This is the best TED you will ever meet in your life.

"Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow."

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Source: CNN

Ruth Bader Ginsburg aka the Notorious R.B.G, the US Supreme Court leader passed away some days ago. 

As the Notorious B.I.G, RBG is now sharing the stage up there with 2Pac, and all the legends that have impacted our lives beyond their lifetimes.

As I am turning 40 this year, I am always reflecting about my life and how I lived it so far. Most importantly, the question about creating some dots, that can be connected after my death, is something that is part of what drives my life today.

The quote from RBG above about dissidence is the best that could describe my mindset today. My hope is that I am standing on my ground, not for today, but for tomorrow.

One might argue that we must focus on the spectacular now and enjoy our life as long as we are here. One might say that, like Steve Jobs, the dots can only be connected backwards. And I totally agree with that idea of being present and living life to its “foolest” potential. 

Yet I believe that, I have the feeling that I have been put in this space-time continuum, right now, right here, because I have my part to play in the symphony of this part of the universe.

TED talks have that magic to share stories that can inspire and change your mind if you are ready to listen. Those TED talkers arrive on stage with an idea, a vision and a willingness to share and have a positive impact in this world. 

Besides the number of views, is there a way to measure the impact those TED talks have on the world?

I do not have the answer to that question. I choose to believe that all the TED talks I watched so far have had an impact in my life. As someone who is on a mission to create my own positive mark on this world, I have always been looking for a way to understand all the greats of this world, the likes of Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, and most recently RBG. 

I have been searching for common denominators that made their ways of living, their ways of being, their ways of choosing, the legendary lives they lived.

And the answer I found is in 3 simple words, nested in TED as in:

• Time
• Effort
• Dedication

If like me, you are on a conscious journey of positive impact in your life, welcome on board the only TED talk that matters to us.

1. Time

As a lot of young activists, I am sometimes too impatient because things do not change as fast as I want. I do one march, and I say to myself: why things have not changed yet? 

This feeling can result in frustration and sometimes we may abandon our cause because things are not moving fast enough from our perspective.

Rosa Parks and the bus incident was in 1955. Barack Obama became the first “Black” US president in 2009, almot 55 years after that incident.

The take away from this, for me, is that change takes times, sometimes more than our own lifetime as individuals. We have to be patient and never give up on our values, our battles and ourselves.

2. Effort

The battles worth fighting do require a lot of time. And they also require a lot of effort sustained for that period of time. 

I am impressed by the time Nelson Mandela spent in jail for the fight against aparthaid in South Africa. I am even more impressed by his mental toughness to be able to face racial injustice in his own country for 27 years. His mental toughness is a gold standard for me. I cannot imagine how much effort he had to put in, every single day, for 27 years, to just keep himself saine. 

Effort has to be poured into our battles every single day, if we want to yield some results in the long run. We have to aim for the marathon, not the sprint. 

3. Dedication

Be it Malcolm X, MLK or RBG, they knew what they were fighting for. They dedicated all their mental focus on achieving that one vision. They built their lives around serving their higher purpose. 

Often we might get lost in our battles, switching from one cause to another. We have to be conscious that we cannot do it all. We have to consciously choose to dedicate our time, energy and resources to either contribute to solving climate change, or bridge the gap of racial injustices. We cannot dedicate our one life to those 2 massive changes in society. 

Dedication is the deliberate and conscious choice of self-awareness about our own limitations. We can dedicate our shine to light one room at a time.

As I say goodbye to Chadwick Boseman and RBG, I let their TED talks resonate within me. I let their shine be the light that will guide me towards building the blocks that will constitute the Pyramid of my life, like the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. 

Hi, have you met TED?

The present, the future, which TED do you choose?

What is your cause worth pouring in your TED life?

Who are the leaders that are your best TED buddies and why?

Leave a comment below.

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You can read my previous article on “KISS me Tender”, the hidden song of Elvis Presley that will change your life. (LinkedIn)

Photo by Ariel Pilotto on Unsplash