Passion and Purpose

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We're proud to announce that Shaun and Lara from Royal Roads University our finalists, will be awarded an afternoon of coaching with Gabe and Mike.  These two individuals showed great team work and enthusiam for the accountability system by getting matching t-shirts!.  Now that is commitment!! 

For more videos like this check out the inspiration videos section under painted pictures.

What if you were a professor and you were asked to hypothetically give your last lecture? What would you say to your students? Would you treat it as any other lecture? Would you tell them a story? What life lessons would you live them with? What if this wasn't hypothetically your last lecture, but it was actually your last lecture?

It's now 4:36am. And I've now been up for about 22 hours straight, yet I don't feel tired at all. In fact I feel super energetic and like I'm top of the world. I figure I have been working on improving our website here at Passion and Purpose for the past 8 hours now, and yet it feels like I've just started. The time has just flown by.

If only life could always be like this. Where we're in the flow. Where we're doing the stuff we love to do. Where we don't even notice to time fly by, and sometimes find ourselves wishing we had more time.

Well, what if?

We wrote down a list of everything that we love to do? a list of activities that give us energy and we find ourselves in the flow?

And then wrote down another list of things we hate to do and that steal away our energy?

And what if we made the resolve to do at least one of the iteams on our love to do and energy list once a day and to always avoid doing the things that we hate to do and steal away our energy?

What would happen?

Sometimes as an entrepreneur, we need to be reminded about why we do what we do. That we can and are making a difference in peoples lives. And that sometimes we just need think like a kid again, and forget about what we can't do, and only think about the possibilities.

Here's a video that reminds us that each one of us can change the world:

I just came back from one of the most magical events of my life, called West Fest. It was an event celebrate the launch of Free the Children in BC. It was an action packed night full of tons of positive energy and excitement, featuring:

• Craig Kielburger (a true inspiration in my life)
• MTV's Jessi Cruickshank
• Marianas Trench (proud to say guys from my old high school Magee Secondary)
• Carly Rae Jepsen
• Louise Kent

Here's a video I put together a couple of years ago about my experience on exchange in Thailand. I'll let the video do all the talking:

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2" in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life." "The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health - anything that is so important to you that if were lost, you would be nearly destroyed. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff." "If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles, and the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your wife out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal."

"Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

This past October, I had the chance to see Tony Robbins speak live at Unleash the Power Within in Vancouver. It was an event that changed my life. That weekend, I walked on fire, I cheered and danced like I was at a Stanley Cup Game (and the Canucks actually won) for three days straight, I met amazing people from all around the world who were fired up to make a difference in this world. 

I thought I would share Tony Robbin's talk at TED, a conference I one day hope I get to go to and a site that everyone should go to see more inspiring videos and talks. Be sure to check out his little interaction with Al Gore.

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

Six Ways to Make People Like You

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a man's Name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in the terms of the other man's interest.
6. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.

Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

1. Avoid arguments.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone they are wrong.
3. If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Start with questions the other person will answer yes to.
6. Let the other person do the talking.
7. Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Sympathize with the other person.
10. Appeal to noble motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes first.
4. Ask questions instead of directly giving orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise every improvement.
7. Give them a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.