Patrick Sweeney
Olympic level athlete, tech entrepreneur, cancer survivor, full time adventurer, fear expert
Patrick is a full-time adventurer on a mission to help people around the world find their adventurer within. The day Sweeney started taking steps to find his adventurer again, he unlocked a passion and energy for life that had been lost for a long time. He has seen too many people spend a lifetime working for the weekend and saying, “I wish I could do that but I can’t.” Life is meant to be fun and Patrick discovered that he could change the story he was telling himself and find adventure in his life again. In fact, he needed to do it for himself, his kids and for the people in his life who mattered the most. He has been an Olympic level athlete and best selling author and grown technology companies around the world and sold them for millions. But right now; this very day, he is living his life to its fullest, exploring the adventurer within, breaking world records, and embracing every day as if it were his last. Patrick wants to help others do the same, and become better partners, parents and people. Watch for his upcoming book Fear as Fuel.
The Surprising Power of Fear
This is Patrick’s award-winning keynote that Google’s European Headquarters called the best of 2017. Patrick covers the surprising ability to use the brain’s autonomic reactions as power and what the newest neuroscience on fear means for peak performance. This talk will have audiences thinking of fear in a whole new light and understanding the secret to peak mental/physical performance and sustained long-term success. This is based on Patrick’s upcoming book Fear as Fuel.
Start-up Me: Running Your Life and Career Like an Entrepreneur
Patrick goes back to his roots as an entrepreneur and angel investor and reveals the top five principles any one can adopt to create successful companies, personal lives, and careers. Of the three technology companies Patrick founded, two were market leaders winning the top industry awards and dozens of patents. Patrick shares the same guiding principles that built those international successes to make your life and career a huge success, while at the same time you have more fun and find more passion than you ever thought possible. This is ideal for professionals who want a template to build and amazing career with balance, passion, and success.
The Neuroscience of Exponential Leadership
This is Patrick’s talk from Singularity University which lays the foundation for building a high performing team based on discoveries in neuroscience over the past three years. Understanding the way the brain adopts to tribal environment and using biological models to optimize performance will give leaders the firepower to crush their competition and build a team that will walk through walls for its mission. Patrick deftly shares the architecture our brain is optimized for, which mimics natural insect colonies and has been successfully adopted to guerilla warfare and unicorn corporations. You will never look at a beehive the same after this talk!
Courageous Leadership for Tough Times
If every person in an organization acted without fear how would it change that business? Using principles from his upcoming book Fear as Fuel, Patrick shares the story of leading two venture-backed venture companies through the dot-com crash, and the 2008 financial crisis to become leaders in their industry and highly valuable. He brings forth his template for using fear as fuel in a leadership context to create a level of courage that ensures the absolute optimal decisions for your company, and the best work environment for your team. If you want to optimize your company to win this is a playbook to get you to the next level.
Breaking the Rules in Life and Business
What if you knew which rules were holding you back and how to break them? Think of how your life would change if you had no ceiling on what you can accomplish. Following the rules works well for governments and societies but is an eventual death toll for corporations who get buried in hierarchical structure and lose their competitive advantage. The same holds true for professionals who have lost their career mojo. In this highly inspirational talk grounded in Patrick’s vast entrepreneurial success he shares the top ten rules that every business and professional should make sure they break at least once every quarter.
NextGen Leadership – the Neuroscience of the Millennial Mind
How does the neural structure of millennials differ from that of other generations? What do GenX and Baby Boomers who might be leaders need to know about the next wave of business executives? What do millennials need to understand about how their thought process differs from their potential clients or colleagues? In this fascinating tour through the neuroscience and psychology of the first generation of children brought up with “helicopter parents”, and trophies for participation you’ll learn how basic survival responses have never changed over hundreds of thousands of years, but how higher-level thinking, values, passions, and beliefs are written into our neurons and synapses from birth. Patrick also offers several steps for optimizing the brain structure for happiness, passion, and courage.
Preparing for the Internet of Things (IoT)
Patrick was one of the original authors of the communication standard the Internet of Things (IoT) is based upon, and after his time at M.I.T. started the leading RFID software and services company. He wrote RFID for Dummies and holds seven patents in IoT technology. His unique pioneering perspective, and role as an angel in investor in more than 30 start-ups allows him to give a future perspective on the IoT that is unique to someone who understands technology lifecycles and was intimate with the creation of the space. He will astound you with the innovations that exist just over the horizon and help you plan your technology or investment to leverage what’s filling up the IoT pipeline.
“Patrick inspires and instructs as he lays out a road map for breaking out of the rut of the average uninspired life. He demonstrates how to create depth and meaning in the lives of all who hear his stories of using fear to achieve new heights.”
“Patrick was the opening speaker at a YPO regional conference in Miami where I delivered the keynote. His stories of adventure, passion and growth are deftly intertwined with innovative business lessons. It was fun and entertaining with real take-away value.”
“Think you can’t have a better life? Think again. Patrick Sweeney will show you how. He unlocked his potential by making friends with fear and you can too.”
“Patrick has a powerful presence and is also a fun guy to be around. He is always challenging you to be better and stretch beyond your fear frontier (TM). Since he walks the walk and has done so in business and in adventure he is great at opening your eyes to what might be possible for you.”
“In a world full of extremes and fast paced living you owe yourself to take note of Patrick’s experiences and make time to face your fears, be true to one self and those around you, be present and LIVE BIG.”
