Hundreds of TEDxPeachtree-goers made their way to Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Art to attend this year’s event: Ripple – a full-day, brain-fertilizing experience where speakers delighted attendees with performance art, technology, poetry, sociology, science, music, psychology, and a life-sized robot demonstration.

Friday, November 13th was far from horrific, though some presentations revealed frightening truths about our world, like how poorly we treat the ocean, how a cash-run society contributes to the high prevalence of street crime, and how our lack of movement in everyday life is hurting us.

Not without its reality checks, TEDxPeachtree invited us to “be a ripple,” and implement small changes that can add up to create long-term impact.

This independent TED event, hosted by Dana Barrett and TEDxPeachtree organizer and Board Director Jacqui Chew, left us all feeling energized and inspired.

Emory University Psychotherapist Jennice Vilhauer’s insight about how our expectations tend to skew the outcome of things that matter to us was particularly interesting to me.

The gist of her presentation is this: We think we will fail, and so we do, but when we take steps to organize our thoughts, create a plan, and visualize our approach to get what we want, the likelihood of success is far greater than it’d be without a strategy.

It’s a simple idea, and yet, it reminded me just how powerful my brain can be.

An unabashed fan of The Secret, I believe that what I envision – good or bad – can become my reality. In short, my mind is the only thing standing between me and my aspirations.

Vilhauer suggested taking the following steps to adjust our perception and course of action:

1. How is what I am expecting making me feel?

2. What would I like to have happen instead?

3. What do I need to do to make what I want happen?

I, for one, can’t wait to incorporate this exercise into my work and home life!

Click here for the whole Setup experience as told through Storify.

TEDxPeachtree Speaker Lineup:

• Richard Wright – Professor & Chair at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

• Jenay Beer – Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina

• Brian Magerko – Associate Professor of Digital Media & Head of Adaptive Digital Media Lab at GA Tech

• Chris McCord – Director of Men in Motion

• Kirk Bowman – Director Rise Up & Care: Jon Wilcox Professor of Soccer & Global Politics, Georgia Tech

• M. Ayodele Heath – Poetry Ambassador & Editor of Electronic Corpse: Poems from a Digital Salon

• Alistair Dove – Director, Research & Conservation at Georgia Aquarium

• Jennice Vilhauer – Director, Outpatient Psychotherapy Program at Emory Healthcare

• Glenn “Daddy-O” Bolton – Content Strategist, Digital Cultivation, Media Producer

• HeaveN Beatbox & The Atlanta Celli – Beatbox performer & Classically-trained cellists

• Jordan Amadio – Neurosurgery Resident Physician and Partner at NeuroLaunch

• Andrea Thomaz – Associate Professor, Interactive Computing at GA Tech

• Galo Alfredo Naranjo – Physical Educator & Creator of The Movement Project

• Jill Perry-Smith – Associate Professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School

• Theresa Davis – Poetry Outreach at GA Tech

• Eric Dozier – Owner at ericDozier Music & Education

• Arrested Development – Grammy Award-winning Hip-hop music