Events

Category Archives: Events

Thank You Upson-Lee High School!

Posted by Grant on December 4, 2009 – 7:05 am

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak at the Upson-Lee High School Career Day in Georgia yesterday. The school also gave every senior a copy of my book “Reality Check,” which was very cool.

The picture above is with Betty Thurman, the assistant principal who organized the Career Day, and Cleve Hendrix, school principal. Both were outstanding administrators who clearly care about the work they do with students.

Thank you to both Ms. Thurman and Mr. Hendrix and all the seniors that made Career Day a success!

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More Knowledge Isn’t The Answer To Your Problems

Posted by Grant on October 16, 2009 – 6:00 am

Filed under Events, Speaking, Thinking Out Loud...

Yesterday, I attended a full-day motivational seminar that featured several big-name speakers. It was a fascinating environment to me. There was probably 10,000 people in the arena and the speakers did a good job creating a “go, fight, win” atmosphere for the audience (of course, a lot of it was “go, fight…buy my product and I’ll tell you how to win” but that’s a different post for a different day!).

Attending conferences are great shots in the arm and can provide wonderful motivational boosts. But I couldn’t get past a simple observation (not just with this event but even with the events I speak at)…

You can clap, cheer, and applaud the ideas presented and the person presenting them. You can take pages of notes and memorize fancy quotes (wow, that rhymed). You can get all the information and knowledge in the world BUT…

It doesn’t mean squat if you don’t do anything with it.

And truth be told most people in that arena won’t do anything different. I’ll tell you a little known secret about motivational speakers that we don’t want you to know: we can’t change your life. Speakers may be good at giving you the knowledge and the ideas, but only you can prevent forest fires. Wait, that’s not right…

You’re the person who has to be responsible to implement the changes. It’s never easy or pleasant, but it’s necessary.

I want your opinion on this…why is it so darn difficult to make personal changes even when we know it will make our lives better?

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Lessons Learned From A Flat Tire

Posted by Grant on October 9, 2009 – 7:05 am

Filed under Events, Thinking Out Loud...

Yesterday morning I left the house and began a 2-hour drive to an event I was speaking at. About 30 minutes into it, my car received the blessing of a flat tire.

Awesome.

Any speaker will tell you that one of their biggest fears is missing an engagement. I’m no different. So I pulled over and my first thought was…

“I hope I can change a tire.”

“PANIC…OMG…I’M NEVER GOING TO MAKE IT. WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!”

“This is going make a great story!”

I changed the tire, got back on the road, drove about 10 miles and pulled into a little hole-in-the-wall tire shop. They put two new tires on the front and I was back on the road in less than 10 minutes. I got to the event location, set my bag down, and walked right on stage to begin. It all worked out just fine.

And as I was driving back, I was reminded of some simple lessons from the experience…

Control What You Can, But Don’t Panic About What You Can’t Control – Flat tires happen. That’s life. There was no sense in freaking out and falling apart. I just got out of the car, changed the tire, and got going again.

Your Attitude Will Make Or Break A Situation – Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Everybody handles “crisis” differently but your attitude and perception of that situation can make things a lot better or a lot worse.

An Emergency Fund Makes “Emergencies” Feel More Like Inconveniences – I talked recently about another car issue and how thankful I was to have our emergency fund. When I had to spend $155 on tires, it wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t a crisis. Why? Because we have an emergency fund for situations such as this. It’s a lot less stressful when you’re prepared for the emergency before it happens.

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Lots Of Travel Next Week

Posted by Grant on September 11, 2009 – 5:53 am

Filed under Events, Speaking, Travels

Next week will be one of the busiest travel weeks I’ve had in a while. Sometimes events just fall in a row and you end up having to go from one to the next. It makes for a whirlwind week, but I always hate being gone from my family for that long. Here’s what next week entails…

9 Presentations
3 States (Michigan, Illinois, California)
8 Flights
4 Hotels
3 Rental Cars
6,000+ miles
4,000+ students
1 Packed Week!

I’ll keep you updated throughout the week (usually via Twitter). Come along for the ride!

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Travels & Events This Week…

Posted by Grant on July 7, 2009 – 3:00 am

Filed under Events, Travels

This morning I’m flying out to Montana to speak at their 4-H State Congress tonight and tomorrow.

I was going to be part of this event last year, but it was scheduled too close to when Emilee was due to be born. That wouldn’t have gone over well to be in Montana while my wife goes into labor!

I’ve never been to Montana, so it should be fun. I’ll fly home Thursday morning and then leave Friday afternoon to head up by Lake Of The Ozarks for a youth conference over the weekend. I’ll come back Sunday morning and then we’ll have Emilee’s 1st birthday party that afternoon.

It’ll be a busy week for speaking and travel, but when you love what you do, it never seems like work!

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National BPA Conference in Dallas

Posted by Grant on June 16, 2009 – 5:56 am

Filed under Events, Speaking, Travels

I’m totally pumped about tomorrow night…I will be speaking at the opening session of the BPA (Business Professionals of America) National Leadership Conference in Dallas!

This event was actually supposed to take place back in early May but due to the swine flu scare, it was moved to now.

My wife and daughters will be tagging along for this event as well, so it’s always nice to have them around.

This will be one of the largest events I’ve spoke at so far, so I’m pretty stoked about it. For updates about how the conference is going, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

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Hello New Jersey…

Posted by Grant on March 12, 2009 – 3:46 am

Filed under Events, Travels

Today, I will be speaking to 2,000+ teenagers in lovely and scenic New Jersey. I’ve been really looking forward to this event and am excited about the day ahead.

I will be doing a keynote at the opening general session and a couple of workshops this afternoon.

I hope the sessions all go smooth. If you screw up in front of that many students, your blunder is bound to end up on YouTube…

Great Weekend In Indiana & Kentucky!

Posted by Grant on March 9, 2009 – 6:47 am

Filed under Events, Travels

I had a great weekend speaking at the Indiana FCCLA State Conference in Indianapolis and then heading south to speak at the Kentucky 4-H Teen Summit. Great groups of students at both places!

Jen Staley put on a wonderful event for FCCLA and Mark Mains led a great group of students and leaders at the Teen Summit. Well done! I’m actually doing events for both of them again in a few months, which I’m looking forward to.

I’m home briefly and then I head to New Jersey this week for the FBLA State Conference…

Travels to Florida…

Posted by Grant on December 4, 2008 – 4:24 pm

Filed under Events, Travels

I’m in route to Florida this morning where I’ll be speaking at a Student Council conference tomorrow. I’m excited about this event for two reasons:

One of the students who scheduled me has a connection at the Kennedy Space Center, and he was able to get me a private tour of the place this afternoon! Pretty stoked about that! I’m kind of hoping I get to go up in Space for a tour of the moon, but I’m thinking my odds are not good. And they would probably make me sign something that if I die or if they lose me in space, it’s not their fault.
This is my last event of the year, so after this I’m looking forward to taking some time off to hang with my girls. (By the way, when I say “my girls,” I assume you know I’m talking about my wife and two daughters. Just didn’t want you to think I was a pimp or something…)

10 Things NOT To Do When Sharing A Hotel With The President of China…

Posted by Grant on November 15, 2008 – 1:54 pm

Filed under Events, Funny

This weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the FBLA-PBL National Fall Leadership Conference in Washington DC. Meanwhile, across town at the White House, 20 of the most powerful men and women in the world gathered for an international economic summit.

So when I checked in at the hotel, I noticed there were Secret Service agents, police officers, and media reporters all over the hotel. I began asking around and guess who I was sharing a hotel with?

The President of China.

So with Secret Service agents swarming this fancy hotel, I came up with a list of 10 Things NOT To Do When Sharing A Hotel With The President of China…

10. Ask an agent if you can wear one of those cool ear pieces and talk into his sleeve.

9. Reach into your inside coat pocket as the motorcade is arriving. One conference attendee learned this the hard way and was detained for 45 minutes!

8. Introduce yourself as Jack Bauer and demand to speak with the President.

7. Offer the President Cashew Chicken with a side of Kung Pao, and then do a karate move.

6. In your best hick accent, say to the President, “You’ve got a big wall over there, don’tcha cowboy.”

5. Introduce yourself as MacGyver. Better yet, introduce yourself as McGruber.

4. Yell across the room, “Hey Mr. President…you’re the bomb!”

3. Go the Chinese media and tell them you’re the real Brad Pitt.

2. Tell an agent that you’re really a ninja.

1. Say to the President, “Sorry Michael Phelps beat your whole country this summer.”

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