Article first published as Change How You Think So You Can “Think Bigger”. on Technorati.

“Kiddo i’m going to tell you two things. No ones turns down a Fullbright and secondly McDonald’s is always hiring”

The connection we have with our community and with inspiring people is important to improving our quality life. The TedxWomen conference is something that helps to draw women of all ages, and backgrounds and virtually connects us in a way that previously was not possible.

One of the greatest gifts comes from learning and listening to other women and men. We view men and women in such a restrictive way that it often limits our own society’s potential. Women like Gayle Tzemach Lemmon are able to help challenge our cultural limitations when it comes to women and she does so in an articulate, powerful, and authentic way.

Ms. Tzemach Lemmon draws the connection between economics and women by proclaiming that women, “Can no longer be 50% of the population and a minority group.” She highlights the importance that when gender gaps exist in society there are serious consequences to our economic potential.

The importance in our own society stems from deciding to make a critical change in how we view the world and how we view women in our world. We have built a foundation for change through such initiatives as microfinance. It is now time however to expand upon that and take these initiatives to a larger scale.

Women are capable of more and it is only through opportunity and the ability to change our own perceptions can this be achieved. As Ms. Tzemach Lemmon argued, we need to shift our paradigm from women being exceptions to acknowledging their value and contribution to society on a level that is no longer coming from a minority standpoint.

We view men and women in such a restricted binary in order to make our point heard we pin the sexes against each other. We do the same thing with women when we compare the corporate masculine women against the feminine housewife. What it boils down to is that we all have something to contribute. Instead as a collective let’s move forward with the shared mindset echoed by Ms. Tzemach Lemmon and “Think bigger!”