every day well is an important part of your day, and when it comes to your routines; What are your routines? One approach I'd recommend is something that I've found very, very useful, it's something I call Activate and Meditate.

Basically it starts with something like yoga or a walk, or something like that, and then meditating. It's taking the time to actually relax and have yourself stabilize. It's a very, very effective way to set the tone for the day, get your mind straight for the day, and get you pointed in the right direction.

So, before everybody's up around here, I wanted to touch base and give you an idea of the kinds of routines that I use. You may find them useful as well.

One - Activate

Two - then Meditate.

Have a great day, COVID campers. We've got this!

Hey COVID campers, how you doing?

You know what? We're trying to manage our way through this situation. We're trying to cope as things look like they might get worse before they get better. Yet, we don't manage our way to excellence, and then we don't cope our way to better outcomes.

Now when you think of what the opposite of managing or coping with a situation is, it's surrendering, well we're not doing that either.

The point here is to be able to supersede coping into the next level, which is to be able to be curious about the kinds of things that may work and then get creative within that. 

I mentioned this earlier, but I'll give you another example. My son Max is a musician. You know, he is kind of trapped at home with the rest of us. He's reaching out through social media, and he's saying, hey, tell me your story, I'll create a song for you. And then I'll give it back to you and I'll play it live for you. So, is that gonna bring in revenue for him? Who knows, that's not the point. He has an expertise, he got curious about the kinds of things he could do, and then he got creative with that.

Here's a link for you to be able to learn more about what Max is doing.

In the same breathe, how curious and creative can you be in these times ahead instead of just coping or managing the situation? Take care COVID campers, bye bye.

Hey COVID campers, you know what, in times of uncertainty, the tendency is to be able to just stick around and wait and see. Well, that's not the solution, the solution is to be two things.

One, curious.

Look at all the different opportunities. I mean, if, what's his name, Edison, did the light bulb that took 10,000 tries, well 10,001 he figured it out. Well, if he can do that, we can at least every day do one thing that we're acting in out of the place of curiosity. Is this something, is this something.

Second step is to be creative.

Well, we have to be creative of how to apply that. And so when I think about all the opportunities in front of us, me as an author and as a speaker, I'm looking at all sorts of ways to reach out and this is one of them.

So stay curious and then get creative. Those two things will put you in a place where eventually you'll pop out the other side. And pop out the other side stronger as well.

Hey COVID campers.

I don't know about you but I get in this state where I’ve got to work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work.

I'm taking a break right now but you know what? I also am a big advocate of putting stuff on the calendar and one of the things I put on the calendar today, in fact I'm going to do it next, is to go for a bike ride Whatever kind of exercise, put it specifically on your calendar.

Even though it seems kind of lame because you're at home, what are you going to put on the calendar? It helps you to define the kinds of things you can do for yourself. Not just the calls you need to keep up with and the work you need to keep up with. But also the self-serving stuff. Make sure you put stuff on the calendar is key to making this all work.

We’ve got this. Take care.

It's time to pivot.

The problem with pivoting from negative thoughts to positive thoughts, is that's pretty lame advice, you know why? Because you first have to set up your emotional buzz. Your emotional buzz is, where do I want to go with my life? What do I want to do? Is this state that we're in right now where you want to be?

Well, maybe not, with this whole pandemic, so let's actually pivot by first identifying what your emotional buzz is, then you can pivot and when you pivot, this, your emotional buzz is where do I want to go with my life? What do I want to do? Is this state that we're in right now where you want to be?

Well, maybe not, with this whole pandemic, so let's actually pivot by first identifying what your emotional buzz is, then you can pivot and when you pivot, this is a way to do it. Make sure your conscious, your mind and your subconscious might have a conversation.

In a book I wrote called The Ant and the Elephant the ant is the conscious mind, the elephant the subconscious mind, and what they do is the ant realizes the elephant, the subconscious mind, is having a negative thought.

The ant says to the elephant, "Thank you. That's not part of my vision. My vision is…" (Insert your emotional buzz here.) and it pivots onto that emotional buzz you had in the first place.

So set your emotional buzz, where you wanna be in your life, and then, and make sure it has an emotional quotient attached to it, then when a negative thought appears, that's when you can pivot. That's when you can go to the subconscious mind, the elephant, and go, "Thank you, but that's not part of my vision. "My vision is..." and then go onto the positive thought. And you can make it even better if you add the sensations of sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. I mean, you'd be able to bring in the five senses and really experience that, that will be an effective way to pivot on where you want to go.

Take care Covid Campers.

We've got this.

Hello Covid Campers.

Let's profile a Covid Camper. Here's the first profile.

Here's an interview we captured a few days ago with single mom, entrepreneur and my sister, Christa Haberstock. (Note: It was taken in those good old days when we, non essential service people, were allowed to go out of the house but ensure we were social distancing.)

You'll learn how she has been ensuring her teenage kids can make the most out of their time. (Self admittedly, she's not the perfect mom.)

You'll learn how Christa pivoted from not making money in her current business to delivering groceries to those who could use the help. Note how she brought her kids into the service, as a parenting, teachable moment.

You'll see how Christa is using humor to make it all work in times of chaos.

Hey, COVID Campers, Vince Poscente here. Willie Sutton use to rob banks, and he was asked by the media, "Why do you rob banks?" He said, "Well that's where the money is." That's something we can pay attention to. The money's flowing in a different direction right now.

Well, where is that money flowing? Pay attention to that question. The following will give you an example answer.

My sister has a small events business booking speakers. She was ticking along. Poof, in March, 2020 that just went away. (hopefully, temporarily) She immediately went, "Well, where's the money?" And she said, "Well, wait a minute, "people are delivering groceries." And she got on some app and then started delivering groceries with her kids (to get her kids involved). She really just followed where the money is, because some people need help with getting groceries delivered.

Follow the money. Clearly, it's not about robbing banks. It's about paying attention to where the flow of money is, and you'll be able to get through this. Particularly the COVID Campers who have been laid off recently.

You'll get your job back, or you'll get a new job.

Things will be better. Take care. Hang in there.

Good leaders communicate. Great leaders have Champions.

Yes, good leaders are communicating to their people.

Great leaders are leaning on experts and seasoned professionals to help map out a game plan to defend the state and champion the cause.

In days of old, King's Champions would defend the crown against any challenger.

The COVID-19 Pandemic is a formidable challenger to any company's position and livelihood. 

The time is now for leaders to call on Champions to enter the foray. Yet, that line of defense will come from:

• Expert on-line messaging,
• Superior video training, and
• Practical group coaching. 

It's even better if your Champion has a Jester's DNA. The Jester is not the fool, but a colleague in honesty. In literature, the court jester was used for insight and advice on the part of the monarch, optimizing his license to speak freely with frank observations. That is what a great leader, and his/her people, need!

Conventional training will not do. Radical impact and influence is the order of the day. The time is now for radical safety.

Be a great leader. Lock arms with your champion.* Speak in a united voice of honesty and urgency.

*Vince Poscente is a master communicator with over two decades of helping leaders champion a message. His presentations are broadcast from his desk, studio or stage to audience looking for increased resiliency and determination. Vince has lead expeditions to the summit of unclimbed peaks in the Himalayas along with overcoming the fear of skiing at 135 mph in the Olympic Games. He is an expert in taking on paralyzing challenges and thriving while doing it. He is the founder of Radical Safety and ranked at one of the World's Top 10 presenters in the corporate landscape.

Are things bad, or are they good?

You know what, you never know if things are good or bad.

Let's go back to 1983, I tried luge. The coach told me that I sucked. Well that's bad, well, not necessarily.

Because then I went and got my recreation degree (with a focus on sports marketing). I got a job as the Executive Director for luge in Alberta, so that's good. Well, not necessarily.

Because at the same time, when I quit luge, a guy named Bob Gasper doesn't quit. Five years later, he marches in the opening ceremonies and I watched him compete in the '88 Olympic Winter Games. I had regrets I'd never stuck with luge. So that's bad, well not necessarily.

Because then, I went on to try speed skiing. I dropped everything to start racing, in the hopes of getting to the Olympic games, so that's good. Well not necessarily.

Because I had no ski race experience. So that's bad. Well then, not necessarily because I used mental training techniques to be able to get to those Olympic games, so that good.

Well, not necessarily, because in the Olympic games I had a legitimate shot at a medal and I placed 15th. I lost. So that's bad.

Not necessarily, because I ended up speaking to corporations about striving for excellence. Everybody can relate to that feeling of trying to reach a dream, trying to reach something. And then falling short. Not falling short out of integrity but doing your very best and seeing what happens, so that's good.

Not necessarily because I became a hall of fame and that's good.

Not necessarily. Because right now I'm not giving speeches at all, I'm not going anywhere because of this COVID-19.

So here we are. Here you are.

Is it bad?  Or is it good?

Who knows, just hang in there.

You’ve got this.