From his opening line to his emotional closing John Walsh’s story about his son and finding your life’s purpose both inspired and touched the whole audience.  

John Walsh at Get Motivated

Sometimes in life there are events that shape our future in ways that we never could have imagined; the abduction and subsequent murder of John’s son led him and his wife to change the shape of the American justice system, proving that one person doing what their heart tells them can make a difference. His relentless dedication has led to the apprehension of over a thousand criminals and several new laws dealing with offender registration.  His story teaches us that everyone has a purpose and the power to make a difference.

Last Wednesday a group of employees from our Michigan office attended the “Get Motivated” seminar at the Palace of Auburn Hills. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend. I have seen motivational speakers and business leaders speak before, but never anything on this scale. With the line-up of speakers and the number of attendees I did not really know what to expect, but when we grabbed our seats and things got going I was pleasantly surprised.

Simply put it was a lot of fun. I have been to the Palace for concerts and Pistons games and the crowd at “Get Motivated” was a comparable to those, and one could even argue that it was probably more energetic than a Pistons game last year (sorry had to get my dig in there).

The speakers that really stick at and seemed to speak to me were Lou Holtz, Colin Powell, and Rick Belluzzo. Growing up a Michigan Wolverines fan, I never really liked Notre Dame nor was I a fan of Lou Holtz, but after seeing him speak I must admit that my opinion of the legendary coach has changed. Also I admittedly did not really know anything about Rick Belluzzo, so therefore I was not expecting much from him. He actually turned out to be one of my favorite speakers; his story of humble beginnings and maintaining a level head throughout his successes and his failures was something that I could relate to.  He seemed like an average guy that worked very hard to achieve great success.

Although Lou and Rick were great, I have to admit that I was really surprised and really impressed by Colin Powell. Before seeing the former Secretary of the State speak at “Get Motivated”, I always thought of him as more of a, with all due respect, square. But after seeing him speak his story was not only motivating, but he actually had a great personality and was funny! In fact I found it difficult to actually take notes because I was totally captivated while he was speaking.

The “Get Motivated’ seminar was a great event, full of surprises, of course motivating, and also fun. If you ever have a chance to attend one of these events I would highly recommend taking a day and enjoying yourself.

APR recently sent some of our Michigan employees to a Get Motivated seminar … this is the first of several blogs on their experiences:

After recently attending the Get Motivated Business Conference in Auburn Hills, MI, I couldn’t help but take away some great, positive tools to arm me on days of negativity. There were many great speakers – from Bob Schuller, Rick Belluzzo, Krish Dhanam, Lou Holtz, Colin Powell and others.

I thought the best take-aways were:

• Cut the word impossible out of your life – consider it a profanity.
• You didn’t ask to be born, so what’s your destiny?
• Every problem is solvable.
• During times of change, disruption and uncertainty, this is often the best time for opportunity.
• What are you doing to make your walk of like meaningful?
• If you want to get to Point B, you need to learn what it takes to get there while still at Point A.
• Always make sure people know you care. We don’t tell people how much we care until it’s too late or something bad happens.
• The attitude you chose is more important than anything else.
• Raise your right arm as high as you can. Now raise it higher. Why didn’t you do it in the first place?
• Turbulence is inevitable, but misery is optional.

These are all very simple sentences that you may read and let it flow in and out of your brain without leaving a lasting impression; which is fine because you decide what kind of life you chose to live.  But, doesn’t it sound easier to be happy?  To help someone?  To tell someone how much you care?  To listen? 

Motivation is a wonderful tool. You can listen to it, write notes about it, tell your loved ones and co-workers about what you learned.  But motivation is nothing if you don’t take that knowledge, that tool and apply it.  Half of the equation is actually using it to accomplish, to move forward, to succeed and excel. Why fight it?

As James Smith said, “Put a positive sign on a negative and you won’t see it anymore.”  Weird how that works, huh? What’s the worst thing that could happen?  You could be happy and you could make someone happy in return.  You could turn a negative situation, learn from it and move on to accomplish other great things.

So focus on your purpose, be proactive, be genuine and smile.  It will all work out.