How to stop being bored and start being bold

Michael Mireles and his friends used to think their town was boring, and to entertain themselves, they would dream up ways to shake things up. Then something happened: Michael realized that what was actually boring was having an endless supply of ideas...that never went anywhere. So in an effort to turn these ideas into actions, Michael started the South Texas Ideas Festival and discovered just how much there is worth celebrating about his small, often overlooked rural community and the people who live there.

The TED-Ed Clubs program supports students in discovering, exploring and presenting their big ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks. In TED-Ed Clubs, students work together to discuss and celebrate creative ideas. Club Leaders receive TED-Ed's flexible curriculum to guide their Members in developing presentation literacy skills to help inspire tomorrow's TED speakers and future leaders.

To learn more about TED-Ed Clubs or to start your own club, go to http://ed.ted.com/clubs

When I was in the 6th grade,
my friends and I,

at such a pivotal moment in our lives,
realized how bored we were.

There was a lack of excitement
in our adventures,

we had found that we had done everything
we could possibly think of

to fill in an empty space of time.

We'd have sleepovers, play video games,

watch movies,
walk around the neighborhood,

and even after all of this,
we were still bored.

And the worst part about this

was that we knew that other kids
felt the same thing, too.

So after talking and discussing
amongst ourselves,

we realized that as much as we try
to fix our boredom,

we weren't doing anything
substantial about it.

That's why we decided
that we wanted to make people laugh.

We wanted to make funny videos
that joked about things

that no one really joked about.

We wanted to joke about our quirky,
quiet town of Alton, Texas.

Now, I'd love to tell you that I'm here

to share that my videos
have millions of views

and that I've sold tons of merchandise
worldwide,

but unfortunately,
like many of the ideas that we have,

we never made our videos,
our idea, a reality.

I know right now there's probably
at least one of you who's like,

"Man, this guy's depressing.
Is he going to keep talking like this?"

But there's a reason.

As time went on, more and more of us
left the group

until eventually all of us left the group.

All of us, except for one.

My friend couldn't let go of his idea,

so after we all left in the 6th grade,
he decided to make a team.

Members would come in,
and leave out, fluctuate,

he learned how to use complex
computer software

and he learned how to work with cameras.

He would make videos on drama,
comedy, things here and there,

and I didn't know any of this

because I hadn't seen or talked to him
in six years.

My friend, the one who never gave up
on his idea,

has now launched his own
videography company.

Like him and the rest of the world,
we all have tons of ideas every day.

And there was something different
about him

because six years ago, my group
of friends and I,

we all had the same idea,

but he was the only one
who actually saw it through.

How many of you ever feel
a drive inside of you

that tells you "Take a chance.
What if? Why not?"

For many of us, while we're
sitting down at work,

eating lunch
or waiting to drift off to sleep,

we get a sense of that feeling,
that drive that we had.

And then, after a few minutes
of reminiscing,

we continue doing what we're doing.

For some of us, that feeling
comes around often.

It makes us remember how we always
wanted to start our own band,

take a road trip with our friends,

or even something small
like clean up the trash in our local park.

And it sucks because the thing that you
remember the most out of everything

is the fact that you didn't do it.

My friends and I, while we were in
the process of making these videos,

we had so many opportunities
to get something done.

I can remember how many times

an adult came up to us
and told us,

"Hey, I actually might know some things,"

a kid would come and tell us,
"I know how to edit videos,"

or even amongst ourselves,
we would tell each other,

"You can come over to my house
we'll work on it."

All opportunities that we never
actually took.

As time went on, I realized that I had
to stop giving up my ideas.

Years and years went by,
and we never met up

I never had the opportunity
to explore that idea.

I had many ideas each day,
but they would all pass by,

until eventually, I came upon an idea
that I couldn't afford to let go of,

an idea that I couldn't afford to regret.

That idea was
the South Texas Ideas Festival, STXI.

I come from a place where typically
youth are not encouraged to do better.

They are discouraged.

They feel that they can't do the things
that many other people can do,

and this was a problem because
we didn't want this to happen anymore,

we didn't want people to feel
like they needed to leave our home

to do something better.

Our festival was student-led.

With a team of high school students,

we put on a festival that hosted
300 students from across our region.

And it was great, we received a ton
of commendations for it.

And I know it sounds like
an overnight success story,

but it really wasn't,

and one of the main questions
that people would ask us was,

"Where did you get the drive to do this?"

When I was a little kid, I learned a lot
from what was going on around me.

I came from a home where
the only way to make a living

was to pick up plastic bottles and cans
and sell them to processing plants.

My first real job was helping
a woman set up her booth at a flea market

from seven in the morning
to three in the afternoon for $20.

My neighbor's son learned how to cut hair
when he was eight years old

because it was the only way
he and his family could afford a haircut.

At such a momentous time in my life,
I thought that I was limited,

that my community was limited,
my neighborhood was limited,

all because of our circumstances.

And then came my crazy grandpa.

I went home and one day he was watching TV
and he told me,

"Michael, look. I want this."

Not the horse, the pole.

It's a horse patience pole. It basically
teaches a horse to be patient.

And he told me, "I want this,"

and I asked him, "How are you going to
afford it when you don't have the money?"

And he said, "I'll find a way."

So I forgot about it,
I was walking around the house,

And during that time, he left and he got
a wheelchair from I have no idea where

and giant metal pole
from I have no idea where,

and when I got back home,

I went into the backyard
and this is what I saw.

My crazy grandpa had cut
the wheelchair in half,

attached it to the top of the pole,
stood it upright,

and tied the horse to it.

And in just three days, we not only
taught the horse how to stand still,

we taught it how to run in circles.

And I remember when I saw this,
my mind was blown away

because I had never seen someone

take that initiative to do something
despite the odds.

And thinking about it now that I'm older,

I realize that I'm not that impressed
in the actual pole

because at the end of the day,
its just a pole.

I was more impressed in the fact
that my grandpa went out and did it.

He didn't let resources get in
the way of his idea.

He didn't find a reason not to do it.

He didn't choose to experience regret.

If you feel that idea, that tug,

then I'm telling you
do what my grandpa did

because that same drive that he had

is what made
the South Texas Ideas Festival possible.

It was a team of high school students,
we had no idea what we were doing.

We just knew that we wanted
to present a big festival

to the people of our community
to show them everything we got.

If you feel like an idea
is worth something,

be it yours or someone else's,

if you feel that an idea is worth time
constraints, rejections, and failures,

then let me give you a piece of advice:

Stop what you're doing,

put down your phone,

pause the TV show that you're watching,

hold off on that nap
for five more minutes,

and think.

You're bored, right?

Well now is the perfect opportunity
for you to take that road trip,

the perfect opportunity
for you to start that band,

the perfect opportunity
to clean up some trash.

Now, the next time that you're bored,
I beg of you, I implore you,

to get excited

because you might just be on to
you next best idea.

Thank you.