Motivational Quandary

Follow these words.

Motivational

Motivation

Motivate

Motion

Move

Emote

Emotion

Emotional

Notice how those words seem to be closely related.

That suggests some interesting questions.

Is motivation the same as emotion?

Can one exist without the other?

Which is the chicken and which is the egg?

Which emotions best serve motivation?

George Torok

Motivational Buusiness Speaker

May you live in interesting times

May you live in interesting times. Is that ancient expression a curse or a blessing? I think it depends on what you define to be “interesting” and more importantly how you adapt to it. If you define interesting to mean unpredictable, challenging and threatening – then clearly we are living in interesting times. Business these days is more like shooting the rapids in a rubber raft than canoeing in a duck pond. It’s too easy to be mesmerized by the danger of capsizing. If you focus on the rocks – that’s where you will go. The secret is to look for and steer to the high water and paddle like a fiend.

George Torok

Luck is the residue of design

“I like, and have adopted Mr. Branch Rickey’s way of looking at things. He was an old accomplished baseball executive. History knows him best for breaking the colour barrier for Jackie Robinson, in 1952. He said, “Luck is the residue of design”. Here’s the full quote.

“Things worthwhile generally don’t just happen. Luck is a fact, but should not be a factor. Good luck is what is left over after intelligence and effort have combined at their best. Negligence or indifference are usually reviewed from an unlucky seat. The law of cause and effect and causality both work the same with inexorable exactitudes. Luck is the residue of design.”

I totally agree with you and old man Rickey. We’re all lucky if WE choose!! It’s true, we make our own luck. Attitude plays a major role. I’ve worked hard to be where I am, and with out the work, luck wouldn’t matter much.

Take care,
Tom”
———————

Enjoy this insight from my good friend Tom on the topic of luck.

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

100% Is Not the Goal

Stop trying to do and get 100%.

It’s not practical or necessary. And forget about giving 110%. That is mathematically impossible.

The real challenge for most people is getting past 30%,  40% or 60%.

Stop intimidating yourself with goals of 100 or 110%. Just move yourself to the next number on the dial.

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Motivational Business Speaker

Failing is not failure

Not all actions are the right actions but taking some action is much healthier than not. This is a good time to “Fail Often, Fail Fast, Fail Cheap”. Try new things. Some will work, others might not.

To fail is not to be a failure, to not try is to be a failure.

——

The above is an excerpt from an article by Jim Estill. The bolding is my emphasis. I think this is valuable advice for folks especially in these uncertain times when it is easy to be paralyzed by fear.

I’ve heard Jim Estill give his advice, “Fail often, fail fast and fail cheap.” If you’re not failing often enough maybe you’re not challenging yourself enough.

You can read the full article by Jim Estill titled, “Are You Galvanized or Paralyzed?” at the Canadian Marketing Blog.

You can read more thoughts from Jim Estill at his CEO Blog – Time Leadership.

George Torok

Canadian Business Speaker

Smart people ask smarter questions

“If you’re not getting the answers you want – change the questions.”

 I heard this valuable advice from Joe Calloway. Let’s look a little deeper into this gem. I agree that asking the right question is much more difficult than answering the question. Asking the question determines the perspective, responsibility and value of the answer.

 Smart people ask smart questions. Stupid people ask stupid questions.

 Don’t buy into the myth “There are no stupid questions.”

 The reality is that there are stupid questions. If you want better results, ask smarter questions.

 For example:

 If you have been asking, “Why won’t anybody hire me?”  change the question to “What can I do to get hired?”

 If you have been asking, “Why is business slow?” change the question to “What can I do to improve my business?”

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Don’t be bound by hasty promises

Have you ever made a promise that you wish you hadn’t?

My guess is that you probably have. You don’t need to fret over those hasty promises. Think about all the people whose marriages didn’t work out. Yet they all promised at the time of marraige to love each other forever – till death do us part.

That was a well meaning but dumb promise. We make those kind of promises when we are emotional or pressured.

And then we worry about breaking “our promise” even when everything else tells us that it was dumb.

Breaking your promise can be a good thing. Why? Because we often make promises under pressure or with little information. So when conditions or informaiton changes – we should re-evaluate our promises and break them if that is the right thing to do.

Doing the right thing is more important than keeping a dumb promise.

George Torok

Scare Yourself

Do something that scares you – at least once a year.

If you want to grow scare yourself. It doesn’t need to be sky diving – although that would work.

What have you done recently that scared you? If you can’t think of anything you are not growing enough.

George Torok

Who inspired you this week?

It’s easy to find inspiration if you just look around and notice other people doing wonderful things.

I was a partner in a public seminar this week. The attendance was lower than we wanted. It would have been easy to be depressed. Instead I found myself motivated by the interest and dedication of those who attended.

In particular – one person drove six hours to get there and another travelled from out of town by cab, commuter train and cab to get to our event. How could we even dare to let them down?

We delivered a fantastic program – because that’s what we do – and the audience expected it.

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

You only control one thing

You only control one thing. That thing is how you think. There might be things that you can influence some of the time – but you don’t have control of anything other than how you think.

If you only have this one thing that you control you might as well understand it well and take better care and control of your thinking.

Decide how you want to think. Then do what you need to do to think that way.

This gem came to me from Brain Tracy’s book, “The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success”.

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Leadership Quotations

Leadership Quotations
Compiled for you by George Torok

  

One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven’t and don’t. George Bernard Shaw, “The Apple Cart” (1930), act I  All great truths begin as blasphemies. George Bernard Shaw, Annajanska (1919) When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. George Bernard Shaw, Caesar and Cleopatra (1901) The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided. Casey Stengel (1890 – 1975) Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. John F. Kennedy (1917 – 1963), speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963 When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else. Judy Garland (1922 – 1969), to her daughter, Liza Minelli Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed. Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear. Mark Twain The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn’t like the tune. Anon.

Inspiring story of Susan Boyle

Inspiring Story – a great video to watch to lift your spirits.

Nobody, Susan Boyle, stuns the audience and Simon Cowell on Britains Got Talent.

Watch the whole 7 minutes – it’s worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

George Torok
Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Validate someone today

Watch this 15 minute video to learn the forgotten lesson on how to motivate others. I gurantee this video will make you smile. Watch it and put a smile on someone else’s face. Validate them.

 

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Lucky You

Luck is more a matter of perspective than it is the roll of the dice.

 

If luck is a matter of random chance then mathematically every one of us is equally lucky. Whether you think you are lucky or not is irrelevant. The real question is how lucky do you feel. Because, how you feel, will determine your actions and outcome.

 

Consider the passengers of the plane that crash landed in the Hudson River – were they lucky? You can imagine that there were moments during that scary nightmare that they cursed their luck. Yet upon the perspective of reflection they considered themselves extremely lucky.  If you are afraid of flying you might consider yourself lucky for not being on that plane.

 

We are all lucky. It just depends on how we see it.

 

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Motivational Business Speaker

 

Motivation is like oxygen

Motivation is like food, water and oxygen.

We need it every day.

We consume it.

It powers us.

Like oxygen we don’t give it much thought because we assume that it will always be there.

We notice it mainly when it appears to be in short supply.

Depending on our state it can appear as a cheap commodity or a priceless treasure.

Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about it or analysing it.

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

In times like these, people need motivation

Motivational speakers are in demand more than ever and they’re up to the task to encourage people to share their optimistic outlook and to provide the spark that gives them the courage in hard times to pursue their goals and dreams

The Hamilton Spectator
Feb 14, 2009

George Torok
George Torok initially rejected the title ‘motivational speaker.’

“I thought no, I have content. That term is associated with fluff and nothing being real.”
But after 12 years of speaking to entrepreneurs, executives and employees about marketing and presentation skills, Torok realized that’s exactly what he was.

“I have content packaged with entertainment and motivation. Content without motivation is useless because nothing happens without motivation.”

He finally started calling himself a motivational speaker.

“In times like these, people need motivation more than any other time. But people don’t always buy what they need, they buy what they want.”

And in times like this, it’s a tough sell to encourage people, who are watching their co-workers get laid off, to work harder, increase sales, cut costs, do things differently.

“There is definitely resistance but people eventually come around.”

Calls are up for speeches and for one-on-one coaching in presentation skills. Torok typically does close to 100 speaking or training engagements in North America each year.

He says people see the thousands he gets paid for a speech and think it’s a glamorous life. Torok says they don’t see the hours going into writing and rewriting material, researching a company, making calls, writing articles.

“It’s constant learning. If I’m going to teach people, I have to know 10 times what they know or it’s not useful to them.

“Then it’s about what you can say that will help the company make that money back.”

---

Reported by Meredith MacLeod in the Hamilton Spectator, Saturday, February 14, 2009

Click here to watch the video of these four motivational speakers. George Torok is the fourth speaker on this video – and he is worth waiting for.

View the original article on the Hamilton Spectator site.

3 Tips to Motivate Yourself

Three Tips to Motivate Yourself

Everyone needs to re-motivate themself from time to time. That’s normal. Here are three simple techniques that can help you feel more motivated.

1. Read or listen to motivational stories about others who have accomplished great things. These lessons are best taken from simple folks who struggled and achieved something great. They can be from any field – sports, business, politics, medicine, science, community service, etc..

2. Associate with people who are motivated and tend to motivate you. If that doesn’t describe anyone in your current circle of friends – find new friends fast.

3. Make it your job to motivate others. The satisfaction from motivating others can be a powerful self motivator. Just ask Mother Teresa.

 Find quotes from Mother Teresa here.

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Motivational Speaker DNA

What is the DNA of a motivational speaker?

As I was preparing for a media interview today about being a motivational speaker, one of the things that I asked myself was, “What are the critical elements of being an effective motivational speaker?”

I came up with three things.

Understanding pain

Everyone is experincing some pain. The motivational speaker must recognize and understand the pain of the audience. In addtion the speaker must demonstrate that he had experience a similar pain. Nobody wants to be lectured by someone born with the silver spoon in their mouth. Paris Hilton would not make an effective motivational speaker. Show me how you suffered.

 

Appreciating the power of hope

Everyone wants hope. And every merchant is selling hope. President Obama is a good example of one who is doing that very well. We want some part of our life to be better. An effective motivational speaker presents the better future as attainable.

 

Using perspective to make the transition

The transition from pain to hope is perspective. What was the “ah-ha” moment that changed your life? How is that transferable to others? Who else has been through something similar?

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

How to motivate yourself

How to Motivate yourself

While working on things for this new year I found myself in a slump. I searched “How to motivate yourself” and found some articles.

The one that resonated with me the best was this one by John Wesley on his blog at http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-motivate-yourself/

 

I like this approach because it is simple and easier to understand and follow. The article defines three elements needed to motivate yourself.

1. Confidence

2. Focus

3. Direction

 

To become more confident feel more grateful of the tangible and intangible things you have or have accomplished.  We can forget or ignore those things so we need to be reminded.

Focus comes from clearly indentifying your goals – and knowing why you want them.

You will have better direction when you know the steps you can take to reach your goals. The second part of direction is to eliminate the activities that are not part of your direction plan.

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Radio Show Host

New Year’s Motivation

New Years Motivation

 

 

Why does the New Year motivate people?

 

You ask for evidence?

 

Exhibit A

Look at all the crazy folks that pay exorbitant prices to party at a bar, restaurant or hotel – often with strangers. Those fees are at least two to three times the regular rate.

 

Exhibit B

New York is not normally considered a “friendly” city. Just take a cab ride. Yet on New Year’s Eve look at the thousands of people packed into Times Square to celebrate. This year it was very cold – close to freezing- yet the crowds were still there in high spirits.

 

Exhibit C

On the topic of cold outside – pick any city in Canada – where the temperature was below freezing. People still waited outside for the stroke of midnight in Niagara Falls and Toronto. I can’t imagine how cold it was in Ottawa, Regina and Edmonton. Brrrr.

 

Exhibit D

Polar Bear Swim. Some of these same folks who live in freezing climates go for a swim in the local body of water. Is that nuts?

 

 

My question is “What motivates these people to do these crazy things?”

 

What is it about New Year’s that makes people feel motivated to the do the unusual or illogical?

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

 

Motivational Christmas

Christmas can be a motivational time.

Motivations can run up and down . It can also be a depressing time.

Many folks will experience both emotions over the holiday time. That’s probably normal. Just don’t get caught in the down side.

The key is to think about what you have – not what you don’t have. Bounce back up.

George Torok

Looking for motivated marathon runners

Greetings Canadian athletes,

Are you a passionate athlete who draws inspiration from Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope?

At CBC Television, we are presently creating a program which would illustrate in detail what Terry accomplished in 1980. The event will
reacquaint new and existing generations with Terry’s example of athleticism, determination and self-sacrifice.

A team of twelve runners will start the marathon in St. John’s, NFLD on April 12th. Each participant will attempt to run 3,339 miles in 143 days – matching Terry’s daily mileage – arriving in Thunder Bay, ON on Labour Day weekend. Our camera crews will document the journey from the first day of training through to the end of the run, providing viewers with updates on the participants and their fundraising efforts.

Our first episode, to air in April on CBC, will see the introduction of the participants and the stakes set for the run. Terry’s enduring and
building legacy will be highlighted. We are working in conjunction with the Terry Fox Foundation, who in the past have declined proposals where the intent is to symbolically or literally finish the Marathon of Hope. This concept does not infringe on that wish.

If you are interested in participating in, or supporting, this initiative — we want to hear from you. We welcome any questions at any
time along the way.

An ideal candidate would possess the following:

1) They have been inspired by Terry’s story and have a history of supporting Terry’s vision and principles
2) They have the ability and willingness to fundraise
3) They believe and offer evidence that they are capable of physically attempting the run
4) They are willing and able to put aside work/other commitments for 4 and a half months to document their personal journey.

Do you have what it takes to go the distance?

 

If you would like to participate as a runner in this historic event, please reply to marathonofhope2009@gmail.com , sending us your contact information and telling us why you are the ideal candidate for the show.

In addition, we ask that you please create a 3-5 minute video so we can see you in action. Your video should include: Your name, age, hometown and why you want to be a participant in the Marathon of Hope 2009.
Please upload your video to YouTube.

Need extra help uploading your video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyIT7rVZ0Q

Deadline for applications:
January 8, 2008

Please notify us immediately by sending the URL when you’ve uploaded
your video.

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Michelle & Lara,

Marathon of Hope 2009

Creative and Crisis

Motivational Insights

 

Creative

To be creative does not need original thought. It is as easy as copying ideas from other industries.

 

Creative

Being creative is a skill. It can be learned, nurtured and enhanced. Never think, “I’m not creative”.

 

Crisis

Anybody can manage when things go right. It takes a leader to manage when things go wrong.

 

 

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Motivation for Motivators

Everyone needs to be re-motivated from time to time.

As an entrepreneur I am motivated about growing my business.

As a life long learner I am motivated about learning new concepts.

As a creative thinker I am motivated about discovering new ideas.

As a motivational business speaker I am motivated by delivering my presentations and the feedback to them.

As a business author and writer I am motivated by publishing my articles and the occasional comments.

As a professional speaker I am motivated by attending the convention of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. I just returned from the annual CAPS convention. I’m recharged and eargerly preparing for 2009. I know that it will be a challenging and rewarding year.

 

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Toronto Convention Speaker

Motivate your job search

Motivate your job search: HAPPEN

HAPPEN is a non profit organization that helps job seekers find and land their next job.

I delivered a motivational and instructional presentation to HAPPEN group today. I speak to HAPPEN once or twice a year and I have been doing this for close to a decade. Why?

I consider this as part of my community service. I don’t get paid for this annual gig but I’m happy to do it. I am told and I believe that my practical and motivational message helps them.

I suffered the pain of job loss and frustration of job search early in my career in the downturn of the early eighties. That pain and frustration is a big part of my success today. I want to ease their pain – or at least tell them that the pain can be endured. As a marathon runner, I know about enduring both physical and mental pain.

Every person’s pain is individual. No one can claim to understand “your” pain. However they might have felt something similar.

As I spoke today, two very different people caught my attention – one a recent college male graduate and the other a well dressed 40-something woman.

Both took no notes. Both failed to engage with me when I looked directly at them. One conveyed a “I don’t need this crap” body posture and the other glared, ” leave me alone”.

I felt sad for both of them. They had an opportunity to learn and to be inspired – but they refused to partake. Perhaps they had not yet matured in their grieving process to be ready to grow. Perhaps they were still wallowing in “Why me?” I don’t know their pain. I only offered a way forward. It was up to them to accept or decline.

George Torok

Motivational Speaker

What about failure?

What about failure?

While speaking to a high school business class this week I was surprised by this question, “If you work all your life on something and still fail – was it worth it?”

I responded quickly to this question, “Yes.”

I did not clairify my answer at that time. I have since thought about the question and my answer.

I believe that if a person works on a direction all their life that they will be successful. They might not achieve 100% success. But they will be successful in moving towards that goal. For example, a person might work to cure cancer and never reach that during their lifetime. Was their life a success? Yes. Because of the movement they would have made in that direction. Some goals take more than one lifetime to achieve. And the success would never happen without someone dedicating their life to moving things forward.

George Torok

Motivational Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Deadlines motivate

Deadlines Motivate

Have you noticed how motivated you can be when you have a deadline?

Why is that?. A deadline indicates a recognized shortage of time. A stated shortage of time reminds us that we only have a limited amount of time. If you tell someone, “Take all the time that you want.” They won’t be highly motivated to tackle the obstacle. If you have forever to do something – why do it now?

My neighbour is dieing from cancer. He seems to be fading quickly. Considering how active and spry he had been it is upsetting to witness how frail he now looks.

He has a deadline – as do those around him. The end date is not known for sure but it is clearly measured in months and not year. It’s interesting to note the many visitors that have stopped by in the past couple months. It good to see them visit. I guess they only needed to be motivated.

What would you do if you thought that you were running out of time?

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Motivational Business Speaker

Motivation:It’s Cold outside

Motivation: It’s Cold outside

It was time for me to get up and go for a run. But it was cold in the room and warm in the bed.

I wasn’t motivated to get up because I was comfortable and getting up would disturb that comfort. So I laid in bed a bit longer. Enventually I got up and went for my run. The transition from warm comfortable bed to cold room and then even colder outside was still uncomfortable.

Once I was moving – it was easier to keep moving. I needed the motivation to move – to make the first moves. That was the hard part. We only need motivation to do things that are uncomfortable. Then we are surprized at how easy it is to keep moving.

I needed motivation to escape the warm bed and open the front door to the cold outside. Once I started those first steps little motivation was needed to keep me running.

We need motivation to change to make those transitions from comfortable to uncomfortable. The transition might only last seconds or minutes.

George Torok

Canadian Motivational Speaker

Doing motivates

Doing things motivates

Resting does not motivate. Yes we all need to rest regularily. But rest does not motivate – it simply heals and calms.

I enjoy cooking so naturally cooking motivates me. It gets me excited and makes me feel useful. Eating a well prepared meal pleases me but preparing the meal excites and motivates me.

What excites you? Are you doing it often enough?

George Torok

Motivational Business Speaker

Canadian Motivational Speaker

What doesn’t motivate you?

What doesn’t motivate you?

If you want to feel more motivated stop doing the things that don’t motivate you.

Sounds simple but will you do it?

Make of list of the things that you do that do not feel motivational to you.

My guess is that watching TV is high on that list.

If you want to feel more motivated – do less of those things that don’t motivate you.