On the day before the Top Ten Event, I had just left Sick Kids Hospital and was in between the thousands of things I was already doing in preparation for the next day when I got the call.  My mom told me that my father had had a stroke and lost the vision of one eye.  Without a thought or a word, I jumped back into my car and rushed to the Toronto Western Hospital.  Before I knew it, I was sitting in a small room with my mother and father watching the surgeon try to save my fathers vision.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

The next day I woke up and found myself almost maniacally chuckling as I thought about the day ahead of me.  My brain kept saying, “This can’t be happening.”  Every part of me wanted to go back to bed and cancel the event.  I knew this wasn’t an option.  Too many people had too much riding on the event and I wouldn’t allow myself to let them down.  Within hours I found myself numbly entered the stage while staring back at the 750 people staring at me.  I wanted to cry.  Instead, I decided to laugh and to invited them to laugh with me.  I told the audience the story I have just told you.  In the process I pointed out the fact that my father was sitting in the crowd and he got a huge round of applause.  When pointing him out I told the audience that we were so excited to know that when my dad drank alcohol in the future that he would no longer have double vision!  Ha!  As well, I pointed out that things were looking better for Benjamin and that his father, my twin brother, was also sitting in the crowd supporting me on my big night.  And more jokes followed.  Together, myself and the audience, took a sad and frustrating experience and we turned it into something special.

I know you’ve heard this many times before, but it’s worth saying again.  We don’t always have control over what life serves us, but we do have control in how we choose to handle and interpret it.  I am proud to say that I come from a family that chooses to laugh soon after we shed our tears.  Some call that irresponsible or crazy.  I call it healthy and therapeutic.  Would you believe that as soon as I finish typing these words, I will be going to the doctors office to have a needle shoved in my arm.  Why?  Because they just called me to tell me that they lost the blood sample I gave yesterday.  I guarantee you that when the nurse sticks that needle in my arm for the second time that I will choose to make her laugh.  She already knows she made a mistake so the least we can do is laugh about it together.

What are your problems today and how do you choose to see them?

Stuart

Take your next conference or meeting to the next level with Stuart Knight.  Click here to book him today.  Would you like to  transform your daily interactions into moments that will give you greater wisdom and deeper meaning, while building exciting relationships with the people in both your professional and personal life? Click Here to get your own copy of You Should Have Asked – The Art of Powerful Conversation

It’s in these moments that I wish I had some magical power and could show up to talk to every person on planet earth who is no longer excited about their idea.  If I could I would point their eyes toward the end goal.  I would get them to describe how could it would feel to bring this idea to life.  I would show them all the ways in which they will become a better person in the process.  The reason I would do this is because I know first hand what it’s like to have an idea and I know what it’s like to put in the work, take the risk and risk the time.  More importantly, I know the feeling I get when a plan comes together.  There really aren’t words to describe it.  I would imagine it’s similar to asking a woman to describe what it’s like to look at her baby for the first time.  There just aren’t words.  If I could package those words into the right sentence I would dedicate my life to making sure that every human on planet read them so they too would have the courage to follow through with their ideas.  I want everyone to experience that joy.

I’m writing these words, just hours before my Top Ten Event.  Seven hundred people have purchased tickets to an event that was once an idea.  In a few hours, I will experience the joy of standing backstage watching some of Canada’s most fascinating people talk about the one thing you should know before you die.  These are people who never even knew I existed when I first had this idea. That’s a special feeling and it’s one that I want everyone to experience at one point in their life.

It’s worth it.  I guess you will just have to trust me on that.

I was surprised at how quickly I said, “Before you die, you should know the difference between a rule and a concept.”  Through many years of study I discovered the difference between the two and it had a profound impact on my life.  However, you don’t need years of study to get there.  You can get there by the end of this blog, unless of course you are distracted by rules and don’t get to the lesson.

What is a rule and what is a concept?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?  If you want to live a fulfilling life, it’s something that you have to not only consider, but fully understand.  All rules start out as a concept.  Someone says, “Hey, now that we have cars moving in opposite directions, we should create something called a dividing line and tell people that they have to stay within their designated area when driving their car.”  It began as a concept and today is a very good rule that we should all follow if we want to preserve life.  There are thousands of examples of these rules that were once only concepts in a persons mind and today are fantastic rules.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds and thousands of other concepts that once began in a person’s mind that far too many people apply to their life as rules.  If they could just see them for what they are, which are concepts, they may not be so shackled to the rules of life.  For example, at one point in time people saw how difficult it was to survive without a partner.  To grow food, make it through the winter and build a family of people who could collectively make life easier by working together, you needed a partnership.  From this need for survival came the concept of marriage.  Today, people can survive the winter without a partner, which is why they are questioning whether or not they need to get married, but unfortunately, so many years of a concept being exercised has caused it to become a rule in people’s minds.  So much so that many people feel like they are breaking a rule if they choose to not get married.  I don’t care if you get married or not.  Do what ever makes you happy.  I only care that you do it because you want to and not because you have to or believe it’s a rule.

Another concept came from a moment in time when people started saying, “Hey, with the invention of steam power, we can now start mobilizing massive groups of people in buildings for a certain period of time each day.  In the process, we’ll be able to make more things, faster and cheaper.”  That was just a concept.  Someone came up with the idea of starting work at 9am and finishing at 5pm.  Someone came up with the concept that we would be happier if we had all of those things.  Someone came up with a concept that having a huge house, two cars, lots of clothes, etc would give us power.  But that was just a concept.  Once again, these concepts surrounding work, career and having extra things that we don’t really need has been around so long that people now see them as rules for life.  But they aren’t rules.  They are just concepts that other people had.

Look around you!  The computer in front of you that helps you post pictures and answer emails.  The microwave that saves you time.  The expensive shoes that help you run faster to places you never knew you wanted to go until the concept was introduced.  The school with that many specific students, with a teacher who has that specific degree, in a building with that many specific classrooms and all of those classes start and end at a specific time.  Just a concept.  The specific size of your bed, the specific number of times you should be making love per week with your partner to be considered in a healthy relationship and the sexual desire you suppress for a specific number of people in order to be considered a good person.  Just a concept.  The handshake, the Mr. and Mrs., the amount of deserved vacation, the length of time to call after getting someone’s number, the tie, the suit, the fork in the left hand, the degree that is supposed to get you the job, the advertisement, the amount of friends you need on Facebook to be considered popular, the ideal age of retirement, the tip to the waiter, the rumble of the Harley Davidson, the price of the wine, the history lesson that made the curriculum and all the others that didn’t make the cut.  All just a bunch of concepts.

There is nothing you have to do.  Every single thing created by human beings started as a concept.  Just because something started as a concept doesn’t mean it has to be a rule.  You can make decisions based on rules that you think exist, or you can sculpt a life by considering the concepts of others and asking whether they feel right to you.  Knowing the difference between a concept and a rule for many people is knowing the difference between life and death.  I know it was for me.  I hope today’s blog gets you questioning the decisions you make in the future and more importantly why you feel the need to make them in the first place.  Getting to the why is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself.

Here’s a concept for you.  I think that putting ten fascinating people on stage for ten minutes each and asking them to tell you the one thing you should know before you die is a pretty cool idea.  In fact, I think it would be impossible to sit in the audience on the night of May 9th and not walk away with a perspective that will add value to your life.  Of course, that’s just a concept.  However, I’m basing my concept on sixteen years of producing shows that have been seen by over a million people.  If that’s not enough for you to invest a little time and money, then I don’t what concept is.  I hope you trust me on this one.  You are not obligated to be there.  You choose to.  And that’s a rule that I will always live by.

Stuart

The Top Ten Event is just over one week away.  I hope you will help me raise money for families facing the challenges of autism, while enjoying a night you won’t forget.  Learn more at www.toptenevent.com or get tickets at http://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/10004A5AA0F05A2F

The part that I loved about my new found job was all the people who came up to me at the end of the speech to tell me their dreams and aspirations.  I felt so honoured to be connecting with strangers in such a powerful way.  However, when I finally had some alone time a few hours after the speech, I wondered how many people would be able to hold on to that motivation that I had just provided.  As a motivational speaker it is my job to infuse energy and perspective into the hearts and minds of my audience.  Unfortunately, I can’t go home with each person and follow them around for the rest of their lives to continue being that person who motivates them.  We have to do it for ourselves.  We’ve all walked out of a movie, read a book, seen a documentary or watched a motivational speaker and felt inspired to make a big change or to move toward something we have always wanted.  At the same time, we have all woken up the next morning or a week later and have lost that motivation.

It takes work to get it back.  Most people are not willing to do that work and instead just wait for the next movie, documentary, book or motivational speaker to come along to get that feeling back.  However, the most successful and happy people on the planet are those that do what it takes to motivate themselves.  There are many ways to do it and you have to find the one that works best for you.  Maybe you have to create a vision board with images of things that you look at every day that inspire you to reach your goals.  Maybe you need to deliberately add it to your daily conversations so that you are constantly talking about the thing you want to do with your life.  Maybe you need to journal, or put post it notes on your mirror or  listen to motivational recordings in the car on the way to work?  Whatever you need to do, I encourage you to do it, because it’s worth it.  To become a motivational speaker who is hired full time to travel the country sharing my message with others, I have had to work very hard.  On the tough days when I wanted to give up I had to find my motivation.  For me, I simply closed my eyes and pictured the people in my audience getting excited about what I had to say and feeling inspired to make a big change.  Once I pictured those future smiling faces in my crowd, I had the motivation to keep going.

Take the time right now to think of what you need to do to stay motivated.  Make a list as long as you can and start doing those things on a daily basis.  You will be amazed how this exercise will influence the results you get out of life.  There isn’t a successful person on planet earth who doesn’t do this, and you will not be the exception to the rule.

It’s worked for millions of other people and it will work for you.

Good luck!

Stuart

Your friendly motivational speaker.  :)

Take your next conference or meeting to the next level with Stuart Knight.  Click here to book him today.  Would you like to  transform your daily interactions into moments that will give you greater wisdom and deeper meaning, while building exciting relationships with the people in both your professional and personal life? Click Here to get your own copy of You Should Have Asked – The Art of Powerful Conversation

Today, I’ve decided to tell you what I do for a living.  Here we go!  I get paid to make the world a better place.  There you go!  I said it!  So why don’t I say that when people ask me what I do?  Could you imagine yourself saying that if someone asked you what you do for a living?  I live in Canada people!  We’re not allowed to brag about ourselves remember?  It’s the first question they ask you on the passport application form.  Do you promise to downplay all of your accomplishments and never brag about what you have done in the past and never allude to great things you might possibly do in the future?  Yes, I do. Thank you.  Here’s your passport.

Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t blame my country for me not feeling comfortable in being honest about what I truly do for a living.  I blame myself.  I take full responsibility for it and I have decided that enough is enough.  From this point forward, I am going to make every attempt possible to be as honest as possible about what I do for a living without fear of what the other person on the receiving end might say or think.  I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life trying to make the world a better place.  It’s the truth.  Plain and simple.  It started out with a little motivational high school show that I wrote and since then I’ve tried to make the world a better place through books, musicals, corporate speeches, workshops, festivals, newsletters, radio shows, television interviews and events.  It’s who I am and it’s what I do, and I’m very proud of all of it.

To be honest, I believe that it’s who you are to.  I believe that you are someone that was built for making the world a better place.  Whether you decide to do it is a choice you make.  You were given eyes to see the problems.  You were given a voice to stand up and say something.  You were given hands to fight it.  You were given a mind to figure out solutions to the challenges we face.  Above and beyond any job you have had or will ever have, I believe that this is who you were meant to be.  Making the world a better place is completely available to you.  Whether you do it for a living is irrelevant.  What counts is whether you do it for a life WORTH living.

The happiest people I’ve ever met are the ones trying to make the world a better place.  Give it a try and you will see that I’m right.

In fact, why don’t you join me in making the world a better place on May 9th.  Help me raise money for families facing the challenges of autism.  I’ve spent the past two months dedicating hundreds of unpaid hours to building an event that will make a big difference in the lives of others.  I have to admit that it’s been a lot of work and I’m hoping you will help me make it all pay off.  Treat yourself to an entertaining night where ten fascinating people will tell you the ten things you should know before you die.  You have a choice. You can sit on the receiving end of these newsletters or you can rally behind the guy that sends them.  Let’s make the world a better place together.  Help me make this a sold out event.  Get your tickets now at www.toptenevent.com   Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Stuart

When people get together with their friends and family for long weekends, they often miss the chance to connect on a powerful level because they ask predictable questions.  You can avoid doing that this weekend by asking people to participate in an exercise where they answer the ten questions below.  Remember that after the person answers your question, feel free to go further by asking them more questions based on the answer they just gave you.  Feel free to share how it went for you in the comments area below.  And hopefully you will consider sharing this page in your social media so that others too can enjoy the exercise.

STUART’S EASTER WEEKEND QUESTIONS

1. If you could only choose one country in the world that you most wish to travel to where would it be?
2. What is one fear that you would like to conquer?
3. When  you are down, what do you do to feel better?
4. If you got a tattoo, what would you get and where would you put it?
5. Would you rather have a job you love that doesn’t pay well or a well-paying job you don’t like?
6. What’s the one thing you wanted as a child, but never got?
7. What are the most important qualities you look for in a friend?
8. How do you define integrity?
9. If you were given money to remodel your house, what would you change first?
10. If you were to go on a spiritual journey where would you go and what would you do?

Have fun.  Make this an Easter Weekend to remember.  And don’t forget.  Powerful Conversation.  Powerful Life.

• Book Stuart Knight to speak at your next corporate event or meeting. Click HERE to contact us.
• Don’t miss the most inspiring event of the year.  Click HERE to attend the Top Ten Event.

Ok, so when I ask people questions, I’m amazed at how often I hear the person respond with, “Hmmmmm, I’ve never thought about that before.”  I used to think these people were the minority and that the majority of people on planet earth give deep thought to this incredible thing called life.  It turns out that I am wrong.  Most people exist in a somewhat “robotic” state.  Their brain focuses on tasks that need to be completed, people that need to be contacted and social media that needs to be checked.  Very rarely do they take time out of the day, week or month to explore the world around them and who they are within it.  After observing this for many years, I have decided to make a list of ten questions that I think every human being should have an answer to.  Whether you answer is “right” or “wrong” is irrelevant.  All that matters is that you at least give it some thought.  I encourage you to take the time to really give these questions some thought and don’t stop until you have an answer for each one of them.  It’s also a fun exercise to do with a friend, family member of partner.  Have fun.  I hope this leads you into a powerful conversation that you deserve.

10 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD HAVE AN ANSWER TO…

1. How often do you try to make people laugh in any given day?

2. What is one sentence you would like to see written on your tombstone?

3. How are you making the world a better place?

4. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? What is the biggest risk you will ever take?

5. What is one mistake you will never make again?

6. Specifically, how many more days, months or years are you willing to go before you do that thing you know you want to do?

7. Are your views on God your own or others?

8. If life has meaning, what is it?

9. How do people feel when they are around you?

10. Who are you?  Who do you want to be?

Powerful Conversation. Powerful Life.  It’s yours to have.

• Book Stuart Knight to speak at your next corporate event or meeting. Click HERE to contact us.
• Don’t miss the most inspiring event of the year.  Click HERE to attend the Top Ten Event.

1. As a keynote speaker you absolutely have to be very good at what you do.  If a company is making that kind of investment and is willing to put you in front of a couple hundred to a thousand people, they deserve a strong return on their investment.  So before becoming a keynote speaker, be honest with yourself and be clear as to whether you are cut out to excel in this industry.  I’d love to be a race car driver, but I don’t think I have what it takes.  If you truly think you have what it takes to be a keynote speaker, then go for it!

2. Too many keynote speakers try to be too many things.  Find your niche.  I’m passionate about many topics and I used to make the mistake of trying to speak on all of those topics at the same time.  If you want to be a great keynote speaker, find that one thing you are most passionate about and the one thing you know you can have the biggest impact with and speak about that. I’ve been able to make a big difference for my audience by honing in on one specific topic that helps them make simple yet profound changes in their life.

3. Be funny.  If you can’t be funny then find someone who is and ask them to write jokes into your presentations.  As a keynote speaker, one of my favourite things to do is make my audience laugh.  I’m lucky in that I grew up in a family of sarcastic British parents and two brothers.  In my family it was a competition as to who could be funnier than the other person.  This forced me to learn how to be funny at a very young age.  Audiences love keynote speakers who can teach a powerful message through humour.  Without humour, you will only be a mediocre professional speaker.

Those are my three tips today on how to be a great keynote speaker or a conference speaker.  Keep an eye out for future posts where I will be offering more tips.

Stuart

Book Stuart for your next corporate event.  Contact us for more information or a quote on one of his exciting and high impact presentations by clicking on the following link http://www.stuartknightproductions.com/contact/

• Do you consistently work out?
• Do you consistently watch TV every day of the week?
• Do you consistently check social media to see if you’re missing something?
• Do you consistently ask your friends good questions?
• Do you consistently think of ways that you can add value to your life?
• Do you consistently not respond to people’s emails and text messages?
• Do you consistently have sugar in your diet?
• Do you consistently fall in love with people for the wrong reasons?
• Do you consistently do just enough work to get by?
• Do you consistently take the easy path?
• Do you consistently talk about the weather?
• Do you consistently not make the effort with your partner?
• Do you consistently let your co-worker shoot down your ideas?

I could keep going with this list, but I think you get the point.  Each year I meet thousands of people as a keynote speaker, and the ones who are happiest with their lives are the ones who do specific things consistently.  Conversely, the same is true for those who are discontent with their lives.  They too do things consistently.  I watched a documentary last night about two professional fighters.  One consistently hit the gym, trained, ran laps, ate the right food and studied with his coach.  The other one worked hard, but wasn’t as consistent as his colleague.  One of them got an international professional fighting contract and one didn’t.  Can you guess who?

How many people have you met who say they want to get in shape and after working out for two weeks give up?  How many people have you met who say they want to meet a life partner, and after a month of internet dating they tell you it isn’t working?  How many people have you met who say they want adventure in their life, but then tell you a story where they believe they are busier than everyone else?

As a keynote speaker, I am constantly approached by people who say they want to have a job like mine.  I used to meet these people for coffee to share with them the specific things you need to do to make as a professional speaker.  Then I stopped doing that.  I stopped doing that because those same people wouldn’t consistently do what it takes to get there and in the process simply wasted my time.  They would start for a week or two and then they would stop.  Why?  Because it took effort.  Well, let me tell you that life takes effort!  Just look at successful relationships.  Couples that are willing to put in the effort always seem to have the best relationships.  Duh! Some people get divorced because they got married too early, or the other person was abusive, or it was never a good match in the first place or because they genuinely fell out of love.  The rest get divorced because the relationship required consistent work and they just weren’t up for it.

Before every keynote speech I do, I consistently run through the same routine.  I get maximum rest the night before.  I make sure that my clothes are dry cleaned and pressed.  I pack my bag the night before so that I won’t be distracted the next day.  I sit quietly a few hours before the presentation going over exactly what I want to say to that particular group.  I meditate on sending as much positive energy into the audience as possible.  When I get on stage, no matter how conservative or liberal the audience is, I always give them the same amount of energy.  And after every single keynote speech, I stay behind to connect with my audience.  I’ve been performing this routine consistently for twenty years.  Is it luck that I’ve spoken to over one million people or is it something else?

What do you want from life?  What are you willing to consistently do to get there?

Stuart

P.S. I’m heading out the door for my daily 5k run.  Just saying.  :)

Why do people get so bent out of shape about death?  As many of you know, the tagline to the Top Ten Event is the ten things you should know before you die.  When some people hear this tagline, you can see the stress appear on their face and their heart rate begins to quicken.  Essentially, they start doing all the things that will ensure they die sooner than they should!  I’ve been in countless situations where I’ve brought up the fascinating subject of death and have been amazed by how often people don’t want to talk about it.  It’s as if they think that avoiding the subject will help them avoid the inevitable.  That’s like refusing to talk about Donny and Marie Osmond thinking it will stop them from doing Christmas specials.  In both cases, the avoidance will get you no where.

When a baby is born there is literally nothing that is more beautiful.  If that’s the case then why wouldn’t death be just as beautiful?  I guess with birth we can see it and touch it and say without a doubt that it’s beautiful.  But with death, we can’t really see it and do it and then sit down with others and have a debriefing on what everyone thought of the experience.  Of course there are people who have died and then come back to life and when they tell us it’s a beautiful feeling we just look at them and say, “It’s ok, you just died and came back to life.  We won’t be trusting anything you say anymore.”

I think the more you think about death, the more you’ll think about being alive.  I’d actually be willing to take a bet that if you could force all the derivative traders on the New York Stock Exchange to think about their own death for five minutes per day that at least half of them would quit their job within the month.  Am I saying there aren’t people who actually like trading numbers that mean absolutely nothing?  Of course not.  I’m just saying that I don’t think there’s as many who love it as the number that do it.  I think a lot of people do things they don’t want to do and would stop doing them if they started thinking about the day when they will no longer be around to do them at all.  To me, not being able to talk about death is immature.  If you are one of these people, I’m not making fun of you.  I’m just saying there’s a reason you don’t play with Lego anymore.

So let me be a little morbid today.  You and I are going to die.  I’m not sure who’s going to go first, but I do know that you and I have a limited number of heart beats, stubbed toes, sunsets and  status updates left.  I trust that when that days comes for you and I that it will be awesome.  Why?  Because whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha or Mother Nature, I think it’s safe to say that whoever is behind this thing called life they’ve clearly eaten their wheaties!  To me, after getting things like photosynthesis, self repairing bodies and oxygen onto the dance floor, I can’t imagine planning an awesome after party would be that difficult.

If I were you, I’d start talking about death a little more often.  You will be surprised how alive it will make you feel.

Powerful Conversation.  Powerful Life.

Stuart

 
The Top Ten Event is coming back on May 9th at the legendary Winter Garden Theatre!  Ten fascinating people.  Ten minutes each on stage.  Ten things you should know before you die.  It’s the biggest event I throw all years and we’re raising money for Autism Ontario!  Tickets are on sale now.  We just found out that Oscar Nominated Director Deepa Mehta will be joining the roster of speakers that night.  To see some of our other speakers, click HERE.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  This is the perfect night out with friends, an office bonding experience, mother’s day gift or date night.  Get your tickets by clicking HERE.