The Vision of The Woodlands:
This group has studied other communities across the country and the challenges they faced, and saw the need for a thoughtfully planned community where families and businesses could live in harmony with nature.  In 1974, The Woodlands was born and has thrived over the years, through upturns and downturns, to become one of America’s largest and most successful master-planned communities. The Woodlands Development Company guides the development of The Woodlands and keeps the vision intact.

Challenges of Putting Together a Planned Community:
Planned Community audiences are filled with successful real estate developers, brokers, agents, financiers, city planners, politicians and private citizens. Together, these exceptional people have to work together to build and create a community through impressive home building, public spaces, community advocacy and commercial real estate development. This is a relentlessly grueling undertaking that often challenges even those most optimistic to succeed in this uncertain employment and real estate era.

Here’s a recent ‘TRENDING NOW’ Skype Video Interview Claire Berger did with Sheldon Senek of Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau talking specifically how she’s able to help planned community groups.

About Claire Berger.
Claire’s started at The Second City, the legendary improvisational theater. She became a successful stand-up comedian and radio talk show host. She then became a hugely successful warm-up comedian for over 65 televisions shows including Seinfeld, The Ellen Show, Friends, and Murphy Brown. From there, Claire became an insightful host of HGTV’s “Fantasy Open House” as she traveled across the country and toured multi-million dollar mansions. All of this experience made her a perfect fit as a guest speaker for The Woodlands event.

Claire Berger’s Keynote can help other planned communities by focusing on:
1. Inspiring stories of businesses and individuals who practice mindful happiness which increases sales and personal success.
2. Exploration of the medically proven benefits to creating happiness, both at work and at home.
3. Graphic examples of companies and individuals who understand that happy employees equal profitable and successful businesses.
4. Guided improvisational exercises designed to break down inhibitions and stale preconceptions of what ‘serious’ business looks like.

Claire offers the following breakout sessions for planned community groups:

1) PARKS & RECREATION RE-DO
Public recreation areas are key to building any healthy, social community. Recently, concerns for citizens’ health have given developers pause for new thoughts about ways to create non-traditional recreation space. Claire inspires participants to re-invent current recreational space and plan for exciting new ideas that we will generate together through imaginative teamwork.

2) CREATING A CULINARY COMMUNITY
Many planned communities host various cook-offs to inspire fun and delicious community involvement. Claire takes it one step further and works with participants to re-imagine the standard cook-off contest, borrowing from many popular Food Network favorites to create culinary competitions that match the community spirit, culture and competitive spirit. Chefs of all ages benefit from these spirited results.

3) WORLD’S GREATEST YARD SALE
Television shows such as “Hoarders” have inspired families to reevaluate their current organization skills.  With creative incentives we find the courage to peer inside our closets, garages and storage spaces. Those who hold garage or yard sales boast a new sense of lightness and organization, not to mention more cash in their wallets. Claire urges participants to thing BIG in reinventing the typical yard/garage sale and together we create a new way to clean homes and create community spirit.

4) IRRELEVANT CELEBRATIONS
In Claire’s world of productive fun, parades are not just reserved for the 4^th of July. Any event, regardless of its insignificance can and should be elevated to parade status. Real Estate Brokers and developers welcome to opportunity to create a parade both for self-promotion and inspiring community spirit. She encourages participants to reflect on their childhood memories and their community’s interests to design new celebrations that will quickly become community traditions that will contribute to the joy and retention of its residents.

 If you’d like to bring Claire Berger into your event to inspire and bring happiness to your audience, contact Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau at 1.800.345.5607.

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Interruptions have become a way of life in contemporary society. From the ultra–rude theater patrons, who have no concern for everyone else while fielding cell phone calls, to the unwitting staff member who asks too many questions of you, without consulting other sources that could provide the answer.

It seems as if we’re in an environment now where constant interruptions is the norm. How did this happen? Some places were once considered sacred: concert halls, churches, movie theaters, and even restaurants, in terms of not having one’s fellow diners pull out a cell phone and engage in a call. Oddly, many individuals often act in ways contrary to their upbringing when in proximity to mobile communication devices. Apparently they are compelled to drop or ignore all else and pay homage to the “machine.”

Interruption Corruption

The predominance of the cell phone does not fully explain why each of us have a greater propensity to interrupt others, as well as accept the slight and the irritation of being interrupted. The opportunity to do business on the fly, connect with loved ones, or simply stay in the loop with others has subconsciously and nonverbally trumped thousands of years of basic human interaction.

Much of the intrusion that we foist upon others seems harmless enough. Being an early riser, I am often at my desk at 6 a.m. If I send you an email at 6:05, that seems harmless enough. After all, you’ll simply receive it when you receive it, who cares when I sent it? But you might have arisen at 6 a.m. yourself. You might have encountered that email hours before you needed or wanted to see it. Many others might have sent you early morning emails as well.

Taken in full, day after day, and week after week, the brunt of email messages that we send and receive, on top of all the other forms of communication, adds up to a growing throng of tasks to which we feel compelled to attend, and unfinished business that never seems to diminish in volume or frequency.

Too often, we pepper each other with too much information and communication, thus helping to propagate a fundamental shift in human behavior. If you doubt this, think about the last time you had a 30 or 60-minute stretch to work completely free of interruptions. When have you had the opportunity to meet with a friend without one of you checking up on messages, which of course, are unrelated to your time together?

To Easy for Our Own Good

Our computers and mobile devices have made sending and receiving messages so simple that it’s become problematic. In his article, “The Speed of Sound,” published in Earth Light magazine, Spring 2001, author David Orr asks, “can communication be too easy or too cheap?” Controversial for his time, Orr said, “Electronic communication is now standard in most organizations. The results, however, were mixed at best. The most obvious was a large increase in the sheer volume of stuff we receive and reply to, much of it utterly trivial.”

Orr observed, “Our conversations, thought patterns, and institutional inner clocks are increasingly shaped to fit the imperatives of technology. Not surprisingly, more and more people feel overloaded by the demands of incessant communication. But to say so publicly, is to run afoul of the technological fundamentalism that is now dominant virtually everywhere.” He finished with a startling declaration: “It is time to consider the possibility that – for the most part – communication ought to be somewhat slower, more difficult, and more expensive than it is now. And, only over generations, through a process of trial and error, can knowledge eventually congeal into cultural wisdom about the art of living well within the resources, assets, and limits of a place.”

What a concept! Our missives ought to be a bit slower and a bit more difficult to achieve. It seems like a giant technological step backward, but is it? Consider the socio-cultural as well as personal benefits if everyone received half, or a third, or a quarter of the daily messages they now receive. I, for one, would revel in it. Even if reluctantly at first, eventually so would you.

Partners in Progress

Not one of us can make our interruption-based culture less onerous. We can, however, make changes in our immediate environment, with our own correspondents. We can be more diligent and thoughtful in what we choose to send. Within weeks, or months at the most, we can train others to not overwhelm us.

We can practice the Golden Rule as it applies to the sanctity of someone else’s space, making fewer interruptions and offering higher quality messages at digestible intervals, in the manner and form that best suits the other party. What we give out we tend to receive. Effective communication partners, in time, begin to emulate each others interaction pattern.

The positive changes that you make within your inner circle are likely to be revisited upon you as others acknowledge on some level, and accept and emulate your practices. It is not our sealed fate to be endlessly interrupted throughout our days. Whether or not this is a socio-cultural phase that will eventually diminish, the norm forever more, or the harbinger of an even more frenetic external environment, we can take the time, and expend the effort to make our personal environment more suitable for rumination and reflection, and concentration and focus, as well as remaining responsive to others.

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Start a quote today for fees and availability for Jeff Davidson as a guest speaker by clicking the Eagle or call 1.800.345.5607.

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 To check fees and availability on Craig Price call Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau at 1.800.345.5607. 

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On the Today Show, in celebration of Hero Moms, they were interviewing Stephanie Decker – a mother, who didn’t think twice about risking her life to protect her children during a devastating tornado in Indiana earlier this year. In saving her children, her legs were severely injured from the debris. Unfortunately, she had to have both of her legs amputated. Her heroics have earned her countless stories on the news. In fact, this was such an inspiring story that even President Obama called to tell her what a amazing hero mom she was. In Stephanie’s mind, she did what she thought any mother would do — and that’s what makes her humble and so embraceable. She is currently working on getting prosthetic legs so she can walk again.  So, her journey to from hero to overcoming obstacles continues. Want to know Stephanie’s progress? Visit the Stephanie Decker Fund.

These are the type of people who I so admire — they didn’t wake up in the morning and think ‘how can I get on TV.’ These are real people who were faced with real dangers. They inspire us in our everyday problems that we think we’ll never overcome. What I love about our speaking bureau industry is we get to share these type of people and their stories with audiences everyday.

I’m reminded of a great quote from one of my favorite inspirational speakers, W Mitchell: “It’s not what happens to you…it’s what you do about it.”

And don’t forget to give a big nod of thanks to your mom in celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend.

If you’d like to bring motivational speakers into your event to inspire your audience, contact Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau at 1.800.345.5607.

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Mike Abrashoff with Esther Eagles

Mike’s story will truly resonate with today’s workplace. He describes when he became Commander of the USS Benfold, “I didn’t have ability to pick and choose the crew that I worked with — or even the budget. The same is true for many people in their jobs today. We have to play the hand that’s dealt.”

“What it’s really about is connecting people to a purpose – -and work together as a team,” Mike pointed out. This is so true, as many companies are downsizing, being forced to multitask, and they are looking to leadership for help.

Here’s a few tips for leaders that Mike provided:

1. Focus on yourself first. Sometimes this is easier said than done, right? It’s always too easy to be critical of others, instead, examine what you’re doing.

2. Engage in your people. Talk to them. See what they aspire for the future — with themselves AND the company. Then you can guide them to reach that goal — and as a result, they’ll have your back through thick and thin.

3. Earn the respect. Watch any classic military movie and you know, respect is not given out for free (Saving Private Ryan is an example that comes immediately to mind). The same is true in the workplace.

Mike Abrashoff’s inspiring story and leadership can help put your own organization (or ship) in the right direction. Ask us about setting a conference call up with him to see if he’s a perfect fit for your group by contacting Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau at 1.800.345.5607.

To check availability and book Leonard Brody for your next conference, convention, or business meeting: Call Eagles Talent: 1.800.345.5607
Or click the link to contact Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau.

Your Quest for a Meaningful Life

An old American Indian proverb says: “If the horse you are riding drops dead, it’s a good time to dismount.” Behaviors, attitudes and habits that are counter-productive to meaningful living are dead horses and keep you from achieving a diverse and varied lifestyle. Much as you may not want to sit stupidly on a dead horse, often you do just that, kicking Old Paint and screaming for the beast to be up and moving.

Dead horses are made up of the life patterns you’ve established that do not allow you to reach your greatest potential, establish the best relationships possible and find your greatest peace. You tend to stay on those horses because your fear of the unknown is a worse feeling than what you feel sitting on a dead horse.

It is important in making the transition from a dead horse to a new steed to look at those around you who can potentially offer support. It is also important that you open yourself to the wisdom and insight around you. Don’t hesitate to ride double for a while if someone offers a lift. Mentors and the search for new, better paths come in many different ways, at many times.

The Danger of a Dead Horse

Many of us tiptoe through life to arrive safely at the door of life. We procrastinate and put off until tomorrow rather than confront today. We sit on dead horses that aren’t life threatening or crippling but seem acceptable because they only deal with, say, boredom or a small curtailment of personal growth or a tiny denial of pleasure.

Living life as if you are going to live forever is the worst possible waste of time. If I have gained any wisdom in my years on earth, it is to know that waking each day with the sense of your own mortality can open great possibilities. Put more bluntly, you are going to die. You have a small snatch at life and only you can make that grab. Live as though you might die any moment. Don’t leave anything to chance and don’t leave anything unsaid.

Living within a box that does not allow exploration and full happiness is as dead a horse as can be found. It’s so easy to deceive even yourself that it isn’t a dead horse. In doing so, you present a horse to the world that appears alive, but in your deepest soul, you know is dead:

•  lifeless, loveless, emotionless relationships.
•  professions that bring money but not contentment.
•  activities that are acceptable or expected but do not excite you.

You can live your greatest dreams — feel the strongest emotions possible — connect into powerful, meaningful relationships — have exhilarating experiences — come to understand and love yourself — if you have the courage to lift your leg over the dead corpse of your horse and seek a new steed. Only you, not the world that observes you, knows where your dead horses lie and what you need to change in order to have a truly balanced, meaningful life.

It is when you pursue balance that you gain control over your own life. You learn to say “no” when you are overburdened, and you seek what you really need.

The Search for Balance

Balance is so much more than dividing time between work and play and redistributing activities. Bringing life into acceptable proportions is only a baby step in the search for balance.

Balance does not simply mean shifting your time frames and allotting a bit more time here and taking a tad there. Balance, which comes from the soul and spirit, involves a journey that truly explores how you develop and use your emotions. The pilgrimage to balance looks at the value you put on your body’s well being and your ability to be a true participant in community.

The journey asks you to move inside self, not only to evaluate and re-form your ethics and morals, but also to assign ways to practically demonstrate them on a daily level. True balance asks you to be a verb, action person and not a noun, state-of-being person.

Balance offers a release from stress but assigns the task of organizing your life and understanding that from order comes freedom. Balance advocates seeking new knowledge and evaluating what you already know.

Balance encourages you to play, joyfully, like a child. The words “spontaneous” and “abandonment” take on new meaning as you reach toward an untried depth of happiness. The word “fun” ceases to be a frivolous term and becomes a life-seeking achievement of great merit.

Living Fearlessly

Just as you learn to play with abandonment, you learn to be fearless in approaching life. Auntie Mame’s words, “Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death,” takes on greater meaning.

Fear of failure dims as you began to experiment outside of boxes you have built in your life. You know that life is a series of new beginnings, and no matter what happens, you can always take another crack at life.

Family takes on new significance, offering greater rewards — and asking more commitment. You find ways to give your children the great gift of your time. You discover that leadership rests in everyone. To lead well, to be a powerful role model, is within your grasp, and the natural result of a balanced life.

You Are in Control

You have massive energy and power to decide how you live your life: where your emphasis is; how your time is spent, and what kind of people you bring into, or cast out of, your life. You learn to make major decisions with ease and chart your own path in life. You come to realize, on a very deep level, that no one determines your life but you.

If you are a person that sees your parents or childhood as creating your present negative life, you are sitting on a dead horse. But it is a dead horse you can climb off of any time you want.

Broken hearts and crippling experiences, as bad as they are, are only truly, forever bad if you continue to sit on that dead horse.  Other people are not always the cause of your problem — sometimes it is your reaction to that person’s actions.

There is support and knowledge all around you to help you make the transition to a healthy horse.

Woman on a Dead Horse

My best friend died at the age of 42 from colon cancer.

A woman that young does not usually die of a disease like that. I was the one who entered her into the hospital for the biopsy, and while she was still sedated, the doctor told me she had only a limited time to live.

To this day I remember that I felt as if a huge hammer had hit me in the stomach. It was totally unbelievable, and yet less than a year later I was with her when she died in the same hospital.

She always told me that Ben had killed her. Ben was her boss, and indeed her life in that office was a daily routine of belittling and harassing — an atmosphere of fear. Sharon sat on a dead horse of great despair and stress, and yet she repeatedly refused to climb off. Sometimes I thought she’d been brainwashed. Certainly it was evident to me that Sharon did not control her own life. She had handed the reins to other people.

Sharon often talked of how Ben “stressed her out.” The reality is that no person or happening can cause stress. It is your reaction that creates the stress. Five people experiencing the same circumstance will react in five different ways, each with a different level of stress.

Sharon had conditioned herself accept that stress. Alternate solutions for Sharon might have been an attempt to open serious communication with Ben, seek others to confront Ben or simply quit her job.

But climbing off her dead horse seemed an insurmountable task to Sharon.

Climb Off Dead Horses

You have it within your power to create the best of all possible lives — or you can let opportunities pass you by and allow negative forces take over.

The world today is one that is filled with uncertainties. But with motivation and persistence, the horses in your stable — and especially the ones you choose to ride — can be healthy ones, leading you to the happy, fulfilling life you deserve.

To check availability and book Cheewa James as a guest speaker for your next event:
Call Eagles Talent: 1.800.345.5607
Or click here to visit her keynote speaker profile page.

Your _______ (insert boss, coworker, spouse, child or friend) has just asked you to do something. You know it will put even more pressure on accomplishing your previously planned activities, but you can’t say “No” (we can talk about the validity of your reasoning at another time.) What do you do to keep this new request from sabotaging your _________ (insert day, week, life)?

Try leveraging the power of the word that comes after “Yes.” Some examples are:

“Yes and …” This is your opportunity to limit a repeat of this commitment in the future. You say something like, “Yes and when we have our next staff meeting can we discuss how to better handle this situation in the future?” This also opens the door for discussion by the requesting party as to why you need not always be the one asked. Be prepared to justify your response with how saying “yes” to this task is causing you to say “no” to more important priorities.

“Yes if …” Ask for something in return from them to make the task less draining on you. Make
the “Yes” conditional. “Yes, I’ll do it if you can get someone to take my shift answering the
phone today.” This lets the other person know you have other things required of you‐and
forces them to seek help on your behalf. You are enlisting their help to find additional
assistance for you.

“Yes when …” Let them know you have other priorities in front of you at this moment. Who
knows, if their request is important enough to them, they may be willing to help you out with
your workload so you can take on their request sooner (Probably not, but one can always
hope). This response also gives them a definite time you can effectively accept their request.

“Yes with …” Here’s another way to go after some help. You might say, “Yes with the help of…”
or “Yes with a bigger budget” or even “Yes with your permission to…”. Don’t hold back on what
you really need to get the job done well‐you may not get everything you ask, but you know
what you will get if you don’t ask at all.

“Yes or…” You have a new supervisor and they aren’t clear on who is responsible for certain
jobs in the office. He asks you to do something that really is more in line with someone else’s
job description. This response helps show your willingness to help but also gently educates
them on who is better suited to take on the request.

Let’s be honest. Any new request will still test your time management skills, but at least by clarifying your available resources you have let the other person know that you want to be part of a solution‐if not all of it.

To check availability and book Jones Lofllin for your next event:
Call Eagles Talent: 1.800.345.5607
Or click the link to contact Eagles Talent Speakers Bureau.