RE/MAX Hallmark Blog

Just doing what was needed in a crisis

I don’t very often eat at a fancy steak house. You know the kind of place where steaks are $50 or more and all the side plates are ordered individually. I bit over the top for me, but I don’t mind indulging once in a while especially when I am the guest of someone.

In any case I happened to be invited along with a large group last week to a steak house in Denver – it was very nice and the company was fantastic. Prior to our first course and soon after our appetizers I heard this loud voice, a commotion, from my right and out of my view, from another table yelling at the top of his lungs – “does anyone know heimlick? We need help…” It was a frantic time to say the least. A diner was choking to death at a table next to us.

I watched as two people quickly got up to help. They were of no help, time was moving on and this man was choking to death.

 

Next I watched as my friend and dinner companion calmly but quickly got up from our table, grabbed a hold of the choking man and saved his life. He knew just what to do and how to do it. Within a few short seconds the man was breathing again.

My friend sat down.  It was as if nothing happened. He continued on with his conversation and his dinner. It wasn’t a big deal for him.

 I asked him how he knew what to do. He said it just came to him. He remembered being taught how to do the Heimlick Maneuver and he didn’t think twice about helping out once he realized the other people first on the scene were not doing what was needed.

My friend is a hero, someone who when in a crisis situation rises to the top. I was and am so proud to know him and to call him my friend.

Preston Schmidt – well done.

As for me, I am going to learn the Heimlick Maneuver – a life could be saved, click here to find out how.

 

 

2000 Shots

I have been on a bit of a road tour. More like an office tour. For the past couple of weeks I have been doing short presentations on Time Management and Scheduling, visiting each of our offices in the GTA. 

I have been sharing how I go about organizing my life and time. I have linked the handout Download Ken’s Scheduling here for those who didn't or couldn't attend. I really enjoyed the time and plan on going on an "office tour" with another presentation next month. 

In any case, I wanted to touch on something, which keeps coming up for me in all of my talks. A common thread. 

Make things happen rather than waiting for things to happen. All great people, in life and business do not sit back and wait for the phone to ring or for someone else to do something. They are the cause of their lives. They are proactive for most of the day. They get into action.

 

Which brings me to PK Subban - a Toronto guy who plays for the HABS.

I tuned into a program the other night, 60 Minutes Sports. They ran a segment on PK, got into how he got to where he is today (highest paid defence man in the NHL), his journey, his life. 

One particular part of the program really hit me. They had several interviews with his mom and  dad, giving background info on PK's youth, his drive. His dad talked about how as a father he worked two jobs and often when he got home late at night he would find PK sleeping in his bed with his snow pants on. His father would get him up and off they would go to skate at Nathan Phillips Square - the City Hall skating rink. Later that night his mom recalls her husband coming home with PK in his arms, Dad would have a big grin on his face and say, "He had so much fun.."

They went on to say in their basement they had an area set up for PK to fire pucks against the wall. A mattress was against the wall and PK would fire puck after puck against that mattress. PK did this most days. Some days he fired 2000 pucks against the mattress. 2000 shots. 2000 actions. If you work it out, that averages out to over 10 shots each minute for 3 hours. Is there any doubt why PK turned out to be the very best at his game?

PK didn't sit back and wait for things to happen. PK worked hard, over and over again. 

So what is the lesson here? For me it is crystal clear. In order to be a success in life ,we need to put our vision, passion and dreams into action. If we really want everything we say we want from our life or our business, we must step up our game. Do the work needed to reach the goal we really want. And set aside time for proactive activities.

Set goals (ROCKS), identify our various ROLES (BALANCE) and do the work needed, over and over again. 

Grab yourself a hockey stick, a few pucks, a mattress and get at it.