The courage to be yourself| Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique
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0:15 - 0:18"Take the first step in faith.
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0:18 - 0:24You don't have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.” -
0:24 - 0:26Martin Luther King.
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0:27 - 0:31In February 2009, I lost my job
as a marketing director, -
0:32 - 0:35I was all dynamic, in London,
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0:35 - 0:38when suddenly one day, I lost my job.
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0:38 - 0:42It was a real slap in the face
but I told myself, -
0:42 - 0:46"it's time to live your dream,
I want to inspire millions of people, -
0:46 - 0:47nothing less,
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0:47 - 0:50I want to put videos online for free.
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0:50 - 0:52I don't know how I'm going
to make a living from it -
0:52 - 0:54but this is what I want to do.
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0:54 - 0:56Now is the time to do it
because I've been fired. -
0:56 - 0:57Let's do it!"
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0:57 - 1:00I already had two,
three million views on Youtube, -
1:00 - 1:02so I thought the time was right.
-
1:02 - 1:05I also thought it was time
to write a book. -
1:05 - 1:06Why not?
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1:06 - 1:07I had just lost a job,
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1:07 - 1:10After all, I had been practicing
self-improvement for years, -
1:10 - 1:12I had attended training courses,
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1:12 - 1:14if all that, the meditations, do work,
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1:14 - 1:18it may be time to try them
and to put them into practice. -
1:18 - 1:21So I wrote a book about it
and by the end of 2009, -
1:23 - 1:27I had a book in my hands,
which had been made very quickly, -
1:27 - 1:30but not a cent on my bank account.
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1:30 - 1:33I ended up broke, in London,
a very very expensive city, -
1:33 - 1:37and at the age of 32,
I had to go back to my parents', -
1:37 - 1:39well, to mum's, my parents were divorced.
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1:41 - 1:49That's a real blow to your ego, for sure,
but I didn't have any other choice, -
1:49 - 1:55it was that or finding another
regular marketing job, -
1:55 - 2:01working for someone that didn't suit me
or at least, I wouldn't get along with -
2:01 - 2:04and I thought, no, I want
to live my dream, I don't know how, -
2:05 - 2:07but I would rather go back
more or less to square one, -
2:07 - 2:13live what I must live with my parents
and not do that job again. -
2:14 - 2:18So I stayed but I still didn't know
how to make a living from my passion. -
2:18 - 2:22My book had known a bit of success
but not enough to make a living. -
2:22 - 2:27On January, 11, 2011
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2:27 - 2:31I decided to go on tour across
the United States, Mexico and Canada, -
2:31 - 2:37a 12-month tour of interviews,
during which I would interview authors, -
2:37 - 2:41people that I thought were nice,
authors mainly. -
2:43 - 2:46I wanted to learn from them
so I brought my small camera, -
2:46 - 2:52my very small camera, a little bit ashamed
of coming over with such a small camera, -
2:52 - 2:54they were so famous!
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2:54 - 2:56I showed up there
and I started to interview them, -
2:56 - 3:03to ask the questions I had always wanted
to ask and I broadcast it on Internet. -
3:03 - 3:07But you are probably
wondering how I paid for it. -
3:08 - 3:14Because traveling for twelve months
costs a lot, it can be very expensive. -
3:14 - 3:19I simply put a donation button,
a Paypal button, on the website. -
3:20 - 3:25I had no idea that it would work
when I started my tour. -
3:25 - 3:26It showed no sign.
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3:26 - 3:30So it was a big leap of faith,
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3:30 - 3:34and the day before the tour started,
I was in New Mexico, -
3:34 - 3:40I was ready to do my first interview,
and a donation happened. -
3:40 - 3:44It was the exact amount
for the computer I needed, -
3:44 - 3:49that I just bought to upload
these videos on Youtube. -
3:49 - 3:50I was blown away!
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3:50 - 3:55I was like: "What? Someone just made
a donation so that I can live my dream, -
3:55 - 3:58I didn't even really ask,
I didn't even say what I need, -
3:58 - 4:00and someone make me a donation!"
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4:01 - 4:07It was like everything became
more colorful, more alive, -
4:09 - 4:12and it blew me away.
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4:14 - 4:17Of course these steps transformed my life,
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4:17 - 4:20it changed me, they were difficult steps,
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4:20 - 4:25challenges, leaps into the unknown,
almost quantum leaps, -
4:25 - 4:29and it transformed my life.
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4:30 - 4:3710 years after uploading my first video
on Youtube in March 2006, -
4:37 - 4:43I got my first "like" and my first view,
it was very exciting, -
4:43 - 4:47well, ten years later,
I have put 3,000 videos online, -
4:47 - 4:52got around 2,000 interviews
in several languages, -
4:52 - 4:54in French and English
since I am French-American, -
4:54 - 4:56I am doing it in both languages.
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4:56 - 4:58I have traveled in a lot of countries,
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4:58 - 5:01I am just back from Martinique,
Guadeloupe and Thaïland, -
5:02 - 5:0745 millions of people
have watched my videos, -
5:07 - 5:12so it has produced a snowball effect
thanks to the social media and all that, -
5:12 - 5:15these videos inspire people
to move forward. -
5:15 - 5:18Lately I interviewed Mantak Chia
in Thaïland for example, -
5:18 - 5:21who has written lots of books
about longevity, -
5:21 - 5:23on having a blooming sexuality.
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5:23 - 5:27Then I am going to interview
Professor Henri Joyeux on nutrition, -
5:27 - 5:30or Frédéric Laloue
on Reinventing Organizations, -
5:30 - 5:35so the new economic models for companies.
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5:35 - 5:36In short, I am having a ball!
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5:36 - 5:40I am going from one person to another,
I upload everything on Youtube. -
5:40 - 5:44But to tell you the truth,
I absolutely have no idea, -
5:44 - 5:46I still don't see the whole staircase.
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5:46 - 5:49In other words,
I answer the call every time, -
5:49 - 5:52every time I feel this impulse,
this intuition, this desire, -
5:52 - 5:54when something resounds inside me,
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5:54 - 5:58I say yes, but I don't know
where I am headed. -
5:58 - 6:00What I can tell you is I am having a ball,
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6:00 - 6:03What I can tell you is
I am enjoying myself, -
6:03 - 6:07that I am filled with gratitude
and joy of life, -
6:07 - 6:13that I am feeling more and more myself,
and since the day I lost my job, -
6:13 - 6:18and found myself broke,
this is when my real life began. -
6:18 - 6:22It makes me laugh
because when I look back, -
6:22 - 6:24I was so afraid of opening
myself to others, -
6:24 - 6:28I would have been so afraid
of talking in public, of making a video, -
6:28 - 6:32I needed to do everything on my own,
I needed to protect myself, -
6:32 - 6:35I was afraid of being manipulated,
of being betrayed, -
6:35 - 6:38I was afraid of being everything
you can imagine, -
6:38 - 6:39I was protecting myself.
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6:40 - 6:43Especially since that time
when I had no money, -
6:43 - 6:46because it was the hardest thing
I had to live, -
6:46 - 6:48being an entrepreneur at the age of 23
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6:48 - 6:51and achieving success,
even a financial one, -
6:51 - 6:55to find myself in this situation has been
the most beautiful gift after all, -
6:55 - 7:00because it has opened myself again
to life, to gratitude, -
7:00 - 7:04to care about myself,
rather than being hard on myself, -
7:04 - 7:08it has helped me
to look beyond differences, -
7:08 - 7:13beyond appearances,
particularly to tell real 'yes' to life, -
7:13 - 7:17to learn to say 'no' when needed,
to follow this intuition, -
7:17 - 7:20to listen to my intelligence,
the intelligence of the heart, -
7:20 - 7:25that comes at the service
of the intelligence which is up there, -
7:25 - 7:32and to learn to let go, to trust life
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7:32 - 7:39and admit that, maybe,
this is not a threatening universe. -
7:39 - 7:47This is the principle of this world 2.0
that I offer versus the 1.0 one, -
7:47 - 7:49that I feel has reached its limits.
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7:49 - 7:57Today we are in a world asking us
to be joyful, to be spontaneous, -
7:57 - 8:00to be grateful for small things,
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8:00 - 8:05to understand we don't need
to suffer to move forward, -
8:05 - 8:11that we all have something unique
inside us, that you have something unique, -
8:11 - 8:14you even have a responsibility,
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8:14 - 8:19a responsibility to life, to yourself,
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8:19 - 8:23and in order to live this responsibility,
we need to be brave, -
8:23 - 8:25we need to be ourselves.
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8:25 - 8:28We need to go draw within ourselves.
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8:28 - 8:32It is far from being an easy path
but, at least, we become ourselves, -
8:32 - 8:34and we really can help change the world.
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8:34 - 8:38I think we got here, to the point
where we have this ability, -
8:38 - 8:42and you know we have this ability to help,
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8:42 - 8:45to contribute, if only we want
to make a positive impact on the world, -
8:45 - 8:49but it's up to us to decide, to say yes,
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8:49 - 8:53to not hesitate to also ask
life to support us, -
8:53 - 8:57and to have visions
that are bigger than us. -
8:59 - 9:04I remember watching a TED talk
by Jacques Attali, -
9:04 - 9:08who said : "What's most important
is to undertake your life" -
9:08 - 9:12I totally agree with that of course,
because I think it's deeply connected, -
9:12 - 9:15life, our company
and our professionnal life -
9:15 - 9:17and to blossom like that.
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9:17 - 9:22So I ask you tonight to look
at what your role in this society is, -
9:22 - 9:29what role you want to play,
and what your commitment is, -
9:29 - 9:31what excites you,
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9:31 - 9:35and what you would like to answer
your grandchildren if, one day, -
9:35 - 9:37you had a conversation with them
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9:37 - 9:41and they asked about the influence
you have had on this world. -
9:41 - 9:43Thank you.
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9:43 - 9:45(Applause)
- Title:
- The courage to be yourself| Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique
- Description:
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This presentation was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED conferences.
Life's trials had Lilou Mace face several dilemmas, among which to take a risk and try her luck, to do what she had always wanted to do: make interviews and share them for free. Message: dare to be yourself.
- Video Language:
- French
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:49
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
TED Translators admin approved English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Elisabeth Buffard accepted English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Denise RQ rejected English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Elisabeth Buffard accepted English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique | ||
Denise RQ rejected English subtitles for Le courage d'être soi | Lilou Macé | TEDxÉcolePolytechnique |