In this brief reflective video recorded at St. Louis Airport on May 24, the speaker—traveling from St. Louis to Atlanta, Paris, and Switzerland—shares a "Moment of Yes" centered on the transformative power of personal energy and authenticity. He recounts attending his daughter Trinity’s high‑school graduation, noting her transition from 17 years of unschooling to thriving in a traditional school environment. The speaker highlights how authentic energy can positively affect both the individual and those around them, and warns that attempts to change another’s authenticity often lead to conflict. He proposes a collaborative "yes‑and" mindset: accepting and building upon others’ authentic selves rather than trying to reshape them, applying this principle to both personal and professional relationships. The talk concludes with a call to practice this approach throughout the week.
Chapters
Hey, good morning everyone. Here's your Moment of Yes for Monday, May 24th, from St. Louis Airport. Here we go. I have a long day of travel ahead of me. St. Louis to Atlanta, Atlanta to Paris, Paris to Switzerland. So I better get this in now. So the Moment of Yes for today, on Friday I was talking about sort of the energy, what energy do you carry with you and how that can be transformational. It can be transformational for the people around you as well as for yourself and how you can feel. You can feel that energy. You can feel the thoughts that people carry around, and that has a transformative impact on others. And so Trinity graduated from high school yesterday, and it was so cool to be here for the last week and a half, seeing her play soccer, going to awards assemblies, going to her, you know, girls' dorm event where she chosen as one of 3 speakers to speak, which is really great. And just to see how this, this past 2 years for her has been this great representation of everything that is really authentic about her. And just like you can feel the energy of someone, you can feel the authenticity. And I think what Hollister and I were super grateful for when she chose, after, you know, being unschooled for 17 years, to want to go into a traditional learning environment, which was That's totally fine. But her choice, and to see her thrive authentically in a space, and I think that was just really, really refreshing this past week and a half, is to see that your authenticity, you take your authenticity with you wherever you go. And at the same time, to try to see and respect someone's authenticity. And with Trinity, it's not always easy. She and I clash, she and Hollister clash, but it's authentic. And, you know, I think the times when you clash is when you try to change someone's authenticity. And I think that's a good lesson for all of us, whether in the professional or personal life, of working with someone and their authenticity compared to trying to change who they are. And, you know, that yes, and is all about accepting what the other person is giving you, accepting that authentic self and collaborating with it with your authenticity in a collaborative way, not a combative way. So as we go into the week this Monday, Today, let's think about how we can yes and everyone else's authenticity. Simple but not easy. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you.
