Your One Word will UNLOCK your POTENTIAL - #UnlockingLily Ep. 12

I used to fantasize about getting hit by a bus every single day of my life. And I would replay 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 cameo in someone else's story. I would show up when I was needed, and I would drift away when I wasn't. And I kept on 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 have way more potential inside of you than what you're doing 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 it seemed 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 honking 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 meaning I was looking for. Life just got a little less negative. I had this gaping hole inside of me. So to fill that void, I started bringing in all sorts of positive things in my life. I started 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 2 weeks. To that point, I haven't finished reading a single book in over a decade. Let alone a— it was a gigantic manuscript in 2 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. Yes. I think more of you do. One more time. How many of you want to find out what you stand for? Raise your hand. But before I actually get there, show you how to get there, I'm gonna share some stories of people who have used their one word, anywhere from achieving their dreams to running a $500 million 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 wanted to have a YouTube channel, he wanted to write a book, he wanted 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 knife point. And that brought things in sharp perspective for Roberto. This was his bus of change moment. 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 255,000 subscribers. He's launched that podcast, and he's making those t-shirts. He's finally chasing after his dreams and executing on all of his ideas because 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 were thrusted on her. This was Maria's bus of change moment. And when she thought about it, her one word became "love." To Maria, love is that single thread that connects everything in life in a beautiful way. Not only was Maria able to cope with this extremely traumatic time using her one word, "love," she owns a $500 million 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 way it's always been done. And this is me. Inspired by the stories of Roberto and María, I set out to find what my one word 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, our one words are very different. Roberto's being awesome, Maria's being love, 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 what one word is? Raise your hand. Yes? Are we excited? Yes. Okay. So the process is surprisingly simple. It has 3 steps only. First one is, this is who you are. This is what you've always valued. This is what you value today, and this is what you're gonna value for the rest of your life. It is not a New Year's resolution. It is not a solution to an immediate problem. This is your forever word. Number 2 is what connects your happiness. You wanna 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 more happiness in it, 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 3 words that describe The Alchemist to you? Right here? Courage, transformation, inspiration. Patient. What about your favorite movie, Happy Feet? Fun, love, courage. Your favorite teacher, Ms. 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 recurring 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're gonna 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 and 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 3 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— and Becky's not a bad person, but there's something about her that you just don't want to be around. What are those 3 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. Honesty. Now, finding your one word has 3 steps. Number 1 is, this is who you are, this is what you value today, this is what you're gonna value tomorrow, this is what you're gonna value for the rest of your life, forever word. Number 2 is the traits that you hate. Finding that anti-word that you can't stand being around, finding the opposite becomes your one word. And number 3, is, I think I just said number 3, whoops. 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 the white cardigan, what's your one word? [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] But thinking of one word, I think maybe understand. Understand. Sorry, I didn't catch your name. What's your name? Susan. 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 discovered. So congratulations. Oh, thank you. But I haven't just discovered it. I've known it forever. Oh, beautiful. Nice, nice. So you've been on this all this time. Gorgeous. So, "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 the 3 most important aspects in your life. Number 1, family. Number 2, your work or your school, and number 3 is your environment. So number 1, your family. How can you be more of an understanding mother, understanding daughter, understanding wife, understanding sister? Number 2, your work. How can you bring more understanding to your work with your boss, with your coworkers, with your suppliers, with your customers? Number 3 is your environment. We all have a routine, but I bet you anything it's probably not a very intentional one. 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 it's 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 our fullest potential, not living the life we want, not being our happiest selves? All three of us, Roberto, Maria, and myself, got hit by the bus of change before we did anything with our lives. 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 going to be like, and I'm so excited for the world and how it's going to change. Because of you. Thank you.