Success to setback to success again

Eliezer Project brings motivational speaker to Woodmere

by Malka Eisenberg

With that opening, Red Katz began his life story.

“I don’t have all of life’s answers but I have the right questions,” he said. “I want to give you the tools to find the answers. Each and every one of you has the answers and tools to accomplish in life.”

Katz, a motivational speaker, spoke as part of the Eliezer Project’s resume workshop on Dec. 23. He described his marriage to a beautiful woman, the three wonderful children he had with her, his own successful business and a large Manhattan apartment — and how it all fell apart in what he described as “three earthquakes” of financial crisis, anxiety and divorce. Katz went from being a full-time father to only seeing his children once a week and on alternate weekends. He couldn’t cry for 10 years, he said, and then couldn’t stop crying.

Eventually Katz managed to turn his life around and saw his “vulnerability as a source of strength.”

“I was the one who put obstacles in my path,” he said.  “I was the one to turn it around. Any challenges in your life, I can relate to you. If I did it, anyone in the room can do it. Whatever you want to do in your life, you have the tools to make it happen.”

At the beginning of his talk, a sobering heaviness hung in the air, but by the end the mood was more like a big tent religious revival: listeners were nodding their heads, offering ad lib comments, and when asked to by Katz, yelling, “Red, you are fat!”

“I don’t care,” Katz explained. “No one can make us feel anything - when we let someone make us feel something we surrender.”

Negative thoughts lead to negative actions and positive thoughts lead to positive actions, said Katz. And there are two sides to every coin.

“One side is ‘I don’t have a job’ and the flip side is ‘I’m not tied to a job I hate.’  When faced with challenges, if we have the opportunity, take a different path,” he said.

Katz tied success to accountability.

“Own your actions,” he asserted. “It’s empowering.”

“There’s a great excuse: the worst economy since the Great Depression, but there are people working. Maybe someone was better than me; I’m not perfect. When you realize that you are not perfect then you have the opportunity to move forward,” Katz explained.

When you make promises, Katz stressed, keep them.

“Gyms make fortunes on New Year’s resolutions. You have to go, not just join. Nobody can take your power,” he continued, “ you have to give it away.”

Support from family and friends is also important. Katz practices what he preaches and attends an empowerment group every Wednesday night.

“Exercise that muscle,” he said. “Open your mind and your computer. When you are falling down and you can’t pick yourselves up, you need support.”

Mistakes happen, Katz concluded.

“We have choices,” he said. Next time, “make better choices.”

Gidon Bari, executive director of the Eliezer Project praised the speech.

“The speaker gave the attendees chizuk (encouragement),” noted Bari. “They could relate to his story of overcoming adversity. He had a personal experience of success, setback and then pulled himself up.”

“I always find it a good shot in the arm,” said Tobe Goldfinger, after the speech.  “Even if you know what you should be doing, it’s always good to hear someone tell you to dust yourself off and go on.”

The Eliezer Project was founded in December of 2008 to help families in the Five Towns, Far Rockaway and West Hempstead that are struggling in the economic recession. The Eliezer Project’s services include career counseling, job placement, fiscal planning, budget management, and assistance with debt modification.  For further information contact gbari@eliezerproject.org or call (516) 284-2942.

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