“FROM BED-BOUND (Literally) TO BREAKING BARRIERS—WHAT SUCCESS REALLY MEANS.” 🔥🚀

Thank you to Los Angeles Magazine for featuring my TEDx talk as one of the top 30 impactful talks of this century! A huge congratulations to my fellow TEDx’ers!!

Editor’s Picks! 30 TED(x) Talks That Have Made an Impact This Century!

I woke up to a friend sending me the article, and for a solid minute, I thought I was being punked. (Where’s Ashton Kutcher when you need him?)

But it got me thinking… how do we define success?

RE-FRAMING SUCCESS 🏆

Is it:

💰 The size of your paycheck?
📛 A fancy job title?
📊 How many views you get on your TEDx talk? (👀)

Most of us have an invisible scoreboard in our heads, constantly tallying the ways we should be winning. But real talk:

Who created that scoreboard? And does it even matter?

HERE’S THE THING ⚡

We’ve become victims of our own success.
🔹 We get anxious about being anxious.
🔹 We get stressed about being stressed. (Quick, where’s the vodka or that 11 p.m. commitment to a sugar spiral?)
🔹 We’re on a treadmill to nowhere, sprinting toward a finish line that doesn’t exist.

It’s like trying to win a race where the prize is… a never-ending email chain. Or worse—a reply all disaster.

LET’S BE HONEST 🤨

Our crises aren’t material anymore. They’re existential.
❌ It’s not about survival.
✅ It’s about meaning, purpose, and the constant question: Am I enough?

“Success isn’t about ticking boxes on someone else’s checklist—it’s about realizing the checklist is on fire and deciding if you even care.”

THE NEUROSCIENCE OF SUCCESS 🧠

Small Wins = Big Impact
When you achieve a goal—big or small—your brain releases dopamine, the feel-good chemical. But here’s the catch:

💥 The big win dopamine hit? Fleeting.
⚡ The real magic? Small, consistent wins.

Example: After months in bed recovering from a pressure sore, my biggest goal wasn’t public speaking—it was sitting upright for five minutes without passing out. Then 10. Then 20. Two months later, I was rolling around in my wheelchair for an entire day.

👉 The process mattered more than the finish line.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS? 🎯

Ask yourself:
✅ Am I sprinting toward a goal that actually matters to me?
✅ Have I celebrated the small victories today?

Because at the end of the day, success isn’t about winning someone else’s game—it’s about making sure you actually want the prize.

(Don’t worry they did leave an “L” off my last name 😉