By Suzanne Schmidt
Wesley Chapel resident John Loblack has been helping people to accomplish their personal and professional goals for eight years.
Loblack, a human development specialist, will lead a GPS for Life Seminar 10 a.m. to noon May 20 at Best Western Summer Crest, 5639 Oakley Blvd. in Wesley Chapel. The cost is $59.
“I want to remind people of their goals and resolutions they set at the beginning of the year,” Loblack said. “I will help them gauge where they are and help them get the tools so they can accomplish the goals they have set. Saying you are going to do something is one thing, knowing how to do it is another. I do whatever it takes to get the people from where they are to where they want to go.”
The seminar will be more like a workshop with handouts and interaction. People will learn the S.M.A.R.T. approach to completing goals. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Resonant or Realistic and Timely.
Loblack said many times the reason people do not accomplish their goals is because the goals are too general.
“When I grow up, I want to be a doctor is not specific enough,” Loblack said. “You have to state the goal and outline the step-by-step process to help you get there. I like the group seminars because I feel people will be able to learn so much more from the other people in the seminar as well, but I will also talk with people one-on-one.”
Loblack said he has a unique perspective, which helps him to motivate the people he works with. He grew up in Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, with his mother Lucia George.
“I can provide guidance because of my personal experience,” Loblack said. “I have come from a third world developing country with a mom who has only a fifth-grade education. I was motivated since I was a kid to get an education and now I have a doctorate. These collective experiences enable me to help others.”
Loblack also draws from his education. He has a bachelor’s in Sociology from Midwestern State University in Texas, a master’s in human resources from Texas State University and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale.
“I want to help people because so many people helped me,” Loblack said. “My mom was my biggest influence and my sociology teacher Dr. Emily Labeff (Midwestern State University) was a big influence as well. She inspired me to believe in myself. She helped me so much, it is my goal before I die to start a scholarship in her name.”
Loblack teaches a graduate course in education at Strayer University.
“There is nothing better than seeing people blossom,” Loblack said. “It is great helping people to uncover or discover their inner potential. I am like a farmer sowing the seeds and then seeing them grow.”
Angie Tyson-Martin of Temple Terrace attended one of Loblack’s goal setting seminars and she said it helped her a lot. She is about halfway through her book of original poetry titled “Messages from Above.”
“For years, I was saying I need to write a book,” Tyson-Martin said. “I had a bunch of poems. After the seminar, I used the steps in the pamphlet to get all my poems in order and then I started adding to them. I am halfway through finishing my book and I have been looking into self-publishing sites.”
Tyson-Martin was inspired to complete her goal because she could finally see each and every step she needed to take. She also had a lot of motivation from Loblack with regular e-mails and check ups.
“The way he presented the steps, it was so motivational to me,” Tyson-Martin said. “It was real helpful for me to see that I can accomplish something. He helped me to go from being less confident about myself to being more confident. His follow up methods helped me a lot too because he would always call me or e-mail me and see what I accomplished that week.”
Loblack also inspires Michael Riley of Tampa. They have been friends for about a year since they met at Nova Southeastern University.
“He is a good leader and he encourages me and motivates me,” Riley said. “He is very helpful. He strives to make me feel comfortable. He does whatever it takes to help you. He will go that extra mile.”
Loblack is also focusing his efforts on helping at-risk youth from the ages of 13 to 24.
“I am going out and talking to inmates getting their GED,” Loblack said. “I want to focus on the at-risk youth because there are so many of them.”
In June, Loblack will have another workshop on how to overcome roadblocks in work and in life. For more information, visit http://goalmindcoaching.net.
