"'How does it feel to be recognized as a hero?' Answered By The In Search Of Heroes Core Master Mind Team To Inspire and Encourage You To Discover and Develop Your Own Hero Or Heroine In Your Mind"
How does it feel to be recognized as a hero? I know a lot of the people that I have interviewed don’t consider themselves heroes. But I think it’s important to accept the good that you are doing and the benefits that you have in the lives of others and not be ashamed to be recognized for the good things that you do.
Robert Channing: I’m very flattered, first of all. It’s flattering to even be considered being a hero. The place I always thought I was a hero was in raising my family. I never thought I was a hero in anything else, other than I love doing what I do.
I’m passionate about what I do, and I try, whoever I come in contact with is bring and build them up. So if that’s being a hero, thank you for knighting me a hero, Ralph.
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Ralph Zuranski: It feels great. I created a character Hero when I was in the skate board industry called Captain Biorhythm. I was so impressed with biorhythms and how I charted the ups and downs of life. Everybody does have ups an downs and to know that there are cycles that you can actually watch and you prepare yourself with your attitude and just never give up when you see different events occur, because that’s part of life, ups and downs.
I was doing research on accidents and injuries in the skateboard parks and in the top skateboarders back in the late Seventies. I saw there was a real correlation in accidents and injuries, just as the researchers in Japan saw that you can cut accidents and injuries by at least 70% by just warning people to be more cautious on certain days.
I created my character Captain Biorhythm in a slalom race, where you can go down a steep hill through cones like skiing on a skate board. I had never done it before and I thought for sure I was going to kill myself and have a severe injury.
It was on Halloween, all my friends told me, “Yeah, yeah, why don’t you do it Ralph? You can do it.” I decided I would create a Hero called Captain Biorhythm that was able to overcome his fears and realize that there was a potential for accident and injury.
I got one of my girlfriends to create a Heroes costume out of a woman’s velour dress, it was like a tunic. It said Biorhythms on the top and had a big blue cape. I was trying to get the idea of wearing skateboard safety equipment across to the skaters because I saw so many horrific accidents and injuries.
So I got all kinds of elbow pads and knee pads out of the motorcycle industry. I had a helmet and I had a big giant blue cape, and I showed up at the skateboard event. Unfortunately on my way up there my car conked out and so I had to change in my car and I hitchhiked and got a ride from a girl named Robin Logan who was on the Logan Family skateboard team.
She gave me a ride up there. I showed up there and I was in my costume and unfortunately the skaters had lied to me and nobody else was dressed up in a costume but me. So, boy did I feel pretty stupid and on my first skateboard run, it was in a costume and it was a day when the wind was blowing incredibly strong and my cape billowed out behind me.
I had this chain that was around my neck. As I started going down the hill, the cape acted like a parachute and at the same time the chain was strangling me as I was going through the course in slow motion. All the skateboarders were standing on the side and I stopped and they thought it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen.
From then on, I was Captain Biorhythm no matter whether I was dressed in my costume or not. I got a lot of guff for that, a lot of ridicule and people recognized me as a Hero then.
But now just being recognized as a Hero for trying to make the world a better place and doing something about it, it really is a great joy. I’m very grateful that people think that I am a Hero because ever since I created that character back in 1976, I’ve been using that character as a way to overcome disappointments, sorrow and health problems and setbacks.
Captain Biorhythm is my alter ego. He’s my right brain, he’s the spontaneous, intuitive, the emotional. He’s the one that is the character that brings balance to my entire life.
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Sharif Khan: It’s a really rewarding feeling. Coming from a stage in my life, having grown up in Scarborough here in Ontario, Canada, where I was suffering so much low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness that I never took any leadership roles at all in school and in my young adulthood; to now come full-circle and be respected as a ‘leader’ as a ‘hero’ training entrepreneurs, executives, and educators and students alike on the qualities of leadership and being a hero…it really is a very rewarding feeling to be held in respect and esteem. Words can’t describe it.
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Debra Berg: It’s humbling anytime someone refers to me as a hero.
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Cameron Johnson: Well, I don’t know that I would go that far, but it is an honor to get an e-mail from one person saying I have motivated them in business in any way, or helped them try to find success. I probably get 100 e-mails a month just like that, and that is motivation for me. At the same time, it’s extremely rewarding and surreal, and almost unbelievable, so I totally can’t even put words to it.
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Click on each name to listen to the heroes interviews of Sharif Khan, Author of "The Psychology Of the Hero Soul," Debra Berg, Author of "The Power Of One," Cameron Johnson, Author of "You Call the Shots: Succeed Your Way – And Live the Life You Want", Robert Channing, the World's Greatest Mind Reader and Mental Motivator and Ralph Zuranski, the Creator Of the In Search Of Heroes Program.
Sharif Khan is President and founder of Diamond Mind Enterprises, an organization devoted to transforming coal minds into diamond minds through the applied pressure of higher knowledge, wellness education, and leadership training. His vision is “to inspire the world with hope, faith, love, respect, excellence, and the courage to dream”. He is the author of the inspirational book about Promoting Heroes in the Workplace and Everyday Life in his "The PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HERO SOUL."
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Cameron Johnson started his first business at the tender age of nine. By age 12, his company was selling Beanie Babies™ over the Internet and he profited $50,000 that year. At the age of fifteen, he became an advisory board member of a Tokyo-based company and published his autobiography in Japanese which became an instant best-seller.
At the age of 21, he has founded and sold more than a dozen businesses and has been featured in more than 250 media outlets worldwide including Newsweek, BusinessWeek, the New York Times, USA Today, CNBC, and MSNBC. He’s served as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies and is a frequent speaker to a variety of audiences including high schools, colleges, and corporate executives.
In January, 2007, his new book titled You Call the Shots: Succeed Your Way – And Live the Life You Want – With the 19 Essential Secrets of Entrepreneurship is being released by Simon & Schuster. Cameron Johnson lives in Blacksburg, Virginia. Visit his official website http://www.cameronjohnson.com.
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Debra Schweiger Berg is an author, researcher, and public speaker. She holds both a B.A. in political science/economics and an M.P.A., (public administration) degree from the University of Illinois. As an undergrad, she staffed the Watergate hearings in Washington, D.C. Post-college; Debra was one of the first women to serve on the staffs of the Illinois, Kentucky, and Minnesota state legislatures. In all three states, she served as a finance analyst for billions of state agency dollars and led studies on special education, welfare, and education. Following that, Minnesota’s largest HMO recruited her as a senior financial analyst.
Then, in the mid-eighties and early nineties, she founded a successful international marketing and training company, TeamNet, Intl., in which she trained and mentored entrepreneurs. That success led to her eventual recruitment by Amdocs, Inc. and Gcom, Inc., both software industry leaders.
In 1995, Debra launched a 10-year personal quest during which she interviewed 130 of America’s new civic heroes, civic entrepreneurs. Her interviews exposed a hidden trend in America, which she chronicles in her book, The Power of ONE: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America’s Cities. Debra speaks to a wide range of audiences and captivates them with tales surrounding her 10,000-mile quest and the heroes who’ve invented eye-opening, working solutions to America’s toughest social problems.
She’s received acclaim by the Pew Foundation and cited by the Chicago Sun-Times for her groundbreaking findings. Debra is presently the President of Power of One Publishing and of PowerQuest, a leadership training company that empowers leaders of all ages to realize a life quest.
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Ralph Zuranski is the creator of the The “In Search Of Heroes" Program. It is a local franchise business opportunity for individuals with high integrity. The purpose of the business is to train young people how to be successful in their personal lives and business.
The goal is to teach high school and college students how to generate income for their local ISOH Program, themselves and community businesses by spreading the “Good News” about local heroes and their businesses, if they have one. Students learn how to promote people, products and businesses on the internet and through local newspapers, TV and radio, using the latest techniques and technology.
Students learn the importance and value of spreading “Good News” in their communities about heroic individuals who deserve recognition for their service to others. This valuable information inspires everyone. It helps each person to take pride in their community and the good people that live there that are making a positive difference in the lives of others.
The businesses that deserve recognition for their integrity, service and generosity are also promoted. This increase in income allows local business owners the opportunity to give back even more to their community. With their increased financial independence, they can invest more time and money into worthwhile community programs.
The students become interns for their local “In Search Of Heroesä” Program. As they learn copywriting, online and offline marketing, website design and how to create audio and video programs, they provide these services to local businesses at a discounted price.
Many small local businesses need skilled help in marketing their businesses, but cannot afford high priced companies. Students are the perfect choice to use their developing marketing skills to help these businesses become more successful. As these businesses increase their revenues, the local community can afford to do more to help local community programs. Everyone benefits!