Turn inspiration into action & change your life: a new book about the ‘hows’ of self-transformation

HOBART, Australia - Nov. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- Kylie Dunn set out to fix her life and ended up with a blueprint for self-improvement she has turned into a book, a business and a whole new outlook.

Now the Hobart-based author, public speaker and self-confessed reformed perfectionist and introvert hopes others can use her experiences to drive positive change in their own lives.

Her book, Do Share Inspire: The Year I Changed My Life Through TED Talks, is based on the lessons and insights Ms Dunn learned through a 12-month self-development program she designed herself.

She calls it her “Year of TED”. TED is a global organisation (the acronym stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design) dedicated to spreading worthy ideas. The organisation promotes talks by speakers on all topics – from science and business to personal and global issues – as a means of challenging and changing attitudes and lives.

“I’d been inspired by TED talks for years – I used to listen to them while commuting when I was working in Sydney – but I’d never done anything with them,” Ms Dunn said.

“I felt the urge to do something noteworthy and challenging to ring in my 40th year on the planet. One of the talks that inspired me was Matt Cutts’ ‘Try something new for 30 days’. I decided to develop a list of new-to-me activities based on TED talks and to try each one in my life for 30 days.”

Fitting the program around her demanding public service career, Ms Dunn decided to start a new activity on the first day of each month and introduce another on the 15^th day – meaning she was doing two new activities at any given time. Some were practical, like changing her fashion style through op-shopping or eating less meat, while others were more philosophical and introspective – such as exposing herself to 30 days of vulnerability.

Ms Dunn’s motivation for change went far deeper than trying new clothes, diets or attitudes. It was based on the drive to repair a lifetime of constantly feeling she was the wrong person in the wrong life – a feeling she now realises is shared by millions of others.

“Before I started My Year with TED, everything in my life was finally going well. I was in the best place I’d ever been – in a very happy relationship, we’d made the tree change to Tasmania, I had a good job – yet I still had this feeling that something wasn’t right, that I wasn’t doing what I should be doing. It was a feeling I referred to as ‘my soul crying’.

“I’d made all the external changes but nothing had changed. I had no idea what was missing or how to find it. I’d spent my life feeling I was broken in many ways, so I wanted to address some of those broken parts of myself.”

Ms Dunn kept a blog of her experiences during her 2011-2012 Year of TED. That blog has become her soon-to-be-launched book Do Share Inspire: The Year I Changed My Life Through TED Talks.

“I made the commitment that I would be as honest (in the blog) as I could bear to be,” she said. “I also wanted to share my experiences as a way of connecting with others, honouring another part of the TED inspiration.”

The program was confronting and very tough at times, and she attributes her staying power to being a “shocking perfectionist”. “I don’t like to fail. The fact I told people I was doing it meant I had to finish.”

The lessons Ms Dunn learned through the seemingly simple process of opening herself to something new – just a month at a time – have already carried her into a new business career and a new way of living that hold universal messages.

“My Year of TED was a process to give myself permission to change. I learnt that you can adopt an experimental view of your life. It’s not an all-or-nothing game.

“I’ve learnt the value of focused activities. They are a really powerful way of considering different parts of your personality and your life.

“I’ve learnt the power of taking action, not just being inspired.

“I’m more confident, more aware of my values. And I’m actually more courageous than I ever thought I was. I’ve also completely reframed being wrong – I’ve learnt that you are allowed to be wrong.

“Finally, I have learnt to be brave enough to own my own story.”

Do Share Inspire: The Year I Changed My Life Through TED Talks (http://www.kyliedunn.com/doshareinspire) is now available in ebook form and will release as a paperback at the end of November. This book will officially launch in Hobart in early February, contact Kylie for further details.

* Do Share Inspire: The Year I Changed My Life Through TED Talks (http://www.kyliedunn.com/doshareinspire) is available from Kylie Dunn at kylie@kyliedunn.com.