Dancing at My Desk

Blissdom 2010: Opening Keynote

Kevin Carroll (@kckatalyst) speaks on Bringing Fun and Passion to Your Work… and Life. Kevin is an author, speaker and agent for social change.

Kevin from the very start is a very engaging speaker. He starts out with a personal story that sets the stage for how he got started in life and started to really enjoy life. He had a rough start in life but he talks about how he played and how that eliminated the stress and worry of life. As a child, he would invent games to take his mind off of things. He was given the nickname “Little Fast Kid” from other boys in his neighborhood and he finally belonged after feeling isolated in life. That situation at the age of 6 evolved into a life passion for Kevin.

From there, Kevin’s life was filled with sports and he ended up getting a Bachelor’s  in sports communication and worked with the Philadelphia 76ers. Kevin also spent 10 years in the military as a language specialist and speaks five different languages. This who story lead to him working on Nike. There is a hilarious story about how he met his current wife (which is too long to tell here but so worth it).

Kevin talks about how being present is so important. Kevin began working with Nike in 1997 and became the Katalyst for them. Whatever you’re doing, you can’t talk about it, you have to be about it. Commitment on a daily basis is one of his key topics. Starting back when he was young, Kevin found solace in red rubber balls that he could use to play games and make friends. He has collected and traded for 150 balls over the years and he shows us a couple of examples of them. This is a truly inspirational moment.

Kevin says he realizes how serious and important play is. If you don’t make time for play, bad things will happen. Kevin spent time researching experts in the realm of play. He met Dr. Brown who runs the National Institute of Play and wrote a book called Play. He wrote about how play was important to people and how it has impacted other people. He asks the following question: What is your red rubber ball? What gets you excited and passionate about life? He talks about how telling our story is so important and the continued importance of “being about it.” Kevin then passed out red rubber balls and made sure that all the kids in attendance got one.

Kevin has realized that people are going to try and shut down your dreams. Through close friends and their parents, Kevin is encouraged by the mother of his best friend since he was nine years old to write books. He wrote a book about lessons learned on the playground. It’s founded on 7 principles:

1. Commit to it – until one is committed, there is hesitancy. The commitment must come from deep within as if it’s percolating up from inside you. His grandfather would ask him on a daily basis “How’s your Want to?” My Want to is good.

2. Seek out encourages – avoid the energy vampires. Who are the people in your life that encourage you; that challenge you but also lift you up.

3. Work out your creative muscle – Every one needs to think about “how do we feed ourselves so we are at our premium creative self?” How do you stay nimble, agile and ready for anything? Find that thing that replenishes you to get to that point on a regular basis. Consider resigning from adulthood. (I’m in) Kevin also brought up the book Not a Box.

4. Prepare to Shine – hard work never goes unrewarded, but you have to trust in that and keep pushing in that direction. Your shining moment awaits you.

5. Speak up – a closed “don’t get fed.” Speak up about what you need, about your dreams and where you’re heading. Have some courage and open up your mouth. Have the eyes and wonderment of a child.

6. Expect the Unexpected – Get ready for whatever is coming your way. Are you ignoring things around you that you should be engaging in? There is a primal source of joy in all of us; are you tapping into it?

7. Maximize the day – you are given a gift every single day to make a difference, to improve on something. What are you doing with your day? How are you maximizing it? Circumstances do not dictate someone’s destiny.

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” – James Michener

Inspirational and Amazing. Thank you, Kevin.