InspireMe Friday: You Can't Miss This — Kevin Durant Just Won Mother’s Day with His Tearful MVP Speech

"Everything in my life, I had to take it. They're not going to give it to you out of sympathy. This was another case, if I wanted to win the MVP, I had to go take it."

Good Morning Folks,

Kevin Durant's reaction to winning the MVP was much like what we see at our own awards ceremonies at FSO, for much the same reasons. The last person he talked or bragged about was himself. It was a team and family effort, just like the one that drives us and accelerates our careers at FSO, every day.

The Oklahoma City Thunder star received the league's top individual honor on Tuesday, earning 119 first-place votes. Miami's LeBron James, who won the last two MVP awards and four of the previous five, finished second with six first-place votes, and Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers was third.

I've always been a player that was excited for my teammates' success," Durant said. "Not just mine, but my teammates' as well. Wanting to see them do well translates to my game, which is wanting to pass the ball and seeing my teammates reap the benefits."

In short, he's been extremely hard not to root for since entering the NBA in 2007. But after Tuesday's speech, he's impossible not to root for.

With all the cameras on him, he gave all the glory to his teammates individually, fights back sobs, pays homage to Oklahoma City fans, and more importantly to his mother, Wanda Pratt, for her all her personal sacrifices to help him succeed in life.

“And last, my mom,” Durant said tearing up, approx. 23 minutes into his already impassioned speech.

“I think you know what you did,” he said, as the camera cut to his emotionally overcome mom. “You had my brother when you were 18-years-old. Three years later, I came out. The odds were stacked against us. Single parent with two boys by the time you were 21-years-old. Everybody told us we weren’t supposed to be here. We moved from apartment to apartment by ourselves. One of the best memories I had, is when we moved into our first apartment – no bed, no furniture – and we just all sat in the living room and just hugged each other, because we thought we made it.

“And when something good happens to you, I don’t know about you guys, but I tend to look back to what brought me here. And you’d wake me up in the middle of the night in the summer times, making me run up a hill, making me do pushups, screaming at me from the sideline of my games at eight or nine years old. We weren’t supposed to be here. You made us believe. You kept us off the street. Put clothes on our backs, food on the table. And when you didn’t eat, you made sure we ate. 

You went to sleep hungry. You sacrificed for us. You’re the real MVP.”

His Mom was all over TV yesterday responding. She advised moms "to never give up, to always put your children first, to always commit yourself to their dreams, their aspirations and their goals even when it gets hard.'' 

This is a tribute to the REAL MVPs ... those Mom's that give unconditional love and instill belief (even against all odds) that "anything is possible" with effort! It's some seriously touching stuff, and worth watching the embedded highlights below. 

I promise it is one of the most compelling and important and Friday inspiring speeches you'll ever hear. There won't be a dry eye in the house no matter what your age, sex or position at work.

You're the real MVP

==> Durant thanks his family, including a special tribute to his mother, Wanda.

==> Durant fights back  tears while thanking Teammates

Questions and answers

>> Durant takes questions from the press, keeping it classy as ever.including co-star Russell Westbrook.

The end,” Durant closed, sending the thousands bearing witness to his speech into a furious standing ovation.

While Durant’s speech will be impossible to top, perhaps you can transcribe some notes from it for ideas of what to say to your own mother this Sunday 

For the full speech, you can visit CBS Sports or NBA.com.

Thanks to The Guardian UK , CBS and Mashable for their insights contributing to this post, for photos from ABC News, and most of all to you for watching.

Happy Mother's day to Kevin's mother and to all of our mothers living or gone, who on this day they should always be remembered either way.

Now in honor of Kevin's Mother, MY GREAT Mother Natalie, and Mothers everywhere, a classic song that Steph and I used to dance to back in the day:

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Mother's Day Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

................................................................
“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. 

Think of what you can do with what there is.” 
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Ted Tuesday: How To Spot A Liar

"All forms of self deception make us vulnerable to the scam, the con, the false promise, the bad hire, the unwise promotion, the faulty new product." ~~Portfolio.com

Good Morning Folks,

I am sure you can sense my passion and excitement as I looking forward to sharing another AMAZING TED!

People--friends, family members, work colleagues, salespeople--lie to us all the time. Daily, hourly, constantly. None of us is immune, and all of us are victims. According to studies by several different researchers, most of us encounter nearly 200 lies a day.

Social media expert Pamela Meyer can tell when you’re lying. If it’s not your words that give you away, it’s your posture, eyes, breathing rate, fidgets, and a host of other indicators. Worse, we are all lied to up to 200 times a day, she says, from the white lies that allow society to function smoothly to the devastating duplicities that bring down corporations and break up families.

Working with a team of researchers over several years, Meyer, who is CEO of social networking company Simpatico Networks, collected and reviewed most of the research on deception that has been published, from such fields as law-enforcement, military, psychology and espionage. She then became an expert herself, receiving advanced training in deception detection, including multiple courses of advanced training in interrogation, microexpression analysis, statement analysis, behavior and body language interpretation, and emotion recognition. Her research is synthesized in her bestselling book Liespotting.

Liespotting links three disciplines--facial recognition training, interrogation training, and a comprehensive survey of research in the field--into a specialized body of information developed specifically to help business leaders detect deception and get the information they need to successfully conduct their most important interactions and transactions.

Some of the nation's leading business executives have learned to use these methods to root out lies in high stakes situations. Liespotting for the first time brings years of knowledge--previously found only in the intelligence community, police training academies, and universities--into the corporate boardroom, the manager's meeting, the job interview, the legal proceeding, and the deal negotiation.

Check out her book and I guarantee you'll learn tons from her Ted Talk that follows.


There is so much excitement in all touch points of our business!! I'm SERIOUS about LIGHTING UP THE NATION. So.... please continue to help us spread the word about what an AMAZING opportunity it is to work with FSO.

We are pumped super excited and ready to rock.

Have a GREAT day, be happy and…

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

*TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.  More at Ted.com

Enthusiasm Is a Priceless Commodity!

"He didn’t just blanket the market with a bunch of form letters. He researched and targeted. He wrote a brilliant, personalized and attention-grabbing letter. And it worked. Strategic chutzpah."

Good Morning Folks,

We had a busy work weekend and thanks to many for those efforts. 

My sales team has probably heard it enough from me though it's something in sales you can't stress enough: "We must propose. You must increase your outbound work through your personal database. Direct mail and more. You MUST create urgency in your prospecting and you MUST increase your overall volumes. Don't fool yourself with busy work. You have to pick up the phone and talk to somebody in order to get results."

Which leads me to a Steve Jobs story I was reading on A.J. Jacob's LinkedIN:

In a 1994 interview, Steve Jobs told a story about when he was in high school and, one day, just called up Silicon Valley legend Bill Hewlett (of Hewlett-Packard). “His number was still in the phone book," said Jobs. "He answered the phone himself.”

Jobs asked Hewlett if he had any spare parts for a frequency counter. Hewlett not only gave him the parts, but gave him a summer job at the factory.

“Most people never pick up the phone and call,” said Jobs. “And that’s what separates sometimes the people that do things from the people that just dream about them.”

I’m no Bill Hewlett, but the best hire of my career was someone with Steve-Jobs-like chutzpah. I call it “strategic chutzpah.” And I think it’s one of the best indicators of whether an employee will be a blazing success or a profound dud. (For those who aren’t familiar with Yiddish, chutzpah is sort of related to the Spanish concept of "cojones," but without the anatomical connotations).

It takes courage and confidence to pick up the telephone and succinctly request what you need and want. This is why the combination experience of start ups and large business are important. With the small business you learn discipline, the value of team and hands on and with big business you recognize everyone puts their pants on pretty much the same way so you make that call as an equal. You put forward your value proposition and more often than not you will get a positive response.

I have noticed that asking often leads to success. It's just like winning the lottery. You can't win, if you don't play. You don't get, if you don't ask.

It's your time. Don't let it pass you by. To my sales team: Find us folks and get referrals. Find deals in sales and you get paid. What else can you ask for?

Good luck folks and let's make it happen. Stay in touch. Mitch.  Good morning. :-)

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

Ted Tuesday— Sally Kohn: Let's try emotional correctness

"We spend so much time talking past each other and not enough time talking through our disagreements. If we can start to find compassion for one another, then we have a shot at building common ground."

Good Morning Folks,

In this week's hand-picked optimistic talk, Sally Kohn shares what she learned as a progressive lesbian talking head on Fox News. 

"It's time for liberals and conservatives to put aside their political differences and really listen to each other," says Kohn. Sally searches for common ground with her political foes by focusing on the compassion and humanity in everyone.

Why you should listen to her:
Sally Kohn has a powerful vision for a more united United States. On Fox News, this progressive lesbian has sparred with some of the most conservative minds on television, and has sifted through hundreds of letters of hate mail a day. But she deeply believes in finding our common humanity, political differences aside. Before we can achieve political correctness, we must first establish emotional correctness — and this will ignite conversations that lead to real change.



Remember, challenges are there to be overcome and smashed to pieces. Believe in your leaders, follow their instructions, trust your teammates and know that together there is nothing we can't accomplish.  

We are pumped super excited and ready to rock.

Have a GREAT day, be happy and…

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

*TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.  More at Ted.com

InspireME Friday: Remembering Steve Wow 'Em Every Time

"Every Steve Jobs  presentation builds up to one big scene. In past year's Macworld keynote, it  was the announcement of MacBook Air. To demonstrate just how thin it is, Jobs  said it would fit in an envelope."

Welcome to the weekend, friends:

Steve Jobs Sold the Steak, Sizzle and Wowed 'Em Every Time... whether you're applying for a job or about to introduce your company to a customer or your own new product to the world... here's how you can Wow 'Em too.

1.  Set the theme. "There is something in the air today." With those words, Jobs  opened Macworld.

2. Demonstrate enthusiasm. Jobs shows his passion for  computer design. During his presentation he used words like "extraordinary,"  "amazing," and "cool." When demonstrating a new location feature for the  iPhone, Jobs said, "It works pretty doggone well."

3. Provide an  outline. Jobs outlined the presentation by saying, "There are four things I  want to talk about today. So let's get started…"

4. Make numbers  meaningful. When Jobs announced that Apple had sold 4 million iPhones to date,  he didn't simply leave the number out of context. Instead, he put it in  perspective by adding, "That's 20,000 iPhones every day, on  average."

5. Try for an unforgettable moment. This is the moment in  your presentation that everyone will be talking about. Every Steve Jobs  presentation builds up to one big scene. In past year's Macworld keynote, it  was the announcement of MacBook Air. To demonstrate just how thin it is, Jobs  said it would fit in an envelope.

Thanks to Steve Jobs and Business Week and to you for listening.

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . ..  "“You have three names: One that you inherit,  one  that your parents give you,  and one that you make for yourself.” . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..  .

RECRUITMENT OPEN HOUSE! 
Immediate openings: 
• Hospitality Services Concierge Security • Messenger Services Office 
Services Mailroom • Sales HR Operations • Record Management Marketing IT 

When: Tues. January 21st, 2014 7:00am – 5:00pm Wed. January, 22nd, 2014 12:00pm – 8:00pm 

Where: FSO 18-22 West 45th Street, 9th Floor New York, NY, 10036

InspireME Friday... IF A DOG WERE YOUR TEACHER

"When loved ones come home, always run to greet them."

Good Morning Folks,

Time to go back to college philosophy course and reexamine the meaning in everything. You have to go outside your comfort zone for this one and have some fun.

IF A DOG WERE YOUR TEACHER.....You would learn stuff like........

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

Take naps and stretch before rising.

Run, romp and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let other people touch you.

Avoid biting, when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back in the grass.

On hot days, lay under water and lay under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

No matter how much your scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout....run right back and make friends.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you had enough.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig into you find it (remember Lycos the fetcher?).

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

Remember...... every dog has his day !

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . .  "Money will buy a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail." ~~Josh Billings . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . .

InspireME Friday: You Know You Are on Top When...

"You are filled with faith, hope, and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy, or thoughts of revenge."

Good Morning Folks,

Drawing on forty years as a world-class motivational speaker and author, Zig Ziglar identifies and outlines in his best-selling Over the Top precisely how to achieve what people desire most from life-to be happy, healthy, and reasonably prosperous and secure. 

As Ziglar delves into the hows and whys of living life with values, character, honesty, integrity, and sensitivity, you'll learn to be more at peace with yourself and accomplish more with your skills and abilities.

Over the Top will persuade you to develop what you have in order to be the best you can be. What you can do just may be astonishing! 

You are at the top when...

==> You clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person; that yesterday ended last night, and today is your brand-new day.

==> You have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and optimistic about your future.

==> You know that success (a win) doesn't make you, and failure (a loss) doesn't break you.

==> You are filled with faith, hope, and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy, or thoughts of revenge.

==> You are mature enough to delay gratification and shift your focus from your rights to your responsibilities.

==> You know that failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to being the victim of what is criminally wrong.

==> You are secure in who you, so you are at peace with God and in fellowship with man.

==> You have made friends of adversaries, and have gained the love and respect of those who know you best.

==> You understand that others can give you pleasure, but genuine happiness comes when you do things for others.

==> You are pleasant to the grouch, courteous to the rude, and generous to the needy.

==> You love the unlovable, give hope to the hopeless, friendship to the friendless, and encouragement to the discouraged.

==> You can look back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion, and up with gratitude.

==> You know that "he who would be greatest among you must become the servant of all."

==> You recognize, confess, develop, and use your God-given physical, mental, and spiritual abilities to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

==> You stand in front of the Creator of the universe, and He says to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . .  "First love yourself. Then give love to others.  Give love in abundance." ~ Buddhist Wisdom  . . . . . . . . ..  . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .

==> Inspire Me Friday: A Few Choice Words From "Mother"

"Life is beauty, admire it."










Good Morning Folks, 

It looks like inspire me Friday struck a chord with you. Thanks to those who have been writing back personal messages. 

It's good to occasionally get a reality check and know that there are people out there who appreciate my efforts.

Today, a few choice words from Mother.....

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
--Mother Teresa

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . .  . .
"The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible."
~~Arthur C. Clarke
. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  .  . . .  . . .  . . .  . .

InspireME Friday: "Diner en Blanc" The Power of Many Working as One

Photo Via NPR: Some 4,000 guests, all dressed in
white, showed up for the secret dinner party in
New York City's Bryant Park.

"Most of the events now, you just pay a price and you're passive," he says. "In Diner en Blanc, it's [just] the opposite. You work a lot, you have to bring your own table, you have to bring your own chairs, so you commit, and you have to bring back your garbage. All this work is like an achievement, and you will see the joy of people tonight."

Good Morning Folks,

Every day at FSO, passionate and talented people come together and prove that anything is possible when the power of many work as one.

So for the weekend inspiration today, I wanted to share what another group of people achieved when the came together recently at secret place in New York's Bryant Park. 

They have come for Diner en Blanc, an unusual pop-up event that takes place in 20 countries. The guests eat in splendor at a location they only learn about minutes before they arrive. The thousands wave white napkins to signal the beginning of the event.

They arrived at 6:30 in the evening last Wednesday, carting white tables and chairs, china, food, wine glasses and cutlery. This is the third year that Diner En Blanc has come to New York.

Laura Tyring, who has traveled down from White Plains, stands in a line with her friend, Monica Condor, rolling her cart as the queue moves slowly, carrying a big straw basket filled with supplies. She wears a white shirt, white pants and and a big, white, lacy, floppy hat. How long ago did she learn the secret location of this event?

"A minute," she says. "They gave us several locations where to meet."

Attendees are told to wear comfortable shoes and have a subway card. They meet a team leader who says,"follow me," and they don't learn the location until they are almost there.

This "Pop Up" party is nothing short of amazing and sure to impress even our own FSO group of people who coordinate a million details every day and make our own miracles happen without a hitch.

Fitting more than 1,800 tables into Bryant Park means pushing every table very close together. The chaos of setting up flows into organization and beauty: fine white china; white napkins, sometimes folded into intricate designs, flowers — white lilies and roses; little electric candles that would not blow out in a wind.

And, of course, the clothes: wedding dresses, styles from the '20s, people wearing white angel wings. Sandy Jarrett came here with her daughter, Michele.

Read all about it on NPR.org

To donate to NPR to keep great stories like this covered that you won't see anywhere else, CLICK

We should throw one of these someday. Are YOU in?

Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

................................................................................................
"“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. 

Think of what you can do with what there is.” 
................................................................................................

Inspire Me Friday: Choose Happiness

“Permanent happiness comes from you choosing to be permanently happy.”

Good Morning Folks,

Every human being on the planet wants to be happy. Anything that anyone desires is because they think their desire will make them happy. Whether it is health, money, a loving relationship, material things, accomplishments, a job, or anything at all, the desire for happiness is the bottom line of all of them. But remember that happiness is a state inside of us, and something on the outside can only bring fleeting happiness, because material things are impermanent.

Permanent happiness comes from you choosing to be permanently happy. When you choose happiness, then you attract all the happy things as well. The happy things are the icing on the cake, but the cake is happiness. 

At FSO, our future is just starting to blossom. And we will continue to build our great company. Hire ONLY people who have passion and vision and not a " free ride " if you will. You have to think big and most importantly REIMAGINE.

There are 360milion plus people in the United States. All I want is about 7000 soon who have the skip in their step.  Twinkle in the eye. And a fire in the belly. Nothing less. We find that and we will train them on the rest. FSO is the one that they will all what to emulate. I promise. 

Thanks to Rhonda Byrne and to all of you for all you do.

Have a Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Holiday Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

..................................................................
 “Happy employees are more productive employees.”
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Inspire Me Friday: This Holiday, Log off, Tune Out, But Don't Forget You Are Still in The Arena

"If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." 

Good Morning Folks,

In our hyper-connected world it's almost impossible to enjoy a holiday weekend with friends and family and not be tempted to check in with work.

We actually like that here- it's part of the "fire in the belly, skip in the step and passion in the heart" mindset that makes FSO rockstars ROCKSTARs.

That in mind, to inspire you today, and send you off to your holiday on a high note one of my favorite stories from President teddy Roosevelt: 

"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, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; 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 fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." 

Have a Happy, Healthy, Safe and Refreshing Holiday Weekend,

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

..............................................................................
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
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