Last month I was invited to speak at the People Report Summer Camp conference down in Dallas, where I got the chance to talk to a lot of cool companies about new and innovative ways to mobilize their people to give back and make a meaningful difference in the lives of those they serve.

The bulk of my time since this event has been spent in two ways: expanding the Love Bomb idea (with the help of the amazing Lauren Lankford) and building out the business applications of ItStartsWith.Us. I’ll talk more about the business stuff soon, but for today I thought you might like to see the 5-minute introduction to my talk/workshop at the conference.

It’s in Pecha Kucha / Ignite style, which means there are 20 slides at 15 seconds each – and I can’t control them. They start, and I talk.

Enjoy.

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I’m enjoying doing these little videos. Five minutes, one take, all said and done. And I just get to talk about stuff, instead of sitting there trying to come up with the perfect way to say it.

Good stuff.

If you want to learn more about the “Life in a Day” project, you can check it out here. Thanks to all of you for enabling me to do something I love each and every day – I truly appreciate it.Similar Posts:

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One take, guys. No edits. This is how I’m gonna do it.

And so it begins.

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Last week we dropped a Love Bomb on Laura. She is an art journalism student and an oil painter, and she is slowly going blind. I am still choked up about this. Maybe it’s that she’s dealing with my greatest fear, maybe that she’s an art student like me, maybe it’s simply that she’s an absolutely gorgeous young woman losing her ability to see beautiful things. Maybe I’m still stumbling over her gracious humility in having to take the bus, and shower with her eyes closed.

Regardless, reading Laura’s blog reminded me how temporary this world is, and called me out on the unworthy weight I give to what I see.

Laura, this is a thank you for being faithful. You get it. You understand the world, your Maker, your purpose. It takes most of us a lifetime to come to this place, and I would argue that you see things more clearly than we do.

Our Love Bomb team left over 160 comments on Laura’s blog last week, and left her overwhelmed. In her words, “I had a truly difficult night last night, mostly due to family stuff  and an especially emotionally trying day dealing with eye stuff. Those come up infrequently now, but yesterday happened to be such a day. I was shocked, and then incredibly loved and touched, reading all the comments… many of which brought tears to my eyes. It could not have been done on a more perfect day. I will be reaping the blessings of this love bomb for a long, long time to come.”

- – -

To the rest of you, the world needs you. I have a challenge. Who are you leading? Who is behind you? Who has acted out this week because you challenged them? There are hundreds of thousands more people like Laura that are in desperate need of encouragement and the strength of a community behind them.

Today, I ask you to find a project to expand. Be responsible for growing an established movement. Love Bomb is one of these movements, and there are others. Operation Beautiful is one that we will be partnering with for this week’s Love Bomb Mission. Operation Beautiful is a collection of thousands of people on a mission to end self-negativity. They leave post-it’s in various places with encouraging notes reminding whoever stumbles upon them that they are beautiful. I am thrilled for our joint mission with them as we combine our efforts to remind a girl this week that she is truly loved and beautiful.

If you want to help grow Love Bomb, comment here or get a hold of me on Twitter (@laurenlankford). There are easy, easy ways to go one step further and drastically expand the reach of our Love Bombs within minutes. I am more than happy to give you the suggestions and tools.

Please, don’t be passive. When something tugs at your heartstrings, re-blog it. Re-tweet it. Share the fan page on Facebook with your friends. Forward an email. Tell someone. 2010 has made it easy for you.

I love you all – thank you again, Love Bomb team, for all that you’ve done.

LaurenSimilar Posts:

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I heard about this video last month when I was down at the People Report Summer Camp conference, and it’s taken me until just now to watch it. And now that I have, I want to share it with the rest of you.

It comes from Chick-fil-A, and I think (though I’m not 100% sure) that it was produced as an internal video to demonstrate to their employees the importance of thinking about the people they serve. Take a look:

I pulled this off the personal blog of Dan Cathy, the president of the company. When these are the kind of concepts that the company leadership is building and talking about, I think you have a really good thing going.

And not even in the business world, either. I think this video is powerful because it’s so true – and it applies anywhere. Walk into any public place in the world. Glance around for a minute and realize that stories like this are all around us. And we have an opportunity with each and every interaction to add to that story.

For some people, the smile you give them while talking may be the only measure of positive human emotion they get all day. When you go out of your way to do a small favor for someone, it could literally be the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for them. Think about that this week as you walk through your life. You have the ability to make a profound impact on those around you, no matter how small your actions may be. And when we change lives, we change the world.

Go to it.

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The Love Bomb team

I’ve been super quiet on the blog front lately, and I want you to know that I’m working on that problem. I now have five or six people who will be writing articles for ISWU, so watch for those as they come up. Right underneath the title of the post you’ll see the date and the author, in case you’re wondering who wrote a certain piece.

On Saturday I hopped in the car and drove down to Ohio/Kentucky for a week of project launches, big ideas, and no sleep. Here’s what went down:

Saturday I arrived in Columbus, Ohio to meet Lauren Lankford in person for the first time. This is her main site. But if you want to get a little better feel for who she is, check out her latest blog post.

That’s how cool she is. So is it any wonder that I chose her to lead the first ISWU spinoff project, Love Bomb? Yeah, that launched this week. The two of us spent the weekend working on it together (that’s us in the pic up top). With Love Bomb up and running and safely in Lauren’s hands, I left Columbus for my next stop: Dayton, OH.

Dayton was just a quick afternoon pit stop in order to say hi to someone who’s been a friend and member of ISWU from the very beginning: Krista Sheehan. That drive was so nice, guys. When I drove the 9 hours down to Columbus, it was 93 degrees and humid as all get-out. My car has 200,000 miles, no AC, no cruise control, and a radio that works . . . sometimes. It was pretty gross. The drive to Dayton was only 1.5 hours, though, and it had cooled down to about 80. Gorgeous driving weather.

So I hung out with Krista and her husband Will for the afternoon, and got a chance to connect in person with someone who’s meant a lot to me over the last year. I love doing that . . . it’s the whole reason I extend my business trips by a day or two each time, and a big reason why I drive instead of fly. Making those personal connections, not just online, is really important to me. Oh, want a picture of that too? Here you go.

I left Dayton after we ate supper (yes, supper) and hit the road on down to Lexington, KY. That’s where I met up with my girl Amanda Hite and the Talent Revolution team for three days of work, planning and fun. You may have noticed that we kicked it off with the fun Random Acts of Awesomeness Day, where we spent some time sending meaningful messages to the important people in our lives. I shot so many videos, I got tired of hearing myself talk. But yeah, it was great. Oh, want a picture of that too? Here’s command central.

Amanda and I are talking through a number of topics, not the least of which include building clarity around the purpose and principles of our respective endeavors, architecting the brand and business models behind them, and working up our strategic plans for growth.

Oh! Almost forgot – I finally got the new ISWU team platform launched this week as well. We had a slight delay, which I apologize for, but now we’re good to go. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting close to the vision I’ve had for a long time with this project. It’s a place for all of us to come together and get connected with each other, keep track of our weekly missions, and build meaningful relationships centered around the concept of micro-giving and making a difference.

If you’re already a team member and want to jump in, check your email for a link. If you’re not on the team yet, you can sign up here.

I’ve also been working with an awesome company in Chicago over the past week to form a cool partnership and launch our biggest “Change the World” mission yet. Stay tuned for more info on that, hopefully next week sometime.

Um, I think that’s all for now. It’s a busy week, but much good is being done here. Pretty soon I’ll start telling you guys about some of the plans for this project in the near term – I really think you’ll like them.

I’m around and working today; feel free to drop a line or two in the comments. I love hearing from you guys.Similar Posts:

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Alright, everyone. The time has come. 

For the last several months I have been (somewhat) holding my tongue about a new project I am very, very excited to be a part of. And I want ALL of you guys to participate.

I have been working with Nate at ItStartsWith.Us on the Love Bomb project, and this week is the big release. The concept is simple. We change the lives of those desperately needing hope, love, care, & encouragement – together, once a week, for five minutes.

We are all busy, I know this. But the next time someone asks you what you’re doing with your life, I bet your answer isn’t “cleaning up,” “going grocery shopping” or “sitting at a desk.” I know that all of you want something More.

A homeless man asked me a couple days ago what my life objective was, and without hesitation I replied, “to love people.” It’s taken me a long time to get here. To the place where that is my default answer, where it comes naturally. Yes I want to get married, yes I want to live where I want to live, there are activities and careers that I dream about. But what do I want to do with my life? Love people.

And it’s a genuine fight to fit what you’re doing with your life into your daily routine.

This is why I’m pouring a good chunk of every day into Love Bomb, and why I am the new Team Leader for the project. I want to help you fit what you truly care about into your daily or weekly routine. So please, put your name and email into the little box below, and every week when you get the email linking you to someone who desperately needs to be reminded that that love is real, take 5 minutes to do something about it. I want to see all of you grow into the place where you are content to simply respond, “I want to love people” when you are asked what you’re doing with your life.

Come on guys, you are bloggers. This is what we do. We comment to show our love.

website | @dropalovebomb

Follow us on Tumblr, on Twitter, and subscribe below to the once-a-week mission emails.

And welcome to the Love Bomb Team.

- Lauren
@laurenlankford

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Have you ever sat on a train and wondered what people were thinking? How many people were trying to resolve a heartbreak? How many people were lonely? How many people needed help making it through the day? I think about these things everytime the train starts and I see a guy across from me with his head lowered, his headphones blaring, and a complexion that looks like he hasn’t slept for days. I always wonder what he’s thinking, what he’s experiencing; and after a while, he looks up, our eyes meet, and I look away.

And that becomes my biggest regret of the day.

I always have big thoughts when it comes to changing the world. In my mind, I am the mediator between Israel and Palestine, the peacemaker between China and Japan, and the one who comes up with a compromise between North Korea and the rest of the world. In my mind, history is irrelevant, and there is no bitterness that cannot be resolved.

On a smaller scale, I am the reason that there’s a cure for breast cancer, the reason for why there are no more starving children, and the one who makes the poverty line completely indistinguishable.

And in the last 3 minutes, with all the mediating and the curing, I am exhausted. I have done so much, but nothing at all.

But what would happen if I took all the time and energy I gave to thinking about world peace and cancer, and turned it towards something more immediate—something I could do now? What if you could make a difference in the world at this very second, even as you’re reading this post? What if you could smile at every stranger? Offer a helping hand?

Why can’t you?

I’ve always thought that the phrase “making a difference” was a little over-used. You see it at every fundraiser, every nonprofit organization, every school, and we use it so often that it makes me wonder if anyone actually knows what it means, or how to go about it.
For me, a person who makes a difference in my life is the person who smiles at me as I walk by, the person who tells me what I’m wearing that day looks nice, or the person who picks up my orange when the grocery bag breaks and all the food is scattered all over the floor. She’s the girl who has just left the building, but sees me walking in with a handful of books and goes back specifically to hold open the door. He’s the guy who sees me tearing up at a coffee shop and tries to cheer me up by giving me a penny and telling me that it’ll bring me luck. And they’re the people who read my blog and send me emails and comments about how my enthusiasm has helped them get through the day.

It constantly amazes me how easy it is to make a difference, how, without much effort, you can make someone’s life that much better. A lady once told me that I couldn’t change the world because I hadn’t survived anything, and didn’t have any experiences to share. Back then, I didn’t have a response because I didn’t know very much, but if she said to that to me today, I would have responded with, “well, I might not be able to the change the world today or tomorrow, but you’ve got to start to somewhere”.

I used to tap my feet to the rhythm of “It’s a Small World”.

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I can’t believe I’ve never introduced you to one of my favorite people on all the various internets! Geez, I suck at life.

So right now you should probably stop what you’re doing and head on over to Secret Agent L. Here’s what she does. She goes all over Pittsburgh leaving very nice gifts and notes and messages for people from all walks of life. Nobody knows who she is, and nobody knows when she will strike. She specializes in anonymous acts of kindness and day-brightening, and she’s spawned a small army of affiliated agents who follow in her footsteps. (Sound familiar, ItStartsWith.Us team?)

She’s been incognito for over a year, I think, but that’s all about to change. On July 24th in Pittsburgh the mask will come off, and everyone will get to see the true identity of Secret Agent L. I’m planning on being there for it. How about you?Similar Posts:

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I’ve been putting a lot of time recently into making the ItStartsWith.Us idea work for more people than it currently does. What that means is, I’m building out tools and a solid process that will enable anyone to run a group like ours. My goal with this project has always been to change the world. And just as I knew I couldn’t do it alone, and so needed a team around me, I also knew that this team should not be one homogeneous unit, but should have many branches, each with its own specific mission and group of dedicated members.

With that in mind, I’ve been working very hard behind the scenes to make it easy for large organizations to mobilize their people to give back, using the ISWU micro-giving concept as a platform. I’m kicking off the introduction to this idea today in Dallas. I’ll be down there all week, speaking and running a workshop at the People Report Summer Camp conference. The goal is to build large, independent ISWU teams from all different walks of life, yet keep them all connected together as one gigantic team that comes together regularly to accomplish incredible things that the world has never seen before.

I’ll talk more about what that looks like a little bit later. Today I wanted to share something very cool with you.

As I was preparing my material for the talks I’ll be giving, I realized that I didn’t have any testimonials or anything like that from team members, and I figured that maybe I should. So yesterday I sent out an email to our team members to let them know that if they felt like telling people why they enjoy being a part of the group, I’d love to hear it.

I got a ton of responses . . . it was incredible. Hearing from so many ISWU team members about the value they see in this project really touched my heart and reminded me of why I do this in the first place. I love that we can make such a big difference through small, simple actions.

But I won’t ramble on about it forever. Instead, I’d like to leave you with a few quotes from the team.

Enjoy.

I enjoy being a part of the ItStartsWith.Us team because of the fantastic people who make up the group. Speaking to ItStartsWith.Us members, you’ll notice their unfailing love for others. Diversity, friendship, and coming together for common good are all values maintained by members. They respond to need not only in their family and friends but also in strangers. They go the extra mile to write words of encouragement to those who are suffering far away from them and also within the group. And they show this kindess all in a quiet manner, without seeking great recognition. In this collection of inspiring leaders, you’ll find an accepting community who will aid you in your journey to help others.

In my signature box, on my art room wall, occasionally as a screen saver, and quite possibly a soon to be tattoo, you will see a quote by Martin Buber that motivates me to be thoughtful and considerate in my day to day.
Buber’s quote reads, “I think no human being can give more than this. Making life possible for the other, if only for a moment” and for me It Starts With Us works just as this quote does.

ISWU is a reminder to put into practice the love and compassion I want to live. It is a 15 minute task that bleeds into the whole week and inspires me to go beyond those 15 minutes. I have my ugly moments, I have said and done things I am not proud of and need to work at keeping my heart open and compassion flowing. It Starts With Us is a genius way to remind ourselves, through ACTION, of what the smallest act of love can do for ourselves and the world around us.

I am also motivated by how it can spread. It’s Wildfire baby! Many thanks to Nate who put the energy behind the spark. Incredible, innovative, heartwarming… and just plain awesome.

It Starts With Us has offered me a structured yet completely individual
opportunity to give back to others. When you join the community and read
the forums and talk to the people who are part of this amazing group, you
realise the huge effect it has on your own life and the lives of others.
It Starts With Us has given me the opportunity to give back in short sharp
bursts not only fulfilling my own daily dose of that ‘warm and fuzzy
feeling’ but in the process I have been able to satisfy the needs of
others; whether that be in the shape of a heartfelt note on someone’s blog
or sending a simple ‘I Love You’ to a friend.

The idea behind this is genuine. I have never been a part of something so sincere and sweet in my life. I read the blog of the person we are “bombing” and my heart goes out to them. I then read what everyone responds to and my faith in humanity is restored. So many giving people are willing to give their time to someone who they dont know. the overwhelming feeling of love that these people must be feeling after their bomb is amazing. I can not even accurately express how phenomenal this experience is.

I am the recipient of a Love Bomb. My older sister had committed suicide and the day that I found out I wrote every feeling that came to mind on my blog. I was struggling. I felt very alone in my thoughts. Nate and his team found my blog and then flooded it with over 400 comments from people all over the world. They understood my grief and left so many positive comments. I was floored. Here were people I have never met offering me such support and an outpooring of compassion. It made my journey through my grief just a bit easier. I will forever be grateful to Nate and It Starts With Us for taking the time to show me that the world still cares.

I love being a part of It Starts With Us. This community opens up so many opprotunities to help people in the smallest ways. I would never have thought that in just fifteen minutes I could change someone’s day for the better. ISWU has really given me a chance to think about others before myself and come up with ways – big and small – to better my community. I love how open everyone is to new ideas and how creative everyone is. We really all are part of something bigger than ourselves in ISWU and I’m proud to be a part of it.

I love bomb people because once upon a time I was suicidal and was saved by the kind words of one person. If one person can do that, think of what hundreds could do.

You know that moment, when you’re crushed in your own life, everything is at risk, and you look to the side of you and see that 14 year old girl who has lost her best friend to drugs, or that military wife who couldn’t take one more day of the PTSD of her beloved husband, or you find that single dad who feels beaten about the head by the challenges of raising his kids alone. And you find that your hand reaches out to their hand, you find your heart fill up with a deep love and you share words with them, listen, hug them, staying that extra ten seconds that change you from broken to human, and you go back into your world knowing you’ve given them peace, and love and they know they’re not alone in their struggles. THAT is why I am involved with Nate and ItStartsWithUs. Because my life is reeling from traumas and challenges, but I am grateful to be alive and I’m grateful to have the strength to share sorrow or laughter with someone who is also in the dregs of life’s challenges.

For me, I want to see a change in the world, and I want to be a part of that change by the way I live my life. ISWU challenges me to do things I might not normally do that really do make a difference in the lives of people everywhere. It provides small but important ways to show love to others, and that is something that I want my life to always be about.

Margaret Mead is quoted as saying “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” As a girl obsessed with the contagious spread of positive emotion, I have always believed this but saw it firsthand when I dropped my first Love Bomb. A few mouseclicks and heartfelt words from around the globe have restored hope, offered comfort, and changed lives. I’ve seen it. The ItStartsWith.Us team is exactly the kind of “group of thoughtful, committed citizens” Ms. Mead was hoping for.

10 years ago, I wanted to die. I didn’t want to actually kill myself, but
I would hope that while driving I would lose control of the car and be in
fatal accident.

Now I know that I was suffering from severe undiagnosed depression. At the
time, the thought never occurred to me. All I knew is that I was
constantly unhappy, I didn’t want to be around people and all I did want
was to sleep and play online.

Unfortunately, it never occurred to my friends or family either. My
parents decided I was lazy and sponging off them and constantly nagged me
to get a job. My friends decided I was lazy and enjoying living off my
parents money too much to bother joining them in the real world.

It was a group of girls, then a man who has now become my fiancée who
pulled me through this. It was the kind words of strangers who lived on
the other side of the world that did what my friends and family could not.

I joined ISWU to help those in situations like the one I was in. Never
underestimate the power of a few kind and understanding words, even those
from total strangers to help lift a mood. It’s a relief to me to see that
there is something out there to give a boost to others who are suffering.

I know this isn’t a cure and the affects may last as little a few hours,
but I know from experience that could be the difference between another
miserable day with dreams of dying to finally end the pain and deciding to
get help or that death is not the answer.

I have recently joined ISWU team and the whole ISWU community. Pre-ISWU I had the notion that there is no one good left on this earth. I felt like we were all in this purely for ourselves, who cares how others are feeling. Yes, someone has to change that, but who will? Who will take the role of the savor of our dying race? Someone, anyone, but not me. I don’t have the power. A 14 year old can’t change the world. All we’re good for is sitting on the couch complaining about the poor state of it. The change comes from the grownups.
But through this, I was shown how wrong I was. Somehow, by some random act of fate, I stumbled upon this website. I subscribed, thinking it was a waste of time, but hey, I was bored. When I read the first ATeam mission, I felt power. I felt the power that I could change someone’s life, for the better. Like even if no one else does, I can be the one person who at least attempts to brighten others day.
I have had few and far between nice things done for me, so I know how it fills your heart up with a sense of well being, a sense of happiness. I wanted to pass that on. I wanted more people to experience this feeling. Through this, I found even minor things, like 2 dollars a day, or telling your family you love them, or even opening up to someone new gives them that heart-in-the-clouds feeling. I could all of a sudden change the world. Who cares if I’m not yet 18? I am powerful. I can change the world through small actions. Yes, once I get a job, it will be easier to make a difference, but until then, I still can.
I have a renewed sense of worth, a renewed sense in faith for the human race. Everyday, I will make a difference in someone’s world. I will complain less and act more. No longer will I sit idle. I want to thank ISWU for giving me that kick in the rear. For telling me it wasn’t impossible.

I love being part of this team because it has made me learn more about myself as a person. I also love being part of the ISWU team because it has shown me how truly good people are, and basically restored my faith in humanity. When I joined ISWU I was, sadly, suicidal. I figured that I might do any little thing to help people before I died. ISWU showed me how much people care and that hope is not lost. So, thank you for allowing me to be part of this.

ISWU has been a huge morale booster for me, it has given me the means to help people with such little effort and so much in return. I have and will continue recommending this to people as I feel it is a brilliant project.
Only 15 minutes out of your week at most and you help someone else as well as helping yourself, whats not to like about it? So what if you aren’t noticed? The lack of being noticed is out-weighed tenfold by the gratitude you give to others, in turn reflecting on yourself.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” – Mother Teresa

I immediately knew when I read about ISWU that I wanted to be a part of it because it HAS to start with us. With one person. One act, one smile is contagious. As Nate has proven over these past months. I’m glad to chip in a bread crumb here and there to make something happen.

There are many, many more messages, and I’m sorry I can’t include them all. But I would like to thank each and every one of you for being a part of this team and working together to change the world . . . in just 15 minutes a week.

If you would like to join the ItStartsWith.Us team, just put your name and email in the box below. No spam, no cost. Just one email a week notifying you of what we’ll be doing together.

If you want to sign up for the Love Bomb team specifically, you can do so here.

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