I see motivational speaker Jack Black founder of MindStore is coming to Dublin next week. Basically he's a positive thinker and has created an empire around personal development and performance excellence. We Irish tend to be sceptical about personal development and reaching one's potential, but I believe more good than bad can come of positive introspection. I know I could easily write a blog post every day about the latest and greatest guru in this field but the reason I'm bringing it to your attention is because I've attended one of his seminars. Back in the dotcom days when companies had lots of VC with little or no revenue streams, motivating and retaining staff was paramount and so 12 of us (half teckies half marketing/sales) we were duly packed off on the train to Belfast for a 2 day junket to attend one of his MindStore workshops. However cynical I may have been to begin with, by day's end I was converted and really believed I could do whatever I wanted in life (now that's value for money). He's extremely charismatic and a weird blend of Billy Connolly and maybe Michael O'Leary - extremely funny, great showman but with serious business savvy. Anyway, it was a great trip, needless to say the sales and marketers thought it fabulous, the coders just wanted to get back coding with less of yer 'I want to change the world and buy everyone a can of coke.' I don't remember much about the intricacies of the course but I do remember at the time writing on my wish list that I wanted to work less (part time), earn more and have more QT with my son and a few other personal wants. Anyway, needless to say weeks after the course, I mislaid my notes and got back on the treadmill of work work work. Then a few years later I was giving a class on management thinking when I was a lecturer in DIT and one of the topics was motivation so I went digging around and found the notes, I found my wish list and realised that I'd achieved every single one of them. So it's now time to write a new list almost ten years later. So I think I'll be popping along to see Mr. Jack Black's 'Prepare for the Upturn' in Dublin in the NCH in Dublin next Wednesday night (September 9th). For more information and online booking click here. Hopefully see you there. Or perhaps it's more fitting if I finish with a positive affirmation and sign off by saying 'I WILL see you there.'