I used to fantasize about getting hit by
a bus every single day of my life and I
would we play the scenario over and over
again in my mind I felt like I was
living a life that wasn’t mine I was
just a cami on someone else’s story I
would show up when I was in heated and I
would drift away when I wasn’t and I
kept off thinking that there must be
more meaning to life than this that I
had so much more potential inside of me
than I was doing at the time how many of
you feel like you know way more
potential inside of you than what you do
right now raise your hand raise your
hand raise your hand yes so the only way
I knew how to get outside of this
vicious cycle was to get hit by the bus
right here
so really the bus represented change
that it was a guarantee that on that day
when that bus would hit me things will
change and maybe in that moment I can
change I did get hit by the bus of
change it’s not the thing you see behind
me on wheels it turned out that one of
my best friends died and after his death
I thought about his life and the more I
thought about his life the more is seem
like mine he didn’t do anything
meaningful he complained all the time
and he had a lot of regrets losing my
friend made me realize that I did not
want to die with regrets and when I
thought about it in that moment I was
certain that this is my bus of change
hogging from a distance telling me to
turn my life around
and for the first time in years in years
I was motivated to take action and I did
I started by eliminating everything
negative in my life I quit my job I
stopped hanging around toxic people I
even stopped doing certain activities
that no longer served me but I still
didn’t find that meeting I was looking
for life just got a little less negative
I had this gaping hole inside of me
so food to fill that void I started
bringing in all sorts of positive things
in my life I start saying yes to crazy
experiences I started making furniture
by hand I started making jewelry I even
said yes to a friend when he asked me to
read his gigantic manuscript in two
weeks to that point I haven’t finished
reading a single book in over a decade
let alone it was a gigantic manuscript
in two weeks but I said yes anyway over
the next few months a lot of things I
was trying kind of drifted away the
jewelry faded the furniture faded but I
kept going back to that manuscript and
the reason for that is I discovered
something that profoundly changed my
life and that is what I’m here to share
with you today it is called your one
word your one word is your single most
important core value defined by you once
you discover that core value is you know
what you stand for as a human being
it is then you could create a life with
meaning and purpose instead of just
reacting to what others expect of you
how many of you want to know what you
stand for raise your hand I think more
of you do one more time how many of you
want to find a way you stand for a raise
your hand but before I actually get
there show you how to get there I’m
going to share some stories of people
who have used their one word anywhere
from achieving their dreams to running a
500 million dollar business to show you
the importance of this process and how
life-changing it can be this is Roberto
Roberto is your typical creative he had
all of these great ideas he want to have
a YouTube channel he want to write a
book he want to make inspirational
t-shirts he wanted to start a podcast
but he wasn’t executing on any of those
ideas consistently he just kept on
putting it off so one night when he was
just walking out of his local bar that
he has been at many times in his life he
found himself mugged at knifepoint
and that raw things and sharper
spectre-4 Roberto
this was his bus of change moment when
he when he went to go find his one word
he started thinking about questions like
if I was locked in a room for all of
eternity what would I do the answer to
this question and the answer that tied
all of his previous ambitions together
is that he would create awesome things
which is what ultimately helped Roberto
start a full-time business around his
one word awesome he is now writing that
book he has a YouTube channel with over
250 5000 subscribers he’s launched a
podcast and he’s making those t-shirts
he’s finally chasing after his dreams
and executing on all of his ideas
because that’s the clarity and focus
that his one word gave him this is maria
maria is the successful CEO of one of
the largest publishing companies in the
world but this almost didn’t happen
Maria’s father was killed in a car
accident one night at that time her
father owned the family business which
was passed down from her grandfather
Maria’s father’s unexpected death meant
that all of those responsibilities now
are thrusted on her this was Maria’s bus
of change moment and when she thought
about it her one word became a love –
Maria love is a single thread that
connects everything in life in a
beautiful way not only was Maria able to
cope with extreme this extremely
traumatic time using her one word love
she owns a 500 million dollar business
and her one word shows up in everything
that she does from her marketing
campaign to picking the right projects
to hiring the right people by using her
one word love Maria is able to put her
own little unique mark on the business
instead of doing things the ways always
been done
and this is me inspired by the stories
of Roberto Maria I set out to find what
my one
is after doing the exercises that I’m
about to show you in a few minutes I
discovered that my one word is
extraordinary and ever since I
discovered my one word I’ve been able to
do some very extraordinary things I quit
my job and I started a business from
scratch
I left the hustle and bustle of the city
to live in the country even standing
right here in front of you right now
giving you this talk is something I
would have never done if I hadn’t found
my one word now all three of us are one
words are very different
Roberto’s being awesome Maria’s being
loved mine being extraordinary but
there’s one similarity our one word
inspires us to be our best selves this
is you your one word could be very
different from ours but it needs to be
powerful enough for you to inspire to
live up to your fullest potential now
who wants to find out one word is raise
your hand
yes are we excited yes okay so the
process is surprisingly simple it has
three steps only first one is this is
who you are
this is where you’ve always valued this
is where you value today and this way in
a value for rest of your life
it is not a year’s resolution it is not
a solution to an immediate problem this
is your forever word number two is what
connects your happiness you want to make
a list of everything that makes you
happy everything that brings you joy
such as your favorite book your favorite
movie your favorite teacher your
favorite people when was the last time
you were overwhelmingly happy and why
even though they seem like completely
unrelated things there’s a common theme
that unites them all in your eyes once
you find out what that common theme is
you could bring more of that into your
daily life so instead of having all of
these happy accidents by watching your
favorite movie you can now create a life
that has
happiness in s more fulfillment and you
could go out there and live up to your
fullest potential so for example if your
favorite book is The Alchemist what are
the three words that describe the
alchemist to you right here
courage transformation inspiration what
about your favorite movie Happy Feet fun
love purge your favorite teacher miss
hope you had all of these different
teachers all these years how come she is
the one that stands out to you what does
she represent in your eyes beautiful
courage and patient I think by now you
see that courage is a reoccurring theme
courage is your one word now what if you
brought more courage into your life not
only are you going to live a lot more
courageous you can be happier you’re
gonna be more fulfilled and you could go
out there and live your fullest
potential
third step is traits that you hate some
people find it easier to go negative
make a list of all the people in all the
things that you hate in this world now
these people are not bad people they
just stand for something that you don’t
stand for what is it find three words to
describe them boss Tony what is it about
him that you can’t stand being around
unreliable discouraged and dishonest the
classmate Fred what is it about him
dishonest hateful miserable how about
that family member that every time she
comes around you just try to avoid her
not that she’s aunt Becky’s not a bad
person but there’s something about her
that you just don’t want to be around
what are those three things and once you
find out what that common word is which
is dishonest in this picture you find
the opposite the opposite becomes your
one word which is honesty you are about
honesty
now finding your one word has three
steps number one is this is who you are
this is where you value today this is
where you gonna value tomorrow this is
gonna were you in a value for rest of
your life forever word number two number
two is a traits that you hate finding
that anti word that you can’t stand
being around finding the opposite
becomes your one word and number three
is I think I just said number three
groups now at this point I’m gonna ask
if anyone has a one word yet please
raise your hand don’t be shy does anyone
oh wow wow wow oh my goodness okay I
have to choose I think I saw your hand
go up first ma’am in your in the white
cardigan what’s your one word understand
sorry I didn’t catch your name what’s
your name Susan and your one word is
understand beautiful everyone give Susan
a big round of applause and Susan this
is a big deal this is a massive thing
that you just discover so
congratulations well beautiful nice nice
so you’ve been on this all this time
gorgeous so I understand now everyone
finding your one word puts us on the
right path but it is up to us to take
the next steps we have to be the one
taking action so for example Susan her
one word is understand you want to take
a look at a three most important aspects
in your life number one family number
two your work or your school and number
three is your environment so number one
your family how can you be more of an
understanding mother understanding
daughter understanding wife
understanding sister number two you’ll
work how can you bring more
understanding to your work with your
boss with your coworkers with your
suppliers with your customers number
three is your environment we all have a
routine but I bet you anything it’s
probably not a very intense
so for Susan if your one word is
understand maybe there are certain
things you want to put into your morning
routine to make you feel more
understanding if there are certain
pictures that you feel that this makes
me want to understand people more what
are those pictures put them around you
every morning is there a certain quote
that you’re inspired by that you want to
be more understanding what is that quote
find that put it into your daily routine
and lastly is there a song that you’re
like wow when I listen to the song I
want to go out there understand more
what is that song put into your everyday
routine so instead of just waking up and
like oh I understand this I understand
that you’re now waking up
you’re already understanding before you
leave your door that’s beautiful now I
sometimes wonder that how things would
have been if I hadn’t waited for all
those years to get hit by the bus of
change all those years that I wasted
being miserable all those years that I
will never get back but I did learn one
thing that time is valuable and once
it’s gone it’s gone you will never get
it back how much time are we going to
waste not living out to a fullest
potential not living the life we want
not being are happy ourselves all three
of us Roberto Maria and myself got hit
by the bus of change before we did
anything with our lives before before
experiencing happiness we experienced a
lot of pain the truth is none of you
need to get hit by the bus of change to
go out there and make a difference in
your life all you have to do is take
action right now and if you do I am so
incredibly excited in what your life is
gonna be like and I’m so excited for the
world and how it’s gonna change because
of you thank you
[Applause]
a bus every single day of my life and I
would we play the scenario over and over
again in my mind I felt like I was
living a life that wasn’t mine I was
just a cami on someone else’s story I
would show up when I was in heated and I
would drift away when I wasn’t and I
kept off thinking that there must be
more meaning to life than this that I
had so much more potential inside of me
than I was doing at the time how many of
you feel like you know way more
potential inside of you than what you do
right now raise your hand raise your
hand raise your hand yes so the only way
I knew how to get outside of this
vicious cycle was to get hit by the bus
right here
so really the bus represented change
that it was a guarantee that on that day
when that bus would hit me things will
change and maybe in that moment I can
change I did get hit by the bus of
change it’s not the thing you see behind
me on wheels it turned out that one of
my best friends died and after his death
I thought about his life and the more I
thought about his life the more is seem
like mine he didn’t do anything
meaningful he complained all the time
and he had a lot of regrets losing my
friend made me realize that I did not
want to die with regrets and when I
thought about it in that moment I was
certain that this is my bus of change
hogging from a distance telling me to
turn my life around
and for the first time in years in years
I was motivated to take action and I did
I started by eliminating everything
negative in my life I quit my job I
stopped hanging around toxic people I
even stopped doing certain activities
that no longer served me but I still
didn’t find that meeting I was looking
for life just got a little less negative
I had this gaping hole inside of me
so food to fill that void I started
bringing in all sorts of positive things
in my life I start saying yes to crazy
experiences I started making furniture
by hand I started making jewelry I even
said yes to a friend when he asked me to
read his gigantic manuscript in two
weeks to that point I haven’t finished
reading a single book in over a decade
let alone it was a gigantic manuscript
in two weeks but I said yes anyway over
the next few months a lot of things I
was trying kind of drifted away the
jewelry faded the furniture faded but I
kept going back to that manuscript and
the reason for that is I discovered
something that profoundly changed my
life and that is what I’m here to share
with you today it is called your one
word your one word is your single most
important core value defined by you once
you discover that core value is you know
what you stand for as a human being
it is then you could create a life with
meaning and purpose instead of just
reacting to what others expect of you
how many of you want to know what you
stand for raise your hand I think more
of you do one more time how many of you
want to find a way you stand for a raise
your hand but before I actually get
there show you how to get there I’m
going to share some stories of people
who have used their one word anywhere
from achieving their dreams to running a
500 million dollar business to show you
the importance of this process and how
life-changing it can be this is Roberto
Roberto is your typical creative he had
all of these great ideas he want to have
a YouTube channel he want to write a
book he want to make inspirational
t-shirts he wanted to start a podcast
but he wasn’t executing on any of those
ideas consistently he just kept on
putting it off so one night when he was
just walking out of his local bar that
he has been at many times in his life he
found himself mugged at knifepoint
and that raw things and sharper
spectre-4 Roberto
this was his bus of change moment when
he when he went to go find his one word
he started thinking about questions like
if I was locked in a room for all of
eternity what would I do the answer to
this question and the answer that tied
all of his previous ambitions together
is that he would create awesome things
which is what ultimately helped Roberto
start a full-time business around his
one word awesome he is now writing that
book he has a YouTube channel with over
250 5000 subscribers he’s launched a
podcast and he’s making those t-shirts
he’s finally chasing after his dreams
and executing on all of his ideas
because that’s the clarity and focus
that his one word gave him this is maria
maria is the successful CEO of one of
the largest publishing companies in the
world but this almost didn’t happen
Maria’s father was killed in a car
accident one night at that time her
father owned the family business which
was passed down from her grandfather
Maria’s father’s unexpected death meant
that all of those responsibilities now
are thrusted on her this was Maria’s bus
of change moment and when she thought
about it her one word became a love –
Maria love is a single thread that
connects everything in life in a
beautiful way not only was Maria able to
cope with extreme this extremely
traumatic time using her one word love
she owns a 500 million dollar business
and her one word shows up in everything
that she does from her marketing
campaign to picking the right projects
to hiring the right people by using her
one word love Maria is able to put her
own little unique mark on the business
instead of doing things the ways always
been done
and this is me inspired by the stories
of Roberto Maria I set out to find what
my one
is after doing the exercises that I’m
about to show you in a few minutes I
discovered that my one word is
extraordinary and ever since I
discovered my one word I’ve been able to
do some very extraordinary things I quit
my job and I started a business from
scratch
I left the hustle and bustle of the city
to live in the country even standing
right here in front of you right now
giving you this talk is something I
would have never done if I hadn’t found
my one word now all three of us are one
words are very different
Roberto’s being awesome Maria’s being
loved mine being extraordinary but
there’s one similarity our one word
inspires us to be our best selves this
is you your one word could be very
different from ours but it needs to be
powerful enough for you to inspire to
live up to your fullest potential now
who wants to find out one word is raise
your hand
yes are we excited yes okay so the
process is surprisingly simple it has
three steps only first one is this is
who you are
this is where you’ve always valued this
is where you value today and this way in
a value for rest of your life
it is not a year’s resolution it is not
a solution to an immediate problem this
is your forever word number two is what
connects your happiness you want to make
a list of everything that makes you
happy everything that brings you joy
such as your favorite book your favorite
movie your favorite teacher your
favorite people when was the last time
you were overwhelmingly happy and why
even though they seem like completely
unrelated things there’s a common theme
that unites them all in your eyes once
you find out what that common theme is
you could bring more of that into your
daily life so instead of having all of
these happy accidents by watching your
favorite movie you can now create a life
that has
happiness in s more fulfillment and you
could go out there and live up to your
fullest potential so for example if your
favorite book is The Alchemist what are
the three words that describe the
alchemist to you right here
courage transformation inspiration what
about your favorite movie Happy Feet fun
love purge your favorite teacher miss
hope you had all of these different
teachers all these years how come she is
the one that stands out to you what does
she represent in your eyes beautiful
courage and patient I think by now you
see that courage is a reoccurring theme
courage is your one word now what if you
brought more courage into your life not
only are you going to live a lot more
courageous you can be happier you’re
gonna be more fulfilled and you could go
out there and live your fullest
potential
third step is traits that you hate some
people find it easier to go negative
make a list of all the people in all the
things that you hate in this world now
these people are not bad people they
just stand for something that you don’t
stand for what is it find three words to
describe them boss Tony what is it about
him that you can’t stand being around
unreliable discouraged and dishonest the
classmate Fred what is it about him
dishonest hateful miserable how about
that family member that every time she
comes around you just try to avoid her
not that she’s aunt Becky’s not a bad
person but there’s something about her
that you just don’t want to be around
what are those three things and once you
find out what that common word is which
is dishonest in this picture you find
the opposite the opposite becomes your
one word which is honesty you are about
honesty
now finding your one word has three
steps number one is this is who you are
this is where you value today this is
where you gonna value tomorrow this is
gonna were you in a value for rest of
your life forever word number two number
two is a traits that you hate finding
that anti word that you can’t stand
being around finding the opposite
becomes your one word and number three
is I think I just said number three
groups now at this point I’m gonna ask
if anyone has a one word yet please
raise your hand don’t be shy does anyone
oh wow wow wow oh my goodness okay I
have to choose I think I saw your hand
go up first ma’am in your in the white
cardigan what’s your one word understand
sorry I didn’t catch your name what’s
your name Susan and your one word is
understand beautiful everyone give Susan
a big round of applause and Susan this
is a big deal this is a massive thing
that you just discover so
congratulations well beautiful nice nice
so you’ve been on this all this time
gorgeous so I understand now everyone
finding your one word puts us on the
right path but it is up to us to take
the next steps we have to be the one
taking action so for example Susan her
one word is understand you want to take
a look at a three most important aspects
in your life number one family number
two your work or your school and number
three is your environment so number one
your family how can you be more of an
understanding mother understanding
daughter understanding wife
understanding sister number two you’ll
work how can you bring more
understanding to your work with your
boss with your coworkers with your
suppliers with your customers number
three is your environment we all have a
routine but I bet you anything it’s
probably not a very intense
so for Susan if your one word is
understand maybe there are certain
things you want to put into your morning
routine to make you feel more
understanding if there are certain
pictures that you feel that this makes
me want to understand people more what
are those pictures put them around you
every morning is there a certain quote
that you’re inspired by that you want to
be more understanding what is that quote
find that put it into your daily routine
and lastly is there a song that you’re
like wow when I listen to the song I
want to go out there understand more
what is that song put into your everyday
routine so instead of just waking up and
like oh I understand this I understand
that you’re now waking up
you’re already understanding before you
leave your door that’s beautiful now I
sometimes wonder that how things would
have been if I hadn’t waited for all
those years to get hit by the bus of
change all those years that I wasted
being miserable all those years that I
will never get back but I did learn one
thing that time is valuable and once
it’s gone it’s gone you will never get
it back how much time are we going to
waste not living out to a fullest
potential not living the life we want
not being are happy ourselves all three
of us Roberto Maria and myself got hit
by the bus of change before we did
anything with our lives before before
experiencing happiness we experienced a
lot of pain the truth is none of you
need to get hit by the bus of change to
go out there and make a difference in
your life all you have to do is take
action right now and if you do I am so
incredibly excited in what your life is
gonna be like and I’m so excited for the
world and how it’s gonna change because
of you thank you
[Applause]
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