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The slideshow is haunted,
so I'm going to just put this here -

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(Laughter)

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and just go with this.

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Hello, thank you so much!

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So, my name is Colin Wright.

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I am very, very fortunate
to live a very unusual lifestyle.

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I move to a new country
every four months

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and do my best to live like a local,

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and that country is decided on
by my blog readers,

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they vote on what country I move to.

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(Laughter)

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And while there, I write books -

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I write books for a living,
I'm an author -

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and I write books about travel,
and about business, and philosophy,

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relationships, science-fiction novels -

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kind of whatever is interesting
to me at the moment.

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And I feel very, very fortunate
to be able to pursue these interests,

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these many interests of mine
that I geek out about all the time,

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and to be able to do this for a living,
to share with other people for a living.

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And the reason that I'm able to do this
is not happenstance,

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it was a very intentionally
cultivated lifestyle.

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I'd like to talk to you
about that idea of intentionality,

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but first, I want to talk
to you about a shirt.

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And it's a shirt that we all have,

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probably, I'm guessing
most of us have this shirt.

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It's the shirt that,
when you wake up in the morning,

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and you go into your dresser, you know,
and you open up the shirt drawer,

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you take it out and you
look at it, maybe try it on,

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it doesn't quite go
with everything else that you're wearing,

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it's shaped a little weird,
maybe it's a little boxy, a little short,

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like the sleeve is a blousy, weird shape,
it doesn't quite fit you,

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it's not a good fit for you

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and what you're trying
to get out of a shirt.

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So you fold it back up,
and you put it back in the drawer,

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maybe put some other shirts on top of it,

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so you don't have
to deal it again for a while.

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(Laughter)

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It sucks, because it's
a really nice shirt,

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you spent a little bit of money on it,
but it doesn't quite fit you,

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and so maybe someday, maybe someday
you will wear this shirt, but not today.

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(Laughter)

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And about seven years ago,

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I found myself going
through that shirt routine

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where I go in, take out
the shirt and look at it.

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But on that day, I didn't follow through
with the rest of the routine.

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On that day, I crushed it in my hand,
said, "Not today, shirt!"

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(Laughter)

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And I threw it on the floor.

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What had changed?

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Well, I realized, on that day,
seven years ago,

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that I was ostensibly successful,

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I was doing really well professionally,

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I was running a branding studio
out of Los Angeles,

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and I was a young person
making a great deal of money

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and experiencing professional success.

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And like a lot of young people

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who make a great deal of money
for the first time in their lives,

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I bought a lot of stuff.

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And I filled my townhouse with stuff,
and I filled my drawers with stuff,

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so I had all this excess clothing.

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And holding up that shirt

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really made apparent something
that I was thinking for a while.

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Because I was thinking
of re-calibrating my life,

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to try to move away

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from the "work hard all the time to make
as much money as possible" lifestyle

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that I was enjoying in some ways,
but was not truly fulfilling,

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it wasn't allowing me
to do the things I wanted to do.

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I was thinking, maybe
I can figure out a lifestyle,

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a way that I could travel,

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a way that I could
go out and see the world,

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all these places I was hearing about.

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But I don't know if you know anything
about the American education system,

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we don't learn much about other countries.

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(Laughter)

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I was really hoping to get out,
see some of these other countries,

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and see the real people there
rather than what you hear on "Fox News."

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(Laughter)

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And so, I was looking at all this stuff,
and suddenly, these things that I saw

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as a representation
of how well I had done,

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seems like anchors.

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They were a bunch of anchors,
holding me back,

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because I had to do something with them,

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and they made sense in this space
while I was living there,

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but if I wanted to travel,

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I would have to do something
with all of this stuff.

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And so I was thinking, well maybe
I'll get a smaller apartment,

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just for the stuff.

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You know, my shirts and things
can have their own place,

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and I'll just pay for that
while I'm traveling,

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so there will be this weird
common stuff apartment,

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somewhere in the United States,

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as I travel.

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Or maybe just a storage space,
somewhere that I can keep my stuff.

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But looking at that shirt -

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this valuable shirt, it was nice, it was
a really somewhat expensive shirt -

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and in that moment, I felt like Pharaoh,

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I felt like I was burying myself
with my riches.

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I had all of this valuable stuff,
sitting there in my home,

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that I wasn't doing anything with.

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I wasn't using the shirt.

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I wasn't using
most of the stuff that I had,

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it was sitting there,
collecting dust, as I hoarded it

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so that nobody else could have it.

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And it only hit me just then.

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And so I crumpled the shirt,
thew it on the floor,

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shouted at it for some reason,
I'm not sure why -

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(Laughter)

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I was more upset with myself
than the shirt.

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And then I went through
the rest of my drawer.

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And I held up each object and said,
"Is this valuable to me?"

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Not "Is it just valuable?",

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because almost everything
is valuable to someone,

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"Is it valuable to me?"

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And in the case of my clothing,
it was really easy.

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I could say, "Have I worn this
in the last month?"

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And if not, it went on the floor.

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I went through the entire drawer,
pulled out all the shirts I hadn't worn,

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went through the next drawer,
all of my pants,

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went through the closets,
all of my jackets and my shoes,

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went through the office,
all of the computers -

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I had a bunch of spare computers,
for some reason.

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(Laughter)

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All the extra tools, and notebooks,
and art supplies,

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all of these things I went through to see
what I was actually getting value from.

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Very little of it.

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Like 95 percent of everything I owned
was there on the floor.

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And the pile was so big,

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I had to take an entire room
in my flat to store it all.

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I had a room full of stuff I wasn't using
that I was hoarding like Pharaoh.

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There is a word for this -

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not for hoarding, not for that,
there's many words for that,

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none of them good -

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but there's a word for what I was doing,

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iteratively going through my life

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and questioning the things
I took for granted.

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It's called intentionality.

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And intentionality, it's not a scary word,

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it's something that we build up,
I think, very often,

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but all it means is
doing things on purpose.

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And that does require
that you have a purpose,

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that you have some kind of goal,
off on the horizon.

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Once you have that, once you understand

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what you want to achieve,
where you want to go,

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acting intentionality just means

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looking at all the different aspects
of your life and saying,

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"Does this help me get there?"

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So, getting rid of those things

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was a step that helped me
get to where I wanted to be.

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And intentionality is something
that applies to all aspects of your life.

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When we apply it to the things,
the possessions in our lives,

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we tend to call this
minimalism, very often -

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that's kind of the common moniker
for it these days, which is great -

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and all minimalism is,

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is focusing on the core,
what's important -

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whatever that happens to mean to you -

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and getting rid of the excess,

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getting rid of all the stuff
that doesn't matter

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so that you free up more time,
energy, and resources

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to spend on the things that do matter.

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So it's a reallocation of your efforts,
and attention, and your money, basically.

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So if I spend less
on the things that don't matter,

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I have more to spend
on the things that do matter.

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It's an incredibly simple thing,

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and yet it's something
that we tend to forget

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because there's a lot of messages
telling us that to be someone,

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we have to own this thing,
we have to own this brand,

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we have to stand with this group
and be represented by this tribe.

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And it's obviously not true,

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we're never more ourselves

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than when we're buying
and surrounding ourselves

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with exactly the things that serve us,

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that give us value
and nothing more than that.

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But that's not very lucrative

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for these companies that have things
that they want to sell a lot of.

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So you have to pay a lot of attention
and really focus on intentionality

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in order to remember this
as you're making purchases.

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Now, the same thing
applies to relationships.

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And this is something that a lot of us
don't think of, like ever,

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because it's not polite, frankly.

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(Laughter)

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Because, just as
intentionality with your stuff

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means going through
your things and saying,

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"Which of these is valuable,
and which of them is dead-weight?",

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going through your relationships
and doing the same

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means looking at them and saying,

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"Which of these is the most vitally
important relationships in my life?

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Which of these is just good?"

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You know, friendships
and relationships of convenience,

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the person you sit next to at work,

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that you happen to go to school with,

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who happens to live next door -

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valuable relationships,

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maybe not the things
that should have all of your time,

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they're great in context,
but these are not your best friends,

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these are not your significant others,
these are not your family.

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And then there is
those relationships that drain us,

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that are actually
net-negatives on our lives,

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and we tend to invest a lot in these

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because it's not polite
to step out of a friendship,

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to step away from a family member,
to give them less of your time

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if they are actively harmful
to you and your life,

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if they are a toxic relationship.

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Being intentional
with your relationships, though,

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it means really being
truthful with yourself and saying,

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"Is this a person who deserves more
of my time, and intention, and energy?"

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Do they?

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And if not, if the answer is no,

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free up that time, take it and give it
to the people who truly do,

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the people who really add to your life,
who really make you feel better,

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who help you get to where you want to be.

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That's the root of intentionality,
it's doing it on purpose,

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forming relationships
and maintaining relationships on purpose,

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and making sure those really, really
truly valuable people in your life

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get the attention from you
that they deserve.

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Now, the same applies to work.

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This is also a very
unpopular thing to say.

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Because we judge our work
and our success within work

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based on usually just one metric:
how much money are you making?

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That's what shows if you're successful,
the family's proud of you,

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but really, at the end of the day,
that's just one metric.

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Money is great!

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I mean, I'm not anti-money.

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You need it, you need to have a roof
over your head, food on your table,

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to provide a basic level of security
for yourself and the people around you,

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but if you're acting intentionaly,
if you're doing work on purpose,

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that means that you're looking at
that bigger goal,

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that place that you want to be,

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and questionning every choice
that you make within your profession,

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saying, "Does this help me get
to that place where I want to be?

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That place where I am more myself
than I have ever been before,

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where I'm incredibly happy,
where I'm fulfilled on a deeper level,

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and I feel like I'm doing work
that is valuable,

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not just to me in the paychecks' sense,
but to somebody beyond me,

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I feel like I'm contributing in some way."

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And once you're able to question that,

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you've looked at the three core
components of a healthy lifestyle -

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00:11:32,746 --> 00:11:34,777
and each and everyone of us

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has a different idea
of what the ideal lifestyle is,

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a different idea of the people
that we want in our lives,

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the things that we want to have
surrounding us,

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because if you buy the right things,
things actually can earn you happiness,

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money can buy happiness
if you buy the right things -

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the people in our lives
and the work that we do day-to-day.

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These are all things that,
when in aggregate,

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allow us to live a lifestyle
that when you look at it, it's you;

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this is something that represents me.

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The lifestyle that I live,
the incredibly bizarre lifestyle

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where I travel around
and write all kinds of books,

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my readers vote on where I go,
what's that about?

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It's strange, but it looks just like me!

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And the people who know me well
look at it and say,

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"Oh yeah, that's totally Colin!
That makes perfect sense."

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And ideally, each and everyone of us

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can look at our lives
and say the same thing.

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These people I surround myself with,
this stuff that I own,

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this work that I'm doing,

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this is an accurate
representation of who I am.

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That's the ideal.

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And each and everyone of us
should be proud

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to have our own individual path
toward that greater goal,

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toward that purpose.

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When you start
to live your life intentionaly,

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it can look a little weird to people.

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You're getting rid of your stuff, maybe.

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It looks very strange to some people.

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You may be buying more intentionaly,
buying fewer things,

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hanging out with fewer people -

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that can be a little bit awkward
to have that discussion -

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and maybe taking on work
that isn't just lucrative,

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it's not earning you as much,

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it doesn't have the same
prestigious job title.

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At the end of the day,
you may experience some push-back,

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people may try to dissuade you

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from moving in the direction
that you want to move in.

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And that's okay, you know.

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These are not people
who are horrible people,

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these are people that are actually
very well-meaning people,

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because if you look at the standard path
that we're offered,

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pretty much from birth up until we die,

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this is the path, this is where you start,
and then you do this, this, and this,

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and then victory, you end up
at that finish line, at some point.

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That path is like a great big highway,
it's an autobahn, okay?

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It's well paved, it's well-lit,
there's a lot of signs everywhere

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telling you exactly
how to get there, to this goal.

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And if you start moving
toward a different goal,

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you've moved off that well-lit path,
maybe there's potholes,

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maybe it's not paved,
maybe it's like a little goat road,

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00:14:03,671 --> 00:14:05,694
like, you're just swerving off to the side,

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00:14:05,694 --> 00:14:09,839
very few people are taking this,
so they don't even bother to put up signs.

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Maybe your lifestyle choice is so obscure,
nobody's done it before,

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and so you're like carving your way
through the woods

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to try to get to some unknown path.

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And so the people in your life
will look at that and say,

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"What the actual hell are they doing?

295
00:14:23,650 --> 00:14:24,887
(Laughter)

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I'm concerned for them!
Where will they end up?

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There's so many risks
associated with this."

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00:14:31,206 --> 00:14:32,703
And they're totally right!

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Because people who care about you,

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they want more than anything else
for you to be happy and secure.

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And when you start acting intentionaly,

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00:14:40,812 --> 00:14:43,338
when you start questioning
everything in your life

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and living on purpose, your purpose,

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00:14:47,429 --> 00:14:51,303
it can look very unsecure,
it can be less structurally stable,

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00:14:51,303 --> 00:14:53,600
so it makes sense
that they would question that,

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and that they should question
what you're doing

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00:14:55,789 --> 00:14:57,560
and give you that valuable feedback.

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But at the end of the day,
all you can do to convince them,

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to show them that this is something
that's important to you,

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that you're not going to take
ridiculous risks,

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00:15:06,641 --> 00:15:09,576
you're just trying to be happy,
you're trying to be more you,

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is to show them the benefits,

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tell them what you're up to, certainly,

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00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,647
but then show them
with the way that you live,

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that you are happy,
that you're making smart decisions,

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00:15:19,555 --> 00:15:22,231
that this is something
that allows you to feel fulfilled

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in a way that that highway never could.

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And if they don't get it, that's okay.

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Everybody has a different path,
they have theirs and you have yours.

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00:15:35,052 --> 00:15:38,504
And try to forgive,
don't hold it against them.

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00:15:38,504 --> 00:15:42,054
Not everybody has the opportunity
to take that step back,

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and look at their life,
and then question everything.

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It's not a luxury
that all of us are afforded.

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But whichever direction you start heading,
whichever life choice you make,

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do your best to be happy,
do your best to be fulfilled,

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do your best to lay signs for other people
who might follow behind you

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so that they can do the same.

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00:16:06,208 --> 00:16:11,434
And ultimately, however you live,
do your best to live on purpose.

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)