so a few years ago I did something that
had my latina mom panicking and
insisting that I see a therapist this
certain something that I did was
inspired by the delusional idea that I
wanted to start living the story that I
would one day like to read in a book I
was also in search of learning something
that I felt I couldn’t learn by living
the typical and ordinary life that I was
and yes of course
as you might expect of someone who goes
off and does what I am about to share I
too was looking to escape specifically
from a severely depressing and nagging
quarter life crisis but it was in this
crisis that I found the courage to do
something I had been contemplating for
three years so what was it that I did
that had my mom going all crazy well I
got rid of all my possessions money got
rid of my life in Los Angeles where I
had been a real estate agent for the
past six years
I took a one-way flight to Mexico City
where I landed alone and didn’t know
anyone with 300 bucks this backpack a
journal and no plan other than the idea
that I have to be creative to survive
and well kind of just write whatever
happened and it wasn’t long into my
arrival that my delusional life decision
came crashing on me I try to find an
escape for my escape I try to get a job
fortunately no one wanted to hire me I
quickly found myself on my last dollars
and on the verge of sleeping on the
street finally in a desperate act of
survival I went to downtown Mexico City
I made a grand investment of $2
I bought several things strings buttons
screws pins I got back to my hostel I
emptied my pockets on the floor of my 10
bed dorm room and I said okay Daniel out
of this something has to be created the
results were these weird looking things
just a long string with its ends
connected by a button not really knowing
what these things were I decided that
they had no specific use other than the
creative use each person we’re to give
them I showed it to some friends I had
made at the hostel and well naturally
they started laughing like what the heck
you gonna do with that sell them see
whom to people what people I don’t know
people on the street dude maybe you
nonetheless I went out after all I
really didn’t have another option there
was no plan B and my friends were right
at least to the extent that this was not
an easy gig my first day was a tragic
total and pathetic failure not one
person bought into my idea but I kept
going out trying different things and
taking notes not so much out of academic
reasons but more out of well you know
survival reasons and then the most
amazing thing happened
people started supporting me so much so
actually that I ended up travelling all
of Latin America from Mexico to
Argentina taking pictures of everyone
who supported and financed my travels
and my project in exchange for a simple
string and a button I then went out to
do the same
across the United States of America this
time with literally just one button in
one string which I kept they are now
close to ten thousand people on my
photos on Facebook this thing turned
into a socially conscious business with
the cause of helping people in need
through the self its products for
example that simple string and button
has evolved and 100% of the profits are
invested in people in need in the form
of micro financing but that leaves the
question well how how did I manage to
convince close to ten thousand people
from over a dozen countries to support
me or better yet for those in the sales
industry how did I manage to do so while
achieving what you guys would call an 85
percent closing ratio or in the case of
the United States of America how did I
manage to not only convince people to
allow me to take a picture of them but
to do so while holding my button if that
weren’t inconvenient enough to have them
sign a contract or a photography release
form which gave me the rights to that
photo have them hand me back my button
and on on top of that have them give me
money how there were several things that
play but I give the highest credit to
four things without these four things
none of this would have been possible
the first one humility there was
something I was able to say when I
landed in Mexico City that I would have
never dared to say no matter how true it
might have been back in Los Angeles
being the person that I used to be and
that was I have no money I am broke oh
it felt great but the power and the good
feeling was not so much in the phrase
itself or the fact that it expressed but
rather than the person I had become
as a result of being able to say such a
thing in the process of surviving in
Mexico City in the fight in the struggle
I had been forced to recognize that I
was no better than anyone else I had
been forced to accept myself for who I
was and how I was with all my problems
in all my insecurities I had found or
was forced to find humility at a level I
had never experienced before and it felt
fantastic it was like being able to get
in front of the world naked and say this
is me and what there was nothing to hide
nothing to pretend no image to uphold it
was liberating it was freedom
it was the platform upon which I was
able to connect with other people see
when it came to approaching people on
the street the freedom that I found in
humility allowed me to escape myself and
enter the world of the other person it
allowed me to have presence that pure
and unadulterated state in which we are
in tune with our environments and the
person in front of us in such a way that
we’re able to communicate in the most
effective manner possible
emotionally see when I approach people
or when I connected with people I
realized that it wasn’t so much what
they heard coming out of my mouth but
rather what they felt because they feel
another human being another person just
like them or was it just some random guy
caught up in his own head spitting out
words and making noise but most
importantly at least for me the freedom
that I found in humility
allowed me to not only be comfortable
being a street peddler but to also enjoy
the heck out of it despite what my
friends and family might have thought of
the fact that I was pursuing a life path
that was really not that much different
from me little kids selling Chiclets in
the street to Mexico and finally it was
from this place of humility that I found
myself in the best position to offer
respect which is ingredient number two
in his book David and Goliath Malcom
Gladwell tells the story of a drug
addict who went off to steal some girl’s
purse an 18 year girl a college student
wi-wo’ so he could buy more drugs he
approached her put a gun to her head a
357 magnum to be exact he demanded the
purse she gave him the purse he got the
purse he shot her later they asked him
well why the heck if you got what you
wanted if you got the purse why did you
still go off and shoot the girl his
response I didn’t like the way she
looked at me she didn’t show any respect
it seems like a stupid reason to go off
and kill someone except but it’s kind of
not that’s just the power of respect
it’s something so simple yet so powerful
you want to test it go off to some
random guy on the street preferably one
with a low stock of respect in his life
a high amount of pride take that 50 cent
pencil out of his hand break it throw it
on the floor and try walking away if he
beats you trust me it had nothing to do
with the pencil in my case I was able to
use respect to get one of the most
important things I could ever ask of a
complete stranger on the street and it
wasn’t their money
it was their time and attention when I
respected people they reciprocated they
respected me back and with that came
their time and attention which in turn
brought their support or a cell but it
all started with this little thing
called respect and the coolest thing
about this thing is that it’s
universally valued it can determine
whether someone pays attention to you or
not it can determine whether someone
shoots you or not yet it doesn’t cost a
thing to produce so now you might be
asking – okay Daniel we get it respect
universally valued cool but tell me the
most important thing Daniel what words
can I use to make people believe that I
respect them well for starters
communicating respect goes beyond words
it’s in the way you look at someone in
your body posture to the tone that you
use and second of all you don’t make
people believe that you respect them you
genuinely respect them there’s no need
the body posture the tone the words that
communicate respect they come naturally
when we’re genuine when we open up when
we’re humble when we’re honest honesty
ingredient number three in the end this
whole thing can really just be summed up
as me hitting the streets approaching
strangers and sharing my dream with them
I just simply told them who I was where
I was and where I wanted to be I told
him how I wanted to travel the world and
and start something I told them how I’m
going to take pictures of everyone who
supported me
and that if I made it I wanted to live
the idea that despite having little if
we’re creative we can go far with
something as simple as a string any
button did I just simply ask them if
they wanted to support me I never told
them this was a big thing in fact they
seemed to take a liking to the fact that
it was a small thing there was just me
and my delusional idea and in them
supporting me it was them too when it
came to opening them up I was honest in
the sense that I was straight up with
them about my purpose I didn’t start by
asking them how their day was or how
their family was I didn’t pretend to be
their best friend the niceties came
later I got straight to the point
interestingly I found that people
respected that when he came to signing
the photography release form or the
contract I just simply told them I
didn’t want to get sued for publishing
their picture
not one person refused to sign
so that’s honesty the next and final
ingredient curiosity for this let me
start by beating and bashing on
something that has become the trend in
the fashion of recent years the thing
most commonly said by people who don’t
know what to say in a given situation
think positive your girlfriend leaves
you you want her to come back don’t
worry
think positive your hand falls off you
want to grow a new one don’t worry
think positive all right I get it I
admit there’s some benefits to thinking
positive but it’s not a
one-size-fits-all solution when it came
to approaching people on the streets I
found it to be more of an issue than a
solution when I approach people with
this idea that said I am positive that
you’re going to support me I am positive
that you’re going to act on my
expectations I came off as selfish cocky
pretentious the encounter almost turned
into a bat we’re always saying I bet I
can sell you naturally they responded
with I bet you can’t now I’m not a
gambling man but in this case I would
definitely put my money on the other
person in deciding whether that thing
was going to get done or not so at this
point you might be asking okay Daniel
well so if it’s not about being positive
is it about being negative now I propose
a new solution to this old and overused
idea that positivity works best I
proposed curiosity in his buck to sell
his human Daniel pink references a study
in which two groups of people were put
to do anagrams or come up with as many
words as possible using a specific set
of letters the first group before they
started they were engraved with the idea
of positivity I can do it I can do it I
can do it
the second group were engraved with the
idea of curiosity you’re asking the
question can I do it can I do it the
results were astonishing the group that
went into it with curiosity asking a
question performed 50% better than the
group that went into it with a blind
positive mind state see the thing about
curiosity is that it asked questions it
seeks answers it begs for understanding
and it doesn’t assume this is incredibly
powerful when it comes to connecting
with people specifically with strangers
in an environment where stereotypes tend
to flourish instead of approaching
people with this idea that says I know
who she is we should be going into it
asking the question who is she so to
wrap up here in the end I traveled the
world from the great plains of the
United States to the depths of the
Amazon River to the peaks of the Andes
Mountains by far the
experience of my life yet I couldn’t
help but to feel slightly disappointed
when I came back to mom the lessons in
communication I had traveled so far to
learn we’re in the end not that much
different from everything my mom had
been trying to teach me my whole life
Daniel she said accept yourself be
humble Daniel stop hitting your brother
be respectful Daniel don’t lie to me
be honest in Daniel don’t assume ask
questions be curious thank you [Applause]