Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It's TEBOW Time! An Evening with John C. Maxwell & Tim Tebow

A few months ago I found out a local church was hosting an event with two INCREDIBLE speakers...John C. Maxwell &Tim Tebow!!
I KNEW I had to get tickets. These are two Godly men whom I admire & respect very much (and DUH! Tebow is my celebrity crush...even if he's younger than me!). John Maxwell is a phenomenal author and I have read several of his leadership books. One of my favorites is Becoming a Person of Influence.
I know there was a Tim Tebow craze for a little while, but I have to say, I am definitely not one to jump on the bandwagon with new crazes. (I have not read the first Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games book....or seen any of the movies for that matter! I'm sure they're great...but I'm just not interested.) However, after seeing Tebow respond to critics in a press conference, I was SO impressed with his answer and response, it confirmed to me that he is the REAL DEAL. (Hearing him speak the other night confirmed that even further.)Lots of people "talk the talk," but very few back it up with their actions and attitude. He understands his platform and position as a role model, and he takes that very seriously. I admire and appreciate that.

My point is, I love these two men & was super excited for what they had to share.
 
Here are a few of the notes I took from the evening. They both shared personal stories and were both incredibly funny. I think I smiled and laughed the whole time. John Maxwell absolutely commanded the room when he spoke. Something about his voice made you want to listen to him. No wonder he is such an impactful man of God. And of course you didn't want to take your eyes of Tim either!
 Tebow shared the three things it takes to be successful, in ANYTHING, are love, passion, and sacrifice. I totally agree with that. He talked about other athletes who played football because their parents wanted them to....but he played because he truly loved it and had a passion for it.

A great point from Maxwell was for parents to focus on their kids' strengths, not weaknesses. So often because we get caught up wanting them to be strong in a specific area, we lose sight of some of their natural strengths and abilities. THOSE are the areas we should be nurturing....

Something that spoke to me was the point one of them made that any time you step out, you become a target. Whether it's as a leader, in sharing your faith, you get a promotion, become a parent, receive an award or accmplishment, are successful in some way....whatever. The second you get any spotlight, you become a target and people want to bring you down. To judge, scutinize, find fault. I have absolutely seen this in my own life, and the best way to deal with it is to recognize that the majority of the time it is jealousy, ignore the negativity, and love those people anyway.

 Although that is true, Maxwell also pointed out that we should always ask ourself if the criticism is valid. That was such an eye opener for me. He talked about the importance of having humility. There is a fine line between critics and constructive criticism, and we need to learn to recognize that difference. It may add value. He said sometimes the things that have hurt him the worst are things that people say to him that he knows are true, and areas he needs to examine and change.

Wow. It takes alot of maturity to be able to do that.

One of my favorite comments of the evening is when Tebow was discussing fellow professional athletes. He said he doesn't understand when they try to say they are not role models. His response (maybe rehtorical, who knows), was/is "Yes, you ARE a role model. Just not a good one." SLAM!!! I love that!

Some also said "Whiners want to feel good before they do what is right; Winners do right before it feels good." True story.

Another great point they discussed was finding the balance between patience and persistence. It's hard to know when to exhibit which, so it's all about finding a balance. I think people who are successful in doing that will be successful.
 
What a wonderful evening!!!!

5 comments:

Always Learning said...

Sounds amazing! I have always wanted Tim {along with every other mother!} for my daughter or someone like him who is not afraid to stand up and speak Truth. He sure isn't bad looking either.

Suget said...

Wow, that sounds like a great way to spend an evening and I agree with Tebow "Yes, you ARE a role model. Just not a good one"... those athletes need to get their acts together. (:
Thanks for sharing! And I don't know if you got my email about the products and my questions... I'll email you again in a bit.

Sheila@TheFailteHouse said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! I loved the three things Tim mentioned, regarding how to be successful! Going to save this post. Tweeted and Facebooked it so others can enjoy to!

californiadreamin said...

Super jealous, this sounds like an amazing conference!

Anonymous said...

How cool! Sounds like a great time and so inspiring :) Thanks for sharing!