The past few days I was at the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) Symposium where I met so many creative storytellers and talented Tour Directors and Tour Operators. On November 3rd, I went to an educational workshop called “Where’s the Joy?” by Yasmin Nguyen.

Yasmin Nguyen is Inspirational!

Yasmin Nguyen’s is the founder of “The Joyful Living Project and his mission is to inspire more joy, connection and freedom in everyones lives. He has been traveling across the USA to activate positive change and build thriving relationships, businesses and communities everywhere he goes. During this workshop he gave everyone time to think about what brought them joy in their life and had everyone write down on post-It Notes how they can increase Joy in their life and post it on a wall with different categories of joy.

As Tour Directors and World Travelers we are always looking to meet new people and travel to as many glorious and hidden places as we can before we die. This workshop allowed me to realize and think deeper about what brings me joy. For me, surrounding myself with people I don’t know in new environments that have extraordinary minds and powerful stories that can be passed down to each generation is what brings me a lot of joy. Joy can bring us back from our worst moments. Sometimes what brought joy years ago may not bring joy today and that sometimes that can cause confusion and frustration. 

Finding Joy should be so simple but often times feels so complex and be extraordinary painful that we forget there are little things we can do to bring us joy that allows us to bounce back into living a joyful life. As humans, we don’t live the nomadic lifestyle anymore, maybe except for the few tribes that have survived from being wiped out. We live in an exhausting world where every time we turn around our freedom to act, our freedom to think, and our freedom to do what we want that brings us joy is taken away. For example, the fashion industry will guide us on the latest fashion trends and if we don’t follow their lead we are not suppose to feel good about ourselves. As someone who studied Marketing and Management, I have yet to find a company that strictly promotes just joy. Often times marketers will guarantee you that you will be happier in life if you purchase their product. Just remember the money you spend should be going to what brings you joy and not what brings a business profit.

Yasmin Nguyen wrote a an anaphora poem that defines what Joy is and shared it with the group. Some of my favorite lines were, “Joy is kindness. Joy is gratitude. Joy is connection and synchronicity. Joy is creating and sharing. Joy is a person. Joy is personal Touch. Joy is Adventure and Detours. Joy is about Discovery. Joy is in countdown.”

A Second Chance to Leadership!

Escaping from communist controlled Vietnam, Yasmin was a young boy with his family who was rescued from a sinking vessel and reunited with his father in the USA learning English from 80’s TV sitcoms. He is now an entrepreneur and leader who has started at least a half a dozen businesses, marketing specialist, and video production specialist.

Follow Yasmin and His 18 Month Long USA Trip!

Website: Joyful Living Project