Collingwood School

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to about 80 grade 10-12 students at Collingwood School as part of their Career Day.

The kids were really great and I hope the things I said alerted them to some of the possibilities that are a little outside the box.

I saw 4 groups of about 20 each - and delivered essentially the same talk 4 times.  By the end I kept worrying I was repeating myself.

I basically told them about my (sometimes successful and sometimes not) experiences in entrepreneurship, business, sports, non-profit activities etc. 

Since I am no Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey (and I barely have my own career figured out) I decided to concentrate on the things I DO know:

1. Find your passion and don't worry if it isn't law, accounting, business, medicine etc.

2. Get involved within your chosen fields - whether it is sports, law or knitting.  Join a club, start a club, coach a kid, start a blog, write an article, volunteer, start a newsletter, publish a magazine, become a "go to" authority on your passion.  Opportunities will come.

3.  Make connections and cultivate them.

4.  Be patient - over time your list of accomplishments, projects, influence will grow and so will people's respect for you.

5.  Start now.  A 21 year old can have five years of valuable experience if they start pouring effort into a passion at 16.

6.  To "master" something they say you need to put in 10,000 hours (Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell).  That's a lot of time - you better pick something you love!

7.  Courage.  If you choose the unorthodox you better have the courage to follow through because the road will be lined with naysayers.

8.  Take a risk.  The leaps of faith I have taken in the past and continue to take become learning experiences whether I fall flat or succeed.  Never risking anything is a sure way to leave yourself with questions of "what if?" and regret.

These experiences are so priceless because you share the things you've learnt, tell funny stories to illustrate your points, see eyes light up and smiles cross faces.  You leave feeling pretty charged up and ready to GET THINGS DONE!

Thanks Collingwood students!

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Grade 5 Kids - Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a grade 5 class from Sir Wilfred Grenfell school in East Vancouver.

I had assembled all of the stuff I thought these 10/11 year olds might be interested in:

- All 3 of my legs (the fourth does not require assembly)

- A handful of race numbers

- A handful of race medals

- A Team Canada triathlon jersey

- Some gels

- Innovative Fitness temporary tattoos 

These kids have been working on "Medicine Wheels" - learning about, and understanding the 4 elements of the wheel - Mind, Body, Spirit and Emotion.  I was impressed by the subject matter, and their grasp of it.

Mrs. Finden (their teacher and my friend) had the kids well prepared with dozens of questions - good ones too...  I was very impressed by the class's interest, intelligent questions, and spirit.  They loved telling me what their goals were and what they did to try to achieve them - there was some real drive in the room! 

Toughest question?  

Ding Hao: "Where did they put your leg after they cut it off?"

MJ: "You mean?  Yeah... Ummm.... well...... hmmm...... the garbage?... I guess.?..?"

Kids: "eeeeewwwwww!!!!"

Ha ha ha....  in 13 years I haven't been asked that one.  I thought about saying "the hospital incinerator" but, since I wasn't too familiar with the 5th grade mind at that stage, I didn't want to give the kids (or myself) nightmares...

Speaking of the 5th grade mind, they chastised me for inappropriate visuals in my Haney 2 Harrison Race Report - seems they were quite "shocked" by the prosthetic bum in one of the pictures.  Just kidding....  I think I found the target demographic for fake butts....   

After a question and answer session and more useful chats about goals, and overcoming adversity and never quitting etc. we headed out to the field for a "race".

After putting the kids through a one-lap warm-up and a little stretch we toed-the-line and had a sprint race.  They pushed me hard but I was victorious (phewww!) - I guess they'll have to have me back next year to see if they are fast enough to beat me!

It was a great afternoon.  Thanks for inviting me Mrs. Finden and thanks to all of the kids!

Some pics (click to enlarge):

Warm-up lap....

Stretching - we don't need any blown hammies in this race...

More stretching...

The race...  check out the spirited cheering!

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Overcoming Adversity

On Tuesday I was proud to be able to speak to a great group of about 30 people from GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver.

I have been volunteering at GF Strong for a while now and have enjoyed helping other amputees with various aspects of their recoveries.  Sometimes we just chat, sometimes we ride bikes, sometimes we run....  all in all, I guess I try to demonstrate that an active life is still a reality and that the rewards are even more poignant when it requires extra work to overcome adversity.

That was what I talked about on Tuesday - Overcoming Adversity, Goal Setting, Using a Process to Achieve your Goals.  I also showed a few pictures and told a bunch of stories about my own exploits to illustrate the rewards when these things are done properly (and the failures when they aren't!)

I really enjoyed the opportunity and found the stories shared by the people in the room to be very inspirational.  I even got a pineapple for my efforts - which was most fortunate given the pineapple addiction I have after 2 weeks in Hawaii! 

                                                           A few folks from the group

                                                                    Chris and myself

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