Becoming a Champion28Oct08

As I sit here, watching the opening night of the 2009 NBA season (WOO!), I couldn’t help but get the thinking. Well, it started before tonight’s game with the Cleveland Cavs & Boston Celtics. The NBA held the championship ring ceremony tonight for the Boston Celtics. For those who don’t watch much basketball, the Celtics won the 2008 Championship and the ceremonies are always held during the following year’s opening night. Anywho, I watched the 10 or so minute ceremony with awe and emotion running through me. I’m definitely no Boston fan as I rooted against them and for the L.A. Lakers during the Finals, but I had these feelings in me as I watched the Celtics players receive their championship rings with pure joy on their faces. Specifically though, Paul Pierce, who showed the greatest emotion as he let tears of joy stream down his cheeks as they announced his name, handed him the championship trophy and lastly, received his ring.

I definitely got caught up in the moment and felt his emotions, those that only champions feel when accomplishing the goals they’ve set out for themselves. The Celtics set their goals before the season started and put their heart and soul into reaching it and did so as they became champions.

The goal of becoming a champion is no different in business than it is with sports. Regardless of what industry we’re in and what our job entails, we all (most?) strive to be a champion in one way or another. Whether it’s the small goals we set for ourselves or that one big illustrious accomplishment that we spend our heart and soul into (eg. Celtics). Whatever it may be, becoming a champion takes heart and dedication whether it be finally getting your MBA or nailing that first big client of yours.

I ask you, what makes you want to become a champion? What lights that fire inside of you and gets you going day in and day out? What makes you want to feel the emotion that Paul Pierce felt tonight receiving his ring? I want to hear from you.

People and Passion - Part 227Oct08

The first part of this short series related to one of the takeaways I had from the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer, people and the deep connections I made with many folks at the conference last week. The second takeaway that I’ll be touching on is passion.

Gary Vaynerchuk is as passionate as they come and if anyone is going to give you a kick in the butt about passion, he’s the man to do it. I’ve always watched his videos on GaryVaynerchuk.com & even on WineLibrary.tv (and I barely drink wine) and am able to take his energy from the videos and into my professional and even personal life. Seeing (and gratefully getting to speak & hang out with) him in person definitely multiplied the force of his words as I’m sure majority of the people at the keynote felt. Summing it up, he makes you want to get out and do 1,000 things. Powerful, to say the least.

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People and Passion - Part 127Oct08

A couple weeks ago, I wrote on how to pre-tackle conferences and specifically related it to the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer that took place this past week. All I can say is - WOW. The event, people and venue were simply amazing. I expected a great event in Scottsdale as MarketingProfs had a stellar line up of speakers, as well as two big keynotes by Arianna Huffington and Gary Vaynerchuk, who undoubtedly ‘brought it.’ If you’ve ever watched one of his videos, you’ll notice his passion right off the bat for what he does and how much he truly believes in his community, which leads into the biggest takeaways for me from this event; people and passion. I’ll break this up into two parts so I can better explain both.

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