October 1, 20163 min read

Speaking at WordCamp PHX Developer Conference

WordPress developer conference WordCampPHX Changing the World One YOLO at a Time

You don’t have to build the next Facebook or Google to change the world. You just have to go after the dream you already have. This is the recap I wrote the day I spoke at WordCamp Phoenix, and the idea behind the talk is simple enough to start on today.

Hi friends, Joshua here.

I was super humbled by the opportunity to speak at WordCampPHX today on a topic close to my heart: Changing the World One YOLO at a Time.

This YOLO attitude has been driving me ever since I left a $100 million nonprofit and launched my own website design & development company despite only knowing basic HTML & CSS.

The whole concept is pretty simple. In order to fulfill your dreams and be successful as a business owner, creative, employee, or entrepreneur, start by finding your why. Approach obstacles and challenges as though you were the lead character in a compelling story. Set some goals and be intentional about reaching them. And start living every day with a YOLO approach!

Oh, and never give up if you want to succeed. If I did this, so can you! I’ve grown my company from one person (myself) to a 3-person team based here in Phoenix with contractors around the country. And we are doing work for companies around the world. None of it would be possible if I hadn’t visualized where we wanted to go and took the YOLO leap of faith to start this amazing journey.

Here’s an action shot during my speech. Photo cred goes to @mlteal

WordPress developer conference WordCampPHX Changing the World One YOLO at a Time

I’ll post a recording whenever those are made available, but in the meantime feel free to get a free action guide I created based on my talk today below!

Pre-Game Pep Tweets

Leading up to my speech I tweeted these two messages out to prepare people for the content:

Fact: you don’t have to build the next Facebook or Google in order to change the world. You just have to pursue your dreams. #WordCampPHX

So many people think “changing the world” is super cliché but it’s what drives me to get up every day and work hard to make a difference ✌️

Book List

During my talk I gave several recommended books to help people reach and fulfill their dreams. Every one of these books and speakers has helped shape me into the leader I am today.

Here is my list of recommended readings:

Coaching

Lastly, I didn’t mention this in the conference but I am getting more and more interested in helping coach people starting out their business to help them get to the next level. In fact, I’ve been building out a one-on-one training series and brainstorming a Master Class opportunity for leaders and entrepreneurs at all levels. If you are interested please then check out my Business Coaching page and get signed up!

Where to start

If you only take one thing from this talk, make it this: write down your why before you write down your goals. When things get hard, and they will, your why is what keeps you from quitting. Then pick one goal you can reach in the next few months, put it on the calendar, and be intentional about it.

Think about the story you want to be able to tell a year from now. The lead character in a good story doesn’t wait until every obstacle is out of the way. He walks right into them, and that’s where the story gets good.