Lunches are an important part of the day. It’s like halftime for your mind and body; it’s a chance to reboot, relax, catch-up, enjoy the company of friends and more.
Many people use it as a time to take care of some personal business; they make a couple of phone calls or perhaps a trip to the post office. Others choose to relax, have some fun, maybe order out, and share a few laughs with their colleagues. Then there are those who schedule ‘power lunches’ as an opportunity to hold an important meeting, meet influential business contacts, or plow through some priority work.
How do you spend your lunch? With whom do you spend it? Allow me to offer an alternative.
I challenge you to have lunch with TED each Tuesday of this year. No, not Ted, the guy down the hall, but TED, an incredible online collection of some of the greatest ideas and presentations on the planet. And it will only take a few minutes. TED is a nonprofit that is devoted to spreading good ideas. That’s it. All they want to do is spread good ideas. TED.com makes the outstanding TED talks and their partners available for free and encourages you to share them whether it’s attaching one to your status update or using one to open a meeting. TED talks are awesome! There are currently over 700 TED talks available and they are adding more all the time. The best part, each one is purposely economized to be short, powerful, and to the point. Perfect for your lunch. You don’t need to stare with full attention at the screen nor hang on to every syllable; you can still do some of your other tasks and enjoy a Ted talk. It’s easy.
What will you lose? Nothing.
What will you gain? Much.
You’ll probably find yourself becoming more productive. You’ll learn much about how to give a great presentation. You will think. You will learn.
Imagine having lunch each week with some great thinker. That’s what you will be doing!
Willing to check it out? Here’s how I’m going about it. Every Tuesday I’ll pack my lunch and fire up TED.com on my computer. I’ll eat my lunch with some great thinker from a different part of the world. Join me. We will be entertained. We will be challenged. Each Tuesday I’ll update my Facebook and Twitter Sstatus to share the the link of my Tuesday Lunch with TED. Maybe you can do the same.
Ideas change lives, and they change the world.
Always forward,
Kelly
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Educator, Author, Keynote Speaker
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Great idea Kelly! I am taking that a step beyond this year. I am setting up a TED talk or something similar once a week for my staff to get together and watch during lunches. I decided to call it “Eat.Think.Grow.” Give the staff a chance to get inspired, take a break from the stress of their classrooms, and another excuse for our staff to get together. Our first one is this week! I would love to share ideas on some good talks, although I have yet to watch a bad one!