If Day 1 at INBOUND 2018 (#INBOUND18) had a
theme, it’s “Slow Down and Reflect.” We’re drinking from a firehose of
information and it’s no wonder that a large number of marketers are burning out
and/or leaving the industry all together.
I was fortunate to be able to take a
well-needed vacation back home to Nova Scotia to spend time with family and
celebrate the marriage of my best friend in PEI before arriving in Boston for
INBOUND18. It was a perfect time to reflect on what’s important to me and my
personal well-being and going straight to INBOUND was, in my opinion, a great
transition back into work.
Orientation Session
The first day wasn’t necessarily jam packed
with sessions, but it was full of valuable insights. I kicked off the day with
the INBOUND Orientation Session which, for a newbie like me, was insanely
valuable. I’ll be honest, I didn’t do a lot of research going into INBOUND, so
I didn’t really know what to expect. Turns out that a place filled with 24,000
people is insanely overwhelming.
Club Inbound
Once I got my bearings, I went straight to
Club Inbound and took in the sights and sounds of what I can only explain as an
episode of Silicon Valley. Tech companies (most of which I never heard of)
promoting their products, crazy installations, a small store promoting books and
swag of speakers and brands, and even free massages.
Main Stage: Deepak Chopra
After walking around, I went straight into
the main stage which looked just like an Apple presentation stage that can fit
all 24,000 people. Not wanting to miss anything, I went right in to find a seat
and waited for Deepak Chopra to take the stage.
Deepak’s talk at first was a little… out
there. It kicked off with a video of contraception to birth and a very graphic
process of the miracle of birth. I’ll be honest, I had no idea in which
direction this talk was going to go. I was pleasantly surprised when he started
kicking off numbers and logic to bring his point to the forefront – the body,
mind, and spirit is an ever-changing process. As a medical doctor, he’s
identified that almost, if not all (which he corrected himself), of all
illnesses are related to “inflammation” in the body. Of course, I’ve been
suffering from massive back pain my entire vacation and could use some ice on
my back at that exact moment.
He continued to rattle off numbers as it relates
to business. For example, research shows that about 20% of the American
workforce is “fully engaged” in their jobs / careers. The other 80% are
dissatisfied in some aspect, resulting in $3 billion in lost revenue due to
disengaged workers. Managers who ignore a subordinate’s idea decreases their
engagement with an organization by 40% ! That’s an insane amount to drop by
ignoring only ONE idea.
6 Focus Areas
Of course, most work managers and places
(including Sherpa) is completely open to new ideas and a lot of the
disengagement falls on the individual. Deepak listed six areas to focus on to
harmonize the process that is the body. I’m simply paraphrasing here, so bare
with me:
1. Sleep – arguably the most important we all need is sleep. It flushes toxins out of the body and improper lack of sleep can cause obesity and cardiovascular disease.
2. Meditation and Stress Management – Take time to reflect and revive the mind. We throw so much at it that it needs time to reset just like our muscles after a hard workout.
3. Movement (e.g. Yoga) – Moving the body gets the blood flowing. Deepak suggest yoga because it stretches an important nerve called the Vagus Nerve.
4. Emotions – Express your emotions and feel what you need to.
5.Nutrition / Nourishment – Our gut flora (something like two million microbes) helps with the balance of our bodies, which is major part of the body process.
6. Biological Rhythm / Grounding – You know that feeling of walking in grass with bare feet or touching a tree? Apparently, the Earth has negative ions that help offset inflammation. Other rhythms include circadian (e.g. jet lag), seasonal, lunar, and tidal. It makes sense that all the crazy people come out on a full moon.
Spiritual Well-Being
After a bit of further discussion, there
was also a major point made regarding “Spiritual Well-Being” which, according
to Deepak, our society is only beginning to get into and understanding that all
human suffering boils down to five aspects (although I was only quick enough to
write down a few):
1. Not knowing the true nature of reality
2. Grasping or clinging onto something that you cannot grasp (e.g. words coming out of your mouth)
3. Fear of death
He then led all 24,000 attendees into a 7-8
minute guided meditation in which he asked very existential questions such as:
Who am I? What are my greatest desires? Who is First Last name? What are the
most joyous memories? After a few minutes, he told us to open our eyes and
thank the audience for listening.
Ready for Day 2!
After a questionable start, I was
completely enthralled with the talk at the end and the back pain that was
plaguing me the last two weeks subsided greatly. After that, Club Inbound was
ready for partying and free drinks, but after a fun and alcohol-heavy vacation,
I needed some rest and therefore I headed back to the hotel, ready to greet day
two of INBOUND 2018.
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