One of my goals for 2014 is become a professional speaker. Today I share a little about my progress and success. I hope my story will be inspire you to accomplishing your dreams.

1. Exceeding the Vision
One of my goals for 2014 is become a professional speaker. To accomplish this goal in 2012 I entered my
Toastmasters Club’s Spring International Speech Contest and was successful. I went on to the Area
Contest and was also successful. From there I went on to the Division Contest and fell short but was
never discouraged.
At the start of summer 2013, I was elected Vice President for Education for City Centre Toastmasters
Club for the year 2013/2014 and was also appointed as Area Governor for Toastmasters International,
District 86 Toastmasters, Division W, Area 67 in Guelph, Ontario. At the end of 2013, I successfully
coordinated and collected over 2,000 pound of non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army of
Brampton as part of my High Performance Leadership project. For the 2013/2014 school year, I served
as co-chair of Terry Fox Public School’s School Council. In May 2014, I was received the prestigious
Distinguished Toastmasters from Toastmasters International for outstanding accomplishment and
leadership excellence. On the October 23, 2014, I will be speaking to approximately 300 students at a
Peel District School Board’s middle school in in Brampton.
I am on my way to accomplishing my mission. What is your vision? What is your mission? I want you too
to accomplish your dreams.
Our dreams are our creative visions for our lives in the future. Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible
to others. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the
unfamiliar and the unknown. Our potential for professional growth, development and success is only
limited by our capacity to make the impossible possible and creating opportunities. Helen Keller said
“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”
Here are some my simple tips for exceeding your vision:
Have a plan
In everything you do, have a plan. Your plan is like your roadmap. As Ray Lewis said “Don't walk through
life just playing football. Don't walk through life just being an athlete. Athletics will fade.” You need to
have a plan. Remember vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the
time and vision with action can change the world. As noted above I recently received the Distinguished
Toastmasters award which is symbolic of how well I executed my plan to become a professional speaker.
It is important to note that a plan takes time to implement and execute. My journey in the Toastmasters
program started more than fifteen (15) years ago and it is only now that I am reaping the reward.
Remember success is about dedication. You may not be where you want to be or do what you want to
do when you are on the journey. But you have got to be willing to have vision and foresight that leads
you to an incredible end.
Be innovative and Don’t be afraid to take risk

2. Think outside the box. Do something new. Be innovative. Rekindle your childlike qualities and take some
risks. Don’t fail because of inaction but rather because of your determination and courage to try.
Believe in Yourself
The foundation of all success is the awesome power believing in yourself and self -confidence. In
February 1964, a 22-year old boxer named Cassius Clay whom we all know today as Muhammad Ali
defeated the heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Before and after the fight Ali said “I am the greatest.”
Ali went on to become one of the greatest boxers in history. Ali had the conviction and self -belief to say
he was the greatest long this before he knew he was in fact the greatest. Ali later said that he figured
that if he said it enough, he would convince the world that he really was the greatest.
Do you belief so strongly in yourself that you can convince the world that you are the greatest? As Henry
Ford said “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” You have to believe
in yourself. You have to be confident whether you think you can or you think you can’t do something.
Celebrate your successes
When we pause to celebrate small successes it allows us to stay in the moment where our energy and
motivation is at its peak. Celebration helps us to build the momentum we need to stay focus and inspire
us to wanting to achieve other goals. It allows us to express gratitude and experience as sense of
accomplishment and contentment. Celebration builds our self-confidence and self-respect. Celebration
allows you to mark your progress and remember your accomplishments. Celebration allows us to self -
promote and market ourselves.
You have to have a big vision and take very small steps to get there. You have to be humble as you
execute but visionary and gigantic in terms of your aspiration. Exceeding the vision, it's not about
aggrandizement but rather about being bold, taking small steps every day, every week, every month,
making yourself a little bit better and steadfastly moving towards your goals.
Would you like to exceed your vision?
Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well
as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor. He can be contacted by
email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog
http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter
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