By Noor Elsabagh
Last week STA was visited by acclaimed keynote speaker Karl Subban, father of NHL players P.K., Malcolm and Jordan Subban. He and his wife Maria also have two daughters, who are both teachers.
Subban was once a principal and teacher, and is now visiting other schools to spread his inspirational message on the formula of success. He begins with the analogy of a three-legged stool. In order to succeed, one must have a dream, a solid belief system, and take action. The dream will motivate us to persevere and seek action, while the belief system, along with our own resilience, will support us through any roadblocks we may encounter along the way. Subban’s message of resilience tells us that we must be ready and willing to take any criticism and discouragement, and use it to inspire ourselves to work harder.
He then moves on to the four main components we must have when we begin actively pursuing our dreams; time, task, training and team. First, you have to recognize when to work, and when to play. Day-to-day life can often be busy and distracting, so establishing a time to work on achieving your goals is a good idea. Staying focused on your task is also important, and it is very closely tied with training.
Motivation plays a key role is staying on task, and improving in your training to set yourself apart. Finally, having a ‘team’ of people to help can be very beneficial. This is related to the belief system, as it is always good to surround yourself with friends and family who will encourage and believe in you, as opposed to people who will slow you down. “Don’t be afraid to cut ties,” says Subban. It is also important to note, that nothing comes without a price. This is something we have all heard numerous times, and it is still true when you are trying to achieve your dream. Combing this with belief, action and most importantly, resilience will get you one step closer to living your dream.
Dream on, STA!