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How Strong is Your Spirit?

Here is a surprise. I went to the boxing on Friday night. I know, how weird of me!

Now in the words of the late, great Kevin Merry, I am a peace loving man. So it was a little in your face (even if you weren’t in the ring).

The victor above is my personal trainer Chris. He is also a martial arts trainer and as part of his preparation for 2nd Dan Black Belt certification he thought he would improve his fitness and foot skills by going in for the Fight Fit challenge and have a real boxing fight of three rounds. It was full on!

What I noticed about Chris was not only what he physically fit, his fighting spirit was strong as well. All the fighters I saw almost collapsed in between rounds as they sat on their chair. He stood the entire time in a power pose (think Superman with his hands on his hips). Maybe he was psyching out his opponent or maybe he was triggering his own psyche, whatever it was he was doing, it worked.

Now for you and me, it is not boxing that damages our psyche or spirit, it can be more mundane things. A complaint from a customer, feedback from a colleague or simply the seed of self doubt. So what can you do to keep your spirit strong?

There is a lot of evidence supporting a power pose to give you strength. The right music does great wonders. Meditation can do amazing things for you. Others use the power of interpretive dance (I have to say this doesn’t work for me as I am too self conscious!) The secret is to have a plan and then use it BEFORE you need it as well as when you do.

Have you got a plan and is your spirit strong?

PS Speaking of strong spirits, Jedi Charli cut her hair last week. You can see some photos here (just scroll down a bit) as well as see that she raised over $3,000 for the Cancer Council. A HUUUUUGE thanks to all of you that supported her. It was wonderful of you.

PPS I will never use the phrase “Hits like a girl” anymore either. Those ladies can really pack a punch. It was almost comical to hear the MC announce the next fighters, “In the blue corner, Marina a Marketing/PR representative and in the red corner Jane a naturopath.” These two fighting demons then descended on each other. All I know is that I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of them!

PPS If you want to see some of Chris’ fight, here is my recording of his first round.

Be a Jedi

Let me introduce you to my new Jedi buddy, Charli.

Now you may not understand what I am talking about so let me explain.

In his training of Luke, the Jedi master, Yoda stated, “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate, Hate leads to Suffering.”

With all of the fear, anger, hatred and suffering in the world right now, we need someone strong in the Force to keep us on the right path. So let me introduce Jedi Charli.

As you can see Charli has some amazing hair. Not bad for a six year old. Out of the blue last week, she said to her parents that she wanted shorter hair so what should she do with her long hair. After a big discussion, she decided to donate 30cm of her hair to kids with cancer. Charli thought that her hair could make some great wigs. She recently reconsidered and decided 45 cms would be better!

With the help of her dad, she also set up an Every Day Hero page to raise some money for the Cancer Council of Victoria. Charli came up with the target of $2,000. She is so close! At the time of writing she is sitting on about $1,700. Click here for the latest figures.

A quick reminder, Charli is SIX! Such fantastic, positive, loving Jedi thinking from one so young. We old people could learn a thing or two.

In a time of fear, anger and hatred I choose to focus on the positive and the good in the world and Charli represents this in spades!

So what can you do? Can I encourage you to blow Charli’s target out of the water by making a significant donation? Help show this young girl that she is doing an AWESOME thing and we can help her. Cast your mind back to when you were six and think how attached you were to YOUR hair!

The next thing you can do is be pleasant to people you meet and to open your arms and your hearts to others. Personally, I am skipping the news and not focussing on the drama of all the attacks. Maybe I am naive, but it helps me defeat the intent of these attacks. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear, anger and hate can only lead to suffering.

So be a Jedi and focus on the good.
PS Don’t forget to click here to donate to Charli’s appeal, Thank you so much for your donation.

Priorities Count

My gorgeous wife and I have just returned from the delightful Dominican Republic.

Our flight home had a 24 hour stop over in Los Angeles so we chose to rent a hotel room and then hire a car for a day to do some roaming around and shopping at some outlet malls.

This is where it became a matter of priorities.

We could have spent a fortune on a hotel with all the modern conveniences, fluffy towels and 24 hour concierge. But that wasn’t our priority.

You may recall that my wife is a petrol head. So we went for the very simple, bed, bathroom and free wifi hotel for under $100. We spent twice as much on our car for the day and neither of us regret that decision at all! Here’s why.

That’s right, it was a muscle car – a Camaro SS just like Bumble Bee in Transformers.

After hitting the Walmart (you can see it in the background) we did a little more shopping and then headed back to the airport driving a couple of hours down the coast road. It was the quintessential Fast and the Furious kind of experience and it was impossible to get the smile of our faces (zoom in and check out my lovely wife’s).

Who remembers their hotel room? I can’t, I just slept through it!

So what are your priorities? What are you doing because you “should” not because you want to? What will bring you the most joy? What represents SUCCESS to you?

Choose wisely because priorities count!

Yes And

I have just spent the last two days participating in an Impro Melbourne workshop called Harold (well everything needs a name).

The underlying philosophy of improv is “Yes And”. No matter what someone proposes as an idea or starts as method, we make them right. We say YES to that idea. Then we add to it. It becomes a “Yes And” moment. Sometimes, the biggest “Yes And” is needed for our own ideas.

These workshops have been great for my speaking and MC work but they underlying philosophy has been far more valuable.

In our workshops I see how easy it is to default to the “No But” approach. To make the other person wrong, kill their idea and try and make ours right. It seems to be a baseline that it is very easy to fall back to. Constant work is required to focus on the “Yes And” and continue to make the other person look good.

This seems to be the case in the workplace as well. While it is true that sometimes people are incorrect, there is nearly always a “Yes And” approach to addressing a situation. To make the person feel supported and right, even while fixing a mistake. It can be hard to always focus on the “Yes And” but it is so worthwhile.

So how will you embrace the “Yes And” approach today?

PS I strongly encourage you to find an Improv school near you and take a few classes. It is great fun and there are so many fabulous life lessons too. Are you up to the challenge?

Alleged Associates

Every now and again on a Friday night at 7pm I will make my way over to Smokehouse 101.
It is a funky little cafe on the West side of Melbourne and serves some yummy food but that is not what I am there for.

Every Friday the Alleged Associates perform. They are a very loose arrangement pulled together by their lead singer Zerafina Zara. Now Zerafina is a friend of mine so she is not happy for me to remain in the audience. She let’s me perform. So a few random words of delight, dodgy jokes, radio voice overs and even a song or two with backing vocals usually happens.

It is a fun night of creativity and music. Terry the guitar player used to play for John Farnham when he was Johny Farnham and the bass player has played all over the world. Their willingness to try anything and have a bit of fun creates a magic evening that couldn’t be repeated, even if they wanted too!

Last Friday Sandra (their number one fan and groupie) and I were able to record a bit of video. Through the magic of editing, you can check it out here.

Don’t forget to come and see us live at the Smokehouse101!

Wisdom from Winston

This is Winston, our Toy Poodle. Yes, you are right – he IS a very manly dog.

He turned two last month and I wanted to share with you some of the lessons he has taught us in that small time. They are valuable lessons that my help you in life.

Constantly show your love for others. Bark at them, lick them, sniff them, jump up and down – do whatever it takes.

Share your stuff. If someone comes to visit, be sure to share your toys with them. They may have fun with it too!

If it feels good, do it. It may be weird to sit on the heater vent with your ears blowing in the warm air, but it feels good.

Snuggling is good. Even sitting on the couch watching TV, it is good to snuggle in and be loved.

Say hello to strangers. Just because you haven’t met them before, doesn’t mean you can’t be friends.

Welcome home your loved ones. Whether they have been gone 3 seconds, 3 hours or 3 days, show them how excited you are to see them.

Tell others what you want. Whether by scratching at the door, dropping your toy at their feet or sitting on their head to get attention.

Do everything with enthusiasm. It is not just a walk, it’s A WALK! It’s not playing, it’s PLAYING! Let your enthusiasm be contagious.

Who would have thought such wisdom would come from such a delicate being?

It’s Good for You

I have just spent the weekend with 20 of my closest friends in an eight bedroom house. They are the choir that I belong to, Mood Swing. It was our band camp where we did some drumming workshops, body movements and, of course, some singing.

It is amazing the bond we have created, the fabulous music we create and and the fun we have.

It’s …. GOOD. Good for the mind, the body and the spirit.

There is so much research on how singing together is good for you and your community. Even corporate choirs are becoming more popular and provided as part of “stress management” in the work place.

What about you? Would you Sing For Good?

As I have mentioned previously, I am honoured to be one of this years ambassadors for Sing For Good. I can highly recommend that you have a sing with some friends, video it and submit it to the site. There are some great prizes on offer and also money raised goes to support the great work that Creativity Australia does with their “With One Voice” program.

If you are not the kind of person to sing, no dramas. Head on over to the Sing For Good website and support your favourite entry with a donation. (I recommend you consider Mood Swing’s entry, but I am biased!)

Even if you don’t do that, at the very least when your favourite song comes on the radio, sing a long to it. It’s even better if you are with someone else and you both sing a long. It does great things for your health, physically and spiritually – basically, it’s GOOD!

Soothe The Beast

Music soothes the savage beast.

You know it’s true. Think of the times you have been “beast like” (angry, grumpy, sad… you know the feeling) and then a fabulous song comes on and you get a better perspective on the world.

Not only does music soothe YOUR savage beast, it can also soothe the beast of others.

It can soothe the beast of unemployment, poor health, loneliness and a sense of “not belonging”.

“But How”, I hear you ask.

Well Sing for Good is the answer. Sing for Good is a project run by the charitable organisation Creativity Australia. Creativity Australis supports people in need via their With One Voice program. For the last couple of years they encourage people to grab a friend (or three or 20) and record a video of themselves singing. This then gets loaded to their website and the world votes.

It is a fantastic initiative and I am an Ambassador for this year’s event. (So all correspondence should be to Ambassador Warwick!)

As an Ambassador, I wanted to be sure that I entered as well. You can see my entry here.

Can I encourage you to visit their website and find out all about what they do?
Then keep revisiting as more and more acts add their videos.

Don’t forget, you too can grab a few friends, sing a song you love and enter yourself. It is so much fun.

Thanks for helping soothe the beast!

Will You Sing For Good?

I have the honour of being an Ambassador for the Sing For Good program. It is a fun and easy way to contribute to people who need it simply by creating music. Here’s a song I sang earlier (I’m the bald dude up the back on the right):

There is a common saying that “music soothes the savage beast.”

Often the savage beast is the thing between your ears! The modern world can be quite stressful. Whether you are driving in peak hour, dealing with an inbox loaded with email or simply trying to manage a house full of family members, it is easy to get overwhelmed. This is where music comes in.

Now while listening to music is fabulous, performing it yourself gives far more benefits. Personally, the resonance in my body when I sing is as relaxing as a massage. You can feel the tension slip away as you keep singing. You also have to be completely present. You have words, notes and timing to consider all while tuning in to what others around you are doing as well.

Do you sing?

Maybe you don’t sing in a choir like me. Maybe there are a few of you who get together in a garage and bash out a few tunes on your guitars, keyboards and drum kits. Maybe you harmonise in the hallways or echo chambers at a train station. Maybe you sing in the car with the radio blaring loud as you drive along.

How good does it feel for you? It doesn’t matter how you sound it is the act of performing that feels fabulous and makes you feel fantastic. There is a natural high you get and in that moment, the rest of the world does not exist and all your troubles float away.

Singing is ~~good~~ great for the soul!

Why not share your gift? Why not show others how you can Sing for Good?

The Sing for Good program is very simple. You just have to sing with at least one other person and then upload your video to the Sing for Good website. Visitors with then vote and donate based on your video and the videos of other singers. This then raises funds for all the great work the Sing for Good program does.

There are several categories of entries and winners are NOT selected on talent alone. The key is to participate.

How does that sound to you? Something to sing about?

Keep an eye out as I will be part of several videos to help spread the message. Check out the website to find out how easy it is to enter and have some fun with your friends.

It all starts on 1st August so check it out.

Come on … let’s Sing for Good!

Where’s Your Head At?

Greetings from Washington DC! I am over here speaking at a conference with only about 2,000 people!

While here I received an email from one of our tribe asking:

“I wonder your thoughts. A person I know said that he thinks it’s wrong to tell people/youth they can do what they want to do, be whatever they want to be.

He thinks it gives them a goal they can never reach, or a dream they can never fulfil, if they dream too big, or hope too high, they’ll never achieve it and be full of grief and hopelessness.

I say, dream as big as the stars and then have as much fun as you can getting there. Who’s right?”

You know the good thing? You are both right!

Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are right”

So by this person telling anyone, “Don’t think too big, play a smaller game, you will never make it” they will make it true. AND they will be surrounded by people who think smaller, are self limited and typically unsatisfied and grumpy.

But amazingly awesome people like YOU who say “Anything is possible, dream big and strive towards it” create fabulously positive people! Let’s be honest, they may not make it, but they chance that they will make it is far higher. Maybe they won’t make their goal but they will make it far closer that the person who listened to the person saying “don’t try” and they will have one hell of a ride along the way.

I like to think that we are building a better world by talking about what’s possible not what’s impossible.

In Washington President Kennedy said, “We will go to the moon.” He didn’t say, “We’d like to but it’s too hard, too expensive and we may not make it.” Just recently, a satellite flew past the furtherest “almost” planet Pluto.

“We will go to the moon” has taken us much father than “that’s really hard and it may not happen.”

So what about you? Where is your head at?

Give ‘Til it Helps

Often people say, “Give ’til it Hurts”, but I am more of a fan of “Give ’til it Helps.” It doesn’t just have to help them, it can also help you!

Recently I saw on Facebook (so you know it’s true) that volunteerism had declined. So I thought I would check it the research.

The Volunteering Australia website informs me that while more people are volunteering, they are doing it for a smaller amount of time. Young adults in particular have reduced the amount of hours they spend volunteering.

The great thing the research said is how good it is. Not just for the recipient, but for yourself as the volunteer.

Volunteering gives a measurable increase in:

Happiness
State of well-being
Overall state of mental health
Level of sleep
Self-Worth

Unfortunately, the volunteer rates a far lower in the city when compared to rural volunteering (34% vs 41%). Volunteering has also decreased for community services and emergency management.

From personal experience, professional associations are also declining in numbers of members and numbers of people willing to do things or give their time.

What about you? Do you volunteer? While we seem to get busier and busier, the health benefits for volunteering are outstanding and the costs are minor – it’s cheaper than therapy and almost as good for you.

Why don’t you look at how you can volunteer? It could be as simple as helping paint a friend’s room or patting dogs at the local dog shelter. It is amazing the benefits you will get.

Quite simply, Give ‘Til It Helps!

Have You Got A Secret?

This is Ron Gottlieb.

He is the CEO of Ricky Richards, a manufacturer and wholesaler of industrial and commercial textiles and they are the platinum sponsor of the SpecTex 2015 trade show.

Also, he has a secret.

Ricky Richards are doing something very different for their industry. They have an exciting new industry partner. Click on the image above to see a three minute video where Ron talks about it and reveals the secret.

What was really cool was how they announced it. Over the past few weeks Ricky Richards has been posting images on their social media sharing how they have a “special announcement” and that you need to come to the trade show to find out what it was.

Their email footers have also been encouraging people to come and find out “the secret”. So the industry has been abuzz with this secret and many have come to the trade show to uncover it. But you had to go to the trade show to find out what it was and from there they have released it to the market place.

The secret is a great one. They have partnered with Melanoma Institute of Australia and are committing to significant donations on an ongoing basis. There are some real synergies between the companies and it not only helps Melanoma Institute but also Ricky Richards’ clients in the selling of their products.

What about you? Have you got a secret? Can you “reveal” it in a way that attracts attention?

What’s It For?

So many people work hard to make a living but in the process they forget to have a life.

While work is definitely enjoyable and fulfilling, it is dangerous to make it the major cornerstone of your life.

Success is defined in so many different ways; fiscally, emotionally, spiritualy, visually, physically, socially, and randomly. So why would we try and meet all of these needs at the one place?

A recent conversation included the statement, “my work is my hobby.” This is a lie.

It is a self-deception to help justify the commitment to the job or the number of hours worked. It is important to have a hobby outside the workplace to let the mind reinvigorate, let the body refresh and let the spirit get reinspired.

So what’s your hobby, the thing that you do just for you?

If you don’t have one, then you have to ask yourself, “What’s it for?”

Do You Deserve Good Service?

This is Rachael and Erin at the Virgin Australia lounge in Sydney.

As a person who travels quite a bit, I have earned access to the lounge. This week as I was travelling home from Sydney to Melbourne, I asked whether it was possible to get an earlier flight. They were able to get me the flight two hours earlier which was fabulous for me. Naturally when I asked, I was pleasant, cracked a few silly jokes and was even a bit playful. I figure they have a busy job, at the very least I could be nice.

They said to me, “If only all of our customers were like you.” I asked what did the “other” customers do and I was amazed at their response.

Some customers demand (demand, not ask for) an earlier flight and when they are allocated a middle seat they refuse to take it and get huffy.
Others in this situation tell (again, tell not ask) them to move someone else out of an aisle seat so they can have it
Some customers will demand an upgrade to business class because they are Gold, Platinum, tired – whatever excuse they think will get one
Some customers grab a couple of mints out of courtesy bowl without even making eye contact (ok so that’s not too bad)
Then they told me on several occasions that customers will walk past and empty the entire content of the mint bowl into their bag (and the bowl is pretty big)

While flying I have also experienced some pretty atrocious behaviour in how flight attendants are treated by fellow passengers as well. By no means is this poor behaviour confined to the airline industry. Most of us have stories of very poor behaviours from people who are looking for customer service.

Do you deserve good customer service?

Personally, I do not believe the customer is always right, but they are always the customer, but do you really think you are helping your situation by being rude and obnoxious? In many situations the person giving service is paid a fairly low amount, is fairly young (so may not have developed some of the resilience to deal with highly emotional situations) and deals with issues all day long.

So here are some guidelines on how to get far better customer service by acting in a way that deserves it:

Smile – it makes a huge difference
Be pleasant – sometimes you won’t get your way and it is not completely (or sometimes even partially) due to the person you are dealing with and that is no reason to not be pleasant.
Express dissatisfaction with a situation not with a person – once you make it a personal attack it becomes much harder to get a mutually satisfying situation and it is frequently some time later by huge regret at what you said.
Know there are more customers than just you – really, taking ALL THE MINTS is not considerate of others, it is the same with demanding all the attention of the customer service person when your situation will not progress and there are others to serve.
Have a healthy perspective. Is it REALLY that important? If I didn’t get an earlier flight, I would still get home just two hours later. Really, would that be worth flipping out over?
Ask for more but be ok if you don’t get it – I will frequently ask for an upgrade whether I am flying or renting a car. Often I get a better car, sometimes I get an exit row, twice I have been bumped up to Business Class or Premium. I usually ask in a friendly, joking kind of way. But I feel for the person behind the counter when people “demand” an upgrade because “Don’t you know who I am?” Intimidation is not a good strategy for service.
Have fun. Customer service people are human too. Typically their job is repetitive, a little dull and they tune out. If you use their name (no doubt they have a name badge), have some fun with them then it makes everyone feel better and you never know how they may look after you.
Smile – I know I mentioned it to start with but it is too important not to mention again. So many people forget to do this. They get so swept up in their own importance, their own problems and their own thoughts that they forget to smile. If you do nothing else, smile and I am certain it will make a difference.

If you can do these things you will be far more deserving of good customer service and you are more likely to receive it. It is not rocket science. In many cases it is simple courtesy and expressing your humanity. But it is forgotten far too often.

So do YOU deserve good customer service?

I Need Help

Hey All – I need a favour.

I am creating a new website all about success and I need some photos to put on that website. Now I was going to get some stock photos and then I thought – hey I know loads of successful people.

So what I need are photos that you own and are willing to give me permission to use on the front page of my new website. For the top 10 photos (as voted by me) I will give you an amazing super duper prize as well as feature you in my upcoming podcast.

Your picture has to represent “SUCCESS” and while you and I know your family are successful, I don’t need any family portraits. I am thinking achievements, awards, holidays, goals, etc etc. But please feel free to use your own definition of success.

The ultimate resolution will be 1600×700 so think long and skinny (like me lying down!!)

Feel free to spread the word.

Simply email the image(s) to me warwick [at] warwickmerry dot com with a bit of an explanation to submit your entry.

This is a competition of skill and not luck (so I avoid any gaming laws). Judges decision is final. Fun level is high. Entries to be in by end of June 2015.

The Super Duper Prize for Top 10

Profiling on the upcoming Success podcast
A recording of the Get More Fun CD
Copy of the One Page Marketing Plan and One Page Business Plan templates
Link to your website in Credits Area
Link to your website when they click on the image
My eternal gratitude

Doesn’t that sound great?

I will also put all entries on a gallery page with a link to your website.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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