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I ended April 2015 having done my first ever TEDx talk. As a speaker TED (Technology, Education and Design) with the by-line ideas worth spreading is a pinnacle platform. TED is like the Olympics, with TEDx a world championship, the x meaning it’s an...

I woke up to the sound of Pharrell’s song ‘happy’ playing this morning. With a deadline looming the vibe of this song was in stark contrast to my own feelings. I was desperately wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day to get me through my...

Do you remember a time when anything was possible? Before you had heard of the word can’t and dreams weren’t limited to those images you slept with? One day you wanted to be going to space, the next day fighting fires and the day after you were standing on...

As a pimply teenager I was uncertain of my place within this world but I knew I wanted to be a Paralympian. In the pursuit of training toward my passion I recognized the importance of telling people about my dreams and at the time told hundreds, maybe thousands...

Flicking through some old photos I remember this image well. I was standing in a small village market to the north of Bangkok and feeling like a tourist attraction as a local rubbed Tiger Balm a tad too close to my eye balls and fellow tourists amusingly took photos...

Innovative leadership includes seeing others fulfill their potential and become more than they ever imagined. As a speaker I feel honored to become a part of a leaders vision every time I’m invited to speak – AWESOME! Kevin Bills is an individual I...

I recently underwent an hour long sustained personal verbal attack from an older “professional” speaker I had sought out as a colleague and teacher for advice. In my reaction I felt; shut down, self-doubt, hurt, disappointment, shock, emotion etc. Huston...

This week the awesomeness started in the majestic hall of Auckland’s Diocesan School for girls. This school that ‘encourages one to become more than they imagined’ are growing a community who are been introduced to leadership and diversity through a...

This morning I was invited into the staff room of Westlake Girls High School to put a little further inspiration in the bellys of the staff ahead of their school athletics day. School sporting events happening around the country are either loved or loafed, personally...

I richly remember growing up in this gem of the world watching Barry Crump hooning across our T.V screens in his red Hilux. To me he personified the Kiwi dream…making it in this world based on who you are! That’s right we live in a world where everyday...

I remember been in a workshop and presented with the question. Can greatness be achieved through not having a plan? First up, what defines greatness? This is different for everyone, to cover it all I believe it to be striving toward a personal best. Whether...

“What do you think is a top score (out of 10) in gymnastics” my mentor on the other side of the table asked me, knowing it would not be 10 I said 9.5, he said “9.4, so what do you think creates the perfect score Cam, what measures are the other...

It was the winter of 1997 and I was dressed like the Michelin Man as I stepped out of the car crunching the snow beneath my feet. I was going skiing for the first time and there was no way in which I was going to come of that mountain not able to ski, not knowing...

Front row phobia I don’t know if it’s a thing but I know you know what I’m writing about. As a presenter I see it all the time…people walk into the conference room relaxed, sipping their takeaway coffees, chatting away and then they see all...

“In the past 15 years that I’ve been working, I’ve called myself “a blind man riding on the back of a blind tiger. Those experts riding horses, they all fell. We survived because we worried about the future. We believed in the future. We...

It was a few days after Christmas and I was at the dinner table with Mum and some family friends. We were in great conversation. Then... ring ring… ring ring… went the home phone. For our guests it was as if there was a crying baby in the room next door...

A few years ago when on a trip to Japan I brought this bowl which I thought was absolutely perfect, I’d never seen anything like it and assumed it had always been this awesome. But as I went on to learn, only a few weeks before I had brought it from the shop it...

The other day I’m out on my mountain bike thinking about this column and what it is that I could write. As you can imagine deep thinking combined with the speed of mountain biking and tight tracks can be risky business but creativity doesn’t come through...

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to...

In 2016 the biggest disabilities I see are not the person in the wheelchair, the person (like me) walking with swagger, or the kid that doesn’t understand the supermarket is not a playground, the biggest disability is generated through those who don’t...

It wasn’t even a dream 13 years ago when as part of my job I started speaking at Rotary clubs, Schools, RSA’s, Age Concerns the odd corporate here and there, as experiences increased the job created a dream and I thought I’d position myself in front...

I often use the term ‘dream the dream’ so I thought it was time to clarify what I mean by it in my work as a speaker: In our sleeping dreams anything is possible, so why not make this the case in our waking dreams. If you’ve never started or...

I’m a believer in doing things that scare us as a way of finding out who we can become. One of the first speeches I gave was to Westlake Girls I was not a comfortable speaker, it seemed the opposite to fun and the process scared me greatly. But I knew this was...