TEDxAustin FearLess was exceptional

The event happened on Saturday, February 9. It was a day of ideas, some of them interesting, some transforming.

Here is a link to the talks

Here are my personal stats:

• Pages of notes taken: 7.5
• Old acquaintances seen  4
• Fascinating new acquaintances met 6+
• New business cards collected 35
• Visionary ideas presented - a lot
• Ideas that I didn't get - a few
• Engaging conversations - countless
• Favorites - The "Wire" and "100 days of rejection"
• FearLess athletes met - 2

We owe Nancy and crew an unmeasurable amount of gratitude for the day!
And when can I have my invisibility cloak?

Do you have a TED memory to share?

Exerpt from my upcoming book on Vision

Here is an exerpt from my upcoming book, Become a Change Agent: Drive the Positive Change you want for yourself and the World  Part Two: Visions. Enjoy!

Why in the World Do I Need a Vision?

 

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

~ Proverbs 28:18

 
There are benefits to having a Personal Vision. There are costs or consequences for living without one.

Benefits

The first group of benefits helps the Change Agent choose the correct actions.

1.       A Personal Vision keeps the Change Agent focused on what really matters.

2.      A Personal Vision allows the Change Agent to make choices more effectively and confidently.

The second group of benefits helps the Change Agent retain focus.

3.      A Personal Vision helps the Change Agent flesh out what is important.

4.      A Personal Vision keeps the Change Agent on track in a crazy world.

5.      A Personal Vision cuts through the haze and confusion.

The third group of benefits helps the Change Agent find happiness.

6.      A Personal Vision helps a Change Agent love life.

Costs

Without a Personal Vision, it is easy to make bad choices.

1.       You get involved with people, activities and projects that you should avoid.

2.      You waste time and energy due to a lack of focus.

Without a Personal Vision, it is easy to be directionless and ineffective.

3.      Day to day life is focused on urgencies, crises and chaos.

4.      You do not have an independent voice and it becomes easy to get “run over”.

5.      You are unable to set true guidelines or boundaries.

6.      Life seems rudderless and directionless. There seems to be no map or future other than spinning your wheels.

Without a Personal Vision, life is one of waste and regret.

7.      You squander your talents.

8.     You dread growing old.

9.      You look back with regret and forward with fear.

10.   You are unhappy and have feelings of being overwhelmed, depressed and sad.

DO NOT LIVE THIS WAY! GET A PERSONAL VISION! Start to change your life with a Positive Personal Vision. 

What is your Personal Vision?

5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders (and How Not to Be One)

Micheal Hyatt's Intentional Leadership Blog is a though-provoking series of posts on leadership.  This particular post is one that I wish I had written myself.

Here are 5 characteristics that any leader or future leader should mindfully eliminate.

If there is a sixth point, it would be a failure to understand when you are in over your head and therefore failing to seek help. My favorite Aunt calls this leadership failure "being a dummy". Ego can make even very smart people dummies.

Visions from TEDx Austin - looking back and looking forward

I am excited about attending TEDx Austin’s FearLess conference this weekend. It will be a day where I see example after example of how Personal Visions that are activated make positive changes for the World.

Last night’s “preshow”  Happy Hour was a fantastic series of conversations with other Change Agents on topics including complexity theory, education, gamification, ecommerce and solar power for Africa. Most of the time, I was in a group of 4 people. I got so engrossed in conversation that I never found the cheese tray.

Last year’s conference centered on the theme “Beyond Measure". It opened with Chris Riley saying, “We are going to share amazing stories with the world today!” and it was true beyond measure. Here are just a few of the speakers with messages that I loved:

·         A guerilla guide to improving urban landscapes. Jason Roberts – How to build a better block.

·         Emergency Shelters. A revolutionary design for those displaced by natural disasters by Michael McDaniel.

·         Preemptive Love – Violence unmakes the World. This can be fixed one person at a time. Jeremy Court discovered that something like 1 in 7 Iraqi children are born with a broken heart, litterally. These are birth defects can be corrected surgically by Turkish doctors (Turkey and Iraq are historical enemies). US Iraqi war veterans are seeing it in their children, too. This guy would have recieved the Nobel Peace Prize if I were awarding it.

·         There were so many more amazing presentations Check out the playlist.

If you only have time to watch one, please watch Jeremy Court, Preemptive Love. This story has so much heart and is an example of how ancient hatreds can be bridged.

What is your favorite TED Talk?

Jettison your baggage!

Jettison your baggage! That is so much easier to say than to do! You work really hard to detach yourself from things that no longer have any value in your life only do discover a new version of the same valueless stuff rushes in to fill the void.

 I cleaned out a bunch of old archives over the weekend. You SHOULD do this once a year but I had not actually done it in about 3 years. There were boxes and boxes of old records that had absolutely no connection to my life today. Business records from entities that no longer exist, legal papers, and paperwork related to the move to Austin.

I realized that the pounds and pounds of paper in the attic was only part of the weight I was dragging around. In particular, some legal papers reminded me of a grudge I had been carrying with someone that is no longer a significant part of my life (she is a relative and other members of my family create second-hand contact).  Her bitterness and venom still occasionally affect me today – and it is my fault because I allow it.

Part Two of “Become a Change Agent (publication date is mid-February) discusses the liberation of lifestyle design. Here are some more thoughts about the “Elimination” step:

There are some things that you should actively remove from your life.

·         Baggage that drags you down – Physical things that you are obligated to spend time and effort maintaining but you do not get much use or pleasure from them. People that bring out the worst in you. People that are dangerous or destructive.

·         Stuff that doesn’t matter – Most “UseToBes” fall into this group. Do you engage in activities that do not interest you just to be part of the “in” crowd? Find activities that really interest you and meet people that help you define what “in” really means.

Things that are not part of your day-to-day life but you should keep anyway.

·         Good memories – As long as they do not create an attachment to “the good old days”. Adopt a mindset that those were great experiences but the best is yet to come!

·         Artifacts that retain value- This is not just value of the economic sort. Some things retain value to you alone and those are things you should keep.

There are things that are difficult to eliminate. I call that stuff that resurfaces

·         If you eliminate something big, there are typically “loose ends” that come up.  Accept that fact with the knowledge that the “loose ends” eventually stop.

·         Serious grudges. We are human. Even when you forgive, it can be hard to forget, especially if you must have contact with that person.

 

·         People or groups that “need you”. You must be patient while they readjust to life after you. Sometimes, a gentle push in that direction is required.

What can you let go of TODAY, RIGHT NOW that will make your outlook on life better?