Tiger Woods

I was listening to an interview with Malcolm Gladwell recently on the Radiolab podcast in which he was speaking about the performance of Jamaican athletes when he was growing up. He made a comment that part of the reason for their performance is that they trained harder than anybody else.

When Darren la Croix won the 2001 World Championship of Public Speaking, he said that he did not want any of the other competitors to be more prepared than him – he wanted to out-prepare all of them, and he won.

When I was in school, I studied music as one of my matric subjects. In my final year, I would probably practice about 2-3 hours a day, and I was a far better pianist then than I am now. It was because I was putting in the time to prepare.

Tiger Woods is such a great golfer partly because he puts in approx 6 ½ hours training every single day, as well as about 2 ½ hours in the gym  . I have no doubt that if I put effort into golf every day for a few years, I would be a mighty fine golfer as well. Maybe not as good as Tiger Woods, but a lot better than I currently am.

According to Fortune Magazine,

“The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts…. that nobody is great without work…There’s no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice.”

Ok, so the bottom line is that you can be excellent at just about anything that you choose, but you will need to put in the effort to get there.

How much effort are you prepared to put into your passion?

Here is a six-part conversation by some of the World Champs of Public Speaking. These are the guys that you get to hang out with if you attend the Toastmasters International Convention.

Here is a six-part video – Conversation with the Champs. For many more free educational videos from Darren, check out his YouTube site.

Anyway, here are the videos – enjoy!

Then listen to these free mp3’s, in which Patricia Fripp, CSP interviews Al Hops, creator of The Interview Edge.

Al Hops is an award-winning sales professional who has consistently developed innovative ideas leading to success in job interviewing and closing sales.  As part of his consulting practice with President Clinton, Bob Costas and Jim Carrey, Al helped open the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville.

The two 20 minute long MP3’s can be downloaded for free of the World Champions Edge website. Thanks to World Champions Edge for making them available.

I have had the privilege of attending two of Ben and Roz's presentations, and I have been blown away both times.

Well, I am very excited that my Friend's from Symphonia, Johleen and Louise are bringing him out again.

If at all you can attend, I strongly recommend that you do, it will be a life-changing experience (and for me to say that is a lot!).

In 2009, Benjamin Zander will deliver the opening keynote presentation at the World Economic Forum. Now you have the opportunity to experience this inspirational speaker and musician live in South Africa.

Book now! Don't miss this opportunity!
Ben and Roz have made a special commitment to return to South Africa in December. Don't miss this opportunity ? we don't know whether there will be another chance to experience this inspirational presentation live in South Africa.

COSTS PER PERSON

Early Bird (booked and paid before 15th Oct): R1,200 + VAT (save R300 per ticket!)

Tickets booked and paid after 15th Oct: R1,500 +VAT

NPOs and academic institutions: 50% discount

A 10% discount applies to group bookings for more than 10 people
PLEASE CONTACT

Johleen van Dyk
for a registration form
(johleen@symphonia.net)

Louise van Rhyn
to enquire about special pricing for large group bookings
(louise@symphonia.net)

Tags: Ben Zander Symphonia

I had the opportunity of seeing Ben Zander speaking last year, and it was a remarkable experience. He is a world-renowned conductor and an inspirational  speaker on Leadership and the ?Art of Possibility? (he co-authored the book ?Art of Possibility? with his partner Rozamund Zander).

Ben is speaking in Cape Town on 21 and 22nd August. The kind folks at Symphonia have offered a 25% discount to tickets for the Cape Town presentations, provided your tickets are purchased before 31 July - just mention my name for the discount. Both Lois and I have secured tickets, so we would love to see you there. I promise you, it will be worth every cent!

Ben has appeared five times as a keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

You can watch the video of Ben’s presentation at the TED conference earlier this year. This is a short 20 minute exposure to Ben’s presentation style. The 1,600 people in attendance responded with a standing ovation and called this presentation the most inspirational talk of the conference http://blog.ted.com/2008/06/benjamin_zander.php

You can download the full details of all the presentations as well as the 4 concerts in Cape Town from Symphonia’s website http://www.symphonia.net/thought_leaders.html

?Zander is a fairly frequent visitor to South Africa. Apart from an obvious affinity for the Rainbow Nation, he has also been “discovered” by corporates who bring him over to help articulate visions and share ideas on the New Age manager. Occasionally outsiders are invited. Should you happen upon the opportunity, grab it. After putting his ideas to the test, who knows how many shining eyes might soon greet you at the office??

Alec Hogg, Moneyweb website

Ben has the ability to ignite and inspire large groups of people in a 3 hour session ? he uses the power of music to galvanise people to action and a sense of possibility.

For more information about Benjamin Zander:

www.benjaminzander.com

COSTS PER PERSON (before 25% discount)

For bookings received after 1st June: R1,350 + VAT

A 10% discount applies to group bookings for more than 10 people
 
PLEASE CONTACT

Johleen van Dyk
for a registration form
(johleen@symphonia.net)

Louise van Rhyn
to enquire about special pricing for large group bookings
(louise@symphonia.net)

I had the privilege of seeing Ben Zander when he was in Cape Town last year. He left a huge impression on me, and I strongly recommend you all to attend. You will not be disappointed – he gives a remarkable and inspiring presentation.

For more information about Benjamin Zander please see www.benjaminzander.com

• Ben Zander is a world-renowned conductor and an inspirational  speaker on Leadership and the ?Art of Possibility? (he co-authored the book ?Art of Possibility? with his partner Rozamund Zander)
• Ben has appeared five times as a keynote speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Alec Hogg (Moneyweb) saw him in Davos in January 2008:

Zander is a fairly frequent visitor to South Africa. Apart from an obvious affinity for the Rainbow Nation, he has also been "discovered" by corporates who bring him over to help articulate visions and share ideas on the New Age manager. Occasionally outsiders are invited. Should you happen upon the opportunity, grab it. After putting his ideas to the test, who knows how many shining eyes might soon greet you at the office?

- Alec Hogg, Moneyweb website      http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page32979?oid=188857&sn=Detail

Book now for Ben’s "Art of Possiblity" presentation

• Johannesburg: Friday, 15th August 2008 at VodaWorld (Midrand)
• Cape Town: Friday, 22nd August 2008 at Artscape (Cape Town)

Costs per person:

• For bookings received before 30th April: R1,100 + VAT
• For bookings received after 1st May: R1,350 + VAT

A 10% discount applies to group bookings for more than 10 people

Please contact

• Johleen van Dyk (johleen@symphonia.net) for a registration form
• Louise van Rhyn (louise@symphonia.net) to enquire about special pricing for large group bookings

The GROW model is a coaching model that describes a very simply process that can be followed to help you work towards and to achieve your goals.

GOAL

The first step is to understand what your goal is. Understanding your goal gives you a concrete objective towards which you can work, and the freedom to start doing so.
Make your goals SMART – goals that are Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based. This removes the pie-in-the- sky aspect of goal setting, and turns them into something that you can actually achieve. Having a goal such as ?I would like to lose weight? is difficult to measure and hence difficult to achieve. How about changing it to ?I would like to lose 5 kg by December 2007??

Without goals comes a lack of focus, and with no focus it is very easy to drift through life – just living from day to day, wondering why you are not achieving anything in life. How much harder is it to move forward without understanding where you are going?

REALITY

The next step is to look at the current reality. Where are you in relation to your goal? Have you almost achieved your goal? Are you a long way away? Do you need to break the goal into smaller, more achievable goals?
It may require a detailed and honest analysis of where you are, But having a deep understanding of where you are provides a very solid foundation of understanding what needs to happen.

OPTIONS

Once you understand your goal and your reality, the task is to find out how to start to move the reality towards the goal. At this stage in the process, you examine what options are available to you. This is where the planning takes place.
There may be a single course of action, or there may be multiple options from which to choose. This is a good opportunity to go into some creative brainstorming, or to perform a SWOT analysis on the various options that are available to you.
Remember that at this stage you are not deciding which are the best options – that is for later. You are simply deciding on what the possible options are.

WHAT

At this stage, we have examined the goal, we know where we are in respect to the goal, and we have examined the various options that we can follow to reach the goal.
The final step is to examine the options, and to decide what the best option is to reach your goal. Note that you are not looking at the easiest option, but the best option. IE: which option is going to move you closest towards your goal?

WORKING THE PLAN

Working throught the GROW model provides a very simple yet powerful framework to support you in achieving your goals. However, the work really happens not in the planning, but in the working of your plan.

While working your plan, keep in mind how you are progressing towards your goal. Keeping examining what is and is not working in your plan. What might have seemed as a great option (the WHAT) might not have been the best choice . So try to have the flexibility to make  adjustments when it becomes necessary.

WHERE TO USE GROW

The GROW model can be used in almost any aspect of your personal or business life, including health, wealth, team goals and career aspirations. Basically, GROW will work anywhere in your life that you are working towards a goal.

Good luck, and continue to GROW.

Historical note: There is a lot of uncertainty as to the origins of the GROW model. Several sources cite several different authors. To the best of my knowledge, it was created by Graham Alexander and brought to the fore by Sir John Whitmore.