Tag Archive for courage

In Memory of Maddy

November 12, 2011 Eric Deschamps No comments

 

Tragedy and loss are the great equalizers. None of us are immune. If you are reading this, then chances are you have experienced the pain of losing a loved one as well. This pain is magnified many times over when a child passes away at a very young age.

In this blog post, I want to introduce you to a little girl called Maddy. Through the eyes of her family and friends, I believe this little one will touch your heart. Although I never knew Maddy personally, it is evident that her life made an impact on those she knew and loved.

Please read this post carefully, and consider supporting this great cause. Thanks to my clients and friends Heather & Fabien Cauley and Mike Courneya, owners of Bronson Johnson Seamless Eavestroughs for allowing me the privilege of participating in this endeavour. To Dean & Jeanine (Maddy’s mom & dad) and Hannah (Maddy’s sister), thank you for the honour of highlighting Maddy’s story.

I turn the rest of this post over to Heather, and Maddy’s family.

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach & Advisor – Ottawa

 

In Memory of Maddy…

Madison Karolina Otto was an energetic, happy and incredibly loved little girl when she passed away suddenly at the age of 5 from a brain tumour her family didn’t even know she had. The last hours of Maddy’s short life were spent at Roger’s House, a paediatric palliative care facility on the grounds of CHEO, where she was surrounded by family and friends. The following is a letter written by Maddy’s family in her honour:

 

“This is the story of a little girl, a superhero, an angel, and her name is Madison Karolina Otto. Madison was the most spirited little girl anyone could ever meet. She was both full of life and lived life to the fullest for her short 5 years. You would often see her dressing up in costumes, Spiderman, Woody and her favourite… Batman, and let me tell you, she thought she WAS batman in that costume!!

Madison Karolina Otto 2002-2007

Maddy loved her family and friends so much and you could always count on a smile and some funny little comment to cheer you up whenever she was around! She commanded attention and was always the star of the show. Life is just not the same without her

In 2007, Maddy was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour on the brainstem.  She went from being a perfectly normal 5-year old on Sunday, July 15th to one of God’s angels two days later.  Our family was blessed to have received the support of Roger’s House and to have benefited from their services. 

During Maddy’s final days, we were welcomed into a family suite at Roger’s House, which offers the comforts of “home away from home” where we hosted a number of family members along with our closest friends. To have spent those last cherished moments with Maddy surrounded with so much love and support provided comfort to our family. We have also since learned how to cope with our tremendous loss by attending grief and bereavement classes also offered at Roger’s House.

In addition to bereavement counselling, one of the ways we continue to stay strong is by raising funds for Roger’s House. It helps us to know that we in turn are helping other families with sick children and that they too can draw on this amazing resource in our community. Located on the grounds of CHEO, Roger’s House provides a comprehensive pediatric palliative care program with elements of outreach, residential hospice, pain and symptom management, grief and bereavement counselling and research.

By purchasing this calendar you are ensuring that Roger’s House will be there for those that will need it. You are making a difference to families like ours who would not have known what to do if Roger’s House had not been there.

Life can change so quickly and it is comforting to know that facilities such as Roger’s House exist in our community. Thank you so much for making a difference and being a part of Maddy’s story!

Sincerely,

Dean, Jeanine & Hannah Otto (Maddy’s Dad, Mom & Big Sister)

 

Maddy’s story is just one of many. Since Roger’s House opened its doors on May 15th 2006, hundreds of families have had to bear the unfathomable grief of burying their little loved ones.

Fabien & I are personal friends to Jeanine, Dean and Hannah. In keeping with our company’s mission statement, we would like to give back to Roger’s House by selling calendars featuring 12 very handsome men (that I have given a personal thumbs up to, and I am known for my superior taste in men! A plug for Fabien!), 2 of which have said good-bye to their children at Roger’s House.

Calendars are $20.00 each and all proceeds will go to Roger’s House, in memory of Madison. Bronson Johsnon Seamless Eavestroughs does not benefit financially in any way from the sales of these calendars.

To order your calendars, please contact me by email at [email protected] or by phone at (613) 619-1357. Accepted methods of payment are cash or credit card. With Christmas around the corner, these calendars make excellent gifts!

Thank you for supporting such a worthy cause!

Most sincerely,

Heather Cauley

Director of Lasting Impressions
Bronson Johnson Seamless Eavestroughs
(613) 619-1357
[email protected]
www.bronsonjohnson.com

“Bronson Johnson Seamless Eavestroughs consistently strives to be trusted by our customers, revered by our competitors and honoured by our community.”

 

Generosity, Giving, Personal Effectiveness, Uncategorized , ,

The Success is in the DOING!

October 31, 2011 Eric Deschamps No comments

 

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.” ~ Charles F. Kettering

In last week’s blog post, I wrote about “The Power of Perseverance.” Let me probe a little further today…

Allow me to state the obvious. Success is only achieved if you possess the courage – the intestinal fortitude – to stick it out long enough to see your dreams become a reality. Dreaming about the future is one thing, but the secret to success is in the doing!

Your business started with an idea! You gathered all the needed information and created a your business plan. You committed to all kinds of fancy goals and strategies. But then came decision time. Would you go ahead and jump in with both feet or would you bail out because the venture appeared too difficult and too risky?

It is often at this stage that the greatest challenges emerge. In an age of “instant solutions” and “quick fixes”, many people expect results even before they start doing anything. They take a few steps and quit prematurely because they don’t experience phenomenal success immediately. They throw in the towel, wondering why their plan didn’t work. The real question is did they work the plan? Did they follow through? Did they persevere?

The secret to success is in the DOING and in the “KEEP DOING.” For how long? As long as it takes! What do you have to do to succeed? Whatever it takes!

Only you can decide how much time and energy you will invest to ensure that your goals are achieved. But once you have decided, make sure you FOLLOW THROUGH! Be true to yourself. Honour your word. Take action, and persevere. As in the story in last week’s blog post, don’t stop three feet short of the gold!

You may choose to follow someone else’s plan because they achieved success in an arena similar to yours. But remember: your outcome may look very different from theirs. You are unique. Only you can write your own story and create your own outcome. Whatever the outcome is, it’s an experience that was worth having. You either learned HOW TO DO something or HOW NOT TO DO something.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t need help from others. Actually, your learning and progress can often be greatly accelerated by the people you surround yourself with. However, don’t ever forget that the final buck stops with you.

Here is the simple truth, the SINGLE SOLITARY REASON why so few people ever achieve their dreams: they are simply UNWILLING to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes! Few people fail, many people quit, most people don’t even try! The secret to success is in the DOING! In the words of NIKE, JUST DO IT!

Here’s something to consider…

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ Teddy Roosevelt

Get in the arena. Stay in the fight. Embrace the prize. Savour the victory.

Here’s to your success!

 

Eric Deschamps, Business Coach/Advisor – Ottawa, Canada

Business Effectiveness, Perseverance, Personal Effectiveness, Success, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

The Importance of Vision

June 21, 2011 Eric Deschamps 2 comments

 

When you have a sense of your own identity and a vision of where you want to go in life, you then have the basis for reaching out to the world and going after your dreams for a better life.

Stedman Graham

Everybody ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose. Those are the people with vision, with a clearly-defined dream.

Successful people may have other things going for them as well. But they certainly have vision. A clear dream, along with the courage to take action and follow through, dramatically increases your chances of success. It has been said that if you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time! I couldn’t agree more.

Professional hockey players are highly skilled and trained (and might I add highly paid). They make the game look so easy. Imagine the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks taking to the ice recently to battle it out for the prized Stanley Cup. Now picture the nets at either end of the rink being removed. Now what do you have? Highly trained and skilled players skating around in circles going nowhere fast, simply wearing themselves out and accomplishing nothing.

Unfortunately, far too many highly skilled and trained business owners are not achieving their full potential because they haven’t clearly identified their dream. They are “skating around in circles going nowhere fast.” Without a vision to guide their day-to-day decisions, they get trapped in the tyranny of the urgent.

Helen Keller, probably the most recognized blind person who ever lived, once said,

What would be worse than being born blind? To have sight without vision.

The Good Book says that without a vision, people perish. They run amuck. They live without restraint, giving their time and attention to whatever screams the loudest instead of what will get them ahead in life.

For a business owner, the backbone of any business plan must be structured around his/her dreams and passions. Only after you have clearly defined your life purpose can you effectively measure any progress toward that goal.

Defining a life mission is a process that requires self-evaluation and reflection. In other words, it takes work. But the benefits of clarifying what you want out of life is worth its weight in gold!

What about you? Do you have a vision for your life? For your business? If so, have you broken it down to action steps you perform every day? Are you living on purpose?

A clear vision can enhance your life and your business exponentially. In upcoming posts I will examine some of those benefits more specifically.

Until then, ask yourself the following questions. They can help kickstart the visioning process.

  1. What do you want to do?
  2. Why do you want to do it?
  3. What are the benefits of doing it?
  4. What are the negative results of not doing it?

Make a commitment right now to set aside 30-45 minutes this week to work on these four questions. You might be surprised by what they reveal.

 

Eric R. Deschamps – Business Coach, Ottawa

Personal Effectiveness, Success, Uncategorized, Vision, Visioning , , , , , , , ,

Why Business Coaching?

June 17, 2011 Eric Deschamps No comments

 

So why become a Business Coach? Great question. The simple answer? Helping others succeed has always been my passion. There is no greater feeling in the world than coming alongside someone and empowering them to achieve their goals and dreams.

A day well-lived is a day spent investing in others.

Although I always find it awkward to write about myself, the purpose of this post is to give readers a snapshot into what led me to become a Licensed Professional Business Coach and to launch my own practice – BreakthroughCoach.

Those who know me best will most likely view this new direction as a very natural “next step” in my life story. Motivating people to rise above mediocrity and to live to their full potential has been my life message for as long as I can remember! For over 20 years, I have invested time, energy, and experience into helping others find and fulfill their life’s purpose. What a privilege!

Another passion of mine is business! It has been a part of my life in one way or another since childhood. My parents owned their own business, and my dad was a very sharp businessman. I have deep admiration for owners of small to medium-size businesses. Being an entrepreneur myself, I empathize with both the joys and the struggles that they face on a daily basis.

Most people go into business for themselves because they dream of greater freedom, higher revenues, more time with family, etc. But statistics and reality bear out a very different story. Most owners feel trapped in the business they created. They work longer hours and often earn less income than when they had a job. Many are hard-pressed to take time off for fear that the business may fall off the rails without them at the helm.

Although they are highly skilled in their area of expertise, they often lack training and experience in one or more of the basic business fundamentals required to run a successful enterprise. As a result, they feel stuck. They aren’t getting the traction they had hoped for. They need a breakthrough.

Business Coaching allows me to help business owners see through the fog of day-to-day demands. Gaining clarity about the “next step” is worth its weight in gold. With proven systems and strategies, I can coach an owner to be more personally effective and to run a more profitable and meaningful business. Behind that business is a dream. My goal is to help owners get there, wherever “there” happens to be.

I am grateful that my life’s journey has contributed over two decades of leadership experience that can greatly benefit the owners I serve. But no one has all the answers! That’s why I am proud to be aligned and licensed with the Professional Business Coaches Alliance with over 100 coaches in the US and Canada. They provide a vast arsenal of tools, strategies, and systems all designed to help owners perform at their best. (For more on the PBCA, visit www.pbca.biz.)

Let me put it this way. Every professional athlete understands the value of a coach to help him/her play at the top of their game. It’s no different in the world of business. For the client, business coaching is about peak performance, personal satisfaction, getting the right results, and dreams fulfilled. For me, it’s about the privilege of participating in that process in a meaningful way.

UPDATE (Nov. 22, 2011): This recent interview with Carlo Lombard of The Shotgun Show provides more insight into my passion for coaching. 

 

 

Eric R. Deschamps – Business Coach, Ottawa

Business Coaching, Business Effectiveness, Motivation, Passion, Personal Effectiveness, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,