What changes our view of life

[Music]

one day

my friend sent me a link to a youtube

video titled

watch this before you die so naturally i

thought

this was going to be a life changing

video i prepared myself for what was

about to come my way

and hit play i was at about minute 3 of

the 9 minute 58 second video

a group of people were getting ready to

go on the road trip of their lives

taking off everything on their lifelong

bucket lists and helping others do the

same

i hadn’t heard anything that had changed

my life yet but i thought it’s only the

beginning

i should keep watching i got to minute

six

and i thought they’re probably saving

the best for last

but then i got to 9 minutes and 50

seconds

and as they were giving their takeaways

from this whole experience

i was wondering what information could

there possibly be

that needed to be saved for the last

eight seconds of the video

and then the video ended

as i watched the screen go blog i was

still the same person that i had been 10

minutes ago

i was baffled why did i need to watch

this video if it changed nothing in me

i started wondering that if such a

seemingly strong video couldn’t change

me

could anything initially i did what any

attention seeking teenager would do

and posted a story on my instagram

asking people for times they changed and

why

interestingly i got very different

responses from people who i will totally

reference accurately

barbara replied seeing her view on life

changed through a simple conversation

deathly afraid of death she asked how

can people just be ready to die

and through that learn to focus on what

truly matters on the other hand

ralph had a very scientific approach to

change through documentaries backed with

meaningful evidence

he was convinced to try a minimalistic

lifestyle which has made him more

carefree

and happy from within lastly we have cj

who attended boarding school in dubai

during his time there he had to learn to

fend for himself

and he had to learn to develop away from

family

today he values family time more than

anything and he also finds it important

to stand up to bullying

whether it be change in outlook belief

lifestyle or the simple fact that your

hair is half a millimeter longer than it

was yesterday

change is inevitable i want you guys to

close your eyes

and picture the happiest most vivid

memory you can think of

time spent with a loved one a time you

couldn’t stop laughing

or maybe just ice cream i want you to

recognize how this memory makes you feel

were you feeling this way when you

entered the call today

we can open our eyes now oh god it was

so much easier talking to you guys with

your eyes closed

even though not all of us would have

been ecstatic when we entered the call

today

as we should be that special memory had

an emotion attached to it just like all

memories do

in fact that’s why you still remember

them subconsciously we do this all day

just not always with the happy memories

tom biliu

usc graduate and public speaker says our

thoughts and feelings together make our

state of being

which then goes through our daily

routines but since the past is all we’ve

ever truly known

the moment we wake up we are thinking

and feeling in the past

much like we just did these emotions

translate into actions and when repeated

enough become habits

our brains are wired to loop through our

daily routines

wake up at the same time wear the same

clothes pass the same stations on your

way to school

go to the same classes with the same

people

we almost subconsciously don’t want to

change so you said and i quote

95 of who we are by the age of 35 is a

memorized set of behaviors

emotional reactions unconscious habits

hardwired attitudes

beliefs and perceptions think about that

for a second

only five percent of the brain is

actually conscious

the part that tells you we’re gonna work

out every day from now on

but your body your body wants that

routine

the subconscious and conscious minds are

separated by the analytical mind

one we can access and train through

meditation

the first stages of meditation are often

uncomfortable because our minds are

forced to slow down

which especially my generation’s over

stimulated minds find hard to do

sometimes

the word itself means to get familiar

with

once we get familiar with our body’s

hunger for this daily routine during

meditation

we can learn to resist it during our

morning coffee or weekly movie nights as

well

making us more aware and in control of

ourselves

another approach would be envisioning

the change you want to implement

when visualized properly our brains are

unable to tell the difference between

our imagination and reality

and when visualized repeatedly our

imagination can become a part of that

daily program to our brain

it’s like having a dream so vivid that

when you wake up you have to ask

yourself

was that real now you know when coaches

say visualizing is important

they aren’t lying looking back at the 9

minute 58 second video

i see that it did change me because

change is in fact inevitable

it might not have made me a reckless

adrenaline junkie like we all hoped

but i now have the resources to

implement change in myself

and after this talk so do you i guess

it’s good that you watched this video

before you died right

but why did i tell you all of this just

so you could finally get the grade you

want

no change is powerful

but being able to control your change is

a force to be reckoned with

we know climate change exists but are we

all taking shorter showers or planting

trees

we know racism is prevalent but are we

all standing up to it when we see it

happening right in front of us

every issue leads back to the same

question

what will finally get people to change

instead of telling you about the issues

we already know exist

i told you a possible way to solve them

so i challenge you equip yourselves with

the most powerful weapon we’ll need

to fight our battles of today and years

to come

thank you