4th AmCham Young Professionals™ Meeting,
Ljubljana, November 5, 2015
“An uplifting lecture full of positive energy. Sara’s talk served as a reminder that mistake is just a word and that success is attained by conquering a set of smaller goals that make up one large, important goal. It also does not hurt to “flush” the negative thoughts every now and then.”
– Katja Mihelič, Ekonomska fakulteta, UL
“I believe that every challenge we deal with is a fork in our road. Everyone has the choice to choose which way to go, either backward or forward. Or breakthrough.”
– Miha Turk, Law Firm Čad
“Challenges make us grow in many ways. To get the most out of a challenge is to approach it with the positive attitude and we got plenty of tips how to do that. One that stayed with me is don’t mix failing with failure: The difference is in your response as everyone fails and it’s your decision what to do next. Another one was choosing everyday what your attitude will be – motivator or complainer.
What I liked the most was Sara’s authentic approach – she has the data, the knowledge to support her claims and at the same time you can see from her attitude that she’s living what she preaches. Mixing data with funny stories Sara made it look simple to adopt the right attitude.”
– Nastja Stojanovska, Studio Moderna
“Charismatic and fascinating Sara Isakovič lives what she speaks. We are what we think and people very rarely think what we think.”
– Urška Granda, Salveo
“Morning. Smile. Shine on.
Sara Isakovič give off her energy and made a very positive atmosphere yesterday. She has chosen a very difficult challenge, goal in her life – get an Olympic medal, but she had never gave up, because she saw herself being successful. In every single moment, let it be sport, business, relationship, you have a choice how to react. Even if you react ‘wrongly’, say to yourself: thank you mistake, I learn my lessons. Every single day is a learning experience. The more challenges you get through every day, every month, every year, better you are. So, take responsibility of yourself. Believe in yourself. Dream big. Thank you Sara!”
– Manca Kunavar, SGS Slovenija
“I found the meeting with Ms Sara Isakovič on topic »Why are challenges good for us« extremely inspiring and in the right time for my professional development. Challenges are a part of our everyday and business life and in order to successfully overcome them. It is very unlikely that Sara being an Olympic champion would leave your unmotivated and she made an enormous influence on me. Her professional experience s are a synonym for »everything can be achieved, it’s up to you to do it« on ever field your work, be it a professional athlete or a business person. She portrayed the reality that everything is possible, you just have to go for it and keep going, even when it became really though in order to achieve to goal you have previously set. And even more important is the notion that both failing and succeeding are a part of the path towards achieving the goals. Failing is actually good, so that you can keep on and continue even stronger and more motivated towards your goals and dreams!
As two most important takeaways on the question how to overcome our challenges, which have also served as a base for setting my goals are:
1. The attitude of thoughts, posture and self-thought. My goal is to focus everyday on positive thoughts channeling. Therefore, I will start everyday with two sentences: »Good morning. Time to rise and shine, baby!« and a big smile. The desired outcome is that my everyday attitude will start a boost and a feeling I definitely can overcome any given challenge that day!
2. The motivator challenge: For being a leader in my daily professional day, I find it extremely important to focus rather on motivation than on complaining when faced a difficult challenge. With a goal to be a good example for my team I will start as an example and motivator for my challenges and also implement this method together with my team, which will certainly boost our efficiency and result.”
– Anamarija Meglič, Ypsilon Institute
“Winning energy, excellent topic, motivation, passion, élan… Inspiration for the future!”
– Meta Simčič, KPMG
“A kind reminder why challenges should not be perceived as an annoying obstacle but something that’s actually good for us. While I still doubt to ever bring myself to the attitude of »Yay, another challenge, bring it on!«, remembering that the challenge is here because I want to succeed in something and achieve a goal I’ve set to myself should definitely help my motivation.”
– Maja Koritnik, NLB
“In life it is not a question if one will meet a challenge or not but with how many challenges one will be faced. What makes all the difference is our attitude, i.e. how we perceive them. If one perceives them as good, everything is easier in life. And yes, challenges are good, because they give us an opportunity to shine.”
– Tina Geč, Lidl
“So much positive energy as you can get from Sara, it difficult to find elsewhere. And if I have a forgot a bit how important an everyday attitude to yourself, to the challenges, goals and motivation that leads you to these goals is, did Sara’s with her sympathetic appearance and overflowing positive energy, “lifted me up” and recalled that everything is possible with right mind set and approach. Ann yes, this morning I said to myself: “Good morning Jaka, it’s show time.” Sara, thank you!”
– Jaka Črnivec, SAP
“Sara was extremely motivational and almost unusually (but truly) positive and consequently yesterday’s meeting was one of the best so far. Sara pointed out quite a few interesting ideas which could improve everyone’s attitude if applied to everyday life. My personal challenge after hearing Sara yesterday is to check from time to time how I influence my social environment – am I a motivator or a complainer?”
– Gaja Kmet, Hidria