USA trip pt.1 Being unrealistic is a good thing? - Backstage Pass ep. 08

I recently traveled to the U.S to build my speaking and video business. I captured the entire journey, here is part 1. 

[USA Trip pt.1] Being unrealistic

Backstage Pass ep.08 - [USA Trip pt.1] Being unrealistic I'm am an Australian born Vietnamese from Adelaide. I decided to bring my entire production team on the journey with me to capture what it was like as I begin to build my career in the U.S. Here's day 1!

Posted by Vinh Giang on Saturday, November 7, 2015

Chase your dreams! 

Remember to have a little fun! - Backstage Pass ep. 07

I meet so many people with what I do and I see so many people working really hard which is a great thing but now and then remember to take aside sometime and have fun!! My video team and I got back to our hotel room one night and felt inspired to film a little funny video. 6 hours later and 3 hours sleep this is what we made! 

Remember to have fun :) 

ep.07 Sleep deprivation

Backstage Pass ep.07 - Sleep deprivation 11pm and we had an idea. This is the result.

Posted by Vinh Giang on Monday, October 26, 2015

Our Vows - Backstage Pass ep. 06

10/10/2015 I married the love of my life. This is a snippet from our beautiful day ;)

Our vows <3

Backstage Pass ep.06 - Our vowsA very special day with a very special lady :)

Posted by Vinh Giang on Thursday, October 22, 2015

Taking massive imperfect action - Backstage Pass ep. 05

Are you a perfectionist? For a long time I was. I didn't realise how much this actually was crippling me in my businesses, I always seem to find a way to justify my perfectionism. In this video I share one of the most powerful lessons I learnt from a group of high achievers in Asia in my most recent trip! 

Take massive imperfect action

Backstage Pass ep.05 - Taking massive imperfect action?The best in the world do this.

Posted by Vinh Giang on Thursday, October 15, 2015

Do you agree with this? Tell me what you think! 

The reality behind chasing your dreams - Backstage Pass ep. 04

People always think success is something that comes easy and this is what causes people to become impatient. I wanted to share the reality behind the success that others see. 

The reality behind chasing your dreams.

Backstage Pass ep.04 - The reality behind chasing your dreams.

Posted by Vinh Giang on Thursday, October 8, 2015

Have you had to make sacrifices to get to where you are? Do you know of an overnight success? Do they even exist? I don't believe they do. 

Confidence Conundrum? - Backstage Pass ep. 03

The confidence conundrum?

Backstage Pass ep. 03 - The confidence conundrum? What do you think? Is this madness?!

Posted by Vinh Giang on Friday, October 2, 2015

There are so many things in our lives that we will not try if we don't feel confident.  

Be so good they can't ignore you! - Backstage Pass ep. 02

Many people believe that success in business is a result of great marketing, while I think this is true - there's something even more important you need to consider! 

Backstage Pass ep. 02 - Don't be a negative Nancy and just foc...

Backstage Pass ep. 02 - Don't be a negative Nancy and just focus on your craft.*No Nancys' feelings were hurt in the production of this video Ps. Will you subscribe to this philosophy?? If so comment and lets keep each other accountable!

Posted by Vinh Giang on Friday, September 25, 2015

On the road ep. 01 - Don't give up on your dreams

I've begun to employ a full time videographer to follow me on my journey as a speaker. There are so many wonderful lessons that I am learning on the road, I feel that it's necessary for me to share these wonderful lessons! I hope you get as much out of these lessons as I do. 

Don't give up on your dreams.

On the road ep. 01 - Don't give up on your dreamsPs. Tell me what you think? Do you enjoy these kind of videos?

Posted by Vinh Giang on Friday, September 18, 2015

PS. Once you've watched it, comment below and tell me what you think! 

How do you maintain your energy and motivation??

3am starts are a normal thing in my life, I'm on the road for weeks at a time and flying all over the place. Don't get me wrong, even though it sounds like I am bragging about my 'privileged life', I'm not. For the first year or so it's extremely exciting and the adrenalin keeps you going no problems, but after doing it for 3 years now I had to learn how to maintain my energy and motivation. 

If you want to maintain high levels of energy and motivation, you need to protect your environment at all costs. Lets define this word ENVIRONMENT.

environment
[en-vahy-ruh n-muh nt, -vahy-ern-] 
noun
1. the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences;surroundings; milieu.
2. Ecology. the air, water, minerals, organisms, and all other externalfactors surrounding and affecting a given organism at any time.
3. The social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or apopulation.
4. Computers. the hardware or software configuration, or the mode ofoperation, of a computer system: In a time-sharing environment, transactions are processed as theyoccur.
5. An indoor or outdoor setting that is characterized by the presence ofenvironmental art that is itself designed to be site-specific.

 

This is how the dictionary would define the word. I'd like to share a definition that I feel is a little more relevant for us, especially when it comes to energy and motivation management. Please do keep in mind, I am still learning on this journey and I am sure I will evolve my definition as I go through life :) 

environment

A simple way to look at your environment
1. The books that you read
2. The people with which you spend time with
3. The community in which you live
4. Your occupation
5. Clothes you wear
6. Songs you listen too

This is just a simplified list of what I feel contributes to our environment. As a keynote speaker, people sometimes think I am 'putting it on' when I get on stage. They think I am putting on the energy, the optimism, the humour etc. You see, I realised very early on in my career that my goal as a speaker isn't to become like Anthony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuck or Derren Brown (my favourite magician). But rather I wanted to learn how to be comfortable on stage so that I can be myself, over the last 3 years I feel I've been able to reach this goal. What you see is what you get, this is who I am. 

People often then would ask;

Q: "Vinh how do you maintain your energy and motivation??"

A: The answer is simple, I protect my environment at all costs.

"Our mind feeds upon that which we supply it, or that which is forced upon it, through our environment."

This is why it's so important to reflect on what you are trying to achieve in life and ensure that you build and craft the optimal environment in which your mind will be able to thrive. 

In my life I make sure that I am always; reading good books, spending time with those that inspire me, dress my best, listen to music that moves me and ensure that I am doing what I love most. This sounds really simple, I know, but I am ridiculously consistent with this. 

This is how I stay on top of my crazy life, how do you maintain your energy and motivation? Share with me how you do it! I'd love to hear from you. 

Be amazing and nothing less.

It's really interesting being a Magician and an Entrepreneur at the same time. I've used many magic concepts from the world of magic in my businesses and have become quite successful as a result. One of which  I'd like to share with you today. As a magician, you are either amazing or you're not amazing. 

Let me draw the link between the two worlds for you.  

You see I believe that in business, everything starts with an idea and from that idea we develop a strategy to bring the ideas to life. Then we have to execute the strategy in order to achieve some kind of result, hopefully a good one!

In the world of magic it's the same thing, it all begins with an idea and from that idea we develop a methodology and once we've developed that we now need to perform it. Depending on how well the magician performs it will create some kind of result - hopefully success! 

Business people call it strategy, magicians call it methodology and what business people call execution magicians call performance. We live in the same world and there's not much difference between what we do, besides one thing. 

You see with magicians we have to perform flawlessly, otherwise the magic trick doesn't work. All it takes is one error on the magicians part and the magic is dead, if you saw cards fall from a magicians sleeve while he is performing... What do you think? You see when it comes to magic magicians understand that 99% isn't good enough, we don't have the luxury of being able to aim for anything less than 100%. When a magician is able to flawlessly execute the strategy - he creates a beautiful piece of magic that people will remember forever. Because we live in a world where the margin between success and failure is so fine we understand the power behind sticking to strategy and not deviating 1% away from the plan. 

There is so much potential behind great strategies, but the potential is not realised unless we stick to the strategy. What I find when I look at business is that most people will follow a strategy with 80% precision and after they get some good results they start to feel comfortable. Blinded by this comfort they do not stick to the plan and execute the strategies with the same intensity. As a result of this they don't realise the full potential that exists within the strategy and because of this we don't create a beautiful piece of magic. We just create something ordinary... and ordinary isn't magic. 

An incredible amount of potential lies within great strategies, our job is to realise 100% of the potential. Teller, an amazing magician that I absolutely adore has a great quote

"Sometimes, MAGIC is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect." 

Magicians spend a lot of time perfecting their ability to execute, we place a lot of emphasis on execution because this is the key skill set that allows us to realise the potential required to create 'Magic'. Apply this same thought process to business and you will unlock something amazing. 

I've been working for 6 months on this new keynote and I've recently started to deliver it at conferences around the world and I got an amazing piece of feedback I'd like to share! 

"Dear Vinh,

on behalf of our Victorian members and the LMG team we would like to thank you for your performance at Tuesday's annual members conference. The business session was delivered exactly to the brief provided. The feedback from members is above all expectations. Killer Execution is a key pillar in our strategy and there is no doubt that you have enhanced members ability to understand the significance of the value that can be created with execution by every member on a daily basis. The cost of your performance would be the best investment I have made on the Victorian membership base.

The evening entertainment will be talked about and remembered by all in attendance for a very long time. Your generosity of time by engaging every table  is sincerely appreciated and valued. 

Vinh you have extraordinary talent, delivered with professionalism whilst always remaining humble and making your audience crave for more.

I'm sure that you will have the same response in NSW. I also understand that our Queensland GM has enquired about your availability.

Best wishes, and again thank your for  the contribution you made to and very successful conference."

Frank Palumbo | General Manager Retail Sales & Marketing | Liquor Marketing Group