5 minute read
85th Annual Membership Meeting: Opening Session Keynote Speaker
DR. DELATORRO MCNEAL
BY JESSIE SHOOK
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Dr. Delatorro McNeal opened the 85th Annual Membership Meeting in Montgomery, Alabama with an energetic and inspiring message. With his infectious laugh, he began his presentation by having the audience stand and chant “I feel good,” loudly, in the packed auditorium.
Dr. McNeal is an internationally renowned Peak Performance Expert. The Tampa, Florida, native and father of two daughters specializes in powerful, interactive experiences where he teaches business professionals to reach their peak performance within their company with psychology and methodology.
Dr. McNeal described his presentation as a roller coaster ride. “We are going to have a lot of highs and lows, ins and outs over the next hour,” he said. “Here is my promise to you: if you let me, I will change your life.”
During Dr. McNeal’s presentation, participants learned how to develop the emotional muscle to strive for peak performance daily. They identified the best peak states to put themselves in to win consistently and align actions and habits with the attributes of top performers. They learned to think creatively about how to improve their performance, change their attitudes toward work and increase passion, while also increasing their commitment to personal excellence and learning to lead within their organization with a greater sense of purpose and certainty.
Dr. McNeal’s presentation was interactive from the start. He asked everyone in the audience to stand up and dance. “Did you know that according to neuroscience, when you dance, you are literally doing brain surgery on yourself,” he said. “Your brain literally releases four happy chemicals inside your head every time you dance.”
BEING THE BEST
“You will never be able to out earn your own self-concept.” – Brian Tracy
After everyone in the audience stood up and did their jig, Dr. McNeal began explaining performance beyond goals – how to take your best and top it. He stated how important it is to know that you are the best and we are the best in our industry.
This goes hand-in-hand with the belief that your best can be bettered each day and that small changes and improvements compound our growth over time. “Every single day life gives us one open invitation,” Dr. McNeal said. “Will you be better today than you were yesterday?”
COMMITMENT TO CHANGE
“Either proactively lead change or reactively be changed by change.”
The first peak performance idea is the commitment to change. With how much the world is changing every day, Dr. McNeal stressed the importance of “jumping on the change train.” You cannot stand in the way of change; you will get run over. You cannot let change pass you by; you will be left behind. Dr. Mc- Neal gave the example of Blockbuster. While everyone has fond memories of renting movies from Blockbuster, when change knocked at the door, they let it pass them by. Now, Blockbuster doesn’t even exist.
ATTITUDE
“The lion doesn’t allow its limitations to keep it from being king. He is king because he believes.”
Attitude is another key component to the three peak performance ideas. Dr. McNeal gave the example of the lion. While the lion is not the biggest, tallest, smartest or fastest animal in the jungle, he is still known as the king – all because of the attitude he exudes.
Attitude can be changed by making mindset shifts, such as focusing on excellence versus perfection. Instead of focusing on perfection and how things appear, focus on the reason for the task and the results needed for it to be successful. Other mindset shifts can be made by taking an obligation and turning it into opportunity. “Instead of saying ‘I have to,’ say ‘I get to…’” Dr. McNeal explained. “’This is happening to me,’ to ‘this is happening for me.’”
RESILIENCE
“Life only tackles the person with the football – value what you are carrying.”
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity. In this segment, Dr. McNeal referenced his mother, Olivia. She always told him “You can either be the racquetball or the egg. While the egg will break when it is dropped, the racquetball will bounce back. It may not always look pretty in the bounce back, but it comes out on the other side.”
Resilience gives you the power to overcome difficulties. Make shifts from being the victim to being the victor, turning failure into fertilizer, and changing “I’m stupid” to “I’m learning.” Just like with your attitude shifts, these will make you more resilient in overcoming challenges.”
LIVE MORE
Dr. McNeal ended by reminding the audience of the importance of having fun in life. “I’m not the motivational speaker telling you to work harder, you are already doing that,” he said. “I’m gonna tell you to live more, have more fun and enjoy the journey that you are on.”
The advice of Dr. McNeal was repeated throughout the remainder of the meeting, proving his impact on the audience. Change is a constant in agriculture every single day and Alabama Farmers Cooperative will be a part of that change, not left behind.
For more information about Dr. McNeal and his resources visit his website: www.delatorro.com.
Photo Credit: Studio Panache
