Kid President's 20 Things We Should Say More Often

Marketing Y-O-U

Are You A Perfect 10?

Here's a quick 30 second exercise for you.  Let's create your ideal person.  Close your eyes.  Now in the next six seconds think of the smartest person you know.  Now you have 6 seconds to think of the most powerful person you know.  During the next six seconds, think of the best looking person you know.  Now, for six seconds, who is most athletic person you know.  Lastly, six seconds to think of  the nicest/kindest person you know.  

Do you have all five images in your head? Now what if all five of these people were combined into one person?  What would this ideal person be like?  Say this person be a perfect 10 in your mind.  If they are a 10, what are you?  

I did this exercise with a group I was speaking to about 10 years ago.  I asked how many people thought of the ideal person as them?  Not one person said they did.  About 1/2 the group ranked themselves between a 3 and 4, 1/3 said they'd be a 5-6, and the rest said 7-8.  Interestingly, nobody ranked themselves higher than an 8.  

What does our self evaluation tell us about ourselves?  If we don't believe in ourselves, should we expect others to?  

Life is about confidence, a belief in ourselves.  It's about improving everyday to stay at the top of your game, it's about knowing that you are just as good as everyone else, and it's about not selling yourself short.  Life is about marketing YOU!

Why is it that we can market any product, service or any other person with ease, but when it comes to marketing ourselves, we can’t do it?  Why should someone hire you?  If we think back to the above numbers that the audience rated themselves, why should someone want to do business with you if you think you're half as good as other people?  

When we ask ourselves this questions, more often than not, it is because we focus on the wrong things.  We focus on material things like looks, social ranking, our track record.  But does anyone care about those other than you?  People care about how you can help them or satisfy a need or want that they have.  If you walked into a job interview and told the interviewer how you'd be able to help them, would you get their attention?  Of course you would! It's the same with when you're selling a commodity.  If it satisfies a need or want, people will buy.  Would they buy into you though?  

There are Five simple steps, and if you follow through properly, you will have accomplished your goal by the end.  These five steps can be applied to any aspect of your life.

The first step is to establish rapport. Break the ice! Say something nice. Show them that you care.   Become a friend.  Establish a comfort level.  Be sincere; build trust, and be confident.  You can't fake "care", nor can you move forward without a genuine level of comfort.  

The second step is to find out the person’s needs and wants.  Talk to the person and ask questions.   If you’re going to a job interview, do some homework.  Find out what is required, what are they looking for in an employee? Don't assume things because what you think is the issue may not be what the reality of the situation is.  

Step Three is where you match your features and benefits to their needs and wants.  This is the easiest of the five steps.  Now that you know the person’s needs and wants all you have to do is match up your features and benefits to those needs and wants. Focus on satisfying the person’s needs before wants. Needs are “must have” wants are bonus requirements.  Tell them about the features that would benefit them.  Tell them what THEY need to hear, not what YOU want to tell them.  Maybe Creative Accounting is your strong point, but if you’re at a bank interview – DON’T GO THERE!  :)  

Step Four is the Proving Yourself.    This is where you PROVE your worth.  Show them the money - not literally :).  SHOW the person how your features and benefits satisfy their needs and wants.  You have to believe in yourself.  You have to know yourself.  Nobody else knows you better than you.  Show your confidence in your abilities. And going back to our example, don’t just say “I sell a lot of homes”.  Tell them exactly how you would be able to sell THEIR home.  Use actual statistics and demonstrate your action plan.   PROVE IT!

That takes us to Step Five.  ASK FOR THE JOB!  This is where you ask for Buy In.  You can do all Four previous steps perfectly.  If you don’t ask for the Sale, you won’t get it.  Most people will go through all the steps and then sit back and wait for the other person to make the next move.  Ask for the job.  Be Assertive, not Aggressive.  YOU are the best person for the job.  Ask for it!

You’ll notice the main focus of the entire process was on Needs and Wants matching up with Features and Benefits. It’s about satisfying needs and wants.  Satisfaction is priceless. It’s all about making a difference.  Be Confident.  KNOW that you can make a difference.  SHOW that you can make a difference.  PROVE that you are satisfying someone’s needs, and YOU become priceless.  YOU become their PERFECT 10!  And, when you're confident in your ability to be a PERFECT 10, you will stop selling yourself short.  From here on in, stop comparing and competing. Wake up everyday and be the "10" that you are!  

My Toughest Night As A Coach - Keeping Life In Perspective

Having coached hockey since 2005/06, I've probably coached 15 teams, 225 players, maybe about 75 of those in multiple years over the eight years.  I had decided in December that this would be my last year of coaching.  I wanted to just "enjoy" watching my kids play, and just be a hockey dad.  :)

The coaching finale was to be tonight.  My older daughter's team was in the Championship game, what a great way to end it, right?

Let me tell you a bit about our 2013/14 team, so you know where they came from.  Our team of 12/13 year olds was put together in October.  We had a few players that would be playing their first year of hockey.  Expectations were pretty low, and the coaching staff knew we had our work cut out for us.  From the first practice, we knew the girls had come to play!  After a sluggish start, the girls started to gel.  They bonded, they started to genuinely care about each other, and they became a tight knit squad.  Isn't that the beauty of team sports?  Involvement in team sports really does teach children life lessons that set them up for the future.  Care, respect, team work, love, overcoming fear, handling failure, and what it takes to win.

I've had many awesome days behind the bench or on the ice.  There have also been heartbreaking losses, injuries and some trying times with overzealous parents.  The TOUGHEST of all nights, was tonight.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that we lost in the Championship Game, which we did.  It was more than that.  It was about a player, someone's child, and indirectly as her coach - one of my children! About 20 minutes before the game, our Trainer approached me and asked to have a word with me.  She proceeded to tell me that during our two week break while waiting for tonight's game, one of our players had a serious operation and would not be in the lineup.  She then told me what had happened to Sylvie, one of our most improved players.   I was devastated.  See, we had played our final playoff game two weeks ago Saturday.  As Sylvie was leaving the arena, I pulled her aside and told her that was her best game ever.  She was solid in a big win that clinched our birth in the Championship Game.  I told her to rest up and be ready for tonight.  Well, about 10 days ago - 4 days after that game - Sylvie had brain surgery to remove an aggressive tumour.  Surgery was successful and Sylvie wanted to come and support her teammates as they played for Gold.  That's what team sports is all about.  All for one and one for all!  Bad news though.  Sylvie was hospitalized again three days ago due to complications.  She was released from hospital this morning and our trainer wasn't sure if Sylvie would still be coming or not.  Everything to do with the sport had just taken a backseat.  The health of our player, our teammate, one of our family was the focus.  After spending two weeks trying to design a game plan around beating the best goalie in the league, it wasn't important anymore.  The only thing of importance was that Sylvie be well.

I had to break the news to the team, but when?  Do I do it now?  Do I do it during my pre-game talk? Do we do it after the game?  I decided we had to do it before the game started so that if Sylvie did come we could show her how much we appreciated her.  I reiterated last game's speech about playing for each other, caring about their teammates, and no matter what happens not giving up on each other.  However, tonight it wasn't about winning or losing, tonight it was about playing for Sylvie just like Sylvie had played for us all year.  Michelle, our trainer, went over details of what had happened just so the girls wouldn't be shocked or scared when they saw Sylvie.  The girls took it on themselves that they would hit the ice hard and play for Sylvie tonight.  They went out hard, they owned the game, and they played their best game ever.  In the third period, Michelle looked at me and said "Sylvie is here"!  We were down 1-0 at the time.  How do I get the girls to stop playing and acknowledge their teammate?  I called a time out.  The ref asked if I wanted to use it later since I may pull the goalie.  I said "no", this wasn't about a game anymore.  This was about life.  I was so proud of the girls as they skated down the ice together, raised their sticks and tapped the glass to let Sylvie know they were "on her team".   Sylvie showing up a few hours after being released from the hospital showed the rest of the team that even is she was down, she was still "on their team" as well.  It was quite an emotional moment, one that the girls will never forget.  One that I will never forget.  It was a night where life was put back into perspective.  It was about my players maturing into caring and loving human beings, knowing that they play the game because they love it, but also realizing that it only is just a game.  It was about Sylvie coming out to show that she was the "One For All", it was about the rest of the team showing her that they were "All For One"!

This had to be one of my toughest nights as a coach, a parent and just as a person.  Our biggest fear is something terrible happening to our children, or to take it further, ANYONE"S child.  Tonight I learned a lot about myself as well.  I may "just be coaching" your child, but in some way that also makes them my child.  I thought I coached for the love of the game.  I don't coach for the love of the game and probably never have.  I learned that I coach for the love of the children.  Making them better people is the goal, and if they become better athletes in the process then that's just a bonus.

Putting Silver Medals around the girls' necks was a great feeling, but an even better feeling was walking over to the boards to put one around Sylvie's neck and watching the players gather around her so we could include her in the team picture.  Moments like that have made coaching these amazing children so worthwhile.  Seeing how they put Sylvie first and the game second makes it all worthwhile. As coaches and parents, we should be so proud of these girls.  They showed that winning and losing at sports doesn't mean that much when compared to the health of a teammate/sister/friend..  Being great human beings and caring for one another comes first.

Everyone, please pray for Sylvie.  Please pray that this smart, beautiful and caring little girl recovers from her surgery and lives a full and happy life.  Hug your kids a little tighter tonight and think of what Sylvie's parents must be going through and keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  Thank you!

BTW, the girls lost 1-0 on the scoreboard, however they won 100-0 in my heart.  I don't think any one of them cared what the score was.  They were just happy to celebrate their silver medals with Sylvie.  That's exactly how it should be.  Life comes first!

Great picture of the team as they head over to the boards to 

include Sylvie (back row with sunglasses) in the team picture! 

Asif Khan Nominated To Run In The TORONTO REAL ESTATE BOARD'S Upcoming Election

On April 2, 2014, Asif Khan accepted the nomination to run for Director At Large for the Toronto Real Estate Board. Licensed on the Toronto Real Estate Board since 2005, Khan is currently with RE/MAX All-Stars Realty in Markham-Unionville.  Khan's cutting edge Real Estate Business is in the top 1% of the Toronto Real Estate Board, and he will bring a fresh and positive outlook to Board decisions.  Khan says he looks forward to working hard for all members of TREB in helping to take the industry to the next level with the goal being to enhance a Realtor's value and client satisfaction. Voting begins on April 30th and ends at noon on May 5th, 2014.  

View Khan's Election Platform Video here!

Unionville Meadows - 10 Years of Academic Excellence

It's hard to believe that it has been 10 years since Unionville Meadows Public School first opened it's doors.  And what a great 10 years it has been.  The school has quickly climbed in ratings and is now known as one of Ontario's highest ranked public schools for academic excellence.

Led by outstanding Principals over it's 10 years, the school has thrived.  The first to take the helm was  Doug Wilton, followed by Amanda Leblanc, and now Leanne Hughes Fernandes.  Great Principals have provided the school with the leadership any great school requires to position itself as one of the tops in the Province.

This was the original group of teachers from Opening Day at Unionville Meadows.  Some have come, some have gone, but the core remains the same.  It was great to see many of the ones that have moved on to other schools come back for the Anniversary Celebration and the tears in their eyes as they saw what their hard work had resulted in.  Well-Rounded individuals that are nearing graduation from UMPS, already in high-school and some now in University.  Must have been a great feeling to know that you contributed to the success stories of today!

The level of care from the teachers, supports staff, and maintenance staff is phenomenal.  UMPS Children, are not just OUR children, they have become EVERYBODY'S children while at school.  The support and family type of environment rubs off on the children as well.  It's a close knit school community which sees everyone helping and encouraging each other to be the best they can be.  As Mr. Andonoff stated, the school has only had one fight between two students in it's TEN year history.  That says a lot just in that statement about how close the students are to each other.  Here is the 2013/14 Group.  Some new faces, but the same level of care and kindness that has become a hallmark of UMPS staff.

Lifelong friendships have been formed amongst the students.  Ones that will continue into the future, well after their tenure at UMPS has ended.  Sabrina and Alexandra, below, first met in Junior Kindergarten on the day the school first opened.  After spending a few years together, Alexandra moved away.  Their friendship has continued over the years and they were back together again for the 10th Anniversary festivities, sharing memories and dreams.

When the school first opened, the Junior Kindergarten classes were asked to paint what they wanted to be when they grew up on a tile.  The foyer of the school is now adorned with these tiles.  

Sabrina, of course, wanted to become an artist (with pink hair I believe). ;)  Ten years later, she is quite the artist! (but she does not have pink hair - Thank God!) 

Alexandra wanted to become a princess.  And her parent's would concur, she really does think she is now.  :)

The school's motto, and theme song, is From Seeds We Soar.  What a great motto for a school so dedicated to helping each and every student soar to heights beyond their dreams.  

Congratulations to all the staff and students of Unionville Meadows on a fabulous first ten years!  The next ten will be even better and as parents of the children you've helped raise and turn into success stories of the future, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  Thank you for all you have done, and all you continue to do!