INTERVIEW WITH FRASER

Can you provide insight to your talk, ‘human being to human becoming’? 

“Throughout our personal and professional life, we are often faced with difficult or challenging decisions. This could be anything from a dispute with a colleague or family member, or it may be our personal health and we need to choose a course of treatment. 

“Either way, we often feel ourselves at a crossroads, unsure how best to move forward and this is where people tend to stagnate. When we reach these points, it’s incredibly easy to over analyse our situations and lose our courage to be decisive. Sometimes, we end up adding more stress and strain to our lives. 

“I want to show people that they are resilient and they can embrace difficult situations in their life. Over the years, I have developed a profound, three step process which I believe can help others move forward. If they can overcome it, they can go on to become a new person, perhaps even a better or a more improved version of themselves.” 

What has made you so passionate about your chosen topic and how does it relate to your background?

“During the last two years, the world has experienced a phenomenal amount of change, and within that we’ve all faced new issues. Personally, during this period, I found myself extremely ill and while I’ll go into more detail during my talk, it was here that I really refined my process, so I guess you could say I’ve tried and tested it numerous times.

“I had this realisation that while I had my own personal struggles, there were millions of people whose livelihood had completely changed, entire industries had collapsed and many businesses had ceased. 

“So many people were in pain, and I wanted to do something that could help them move past it. That’s where the theme really resonated with me too, I want to help people move forward after they’ve stagnated.”

Why is it so important for you to share this topic with a wider audience and what do you think they will gain? 

“I think since COVID, people are questioning where they’re at in life, they don’t necessarily know what they want or what they want to do next and I think remaining in the comfort zone plays a big part too. 

“Change is inevitable but we have to embrace it. People can become stagnant due to fears, doubts and worries of making decisions or progressing forward. I think a lot of people forget who they are because they are bombarded with struggles and challenges throughout their lives but I want to show people, through using my own examples, that people can overcome these. The whole process can be looked at as a journey but in order to do that, the first step needs to be taken.”

How has your TEDxAberdeen journey been so far and what do you want to achieve from presenting?

“Challenging, but incredibly rewarding. I’ve been pushed and had to really think and focus.

“We have a short window to share our message and while I want to provide background and context, my ultimate goal is to help people gain clarity, which I’m hoping to do within my 12 minute talk. The training has been crucial to help us  learn how to present a succinct, informative message and the things we have learned throughout our sessions from Derrick and Bob are skills that will be beneficial to us in the future.” 

What are you most looking forward to during the process? 

“My happiness derives from what I give, not what I get, so if I can help other people by sharing examples of my experiences throughout my journey and enable them to refrain from being stagnant, then I will feel really accomplished.

“I think it’s a timely topic for people based on what they have faced throughout the pandemic. I am curious how the audience interprets my talk. I may get laughs or provide food for thought for some people but I hope it reaches them in a way that helps them move forward.  .”

What does being part of TEDXAberdeen 2022 mean to you? 

“It’s an honour and a privilege. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to hopefully help people who may be facing, embracing or enduring their own personal difficulties in their lives or careers. I’ve learned so much already, and taking part in something meaningful like this has been a huge goal of mine for quite some time.”