We started with an icebreaker while simultaneously using the techniques they learned to remember each others names.

Time to meet and connect with each other!

Taylor and Demetria were in the zone!  What GREAT smiles!

They each have three chocolates and are telling each person two “brags” about themselves and one lie.  If they guess the lie they get a chocolate, and if they don’t they lose one.  This way they learn more about each other AND we discover who is the “BEST LIAR” in the group.

Olivia’s on a mission to get to know as many people and names as possible!  Time to step out of her comfort zone.

The technique really worked for LaShanda Jackson.  She blew us away remembering EVERYONE’S names in minutes!

Chris Baltes is stepping it up and connecting with each person in the group and learning compassion for himself and others!

 
They also learned to meet people where they are and improve communication, by trying to teach and alien how to make a P & J sandwich.  HILARIOUS results!

Association is the basis of ALL learning.  We need to associate something to something else in order to learn it.  We all have different associations based on our past experiences; therefore, we are constantly creating our own unique reality.

“PUT the peanut butter ON the bread???”  What kind of direction is that?  ALIEN for sure!

FINAL RESULTS:  THUMBS UP!!  They averaged over 90% on their memory retention test!  They left KNOWING they have a GENIUS MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can’t WAIT to follow up and hear all their success stories!  What a GREAT DAY!  Thank you Jessica Newman, the Student Development Coordinator at O.C.C., for bringing EmpowerMind to the students!

One of our great model schools in Detroit

I walked into the school about 8 months ago for the first time and was greeted by two boys who asked if I needed help and if they could show me where to go.  Respect

Then, I met with the CEO and board member.  They were business like and wanted to make sure EmpowerMind made sense for the school and was in alignment with their mission and values.  Also, the CEO wanted to be assured she would get the value out of it for the cost. Good business practices

The principal and teacher who helped EmpowerMind put all of this together spent hours of phone calls and time to support the program.  Dedication

The parents brought their kids to school EVERY Saturday for the workshop.  Priorities

This is why these students are so AMAZING.  It takes  all of their commitments to succeed and Cornerstone has that! Community

Results are already piling in with A’s that were never given to some before, new found confidence, new attitudes, new positive self-talk, less time on homework with better results . . . Stay tuned as we will post the video with more results right from the kids, teacher and principal themselves.

We LOVE Cornerstone kids!!!

Since our regular groups are usually older, I thought I’d give some learning tips for younger students.

If there are a few multiplication tables that your child just can’t seem to learn, approach it in a different way—a RIGHT brain way.  If you are a strong left brain person and this doesn’t make any sense—GREAT it will probably be perfect for your child.;)  Think about how the right brain child must feel EVERY day when being taught in the opposite way he or she learns.

Look at the numbers and ask your student/child, “What does this look like to you OR remind you of, if it wasn’t a number?”

Only ONE Example: (Assuming they KNOW what the X and = sign means)

77 Two goal posts or two upside down feet

49 Football team the 49ers or imagine someone who is 49.

Now, once they imagine what they look like to them or what it reminds them of, then have them visualize those two images together.

Example:  Have them shut their eyes and imagine two goal posts (two sevens) have a 49er football player (49) flying over them or kicking them or kissing them.  It’s their imagination, the crazier the better.

Or seeing upside down feet of the 49ers running across a field

Or, who’s being kicked over the goal post (77)?  YIKES it’s ME (the 49 year old or a 49 year old person they may know).

You can use any images that the student wants.  It is THEIR imagination, so there is no wrong way if it helps them remember it.

Then test them and ask what does 7×7 equal?  Remind them to imagine the pictures and what was happening in them.  Try this with three they do NOT know and then re-test them right afterwards, then hours later, then days and weeks later. YOU will be astounded!

The EmpowerMind training team had an incredible experience with the Eagles’ teams at Eastern Michigan University on July 23^rd and 30^th!

I never knew how tough athletes have it!  We don’t realize how much they have to work to entertain us and to keep their scholarships.  They woke up around 5:00 a.m., had practice for two hours from 6:00-8:00, and THEN came to our full day workshop.  That’s just a normal day in the life of University athletes.  They carry a full time job of athletics along with their daily school schedule and mounds of homework.

This is what helped EmpowerMind realize we need to focus on this segment of our youth, help them maintain their scholarships, help some of them escape the inner city and support them by keeping the gift of a four year education, so they too can realize their dreams.

Destiny slam dunked it by memorizing and reciting all 25 people’s names in less than 10 minutes!

Jerome lead the team with is touchdown drive, by proving he could recite all 20 words in order just after memorizing them two minutes before.

Carl’s dazzling 2-point conversion with reciting all 20 words backwards!

Then they got in partners and challenged each other to a creative memory game on how to remember hard vocabulary words!  Their creativity was amazing!  They all got A’s!  They are discovering how to master their own way of learning.  To be honest, the trainers were just impressed they were awake and attentive for MOST of the day!  We ended it by getting into the zone relaxation/visualization while imagining achieving an outrageous goal.

Look out!  Here come the EAGLES, new leaders in athletics AND in the classroom!

Day Two at EMU

After our wild hat pump up experience, Gary and Benn are co-training how Timing, Pacing and Environment help all students have maximum performance in the classroom.

WOW!  What an ending!  They were tossing the ball like hot potato until the music stopped, then it was REVIEW time!  They brought it home with 100% correct answers from the week before. Nobody dropped the ball on this one!

We muscle tested even the toughest guys out there to show them how food and negative or positive thoughts affects their bodies: Joe and Justin got stronger and then totally weak in a matter of moments.  The students were riveted!  I’m thinkin’ the diets may change a bit with the EMU Eagles!

They learned how to tackle textbooks, and score better every time with test taking skills.

Then for the grand finale . . . they told each other strengths that they see in one another.  We ended with a short inspirational high energy video! Very cool way to end a great day!

Our evaluations were top rate!  Stay tuned and hear the impact EmpowerMind will have on their academics!

There are no student pictures and the names were changed to protect the students’ privacy.

Well, they walked solo for the first time!  (Do you see the joy on these workshop participants?)  All of the trainers stumbled a bit, but don’t we ALL when we first walk on our own?  In no time they will be running, jumping and reaching the stars.

January Workshop

I think the hardest thing for many of them to understand is that they must walk before they run.  Don’t we all want to run once we get a taste of how exciting it will be after taking those first few steps? How do you respond when you are doing what you love and learning to integrate what you love into your life?

The only way we can run, as trainers, is to live the EmpowerMind philosophy of life.  I am learning so much about them and about myself in the process.  We really are becoming a  “functional” family.  The intimacy is so profound for me, as they communicate their joys, frustrations and expectations– while I do the same.  We have had some very raw—yet respectful—expressions of our truth.

My goal is to create master trainers.  That’s always been the goal.  My whole heart and soul is into them as a loving mother is for her children.  I am protective, yet I see their flaws.  They are protective as they see mine.

This EmpowerMind journey has been nothing short of spectacular, and to deeply impact the lives of those we touch is nothing short of MIRACULOUS!

Dieting tips for Teens (and pre-teens)

They say we are what we eat, well we certainly perform better or worse depending on what we eat.  There’s NO doubt in my mind or in my performance.

My son had MAJOR attention issues.  Just adding high quality fish oil to his O.J. every morning made him rise from 50% test scores to high 80% test scores within weeks.  When he ate sugar he could not study; his mind and body was all over the place.

I have tutored countless children who have the same issues.  A 13 year-old boy, Justin, had many food sensitivities and would not listen to his mother about how he should avoid certain foods.  So, the next time I tutored him– after he had just learn 30 new vocabulary words in 15 minutes-I suggested we celebrate his success!  So, I got out two wine glasses filled them half full with red Mountain Dew (caffeine, mega sugar and red dye). He was sensitive to all these chemicals.  After drinking it,

He could not learn ten new words in the last half hour!  I have MANY stories like this!

We cannot stop all the negative foods that our kids eat, but we can be aware and help them be aware of how they FEEL and perform after eating certain foods.   Foods are processed with so many additives and chemicals that it’s no wonder are kids have problems concentrating and paying attention.  Drugs are not the answer (only as a LAST resort)!  Start with food substitutions and add HIGH QULAITY lemon flavored fish oil instead.

Many of us have food sensitivities and food allergies, but we are not fully aware of the connection to the food we eat.  Allergies can even be eliminated, as my family has eliminated several (including environmental allergies) and so have MANY of the families I have worked with in the past.  Check out naet.com for a practitioner near you.

We are all complex puzzles.  Your child’s diet is a piece to that puzzle, and it can change everything.  If your child has a learning or behavioral issue-pay attention!  Experiment.  Write a journal with responses to foods.  Seek a holistic, naturopathic doctor or a kinesiologist.  Educate yourself, it will change your family’s life!

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/newsletters/FAILsaf60

This mini-course– learning tips blog– on Learning How You Learn will give you many more ideas on how to put learning techniques into action on a daily basis.  This is a very abbreviated version of my book, You’re a Genius-and I Can Prove It! This mini-course is not a substitute for the free on-line chapters, but it’s a good start.

Do you ever forget where you put your keys?  The remote control? Your sunglasses?  Your sanity?  I can help you find all these things you misplace, by never forgetting where you put them to begin with.  Sanity will come as you PRACTICE using multiple senses to remember.

I had an advertising entrepreneur with A.D.D. in on of my workshops.  Not only did he forget where he put things, but also he’d find them in the strangest places.  Like, he’d find the remote control in the refrigerator or his keys in the cupboard.  So, do you think he just spent too much time in the kitchen or was he just was focused on everything else at the time, but the keys and remote?

So, what’s a busy, distracted or an A.D.D.  person to do?  Stop watching TV?  Hire a driver?  Or, “get into the moment” by using multiple senses to remember and be CONSCIOUS of where you set things?  When you set something down, look at it, SEE where it is and say OUT LOUD, “I just set my keys on the sofa here.”  “Or I just put the remote control in the toilet.”  It doesn’t matter where you set it down, just look at it, feel it with your hands and say OUT LOUD where you put it, and you won’t forget where it is.  The reason you’ll remember is because you’re using multiple senses to remember it (seeing, talking, hearing, and touching).  This man tried this for one week and was astounded at how easy it was, and he remembered where he put things 100% of the time.  Even my Dad who is almost 80 years old uses this.  He says if it will work for him, it will work for anybody.  So, take a deep breath and RELAX and tune in to the moment!  It’s simple and easy; it’s just a minor shift in consciousness.

I thank the GREAT Lord for Facebook, as another miracle occurred!  Heidi Pacer, from Share Home School Group-a Christian Home Schooling organization in Milford, had been looking for EmpowerMind for the past two years.  She first heard about it when her children were too young for the workshop, but lost track of us because she forgot our “EmpowerMind” name.  The short story is I accidently (techno-challenged here) sent ALL my e-mail lists to Facebook, asking everyone on EmpowerMind’s e-mail list to be my friend.  She had e-mailed EmpowerMind two years before, and so her e-mail was stored and the facebook invitation was sent.  We connected!  I call this synergy “GOD WINKS” or a “GOD THING.”

In a few short months, she put together over 50 sign ups for the two day workshop at the greatly reduced cost.  Peter and I were able to serve these families and help them in a financial way that could not have happened had it not been for Heidi.  We all had a GREAT time, and it was customized for their audience!  Thank you Heidi on behalf of ALL of us!

In this Michigan economy where SO MANY have lost their jobs we need to think creatively on how we can help support each other.  How many people could benefit in your community by checking into creating an EmpowerMind workshop in your town or organization? And, your bonus is that YOUR family may attend for FREE!

Please let us know if there are creative opportunities– in your community– for us to serve!

God speed everyone!  Until next time . . .   SHARE THE LOVE!

Pillars of Success | EmpowerMind Workshop

Not long ago I was giving a workshop to these amazing teenagers in Pontiac.  The program they are involved in is called Pillars of Success, which is run by Joya Shepard– a very devoted mother and mentor.  It’ supported by the Jack and Jill Foundation in Michigan.

Approximately 20 teens were in the EmpowerMind program that day.  They were one of the most well behaved groups I have had in 18 years.  They really want to learn, grow and become more than their current circumstances dictate.  They inspired me!

I got to see them again last month again at another conference where they brought volunteer business people and entrepreneurs in to share what they did for a living.  We tried to be mentors for a day.  I’m not sure who gets more out of it, the kids or the business people.  I now ask the youth I facilitate a new question.  Instead of asking, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”  I ask, “WHO do you want to be and what do you want to give the world?  I ask that question to you right now.  One you might want to spend a lifetime pondering.