Inspirational Monday: My TED Talk Morning

I know that my blog has been only focused on Tracy Anderson so far, and I think it's time that changed.

It's easier for me to just report how my workouts go, instead of creating original content that is in me, and be vulnerable to criticism.

I am not talking about your criticism in the first place, but of my own fear of not being "good enough". I feel as if I don't have anything great to say that could benefit you, or that could shake things up in the bloggosphere, but I know I do have things to say.

I know that there are many of you out there that feel the same. You are looking for something. You are yearning for something. But you are just not there yet, or you are already very close to it.

I am not there yet. I am the caterpillar that has just started packing its things, and is unsure about where to go first. Fear, low self-esteem and broken self-worth are my best partners in crime. They help me find the most creative excuses not to be me, and never let me down when I need a reason to fail.

But I am not accepting this anymore. 




I want to start weeding out these life-sucking friends of mine and replace them with courage, self-value and love towards myself!

I can't do it all at once, but I can do it one tiny step at a time. I can manage one day, one hour, one minute, one decision at a time.

This is reflected on this blog. I've been procrastinating on starting it for over a year, and at one point I just decided to stop. It doesn't look the way I want it to, I don't even know how I really want it to look, but it's there. The platform I needed to reach out to all you people, who feel the same and who are looking for a soundingboard, exists. And step by step, it will transform.

What was my inspiration?

Looking for something to lift my spirits, I had a look at the TED website and clicked on the next best talk. (If you are not familiar with TED, have a look here, it's amazing!)

As it turns out, I hit the perfect video for where I am right now and after watching it, I feel the metaphorical kick in the ass!


The talk is from Larry Smith and is titled: Why you are going to fail to have a great career!

Pretty uninspiring title, huh? I thought so too. Isn't he supposed to tell me how to HAVE a great career? Why isn't he feeding me the stuff I already know? It's all wrong!

But then again,

it's perfect.

Larry Smith doesn't tell you what you are already procrastinating on. No, he smears it in your face and let's you know that it's all your fault that you aren't where you want to be. Ouch.

"If you want a great career, you have to pursue your passion, you have to pursue your dreams, you have to pursue, the greates fascination in your life. You hear it again and again and then you decide not to do it. It doesn't matter how many times you download Steven J.'s Stanford commencement address, you still look at it and decide not to do it."

....yeah maybe.

"What you want, what you want, what you want, is passion. It is beyond interest. You need 20 interests, and then one of them, one of them might grab you, one of them might engage you more than anything else, and then you may have found your greatest love in comparison to all the other things that interest you, and that's what passion is."

....I want that. How do I find it? What do I need to do?

"Do you really want to use your family, do you really ever want to look at your spouse and your kid and see your jailers? There was something you could have said to your kid when he or she said, "I have a dream." You could have looked the kid in the face, and said, "Go for it, kid, just like I did." But you won't be able to say that because you didn't. So you can't."

...this one really hurt. This is exactly what I am doing. I might not have children, but I've got enough excuses to make you believe I did have at least 10. My environment is my Nr. 1 excuse at the moment. It's why I allow myself to waste my time, do nothing, not take care of myself etc.

But it didn't just hurt, Larry Smith's talk also resonated in me.  Just him turning it all around and telling me I couldn't do something made me feel the opposite. I can do whatever I want, if I REALLY want it, who is he to tell me I can't?

What a great rhethorical and psychological trick!

This TED talk has inspired my morning and given me the feeling that I have control of my day, and that I can change whatever I want. I can do the things that make me feel like me, but I need to take the responsability for them too.

My life needs its super-hero back and I've already got some ideas....

Love,
(super-hero in training) Shauna