Believe

TEDGlobal in Oxford, England

I had been watching TED videos over lunch for 6 months or so when I got an email about an extra TEDGlobal that was going to take place in July in Oxford, England.  This was going to be the 2nd TEDGlobal in Oxford in 5 years and it was going to become an annual event.  They said it would be like the Long Beach TED, but with a more global flavour.

My first thought was, “Oh that sounds wonderful.  I want to go.”  My second thought was, ”But that’s a $9000 trip, I can’t leave my family for a week.  I can’t leave my business for a week.  How can I justify that?”  This is what Seth Godin calls the lizard brain response.

I brought it up to my Mastermind group and some friends and clients – well, I guess I talked about it a bunch.  Everyone said I should do it.  If anyone from around here should go, it should be me.

People suggested I find out who has a vested interest in bringing this information back here and get them to sponsor me.  I put together a page and asked my friend to make it pretty – which he did – and I sent it out.  Well, there was deafening silence in response.  Being the optimist I am, I waited for last minute takers.  There were none.

This is where I could very easily have stopped.  My gamble had not paid off.  I was running out of time and it was clear that no one else thought I was worthy enough to be our liaison to the wider world in this way, at least not enough to put their money on it.

But I believed that I was.  I believed that the TED experience would change me in a significant way.  That going would make a difference in my life.  That it was a dream worth fighting for.

So I got a small business loan, I snagged a training allowance, upped the limit on my credit card and I went.

My mind was blown.  I am changed.  I met incredible people.  I am the kind of person who goes to world class events.  I am not the same as I was a year ago.

Was it worth it?  You bet!  Would I do it again?  In a heart beat, in fact I did.  I went to Seth Godin’s launch of Linchpin last week in NYC where I met him and members of an online community I belong to.  I am the kind of person who does those things.

So next time something comes across your desk and your first thought is, “Oh that sounds wonderful.  I want to go.”  And your second thought is, “But, but but…”

Go with your first thought.

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