Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!
Trace back to the days of old when I was a teen, writing of my journey on every cruise around the Caribbean and you’ll find at the end of each story, a bit about how each vacation changes me. On the first part of this series, I was contemplating whether or not I should include the part about change then, or wait until I got home from SXSW to evaluate it. I am on the plane from Houston heading back to Tampa after having several hours to myself in a non-interactive, non-tech, non-SXSW environment, so here goes nothing.
Lesson #9: I have made the commitment to my career. I came down to Austin on my own dime, and the only thing I wanted out of this was to learn as much as possible, while meeting some great people along the way. Mission accomplished, and then some. The cost of this trip alone will be a wash thanks to the lessons learned and the connections made. I had the privilege of meeting with some amazing people, and I can’t wait to continue those relationships beyond the city limits of Austin.
After I met Bryan, I told myself I could go home the next day and I would have gotten my moneys worth. Then Sunday’s panels were incredible and full of bright minds and intelligent conversation. The parties? Forget about it. All of the sponsored parties I went to had an open bar – so the money I planned to spend on the nightlife stayed in my account. I managed to achieve a great balance between going to panels, hanging out in the blogger’s lounge with some extremely talented writers, and partying my face off.
To be around the innovators and early-adopters for nearly a week was such an amazing environment. Being saturated in conversations with the industry’s most creative and brilliant minds, all in one place, sharing what they know, challenging what I know, and learning from others is going to make it hard to adjust to exist in a world with “normal” people thrown in.
The light came on for me this week. Something triggered that “ah-ha” moment. I kind of fell into my own on Sunday, and just rode it out the rest of the week.
Lesson #10: Surround yourself with brilliance, and you too will shine. If you surround yourself with people who you want to emulate, you will challenge yourself to be better. If you settle for less, if you are okay with “run-of-the-mill” or if you are surrounded by people with no drive – you will lose yours. People with no drive suck the life out of me. I don’t produce as well, I complain a lot, and I’m relatively unhappy (part of the ah-ha moment stemmed from this discovery). People with drive feel my energy, feel my enthusiasm, and encourage me to be better, to keep motivated and positive. I am more fun to be around when I’m surrounded by like-minded individuals. I grew exponentially this week because of the environment I was in.
It’s not all about me. It really isn’t. Well, the choices and sacrifices that I make in regards to my career – yes, that is all about me. And I will be selfish when it comes to those decisions. But I learned this weekend that it’s about what you can contribute. Are you making a difference? Do you matter? Are you helping other people matter?