It’s so Fluffy!!!!  from Despicable Me

Do you ever get that feeling that you’re just beaten down…that it’s too hot and nothing really matters?   There are times (especially after you make the mistake of watching the news) when it seems there’s nothing out there but bad things, people struggling and an endless parade of gray.

Well it’s time to perk up because I’ve got 3 things to inspire you:

• Bookbinding
• Shoes
• Unicorns!

It may not sound like an inspirational list, but keep reading and I think you’ll find something to get you moving!

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I had a chance to check out Shrek Forever After this afternoon and one of the scenes that caught my attention was the sales process between RumpelStiltskin and Shrek (see picture above, courtesy of Dreamworks)

Rumpelstiltskin, if you’re not familiar is a magical dealmaker who specializes in granting wishes…with unfortunate consequences and lots of fine print.  In the movie he hangs out at the Crone’s Nest Carriage Park (full of witches and crones) and desperately wants to become the ruler of Far, Far Away (where Shrek lives).

What does this have to do with business?  Well our man Rumpel is a true salesman and he displays some serious selling skills in the movie that could benefit anyone in business.

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Once again proving that it pays to spend some time on Twitter (at a bare minimum to see what people you know are up to and to pick up cool things they find interesting) – here’s a great video that I found very inspiring!

It’s a short film (16 minutes) entitled Validation and I think it says a lot about what motivates us and maybe an observation on how bad things are today (in terms of how we treat each other).

Check it out:

If you can’t see the video or it’s not working, you can find it online here:  Validation

I’d love to get your thoughts on the video?  Did any of it ring true for you?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Shawn Kinkade  Kansas City Business Coach

I’ve been on a kick lately to collect older movies – movies that I remember as influential or just entertaining from ‘formative’ years (which probably are still going on now that I think about it).

Some of them have held up better than others (I watched the director’s cut of The Warriors recently and I was really disappointed – there are some great scenes, but it didn’t really pull together the way I remember it in college!).

Anyway, one movie that actually was better than I remembered it (and I liked it a lot the first time around) was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  With John Hughes recently passing away, I was inspired to find this and relive one of the best movies of the 80’s.

There are a lot of things Ferris can teach us – even 20+ years later.

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