Category Archives: Lectures

How Bad Do You Want It?

Est. Reading / Watching Time 5minutes, (15min with bonus videos)

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of posts. My trip was extended to an incredible six month journey. I have been back a month now and have started to knuckle down and get motivated. I would like to share with you this amazingly shot video title “How Bad Do You Want It?”. The title is self explanatory. The video was shot using parts of a speech by a speaker at Michigan State University. I will include the original two part speech below the video.

Having ideas and wanting to be successful is all well and good, but its doing and putting those ideas to action which sets people apart.  Enjoy this fantastic video.

Click the HD button if your computer can handle it as the video is superbly shot and deserves it!

How Bad Do You Want It from Greyskale Multimedia on Vimeo.

 

 

Here is the original footage with an extended version of the inspirational speech in two parts…

One amazing girl, with an amazing story at only 23, Maggie Doyne

This was the first Do Lecture from 2010 that I have seen, and what an amazing speech. Maggie Doyne was a high school leaver who went on her gap year and instead of drinking it up in Australia she turned to poorer countries, like India and Nepal (one of my favourite countries). Concerned with the conditions of some of the children she saw, with just $5000, at the age of 23 she has set up her own school for orphaned children at Kopila Valley, Surkhet in Nepal. She has taken children away from child labour to give them a deserved chance at education.

She has since started her foundation called BlinkNow Foundation to share her ideas with other young people. Maggie won the prestigious Do Something award in America for all that she has done so far.

If you are interested in Maggie’s work please visit the BlinkNow webpage.

Why staying foolish is as important as staying hungry – Steve Jobs speech

Most people know Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. You are probably either in the camp of Windows or Mac (excluding the hardcore in Linux, although saying that I use Ubuntu and I’m not hardcore). From these choices you probably have a view on Steve Jobs as did I.

However I got pointed to this amazing speech by him. In it he goes into his early life, as well as his recent battle with cancer.  Its nice to hear him speak openly about goals, and how he has overcome being sacked from the company he founded, then rehired.  Steve Jobs has been through a lot and come through it all, and whether you like Macs or PC’s, I hope you will find this speech as interesting and inspiring as I did.

Its was done in 2005 by Steve at the Stanford University Commencement Address in California.  His talk is aimed at inspiring people to pursue their dreams and never settle.
“Stay Hungry, and Stay Foolish” – Steve Jobs

More on Steve Jobs:

West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer

EOS magazine Vol. 20 Nr. 3 maart 2003: Vliegtuiglawaai – Ramp Columbia – Walvissen – Gemidificeerd voedsel – Misvormde kikkers – Steve Jobs

How To Pack Lightly for Backpacking – Rolf Potts Travel


Rolf Potts is the Author of the book Vagabonding and is a great promoter of the idea of travelling better rather than more. This week he is starting a trip around the world using NO baggage. Think you travel light with that 35 litre back pack? Rolf Potts takes this to a new level of travel lightly.

Rolf is doing this to “field-test for a more philosophical idea — that what we experience in life is more important than what we bring with us.” By having no bag it means he cannot use his cameraman to carry things for him, no “man bags”, and no borrowing items from his cameraman.

Rolf Potts runs a successful blog and being a writer he needs internet access across the globe while doing this, so he is using an iPhone and a small foldable bluetooth keyboard to help solve the laptop problem. With some clever apps he can scan documents, and have airline tickets on hand without having to carry them. His key travel item though, is his amazing jacket. A special travel jacket called ScotteVest it is ultra light weight, sleeves can come off and the whole jacket even folds into itself for carrying. However the key is its massive amount of discreet pockets. They are designed for multiple items of different sizes and dont bulk like most jackets. Surely a must for any traveller.

More Information on the ScotteVest Tropical Jacket

For more information about Rolf Potts and his way of thinking, and what he has done, check out his Do Lecture below:

Rolf Potts has reported from more than fifty countries for the likes of National Geographic Traveler, the New York Times Rolf Potts - Vagabonding
Magazine, Slate.com, Conde Nast Traveler, Outside, The Believer, The Guardian (U.K.), National Public Radio, and the Travel Channel.

Rolf Potts’ Books on Amazon
Rolf Potts Books on Amazon - Vagabonding and more

Alastair Humphreys – The “Why” of Adventure Video

This is a short inspirational video. Its a talk, again by Alastair Humphreys about how to find adventure wherever you are, and why you should and do it. I love the comparisons in the video between the “worldly” images of Monks etc. to some guy off Junction 14 on the M25. Great short video

If you do not know of Alastair Humphreys, then watch his Do Lecture. Its amazing.

More on Alastair Humphreys:

Moods of Future Joys

Thunder & Sunshine

Ten Lessons From the Road

Randy Pausch Last Lecture Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This is one of the best hours of your life you will ever experience. Randy Pausch was a lecturer who died of cancer recently and gave his “last lecture”, normally given at the end of a year for students, this actually was his last lecture.

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.

There are so many great inspirational concepts in this video. I love this ideas about brick walls. “Brick walls are there to show you how much you want something”. Such a great man, and an incredible lecture. He gives such great information into his life and how he came about his views. Its an amazing video and one of the most inspirational and motivational videos you will ever see.

R.I.P. Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008)

Jamie Oliver – TED Talk

Everyone knows Jamie Oliver and his School Dinners program here in the UK. However he is now trying to do the same in the US. He won a TED Talk award, which this speech is for. TED Talks are basically the American version of The Do Lectures. Inspirational talks and lectures on a variety of topics. Jamie is trying to make change to the way kids eat at school and at home, and pushing for an American equivalent of EU food labelling. Its a huge task but as he says its about small steps spreading.

Tim Ferriss – Do Lecture

For me, Tim Ferriss, author of Four Hour Work Week, is arguably the man who set me off with wanting to do things, and making you realise anything is possible. In his book, the idea of Dreamlining symbolises this perfectly. A dreamline is setting a “dream” and then breaking it down into steps to make it reality. Whether its driving a Ferrari, or holding a conversation in Chinese with a local.  While no doubt Tim is now very successful, he still keeps his ideas of living well and spending time on things he wants to do.

Tim’s book, Four Hour Work Week, is in my eyes essential reading. Its a great non-fiction book. Get it now, it will change your life if you follow!

Alastair Humphreys – Do Lecture 4 years Bike Around the World

I first came across Alastair Humphreys from stumbling across the Do Lectures. The Do Lectures are basically a load of amazing people talking about great things they have done and what inspired them to do as such. This one by Alastair, who biked around the world for 4 years. He has also done many great, what he calls, “microadventures” like walking around the M25, and more recently Sea kayaking in Pembrokeshire.  We both have met him, and he is a great guy. He has also completed the marathon des sables which my friend Will and his twin Jim are doing in 2012.  I really like his ideas on taking a picture everyday, as it means you did something that was worth remembering. Also the idea of “when was the last time you did something new”.

Alastair has raced a yacht across the Atlantic Ocean and canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River as well as walking the length of the holy Kaveri river in India.

Alastair has published three books, with one more due by the end of 2009. (He has also written chapters for Lonely Planet’s ‘Flightless’ anthology, the Adventure Cycling Handbook, Stanorama and The Traveller’s Handbook. He ran the Marathon des Sables, finishing as one of the ten fastest Brits despite breaking his foot during the race. To fight off the wanderlust Alastair managed a sub-3-hour marathon, had a miserable time during the Original Mountain Marathon, the Devizes to Westminster 120-mile canoe marathon and another one during Tough Guy. Travelling round the World Cup in a camper van was much more fun.

After spending a year teaching 10-year-old boys in a school’s Special Needs department, Alastair is now training for the Bob Graham Round and preparing for SOUTH, the first unsupported return journey to the South Pole and the longest unsupported polar journey in history. In February 2009 he rowed to France with Major Phil Packer, a soldier paralysed in Iraq, as part of Phil’s attempt to raise £1million for Help for Heroes.