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My Journey of 100 TED Talks

#JourneyOf100TED

In years past, I would occasionally watch TED Talks. In July 2015, this changed after reading an article about Erin Freschi in California. She adopted a practice of watching a TED Talk each night with her 8 year-old son. To read the article: TED Before Bed: One mother’s nightly ritual with her son.

The idea of watching a steady stream of TED Talks resonated with me, and I committed to watch 100 talks. This is referred to as my “Journey to 100 TED Talks” and little did I know the impact this process would have on me! The journey started on July 15, 2015 and completed June 19, 2016! While the challenge has been completed, I am inspired, and have continued the journey. As of this writing, the count is 122 talks watched. For more information on the TED Talks organization, check out About TED Talks.

As I started my journey, one rule was that the talk had to be watched completely from start to finish. The quality of most talks was amazing and I honestly picked up something from every talk I chose to watch. By committing to watch a talk completely, I found that I became more open to other viewpoints and my overall perspective evolved to be a bit more “rounded”. One early talk that was difficult for me was Amanda Palmer’s “The Art of Asking” but I now look back on that talk as the kick-off to exposing myself to topics and knowledge that previously would not have interested me. See link below for Amanda’s talk.

Though not all-inclusive, five speakers who were especially enjoyable for me included:

  • Brene’ Brown
  • Dan Gilbert
  • Seth Godin
  • Sir Ken Robinson
  • Simon Sinek

In future posts (follow Twitter @btomoffCPA), individual talks will be shared in greater depth. Below are a sample of talks that I really enjoyed:

  • Susan Cain: The power of introverts

  • Angela Lee Duckworth: The power of passion and perseverance

  • Daniel Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness

  • Seth Godin: Stop stealing dreams

  • Amanda Palmer: The art of asking

  • Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation

  • Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity

  • Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice

  • Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action

I urge you to create your own individual journey of TED Talks. Via Twitter, please provide any additional talks that impact you and let’s share the power of growth and perspective to be gained through TED Talks!

This was originally posted July 24, 2016 to my Medium blog.

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How Can I Help? 15 Ways We Can All Quickly Make An Impact

A recent article by Ryan Holmes (Twitter @invoker) in Inc. Magazine “The 4-Word Question All Highly Successful People Ask” emphasized the power of asking “How can I help?” and went on to explain that this simple phrase, and the genuine willingness to help others, might be the ultimate networking tool.

http://www.inc.com/ryan-holmes/the-4-most-powerful-words-you-can-use-in-business.html

This is a thought provoking read and a perspective, if adopted, will improve potential for long term success. As Ryan points out, “I truly believe that helping other people sets you up for cosmic success at some level, whether that’s in business or in everyday life (in fact, the less distinction you make between the two, the better). What goes around almost inevitably comes around.”

As I contemplated the post a bit more, I thought about “how can I help” beyond the scope of the post and wondered if we posed the the question to ourselves in our daily lives? Truly, it is easy to take small actions that may truly help others while also helping ourselves. Consider:

1 – Take Ryan Holmes message to heart, and find ways to help others!
2 – Be optimistic.

Continue reading “How Can I Help? 15 Ways We Can All Quickly Make An Impact”

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Evernote – Anything, Anywhere, Anytime

In my personal and professional lives, I am always on the quest to identify productivity tools in order to leverage for effectiveness in my day to day life. The goal is to be “touching and feeling” as much as possible which then increases awareness. If you follow me on Twitter @BTomoffCPA you will note a few hashtags for my passion…#EliminateTheFriction and #AwarenessIsLeverage. I Love to help others learn, develop and increase awareness!

In the last 2 years, Evernote has evolved to my favorite productivity tool, so much value to me that I upgraded from the free model to premium for $49.99 per year! PC Magazine gave Evernote an “Excellent” rating and it remains an Editors’ Choice productivity tool. Simply described, Evernote is “one workspace” to write, collect, and discuss / collaborate information with others. The incredible efficiency aspect is to think of “anything, anywhere, anytime” which means information you need is truly at your disposal whether in your computer or when you are out and about with your mobile device tablet or smartphone!

To dig into further information on Evernote, @DTomoffCPA and I have collaborated on a Flipboard Magazine titled Evernote Training!
Take a huge step in 2016 and embrace the power of Evernote. Indeed, #EliminateTheFriction…and enjoy having anything, anywhere, at anytime!