Imagine if your brain could connect to the cloud (TED Talk)

Imagine a world where you don't need to study to learn, where you don't need to remember information to recall information, where you can go from knowing nothing about something to knowing everything about something in a moment - now imagine!

The common debate / narrative that has been portrayed in recent films such as Limitless and Lucy is that humans only use 10% of their brains capacity - where even a small increase to this could arm us humans with literally 'limitless' mental processing potential.

If you are like me then after watching these kind of films you find yourself in an exciting headspace where for a few brief moments of intense day dreaming you imagine a world where so much more is possible.

Want people to listen to you? Tips for effective speaking (Ted Talk)

Sometimes, well often, the best things are the simplest and most obvious. Yet despite the obvious simplicity of many things such as talking and listening, we get caught up in overcomplicating everything to the point where simplicity and common sense gets lost in pride and BS.

This post is about a brilliantly simple TED Talk by Julian Treasure titled 'How to speak so people want to listen'. Julian studies sound and advises businesses on how best to use it. Julian charismatically covers a couple of important topics that relate to speaking and listening, and their close relationship to yield effective communication and genuine listener attention. Although not necessarily an exhaustive list, the topics that Julian covers he argues if adhered to, will create a more positive environment where people will maximise the effectiveness of how they communicate.

The key topics raised in the talk are:

• What not to talk about aka 'The 7 Deadly sins of Speaking'
• Four foundation elements to effective speaking
• The effective speakers toolkit
• Summary that Powerful Speaking = Conscious Listening

Meditation - The what, why and a little bit of how

Need some headspace?

Meditation is something that as I get older I hear more and more about. The reality is I probably haven't really 'heard' about it more, I've just become a lot more receptive to it. It's something that I become increasingly aware that I should do and would likely benefit from. Sure, meditation in some circles has become the hip and cool thing to do and its benefits have in recent years become more mainstream through it's amplification across digital channels, but let's not forget that in no way is it a new thing. Some of the earliest references of meditation date back to the 6th to 5th centuries BCE.

If the pure monetary size of the self help industry is anything to go by (apparently worth $11 billion in 2013), which includes books, seminars, life-coaches and endless guides to 'a happier life', it would be fair to conclude that a lot of people feel unsatisfied, overwhelmed and in need of clarity and a helping hand with their lives.  From the compounding and often damaging pressures of a hectic work and social life, it's easy to feel that we are 'always on'. We lack the mental downtime we so badly need and get caught up with being focused on focusing on everything; at once.

Think about it....when was the last time you deliberately sat on the floor still, closed your eyes and focused on a single minded thing as simple as the air moving through your nostrils for 5 minutes, whilst blanking every other thought from your mind. Could you even do this without getting bored or distracted? Most of us (including me) find this extremely difficult.

From ultra successful business leaders such as Steve Jobs, to sport stars like Lionel Messi who are at the absolute top of their game, to the average working Joe who against all odds seems to be successfully balancing work and life commitments. These people understand that taking some regular time out or 'headspace' is hugely beneficial to their quality of life and success within it.

For many of us training ourselves physically is quite easy and normal, and increasing knowledge aka learning is also pretty normal in work and life, but training our minds to consciously focus on something whilst blocking everything else out is something that is pretty new and alien to many of us.

Well, this is where meditation comes in. This post is a brief look at what meditation is, what leading authorities say it's benefits are, a few simple exercises to start you off, and a few tools that I have recently found. It is written from my perspective of a beginner.

Twitter - Trust, security and the sheer scale of tweets (Talk)

Below is a short, candid and interesting talk by Del Harvey, who has the arduous role of VP of Trust and Safety at Twitter.

Twitter has come along way in the last 5 years! From 2 million tweets per day back in 2009 to 500 million tweets per day in January 2014, which according to her maths is an increase of 24, 900%, and equates to the 2009 per day total of 2 million tweets now happening every 6 minutes! Del demonstrates the sheer scale of the task of trust and safety on Twitter, and what they are doing to combat it.

Delivered in an entertaining and almost positively satirical tone, you will hear about cats, street slang, the international space station and geo targetted images.

This is a good-sharp talk with interesting insights that makes me think how enormous their task of balancing trust and safety, whilst allowing freedom of speech and the many exceptions to the rule to exist.

4 short videos to inspire you to make the most of life

As this year comes to a close and work slowly winds down, we start to reflect on the year past, and dream about the year to come, namely in our often to quickly broken 'new years resolutions'.

Maybe we have achieved our goals this year, maybe we haven't. Maybe life has been tough and thrown some curve balls at us and we are seeking some inspiration, and maybe we are just treading water - things are neither good or bad, they are so-so. Maybe we could still do better and achieve more.

Well, whatever you situation may-be, it is important to remember we only live life once. When rationalising problems we think are insolvable, rate them on a badness scale of 1-10, 10 being death. Then rate on the same badness scale of 1-10 what would happen if you try and do the things you so want to do and yet fail - you are probably looking a about 2-3 out of 10.

The point is life is short, make the most of it, life life without regret and enjoy it.

Below are four short videos that help me when I need inspiration. They aren't new clips - you may well have seen them before - but they are very powerful and forge the fundamentals of my reflecting and goal planning for the coming year.

Want to be happy? Be grateful

The pursuit of happiness and even the definition of this simple basic human feeling has long been the subject of debate; theorised by scholars and people from all faiths and walks of life.

'How to be happy' is the title of many life coaching books - we all want to be happy, and the multi-million dollar industry built around guiding us to master this emotion demonstrates that maybe we (as a world) aren't really too happy or content at all. This is despite all of the resources, money and materialistic products that marketing tells us will make us happy, and we willingly consume ten to the dozen.

Or is that just it....we need to simplify things and refocus.

Despite the size and multitude of books on the subject of 'what is happiness', one simple philosophy that really resonates with me is discussed in a great TED Talk by Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar.

10 Great Marketing Talks you should watch

As all who know me will attest, I love watching great talks. They keep you motivated, inspire and help water the seeds of new ideas, evolve your knowledge, spark debate, and give you the reassurance that someone else out there is thinking along the same lines as you; or challenge your current way of thinking!

Below are ten short marketing-related talks that have inspired and educated me - if you haven't watched them before they are well worth checking out.

I won't ruin the talks by summarising what these talks are about - "an image (or video) is worth a thousand words" - watch them yourself and you will find out.

Enjoy.

Beardyman: A creative fix

I thought I would write this short blog post to share a creative talent that I love.

I admire pioneers, and I love creativity, and when fused together you something quite unique and inspiring. The short TED Talk below is by an English guy called Beardyman. I have been following his career for a long time now, from his early years of establishing himself at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to the recent TED Talk below. To brand him as 'just another beat boxer' would be a huge dis-service to his amazing creative talents.

Beardyman is a fusion of beatboxing, sampling, multi-tracking, sound creation and manipulation, and his constant tenacity to try and imitate sounds that are seemingly impossible for the human voice make him the talent that he is.

The amount of patience, skill, rhythm and mastery required to do what Beardyman does coupled with his unique and charismatic stage persona are impressive. For me, creativity and laughter is such an important element to both my work and personal life that it is important to keep feeding my mind with useful stimulus like this.

So, watch, admire, and enjoy.

Your online life, permanent as a tattoo

10 seconds and I know you...

You meet someone out one night, you're looking to employ someone, you're trying to find Mr or Mrs right, your networking; the thing is you can quickly 'know' quite a lot about that person just by using basic tools on the internet. Think Google search or Facebook just by typing the persons name.

And here's the thing - What you know about this person is probably (or at least quite possibly) more than that person would like you to know in order for you to base your first and maybe lasting impressions on them. There's that old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" - but it is simply hard not to sometimes, it's easy to see/read something which may well be out of context and then subsequently form a strong opinion.

And that strong, perhaps jaded opinion may be the difference in you getting a job, or someone connecting with you or not, or you missing an opportunity that may be have been perfect.

What motivates us to work?

What motivates us to work? A lot of people would argue that the answer to this is simple; its money.

But is this truly the key long-term factor that maximises motivation and yields the best results from ourselves and others around us?

Short answer; no, it isn't.

Imagine if we had all the money we could possibly have, what would make us work then? How we motivate people around us? "Throw them a big bonus if such-and-such targets are met" some would say, but does this really yield the best long-term results and ensures employee satisfaction and retention?

Contrary to common belief, money is not actually the key driver. Money is just the means, it's the short-term fix, in normal standard life practice it's a necessary 'reward', but it is certainly not the whole reward. Some may argue that 'joy' is the greatest motivator for work, (which is also very important), but that wouldn't be right either.

Real-time Virtual Choir - Where Technology Meets Music

Pioneer - "A person who is the first to 'develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity)."

I admire Pioneers. Through their innovation, passion and creative thinking they push the boundaries of what was thought possible, and in doing so open the door of opportunity for others.

Being an avid music fan, I have always admired the composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. For me, Eric is best known his innovative use of technology to create a 'Virtual Choir'. That is, a choir collectively made up of thousands of people from across the globe.

To This Day - A Poem about Bullying

This short emotion fuelled TED Talk by poet Shane Koyczan that has recently gone viral is a powerful live recital of his poem that gets to the heart of what it is like for young people to be "young and different". It brings bullying into the foreground and despite it being a personal story of bullying and survival, it will and has resonated with many.

Shane's heartfelt poem "To This Day", flits between hilarious and haunting and is supported by amazing crowd sourced animation from 80 illustrators, and a live violinist. Very powerful and well worth taking a few minutes out of your day to watch.

This talk is for anyone who is being or has been bullied, or is a bully, or knows someone who fits either of these profiles.

One second every day..

Ever forget things you do in your life? I do.

Well, Cesar Kuriyama also felt this way, which is why he decided to start filming one second of his life every day for the rest of his life.

Personally, I think this is a really cool and inspiring idea, with benefits way above and beyond just the film clip you are left with at the end of your life; which is also pretty incredibile as well!

In this TED Talk, Cesar explains that the intrinsic benefits of the project derive more from the process than the end result itself. It's hard to decide what one second you show from your day, when the average person is awake for 57,600 seconds a day (16 hours), and we are all such busy people! So choosing the best one second to represent each day is his way of implanting the memory of the day in his brain for ever.  

10 mindful minutes for a better life

What a busy world we live in. Watching, listening, texting, talking, driving, working, gyming, cooking, socialising, shopping, eating, drinking, sleeping.... When was the last time you did nothing? As in absolutely nothing apart from simply breathing. Can you even remember?

Well, there are some real benefits to putting some regular time aside 'to do nothing', or in other words to meditate. Below is a great and short TED Talk by Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe, delivered in a charismatic, down-to-earth manner; plus the use of juggling balls as visual props!

A Broken body isn't a broken person

"When you let go of what you are, you become what you might be" is a powerful quote from an inspiring Ted Talk by former cross country skier Janine Shepherd. From Olympic athlete, to paraplegic, to pilot and inspirational speaker. This talk reminds us about the true value of life, ambition, and how focused human tenacity can succeed over a seeming impossibility.

Whilst in the final stages of her Olympic preparations, Janine was hit by a truck while training on her bike with her Olympic squad.

With life-threatening and crippling injuries, not only did living itself seem a challenge, but the idea of ever walking, being mobile, and achieving something, very much seemed a million miles away. Specialists who had deemed her as a 'partial paraplegic' because amongst other things her spine was so badly damaged, had advised her that she would never be able to walk again.

Well against all odds, 18 months later Janine had not only achieved her private and commercial pilot's licence, but she was also a flying instructor! Oh and she could walk!

"Janine focused intently for years on healing both her broken body and crushed morale. A turning point came watching small planes flying overhead. She decided: “If I can’t walk, I’ll fly.” While still in a full body cast, Janine was lifted into an aircraft for her first flight. Within a year she had her private pilot’s license. Later, she earned her commercial pilots license and instructor’s rating. Janine recently served on the board of Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and became its youngest -- and only -- female director."

Shut up and listen!

Ever approach a task with so much focus, confidence and intent that on reflection you wished you had perhaps slowed down a bit, asked a few more questions, and listened a bit more. The later point being the crucial one! Well, I hold my hands up high as I know I am guilty of this. It's so easy to get caught up with your own objectives, that the needs and wants of the intended audience can sometimes be ignored, or at least not fully understood.

Don't get me wrong, these are attributes that drive my ambition, and well, make me me, however if I was told I could increase my effectiveness exponentially by refining my listening skills, well then you have my attention!

I will caveat the above with a famous quote from Henry Ford, that I think is worth remembering, as pioneers and innovators often deliver a product from a left field angle, and standard rules of listening may not apply. “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

This post isn't just about me, or even about our own personal development, it is about how listening skills, or even just how listening itself can totally (re)-define a company, a project, a campaign. From this, greater, better, and more worth-while results can be achieved; and I completely dig that.

Does the anonymity of the internet encourage dishonesty?

For some the Internet can be an escape from reality, a place a person and their actions can largely remain anonymous, where one can have a different name or names, a different persona, a place where reality can be distorted into; well anything. For others the internet is a place to extend offline influence, a place to connect with like-minded people, a place of opportunity and learning. And for others, (arguably the majority), it is a place somewhere in between the two extremes, oscillating between them for the many different uses it has.

Stay in the moment...you just might be happier

What is happiness? Is it subjective? Is it external like getting a brand new car or house - maybe; many brands, magazines, and advertising would have you believe this, and definitely 'push' this philosophy, is it more aligned with the Buddhist mentality, that happiness is internal. Maybe it's a bit of both.



Well happiness has been the subject of many a book, course, therapy, philosophy, religion, culture, and science, and is not going to be answered in this short article! But maybe there is a small takeaway from this TED Talk by Matt Killingsworth. A short biography and synopsis of the TED Talk "While doing his PhD research with Dan Gilbert at Harvard, Matt Killingsworth invented a nifty tool for investigating happiness: an iPhone app called Track Your Happiness that captured feelings in real time. (Basically, it pings you at random times and asks: How are you feeling right now, and what are you doing?) Data captured from the study became the landmark paper "A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind PDF"

Body language Shapes who you are

Wouldn't it be great if when we felt down, depressed, anxious, unconfident or generally not quite as sharp as normal we could train ourselves to get through it? I think it would be great.

To some, it may seem obvious that you can train / prepare yourself to get through hard times, or up your game from where you currently are, but to many the obvious is often clouded when emotions are involved.

OK, so contrary to what some people would have you believe, there isn't a magic potion that requires minimum effort that will transform us with positive long term affects. There is however, compelling evidence to suggest that not only can we 'fake' our body language to change others perception of us (think Politicians), but overtime we can train ourselves physically to become the thing we are faking. To coin a phrase from Amy "Fake it 'til you become it' I.E Genuinely feel powerful, confident, more in control, less anxious etc.

Live life and don't regret

It's easy to get so wrapped in our own little worlds, to be thinking / worrying about the future that it taints the present, and then what happens? We get old or ill and then regret all the things that we should have done and didn't but suddenly have no more time?

I really hope I am not that guy. I want to embrace the 'now' as much as possible and when I die, look back with a smile and a heart free of regret. But it's so easy to be saying the statement above one moment and then falling back into the grind of things like living to work the next.

What is Collaborative Consumption and what does it mean for the economy?

Firstly, what a find. A fantastic TED Talk by Rachel Botsman! Even though the sun was out in Sydney as I watched this talk in my lunchtime yesterday, I was transfixed, engaged and unfazed by the lure of the nice weather outside. Sign of a great talk.

Rachel Botsman discusses collaborative consumption, something which to be honest I don't really know much about. Or put another way, something I thought I knew a little about but now realise there is much more to learn and appreciate on this topic. This talk really made me think outside of my personal management of online reputation and made me think of the evolution in business transactions.

Rachels TED Talk very eloquently puts across the huge role that reputation has, especially for the many growing new businesses that are operating on a trust basis. It's actually quite astonishing at how many businesses / jobs are now being created within the 'Collaborative Consumption' vertical (or should I say horizontal), and as Rachel creativity puts it - Business examples based upon Collaborative Consumption are like "Lemonade stands on steroids".

Influence (think Klout) is an important metric, but real reputation is contextual and is a true weighting that as Rachel argues will become more and more important for business of the future. (It's already happening now).

The Internet - what is it really?

Have you ever wondered what the internet actually is ? I mean we all use the term 'in the cloud' but what actually is it! Where is it? Is it everywhere? Everywhere but no-where I can actually see, touch, feel? So is is nowhere...hmmm confused ;/

To be honest it's something that I have never truly considered and have been happy to just accept that it's something I use all the time, pretty much depend on and could not do without.

But what is it and how does it really work?

Well, it just so happens that journalist Andy Blum recently did a TEDTalk all about this.

Andy looks at the physical side of the internet, from the underwater pipes stretching thousands of miles, to the people who are involved, this is a great and easy must watch for anyone who, like me, wants to know more about what the internet actually is.


            Andy Blum Details
            Website: andrewblum.net
            Twitter: @AjBlum

Lisa Kristine opens my ignorant mind to Modern Day Slavery

Firstly, I admit I have been watching a lot of TED talks recently! The sun has been shining and my 30 min walk to work has become my 'get inspired' time.

Until watching this TED talk by Lisa Kristine, I really knew very little about slavery, or the extent of its deadly reach. It's not just about the sex trade (which is terrible), but it exists in many countries across many verticals (Textiles, manufacturing, agriculture etc). Infact according to this talk there are over "27 MILLION enslaved souls". 

The talk says it all but all I will say is; slavery is real, it's worse than you could have imagined and there are very few people fighting for its cause.

Knowing about it is not even enough, we need to start acting to help these people and increase awareness about it as much as possible.

Temple Grandin talk on Autism: 'The World needs all kinds of minds'

Although a couple of years old, I wanted to share this really inspiring TED talk I found from Temple Grandin about Autism.

Born with Autism herself, Temple discusses how she thinks in images, how this has helped her achieve/see things that perhaps other people who are wired differently don't and how we can nurture autistic children.

"Temple makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids." via Ted.

Autistic children (like any children) need role models, inspiration, mentors and dreams. Key to the success of an Autistic child maximising their skills is to teach them in a way that they understand. (This is key) If they are visual then use imagery, if they like cars and need to learn mathematics ask questions relating to cars. Great talk.

Rob Legato: The art of creating awe

Great talk by visual effects guru Rob Legato on 'the art of creating awe', specifically drawing on his experience within film creation.

Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

And I thought augmented reality was cool!! This is astonishing and exciting.


via www.youtube.com