How to Dominate the World & Your Ideas: Trip Update #3.

July 8, 2012 by marcella Blog

Recap! I’m currently on a ten-day trip to San Francisco and Portland in the hopes of refreshing my mind and soul. Sounds corny, but it’s awesomely true! I’m now in Portland, and this is the third update on my trip so far. You can read update #1(Silicon Valley, Here I Come!) and update #2 (The Land of Saving the World) by clicking on those links.

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I’m writing this as I’m holed up in my hotel room, hiding from the crowds at World Domination Summit. As scary as the name of this conference is, the people attending aren’t as scary as you’d think. They’re actually overwhelmingly amazing!

The overarching question at this conference is:

How to live a remarkable life in a conventional world?

What a problem.

There are a few caveats with attending conferences like this one, and I’m going through those growing pains as we speak. For example:

Being inundated with amazing speeches and concepts is enlightening — and also completely overwhelming. Beware mental overdrive!
Approaching new people is difficult, but try walking up to a group of chatty friends? Nothing like that to bring me back to being the new kid at school!
Getting to know new people is really fun — and super exhausting.
Traveling means less time and dedication to exercise. Your usual means of relieving stress may be harder to find. When feeling overwhelmed is when you need exercise the most!
The “famous” folks are just as normal and interesting as everyone else. Talking to others is great, but approaching the “big dogs” can lead to amazing conversations, too.
Great ideas are buzzing around like a pestering puppy that wants attention — but conferences don’t leave much time to dedicate to them!

These all seem like such #firstworldproblems, don’t they? But there’s a few amazing things I’ve learned so far — and I’ve still got the entire afternoon to go!

Image: Batteries

I like my alone time, so I protect it.

Every idea needs incubating and space to grow into action. Guess what? So do I.

A conference is about networking, sharing, chatting, learning — and I’ve never experienced so many intense people in one place until now. The crowd is amazing, but I’ve also come to appreciate my time alone to process. Not only do I appreciate it, I fight for it.

We all need this some times, don’t we? Whether it’s time away from our families, roommates, coworkers or friends, it happens. And it’s okay! Time to process and reflect is an amazing resource that perhaps gets overlooked in this action-focused world!

We’re aiming for productivity, when we’re really screaming for some peace and quiet.

My advice? Take it and protect it. Find a few minutes to yourself, and do what feels best to you.

Acting and contributing to the world means you need replenishment, too.

I had never thought about this in these words, but my amazing roommate spelled it for me last night — right as I was about to explode from exhilaraustion.

It’s a real thing. Exhilaraustion happens — be prepared for when it strikes!

I’m not discounting action. An idea is still worth very little without execution and action, but how can you act when you are completely depleted and overwhelmed? It’s very difficult, and I don’t recommend it. Not a fun process, by any means!

There are a few ways to replenish yourself and refuel those batteries:

Go off by yourself for a walk in some green space. I got lost in Portland the other night and ended up walking by myself for over an hour. Absolute gold.
Find resources and technology to free up more of your time. Automating actions (through IFTTT or Evernote) can help you spend more time working on creating some peace.
Read and watch videos of your heroes — especially the ones that speak to your emotions. My favorites this trip have been Brene Brown and Danielle LaPorte. Highly recommend!
Fuel up on sleep and foods that truly energize your body. Your body runs at the level of stuff you put into it, so please give it some protein and nutrients.
Have relaxed and fulfilling conversations. Some people are out to outdo you, but the people who want to understand and help are the coolest folks you’ll find. Chat them up, and steer clear of the I’m so cool-ites.

Take some of these as a starting point, but truly figure out what helps you feel more replenished, refreshed, and ready to take on the world. There’s no right or wrong way to do things — just know that investing time in yourself and feeling up to the challenge is important.

Treat yourself right, and I’m sure you’ll get to some amazing places. Maybe even to World Domination Summit next year?!

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Logo: Claro Nicaragua A big resounding THANK YOU! to Claro Nicaragua for making this trip possible. It’s incredibly inspiring and enlightening when a company makes bold moves to push for innovation and technological progress.