Today was another great day in San Francisco at the TED Women’s Conference.  Here are a few inspirational stories to share from today:

Diana Nyad:  In 2013, at the age of 64and as her fifth attempt to do so, Diana swam all the way from Cuba to Florida.  A total distance of 110 miles in about 53 hours.  Diana was supported by a 35 person team who stayed nearby in boats to support her along the way.   What I personally loved most about her story was the fact that she succeeded on her FIFTH attempt.  Not the first or second or third….the FIFTH!  Talk about perseverance toward achieving your life goal.  Wow!    Diana shared that her motto in life is “Find a Way”, if you have a dream then find a way to make it happen.   No doubt that this is exactly what she did!

Jessica Matthews:  A young girl who took a soccer ball and used it to harness energy so it could be used for things like providing enough light for a child to read or do homework at night when they have no electricity.  Jessica’s mantra is “improving lives through play” and she is accomplishing that through her non-profit Unchartered Play.  Today she is only 25 years old and she goes back and forth from running her charity to Harvard to finish her degree.  Talk about our youth today making a difference in the world!  Jessica proves that you are never too young to have a big impact!

Maya Penn:  Maya was a personal favorite today. Mya is only 13 years old and she is an entrepreneur.  She is the CEO of Maya’s Ideas, a company she started at the age of 8!  She creates and sells eco-friendly clothing and accessories.  She is also an avid computer geek and she loves to create animations on her computer and she makes short cartoons.  She credits her father with driving her passion for technology.  Maya gives 10-20% of her profits to charitable causes like food banks, etc.  What a little powerhouse this young lady is.  She sees no limitations to her future and based on what I saw today, I would agree with that!

It’s such a treat to hear the amazing stories of each of the speakers.  There were too many for me to include all of them in my blog tonight but I wanted to share just a few to give you a sense of the amazing things people are accomplishing in the world.  I believe you can access all of the conference talks online if you want to see more.

Every now and again I think its important that we refill our motivation tank by hearing about the successes of others and getting a sense of what they went through to get where they are today.  Never once have I heard a story that wasn’t filled with many trials and many failures before their success came, which is such a great reminder to all of us to keep going when things get tough!  Heck if Jessica could get back into those shark infested waters to make a fifth attempt after four failures, then all of us should be able to give it another shot as well!

Have a great weekend everyone!  I am on my plane headed home again….no matter how great a trip is there is just no place as good as home.

~Amy