Provoking Your Greatness - Misti Burmeister

Walking down the streets of Bethesda more than a decade ago, hearing the loud beeps of impatient drivers, and seeing a pedestrian nearly get run over, I thought to myself, “I’ve gotta get out of here. I don’t want to be like these people.”   I had quit my job a week prior, unaware of my financial situation when I resigned, and as a result had $37 to my name.  I was filled with anxiety, desperate to find a sense of belonging and wondering how I would pay my rent in a couple of weeks.   It was soon after that moment of despair when I heard these words for the first time: you become like the people you spend the most time with.  At the time, that someone was pretty much just me. And spending time with me was exhausting.   Nervously roaming from one coffee shop to the next, talking up the people at the gym, and rushing from one informational interview to the next (150 in six months), I prayed for an invitation.   “Someone please invite me to your home, hire me, or at least sit with me for a while,” I pleaded to t

Dr. Michelle May was one of the highlights of my trip to the National Speakers Association’s Annual Convention this year. Her passion—born out of her own struggle with yo-yo dieting—is infectious.  Through this interview, Michelle shares the most critical element of successful eating: Mindfulness. Of course, that’s a loaded word! Through the interview, you’ll gain a clear understanding of her systematic approach to learning how to eating what you love and loving what you eat.  Michelle has trained over 500 health professionals to offer Am I Hungry? mindful eating programs. Her programs are in 20 countries. She is also the award-winning author of the book series, Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat, that teaches mindful eating to help with yo-yo dieting, diabetes, bariatric surgery, and binge eating. Her newest books in the series are for students and for athletes.  Dr. May has been featured on the Discovery Health Channel, Dr. Oz, Oprah Radio, and quoted in Health, SELF, Redbook, WebMD, Woman’s Day, Huffingt

The hardest part about going after anything that’s meaningful is the conversation that goes on inside your head.   What do you tell yourself when you set an important goal, and then start to work toward it?   Listen in – what do you hear?   You will know how important your goals are based on how difficult it is to hear what the critic inside your head is saying.   If you have zero struggle with self-talk as you reach for your goals, you’re either not going big enough, or you simply don’t care enough.   The more you care, the more challenging it is to deal with your internal monologue.   The great news is there are proven strategies for dealing with self-talk. The following are the 3 most critical steps you can take when your inner critic (self-talk) is making it hard to breathe:     Acknowledge the critic. Like a child who’s crying out, stop what you’re doing and actively listen. This simple act creates a great sense of calm. It brings awareness, and awareness is the most important element to shifting your r

  You’re more talented than you know.   The key to reaching greatness lies in focusing on improving your PR (personal record).   Personal: You. Record: Marker of success. PR: Your marker for success.   One of the greatest killers of greatness lies in comparison. It’s easy to look at someone who’s perceivably more successful than you and beat yourself up because you’re, “not as good as them, so why even bother?”   Throughout this podcast, I share specific strategies for overcoming fear and self-doubt, which almost always begins with clarifying your “There.”   How do you know when you’ve gotten there—when you’ve reached success? And, why does it matter…to you?   Another critical component to overcoming self-doubt: self-talk. Listen in, and then shift your internal monologue from, “I’m never going to get there, to:”   It’s okay, I’m okay. I’m rockin’ it! I’m going to make this. One step at a time. I just need to get through this step, and then the next. That’s it. I’m almost there.   You know the crazy on slot

When Lynn Rose opened up for the National Speakers Association’s National Conference this year, all my worries disappeared and I felt more present than I had in months. She was remarkable!   The next morning I had a chance to thank Lynn when she told me, “And to think I walked away from this industry because I just didn’t think I had what it took.”   I was floored! How in the world could someone as talented as Lynn Rose lose sight of her greatness? Suddenly I felt less alone, and more connected to my own greatness.   With that, I asked Lynn to let me interview her for your Provoking Your Greatness podcast. She agreed, and I promise you, you’re in for a treat.   Lynn Rose has not only opened for Jay Leno, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow and more and hosted countless TV shows here and internationally, she has been seen on: CBS, ABC, NBC, Entertainment Tonight, Disney, Warner Brothers, W Magazine and more, and is also a go-to Media Mentor for Experts.   Throughout this interview, Lynn shares about how she takes ahold

Many people have accidently provoked greatness, but most leaders want to know what it takes to get others to live into their potential, on purpose.   “Misti, if I could take a wire, insert it into your mouth, travel it down your arms to your finger tips, we’d have a writer on our hands today,” Ms. Cays, my high school English teacher said to me.   “I do talk a lot,” I thought, “I wonder if I could talk with my fingers?”     A writer was born that day.   But, that was on accident. Believe, I know – I called to thank her. She doesn’t remember saying those words. Ha!   Is there a way to provoke your team… into their greatness? Absolutely! But how?   Recently, I heard an awesome story about Gandhi that is the foundational answer to this question. Here it is:   “Gandhi,” a woman asked, “Will you tell my son to stop eating sugar, please?”   “Come back in two weeks,” Gandhi said.   Two weeks later, she came back and asked the same question.   “Stop eating sugar,” Gandhi said to the son.   “Why did you make me wait t

Ever met an impatient employee, who wants to “do meaningful work?” Or, “Work they enjoy doing?” What did you do with them?   The CEO at the first company I worked for responded to my pleas with, “Misti, what did your parents do to deal with you? It’s clear you have problems with anxiety. Do you take medication for that?”   It worked!   I quit.   And then I became insanely curious. I needed to understand what I said, or did, that was getting me the opposite of the result I wanted.   150 informational interviews later, I started to see many themes, which correlated perfectly with the research from Harvard, Gallup, and the Center for Creative Leadership.   In a nugget, here’s what I discovered: we all (across generations) want the same basic things: to feel like what we do matters, some form of feedback, and opportunities for improvement.   Over the next dozen years, I have literally watched hundreds of leaders lose their employees because, “Their feelings are not my responsibility. I pay them to do a job!”   Me

Jane Atkinson is a powerful person, with a mission to help speakers elevate their game and transform the lives of those their audiences.   She’s so good that I hired her myself!   She’s down-to-earth, practical, and vulnerable at the same time. She brought that same level of excellence to this interview.   Jane has been helping speakers catapult their careers for over 20 years.  She started as an agent representing speakers and when several of them quickly went from 0 to 80 engagements per year, she became known as an influencer in the speaking industry.   The following are two strategies Jane talked about to get the opportunities you want, in your career, or on the stage:          Pick a lane. Decide what you want to be known for. Doing so allows you to focus on increasing your value, and becoming a category of one.        Create a promise statement. What’s the promise of brand you? What’s the promise your team makes to your customers?   Jane also shared two terrific tips of leaders preparing to speak (a

My heart was pounding as we pulled into the parking lot where they had just begun setting up for the big event at High Tide Farm, located directly across the bay from Gibson Island in Maryland. As the aroma of horse dung hit my nose, I took a deep breath and said a silent prayer.   I felt the breeze and remembered the email I received the night before:   Conditions will be a factor; see the below latest forecast from NOAA. (North winds 10 to 15 KT, with gusts to 25 KT. Waves 3 foot.) Please call or text me if you’d rather not proceed with the swim tomorrow.   I had just learned to swim roughly one year before, and had never come close to swimming 5 miles, much less in the open water, with choppy conditions. But, I had stuck to the training.   I signed my waiver, grabbed my timing chip and t-shirt, and headed off to make a pit stop before scoffing down my breakfast, which consisted of gobs of sautéed sweet potatoes and a couple of eggs.   Moments later, I was getting out of a minivan at the starting line. At 6

The real secret to being a great leader is dating your employees.   The best leaders on the planet sell us on their ideas. We flock to great brands, and the awesome leaders behind them, because we believe them when they tell us how their products will make our life (and the world) better.   Of course, they could never seduce us if they didn’t already know what we want. By learning what makes us tick, they position their product to solve our problems.   Yes, this is basically Marketing 101. But, what does it have to do with dating your employees?   Just like the greatest sales professionals understand the magic inherent in knowing their customers, the best leaders know their employees.   Great sales professionals keep a file on all their customers, and so do great leaders. They know the names of children, spouses, favorite meals, interests, and their underlying motivations. Some even know their favorite color, deep-seated fears, and their shoe size. Yes, their shoe size!   But why? And, seriously, what does th

Beyond being one of the most articulate communicators on the planet, Dr. Nido Qubein is a humble leader, with a waiting line of people eager to be a part of his team.   He’s truly one of the most remarkable leaders I’ve ever experienced, and I’m grateful to have a chance to share some of his philosophies with you.   During the interview, Nido talked about:          The real secret to happiness in life: having purpose in your life. He goes into great deal on specific actions to take in order to find your purpose, which leads to passion. Passion, he says, leads to energy. Energy leads to action. Action leads to success. Success leads to significance. Significance leads to happiness.        The definition of an effective leader.        His #1 most important habit: Energy management.        The top 3 qualities he looks for in any new hire: #1 initiative.        He distinguishes between a “workers mentality,” which is what most universities are preparing students for, and an “entrepreneurs mentality.” The la

This article—Rethinking Work—was just released by The New York Times. It’s a brilliantly focused on what employers need to do in order to increase employee engagement. The main take away: It's not the jobs. It's how we measure success that is killing enthusiasm.   This side of the equation—how employers need to change—has been researched and written about ad nauseam for decades. In fact, as the article pointed out, Gallup has consistently found that 90% of workers are either not engaged, or actively disengaged. Only 10% are actively engaged.   That’s crazy! And—an awesome opportunity for the few who are ready to step up and share their passion, even if it means breaking a few rules along the way.     Yes, most companies are structured primarily to serve their own bottom line. They pay lip serve to customer service, but forget that their employees are the ones who serve their customers.  Some even talk about human capital, but then forget to invest.   Here’s the point: don’t waste your time waiting for compani

A year ago, I went from having a mean doggy paddle to learning how to swim in fifteen weeks. Hip pain drove me to sign up for Swim Across America (SAA), and the excitement of my progress lead me to do the 3-mile open-water swim last September.   Once the challenge was complete, I was happy to be done with the training, and ready to simply enjoy swimming. I wanted to get better, but I didn’t want to go through any more discomfort in the pool.   Problem was: my shoulders hurt constantly, and I was struggling to breathe most of the time. Said simply, I wasn’t a very efficient swimmer.   Sound familiar?   “I want to get a promotion, new opportunities, to improve the quality of our products, but…”   Of course, there are many “buts,” regardless of an underlying desire to improve. So, how do you overcome stagnation on your team, and in your career?   Throughout the podcast, I share the top three strategies that work.   Here they are (though they’re better in context, so listen in!):   Identify your results. Get an

Have you ever wondered how some people rise quickly, within their career, organization, or industry?   Throughout this interview, Dan shares brilliant ideas and strategies for increasing your credibly, and attracting the exact opportunities you want.   In his mid-70’s, Dan is still pushing himself to get outside his comfort zone, have new experiences, meet new people, and most importantly, share what he’s learning along the way.   One of the stories he shares is about how he took a potentially deadly disease and made it into a profitable venture. His outlook on life is remarkable!   He is the author of more than 130 books, has been a publisher since 1969, and is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP).   He is an evangelist for books, an ombudsman for authors, an advocate for publishers, and the godfather to thousands of successfully-published books.   Some of his books are Writing Nonfiction, The Self-Publishing Manual, The Skydiver's Handbook, The Expert Witness Handbook and The Older Cat.   His seminars ha

Walking through the double doors to the outdoor pool at Meadowbrook in Baltimore, I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s incredible,” as I watched a woman effortlessly swim laps in a 50-meter lane.   At the time, I barely knew how to put on a swim cap, and desperately wanted to be able to swim 25 meters without having to stop constantly to breathe. “There’s no way I could swim 50 meters,” I thought, as I watched her flip and kick off the wall.    Rather than concern myself with being able to swim 50 meters, I refocused on strengthening the skills I needed to finish 25 meters without stopping.   It wasn’t pretty, but a couple of weeks later, I completed 25 meters without stopping. “Do it again,” Marci, my coach insisted, while I pleaded for just 30 more seconds of rest. “3-2-1… Go,” she insisted.   And I went—and I went—and I went, each time decreasing my rest, increasing my distance, or both.   Just eight weeks later, I found myself gasping for air as I completed my first 50-meter swim. It was, again, not pretty.

Nobody reaches greatness by himself or herself, and nothing great is ever achieved in isolation. If we want to go for greatness, we must ask for the support we need.   The best leaders on the planet understand that they need their team to reach their goals, and so they ask for help and provide the opportunity for others to step up.   Until this afternoon, I thought I was pretty good at asking for help.   “You’ve done a great job asking for donations for Swim Across America,” Jane, my coach, said to me, “But have you asked your fans to help you get the word out about your new speech?”   She nailed me when she followed that up with, “It’s easier to make the ask when the outcome doesn’t directly benefit you.” Of course, this provided some great fodder for journaling and self-reflection this evening.   Considering how much I coach others to ask for help, it’s my turn to step up and ask for your help.   My newest keynote speech, Provoke Ability: How to skillfully leverage the talent on your team, has gotten some g

Can you imagine being fired for initiative? Better yet, can you imagine firing an employee who consistently went above and beyond to serve your customer and reach your team goals?   Of course not!   Yet, this happens every day. And, it happened to Stacy. Not once, but 16 times in one summer. Remarkably, she now serves as an advisor to many of the very same companies who let her go in her early 20’s.   Stacy Allegro is one of the most authentic people you’ll ever meet. She is passionately dedicated to helping service-based businesses dominate their market by helping teams create extraordinary guest experiences, and connect on the deepest possible level to achieve crazy customer loyalty.   Stacy is remarkable, and you will appreciate the stories she shared throughout this interview. From being labeled ADD at age four (back when ADD wasn’t discussed), to her experience in residential drug rehab as a teenager, to—now— teaching companies how to connect to the human spirit.   Throughout this interview, Stacy goes i

Leaders want to be effective, and employees want to succeed, so why what gets in the way? Why do challenges like generational differences (and other differences) impede performance, wreck havoc on innovation, and cause unnecessary revenue loss?   Better yet, what are the most effective leaders and companies doing to increase passion, performance, innovation, and collaboration?   Throughout this interview, I share strategic shifts leaders can make to increase:   ·         Productivity ·         Communication ·         Collaboration ·         Retention ·         Personal Ownership, or responsibility ·         And so much more…   Listen in.   Here’s to Your Greatness,   Misti Burmeister     P.S. Get your 3 Practical Strategies for Building a Motivated Team – Today – click here, put your email in the bottom right corner, and push the Download Now button. 

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to spend a whole week with my 11-year-old niece, Brooke.   The day after she flew in from Colorado, we headed over to my gym here in Baltimore. It’s a Crossfit gym, so there’s lots of open area and rings that hang from the celling for things like “muscle up’s.”   With a gymnastics background, Brooke had a whole new appreciation for these rings. My jaw dropped as she put one foot in each ring, and then dropped into a split. Actually, I cringed, though she wasn’t fazed in the least.   As a result of pain in my lower back, my physical therapist had instructed me to stretch out the muscles on the inside of my legs.   As I was stretching, Brooke came over and asked, “Auntie, are you trying to get the splits?”   “That would be awesome, but no—just trying to stretch out these muscles.”   “Would you like some help with your flexibility there?”   Of course I wanted to learn from her, so I jumped up and asked what she had in mind.   She grabbed two boxes and put them across from