Happy Birthday Eric!
Yes! Today is Eric’s 10th birthday. As we read his story today, I am sure, many of us are still not clear about what is the purpose of our living. What we want to achieve? Eric, on the other hand, is living everyday of his life with the only mission – To inspire people all over the world to discover and play their own game of life and win. Eric’s motto for living is – “Life is a Game, Make your own rules, Play and Win!” As he celebrates his 10th birthday today, he is the world’s youngest Inspirational Public Speaker, Published Author, Board Game Creator and the Founder and CEO of Eagle Games and Winner Academy.
I have been literally stalking Eric Lassard for quite some time on YouTube and his Facebook page – I was nothing less than an online stalker. Completely mesmerizing is the thought that how he could even begin to think, talk and behave the way he does. A 10 year old, dressed like a grown up man, talking about how to live a happy life in front of a hall full of audience – a treat to the eye, completely.
I was privileged to meet Eric and his mom Katy Winner in Dublin a couple of weeks back; and let me tell you, he was not even 10 then. For the first time in life, I was not sure, how should I compose myself when I meet him. Do I bring in my love for an about-to-be 10 year old kid or do I talk to him as somebody who talks about life, has written a book already and invented a board game? Little did I know, that those few minutes of meeting would end up to be hours and hours of conversation.
Eric, still the about-to-be-10 year old, waiting for me in the Hotel reception greeted me with utmost ease and comfort. Dressed in a nice black suit and a pink tie, he handed over his visiting card to me. To be honest, I wanted to hug the kid and squeeze his pink cheeks, like we Indians do seeing a cute kid. But what I was seeing in front of me, was a complete gentleman who let me walk in front of him and pulled the chair for me when we sat to talk. He is a completely blessed soul, is what I thought in my mind and what I mentioned to Katy.
The Mindset
Born in Hungary in 2003, Eric now lives and works in Ireland. Eric dropped out of school – he has been studying at home which is considered authorized in Ireland. He never found school interesting unlike a kid of his age – he was older and more mature than his age at that point of time as well. He was once asked by his teacher not to use the eraser, while he made a mistake while writing. He literally lost it and he said to me – “Why do you think the eraser was even invented if I was asked not to use it when I knew I made a mistake?” – I had no answer! He was of the opinion that kids in his classroom would keep running from one end of the room to the other, shout on the top of their voices – he opined that was a total waste of time and energy. So one fine day, he went to his mom and said that he did not quite enjoy school as there was hardly anything that he was learning. That is when Katy decided that Eric is not made for the day to day schooling days, but is far blessed to be a part of the normal world of kids. He dropped out and started studying at home. Today, he is what he is without a school and a proper education system, ably guided by his lovely parents.
The Beginning
It was one winter evening that his Mom was a little upset and worried about her life not moving the way it should, and her business to the next level. Eric sensed the worry in her and told her amicably that she is perhaps not playing her game the right way. He made her understand that we all are breathing today because we have already own the game of creation. Believe that we all are winners. Thus, she should live like a Champion and live the game she already won.
Eric realized that there many like her Mom who feels lost, at times, in their journey of life. And thus, to inspire people to live a happy and content life, and win, at the age of 7, Eric developed the Winner Academy, a project based learning system; he set up the 12 Elements of The Winner Matrix Program, and created The Winner Matrix Board Game to share his amazing program. He wrote and published the book 12 Elements of the Winner Matrix (currently, the second edition of the book is doing the rounds in the market) that uses events in Eric’s life to illustrate his simple but effective theories for self development. His book is not only published but is also the #1 BESTSELLER ON LULU.COM. Eric is also the founder of the Eagle Games – Games That Make You Stronger, a company whose vision is to create and distribute self development games, books, programs and to create a community where users can always find help and support.
He has an amazing love and knack for talking (and I thought I love talking). Eric has this amazing capability of spilling words from his mouth with hardly a break of nanoseconds between each word. His clarity of thought makes it all the more easy for him to let the words flow. I mentioned to him that he can come to India and we will arrange a talk show for him. In return, he asked me if he is going to speak in front of hundred people or some hundreds of people, because more the people, more is his comfort level and passion for public speaking. Confidence personified! Along with the love of public speaking, he has a noble thought behind the whole idea of speaking to hundreds of people gathered in an auditorium. Eric says that in today’s world, people are too involved in the day to day mundane life and while doing that, they forget to live their lives. He wants to take a moment of their lives, and inspire them with his inspirational speeches to lead a life of happiness and success.
The Age Factor
When you ask him “What’s your age?”, the gentleman answers with a smile, “Oh! Age is just a number“. And we can’t agree more. However, not everyone thinks alike. Facebook, as per their legal Terms & Conditions, doesn’t allow someone of his age to maintain a profile. And thus, a couple of months back his profile was disabled by the Facebook team. And with this, Eric was disconnected from thousands of his fans that he had on his Facebook profile. Eric and his team are still in discussion with Facebook to get his profile back. We can only keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.
The Road Ahead
If you are thinking what’s next, then let me tell you, the boy was just warming up. As everyone around him is busy preparing to celebrate his 10th birthday, Eric is busy writing his next set of 2 new books. The title and the theme of these books are not yet disclosed to us when we last discussed about it. He is also working on a script to make a movie on Entrepreneurship. He is also going to be a part of many events that are planned in the calendar ahead to promote his game and his 12 Elements of The Winner Matrix Program across various cities and countries.
He is a gifted child for sure. I, on behalf of LifeBeyondNumbers, would take this opportunity to wish him all the luck and success in times to come. Eric Lassard – The Game Changer!
Click here to visit The Winner Academy
