Quebec City YPO Event

I am in the lounge in Quebec city. The city is beautiful. Very European. Too cold to run outside (not that I run much outside anyways). I was here for a YPO event.

Part of what makes all YPO events special is the people. I do not like to be elitist but having entry requirements means the other members are running good size businesses. This means they often share similar challenges. They also act as a natural network that can be used for our mutual good. For example, when my Toronto warehouse closes, we will work hard to find positions to those who do not choose to move. The YPO network is perfect. Many of them are Toronto based and need good people like the ones we have. Win-win.

One of the speakers was Jack Daly. Very accomplished and inspirational guy. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak - do it. He challenged me to re-look at my goals and shared with us how he sets his. He is an accountant so does very detailed tracking on how he is doing on his plan. He admits he is overboard.

I prefer to create habits because I do not particularly like accounting and find too much tracking to be onerous. This said, I do track some and I do check in often on how I am doing on my goals.

He talks a lot about treating people right - something I buy into. He shared many ideas on the creative things he does.

Another speaker was Ellen Schwartz, author of "Lessons from Jacob". This is a story of he dealing with her severely disabled son (blind, mentally challenged, wheelchair confined etc.). Hearing her tips for "maintaining sanity" was great. It also made me realize how lucky I am to have 3 healthy children. It also put any problems I might have into perspective.

Off to fly.