What can we learn about masculinity from an adventurer?

John Beede a worldwide adventurer who has traveled to 67 countries, written 3 books, and given live presentations to nearly 1 million audience members.

He has climbed to the top of the tallest mountain on every continent, including Mount Everest. He has kite surfed in every ocean on the planet. In the last nine years, he survived avalanches, pulmonary edema, tribal warfare, and a whole lot of Clif bars.

But his biggest challenge was when he sat down quietly on a sofa and told someone about his pain.

John’s newest book is The Warrior Challenge: 8 Quests for Boys to Grow Up with Kindness, Courage, and Grit. In this important book, John talks about how to raise young men in challenging times. Traits we've always considered masculine--like being tough and not showing emotion--are no longer what we want for our boys. Especially when society most needs unity, empathy, and the understanding that all humans are created equal.

Learn more about John Beede:

Book: The Warrior Challenge: 8 Quests for Boys to Grow Up with Kindness, Courage, and Grit, https://amzn.to/2VtSdOi

John Beede: https://JohnBeede.com

John Beede on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnbeede

John Beede on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnbeede

John Beede on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbd

What if your biggest setback can unlock a magical journey?

Jeff Harry uses a combination of positive psychology and play to unlock possibilities.

I asked Jeff to tell me about a time when he was resilient. His answer is epic.

“My best friend Dana and I are locking up the café,” Jeff Harry tells me. “We had put our heart and soul into it for the past year and a half. All my savings, and even money I didn't have - six figures to be exact - was invested in that cafe. Everyone tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. This is the last time we would be standing here, as we were closing the cafe down. We walked away with such shame.

“I felt like such a failure, a loser, naive, and stupid. I believed I would be in debt for the rest of my life, paying for this bad decision. What was I even thinking? Would I ever be able to bounce back? My inner critic beat up every day for the next year as I paid off debts and tried to scrounge up whatever money I could to free myself of this poor choice.

“A funny thing happened though. I was astonished that I was still alive. That even with this big failure, I hadn't had a nervous breakdown. I hadn't lost my job that actually paid me and for some reason because I hadn't died.

“I felt bold enough to fail again. Even if I fell flat on my face once again, it couldn't be as bad as this last failure. So, I decided to create a separate Corporate Special Events Wing for the LEGO-Inspired STEM Organization that I helped build.

“I started reaching out to the top Silicon Valley companies and pitching them to do special events that I didn't even know if I could pull off. I started doing crazy things because I was compelled to do it. For example, once I was watching a Marvel Movie, saw the VP of Creative Services, and went home and reached out to her on LinkedIn to see if we could collaborate on an event and she actually got back to me. Why not just ask every organization I ever dreamed of working with and just see who would say yes?

“That bold attitude and willingness to take risks culminated in us doing massive events and conferences for Amazon, LEGO, Google, Salesforce, and countless other Fortune 500 companies. We even broke a few World Records.

“I had no idea what I was doing, but I didn't care. Because I felt I could do anything after failing so miserably and surviving that failure. It really is true that you learn the most from failure and the more you are willing to fail, the more likely you will succeed. For example, James Dyson created 5126 failed prototypes before inventing the first bagless vacuum cleaner.”

Jeff’s persistence in the face of adversity paid off. Today, Jeff shows individuals and companies how to tap into their true selves and to feel their happiest and most fulfilled. He does that by playing. Jeff has worked with Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, the NFL, Amazon, and Facebook, helping their staff to infuse more play into the day-to-day.

Jeff is an international speaker who has presented at conferences such as INBOUND, SXSW, and Australia’s Pausefest, showing audiences how major issues in the workplace can be solved using play.

Learn more about Jeff Harry:

Rediscover Your Play: https://www.rediscoveryourplay.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffharryplays

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffHarryPlays

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-harry-6991a94

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jchuche

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeffharryplays

New York Times Article on Jeff Harry: How Do We Add More Play To Our Grown-Up Life - Even Now: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/smarter-living/adults-play-work-life-balance.html

What do the happiest among us have in common?

Laura DiBenedetto’s story begins with bullying, abuse, bankruptcy, and burn out. More than anything, she wanted to be in control of her own destiny. So, at the age of 19, she launched the award-winning marketing company, Vision Advertising. Laura created, built, and ran the growth-oriented enterprise. She personally sold several million dollars in ongoing contracts. She was featured on Fox News and other Boston programming several times. She was recognized for business accomplishments and was named a 40 Under 40 winner at only age 23.

At the age of 37, Laura retired with a 6-figure passive income. She had all the outward appearance of having won at life. However, she was simply burnt out and unhappy. After years of self-improvement classes, workshops, books, and more, Laura was confused. She wondered why the personal development world had let her down. She sought to solve the problem.

Laura went on a radical journey of self-discovery, research, and testing, determined to find energy and lasting, fulfilling happiness in all areas of life. She found the answers – six of them, in fact.

Today, Laura is devoted to sharing the truths she discovered, so that others may find their own path out of misery and into lasting happiness. She shares what she has learned in her book, The Six Habits: Practical Tools for Bringing Your Dreams to Life.

Laura is a TEDx Speaker and bestselling author. She teaches how to create the life of our dreams without sacrificing what we love. As Founder and CEO of Vision Advertising, a company that she built aged 19, she has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs build and grow profitable enterprises entirely on their terms.

Learn more about Laura DiBenedetto:

Book: The Six Habits: https://www.thesixhabits.com

Laura DiBenedetto: https://lauradibenedetto.com

Laura DiBenedetto’s TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/5rYes2CHFIM

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraldibenedetto

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauraldibenedetto

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lldibenedetto