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Rick Saldan is an excellent
inspirational speaker who tailored the seminar to the needs of the
individual students being instructed. This office thanks the Mayors Office
of Information Services for having such a vendor.
Timothy K. Lynch
Office of Fleet Management
City of Philadelphia
Rick has a magical approach that provides a clear and
concise message specifically designed to the needs of his
audience. Rick will provide all the motivational magic you
will ever need, propelling your organization to the next
level of greater success.
Thomas Mulhern
Frontier Communications
Rick Saldan is a compelling and absorbing motivational speaker and
magician.I have been to five of his
Motivational Magic presentations and it is amazing how he keeps our
college audiences on the edge of their seats.
A highly entertaining performer with great comedy flair. Rich content to
increase students' productivity, peak performance and motivation. If you
need an outstanding motivational speaker for colleges, Rick is definitely
one of the world's greatest speakers and magicians!
Dr. Rob Gilbert, Sport Psychologist,
Montclair State University
Rick Saldan has the wit, wisdom and sorcery of a wizard. He
has a dynamic personality, and all will enjoy his
captivating stories, comedy and magic!
Dennis Slaughter
Credit Suisse First Boston
Rick Saldan delivers a first-class show! A pro in every
sense of the word. Funny, unique, entertaining and polished.
Brian Letscher, Actor
Hawaii Five-O, NCIS, Cold Case, Law & Order and The Mentalist.
Rick Saldan is a wonderful combination of master magician, comic
improviser and first class speaker. The audience loved his program, which
was music to our ears. If you love celebrity motivational speakers such as
Tom Hopkins, Dale Carnegie and Zig Ziglar, then you'll love Rick!
Dottie Burman, President
Burtley Productions, Inc.
Rick Saldan
is an incredibly talented performer and motivational speaker with great insight. He shares many powerful
motivational messages that will enhance your life for the better!
Jack Murray, President
Dream Illusions
Rick is one of the best inspirational speakers on
the scene today. Funny, fun loving and highly energetic. If you want to
make your next event into an extraordinary one, then invite professional
speaker Rick Saldan and his amazing Motivational Magic.
Andres Lara, President
Inspiration Times Magazine
Excerpt: Ready to Learn Author: Stan Goldberg, Ph.D.
Finding Happiness in Your Child
What do you think about when someone says "happiness?" Usually, what comes to mind are things, or outcomes. Happiness can be a four-car garage in the suburbs, a high-paying job, an expensive new car, or a child who becomes a successful professional. We have a tendency to externalize happiness. It becomes something intimately involved in a thing or event. It becomes a goal. Unfortunately, the path to that goal is often ignored. You had to have two backbreaking jobs just to afford the mortgage on the house with the four-car garage. That high-paying job was only possible by doing things in the workplace you would find unethical in social situations. The new car could only be purchased if you denied yourself simple pleasures over two years in order to afford your new status symbol. And what about your child? What would be required in order for you to feel happiness about what he or she achieves academically, socially, or professionally?
Once you associate happiness with goals, both you and your child are primed for a fall. The goals, many of which are unobtainable, become traps; if they can't be reached, neither can your happiness. And by focusing on the goal, the path is often ignored. I worked with a parent whose whole life was focused on getting her daughter into a prestigious university.
"It'll be worth it if I can get her into Stanford or U.C. Berkeley. Maybe she could even go to Harvard."
The mother was aware her daughter had a moderate learning problem. Since three, she had enrolled her daughter in as many enrichment classes as could fit into a day: sensory integration, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, music, cognitive focusing, and others with questionable legitimacy. Her daughter enjoyed few of these activities.
"Does Anita like doing these things?" I asked.
"That's irrelevant. I want to give her the best chance possible to be accepted at a good college."
"But she's only five," I said.
"Yes," the mother responded angrily, "But if I don't do everything I can now, she'll never be successful."
"But do you get any pleasure now from what Anita is doing?"
"That's not important," she said, "Only the future is."
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make any headway with this mother. Actually, she thought my understanding was so off base, she sought someone else to work with her daughter. Anita never made it to Stanford. Actually, Anita never made it through high school. She viewed each of the things her mother wanted for her as goals, most of which she wasn't interested in. The journey was so arduous the goals became unimportant. She had no joy or happiness in any of them. If you shift your search for happiness from the future to the present, from what your child may be able to do in the future to what he or she can do now, from goals to journeys, you'll find the happiness that eludes many parents. Happiness is not something that's external to you. It's not the successes your child has, or the intrinsic value of their accomplishments. Happiness is something totally dependent on how you view things. There's the old joke about two boys looking into a barn and seeing an empty stall filled with old manure.
"Ugh," the first child said. "Look at all of that crap. It stinks."
"Wow," the second child said. "I know there must be a pony here somewhere!"
Very rarely is something inherently good or evil, ugly or beautiful, depressing or joyful. It's our values and how we view them that attach meaning to events and things.
Stan Goldberg, Ph.D., is a Professor at San Francisco State University. For the last 30 years he has been involved in developing learning strategies for children and his techniques have been used to help over 1000 children of all ages. He has trained parents and consulted with public and private schools.
For more information, please visit www.writtenvoices.com.
