Okay, maybe Jesse didn’t beat Dennis physically, but he shut him down verbally. Last season’s Celebrity Apprentice featured Joan Rivers, Herschel Walker, Clint Black, Jesse James and the unique, flamboyant and unmistakable Dennis Rodman. Dennis really cut up and showed his most ridiculous self and there was much drama. The Donald kept giving him a break and he would skate each week.
In HIS last episode, Dennis went into Screaming MeMe mode and said, “…I could kick all of your butts in everything…” to which the cool Jesse James patiently replied, “Well Dennis, why don’t you kick our butts at being the best YOU that you can be?” That ever so gently spoken truth was the slam dunk that shut Dennis down. He couldn’t even think of a good comeback shot because there was none.
You can’t really teach people anything unless they are willing to learn. What I like most is working with willing and eager learners – people who are hungry and are excited about learning new things. These people are GHB’s (growing human beings) and are usually optimistic, open-minded and curious. Those are my kind of folks. You must be one of them if you are reading this post so thanks for showing up!
Teachers who are GHBs make teaching and learning fun for themselves as well as their students. Teachers love GHBs who ask questions and push the envelope, GHBs who think for themselves and demonstrate an ability to spawn new ideas. Hallelujah for the GHBs of the world.
The thing I like about President Obama is that he is straight to the point with no hype. In a recent speech to address this nation’s schools, he said that everyone has a responsibility. Well, that’s a fact that I can’t argue with. He charged teachers, parents, students and governments to help turn around schools that aren’t working. The job belongs to us and he is right when he said that none of it will matter unless we each do our part. He was affirmative and said that we each have a responsibility to ourselves to discover the hidden talent within. Of course! Whose job would it be otherwise? But we want to spend time breaking him down instead of receiving the truth of his message. He spoke simply of the possibilities for budding writers, innovators, inventors, or the next medical discovery – or next political leader. The face of politics has become so nasty, I wonder who wants those jobs and I imagine the special qualities it takes to step to the plate in that arena. Qualities that he embodies for sure.
President Obama went on to tell students, “No matter what you want to do with your life you’ll need an education to do it. You can’t drop out of school and drop into a good job. You got to work for it.” Well, he’s right about that! How we invest in ourselves will most certainly affect this entire nation. If we have a quality consciousness and one of excellence, then we will be able to compete in the new global marketplace. Without top-notch skills, we will be left in the dust. China and India are eating us alive in many areas including math and science.
Troy Stende recently returned from what he calls ‘a crazy and amazing orientation tour.’ He visited 11 states in 15 days like a rock star on a mini tour… but without all the partying. His life is an example of one of the things he advises students to do, “Find something you love and do it with passion!”
With a crazy and hectic schedule – that included stops at Arkansas Technical University, St. Cloud University (MN), Texas A&M University – Commerce, SUNY Potsdam (NY), the University of Wyoming, Barry University (FL), Muhlenberg College (PA), Richard Stockton College (NJ), and Thompson Rivers University (British Columbia, Canada) among others – Troy says he was still full of energy and doing back flips when it was all over.
This is what part of that tour looked like from a frequent flyer perspective: Deliver a powerful message at St. Cloud University in Minnesota (Troy’s home state). Wake up the next morning and fly to Texas. Drive an hour and a half to Texas A&M University – Commerce. Fire up the students with an amazing 3-hour program. Hop in the car, drive an hour and a half back to the airport. Fly to Atlanta. Arrive at 1:00 am and sleep on the airport floor for 3 hours. Go through customs and hop an international flight to Canada just to drive 3 hours and go back through International customs to make it to an orientation program in upstate New York. Whew! I’m tired just writing this!
College is not only a place for learning, socializing, and preparing for the “big job,” it is, for many students, a big test of survival. College life is no joke. Constantly cramming for exams, writing term papers in the double digit numbers, becoming involved in too many extra curricular activities so that you can “look good” on your resume, and trying to work for (or keep enough) money to have some fun with friends can quickly become a recipe for S-T-R-U-G-G-L-E. That is: survival through rough undertakings, goals and gains lacking enthusiasm!
Life on campus doesn’t have to be a “struggle to get through the day.” It can be an experience of high energy, reward, and purpose. The key is to learn how to manage your energy in the midst of it all. Let’s face it, the work loads, campus activities, term papers and exams will probably never go away but, you can learn how to manage your level of stress in a way that actually gives you more energy than you imagined. Here is the first strategy to help boost your energy the natural way: Read the rest of this post »
Posted by Rick Sherrell on October 12th, 2009 under the category Money Matters ••
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Jordan Goodman is a financial guru and his son is just starting his freshman year at Dartmouth. Jordan’s been dealing with money for years as an expert in the field, but for his son it’s a whole new territory. And arming his own son with the right financial tools is new territory for Jordan as well.
“Basically he had nothing to do with money,” says Jordan. “So when he went off to school I started teaching him how to write checks and keep his balance, how to balance his credit cards and how to invest in various ways in money markets and CDs. This was all new territory for him and for many kids.”
Because he saw the need among his son’s classmates, Jordan held an informal workshop for the fall freshmen to get the off on the right foot.
In early September I traveled for six days to make three speaking/training engagements. I started out on September 8 flying to LAX from Atlanta, changed planes, and then on to Boise, ID. From there, I drove for roughly an hour across the Snake River into Oregon and to Ontario, OR. I did a leadership/team building day for SGA leaders, Residence Life, and college Ambassadors. When I was done, I drove back to Boise, flew to LAX, and then flew all night, Wednesday into Thursday, to Atlanta. Oh no, I did not get to go home, instead I changed planes and flew to Cleveland.
I stayed in Cleveland Thursday night and then drove to Erie, PA and an advisor’s program on Friday afternoon followed by a packed house of around 140 students at Gannon University for a full day leadership retreat. It was awesome! That was followed by a quick drive to Cleveland’s Hopkins Airport and a flight to LaGuardia for a Campus organization Leadership Training (COLT) program at a student leadership conference on Sunday at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn.
This blog is not about any of those programs, but, rather, about what I did on my “off” day in Cleveland on Thursday, September 10. I had sent out an email to schools in the Cleveland-Erie corridor letting them know I would be in the area and available for a program on that Thursday. Well, one of the schools that I have previously spoken at, Cuyahoga Community College-East Campus, could not schedule me, but their Director of Student Life and Athletics Rita McKinley invited me to come by their Welcome Week activity that day. It was a cookout with a DJ and caricature artist. I thought this would be fun and a great way to spend my night (rather than just sitting in a hotel), so I agreed to come by. Little did I know what was actually in store for me!
That’s the question I asked Dave Kelly, America’s Student Leadership Trainer. He’s been working with student leaders for 30 years – since the days he was a student leader himself. He keeps in touch and up to date by continuing to work with students clubs and organizations on college campuses and through his volunteer work with Kiwanis International and their college branch, Circle K International. Drawing on his relationship with thousands of students and student-led organizations across the country, here’s what he thinks are the three essential qualities of a good student leader.
The 1st Quality of a Good Student Leader – Have VISION!
Believe it or not your speaker or other campus guest cares whether or not you get a good turn-out for your event. And many speakers are willing to get involved and help you promote your event to students, faculty, staff and the local community in any way they can. The best speakers know what draws people to their events and are often willing to devote extra time to insure your success.
Here are seven ways you can get your speaker involved in helping you recruit an audience. Read the rest of this post »
I had the privlege of sharing LIGMO and bits of the HeartMath program with 100 teachers and staff at Lincoln Tech in Melrose Park, Illinoislast week. Teachers are powerful people and have the opportunity to share their knowledge and shape our future generations.
They, however, are stressed to the max, dealing with their own DUKKHA, and that of their students on top of it all. (Dukkha is a Sanskrit word for Suffering or Drama). Everybody’s got some Simply Ridiculous Dukkha and this wonderful group was in the game to confront theirs and learn to LIGMO – let it go and move on!
I’ve got a gig this afternoon at Lincoln College of Technology in Melrose Park, Illinois, outside of Chicago. It is a two hour staff development workshop on LIGMO. the coordinator shared many of the challenges that the staff face, as well as the students and they are looking to be uplifted and presented with some solutions. As a trainer with lots of gems and precious tools for learning, I always say, “Only Two Hours!?” One thing for sure, they brought me all the way up from Atlanta and whatever I have to say in that short time frame, better be good.
As I listened, I thought, “Wow, yet another group of human beings that are members of the cult of overwhelm.” What I realize is how stressed people are and when I share Simply Ridiculous and LIGMO it is with the hope of helping them to confront the issues in a light hearted manner and let the drama go. Our programming has us so caught up that we can’t see the light of day.
I’ve heard it said that a closed book can’t be read, a closed mouth can’t be fed and for sure, a closed mind is as good as dead. What’s the point of having a brain if we don’t delight in developing it to the max? My grandmother used to say, “Honey, they make a whole new world out of things you don’t know everyday so keep an open mind at all times.”
The world we live in is changing rapidly and what we need are great learning strategies to help us keep up with the pace of change. I encourage the students that I work with to develop an insatiable curiosity for life, learning and discovery. Learning more about who you are and how your incredible brain can serve you is more important than learning about subject matter. Once you know who you are and how your hardware (body/brain) and software (conscious and unconscious mind) works, you can activate it powerfully to learn any subject quickly and easily.
For years, college students have been rocked by credit card debt after being victimized by what can be considered a system that’s no less vicious that the predatory mortgage lending practices that have dominated the news in the past year. That’s the first thing that came to mind when I asked Jordan Goodman, America’s Money Answers Man, about the biggest money mistakes college students make.
“Getting into credit card debt over their head,” he says. “The average freshman has about five credit cards and $2,000 worth of debt by the end of their freshman year. By senior year many have as many as seven credit cards and $10,000 in credit card debt. But that’s going to change.”
Jordan points to the new Credit Card Reform Act signed into law in June by President Obama. The Senate voted 90-5 and the House 361-64, to pass this new legislation that includes banning credit cards for people under the age of 21 unless their parents or another adult co-signs for them or they can show proof of their ability to repay the debt. Although this part of the legislation doesn’t kick in until February 2010, college students will also have to get permission from parents or guardians to increase credit limits.
(Note to self… who are those 69 elected officials who didn’t vote for this? Should I be voting for them? Anyway… back to the matter at hand!) Read the rest of this post »
There are two kinds of people – Owls and Larks. Owls like to stay up late and do their best work when all of the fanfare dies down. They drag butt in the mornings and don’t get activated until mid morning or afternoon. On the other hand, Larks are morning people. They rise with the sun, sun shinny and smiles and they irk the daylights out of owls. Knowing which type you are will make a big difference with your study habits and results. Since most traditional college courses are held during the day, owls must adapt and even be at early morning classes long before they’d prefer. We’re creatures of habit, and being flexible and adaptable are certainly good characteristics to have as you will need to go with the flow in college and in life.
Did you know that the most important skill for learning is reading? Think about it – you have to read in every subject, including math! The whole of our existence is about communication – and words are king in that they convey lots of detail, ideas, information and valuable genius insights. You must read in order to prepare for tests and even write your papers.
Sometimes reading can see seem like a daunting task. Not to worry. The first thing to consider is that reading is simply a conversation with the author. If you can get yourself relaxed and in the right state of mind, you’ll find that you may be able to actually hear the author speaking to you. You’re reading his writing and he is speaking into your listening. It’s a dynamic relationship and you are important to the author! Read the rest of this post »
I recently saw the incredible violinist Ken Ford play in Atlanta at Villa Christina for a summer concert series. It was an absolute knock out as I watched Ken play the heaven out of his violin! I witnessed musical and self-mastery at its finest and I was literally blown away.
I was in awe at the high level of passion and energy and the way Ken moved the audience with his interactive presence and style. What does all of this have to do with learning? Everything. Ken Ford embodied a commitment and love for learning in everything he did. He spoke to the audience at the end and answered some of his most frequently answered questions; He has been playing for 30 years and was encouraged by his parents. He was embarrassed by the violin early on and it took time to get used to it. He now has his own foundation that is committed to taking up the slack with the budget cuts in schools for arts and he tutors and supports children who play string instruments. That’ living a life of contribution!
When you study, you can’t afford to entertain distractions. To get the most of your study time, turn off the TV, PlayStation, Xbox, Gameboy, and whatever else! Now, the only exception is music!
The key to effective learning is to be in the right state and the right kind of music can facilitate learning in an incredible way. And this doesn’t include rap and hip hop with a bunch of lyrics that all go together and a funky beat that makes you want to shake your groove thang.
I took this video in Orlando in July, 2009 during a leadership retreat for the SGA leaders of four of Valencia Community College’s campuses. This is a team building exercise called “Tummy HA HA”. It is a fun activity that helps with a number of the steps or “building blocks” in team building. My role as the facilitator is to determine the size of the groups, explain the rules, moderate the action, encourage open participation, and make sure that the teams play fair in determining a winner. You will hear me calling out one of the team members who busted out laughing and making his team start over.
The idea is for the members of the team to have a shared experience, something they can relate to later, joke about, etc. This activity also gets the members of the team out of their comfort zone as they get to relate to each other in a close, but non-threatening way. Things can get silly so it is also a good tension breaker. It also puts members of the team who may be in different levels of leadership on an even plane, other than their ability to contain their laughter.
Here are the instructions for this activity if you wish to try it yourself.
Dave Farrow is the current Guinness World Record Holder for Greatest Memory. He memorized the order of 59 decks of cards (that’s 3068 cards in all) shuffled together to make the claim of having the World’s Greatest Memory. However, Dave started out as a struggling student with ADHD and dyslexia.
Dave studied and developed his own series of memory techniques to overcome his learning disorder and have the last laugh. Now Dave teaches college students and anyone who wants to listen how they came use his memory improving techniques to study better and perform better in school, in business and in life.
As Dave is quick to say…
“I don’t do memory tricks. I’m not a savant or one of those guys with a weird switch in my head that makes me remember everything. I’ve had ADD and dyslexia since I was a kid, so I had to develop real techniques to help me get ahead. I love teaching those techniques to anyone who’ll listen.”
Researchers at the Institute of HeartMath in San Jose California have discovered that your emotional state affects your brain’s ability to learn. Your cognitive ability or higher order thinking centers can’t be activated if you are dealing with drama. Negative and stressful relationships shut you down and bring you down too. Is it worth it? Hardly.
In HIS last episode, Dennis went into Screaming MeMe mode and said, “…I could kick all of your butts in everything…” to which the cool Jesse James patiently replied, “Well Dennis, why don’t you kick our butts at being the best YOU that you can be?” That ever so gently spoken truth was the slam dunk that shut Dennis down. He couldn’t even think of a good comeback shot because there was none.
