The power of encouraging words - for creators and consumers
There have been a lot of thank you's to the speakers of the TED Talks I have used in this project, and they are well deserved. But I thought it was about time to write a dedicated post about the TED speakers and their generosity.I mentioned in the TED post that the speakers were very generous and supportive in their interactions with me. I tried to contact all of the speakers in some way to let them know that I was using their TED Talk in my project. Most of the speakers had email addresses or online contact forms on their websites, but sometimes I had to be more creative with the 140 character limit of Twitter.From the first contact with the Concept Talk speakers I was happily surprised to receive some responses back. They weren't detailed replies, but just getting those short messages of encouragement was a massive boost to start off the project. With each activity I contacted more speakers, and received more support and encouragement.I should not have been surprised that the speakers were generous with their time to not only read my emails/ tweets, but to respond to me as well. After all, I was contacting them to let them know how much their talk resonated with me and that I was going to use it to help change my life. Nevertheless, each reply was a little mind blowing.We all know how important words are, especially when they are encouraging words. I learned a lot about this during 30 days of thanks, praise and mindfulness. I think this is something that we all fundamentally understand, but we forget too often. I know that I've made it part of my life to be better at complimenting and praising people, but I still know that I can forget to do this when stressed.Back to the speakersThe impact of those simple words when they come from people you admire and who have inspired you - well they are just a bit more powerful. Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to have the important people in your life tell you that something is great, but validation from the TED speaker whose idea you have used is just that bit more.Some of the speakers were more engaged with the concept than others, which is understandable since they are all very busy people. I thought about discussing some of these individually, but undoubtedly I would forget a particular interaction and leave someone off the list. So instead I would just like to say thank you again to all of the speakers for their ideas and inspiration, and a particular thank you to those of you who took the time to reply in any way to my email/tweet to you.Never underestimate the power of a few simple words of encouragement, especially when someone has told you that you inspired them. Your generosity has been greatly appreciated, especially during times when I was wondering why I was doing this to myself.Why should you care?I think this applies to everyone, especially since it is so easy to connect with our current technologies. I know that since I have been doing this blog I have become a lot more likely to comment on other blog posts, TED Talks, Tweets etc. than I was before - because I know how powerful that connection with a reader can be for the person who created the message.Even if the feedback is slightly challenging, at least you know that someone has taken the time to read and consider your work. That also goes for just a couple of words agreeing or supporting the ideas, which can be more valuable and timely than you could ever imagine.So I would encourage you to think about who has inspired you, or introduced you to an idea? Do you consume their thoughts and ideas without ever letting them know about the impact they are having? I would encourage you to take a few minutes today to thank them - either in person or through the medium they connect with you.For me, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you reader. I know you are all busy and I appreciate you allowing me into your life, I hope that I am living up to my end of this deal :-)