Any organization, whether a huge one, small one, for profit, non-profit, volunteer absolutely needs a mission statement and clarity surrounding its reason for being. It’s a cultural climate that allows for the best environment to, yes, “work”, but more important, every level of Leadership need to improve their relationships with their people because they are after all, human!
How do you start your day? I never realized how big a deal that is until my wife and business partner, Darlene went sailing in the British Virgin Islands for her 50th Birthday ten years ago. I’m not boasting, just explaining that for two weeks, we had no access to the internet, television or radio, so “No News”…not even the fake kind. Could you handle two weeks completely disconnected from your device? The simple answer is “Yes I Can”! But here’s why I’m writing this post.
For two weeks, every morning started with coffee on the deck of gorgeous 60 foot catamaran. There were four cabins and seven people on board. That’s also important to mention because though that’s a big sailboat, you’re still confined to a small space for 15 days with, in our case, one couple we’ve known a while and three people we met for the first time on board. We were also sailing ourselves so no crew to manage while we laid back, caught some rays and drank Margaritas! We all had to be on our best behaviour. We were also obviously off our home routines and the first thing I would do in normal life is also have a coffee, but clearly not admiring the blue waters of the ocean, but my in my home office, in front of the television and usually CNN.
A week into the trip, we went to a bar on a small island who had CNN on the screen. Much to my shock, I wasn’t even interested. That’s when I realized how watching the news, on CNN, CBC, FOX…whoever you watch is a horrible way to start your day. When we got home, I realized I already knew this profound discovery.
Way back in 1981, I began my speaking career in Saskatchewan, Canada. I travelled the province on behalf of what’s now called “The Saskatchewan Abilities Council”, a non-profit group whose main function was running workshops for intellectually challenged adults. I was a manager of Community Relations so did just that. In a place called Prince Albert, after an evening lecture a lady gave me a handmade plaque about the size of a greeting card. It was wood laminated with a decorative card that said…”I’m Not Afraid Of Tomorrow, For I’ve Seen Yesterday, And I Love Today!” The elderly woman told me the trick was to put the plaque somewhere so it’s the first thing you see in the morning. I humoured her and when I got back to my apartment, I hung it on the wall of my bathroom across from the throne where as I began my day, it’s the first thing I read. Clearly, we didn’t have CNN then so that wasn’t an issue. I’ve carried that plaque and mounted it in every bathroom I’ve ever had since. But I forgot it’s impact when I got addicted to news!
Not anymore. “Goalcast” is my new ritual. So if you haven’t done this yet, when you’ve finished reading this, go to www.Goalcast.com and sign up for free. Every day, a new video will be delivered and if you start each day watching these, I guarantee your life will shift. A double whammy would be to not read the news until well into your day, but start with this. And let’s start with who they are.
In 2016, Cyrus Gorjipour and Salim Sader created Goalcast. I went to their website and copied what they have composed there. It mentions how they were disillusioned by the traditional academic system and specifically, in Montreal, their hometown. It then talks about the two men.
Cyrus had lived through years of depression and self esteem issues until he discovered a psychological concept called the internal locust of control, a belief that you are responsible for your own success.
It’s fascinating. I also discovered this concept through my learning and it too had an impact on my life. This was way back when I first started speaking for the International Year Of Disabled Persons in 1981and met a man named Lou Tyce who had created “The Pacific Institute” in Seattle and was in the early days of the “self-help” boom! I also remember learning about what I called…”self-speak”, or the internal dialogue you use to grow confidence and self esteem.
Salim was a physics teacher (again from their website) and couldn’t bear the thought of putting students into a box and limiting the extent of their potential to exams and grades. He and Cyrus came together to give others the tools to succeed in the school of life.
What started with a pair of very cool dudes, has grown into a staff of 23 and their own building in a funky district in Montreal. When I went to their website, I found this quote from Cyrus, the CEO.
“What does an organization that is free of fear look like? One that believes life is abundant. One that believes that life is not a zero sum game. One that believes the goal of business should not be to ‘crush the competition’, but to grow the pie together. One that understands we don’t need to fight all the time. That we don’t need to live in scarcity. We don’t need to live in fear of going out of business or losing our jobs all the time. Because if those things happen, we trust that we can deal with them. And that mistakes are part of life and opportunities to learn and grow.”
~ Cyrus Gorjipour
I want a boss like him. Do you have one? Are you one? Frankly, I feel like a lot of people see something like Cyrus wrote or even what I write and say and simply roll their eyes at “The Woo-Woo”.
Why is new age thinking viewed by so many as crap? The answer is simple. They haven’t learned it’s transformative power yet. I learned it at a very early age but we didn’t call it “New Age”. It was the culture in our home and remember, my Mom was 55 years old when I was a foster baby who would stay forever. My Dad was 53 and even he altered his views having an armless child in the house. He was a tough dude my Dad. Heavy duty machinery mechanic for 57 years and service manager for a Farm Implement and Heavy Hauler Trucks Dealership. By the way, there were over 800 people at my Dad’s funeral in 2001 and that’s because he was seen as man of immense character who was respected by almost everyone who met him and trust me, he wasn’t into “Woo-Woo”. But both my folks had like an “internal magnet” of attraction. I witnessed it. People just wanted to hang out with them. The most critical element? They loved life! Does that resonate with you?
Look, I know life isn’t easy and you can’t just wave a “magic wand” and that’s precisely why I am focusing on a company who understands committing to self improvement isn’t like ordering fast food. It must become like a personal mission statement for our lives.
Back to the Goalcast website. These are listed as their core beliefs:
We believe in everyone’s and everything’s immense potential
Our beliefs shape our actions and our actions shape our future
We don’t let conformity limit our decisions
We cannot grow if we are not grounded in reality
Growth requires pushing our boundaries
I feel strongly about this statement: Any organization, whether a huge one, small one, for profit, non-profit, volunteer absolutely needs a mission statement and clarity surrounding its reason for being. It’s a cultural climate that allows for the best environment to, yes, “work”, but more important, every level of Leadership need to improve their relationships with their people because they are after all, human!
It sure sounded good on paper. And then my life entered a new portal. I got to meet the genius behind Goalcast. On Monday, August 12, 2019, I was actually invited to share the stage with three other speakers for the inaugural “Goalcast Live” at an outdoor venue in Montreal. The four of us came from Florida, California, Montreal and myself, Calgary. We had Motivational Speaking in common and one other thing…Goalcast! We all have a video done by this company. Mine is called “What’s Your Label”. It was released on August 23, 2018 and as of this post, has had over 37,000,000 views on Facebook alone! But more important to me is what an incredible honour to be an inspiration to the people who are Goalcast…the staff. As soon as I got to the venue, there was an “energy” to these folks. They made me feel like a “rock star”! There was even a temporary green room set up with snacks and drinks and cheese curds! They even had cheese curds, something Quebec is know for. One by one, they introduced themselves. There was Linda who edited my video. Dave, who heard me speak in his high school in 1987 in Montreal and actually cried when he met me. By the way, Dave is why I have a video on Goalcast as on his first day working there suggested my story, one he’s never forgotten. I met Salim and Cyrus, the co-founders and I met Patrick, who was “Employee #1”! They each had their personal reasons for joining Goalcast but the one thing they would all agree on…they simply love working there. It’s a “Team” in every sense of the word and their product is making a global impression. In fact, Goalcast is considered one the fastest growing self-improvement platforms on Earth! Doesn’t surprise me at all.
There is an interesting trend we keep hearing regarding millennials and their lack of loyalty and work ethic. I’m not completely buying it. The Goalcast team were various ages but the majority seemed young. Or maybe a better way to put it…youthful! It’s a formula that is clearly working for them and truthfully, it’s structure may not work in another organization but the point is not to “duplicate” Goalcast but to follow the principles of its Leadership. It’s not the “Good Old Days”….thankfully!
Today’s reality is so different and social media is the perfect example. But let’s be very clear here. I never stepped into my role as a speaker, writer and entertainer to be famous. The Kardashian’s are famous…for what? What have they done? Pretty sure Goalcast will never feature them. Why? Because Goalcast made a promise to the world to be a platform to promote real life success stories of people who most often faced insurmountable obstacles and were victorious even when it seemed impossible.
“Live The Impossible” is Goalcast’s motto and it really is more than just words. In my mind it’s saying something even more powerful. We’ve all got something. Some challenge, obstacle, heartache, or personal issue that seems insurmountable. And the subject of these videos isn’t kittens or puppies. It’s real-life people who like me, are sharing our success not to feed our egos but to inspire everyone who’s willing to “Live Their Own Impossible!” and make the whole world a better place for “all of us!”