April 22, 2005
One Life, One Opportunity
Wow. The last week has been really crazy!! Some highlights:
- I co-presented a keynote at the Institute of Entrepreneurship with John Hughes, a role model for me and an extremely successful, retired entrepreneur turned philanthropist, to an audience of 750.
- I co-facilitated a workshop at Danville Community College with my good friend Ryan Allis. We actually stayed up until 2am the night before working on the presentation. I thought we actually worked really well together and I can see us co-presenting in the future. Ryan entered the presentation with in a sweat suit the Eminem 8-Mile soundtrack blasting. He danced to the music for 15 seconds and drove home the theme of only having one shot and one opportunity in life. I must say it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. This made me realize how fun speeches can be.
- I went to the Innercity 100 Conference in Boston. This is one of the most productive conferences I've ever been to. A number of people purchased books, I was invited to speak to 1,500-person audience, and I met Keyshawn Johnson, Kwame Kilpatrick(the mayor Detroit), Michael Porter, Time Warner Books, Merrill Lynch, Inc. Magazine, the Kauffman Foundation, Bo Peabody, John Bryant, Keith Ferazzi, and a representative of one of the top collegiate speakers' bureaus. I was supposed to speak on a panel, but I've been so busy the last few weeks that I overlooked the fact that I was supposed to confirm!! I would highly recommend this conference to other young people who live in cities.
The speaking lifestyle is interesting. It gives you a lot of alone time on planes and hotel rooms, which can be advantageous. However, not having my own space, makes it difficult to stay centered and keep in a routine. Also, I see myself naturally caring less about what others think of me, which is very freeing. Tomorrow, I'm going to New Jersey for Passover. I look forward to seeing my dogs (not using slang here).
Also, spirituality is becoming more and more a part of my life. It occupies more mind share than entrepreneurship or anything else. However, I'm not sure how to start talking about it with others, or even if I should. However, I did find it interesting that many of the speakers, without going into details, alluded to the fact that it was a central part of their life. It is interesting that in our society it is so difficult for dialogue to happen with regards to one's core beliefs. I wonder what I historian or sociologist from 100 years in the future would think about it?
Posted at April 22, 2005 11:22 PM
I've had experiences with having passionate discourses about my core beliefs (and personal truths) with my closest friends. While I do believe that humans, in their limited capacity to try and make sense of their 'insights/wisdom/experiences' comprehensible to others, don't do much justice to the infinite-ness of the universe, it is just as futile if the other party is not open-minded enough. For eg, try talking to an empiricist-minded friend about faith.
I would think that spirituality and entrepreneurship are pretty similar (and perhaps linked) in the way that you (mostly) walk the long and winding path alone, it requires a very different sort of mindset and attitude to life, both require an extraordinary amount of courage and faith, and pays out abundantly in terms of satisfaction, fulfilment and personal freedom. Most importantly and this is crucial, you have to be TRUE to your self. It is the most beautiful process.
Thanks Michael, for being a wonderful inspiration as you are.
