What do you take home with you from a once in a lifetime experience? People’s faces? Smells and sounds of the place? Photographs you may have snapped? Goodies they may have given out at the event? Memories of great laughs and greater conversations yet?
All of the above? Definitely all of the above plus one more if you went to the World Domination Summit in Portland: The phrases that left you speechless, the few that made you move to the edge of your seat, the many that gave you a quicker pulse in the chest or in my case, the ones that brought on unplanned tears in the least likely parts.
The speeches were simply remarkable. Every single one! They were all so pleasantly void of current events, corporate jargon, or the state of economy. They were original and refreshing, filled with insights that you need to survive life in an unconventional world and inspiration that blows your mind.
This is Post 2 of the World Domination Summit post series where I share the best quotes from Day 1 of the event. May you find encouragement, enthusiasm, energy and enlightenment from these words of wisdom.
Pam Slim – Peaceful Warrior, Deeply Perceptive, Kind, Compassionate, Incredible with People
I finally got to meet Pam Slim and had an opportunity to immensely enjoy a mini coaching hour sitting on the concrete outside the museum, following her breakout session. That is the kind of compassion this woman exudes to all who cross her path. She did the opening speech after Chris’s introductions and she set the stage so brilliantly well and the mood so perfectly right that I cannot think of another opening speaker topping her anytime in the near – or far – future. Thank you, dear fabulous Pam! Here are my best takeaways from your special talk:
Your first root is the human connection.
Teach your children to be independent. When you do this, you are going against the instinct of protecting them and keeping them safe.
When you find yourself looking at someone else to give you permission to be who you are, change it.
Our power is on loan from mother earth.
Earth benders anchor down to the center of the earth, they are absolutely ok with emergencies.
Intense energy comes when you are doing significant work.
Martial arts – shifting yourself to a position of safety rather than that of attacking.
In order to be a really effective martial artist, you must know yourself!!
Trolls have nothing to do with you.
We need to invoke our inner warrior.
Leo Babauta – Relaxed, Easy Going, Smart, Dedicated, Grateful
I had had the pleasure of hearing Leo Babauta speak at Blogworld so it was like seeing an old face and hearing an old voice again – old as in familiar and good – but I liked hearing him fill the gaps in his story and add more food for thought. The set-no-goals idea is the only thing I am not so sure about. I guess it may just come down to semantics. What I do know is that I am all for detaching from end results and just doing what I love to do. Here are my best Leo quotes:
I’m not interested in making more money; I’m interested in making money in an authentic way.
Just start with five minutes. Form the bond between trigger and habit.
Set yourself up for success. Make change so slowly that it’s impossible not to do it.
Focus on one thing at a time. Only one. Resolutions are worthless because there are too many of them.
I have an allergic reaction to hype.
Find other people like you. Accountability.
Learn how habits work, the triggers behind them, and how to engineer good habits.
Associate positive benefits with new habits and remove negative triggers from habits you want to encourage. Learn how to untangle these triggers.
Danielle La Porte – Subtle, Powerful, Great Presence, Remarkable on Stage, Original Prose
Yeah, I got a bit carried away with Danielle, didn’t I? You’d think I’d just give you the entire transcript of her speech but even I don’t type that fast on my beloved iPad. Here are the ones that stuck and stuck hard. Thank you Danielle for saying it and saying it all so well.
The word here is friendship.
Become an unbridled version of yourself!
You have contended with the 9-5, you are escaping the cubicles or you have found a way to be in a cubicle and still dominate.
I want to push, push more. What it is to be on your edge? Within that edge, I think of impeccability and innovation.
This isn’t about being perfect or being a Puritan. This is about being impeccably you.
Be willing to break things. Innovation is messy and uncertain.
Showing up means being present and it means you have to do do-overs.
Push beyond the fatigue. You can be better. Go the extra mile.
Showing up means you have to leave things behind and do do-overs.
You need to know the rules to break the rules.
There are rules in art, rules about colors and dimension and proportions. The masters knew this. They trained. Then they broke the rules and that’s when self-realization happens.
Everything you bring to your life is a choice.
Owning your choices is about leadership. You are in a boardroom that you don’t want to be in. You’re in a movie that sucks. Your energy will completely shift if you say that you choose to be there. Or you can choose to leave.
And everything is a choice – take radical responsibility for your choices.
Even when you ask for advice, you still need to make the choice.
You need to know why you love what you love!
My body knew I was absent in the choice. Be present, not absent, in your choices!
Is that it? In 5 years, you want hardwood floors?
How do you want to feel when you get there?
If you trusted that your art would support your life, how would you live?
We come to our edge either to be of service or to self-express.
Your edge is not a horizon – it is inside – the way to get to your edge is to open.
You want to lead and be innovative and be on your edge, you open. Openness is the greatest human resource.
Radiate and state the facts. Stop selling. Start radiating.
Honor your deadlines. If you betray yourself, it is the worst kind of betrayal.
The universe speaks in cash flow!
Worst-case scenario will liberate you!
The dream is inside you. Get it out and walk into it.
Jodi Ettenberg – Kind, Audacious, Compassionate, Adventurous Soul, Amazing Spirit
I know what you are thinking. I must have not liked Jodi Ettenberg‘s speech since I have only two quotes from her talk. Are you kidding me? I was mesmerized by her, I was so into with her speech that I could not take my eyes off of her long enough to take out the iPad. I have searched low and high all over #WDS tweets for quotes from her but these are the only two that I remember from her incredible speech. If you captured more, hurry up and add it to the comments for me (and all else to see)!
Jodi, I loved you! Speak again and speak often.
What’s the worst thing that could happen? I could always do something else so why not do the things I really want to do?
When I come back here, people ask me how my vacation was. I say this is my vacation. That’s my life.
Karen Wolrond – Funny, Talented, Beautiful, Brilliant Speaker, Incredible Photographer
I had not seen or heard about Karen before and now I regret that I did not get a chance to meet her and to offer up my lovely profile for her 1000 faces to photograph project. Sigh, sigh! Karen belongs on the stage. She has a mesmerizing presence and a way with words and the kind of self-deprecating humor that gives you belly laughs. At least, she did for me. I liked her facial expressions, her strong gestures, and the way she carried herself. And while I wrote fewer quotes from her speech than I would have liked, her impact was indelible for sure.
We are all wired to be different. What makes you different?
We all feel different (but we don’t want to admit it.)
Making comparisons is a colossal waste of time.
Create your own story. Do not let others create your story for you.
Adventure occurs when we embrace possibility
In addition to the awesome, you have to do some of the simple.
We don’t age because time passes. We age because we stop looking for the wonderful.
I figured that at 40 something, I have at least my life to live again!
Come up with one good thing a day!
We are all beautiful.
The commercial beauty changes all the time!! The inside stuff is beautiful.
Think of someone beautiful. Notice that if I had done this exercise in another room, you might have come to mind!
FYI: As you may know, all photography on Prolific Living is by me. If you are interested in seeing even more photos from WDS check out Chris Guilleabeau’s Flickr set! So many fantastic shots!
I am Farnoosh, the founder of Prolific Living. So glad you are here. My mission is to empower you to unblock your creative genius to live your dream life.