When it comes to managing life’s ups and downs, including family and work, some people may wonder whether they’re “being all in, all the time.” That’s the topic of a presentation keynote speaker John Howell plans to bring to the 2017 Small Market Meetings Conference in South Bend, Indiana, September 26-28. Howell knows it’s not easy to devote more energy than we think we can give, but life could be more rewarding if we invested in the things that matter.
Howell will bring a story that conference delegates will likely never forget. By trade, Howell is a professional public accounting expert and managing director of KPMG Management Consulting Services in Charlotte, North Carolina. His story takes place in 2009 while he was in New York City to assist a client during the monetary crisis. Specific details about that experience will be saved for his talk in the fall, but attendees can be assured, the wait will be worth it.
Though the experience was harrowing, to say the least, Howell said for him personally, it was all positive.
Howell’s takeaway from his experience that day changed him forever, and he wants to share what he learned from it.
“I had to think about what I was doing from a home-life perspective, from a career perspective, and to get serious about why I was here,” he said in an interview with Small Market Meetings magazine. “That includes the journey itself, what I should be doing. If it were my last day on earth, what was I doing with my time?”
Howell, who has been in the financial services industry for 20 years, is asked to address several large professional groups every year to share his remarkable story. “But I am not out there selling myself as a professional speaker,” he said. “This experience just came to me.”
As for Howell’s main message, think of it in terms of personal values. He said the lesson he will share is about changing the way we view things around us. He also said that exactly how we choose to see things creates its own set of changes “in how you spend your time, in how you create daily focus, in how you declutter and, ultimately, in how you accomplish the things you really value,” said Howell. “A sudden impact doesn’t have to change what you do, but it may very well open your eyes to the beauty in what you do, and how you go about doing it.”
Howell continues to devote his time to improving the financial conditions of his clients. But sooner or later, they hear about his story and ask him to share the details, and of course, he takes that as an opportunity to include the powerful insights that came from his experience.
