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SWAGGER MAGAZINE
Drew Williams
Stephen Foster
Holly Beaupre Photography
Derek Williams
Kristen Anzelc
The rarely-satiated Aaron Bare thrives best when he’s thrust into a new environment ripe with problems to solve and he’s on a mission to inspire others to rethink their perspective on the future.
Bare sat down with Swagger Magazine to discuss his book Exponential Theory: The Power of Thinking BIG which landed on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Best Sellers lists and why he’s challenging everyone he meets to think bigger.
If there’s one constant in Bare’s life, it’s change. Unfortunately, he’s found that many people – from our friends and family to high-level executives – aren’t able to think bigger about ourselves and spend our time doing bigger things.
“We live on an emotional rollercoaster that is a déjà vu of our childhood trauma,” he said. “Most people carry their trauma around; while I’m completely whole now, for a long time I was grappling with what a lot of things people question, too.”
Bare knows all too well that this issue impacts professionals at every level of their career. He strives to help CEOs address their trauma and maintain a positive relationship with it so they can move forward.
“Most people frame things as problems,” he continued. “I work to reframe those as opportunities. When COVID shut the world down, most people in my situation might have been depressed, because all of a sudden, they had twelve scheduled facilitation clients canceled overnight. When everything got canceled, I just turned around and said, ‘Okay, now is the perfect opportunity to finish my book’”.
Bare spends his time outside of the corporate world turning problems into opportunities wherever he can. From hosting annual backpack drives in South Phoenix through the HeroZona Foundation to being awarded a $1.25m mental health grant to help veterans overcome their PTSD, he and his business partners are devoting their effort to dozens of projects aimed at helping communities around the country.
Though he’s adopted a “think BIG” mindset since he was a child discussing entrepreneurship around the dinner table with his parents, he credits a college semester as a major shift on his view of the world, its problems, and how he wanted to live his life.
Imagine venturing out to sea for months on end, thrust into new cultures and communities at every port. That’s the literal boat Bare found himself in during college when he participated in the Semester at Sea program. It was his maiden voyage away from the United States and an eye-opening experience.
“The biggest thing I learned from my semester at sea was that there was no way I could live an ordinary life or settle for less,” he said. “I just wanted to learn more. I was exhausted, but I never let off the gas.”
The moment that this journey started, Bare decided that he’d continue stepping farther out of his comfort zone because he knew that’s where he thrived. He even coined the term “thrivability” which refers to the exponential mindset that enables someone to personally, professionally, and organizationally thrive in the long-game of life.
It’s clear that he’s thriving, and has been since he graduated with a master’s degree and landed a job with Accenture. He’s built and sold a dozen companies, investing his earnings from each into his next venture.
He’s since traveled to nearly 100 countries, pushing himself as far out of his comfort zone as possible. Whether he’s sitting in a European boardroom providing direction to a multi-billion-dollar company or sitting with indigenious peoples in Africa’s wilderness, he’s learned that no matter where in the world humans are, we all share seven universal truths.
Bare seems the type that can captivate a room, not in a star-struck sense, but in a way that makes others gravitate towards him. His true power, though, is not bringing others into his orbit, but rather, propelling them into an infinite space of possibilities where they can build their own universes.
In his book, Exponential Theory: The Power of Thinking BIG, Bare discusses Seven Universal Truths:
1. To think is to create.
2. We are our habits.
3. Attitude is everything.
4. What we resist persists.
5. The goal is not the end.
6. Enjoy the moment.
7. We are all one.
With these Seven Universal Truths in mind, and a conscious decision to continually live in the moment, Bare seeks to inspire change in everyone he meets. It doesn’t matter where or when he crosses someone’s path; he’s molded young minds at Singularity University and Thunderbird School of Global Management. He also advises corporate leaders at Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and countless other companies.
“My goal is to help everyone around me think bigger about themselves, their careers, and their business,” Bare said. “To help people find a mindset anchored in thrivability. I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can push leaders to redefine their future.”
Aaron Bare is a change agent and he wants to change those around him – including you. Read more about his quest to help people gain an exponential mindset, belief system, and attitude in his book Exponential Theory: The Power of Thinking BIG which details how he’s facilitated impactful change in over 500 companies around the world.
I would suggest Collective Illusions by Todd Rose, Against Empathy by Paul Bloom, and The Art of the Impossible by Steven Kotler. All are books that help you think in a different way, challenge the status quo, and grow your mindset. Collective Illusions addresses the difference between personal and public views that I often use when facilitating groups. Against Empathy challenges the inherent biases in empathy and how it focuses on making poor decisions for a few rather than the whole. The Art of the Impossible dives into how individuals and groups can use flow to do the impossible, which is a thesis I mentioned in my book Exponential Theory. As a voracious reader, I could list hundreds of books that have impacted me, yet these stand out and continue to push me to be a better person and facilitator, challenging the world to embrace the change.
I believe that a lack of friction and the presence of transparency is what makes the best friendships and business relationships. When collaborating with companies or client for the first time, I focus on achieving our goals together. I sell transparently and I believe self-interest should be shared on both sides. Ultimately, we’re here to grow the pie together. You can give me a small slice, just let me grow the pie so big that my small slice is worth something. That collaborative mindset puts all parties on the same side of the table working together for a common goal.
I tell everyone to write down everything on their mind. And I mean everything; be exhaustive. The first time I did this exercise, I wrote down 338 things. It included things like ‘I want to go to Australia’ and ‘I have to buy a toothbrush’. Now that everything’s on paper, you can go back and identify what’s important or what isn’t a priority. I then move items to a list of not doing. I do this every Sunday night and my list is down to 40 things I am not doing. I then schedule everything that is important, aligned with my purpose, and help me to think bigger.
I’ve minimized all of my distractions, provided absolute clarity on what I want or need to do, and created a plan on how to get them done.
I realized that I had the freedom to get all of this noise out of my head, and then get more accomplished, which is where the exponential thinking of thinking big takes place. I know with my ambitious goals that I am never going to get it all done, yet this allows me to get the most important things done.
For more visit Aaron Bare's official website!
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