 T.K. Koma. Whatever it takes. Woo-hoo! Ladies and gentlemen, family and friends, people and people, enemies and allies, human beings from every category of being, welcome to FICON 2019. All right, so that was the dress rehearsal. You always need a dress rehearsal, right? You want to do one quick run-through where everybody feels like it's the real thing so we can all loosen up, and now that we know what we got to do, we can really bring the energy this time. So I'm going to push the rewind button, and we're going to do this whole thing again, but let's spice it up a little bit. First a little call and response. When I say set your path, I want you to say change the world. Let's try that. Set your path. Change the world. And when I say change the world, you say set your path. Change the world. Change the world. All right, the second thing I want to do is get some kind of drum roll going. Things are always more dramatic and fun when you have the musical effects. If you've ever watched reality TV, I know we all pretend not to be involved with that kind of stuff, but they always do the music, and that's what invokes the emotion. So let's get a little music effect in. Now there are two ways you can make a drum sound. You pick your way of choice. One is you can sort of tap your feet. The other is you can, but we're going to get a drum roll going. I'm going to hit the rewind button. We're going to do this again, and we're going to do it right, and we're going to give it the enthusiasm of people who are actually interested in setting our path and changing the world. Voice of God, Mike says, welcome to the stage, T.K. Coleman. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, people and people from every walk of life, from every category of being, welcome to FECON 2019. It is time to set your path. It is time to change the world. Let's do it. So I got to tell you, even though I'm hyped up about this slogan of ours, there is kind of a problem. Change the world is like the cheesiest phrase you could possibly use for a conference, right? I mean, and I know we all know it. We're all thinking it. I mean, there is no faster way to lose credibility and to be associated with a want to be motivational guru than to go around talking like change the world. That's right up there with, what's the one from Silicon Valley? Make the world a better place, right? Make a difference. It reminds me of this cartoon I saw when I was a kid where the rich kids got a trip to Disneyland, and there was a small group of poor kids who couldn't go. They didn't have the money. And so they're all crying about it. And there's one kid who says, hey, guys, don't worry, we don't need to go to Disneyland. You know why? Because we have the power of imagination and there's Disneyland inside each and every one of us. And there's no limit on how many rides we can get on. There's no long lines that we have to wait in. It's going to be the best time ever all because of creativity. And all the other kids kind of looked at him like, nah, man, we want to go to Disneyland. You keep the imagination, we'll take the money. That's kind of what it feels like, right? When we use phrases like change the world. But I want you to pay special attention to what we do with that phrase. Because what we do with that phrase is indicative of what we do at fee as a whole. We don't lead with change the world. We put that after something and the order is very important. We put it after set your path. When most people talk about changing the world, they use that phrase prescriptively. A prescription is any instruction or set of instructions about what you ought to do. You better do your homework. You better obey the law. It's when we give you our opinions about how you should live based on perceived necessity, based on guilt, based on duty, obligation, and so forth. But a description is when you simply give a logical delineation of things that occur when certain conditions have been obtained. So for instance, if I say, you know, in the summertime, it gets really humid in Atlanta. That's a description. I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm not giving you my opinion about how you ought to live your life. I'm just telling you something about how reality works. When we talk about change the world, we don't talk about this prescriptively. We don't mean, hey, you need to force yourself to be the kind of person who makes a difference or feel guilty or feel like a worthless human being or feel like you're doing something wrong. What we mean is much more empowering and much more profound. And that is the phrase change the world is simply a description of what you will naturally do, of what you will skillfully do when you begin to live your life in a manner that is deliberate and differentiated. When you begin to embrace the reality of your own power, when you dare to be the kind of person who sets their own path. One of my favorite stories about setting your own path comes from Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is the acclaimed astrophysicist and he talks about how when he first started his career, well he grew up, his father wasn't a scientist, his father was a civil rights activist. So in his childhood his home was filled with conversations about things like social justice, things like disenfranchisement and he was always interested in things like why the night sky was so bright or the origins or natures of the cosmos or why tiny particles behaved the way they did and that certainly didn't have anything to do with social justice, right? His parents were supportive, but his friends would often tease him or his friends would often respond like why are you interested in weird things? So when he's in college he's a freshman and he has a close friend and a mentor who's a senior and this guy is a Rhodes Scholar. He studies economics and he's all about changing the world. In fact his dream is to focus on research related to opportunity zones and empowering people to overcome poverty through entrepreneurship. I have a panel on that right after this. So this is a guy who clearly cares about changing the world. So one day him and Neil deGrasse Tyson are walking across campus and he says how are things going? And Neil says oh man my math exams are really killing me and he's complaining about his homework. And his friend says what do you study again? And he says physics and he says huh what are you going to do with that? And Neil says I'm not sure I just love it. And then his friend says something that he would never forget, words that would make life difficult for him for the next several years. His friend says you know Neil with all due respect as a black man I don't think you can afford to waste your intellect on something as abstract and far removed from the problems of our community like physics. And Neil said man that took him back he didn't get offended he got guilty because this is a guy that he respects and this is a guy that wasn't just talking the talk he was proving every day that he was out there caring about people that were suffering. Now Neil deGrasse Tyson was saved by his obsession with physics because even if someone could make a case that it was unethical there's nothing he could do to stop studying this stuff because he was such a nerd so he continued to nerd out on physics but he never forgot this conversation and he always questioned himself am I really making the world a better place or am I just being this selfish guy doing things that aren't helping my people but that are only interesting to me. Fast forward in 1989 he's in Columbia University for grad school he gets a call from a local reporter who says there are some weird things going on in the sky I'm wondering if anybody there from the department can explain what's going on and in far more sophisticated language than I can summarize he explains in a scientifically literate way that there's a it's essentially a blob of plasma and once that heads towards earth it's going to collide with the molecules in our atmosphere and it's going to result in this phenomenon known as the northern lights so get ready to go outside and enjoy something beautiful and the reporter says so the earth is safe and Neil says yeah yeah yeah the earth is safe and the reporter says okay can I get you to come down to the station get on camera and say that for TV and Neil says okay I'm a broke grad student I have literally one suit I don't know if it's clean yeah I'll be there pick me up huh and any rush is home puts on his one suit goes to the television station gets on TV and he says his message and it wasn't a message directed to black people it wasn't a message that said hey black people there's some crazy stuff happening in the sky we're gonna be okay so don't worry about it but man everybody else it wasn't a message like that it was simply a message about the power and the beauty and the symmetry of nature a message that created value for everyone so he goes home and he's watching this with his family and he has an epiphany he says at that time he had never seen a black person on television talking with expertise about something like physics without also talking about how special it is for a black person to be doing that and he said oh my the next time someone sees a black person doing something idiotic maybe they'll think to themselves ah man if that guy had only applied himself or if that guy had only had a little bit of support he might have become a physicist more importantly his intuition was confirmed because years later people after people came to him and said things like dr. Tyson I'm a chemist because of you dr. Tyson I'm a physicist because of you dr. Tyson I decided to be an engineer because of you dr. Tyson I don't love the sciences but when I saw a black man get on television and talk intelligently about things I cannot understand it made me have the confidence that hey I can do that too black people were coming to this man saying to him you are the reasons you are the reason that I am a scientist that I'm an engineer that I'm an entrepreneur and he produced that effect simply by following his own bliss by being a self-interested individual who dared to do something for no other reason than that he believed in it and he found meaning in it by the way the world scholar he went back to look for him because he wanted to tell him about his epiphany says he couldn't find them google them couldn't find them on the internet he doesn't know where that guy is he doesn't know what he's up to maybe he's doing some good maybe he's not but for neil he experienced the inner freedom that comes from knowing that the best way to change the world is not by looking around at all the things that need to be dealt with in life and saying well I got to figure out the most important one because the problem with being led by guilt is that no matter how much good you do there is an opportunity cost for that good and there is far more good that you will be left undone so I can guarantee for everyone here when you die you will leave way more good undone than the good you do guaranteed so if you're trying to do good on a guilt-based approach you're done for you'll never be free from guilt so how do we change the world we change the world according to the words of another civil rights activist Howard Thurman Howard Thurman said ask not yourself what the world needs but rather what makes you come alive for that is what the world needs people who have come alive but this isn't just a fluff story there's some philosophy behind this the truth of the matter is that there are possibilities born out of love that simply don't arise out of duty how many of you when you were growing up have ever been required by your parents to take out the garbage all right so here's a question I already know there's gonna be at least one person in the audience who answers in some crazy way but I want you to be honest here here's a question for you when your parents told you to go take out the garbage how many of you went to the house of every single one of your neighbors and took out their garbage too not a single person that's a very rational thing let me explain that the reason you took out your garbage wasn't because you want it to it was because your parents made you do it right so your motive for doing it was duty I have to do just enough to avoid getting in trouble and that's it if you do anything beyond that you are being irrational you are literally wasting your own time right you are doing something that you don't want to do and something that you don't have to do why would you ever do that right so you do just enough to avoid getting in trouble and then you stop that's what duty does every single time we figure out what the rules are we figure out what we have to do in order to not be seen as a bad person in order to check the right boxes and we do that and then we stop duty can only take you so far but what about love well as an example let's say my mom tells me you know TK there's this girl named Sandy and Sandy's a really good girl and I think you ought to take Sandy out on a date and I go but mom I don't like Sandy and she goes well I'm making you do it you owe me a favor anyway okay so I go out on a date with Sandy I don't want to be there my mom made me be there how do you think I'm gonna act you think I'm gonna write a poem for Sandy now probably not right I'm probably gonna do just enough to avoid getting in trouble just enough to say okay mom I did that thing you wanted me to do and that's it but now let's contrast Sandy with my wife Michelle my mom never told me hey there's a girl named Michelle and I want you to go pursue her but Michelle was a girl that caught me by surprise I'm working in Applebee's one day this beautiful girl comes in and all of a sudden I completely lose my marbles and in that moment a poet is born a songwriter is born right an artist is born I find all kinds of ideas and insights coming out of me that I didn't even know existed right because those are the possibilities born out of love when something fires you up when something makes you come alive you not only do what you need to do but you go beyond it you go beyond what is required of you you don't just go the essential mile you go the extra mile and beyond that is what happens when you have the courage to set your own path this isn't about changing the world it's about about a very particular way to change the world one of the greatest economic insights given to us was by Leonard Reed Leonard Reed and I pencil there's also an excellent video version of it but read that read the material read the article first there's also an excellent talk on YouTube by Milton Friedman where he gives another explanation of it but the fundamental point of I pencil is that no person knows how to make a pencil we don't get pencils through central planning we don't get pencils through committees getting together trying to figure out what humanity needs and we don't get pencils as a result of people saying hey what's a way to make society a better place oh yeah pencils that's a good idea let's make a thing like that we get pencils through a process called spontaneous order a bunch of individuals in different places who don't know each other don't care each care about each other in some ways dislike each other they're all chasing after what makes them come alive and the miracle is this valuable thing gets created and it's more valuable than anything that a committee could have produced the way you change the world is the same way that you make a pencil it's by having the courage to set your own path to consider not as what not what is important to others not what makes me look virtuous not what I have to do not what the worst problems are based on statistical arguments but rather what makes me come alive as an individual this weekend you're gonna be exposed to some of the greatest scholars to some of the greatest entrepreneurs and innovators and thinkers in the world and they're gonna share a lot of different insights insights about economics entrepreneurship art politics all sorts of wonderful things my challenge to you is don't miss the point by taking in all of these ideas as if it is mere fuel to go run back home to your friends and then whack them upside the head with truth don't miss that point the point of this experience is to internalize these ideas and insights and come up with a way of applying them to your life so that you can live more freely so that you can change yourself and when you do that the world will change as a natural result and you won't have to force it we have an awesome event for you some of you have been given this pamphlet but even if you don't have this this is a schedule you have a phone you received an email that said welcome to fecon in the title and that email gives you a link and a password for the fecon app if you download that app and you type in your password it's a simple like less than two-minute process you'll have access to the entire schedule of events it's gonna be a lot easier to keep track of than trying to carry on a paper and looking like the freshman like hey guys you know where the entrepreneurship one is I so I want you guys to look cool that's why I'm telling you this okay so just download the app if you don't have the email that's okay just go to the registration desk when we're done here you've got a little time and let them know and they'll get you set up so that you can get the schedule on your phone okay now if you look at the schedule you'll notice something really cool about the way we're doing things this year we have different tracks so we don't just have a random blob of a bunch of stuff going on at the same time we have a disruptive innovators track we have a creative arts track we have a philosophy politics and economics track we have a business in perspective track we have a skills for success track and an entrepreneurship and startup experience track this is a key aspect of the fee philosophy there is no one single right way to make a difference to change the world to create a freer society you need the perspectives and the practices of many different people who can weigh in from different vantage points and we have something for everybody here so be sure to download the app a couple of other housekeeping items out in the atrium you will see when you step out those doors a huge globe by that globe is the free speech lounge and I think you'll have a lot of fun there it's a very fun place also we have the screening room which is in the expo and the screening room is where you will be showing you different freedom related entrepreneurship related videos and movies and things along those lines you'll get a chance to check out a lot of cool projects that different partners of fee have been working on please do check it out also you're going to see photographers all throughout the space everywhere you go this is the photo tap crew if you look at your your tag you should have something a scan bar on there right so the photo tap crew they will take a photo of you and they will scan your bar and that photo will come straight to you so look for them they'll be looking for you but as you're making the rounds make sure you get your photo line up your family and friends and not when you go on Instagram or Twitter or wherever the kids go nowadays don't forget to put the hashtag hashtag fee 2019 in fact I encourage you to do that as you're in the breakout sessions as you're in the main sessions like this if you hear an insight that just resonates with you if you have an inspiring thought or if you capture a cool image of a couple people having a conversation get on social media pump it up hype it up maybe we'll recruit some more people to come in but even for the people who don't maybe they can live vicariously through you and get a little bit of value based on the things that you share all right I want to give you a couple of tips on how to get the most out of this conference I want to give you three number one document everything you learn one of my favorite quotes is by David Allen in a book called getting things done where he says the mind is for having ideas not holding ideas and the more pressure you put on the mind to hold ideas the less flexible and fluid it will be and its ability to have ideas so you're gonna hear a lot of ideas and you're probably only gonna remember about 10% of that so I encourage you to take notes even if questions come up let's say you're in a cool conversation tonight and there's an interesting question that comes up write that down because in a breakout session the next day you might have the opportunity to ask an entrepreneur to ask a philosopher that question and get a different insight so I encourage you to take notes number two network network network the most powerful aspect of being at this event is the community and the conversations that are built up around the ideas you are not alone in your desire to make a difference in your desire to be a better version of yourself there are lots of people just like you and more importantly there are lots of people who are in a lot who are nothing like you at all and those people can challenge you to take your mind in a different direction so engage in conversations even if you're shy even if you feel like well I don't know how to start conversations man I don't know what to say I mean I'm tired of asking people where you from blah blah blah use whatever you got and trust me the people here are gracious enough to accept that if you come to me and you're like where you're from I'm not gonna be like come on man be more creative I'll talk to you okay and I'm sure everyone else here will do the same all right the third thing I want you to do is make sure you ask lots of questions but one of the funniest things about breakout sessions and talks is whenever people open up for Q&A everybody raises their hand and then people go all right I got a comment and then they give like a 10-minute monologue on what they think to it's cool to have ideas but be more selfish than that this is an opportunity for you to take your own game to a higher level when you're around people that are brilliant and doing interesting things take advantage of the opportunity to pick their brains many of these people might be people that you can't get a hold of at a later time all right everybody ready for this I want to give some special recognition you know as excited as I am about this event we've got some wonderful people that have made this possible and I want to give some shout outs each individual one let's give them a round of applause the LGBTQ for Liberty let's give it up for UFM for our fee presence in Latin America Larry Reed will be talking a lot more about the awesome work that UFM is doing later on in the conference let's give it up for free the people let's give it up for Stossel in the classroom a hearty round of applause for the Heritage Foundation let's give it up for the National Review Institute and last but certainly not least the wonderful people at Social Evolution without your support none of this would be possible and without your presence none of this would be done so let's make this an exciting time let's make this a fun time and let's be self-interested and figure out together how we can use these ideas to be better versions of ourselves because we can change the world we will change the world and we won't do it out of guilt we'll do it and we'll have a heck of a lot of fun doing it and we'll make a lot of profit at the same time all right cheers let's do this