My youngest brother, Kurtis, made headlines earlier this month for a reason that might sound incredibly weird if you don’t know him.
He’s an environmental science master’s student at the University of Guelph, where he recently…made a music video of his thesis. Yup, singing and dancing about science. His master’s is about using an invasive species of tall grass to make renewable energy (or trying to…that’s where the research comes in).
The peppy little song, which he wrote, sang and recorded himself, goes something like this:
Tall graaaaass biomaasss, for making biogaaaas. Grass–bio-mass! For bio-gas!
(Um, maybe you should just watch it.)
In the video, Kurt explains his thesis in a super clear, succinct way. But he also does some air guitar, uses the words “fart” and “poo,” and makes the best stinky-smell face you have ever seen.
I freaking LOVE this video. And so does everyone else.
He’s had close to 1,200 views and been profiled—fairly extensively—by a regional newspaper. He tells me he’s also forged some new partnership possibilities for his lab. It’s all pretty astounding when you think about it. Kurt isn’t selling anything. He’s just passionate about making science more accessible to the general public (it also helps that he’s flippin’ talented).
Kurt’s video has me thinking. It’s so easy to worry about looking stupid. It’s easy to be a wimp, full of ideas but afraid of following through.
The people who really make something of themselves are the ones who just go for it.
As a business owner, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. We have our creative, innovative side, and our worrywart, self-censoring sides. Success involves telling the worrywart to f-off so you can get on with being brilliant.
We can all learn something from fearless communicators like my little bro. So I have a challenge for you, and I’m here to help you follow through with it.
Let’s all do something fearless over the next two weeks.
Me, I’m taking a cue from Kurt and promising to create more videos. I probably won’t sing in them, but you never know.
What fearless thing are you going to do? Leave a note in the comments for maximum commitment and accountability!
It could be something like sharing an idea with someone you admire, writing a difficult blog post, or submitting an application to be a speaker at an event.
I know you’ve got that fearlessness in you.
P.S. As a follow up to my recent Globe and Mail piece, I should add that Kurt is an introvert! He’s a pretty outgoing introvert, but an introvert nonetheless. He didn’t even want help filming because he knew that having ONE PERSON watching him might make him self-conscious. Hah, he tricked himself.