Bollywood dancing at the WDS 2014 Closing Party (by Armosa Studios).

It’s been a week now since I’ve returned from the 2014 World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon (and subsequent travel up the Pacific coast) and now that I’ve had a bit of time to reflect, I figured I’d share my experience and some of the things I learned.

For me the best part of WDS, apart from being a very well-run event, is the people. Sure the speakers and the event itself are great, but it’s the connections and conversations that take place in between sessions, in the mornings over coffee or in the evenings over drinks. It’s a tribe of world-changers exploring how to live a remarkable life in a conventional world, or in many cases already doing so. And now it’s a tribe that I feel comfortable being a part of.

Last year I went to the WDS for the first time. It was awesome. I met a lot of inspiring people, learned a lot and had a lot of fun in the process. Looking back I felt a little naive about the whole thing though.

I went in not completely knowing what to expect, and while I left amped and excited about the future, I really didn’t know exactly how or where I fit in with the community, or even where I was going. I knew it was probably where I belonged, but maybe I didn’t believe in myself quite enough just yet.

I kept in touch with a few people I connected with and watched others from afar, and saw these people making amazing progress on their projects. It’s easy to look up and try to compare with everyone else. I’ve since learned through Scott Dinsmore’s Live Your Legend community that it’s best to measure against your own standards, not others. It can be inspiring one minute and deflating the next, if you let it.

WDS came at a great time for me this year. In the weeks leading up I had a pretty big drop in confidence and was beginning to doubt myself and even question if I still wanted to travel and achieve many of the dreams I’ve been pursuing. Crazy talk, I know. I love travel! I figured being around the energy that comes with WDS would set me back on course again, and I was right!

The back entrance to the main WDS theatre

This year was a slightly different experience as everything felt more familiar. It felt right. It felt like home. There were familiar surroundings and friends, of course, although even the new friends I met felt familiar.

The whole weekend seemed to fly by really quickly compared with last year. And when I was connecting with folks, I could sense there was more conviction in my voice as I described who I was, what I was doing and the travel I was planning over the course of the next year. A good sign of how far I’ve come – even when it often seems like little to no progress has been made.

There really is something about that energy that surrounds WDS. It comes from the people, from the community. Everyone is warm, friendly, open, genuinely interested in what you are up to and wanting to help however they can. Even introverts like myself open up and connect with strangers. You come to realize that strangers are, in fact, as Scott says, “friends you haven’t met yet.” Or “cousins” as A.J. Jacobs would teach us.

You know that feeling while working in “the real world” (an uninspiring job, the 9-5, the rat race, the grind, etc.) when you get home and you are just completely drained and can’t possibly stay awake past 9 or 10 (or at times are forced to work beyond this time for some arbitrary deadline). I used to think that this exhaustion was just a sign of getting old, that we just don’t have that youthful energy from say our 18-22 university days. Now I know that is complete BS.

I didn’t take any days off work before WDS, so I went right from working on Wednesday, to waking up at 5 the next morning to leave for the west coast, and three flights later, found myself at my hostel right as the Thursday night pre-party was beginning. All I wanted to do was crash in my bed and sleep for the next 12 hours. Thankfully, after laying down for about 15-20 minutes, my roommate convinced me otherwise. When all was said and done after a fun night of connecting with friends new and old, the two of us closed the place down. I didn’t think I had the energy to stay up that long!

My whole trip between WDS and a further five spectacular days in Vancouver was a similar experience in terms of having what seemed to be an endless amount of energy to grow, explore and connect. Sometimes all it takes to get that youthful vitality back is to just step away from “real life” and start living the life you are meant to be living. Now, I’m not suggesting going out and partying like I did that first night is the answer, but being in the right environment and around the right people can make all the difference. I saved a quote I read from Chris Guillebeau (founder of WDS) a while back in his post Life’s Priorities:

“When you’re trying to create your own freedom and escape a life that drains your energy, how shall you choose to live?” – Chris Guillebeau

For myself and other WDS attendees, we choose to live remarkable lives. Some are further along than others. I’m still very much in the early stages, while others you could say are legit veterans or even hall of famers. While we may be in different stages, doing different things and coming from varying walks of life, we all striving for community, adventure and service (the three pillars of WDS).

Me on line prior to The Great Namaste (world record attempt for longest yoga chain)

I was pleased that, like last year, WDS got started by breaking another world record (world’s longest yoga chain) and ended with an awesome party featuring Bollywood dancing with a bunch of friends. Here’s a summary of what I experienced in between.

This was the first WDS to offer academies, a series of mini events focuses on specific topics that were separate from the main WDS events. I went to Jonathan Field’s RevolutionU on Friday, and the Finding and Refining a Great Business Idea academy presented by the Fizzle.co guys on Monday.

RevolutionU was a presentation of 18 elements that Jonathan studied that are a part of political defiances, and how they can translate into marketing campaigns (think Apple) or trying to spread an idea or cause.

Fizzle was more of a workshop where we were presented concepts and then had to come up with our own ideas to validate together with a partner. It was a very useful exercise.

Of course the main event featured a number of speakers. The following are the various lessons and takeaways that resonated with me.

• A.J. Jacobs (the only speaker I was familiar with prior to WDS back when he was the focus of the Outsourcing chapter in Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek)
  • A.J. talked about being bold and experimenting strategically
  • “Fake it until you make it”
  • All historical figures took bold risks and did not defer their dreams
  • We are all cousins (albeit probably many many times removed)
  • A.J. is organizing the world’s largest family reunion in NYC next year to celebrate how we are all family
• Jadah Sellner (simplegreensmoothies.com)
  • Jadah was my favorite speaker at WDS – very powerful and emotional
  • Went through a lot of struggle before finding success in love and business
  • Gave her 3 Lessons in Love & Business
    • Say dreams aloud
    • Take Imperfect Action (this was the biggest theme that stuck out for me over the weekend)
    • Let Go
  • There are dreamers and doers (I definitely resonate being a dreamer) and it is good to find the opposite to help you
  • WDS is our soul tribe and it is safe to dream here (I think everyone in attendance can relate to this)
  • I also liked her 5 Rules for Building Your Community with Heart
    • Take consistent ninja-focused action
    • Stay insanely curious and see what sticks
    • Court your community
      • She gave a great analogy how this is a lot like dating
      • Social media = dance club
      • Website = your house
      • Email list = your bedroom
      • You have to add value to the social media first otherwise you just end up seeming creepy
    • Create hyper-engaged connection
    • Choose love over metrics (people over profits)
• Gavin Aung Than (cartoonist, zenpencils.com)
  • 1st website didn’t work – don’t give up
  • Left job and worked on site for 6 months with no backup plan
  • Take the leap of faith
• Shannon Galpin (National Geographic Adventurer of the Year)
  • Gave a powerful talk about how to combat apathy with the power of voice
• Michael Hyatt talked about the Designed Life
  • There’s the drifting life and the driven life – both of which are unconscious
  • The 3rd alternative is the designed life
  • We are the architects of how people will remember us
  • Have to take care of ourselves before we can serve others (think the oxygen masks on planes)
  • Don’t let the urgent take precedence over the important
  • What single brave decision do I need to make today? (another big theme for the weekend)
  • All the important stuff happens outside the comfort zone
• Saki Mafundikwa (visionary from Zimbabwe)
  • Jump and a net will appear
• Gary Hirsh
  • Name your fears
• Dee Williams (padtinyhouses.com)
  • Start to pay attention around you
  • Measure success by showing up with your friends
• John Francis (Planetwalker)
  • Protested oil spill in 1971 by giving up motorized vehicles, then took a vow of silence for 17 years
  • People are part of the environment
  • Keep on keeping on
• Elise Blaha Cripe (Expert of “the attempt”)
  • Just start and learn by doing
  • Quoted Amy Poehler: “Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.”
  • It’s okay to just stop if something is not working or enjoyable
  • Share your idea – it gets on someone’s radar
  • Make the unreal real. Say it loudly and believe in it fully.
• Scott Berkun (author of Making Things Happen)
  • Talked about Saving Your Creative Soul
  • When recounting a story of his jumping in a lake with friends, a few kept debating on the best way to jump and never ended up going in
  • Just do it – debating doesn’t help
  • What stops you is subconscious – not logical
  • Cursed by an abundance of platitudes
  • Narative bias – blind spots. Inspired action can feel like work and we think we need to consume another story
  • Survivorship bias – We think winners do something special to win when luck and randomness is at play in all creative ventures. You can do everything right and still fail.
  • Listen to yourself and journal it. Don’t judge, find soul and development
• John Jantsch (author of Duct Tape Marketing)
  • Make Good Choices
  • Freedom is the space between stimulus and response. If we give up that freedom on the small stuff…

Jadah Sellner speaking at WDS 2014 (by Armosa Studios).

In between sessions attendees had the opportunity to get on stage to tell their stories, and these were also incredible. Two of my favorites were from Saturday. There was the “poem catcher” (I don’t recall his name) who taught us to live life unedited and asked, what are you holding back?

Then there was Marsha Shandur who was due to run the NYC Marathon in 2012, which ended up getting canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. She then visited London and decided to run the marathon there instead, solo, as the actual race wasn’t taking place until five months later. She ended up getting noticed in the media, raised money for charity and ended up having lots of people joining her and wishing her well during the run.

Her lesson: If your dream doesn’t happen, keep going. What might happen will be better.

Chris has made it a habit or closing the weekend sessions with a big surprise. Two years ago he made an investment by given everyone in the audience a $100 bill in order to do something interesting. Last year, we had a toast with 3,000 people. This year was also really cool.

Upon registering at the start of the conference, volunteers encouraged attendees to record a quick “time capsule” video, imagining it’s now 2022 and you are now living the life of your dreams. Attendees talked about the things they were now doing in 2022, assuming this would be viewed eight years from now. Little did they know there was a surprise for four of these attendees.

Chris went into the audience, knowing exactly where many of the people who talked about their dreams in the videos were sitting. He instructed four of them to sit on the stage. He then replayed their videos in front of the audience and gave them a number of gifts to help give them a head start toward achieving their dreams. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the audience.

Going forward I have a renewed sense of belonging with this tribe. You don’t have to have attended WDS to belong though. Everyone can be remarkable in their own way wherever they are.

To paraphrase what I believe one speaker mentioned, we can do anything, but we can’t do everything. Whatever your dream is, choose to take one step today. Worry not about what others may think. One imperfect action, then build momentum one step at a time. For me today, it’s sharing this experience and the lessons learned with you.