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I think everyone has these three zones.

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Their comfort zone, their learning zone,
and their panic zone.

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And I think our most defining moments,
and our greatest lessons

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come when we take risks to move

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from comfort into learning

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and maybe, to the edge of panic.

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Now, I'm on this stage,
because I did not go to grad school.

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Instead, about five years ago,

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after working with middle school,
and high school students,

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when I was curious about the intersection
of for profit, and for purpose businesses.

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I was almost going to go to a traditional
grad school to get a master's in business.

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But the costs were too high,
and the style didn't fit me.

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So, I decided I would try to design
my own education.

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By doing twelve projects in twelve months
around the world.

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I would source these projects
by talking to companies in design,

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business and social change.

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And I would try to find one project I could 
complete over the course of the month.

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I would fund my year by creating a newsletter
that my friends and family could subscribe to

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at ten dollars a month.

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And I would share my learnings
with them each month.

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Now, as I was travelling to
fulfill this idea,

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I had met all kinds of amazing people.

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Who started talking to me
about the ideas they had,

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to learn in a different kind of way,
or to create change, to take leaps of their own.

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So, I created an invitation
for those people, to send stories

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about the leaps they were taking,
the risks they were taking,

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to learn, grow, and create change
in their communities.

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And I promised that if
at the end of the year,

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I had enough stories, we would take
those stories and make a book.

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And at the end of the year,
sure enough, we created a book

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called "THE LEAPYEAR PROJECT",
of those stories.

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And this kind of became my dissertation.

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I also needed a place to graduate.

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Some way to end my year.

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And there was a TED conference
happening in Chicago.

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So I put a cap and gown on,
and that was my graduation.

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And in 2013, after this was all over,

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We launched a school, a place where
people could come and design

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their education through experiences,
in their field of study.

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We called it the "EXPERIENCE INSTITUTE"

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I even got to meet Oprah.

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Now, this is pretty traditional.
Me trying to explain

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some sort of audacious idea
to someone who is

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much more successful and powerful.

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And really probably doesn't
actually care about what I'm saying.

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This is a good picture of that year.

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Now, that was one of the most
transformative years of my life.

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I learned about my industry,
the things I cared about,

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and about myself.

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And "Experience Institute" has been
my life's work,

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inviting people of all ages
to design their education

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through experience and mentorship.

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But, I think those photos,
they are all beautiful,

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and they show energy and excitement.

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I think they only tell one part of the story.

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Photos like this help
give another picture.

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When I was in Orange County,
trying to find a place to stay,

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not sure where I would stay
and finding a couch and a garage

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of a friend of a friend.

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And having to sleep
there for a while.

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And what you don't see
is the number of ants on that couch.

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Or the motorcycle that would
start every morning at 6:30.

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And that would be my alarm.

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Or downsizing most of my things,
getting rid of them, selling them,

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so I could afford the year,
and so I could stay light.

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And carry nothing more than
just a couple of bags, since I travel.

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Getting to the end of the year,
and realizing that

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writing a book, preparing for a TED talk,
and trying to start a school

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is really overwhelming.

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Now, I ever since sleep here,
I've been exploring the risk it takes

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to move from comfort into learning.

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and the transformative impact it has
on an individual's life and career.

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What I never expected to find
was the role that panic plays in learning.

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It's the space where you come
face to face with your fears.

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And not just your fear's
bloated versions of those fears.

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Things that don't even really exist.

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It's a part of learning that's necessary.

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But it's rarely discussed.

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Now for a second, lets go back
to those zones.

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There's an influential psychologist
named Lev Vygotsky.

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He talks about the zone
of proximal development.

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the comfort zone isn't necessarily
about your resources, what you have.

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It's about your abilities.

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About not being challenged.

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You know what you know,
and you're right in the middle of

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what you know.

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And doing just that, there isn't
really a sense of challenge.

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In the learning zone, there is a challenge.

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But you don't have everything
you need to meet that challenge.

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You may have pieces of it.

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But you need other people
to help you piece those things together.

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And if you get that help, you will succeed.

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If you don't get that help, you will
zip right through to the panic zone.

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And the panic zone is where you feel
alone, overwhelmed, afraid.

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You've lost confidence here.

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You can't learn here.

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You don't function well.

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This is the head in hands moment.

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And the only way to
move back from panic,

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is to have help to get
into the learning zone.

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But normally, we just want to shutdown

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and go all the way back to comfort.

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Now, learning is where our most
transformative moments happen.

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When we meet somebody
who is incredibly helpful.

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Or when we overcome a challenge.

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If I were to ask you when you
learned your most valuable lessons,

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you would talk about a challenge.

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You would talk about someone
who helped you through that.

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But comfort isn't a bad thing.

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In fact, the goal of learning,
is to expand the comfort zone.

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This is where we become
more confident, more comfortable.

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As we move through life.

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Whatever it throws at us.
And not getting to the panic zone.

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So, if that's the goal of learning.

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If what we're trying to do,
is figure out how we can be people

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who are more confident,
no matter what life throws at us.

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How do we expand 
the comfort zone?

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How do we push
back the panic zone?

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Now, the grand paradox is that
the only way to expand comfort,

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is by leaving it.

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So that's what we
have to figure out.

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Designing the leaps that move us
from comfort into learning.

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And when those leaps are
necessary in our lives.

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How do we make space for them,
in our education systems and our workplaces?

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So I have three hunches.

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It starts with discovery.

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Now, discovery is just
a matter of asking questions.

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The question you have
as you move through the day.

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About how to make something better.

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About how to increase
the thing that gives you hope.

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What are those moments that
you want to improve something,

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make something,
or change something?

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Those questions begin pushing you
to the edge of comfort,

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in trying to figure out what
things you might want to do next.

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Now as those questions
in hopes surface,

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the thing that happens next
is you begin exploring.

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What is it you could do?

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How do I learn?

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In defining those projects.

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Now, for some people,
school is the risk they take.

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They move into that setting.

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But for others, the question is

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'Should I try to build something?'

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'Should I travel, or do a research project?'

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or 'Should I just try to work
with an expert in the field?'

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The more specific
that project becomes,

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the more parameters,
the time frames,

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the deliverables.

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The more other people can
start seeing what you're doing.

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And you can invite them into it.

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Which leads to the second thing.

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That you need to bring other people.

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You need to invite other
people into learning.

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It's not a solo project.

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There is going to be times
when you don't know what to do.

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And you're going to need the help of others.

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During "LeapYear", I found myself
not only needing companies

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to give me a chance
to work with them.

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To learn with them.
And to create with them.

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I needed my community
to guide me through times

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when I got stuck,
or to support me emotionally.

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This included everyone
from my own family.

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My mother, to mentors and friends.

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This photo, the story
of this photo,

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isn't that I hit
the panic zone.

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The story of this photo is that
someone took the photo.

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They were in the room with me.

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Right?

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They were the people who
walked me back from the

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panic zone, into the learning zone.

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And helped me finish
at the end of that year.

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Now, I think there is something
more to community

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than just emotional support.

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I think they become our audience.

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They become the people who
validate, and celebrate

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the things we learn.

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Which leads to the third hunch.

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How do we share
the projects we go into?

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The things we're
learning and doing.

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For me during "LeapYear",
it was nothing more than

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a weekly blog post,
monthly newsletter,

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and at the end of the year,
creating a book and a presentation.

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But for you, you don't need
a big book or a stage.

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What you need is
just regular checkpoints.

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Places where people can
see what you're working on.

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Can give you feedback.

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And can celebrate
when you finish.

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Discover. Invite. Share.

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So, I didn't go
to grad school.

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But, I designed one of the most
transformative chapters of my life.

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My comfort zone expanded.

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But maybe more importantly,
I learned how to navigate

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Between comfort, into learning,
and to push on the edge of panic.

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Now, 2016 is actually
another leap year.

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And I think in Portuguese,
they call this "ano bissexto"

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Right?

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Where there's an extra day,
and there is a title to the year.

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And I was curious,
what would happen if

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people in 2016 decided to
design a project of their own.

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To move between
comfort into learning.

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To design a leap,
however big or small.

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And if we do,

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whether you're in high school,
or college, or in a workplace,

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whatever leap you take.

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What would happen to learning?

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What would happen to the
education space, when we realize

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we can create learning,
we can design it,

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just by taking a few leaps?

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So, what leap will you take?

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(Applause)