I had the pleasure to hear Liam Malone, NZs medal-winning ‘blade runner’, speak this morning at a Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) event.
What an inspirational way to start a Wednesday morning. Here is a guy who talks openly about his journey and what he did to turn his life around. He had the room riveted, and I am sure that every person took away their own personal insights and messages. A couple of things that resonated for me:
Have a clear vision, but don’t spend too much time planning – just get on with it. Liam was absolutely focused on winning at the 2017 Para-Olympics in Rio – and went for it. The plan developed along the way, but he didn’t wait till it was fully-formulated before starting the journey.
Believe that you control your own destiny. Many of us deal with insecurities or beliefs that hold us back from achieving our potential. Liam provided great examples of some of his own limiting beliefs, and how he had overcome them. A good reminder to check in with my own self-talk.
Get the right team around you. While there will always be those who don’t believe or support you, put them aside and surround yourself with those who believe it is possible. The "A-team" in Liam's words.
Be mindful - be disciplined. We hear this a lot, and even though I know I should be more mindful (I’ve even done a mindful course), it takes real discipline to embed this into daily habits – a good reminder to myself to try harder. Liam's commitment to mindful practice and the difference he has seen it make in his own life was inspiring.
Liam also talked about the three small ‘wins’ that he starts each day with – which is apparently something the Navy Seals do. 1. Make your bed. 2. Brush your teeth. 3 Have a cold shower. I’m going for the old “2 out of 3 ain’t bad” approach to this … and I’ll let you guess which one I choose not to do!
It was also my pleasure, as Chief Executive of Pinnacle Life, to thank Liam for sharing his story with the audience. As our first sponsored event as the new life insurance partner for CAANZ, we couldn’t have asked for a more inspiring speaker!
