TED

10 Ideas a Day

/ Kennedy Farr / 2 Comments

use-your-idea-musclesThis is a good-to-watch TED talk from James Altucher.

His main points are really good to note:

If you don’t make the choices in your life, then someone else is going to end up making them for you.  Someone else is going to end up making the choices for you, and they aren’t going to be as good as the choices that you make for yourself.

Failure is unpleasant.  View it as an experiment.

4 distinct things that were working for him when he was on the way up:

1. Take care of your physical health: Sleep well, eat well, exercise well, laugh more.  Make improvements incrementally that will improve your physical health.

2. Take care of your emotional health: Be around people that you love and trust and be around people that love and trust you.

3. Spiritual/creative gratitude: Complaining is draining.  Express gratitude.  Look on the sunny side.

4. Use your idea muscles.  Use a waiter’s pad. Write down 10 ideas every day.  Become an idea machine.

5. Share your ideas.  Come up with 10 ideas for someone . . . for “x.”  Give your ideas away with no expectation of them sharing back with you.  Life changes by spreading your ideas like currency.

Interesting ideas.  I especially like the idea of writing down 10 ideas every day and then giving them away.  Altucher promises that life will change if we are generous with our ideas.  Sounds good to me.  For someone who keeps notebooks in every bag, purse, and pocket, I especially like #4.  Now . . . the trick will be how to give them away.

I am not sure how this will materialize into action — this idea of giving away ideas — but I like the idea of thinking of ideas as currency.  If ideas are currency, then many people I know and love are rich and wealthy.  Idea Rich.  I like it.

Woot!  This makes me wealthy beyond wonder.  Do I have ideas?  Yes.  I have been told that I have too many ideas and not enough follow through.  Hmmmmm . . . maybe this is someone speaking who is simply envious of my wealth.  Someone who wishes that s/he, too, could come up with a real purpose for dark matter or who could contrive an extraordinary purpose for eggshells or who could invent a gizmo for churning garbage disposal waste directly into the garden as compost.

Ideas.  They are the things that grow and that grow us.  We conceive them and then are oftentimes daunted by them.  Who wants them?  What do we do with them?  How do we implement them?  How do we move them out of notebooks and into the hands of people who will develop them into reality?

After all, I read once that there are Innovators and Implementers.  And rarely shall the twain meet.  I am an Innovator.  It only follows that it is time to find an Implementer.  Caution All Implementers: Ideas Ahead.

I don’t know. This is all tricky stuff for an Innovator.  We are idea-based, not roll-up-your-sleeves-based.  But it is time to start giving Ideas away.  Perhaps not entirely unsolicited.  I don’t want to wax eloquent to the stranger next to me on the ferry about my brain storm for the next Super Bowl ad . . . I can see them switching seats now.  But I actually have one.  It involves breakfast cereal and babies and all sorts of action moves.  There.  I just gave away one of my more brilliant ideas.  Sweet!  Only 9 more to share before the day is over.

 

use-your-idea-muscles

 

Start with a Simple Idea

/ Kennedy Farr / Leave a comment

IMG_1611. a simple ideaStart with a Simple Idea.  

It’s as simple as that.  Or is it?  We hear stories about people who are fulfilled and successful, motivated and inspired.  What many of these people have in common is that they started their Journey of Success with a simple idea that ultimately sparked growth in their personal lives while contributing to the world around them.

I had some crazy dream about Skylab, America’s first space station, last night — how I was trying to walk on one of its pinwheel arms while maintaining my balance in a gravity-free environment — not an easy task even within the fuzzy confines of a dream.  All of which got me thinking, mid-dream, about what a wonder the whole contraption of Skylab is.  Having experienced its interstellar wonder in my dream, I woke up thinking about how much research and groundwork and hope and intention and vision and forward thinking went into creating it.

Skylab didn’t just happen.  It started with a simple idea and it grew.  Maybe someone scribbled his or her original idea of it on the back of a bar napkin.  Maybe it was the result of some astrophysicists having breakfast together at a conference.  Maybe some scientist woke up with a detailed dream of it.  I don’t know Skylab’s true genesis, but someone had to take it and move it beyond a doodle or an entry in a lab notebook.

In a TED talk (click on the link below), Tony Robbins tells the story of his family receiving an unexpected and generous Thanksgiving Day kindness when he was younger.  As a teenager, Robbins wanted to pay this stranger’s kindness forward, so he anonymously provided a different family with a Thanksgiving dinner.  This generous and simple idea grew into the creation of an organization that now feeds millions of people.

I love stories like this.  Still, as inspiring as they are, they can also feel to be a bit overwhelming.  The obvious questions enter into my thoughts: How did Tony Robbins grow the organization from this one simple gesture?  How did he organize enough people to join him in his vision?  Where did he get the capital to grow the organization into such a large one?  Sure, the amazing and energetic and dynamic Tony Robbins could pull this off  . . . but could I?

Believe-in-yourself-and-believe-in-love.-Love-something.Details, details, details.  I so often get lost in the details.  If I were to look back on my life and pushpin myself onto any given past moment, would I have imagined all of the dynamics of Today?  Parts of Today?  Maybe parts, yes. But all of the amazing-ness that I now experience?  No.  I don’t think I could have foreseen a tiny glimpse of the bigger picture.  I had to take one simple step.  And believe.  And know.  And feed the vision.toaster oven

Skylab was originally launched unmanned but there were eventually several different crews delivered to the station.  On the latter missions, there was even an additional spacecraft orbiting to rescue the crew should they encounter any emergencies.  Imagine these baby steps.  First, unmanned.  Next, manned missions.  Ultimately, backup and support.

Albert-Einstein-Quote-Happy-Life

For a free download (in workbook format) of today’s journal prompt “Start with a Simple Idea,” provide your email address, and I will send you your inspiring journal exercise for you to print out and to start journaling.  Time to make a differrence! 

And to conclude on an uplifting note . . . This is such an inspiring TED talk: Why We Do What We Do.  If you have 21:45 today to take the time to just relax and to open your mind to possibilities, this is a great TED talk.  In fact . . . watch it before you begin journaling.  The ideas that Tony Robbins shares will expand your thinking and your creativity and your perceptions of what is possible.

What is it that you are procrastinating on?

/ Kennedy Farr / Leave a comment

Procrastination . . . what is it?  And what’s stopping you?

the time is nowAre you a procrastinator?  A big one or a little one?  Or a kind of It-Depends one?  This is a fantastic TED talk on the topic that is near and dear to all of us.  No matter who you are — you are a procrastinator concerning something.  Tim Urban really nails it when he breaks procrastination down into its simplest parts.  I have watched this talk several times — some of those times being when I was procrastinating about something else.

This inspiring and funny talk is very much worth watching.  It will encourage and it will remind you that life is finite and, if there is something in life that really really interests you in doing or learning or completing, you might want to stop procrastinating and get going.  In his talk, Tim Urban does not resort to any doomsday tactics that will scare you into getting your stuff together so you can get stuff done. He just says it like it is.

Like I said, inspiring.

Do watch.  The entire talk is only 14:03 and it will also make you laugh.  At yourself.  At life.  At deadlines.  At how life is.  And what a relief this is, what with the upside down times that we are currently living in.

And one last short journaling question for you to add to your notebook . . .

What is one thing that you have been procrastinating on?  

I can think of one thing immediately and Tim Urban is right: it is one of those things that has no deadline. No Panic Monster required.  Which is why I need Urban’s reminder to evaluate and prioritize.

Is it going back to school?  Or learning how to surf?  Or learning a new chord progression on your guitar?  Or taking better care of your health?  Or being nicer to yourself?  Or writing that thank you note that is beginning to feel embarrassingly belated?  Or finishing that econ paper?  Or that project at work that is just riding your sense of peace even when you aren’t at work?  So many things and so little time.  So I am thinking that I want to make time count for the things that give me a sense of accomplishment, fulfillment, joy, and reward.

Life is a lively and fun event, full of wonderful things to do and to learn and to share.  What’s stopping you?

For the next time someone asks you at a party: “So, what do you do?”

/ Kennedy Farr / Leave a comment

val cuteYou’re at a party and you really don’t know anyone there.  You came because someone from your professional networking group invited you.  He tells you that it will be a great way to meet new people.  You are doing your best to “mingle” and make polite conversation.  On the inside you feel awkward and out of place and are wondering when you can make a move for the nearest exit.

While you are making small talk, what is the first question that people ask you after they learn your name?

“So.  Tell me.  What is it that you do?”

If you feel like you are never quite sure how to answer this in a way that reveals who you truly are, watch this video.  It is so sweet and simple, and Adam Leipzig simply nails it.  Leipzig’s explanation of how to discover your life purpose goes beyond writing your average elevator pitch.  It digs down deep and helps you discover what it is you want to do to help others.

Knowing your life purpose is important.  And sharing it with others is essential.  Connecting with others based on the sharing of your dreams, goals, and passions builds empathy and encourages others to do the same.  Living your purpose creates a  “knowing”  in your life that fuels you along life’s timeline.  It feels good and right and also makes a difference in the world around you.  This video is short and well worth the time you spend watching it.

Awesome TED talk: How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes

After I watched this TED talk, I created a journal prompt for my students so that they could explore, discover, and be ready to share their respective life purposes.   Just click on the aqua-blue link below for your Life Purpose prompt.  It is best if you watch this short TED talk first, so you get the most out of the exercise.  Have fun re-kindling a connection with your life purpose!  [Click on link below]

Your Life Purpose.journal prompt

Life is a lively event.  And it is short.  

Make the most out of your journey by discovering and living your life purpose.

Oh, and please do share you life purpose with the rest of us in the comments section!  

We would love to hear what this video inspired!

Timshel & Epigenetics

/ Kennedy Farr / Leave a comment

Earlier in the week, I posted about your personality (Nature versus Nurture) and the Glory of the Choice (timshel).  These thoughts stayed with me throughout the week. . . and then I came across this TED talk today about epigenetics: “How the Choices You Make Can Affect Your Genes” by Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna.  Here is a summary of this TED talk: “Here’s a conundrum: Identical twins originate from the same DNA … so how can they turn out so different — even in traits that have a significant genetic component? Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna explains that while nature versus nurture has a lot to do with it, a deeper, related answer can be found within something called epigenetics.”

If you have 5:02 today, view this TED talk.  The information is very compelling, satisfying, and inspiring.  The way that it is explained in the talk is to “think of DNA as a recipe book.”  The narrator goes on to explain how “genes in DNA are expressed when they’re read and transcribed into RNA . . . which is translated into proteins into structures called ribosomes.”

And so the story unravels into the most intricate, yet simple, explanation as to how the choices you make in life very possibly affect your genes.  I have spoken with people who have done Genetic Re-writing work, and it now makes more plausible sense to me.  This is interesting research and, after thinking on the wisdom of Steinbeck’s timshel, it all ties together in a very pretty spiritual-genetic bow: thou mayest  + genetics play a synchronous role in how we experience Life.

Sometimes when things come together like this, Life feels both larger and smaller than I could have ever imagined.   Taking in the micro-vast world of genetics coupled with the infinite non-perimeters of the universe does a pretty good job of answering all of my questions for this week.  Sometimes I just have to sit back and say, “This is all quite amazing . . . and I don’t even need to understand the detailed intricacies to be a Believer.  I believe.

If you have a moment, please, do view this TED talk.  If you have ever wondered about Life on Levels of Infinite Curiosity, it will not disappoint.

How the choices you make can affect your genes – Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna

pencil stubYour journal prompt today (click below) is as simple and as a complex as is this topic of re-writing your genetics.  Keep your writing clean and simple and don’t go down any rabbit holes or garden paths.  Keep it easy and uncomplicated.  Listen to your Higher Self and record what it has to say.

Epigenetics and Choice. journaling prompt

[Print this prompt out, 3-hole punch it, and start your journaling binder.   Take the writing journey and listen . . . you can’t get lost when you are following your own heart.  After all, you are the only one who can hear what it has to say.  The only one.  Relax, read, think, feel, listen, write.  Repeat.  And enjoy the journey.  It is a fine one, and one that is perfectly-made just for you.]