12 life lessons I learned at TEDxMadrid and that could benefit you

At some point in your life, your parents or teachers have no doubt talked to you in an effort to try to change some aspect of your attitude that they thought needed improving. Whether they were successful or not, if they had seen beforehand some of the conferences that have taken place at TEDxMadrid, they might have approached that conversation differently.

Because regardless of one's age, many people have seen one of these sessions and drawn inspiration from them, whether on a personal or professional level.

In fact, you could say each and every person who has had the chance to go up on stage at TEDxMadrid has something to contribute and an idea that is worth spreading. How much it connects with you will depend on many factors.

This is why it's so difficult to select the most notable lessons presented at TEDxMadrid. Here is a small sampling as we get ready for TEDxMadrid 2019, which will be held on September 21 and is sponsored by BBVA.

The founder of Change.org explains how, in just 15 days, he used a post against cluster bombs in his blog to get thousands of people to petition Congress to ban them and for the Government to agree to it. You don't need to be president of the world to break down barriers and obstacles and to improve the lives of others. The power lies within each of us.

You're probably familiar with TED talks, but you may not know anything about their scholarship program, which helps young entrepreneurs from all over the world and from every discipline to achieve their dreams. Spaniard Xavier Vilalta is one of these fellows.

New technologies are very beneficial for users, but they are also useful for those who control them by making it possible to get a lot of information on the people who use them. We may underestimate the amount of information that each of us is generating, the value of all that information and what companies and governments are able to know and do with all this data.

Not only do we reconstruct our memory based on the stories that others tell us, it may all be a story. César Pérez explains how he even created an independent state (Hautovia) to show that we accept truths that need not be, such as borders.

Science can't offer simple and indisputable truths. The study of primates was incorrect at first, and when female primatologists became role models, everything changed. And so we have to break down stereotypes, because not everything obeys those patterns.

The technology behind every technological product can conceal great dramas in African countries. But even the smallest actions that aim to do away with these dramas can have a great impact on a global level.

At a time when transparency is being demanded, especially of governments, Nagore de los Rios explains how the Basque Country has achieved this milestone using technology. Although the project has been deemed a success, this official notes that the work is ongoing and endless.

Nobody wants trash, but all life involves small steps that have to do with generating garbage. It's a global problem that affects us locally. If you still don't realize how much trash we're able to generate through each action, you have to listen to Basurama.

In response to intellectual and private property, many propose the benefits of open source, of open economies, so we can all be small producers thanks to crowdfunding. Discover some of the most successful projects under the Creative Commons license.

Everyone wants to change education, but nobody agrees on how to do it. In contrast to those who think that the youngest teachers are the best trained and most willing, Pepe de la Peña presents the data and results from some ongoing initiatives.

We're constantly changing and reinventing, both in society and on a personal and professional level. It's an economic makeover, a revolution of trust, even among strangers. We are no longer just consumers, but producers in all types of industries, placing a value on everything we know in exchange for not just money, but also recognition.

We can't close out these life lessons without mentioning the involvement of the creators of the satirical website El Mundo Today. They will make you smile and laugh with their wit as they show you that everything in this life can be seen from another angle and perspective when you apply a sense of humor.

The long history of this type of conference means that, regardless of your profile and/or what your aspirations and motivations are, you can always draw from them an infinite number of lessons for almost any area of your life.

TEDxMadrid, sponsored by BBVA, will return in September, with the retrofuture concept as the underlying theme to every talk.

It will be a unique opportunity for you to experience first-hand, and not through YouTube videos, the know-how and lessons that all the speakers have to offer.