Tag: philosophy

A New Era of AI in Memphis: From Deep History to Community Engagement

This was written entirely by ChatGPT-4 under my direction to both inform others on Memphis connection to and work in artificial intelligence as well as to demonstrate the current state of the art of large language models. The image was made by DALL-E 2.

Author’s Note: This was written entirely by ChatGPT-4 under my direction to both inform others on Memphis connection to and work in artificial intelligence as well as to demonstrate the current state of the art of large language models. The image was made by DALL-E 2.

For over a quarter of a century, I’ve been both a participant in and witness to the transformative journey of artificial intelligence (AI) in Memphis. This journey is not just a recent trend but a long-standing tradition of innovation. With its deep historical roots and lively cultural scene, Memphis is now emerging as a dynamic center for AI in business, education, and beyond.

My personal journey with AI began as a researcher at Rhodes College and continued at the University of Memphis, where I served as Associate Director of the Institute for Intelligent Systems. The community may not be fully aware, but our engagement with artificial intelligence truly gained prominence when Art Graesser and Stan Franklin founded the Institute for Intelligent Systems in the 1990s, putting Memphis on the map in AI research and development. These experiences not only shaped my understanding of AI but also highlighted the depth of Memphis’s involvement in this field.

In recent years, AI has integrated into various sectors in Memphis, from logistics and healthcare to financial services and robotics, revolutionizing how businesses operate and enhancing the city’s economic landscape. Last year, as an advisor to the Memphis Museum of Science and History for their AI exhibit, I had the privilege of showcasing the strides we’ve made in AI; this exhibit served as a powerful testament to Memphis’s evolving role in shaping the future of AI, highlighting our substantial contributions and illuminating the potential paths forward. The exhibit featured applications such as machine learning for vehicle maintenance and machine vision for social and practical robots that assist in our daily activities.

Building on this foundation, my wife, Jillian Friot, and I currently host monthly AI Meet Ups at our home. These gatherings, designed to foster a space for enthusiasts, experts, and novices alike, encourage collaboration and community building. The FedEx Institute of Technology has recently kicked off the 901 AI series, a new meetup focused on artificial intelligence and its real-world applications, which is now actively engaging our community and bringing together minds from all walks of life to learn, share, and innovate. Additionally, Scott Finney‘s AI meetups around Memphis have played a crucial role in demystifying AI for the broader community, making it more accessible and understandable.

At CodeCrew, where I serve on the board, Meka Egwuekwe and Audrey Willis, co-founders and driving forces behind our initiatives, are committed to ensuring that both youth and adults are prepared for the future by adapting our curriculum and other resources to focus on how students and adults alike can use AI in computer science and coding, equipping them with the skills necessary to thrive in an AI-driven world. Their combined efforts aim to make AI knowledge accessible to all Memphians, bridging the gap between AI technology and its practical applications.

As Memphians, our unique blend of innovation and community spirit, along with our ongoing commitment to inclusivity, positions us as ideal pioneers in the AI era. The steps we’re taking in business, education, and community engagement are not only enhancing our lives but are also laying the groundwork for a future where AI fosters a more inclusive society. Let’s embrace this opportunity to lead the way, ensuring that Memphis remains at the forefront of technological advancement and community empowerment.

If you’re intrigued by the potential of AI or want to contribute to this burgeoning field, I encourage you to reach out and get plugged into our vibrant community. Together, we can continue to drive Memphis forward as a leader in AI innovation and application.

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Guide to Unlock Your Potential

Embark on the journey of personal and professional development with this guide to unlock your potential. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a business leader, or a professional aiming to elevate your career, understanding how to fully tap into your capabilities is essential — it is time to unlock your vast and full potential within. This guide provides actionable strategies and insights for achieving transformative growth and success in both your personal life and business endeavors.

Exploring Personal and Business Potential

Maximizing potential means harnessing your innate talents and applying them towards your aspirations. It’s a process of breaking barriers, overcoming challenges, and realizing your true capacity for growth. In the business world, this translates to career advancement, fostering a culture of innovation, and driving continuous improvement.

Strategy Guide to Unlock Your Potential

  • Self-Assessment and Goal Setting: Start with a deep dive into your strengths and weaknesses. Establish clear, attainable goals that reflect your vision for success.
  • Lifelong Learning: Embrace continuous education. Stay updated with industry trends and expand your skill set through courses, workshops, or self-directed learning.
  • Mentorship and Coaching: Leverage the insights and support from mentors or coaches. These relationships can provide personalized advice, foster strategic thinking, and help overcome obstacles.
  • Networking: Cultivate a robust professional network. Engage in partnerships and collaborations that offer fresh perspectives and opportunities for growth.
  • Wellness and Balance: Prioritize your health and well-being to sustain success over time. Achieving a healthy work-life balance boosts productivity and satisfaction.
  • Adaptability and Resilience: Develop the ability to adapt to change and recover from setbacks. These skills are crucial for capitalizing on opportunities and maintaining progress.
  • Strategic Planning: Craft a detailed plan for your personal and business goals. Focus on efficient resource management, task prioritization, and flexible strategies to stay aligned with your objectives.

The benefits of using the guide to unlock your potential are below.

A guide to unlocking your potential.

Benefits from the Guide to Unlock Your Potential

Committing to your personal and business potential can yield remarkable benefits:

  • Elevated Performance: Enhance your productivity by playing to your strengths and addressing weaknesses.
  • Staying Competitive: Keep ahead in a fast-paced market through innovation and continuous learning.
  • Personal Satisfaction: Find fulfillment in achieving your goals and realizing your potential.
  • Business Advancement: Drive growth and success with strategic planning and resilience.

Conclusion

This guide to unlock your potential is just the start. The journey is ongoing and dynamic, demanding dedication and strategic action. By adopting the strategies highlighted in this guide, you embark on a transformative journey towards unparalleled success and fulfillment in all aspects of your life.

Harvard Business Review – The Value of Mentoring

https://hbr.org/2019/02/the-value-of-mentoring

Guide to Conducting a Personal SWAT Analysis

https://bschool.pepperdine.edu/blog/posts/personal-swot-analysis-guide.htm

Trust in Coaching Relationships

Trust in coaching relationships is the most important element of transformation. It’s the conduit through which insights flow between the coach to the client, growth is nurtured, and a big transformation is realized. Trust facilitates effective coaching engagements and enables transformative outcomes.

Understanding Trust in Coaching

Trust in coaching goes way beyond mere confidence in a coach’s capabilities and knowledge; it encompasses a belief in the coaches intentions, confidentiality, and the process the coach uses. The client needs to not only feel safe, but also be safe to share vulnerabilities, challenges, and aspirations without fear of judgment. This foundation allows the coaching relationship to flourish, enabling open, honest dialogue and the exploration of deep-seated beliefs and behaviors that could be holding the client back.

Building Trust: The Coach’s Role

A coach’s ability to build and maintain trust is paramount. This involves:

  • Empathy and Active Listening: Demonstrating understanding and genuine care for the coaching client’s experiences and goals.
  • Consistency and Reliability: Being consistently present and dependable, meeting commitments, and following through on promises.
  • Confidentiality: Ensuring that all shared information remains private, reinforcing the safety of the coaching space.
  • Non-judgmental Support: Offering support without judgment, creating an environment where the coachee feels accepted and valued.
River of Trust in Coaching Relationships

The Impact of Trust in Coaching Relationship Outcomes

When trust is firmly established, the coaching relationship can lead to profound personal and professional transformations:

  • Openness and Honesty: Trust encourages coaching clients to share more openly, providing a fuller picture of their challenges and aspirations, which is crucial for effective coaching.
  • Deeper Insights: A trusted environment fosters self-reflection and the exploration of underlying beliefs, leading to more significant insights and breakthroughs.
  • Enhanced Commitment: Trust in the process and the coach increases the coachee’s commitment to taking bold steps and implementing changes.
  • Sustainable Growth: Trust facilitates a deeper, more impactful coaching experience, leading to sustainable personal and professional growth.

Nurturing Trust in Coaching Relationships

For those seeking coaching, finding a coach with whom you can build a trusting relationship is essential. Consider initial interactions as indicators of potential trustworthiness and pay attention to your instincts about the coach’s empathy, integrity, and professionalism.

Conclusion

Trust is not just a component of the coaching relationship; it is its very foundation of the coaching relationship that enables the open exchange of ideas, the vulnerability necessary for growth, and the courage to face challenges and be transformed. For coaches and coachees alike, investing in building and maintaining trust is the key to unlocking the full potential of the coaching journey, leading to lasting personal and professional transformation.

Harvard Business Review (HBR) – The Neuroscience of Trust

https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-neuroscience-of-trust

Famous Leaders Who Had Coaches

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2022/10/04/what-we-can-learn-from-five-famous-leaders-who-had-a-coach/

Increase Your Quality Inputs

As I previously wrote, Readers are Leaders, I have really tried to dramatically increase quality and quantity of my book consumption. It has worked. I’ve gone from 10-20 books in 2019 to 30-40 a year (past 12 months). My ideal target is 52 plus — 1 book a week. This year I did a few more than last, but also wrote a book (more on that later), so I’m pretty happy with the effort.

Without more delay, here is a list of most of the books I have read in the past year.  Most of them were recommended to me and now I recommend them to you. If you ever want specific book recommendations please reach out.

  • Sons of Wichita by Daniel Schulman
  • What Makes Sammy Run? By Budd Schulberg
  • Never Finished by David Goggins
  • Onassis by Frank Brady
  • You2 by Price Prichett
  • Finding Mezcal by Ron Cooper
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear
  • $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi
  • Abundance by Steve Kotler and Peter Diamondis 
  • We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rogers
  • Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
  • William Tecumseh Sherman by James Lee McDonough
  • Unshakable by Tony Robbins
  • Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday
  • The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
  • Contagious by Jonah Berger
  • The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces that will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly 
  • Essentialism by Greg McKeown
  • 10x Rule by Grant Cardone
  • Raise Your Healthy Deserve Level by Gary Kadi
  • Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore
  • Peak (New Science of Expertise) by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool
  • So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
  • Build by Tony Fadell
  • Dare to Lead by Beene Brown
  • The Antidote: Happiness for People who can’t stand positive thinking by Oliver Burkeman 
  • Guerrilla Marketing for Coaches by Jay Conrad Levinson and Andrew Neitlich
  • Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
  • Greenlights by Mathew McConaughey
  • High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
  • Business of Belonging by David Spinks 
  • Originals by Adam Grant

An Invitation

Deep down we all know that we can be more, much more.

There is a future picture of ourselves in each of us that is much bigger and more exciting than where we are now. But are we ready to take the courageous path to become that new version of ourselves?

“Wanting what you want” is not only about being free and living life based on great choices and new commitments, it is also about painting a much, much bigger picture for yourself and those you lead, while also getting on the right path that looks scary and full of unknowns.

Most of us are avoiding the courageous pathway to get us to that bigger future. What we are each missing is an invitation to become courageous — to become a new version of ourselves. Sadly, most will never get that invitation. But now I am extending that invitation to you. I’d like to invite you to take the remainder of this year to be much more so that you can swing through to a transformational 2023. I want you to be intellectually excited and emotionally committed to that new big future.

If you are reading this post, please know that I believe in you, perhaps more than you believe in yourself. As a result, I want you to dream of a bigger future for yourself and remember that in life you don’t get what you deserve. You get what you think you deserve. You need to have courage to want what you want and at the same time eliminate lesser goals that are distracting you. I invite you to dream and take the right kind of risks that play to your distinctive strengths and discovery a bigger present.

Keep dreaming because when your future gets bigger, your present gets better.

When 10X Isn’t Enough

Most leaders understand the core elements of personal and professional achievement: write down goals, make a plan of action to achieve the goals, share the goals with a friend or coach, and have a weekly check-in with that friend or coach.  This method has a 76% success rate.  This is a great approach to living and growing.  With a coach there to help you through these steps you could really see an appreciable difference over the course of a lifetime or even over the course of a couple of years in a specific realm of life.  Some coaches go a bit further and go beyond obstacles to help address Beliefs and Inner Conflicts.  These added realms of consideration could get you to a 10 X difference over a lifetime.

When I began thinking about what it would take to be a great coach I had a 10 X mindset.  However, I wasn’t feeling great about it.   Reflecting on my readings of the top coaches, top leaders, and how top athletes of the world operate and applying my learnings to my coaching practice, I sat unsatisfied.  One night my brain kept me up, literally.  I was chewing on this dissatisfaction.  I was hitting back with advice I had already given to countless other people, particularly in the past 2 years of the pandemic: we are entitled to the limits we put on ourselves.  That was the revelation I needed. 10 X growth seems like a lot and most leaders would be very satisfied with 10 X personal and professional growth.  However 10 X isn’t extraordinary.  We are in the age of unicorns and now have decacorns.  We see multi-trillion dollar market caps in public companies built in our lifetimes.  We have several multi-billionaires running multiple companies.  Three of these went to space on their own rocket ships in 2021.  Maybe we are leaving some life on the table with 10 X thinking.  

It is not just about the money and fame.  A life can be unlived in many ways.  However, navigating blindly and with self-imposed limits – in a world where technology, knowledge access, and more allow us to experience and accomplish way more than prior generations – is flat out very hard.  If you are reading this you have come face-to-face with yourself and your own life and even the truth that you may be “leaving life on the table.”   We now understand that there is much more we can do than even our childhood selves could have imagined.  There are way more people that we can help and impact.  There is a bigger legacy or institution that we can leave behind.  There is a daunting personal pursuit that we are avoiding.  

An order of magnitude difference would have been fine, but now you know there is something else.  Deep down you know there is a more courageous path that you are avoiding or have yet to discover.  For those that understand this, 10 X mindsets just will not cut it.

Speaking at a Wedding on Lasting Partnership in Love & Business

I was recently asked to speak at the wedding ceremony of two of our founders (in separate businesses) that met in Memphis by participating in our accelerator. They asked me to speak on, and this is a direct quote: “Relating characteristics of 1) creating a great partnership as co-founders to build a successful company to 2) creating a great partnership in life / marriage for a successful relationship.” Here is what their prompt and their love inspired. I have altered the names and some facts to give some privacy to the couple. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Spoken on the Occassion of Your Wedding

Good afternoon. I am Eric Mathews.  I’m not the best man.  And thankfully so.  Sam you are certainly the best man for putting up with James for these 9 plus years.  Nonetheless, it is a great honor to be here and be asked to speak. 

For those who don’t know me, I’m the first investor for many business partners who come to Memphis, Tennessee to build and launch a new, amazing technology based business.  James and Kimberly entered into our program in separate businesses in 2013 and found way more than business in Memphis – they found each other.  With this in mind, James and Kimberly asked me to speak at their wedding ceremony on how business partnerships and lifelong loving partnerships are, at their core, the same.  

For those gathered here today wondering, the answer is YES.  

I was apprehensive to speak in business terms at a wedding ceremony.  However, given the trust and love I’ve felt from and between James and Kimberly, I got comfortable with the words.  More so I hope their love that inspired these words will inspire each of us to bring more love and care back into our daily lives and to the world of business. James and Kimberly, I’m grateful for the trust you have placed in me here.  

So let’s start at the beginning and the first foundation.  In the first days of our business accelerator program, we have the new business partners review their personality types to better understand one another.  Next, we ask them to answer tough questions openly and honestly with each other.  We also place them into tough and uncomfortable situations where they will have to come together and rise and fall as a team.  This is all done because one the biggest causes of business failure is having a dysfunctional team with poor interpersonal dynamics.  I think we can all identify with the importance.  We all need strong partners that have complementary strengths to account for our weaknesses. We need the strength of honesty, when things are going wrong.  We seek mutual respect to understand that failure is an event and not a person.  We need the personal strength to accept and solve our own problems, our partners problems, and your collective problems without blaming the other person.  We need open communication so that nothing is hidden including unspoken expectations, personal needs, or opportunities for growth.  

All great partnerships require a daily commitment to these relationship principles to be lasting.

This leads to the next foundation that our entrepreneurs learn in Memphis: start with “why.”  Why do we wake up each day? What is our collective purpose and intent?  Purpose drives great entrepreneurship but also great love. You and your partner wake up with a shared purpose to change the world and each other for the better.  Money is not a sufficient motivator in business and marrying for money can lead to far worse.  Money is not sufficient because of the amount of sacrifice needed for mutual success.  You need a purpose around which you wake up everyday and are motivated to help each other succeed as individuals as well as a unit.  You will need to understand and contextualize your purpose so that you can celebrate the small victories, lift each other up in defeat, be excited to discover the unknown together, and to work together to leave the world a better place — these are the true rewards.  

All great partnerships require a daily commitment to purpose to be lasting in the good times and in the harder times.  

Finally, there is a step beyond the foundations of building a great team relationship and defining and living with great purpose.  A great team and a great purpose will get you started, but over time we’ve found that you need something that helps guide you over the long haul.  You need a manner in which you can evaluate whether your partnership is on track or whether you need to course correct.  You need a lens by which you can evaluate tough decisions where perhaps there are no good solutions or the opposite scenario where there are too many good options.  You need a way to evaluate the unexpected together.  We find that the best partners in life and in business mutually hold the same core values and beliefs. These guideposts are unique to each partnership and help all partners make great decisions daily in service of one another and the purpose and intent of their relationship.  

All great partnerships require a daily commitment to core values and beliefs to help them stay on track.  

Kimberly and James, arriving at a business accelerator in Memphis, I think we would all expect to find great business opportunities and great friendships.  However, I don’t think love and marriage would have been an outcome that any of us would have placed bets on in May of 2013. Yet here we are and it is testament to each of you.  You have the kind of love that empowers not only each other, but also empowers those gathered here today who can feel it and be better for it. 

May your commitment to each other, to great purpose, and to your core values and beliefs be your guide forever and always.    

You Can’t Give Something You Don’t Have

It’s hard to learn how to live and lead [a great life] while you are living, let alone consider leaving a legacy.

You know deep down you can be more . . . We all feel that way.  We want to be more so that we have more to give.

And we want to become more in many dimensions of life, because a life can be unlived in so many ways.

What we are each missing is an invitation to take a courageous path.  

And sadly most will never get that invitation.

I’m extending that invitation to you. Build your life, leadership, and legacy, because you can’t give something you don’t have.

Reach out to me anytime to learn more. If you have gotten this far, let’s talk for 30 minutes about life, leadership, and legacy. Let’s talk about your future and how coaching gets you there faster and how it is different than anything else you may have encountered.

How do we start a coaching relationship?

TL;DR: The first step in building a coaching-client relationship is scheduling up an introductory session of about an hour to learn more about each other, where you want to go, and how I can help.  This introductory session doesn’t cost anything — you and I both co-invest our time and see where that takes us.  At the same time, I can send a couple of digestible emails to give a little more background on my coaching .  After this I can introduce the client to references if needed.  You can set up a this introductory call to learn more here. Or if you are ready to dive in we can schedule up our first 1 hour coaching call by emailing me at eric@ericmathews.com.

More Background on Building Our Coaching Relationship

I like to crawl before I walk and walk before I run.  I think it is incredibly important to be vulnerable and build trust for our relationship to work and for you to get the quantum leap level results desired.  Building that relationship doesn’t come easy and sometimes it won’t arrive at all.  And that’s ok.  But we’ll want to figure that out quickly through structured “dating” and figuring out if our relationship will empower each other.  I will see how self aware you are. You’ll see if I am self aware, too.  We’ll make sure I know your strengths and weaknesses and you know mine.  We will find our blind spots. 

Some things we’ll want to cover and consider and even try out during the relationship building process:

  • What do you want to get out of coaching?
  • Can we see each other in a variety of contexts and enjoy each other’s company?
  • Are we adding energy to each other’s lives when we are together?
  • What are the quantum leaps and the big ideas?  
  • Do we complement each other?
  • Are you coachable and am I the right coach?

Overall the right fit for those I work with looks like:

  • Willingness to dive deep and view all angles and aspects as contributing or holding us back from very big wins
  • Honesty
  • Humility
  • Grit and Perseverance 
  • Willingness to go to the “gym” (all of the gyms) and do the hard work
  • Curiosity and openness to learn
  • Realizing the journey is the reward . . . to celebrate success and lift each other in defeat.

My job is to make you better and enable you to serve your team better through enhanced self awareness and quantum leaps of goals and action noting that we all must be a servant to something bigger than ourselves. 

While I seek anti-bullshitters who work to end dishonesty with others and dishonesty with themselves, I am not without sensitivity to imposter syndrome and other fears that can hold us back. Our prior history shapes the present.  We’ll sort it all out together.  

Schedule you up a free 30 minute zoom call to learn more directly with me by clicking here.

Sign Up for Insights

For my colleagues and friends who are looking to grow and lead in new ways, I periodically assemble together a compact email of curated insights, information, new thinking, tools, articles, essays, and more. Sign up here to get both if you are interested. These emails will come occasionally, not often. If you get too many of them or not enough good stuff, please let me know so I can adjust. When you sign up you will get a welcome email with my Life Planning System which is my most requested tool.

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I’d like to send you my Life Planning System to grow and lead in new ways along with a curated email with insights, articles, and other reflections that I send to friends and colleagues. Sign up here to get both if you are interested.






These emails will come occasionally, not often. If you get too many of them or not enough good stuff, please let me know so I can adjust.

To Do More, Become More.

insights, articles, and other reflections that I send to friends and colleagues.