He Was Always There

Since it’s Father’s Day, I figured I’d keep in the spirit of things and write about one of my favourite quotes:

”When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

– Mark Twain

If we all lived perfect lives, we’d like to like ourselves. This means doing the things we want to do and saying the things we want to say. And being right… all the time.

But, clearly, things happen and this isn’t always possible. We want to do something but can only do it given a certain situation, like during the summers or after college.

Still, we like being in charge. And that’s when parents come in.

When you’re young, they tell you what to do − when to eat, what chores to do and what you should be doing for school. But, as you get older, YOU want to be the one making the decisions. Especially in our culture, you feel like you have a right to control the little things you actually CAN control.

And too often you look at your own family and criticize them, saying, “look, they’re such fools! I can live life better without them. Not listening to their advice is a good decision”.

Of course, is it? Sometimes. There are things they don’t know. If you’re from a blue collar family who’s trying to get you a white collar education, starting a business or going into theatre’s probably going to be looked down upon. Does it mean it’s wrong? No. Just, given your family’s experience and belief system, it’s wrong for them.

But there are things that your parents, Dad’s included, do know about. How to shave best, for example. Or what plants to stay away from when camping. Or even, once in a while, how to have a fun date with that girl you met on St. Patrick’s Day.

Simply because others have different viewpoints to us doesn’t mean they’re ignoramuses. Oftentimes there’s plenty we can learn from them. They just don’t know everything. And guess what? No one does.

In this age of broken families and divorces, I’m glad I still have my Dad and my parent’s marriage has endured. Whether your situation is the same or different, give your parents some slack, whatever your age.

After all, you owe them BIG TIME because, without them, there wouldn’t be a YOU!

Happy Father’s Day, guys!

Alex H.

If you enjoyed this Graceland Ontario update, you might also like these posts: 

• Graceland, Ontario: They Were There When You Were Born 
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• Graceland, Ontario: Traits of the Superhero

Life's a Haunted House and We're all In It

Hellooo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario! Your one stop location for connecting the success lessons of Elvis Presley back to your own life. Today, we're finishing our Halloween series with a post about haunted houses, and how they're kinda like life in general.

So, I've had the pleasure to participate in the running of several haunted houses over the years, namely the ones held by my Scout group. The haunted house is not an overnight undertaking - it takes plenty of people to make it work. And even if the people who organize it know how things are meant to go, that doesn't mean diddly squat if the actors don't know what's up. And even if the actors are good, when the people running the effects, lights and sounds are up a different tree, the extra punch is lost. And you need all the punch you can get in a haunted house - plenty of people come to rip apart what you've done and criticize you. Others keep telling themselves it's all fake, thereby destroying the fun of being scared in the setting. And for the people behind the scenes, nothing beats seeing scared customers. I mean, it's even better than the happy and supportive guests.

You built a haunted house to scare people, and when it fulfills that purpose and freaks others out, you've completed your goal. You were successful and the plan worked the way it should, thanks to the perfect cooperation of your staff.

  

This whole scenario reminds me of Elvis: Elvis also had a show to put on. Unlike the goal of the haunted house − to scare people − Elvis's goal was to reach people at a deep level, a doctor of voice. The goal was to get inside his audience’s heart and improve whatever he found there with the songs he sang.

And like a haunted house, there were people there who probably shouldn't have come out − the ones who came to make fun of him, to look at him from 'an objective standpoint', who listened because they wanted to be trendy. The show had to blow peoples’s minds or Elvis's goal of reaching people at that deep level wouldn't be realised. And all the while, he'd be taking abuse for every error he made along the way.

Elvis couldn't take care of all the details. He probably wasn't as professional in all areas as some his staff were. And even if he was, you can't mix yourself when you're singing to 10,000 people. The simple truth is you need a team. And not just any, out of the dryer team. You need people who work together darn well and stand by you, whatever happens.

I remember writing a post sometime ago about people working together in unity to make a better whole - the importance of the team. Well, here we go again... the haunted house would not be possible without the group. All the people being in the right place, the sound people, the guide, the actors - they're all kernels in the bag of popcorn, and only when they're popped in the right bag, at the right temperature, in the right microwave will someone want to eat them. It takes someone to put together that bag, that team. And, as the bad guy in all the old kid's cartoons said, "You can't trust anyone but yourself".

What?

Didn't I just say you have to make a team… but it's up to you because you can only trust yourself? Well, yes. But initiative is a funny thing. Just because people do a good job working jointly doesn't mean they would’ve worked collectively had someone not put them together. Every project, every team, needs a mayor to cut the ribbon, the driver to give the ticket, the suitor to pop the champagne. Someone has to start things going. And when you're the one with the idea and the plan and you dream about it every night and know what you want, it's gotta be you! No one else will do it, and even if they try, they'll never do it the way you do, the best. It's like one of those 30's Busby Berkeley movies with all the girls following the brass band choreography - sure someone else could have thought of it, marching bands have been going for millennia, but it took Barkley to do it right. And no one else will ever do it the same. Hitchcock? Same thing. Suspense is an old genre still created to this day, but no one stands near Hitchcock's silhouette when it comes to creating it.

Life can move you or you can move it, depending on your disposition. The teams are there, but you’ve got to bring them together or never at all. And once they’re one, you’ve got to lead them or watch your dream disappear.

 

In short, going back to the popcorn metaphor, you've gotta be the microwave, too − the guy who gets things going. I mean, those kernels would sit in a bag forever, untouched. It's the microwave who's the leader, the person who makes it all work. Elvis was that person in his group - there was no doubting who was the King and who called the shots. Perhaps it's time you became the King of your little group. You can be nice-ish about it, just make sure you're getting your say in. And if you need any help with that, check out the Dale Carnegie classic How to Win Friends and Influence People. It will go a long way in improving your persuasion and social skills. But, that post will have to wait to another day, in a month where orange and black aren’t the colours of state and witches and vampires don't rule in a land of never ceasing darkness and treats.

 

Elvis's Lessons:

Elvis and a haunted house bear similarity (as insulting as that sounds). You need a team to make it all happen. But that's not all - you need that team to work together so things are going flawlessly. Moving to my popcorn metaphor (so proud I thought that one up), you're the person with the initiative to put together the raw materials (bag, kernels), your team, and also the microwave who cooks things (leads) so they pop just right. But remember, no one likes being bossed about. Keep a persuasive attitude - and if you need help with that, check out the Dale Carnegie classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People − that should get you fixed up in no time…

Thanks for reading, Happy Halloween, and see you in November!

 

P.S. If this post got you ticking (in a good or bad way), leave a comment below or at my email at alexghilson@gmail.com and I'll give you a reply as soon as I can.

P.P.S. If you're interested in hearing some Halloween Elvis, check out this Youtube video of Elvis singing “Night Rider”.

If you like this post, you may also like these other FR.EE Graceland Ontario posts:

• What You Have in Common with a Teenage Girl
• The Witches's Marketing Secret
• Alice Cooper Knows How to Live Life Better than Most Celebrities: Know Why?
• Elvis's Olympic Team
• They're Exceptional − And YOU Can Be, Too!
• Elvis Presley meets Usain Bolt: Do You Use THIS the Way They Do?

Elvis's Olympic Team

Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome back to Graceland Ontario for another week of exploring the success lessons of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and seeing how YOU can use them to further your dreams. Today, we’re going to be talking about the Olympics, Elvis and Teamwork. This is an episode of a mini-series so remember to tune in next week to see the next part!

So, as most of you are aware, the London 2012 Summer Olympics’s Opening Ceremony was last Friday (I watched all three and a half hours of it… it took some nerve!). With many allusions to English art and culture, at the end I could only go “Wow! That must have involved SOOO many people”. And that’s when my Elvis bell went off…

You see, Elvis also had his big events. Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii, for example, was the first internationally broadcast concert and, again, it wouldn’t have been possible without a ton of people.

Something as huge as the Olympics or an internationally broadcast concert requires a team. In fact, it requires a BIG team − the bigger the event, the bigger the team. It’d simply be too much work for one person to do, even if that person’s the Prime Minister of the U.K. or Elvis Presley.

Looking at Elvis’s Aloha show, there was his band (which was massive to start with), the stage crew, his manager, the television people and directors telling people how to film things, the people actually filming things… the number of folks involved in a production like that (or the Olympics) is insane − but without those people, it wouldn’t be possible. Elvis, however talented he was, could never have done that show sole handed − it would’ve taken years… decades!

So, if the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll couldn’t run the show single-handedly, who can? Not the President of the United States, not Richard Branson, not Justin Bieber, certainly not me. To get things done, you need bearer people, you need your team because those people are the ones who support you to do great things and keep you there. Look at Julius Caesar; he had the support of an army which he used in civil war to take over Rome. But because he didn’t have the support of the whole Senate, who he needed to resolve the political issues he’d created with the civil war, he was assassinated.

With the help of the Senate, Caesar would’ve remained leader of Rome. Without their support, however strong a man he was, he was murdered. He needed political allies, a team, to keep him in charge. Without his team, he didn’t stand a chance. Now, I don’t know about you but I’ve got no desire to be assassinated by my enemies.

In Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, one of the greatest self-help books in history, Hill describes what he calls ‘the master mind group’. Essentially, these are the people who help you take care of business, the ones making your business possible. You’re the leader, the one calling the shots, but they’re the ones that make the shots possible. Without these people, it becomes immeasurably harder to reach your dreams… Remember Caesar? With them, anything’s achievable.

So, what’s the point? Build your master mind team. Find the people who are important for you to do things, the people who can do things better than you can, the people who can do stuff when you’re too busy; those who are good with finances and those who excel at public relations. Choose carefully: these people will compose or compost you. But when it’s complete, when you have a good team with good people and you’ve broken through your personal insecurities and taken charge of this group, anything, ANYTHING is possible − including the Olympics.

Once again, this is my Olympic mini-series… for those of you into sports and the Olympics, these next couple weeks are for you. See you next Friday!

Elvis’s Lessons:

No man can do it alone… well, that’s a lie − you can, but it’ll take you forever. Do yourself a favour and build up what Napoleon Hill called a master mind group, a bunch of people who will help you reach heights you might’ve never hit alone. You’re in charge, but they propel you further. A great team’s how great visions are achieved − the Olympics, the first internationally broadcasted concert; one man dreamed it but it took a team for them to come into reality.

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing Elvis singing “He Gave Me A Mountain” in the largest show of his career, here’s a Youtube link to that song from the Elvis: Aloha Hawaii international concert.

P.P.S. Remember to leave a comment… providing it’s not a hate rant, I’d be glad to answer it. Or, of course, email me at alexghilson@gmail.com.