Hey, guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brains Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brains Coach and it is my job here to bring to you insights, experiences, lessons, research, cutting-edge tools and toolkits from neuroscience, behavioral psychology, my own 15-year coaching experience and everything that I'm going through in life, like the Summit of Innovation, singularity University Summit in South Africa. Bring to you the best tools from research and experience and science and technology so you could take better control of your thoughts, of your emotions and, most importantly, of your actions, so you could create the life experience that you absolutely love living. Today, I'm sharing my experience of speaking at Singularity University Summit, the Innovation Summit. So many minds, brilliant minds in the fields of robotics, ai and intersection with everything that we humans do, from governance to education, to mobility, to cybersecurity, blockchain. Oh, my head is spinning just trying to remember what all these words mean, even though I have a degree in computer science. But that was a long time ago and I'm not on the cutting edge of technology. That this summit definitely made me feel like that.
Speaker 1This morning, guys, I was walking to do my workout at a gym and I felt out of place. Somebody actually asked me yesterday what does a coach do at the Innovation Summit and I replied making sure that human stuff works to create the kind of technologies that shape a better future for all of us. And it wasn't a joke and that was the theme of my talk Humanity, the human stuff, the hardware, the brain, the body, but also the software and what emerges from this body-mind experience, our emotions, our thoughts, our patterns, our behaviors and, yes, how our brain thinks, creates and innovates. All of that interlinked together. And if you want technology to change the world, we got to learn how to change ourselves first. And the next podcast I'm going to give you live this presentation that I did with practical tools how you can shape the kind of mind that innovates, that embraces change, that is super creative, versus feel fearful, resentful, uncertain, trying to protect status quo and not always encouraged to get out there and try things, new, things that often feel uncomfortable and you feel unqualified and not really ready to take the leap to try something new that might not work out. So this morning, while I was walking to the gym, I felt out of place, like what am I doing there? I don't know what all these people are talking about.
Speaker 1But then the second part of me was feeling also and having this thought what does it mean for me, what does it mean for my family, for my business? Am I going to be obsolete and outdated with the eye and all the other technologies? Am I going to be able to keep up? Am I going to be obsolete and outdated with the eye and all the other technologies? Am I going to be able to keep up? Am I going to be able to provide for myself, for my parents, my nephews, to help out my family, help out myself, to build a meaningful, fulfilling future for myself and for the company that I'm creating, that I'm building? Am I going to be relevant, all of these thoughts that are brought to the surface, with all this newness and stuff that I haven't learned much about, that is going to be affecting our lives, whether we want it or not, whether we see it or not. So this first gut reaction and I was trying to push it away I'm like Angela you need to feel certain and confident. You're about to give talk in there, so get in your most confident self. But then another voice, my inner coach that I trained over the years going through coaching with other people, myself going through coaching, training and coaching other people over 15 years, past 15 years of my life. Then that other inner coach told me Angela, lean into that feeling and understand that this is what humans feel when we experience, when we are presented with new information, new realities, new technologies, stuff that's going to change our lives. This is the first gut reaction. Is fear, is protection, is making sure that I and people I care about will be okay and people in this innovation bubble and exposed to more of this will feel a bit less uncertain and fearful and a little bit more ready to step and use all of this technological advancement.
Speaker 1And what I was bringing to the surface more as well to all the leaders in the audience, is that Technology, technological challenges, are real challenges. But the challenge that's even harder is the change of human mind, the change of human psychology, making people comfortable with embracing what technology has to offer. If we want technology to change the world, we got to change with it. That means that leaders on all levels got to think of conditions of environment that helps people to embrace innovation and change and, ultimately, for all of us to move into the future, together with less and less resistance Resistance bringing to the surface, into the game, to the task at hand of creating a better future, bringing all of the best of us and best of us doesn't function well when we are scared, uncertain, when we don't feel safe, when we feel unsure, when we might not feel that we belong even in that future and we have a say or that we have part of this future, that we are a part of this future, and so this is the kind of conversation I was having with myself on the way to the gym and then I had my workout, and working out is magical.
Speaker 1We were just speaking with other speakers and people in the audience about the fact that the physical practice that we do, movement and breathing and, by the way, we did both of them, we did squats, we did breathing during my presentation that have to do with the body, that creates the mind. We need to understand that. They shape how we think and then how well, or not so well, we embrace change and, ultimately, what kind of technologies we create, technologies that are going to shape our future. I brought up as an example Satya Nadella how a decision of one guy who was fascinated with growth mindset he decided to transform the culture. One of the technological leaders globally. He decided to start with the human stuff and create the culture, change the culture, transform the culture of know-it-all into learn-it-all, and guess what? That's transforming the organization, bringing more profits, but also that is, as we speak, changing the way technology is made at one of the biggest tech companies of the world. That technology that will shape a different kind of future.
Speaker 1And so I want all of us to think when we think about technologies and future and all the tools that are available. I want us all to think that it all starts with humanity and how we think, how we feel, how we behave, what actions we take. And it all starts with simple practices, with the human stuff, basics, sleep, exercise, nutrition. I was talking about how it affects our psychology and our focus and attention and our empathy, being able to see the world through the eyes of the other person, to step into other people's shoes, to empathize, so we could create solutions that are fair for all of us. That is overwhelming, terrifying and at the same time, thrilling. You know, throughout the whole summit I've been having this feeling, like the one you'd have before jumping out of the plane. It's like I want it, but I'm also terrified, even with all this safety net that I'm aware of. So that kind of feeling I've been having the whole summit that I'm aware of. So that kind of feeling I've been having the whole summit and I did my talk and now feel a lot more calmer and a lot more excited, especially that I actually shared these feelings, this vulnerability, with people in the audience and then with other speakers, and a lot of them share it with me.
Speaker 1You know, angela, we all kind of feel like that, even though we are in this tech world, but we're also experiencing this uncertainty, not sure where we're going and how we're going to get there. But we decided to practice what Steve Jobs popularized seeing the change as opportunity, not as a threat. Change as opportunity, not as a threat. There were common themes besides all the talks about AI and technology and future of food and future of mobility and future of this, and that the common theme was humanity comes first. How do we shape humanity so we can create the technologies that benefit in a fair way the rest of the world? It all starts with humanity. We are humans, we care about us and we are driven by creating a better world for all of us.
Speaker 1Leadership on all levels was also a thread. Actually, almost every speaker I listened to finished with this thought that you might think that technology is out there and somebody else is going to change the world. But actually people who change the world are individuals who decided they're going to commit their life and their potential to mission, to vision, to causes bigger than themselves. They decided to commit and then they gather people around them and resources, and that's how change happens one person at a time. And someone who started is also one person. Just like Elon Musk started from South Africa, having no launchpad for the success that he's having. Just like Satya Nadella changing this multi-continental conglomerate that's going to be changing our future for decades and centuries in the future. Just like Nelson Mandela decided to change how humans relate to each other in one country and then it tripled out to the entire world.
Speaker 1It's all about people, individual leaders, everyday superheroes, as I like to call them. And then also the theme of opportunity that technology gives us to connect all the different groups of people and backgrounds and where we start, and all the different visions, facilitating conversations in different parts of the world, connecting us all again back to humanity through the means of technology, the opportunities that it holds to create a better world, and also the threats. But then when we're speaking about threats, who creates threats? Also people, and that's why it's a full circle back. It starts with humanity and it will end with humanity. And technology is just a tool, just like money, that amplifies who we already are and we have the power to change who we are. So it starts with us, it's on us and it's all about us. We're also technology, just a biological kind of technology. Wanted to share with you this experience, I'm wrapping up the day two of the summit, going back to Cape Town, my home city. Again, stay tuned for my presentation in audio version on this podcast in a couple of days.
Speaker 1Feel free to also connect to stay present for the change that is happening. Stay human and figure out how together we can play a bigger part to create a better, fair future for all of us, brighter and so amazing. Stay tuned, share this podcast Also. Guys, we don't run any ads. We are changing the world. One person, one leader, one brain at a time, so please do share a screenshot. Tag me on Instagram, angela at Angela Brain Body Coach. Angela Brain Body Coach. Email this, whatsapp this to your friends who you want to think different and who you want to think bigger and play a bigger part in creating a better future for all of us. Let's connect, let's grow and change the world together. Thank you for your attention and till next time. Embrace the future, even though it is scary.