PORTLAND, Ore. — Greg Bell, a Portland, Oregon based motivational speaker, author, and leadership coach, holds the auspicious title of being the first speaker at the very first TEDxPortland event in 2011. Reflecting back on that day he says that not much of his thinking has changed about his personal direction and advice for others, even in this time of quarantine and pandemic. He says asking the question of yourself "What's going well?" rather than dwelling on the negative is still very applicable in these troubling times because, in his words, "having that positive focus gives you the fuel to deal with the challenges."
His talk in 2011 was titled "Water the Bamboo" where he shared the real-world analogy of how it tales three years of watering a bamboo forest before there is any growth above ground. Then, once the strong root system is established, the forest will grow as much as four feet a day. He translated that philosophy of building a history of positive thought into the foundation of his program that helps individuals and corporations achieve growth and greater success. He also shared with the TEDx audience the story of his childhood, humble by the measure of wealth but rich in the measure of inspiration and love he experienced from his family and community.
For a complete listing of stories in this series go here and visit the KGW YouTube channel TEDx playlist.
For more information on TEDx Portland, visit their website.
This article is part of a continuing series presented by KGW in partnership with TEDx Portland.
