The reason for all the TED Talks contradicting each other is that we look for guidance and are attracted by people appearing self-confident, successful and inspiring. It is not the content, we are actually looking for. STOP believing there's one way to achieve something. STOP following others. There's simply not just one way that is going to work. You for yourself must find purpose. No one can do that for you. Just start somewhere and find inspiration for yourself. Living in a world full of information how can you know which advice is good? You simply can't. STOP watching Ted videos or any other of that kind if you're still looking for one goddamn purpose and just start doing.
It's good to see different perspectives and decide for yourself what you will get from the talk. Personally I have found, not enough to to be passionate, you need to be good at what you do, find a way to stand out and network network. I
Let me summarize the morale of this video in a sentence: Do follow your passion, but make sure to do something useful with it and work hard. It's that simple really, and could've been said in about 2 minutes.
"Love the work you do. This is not 'do the work you love.' This distinction is important." ~ Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) That one bit helped me through a complete paradigm shift and find joy and motivation in what I was doing instead of desperately searching for a calling that I felt defective for not having.
Wow, not sure why there are so many hateful comments on here. I thought this TED was really interesting because of the posed question of passion vs entitlement. She did a great job of explaining the balance of passion AND hard work, and I loved what she said about how you need to follow your passions- even if it isn't you job. That's a realistic down to earth approach that I feel like doesn't get circulated very much. I also appreciated her thoughts on redeeming the Y generation. This TED was great!
My thought exactly.. but probably because people are so diverse and no two individuals are exactly alike. therefore people do things their way.. coz there's no such thing as a way that fits to all.
she completely missed the point of what Newport was saying: "follow your passion" is bad advice when your passion is for hanging out and drinking beer. in his book on the topic, he gave lots of examples of people dumping productive jobs to follow passions where they had no skills. they really, really cared about what they were trying to do, but they weren't doing any good for themselves or for others, because they basically weren't providing any value for anyone. he also addresses Steve Jobs' quote: Jobs didn't follow his own advice. he leapt into something for the money, originally on a short term basis, and became passionate about it later. develop the skills first, then take a leap if you still want to.
Thanks for showing me your opinion. Your last sentence makes me think a lot. I didn't find out my passion yet. I don't know exactly what I want to do in the future. Therefore, I try to do a lot of different jobs before choosing one as my career. However, sometimes I think that I'm wasting my time. If I just do one job, spend a lot of time for it, I will be more successful.
Ngoc Bich Nguyen I'm really glad that my comment is helpful! "If I just do one job, spend a lot of time for it, ..." it depends on what 'success' means to you. in his book, Cal Newport describes two kinds of paths: one depends almost exclusively on just one skill, and the other depends on a variety of skills. so, if what you want to do depends on one main skill, then you might be best sticking with one type of job for a lot longer. in my case, I've been working for years in a job that's good, but not a great match for me in the long run. I want to switch to a different industry, but for years I didn't know what I wanted to do. I finally came full circle, and realized that what I want to do is the two things I wanted to do as a child. so, now, I'm working on one of those things around 10 hours a week, in addition to working two jobs in the industry I've been in for years. hopefully, as my skills come up to par in the first one, I'll be able to transition partway to that, and get the equipment I need for the second one, and go from there. altogether, this means that success-for me-means doing the things I want to do, on my own terms, and earn enough to support a family. what does success mean for you?
***** Newport gives another example to present a clear criteria. I don't remember the guy's name, but he founded an online business, then sold it off-gave almost all the money to charity-and became a musician (where he worked as backup for Ryuichi Sakamoto, among others), and then did something else that was pretty different. That guy did things part time, first, and his criteria was that when he could make enough money from something to live, he was ready to move to doing that full time. by contrast, one of Newport's early examples in the book was a woman who had a job in something like advertising and dumped it to become a yoga teacher. presumably she was good at yoga, and presumably she knew something about business, but she was on food stamps within a year. this is the epitome of not providing value for anyone-including herself.
I think a more accurate name for Generation Y is "The Generation of Confusion." I mean, consider that the development of the web in its infancy and the explosion of information and media that followed has exposed Y to so many differing perspectives and differing influences from a young age. No one knows quite how to handle so much information and influence, not even Y itself - and certainly not the generations that preceded it. These TED talks being so accessible on the web is a perfect example: Tons of knowledge, stories, perspectives, information, and Y is supposed to do something with that? This idea that Y doesn't understand hard work is a confused perspective. The assumption, to me, is that hard work means long work days and stressing yourself out, but spending hours on facebook or twitter is laziness. And although this looks correct, intuitively, it's missing something vital in the equation: That there's nothing particularly relaxing or idle about repeatedly refreshing a webpage, hoping for updates (it actually indicates addictions and other such awesomely debilitating things but that's a topic in itself). In fact, the tragic mistake of accusing Y'ers of being lazy and incompetent for not exerting themselves in the ways that previous generations have is that it implies a malfunction on the part of Generation Y. It implies that it's the fault of the people, first and foremost - never mind the fact that half the world is telling Y'ers not to overwork themselves, even as older generations are telling them that they're lazy and wasting their lives. I think the tragedy of Y'ers is that they have so many well-supported perspectives and influences at their fingertips, all during some of their most vulnerable periods of growth, that it's hard to nail down things like passion and work and purpose. This information-thick world tells them that if they keep looking long enough, they'll find the correct answer this time. Now this time. And this time. It's a never-ending search that ultimately focuses more on questions and answers than *experience*. I truly believe that experience - learning to appreciate what you have and learning to sincerely believe that you are worthy of all of it - is the greatest answer you can ever discover for yourself. Once your focus changes to appreciation of your world and of yourself, you can begin to see that passion is not a question or an answer. It's not something you follow; it's something you live. And you can start living it today or you can start living it 50 years from now. The world doesn't care and the rules that you think might stop you, or slow you down, are often more arbitrary than they look. What matters, ultimately, is that you wake up appreciating and loving your life, no matter what you do or why you do it - or what you want to do and haven't done yet. Because if you don't, then with what energy will you ever improve yourself? Improve others? Improve the world?
This is a great comment. I especially like your last paragraph. I am just about to finish a Masters and my 5th year of university, and I am very uncertain about where I will end up. But I am actually somewhat excited about this uncertainty, and the opportunity to try out new things, and love life no matter where I end up :) Out of curiosity, are you a Generation Y'er?
frohesmaedchen Thank you - that's kind of you to say. Yes, I'm part of Generation Y. Actually finished college less than a year ago, so some of the stuff I'm talking about in that comment is firsthand experience. I'm happy to hear about your excitement and I wish you luck with loving your life! What's your masters in?
You're welcome :) It was such a well-written response! Wow, what is it like to be finished? What did you graduate with? Are you happy with where you are at the moment? (I do realise that is quite a personal question.) Thanks for that :) It's in Geography/Environmental Science, and more specifically air quality for my thesis. It's an interesting area to be involved with, but as to what I will do with it, I am still unsure. Not to mention I want to travel more as well!
The reason "follow your passion" doesn't work all that well as advice is that people get the wrong idea that following your passion should be easy and feel natural. They don't understand the reason behind that advice. The reason why following your passion is necessary is that you really have to work very hard to achieve success. If you aren't passionate you won't feel like it's worth it to put in the hours of drudgery to get really good at what you do. The reason Gen Y is "the worst" is that they think success should fall into their laps. They aren't willing to put in the hours. Ms Hii still doesn't get it because she hasn't put in the hours.
I think the speaker made a good point. I am glad that she brought up Cal Newport's point of view ( 'follow your passion' is wrong: Cal Newport speaks at World Domination Summit 2012 ). Even though Cal Newport has data to back it up, I don't necessarily think 'follow your passion' is always wrong. It's just that 'passion' is the wrong word to use. I would say 'passion' is secondary to sth. more important - PURPOSE. Blindly believing that u will succeed just by 'following ur passion' w/o working hard will get u nowhere. Since what truly determines success are persistence and hardwork (which lead to skill, consistent with Newport's data), we need to ask instead what makes one work hard for sth. Passion is not always the driving force behind hardwork, but PURPOSE is always the case. You may not enjoy doing sth. (i.e. no passion) but if you have a strong purpose for doing sth. you will stick to it and work hard to achieve that purpose no matter hw much u dislike doing that thing. Once u r used to doing sth. after persisting or working hard at it, passion will follow. To sum it all up, PURPOSE leads to Persistence & Hardwork which lead to Mastery/Skill which lead to Passion which leads to SUCCESS. So, the right advice shld. be 'Find a Strong Purpose'. Examples of a strong purpose to fulfill varies from person to person, some examples include earning lots of money, discover a new species of animal, solve global warming or clean the polluted river in your neighbourhood.
She did mention that passion is a privilege and that we have to work hard for it as we have been given an opportunity to pursue our passions. So I think she's aware that success won't fall in our laps.
Wei Shen When you love your work you don't work at all. That's the cause behind passion in her speech. If you are doing what you really have a will it's going to be an ignite and as so even with problems, all hard work won't be even felt because you like doing it, e. g. when I was 7 I started learning english because I wanted to understand it, that was my passion, when I was 13 doing an english course I liked classes and kept on going, while all other people of all ages (even younger) didn't get through, why? Because they were only there for their jobs, they were doing it because someone or something forced them to do it or lose it. So passion works as a purpose as you said but the hard work won't be even felt.
***** I totally agree with what u said. I will just add that focusing on purpose may be better, because not everyone get to follow their passion (due to lack of money etc.) and some ppl. (to the best of their knowledge) do not have passion in anything. I come to this conclusion when I consider a few case studies. An uneducated and poor parent with a few kids to raise, work day and night, in multiple jobs and under harsh working conditions, so that his or her kids can pay for college. It is obvious that the parent here does not have 'passion' for those jobs, but he or she is driven to do them, by a very strong sense of purpose: to put money on the table for his or her kids. It is this drive to do things (and actually doing it, lol) that truly determines success. Yes, passion can be the drive, but as Alex Barroso (comment above) put it, passion is a luxury for some. On the contrary, anyone can find a strong purpose, if they do some soul-searching.
She hadn't graduated and she was giving advice on life chocies? I guarantee two years after joining the workforce her opinion has changed. After spending a couple years in the industry, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt we are not the worst generation. We are the savior generation. We are on a quest to revive humanity with or without institutional religion. We are the ones who want to clean the planet up and ensure our kids don't have to live in acid rain every day. We have learned the hard way that debt is slavery, and we now live on the pay-go plan rather than borrow now and pay later. We do like our technology but our social status is not based on material possessions (big house, new car, 3 TV's). We don't like credit cards. We don't like mortgages. We would rather live happily than live large. We value family and friends over money. Older generations hate us because we choose happiness over corporate prostitution. I have learned how to live happily making less than 30k a year. What's your excuse?
***** Sometimes I wonder if the old should just wither away and stop meddling in things. Bad memory, not learning from your own mistakes. Older doesn't always equate to wisdom. People look older because they've made poor lifestyle choices, some people are older and healthier, and smarter. Those are the ones I prefer to follow.
Mic Do I'm already paying on my student loans. It's brutal. I live paycheck to paycheck and have nothing at all left over. If anything, it's strengthened my resolve to never take on more debt. I never want a credit card or a mortgage, because it is a subtle form of economic slavery in my opinion.
I LOVE her smile. She smiles as she speaks. That is SO attractive. Otherwise, I enjoyed listening to her talk. She is young, but full of passion and promise.
I think you best serve your community/society /the world when you are genuinely passionate about what you do. If you are passionate, you will likely seek to master your chosen field of study and work hard to be the best at whatever it is, and the world needs people like that. If someone thinks what you are doing is not "important enough" work for dear "society" well, that's when you tell them to piss off. I mean, sure, you can go become a doctor or a scientist, but that's not what the world really needs. The world needs more people who make *GREAT* doctors, scientists, and just great whatever, and you're not really servicing anyone by going into such a field half heartedly, because you will never be as good as someone who feels that they were born to do such work. I'd rather have someone be an amazing makeup artist, than just a so-so electrical engineer. Whatever it is you love, you should go for it! Maybe you'll "make it" (whatever that means), or maybe you won't, but you'll never regret that you gave it all you had. :)
critics who say we are the worst generation has no idea what harm their generation has done to the future... I fully agree with Eunice on the point that having passion is a privilege. It's a privilege in every way. The experience that lead to the passion, the ideas that lead to the passion, the people who walked with you for the passion (or those against your passion who further shaped it), the resources... etc.
I just read Cal Newport's article and it's not offensive at all. It's very informative and eye-opening. Cal Newport (and myself) are from the Gen-Y generation too. He is sticking up for us by saying 'We're not lazy or entitled, we were simply misinformed by Gen-X when we were being taught as children'. We are taught to believe that we will IMMEDIATELY LOVE a career the moment we start working in it. The reality is, hard work comes first and the love will come later. And that's the hardest thing for Gen-Y's to understand. It also explains why so many of us quit a career that we thought we'd love, before we've even worked through the hard first couple of years. Cal wrote; "This tough skill-building phase can provide the foundation for a wonderful career, but in this common scenario the “follow your passion” dogma would tell you that this work is not immediately enjoyable and therefore is not your passion."
Who told you, you would immediately love your career? That is ridiculous, we are not teaching kids that at all. Maybe a tiny minority (people like your parents).
absolutely agree would like to add some people might not understand your passion when these are your parents who dont seem to care for the passion you find it can be dispiriting to say the least
Eunice Hii says, "Choose passionate and purposeful lives." There, you're done. Don't waste another minute watching this video. She doesn't say anything else of value, nor does she offer insight or give practical tips on how to create a passionate and purposeful life. Don't waste 18 minutes thinking she's going to get to the "important part" any second now. You're welcome!
PS - Even her punchline quote is misattributed. According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Nelson Mandela never said that thing she claims she heard him say. It was Marianne Williamson who wrote that in her book, A Return To Love...Ch. 7, Section 3 (1992), p. 190
What I like the most about being Gen Y, is the fact that we truly care about making an difference in our communities and the globe as a whole. I think we are not the worst generation. I don't believe any generation is better or worse. We are just different, and now that we are heading to the workplace, we must take the criticism from our baby-boomer bosses and prove them wrong.
I am 47 years old, and I think today's generation is the best generation of all the time,,,they live free and independence, also they live how they want to live, that is the beauty of our lives
Thanks from a Baby Boomer. You spoke about some things that ring true for me. Following your passion and all its consequences is being evaluated at even my age. Good luck in your future
I'm glad she mentioned 'helping the community' is as important as doing what you love. To me, the biggest problem is people are selfishly following their passions. For example, it's a 'selfish passion' to say "I want to be a rockstar so I'll have fans and millions of dollars". A 'giving passion' would be to say "It's my mission to address social issues and help people through my love of playing music". Having a passion is wonderful but you're not helping yourself by keeping it locked inside you for personal gain.
I was born in Generation Y, and I've been told by older generations that I'm one of the hardest working people they've ever met. No matter what I'm doing I'm dedicated and willing to go the extra mile. I've also been laid off twice in the past 6 years. I probably won't have the big retirement my parents had (since they did have excellent job security until retirement) Don't call me entitled. I am certainly not. I know I'll be working until I die, so why can't I just enjoy doing it?
It's hilarious that older folks complain that we're the worst generation when THEY'RE the ones who raised us and told us to dream and do what we loved. Yeah.
I highly doubt most parents raised their offspring telling them to sit in front of a TV/monitor and stream all day and get richer by doing nothing but play games and be of no use to the society/community.
This is one of the best way to put it. You don't need to have your passion in your primary vocation to follow your passion :). Great Talk. Really liked it.
IMO the speed of change in our generation is so great that there is no real concrete advice. Lots of things that used to be gospel simply don't work anymore and everyone is grasping at straws hoping things don't fall apart. Its like you have to be willing to change professions, standards of living and your whole belief system overnight because nothing is constant and everything is competitive.
The best advice I can give is to learn to become an entrepreneur. If you can start a business you'll never be out of a job, and if you are your own boss you have much more control over how much you earn and which direction you take a company to manage around problems that crop up.
This talk reminds me of grade 10 where we had to analyze a song's meaning in front of the whole class. The smartest girl in the room analyzed "Piano Man" by Billy Joel and totally got it wrong. The teacher beamed a smile during the analysis because as she would later tell this girl that she got the whole meaning wrong, but that it wasn't her fault because she had simply not experienced life as an adult. The girl felt that people were bartenders and waitresses in a bar because it was their life calling, and had no clue that they were stuck there due to life circumstances.
The Star Trek generation :). Born 83 and proud of it! Generation didn´t start WW1, nor WW2 and we won´t be responsible for WW3. How ever, generation Y might be the generation that ends all wars. Technology is here to aid us with the stuff we don´t want to do. stay strong, soulmates :)!
Every single time the newest generation is always labelled "the WORST" by the previous ones this cliche is nothing new it has been happening all the time. It comes from the previous generations seeing that the new generation has far "better conditions" to live in and still struggles with the challenges of life. Life is always challenging no matter how you are or how you look at it just cause the next generation does not have the same problems the previous one had does not mean they have fewer problems and challenges, just the previous generation does not recognize or accept these as hard. I am not saying people who lived througth the horrors of the world wars didn't have it hard, not at all they did. But life is never easy, even today no matter how you look at it there are always challenges and problems that need to be overcome.
Yep, what comes to mind is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. No matter where you are in the pyramid, you're always fighting to go up, and because of that, life is a constant challenge.
I think this is the message she is trying to give: Our world is created in a "GIVE-and-TAKE" manner. If you want to land your dream job, follow your passion, but how would you use it to serve the community? First, you "GIVE" the world by serving the community, then only can you "TAKE" the rewards (money, doing things you love) from the world. Sorry for my bad English.
I am 48 and a foreigner, a minority in the US. Covid made me lose the work I was doing. This was a life saver and changer because I chose to follow my passion. I work hard and with no help whatsoever. I am a visual artist and my dream is to work in the music industry. Giving up is so easy because I have no idea whether my hard work will pay off. But I keep going, and I am not giving up.
Coming from a semi-engineering and artistic background, I would say our generation (Gen-Y) has the least clue what we want to do, not so much because "following your passion" means looking for a worthwhile job that we love but of the fear of being stuck in a 9-6 job for 26 years, unhappy, bitter and regretful of the passions we did not heed. Each generation has a new ideology in the work/life balance, and from what I take, each generation improves on the past in possibly every way, how else do you explain the increasing opportunity/pampering each following generation gets? Reality will kick in eventually and everyone grows up and maybe away from their passion but at the end of the day the kids today will be better off in the future, the ideas and cultural change each generation brings is what gives life to the human community. If every generation were to follow in their ancestor's footsteps, we wouldn't progress anywhere on the work/life balance debate, the economy would still crash every 8-10 years, the financial disparity between the rich and the poor would continue to widen, fiat money would continue to place people without financial education into debt, industry would continue to burden the environment on the pretense of "economic development", while marketing corporate social responsibility by posting politically skewed news articles on "reputable", "independent" broadcasters saying how much they are doing to save their children who will be living in the degraded environment which is, by the way, the product of industrialism and their rush for economic development. That would be the "worst generation". So maybe, living on an economically sustainable "work smart (not less or hard), enjoy the moment, save the environment while you aren't working in a 6 day 9-6 job" suddenly becomes a very very sensible alternative. Gen-Y is the "worst generation" in the workplace, because the workplace was designed by baby boomers for baby boomers. Edit: I am an Electronic Engineering graduate and currently work as a barista to make ends meet because I refuse to be treated as a pampered kid under my father's million dollar bank account. I also watch the stock market and do freelance graphic design and web development on the side to explore new entrepreneurial ventures on the internet. So you, the 40+ y/o in a desk job in a multinational company earning a 5 figure salary, have no right to tell me or my generation that we are "lazy" or "feel entitled". You gave us this opportunity to be more than you, so embrace it, teach us and guide us. Just calling us "the worst generation" because we don't adhere to your workplace comfort and habits simply doesn't cut it.
This matches up with advice I got from my cousin. He said find a way to help people with the thing you love to do. If you can help people with your passion you have a demand and can thus fund your passion.
Someone tell me I'm wrong for dismissing this video as empty feel-good bullshit to launch this woman's career purely by the first few seconds ("So, when I was younger"), title and comments. I like TED talks that are scientific with real data based upon real experiments producing something tangible and useful, not anecdotal waffle, or a profound toilet thought expanded into an entire seminar.
Most TED talks are pretty empty, even the scientific ones. The only way (for bad storytellers) to create a compelling narrative in 15 minutes is to gut the complexity of reality, ala TED Talks. Find your favorite science talk, then look up the speaker, listen to a series of actual university lectures by them, and then you'll really start to notice how diluted TED is.
troweltheory I think your not getting the idea of these TED talks. They are more thought out to inspire the listeners and get them thinking about the subject, not to scientifically explain it.
Completely agree with you. "Look at all these people on Kickstarter or Etsy. This woman landed a gig through Twitter." Blah blah blah. I'm ashamed to be part of this generation because they expect everything to be handed to them. "Don't forget to work hard..." Then she admits that she doesn't know what hard work is.
kris is I didn't say they had to scientifically explain it. What I am saying is that TED is equivalent to a Hallmark card; saccharine and empty, with not too much information to overwhelm, but just enough to let you fill in your own meaning. Like a fortune cookie, or a weekly horoscope. Some talks are good, though.
my 'passion' is to leech off of my parents, watch daytime television and play video games all day. I think I'll get myself a diploma in video game design, or a short course in how to wave my dick in the wind(!) don't be a bum - invest your time wisely.
***** do college on somenthing that will get you a job and follow your passion at the same time, but as a hobby instead, it looks like a win win situation. hell, i love science, so instead of working on it, wich is a painfull hell of poverty, i'll blog about it, and maybe do videos about it, increasing visibility and further allowing me to spend time on this hobby of mine.
***** Bullshit. The moment you don't follow your passion you have graduated from a self-centred teenage narcissist to a realistic adult that becomes a valuable member of society. Most passions are not worth pursuing.
Samurailord uhh since when have realistic adults been valuable to society? we need individuals with an utter disregard for society's norms and practices. we need people who couldn't care less about a nicely paying desk job and would rather spend their one chance on this earth doing as they please, because anything less is just absurd
its coz she's a nerd, she thinks she;s achieving something by the simple fact she's doing it, the classic American mistake "it's all about taking part"
Jack Hernandez Nice slam on America?!?! but I am pretty sure she is Canadian, since she has a Canadian accent and goes to school at the UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Don't forget destroyed the world's economy where the only countries not gripped by poverty are in massive debt with no way to pay for their future liabilities.
***** What? Feelings of entitlement have always been there, arguably even worse in previous generations from the slave built Roman Empire to the social Darwinian divide that still permeates British society. Segregation in America is a prime example of a more insidious sense entitlement than whining about school/work. The Wikipedia definition of Gen Y states that the age bracket starts from the late 80's to early 2000's, meaning that Gen Y is still too young to fully see how they are changing the world as all the strife of the world can still be attributed to the previous generation. I am a firm believer that the sins of the father past to the son.
well I wanted to be a photographer. So I enrolled in a technician program got a job paid my bills. Now I can concentrate on my passion now that I have a steady income.
This so damn relatable I will graduating from high school in 5 months and no idea what college or subject or stream I m gonna chose, that's the reason i opened this vedio in first place
If you have a passion that will lead you into a "dead end", get a realistic job AND then work on your passion on the side. Once you can make reasonable profit from your passion, you can make the switch.
or, like Jiro from the world's highest rated sushi stand says: "Love the work you do. This is not 'do the work you love.' This distinction is important."
I think one of the greatest things about having something you're passionate about is it gives you something to work for. For example, this summer, I had to leave my hometown just to find a job so I could earn money for school in the fall. So far my days have basically consisted of working as a housekeeper, eating and sleeping. Though I'm so relieved to have a job for the summer there are times when I feel worn down, those moments when finding something really, really gross in a room to clean only to have the supervisor get at you for taking too long to clean it gets to me. But while I have those moments, they don't keep me down and I've never considered quitting my job or arriving late or not working hard because I know that working for the summer will allow me to go back to school where I can keep taking steps towards my goals and what I really want to do and at the very least, give me a chance to see the friends I've made at school again. Whatever I do is worth it as long as it helps me get closer to where I want to be, even if it's hard, and I think that's the meaning I personally take out of following your passion.
My wifes friend continued; I know they arent going any where special, and probably wont be visited any time soon but when Iam done cutting their hair and doing their nails I can see it in their eyes, they feel better. it is important to them to look their best and its important to me to help them look their best. I might be just a beautician, but I change lives...now whats better than that. Passion only you know what your passion is. we need you to get in the game and take responsibilitie
I waited n waited to see where she was going..... but I couldn't finish it...... this is TERRIBLE!!!!!.... SHAME ON YOU TED TALKS!!!!! YOU SHOULD'VE SKIPPED THIS ONE!!!!!!...... Our generation is THE MAIN GENERATION who've been STRIPPED of their passions by being encouraged to keep it on the side in their spare time.... or to pursue it later on down the road once we get established.... just to NEVER BE ABLE TO GET ESTABLISHED because the dynamics of the entire work forced switched on us and TO THIS DAY people refuse to acknowledge the fact that this is no longer the world our parents and grand parents grew up in..... Yeah they talked that whole "follow your passions and dreams you can be ANYTHING" bs..... but when you ACTUALLY DO IT that's when you get tugged aside n get that pep talk on "reality" n how you gotta just take whatever you can get n make the best of it because of how rough it is out here.... which is their way of saying "heeey...... you weren't suppose to take that serious.... we just needed to sound good......"..... This is the "worst generation" because EVERYBODY IS LOST!!!!!!!... n they're lost because THEY DEPARTED WITH THEIR PASSION!!!!!..... anybody who LOVES what they do will tell you that they don't need to push theirself to do what they do... n they don't need to take many breaks because they don't get tired because the energy that naturally SURGES FROM THEM while doing it is 1,000X more nourishing THAN SLEEP!!!!!..... whether it be their dream job or their own Business..... if they love it IT DRIVES THEM!!!!!....... She should look into the studies done on how the workforce has created SOCIOPATHS by the way they have to be around a bunch of people more than their own family and have to get along n work with them but NOT be friends because they gotta be willing to cut their throat at the drop of a dime..... So they gotta be CLOSE to them with NO personal feelings or friendships between them....... then go home to their families with that SAME SOCIAL STRUCTURE because you can't just willingly turn that on and off when you're like that the majority of they day 5 DAYS A WEEK!!!!.......... hence the "divorce generation" she talked about.......
+TheMighty Optiq i agree 100% people seem to think you can only make it big 'if you're lucky' and don't realize how much power they actually posses over their own lives. people chose to follow others and not to go online and research things or try something new, and stay at the same job. i figure if you have atleast 1 hour a day to watch tv you have an hour to spend moving your life in a better direction. but because of our society people just don't believe it's even possible. or even worse young people think you need to go to school for years and build up a huge life long debt in loans to land that perfect job and finally be able to live the dream life. then leave school like her without knowing what to do or not even being able to land a job in their own field because either the school you went to wasn't a credited school and your diploma is considered worthless, there are too many others trying to get the same job, or you don't have enough experience. we are definitively a very lost and confused generation.
There's a reason a "job" is said to mean "just over broke." It's the riskiest thing to do in an ever changing economy. Having a boss that controls your pay, hours, and whether you get to keep the job or not when something happens is not secure at all. Being secure means you have control of your pay, hours, and whether or not you are effective or not. It bugs me when people try to get a job and think it's the same thing as security.
So inspiring to see an Asian woman with a smile on her face talking about pursuing one's passion and service to others. Time for the "tiger parenting" child abuse mentality to end. Every child deserves to live a life where success doesn't entail selling your soul for a dollar and a perfect report card.
Every generation before us said the last sucked and yet each one is better than the last. If we follow our parents then we will have the same backwards attitude of "we've always done it this way" or my favorite bullshit answer, "everyone else is doing it..." If we wait long enough, there will be no elders left to tell us we are the worst and then we will decide what makes sense much like the generations before us.
Wonderful advice. The example of passion intersecting with community need is right on target. That is so much better than telling people "Do what you love".
Wow, I wish I could live in the world these Gen y people live in. Trophies for all. Gimme gimme gimme...want want want...take take take.....have have have.
here is my observation. Generation Y(Children) shouldn't entirely be at fault for being self entitled. That fault lies with Generation X(Adults) who started the idea of mixing work and pleasure because they wanted to get away from the Baby Boomer(Adults) attitude towards work and family, which was to stay with one job til retirement and expect pay off and have very little contact with family. Which they as Boomer(children) learned from the Silent Generation(Adults) but didn't have that financial turmoil and thus where reckless and pilfered our economy through unneeded debt. Boomer(adults) started to value individuality more but still had to deal with grind of work. Thus Gen X(Children) felt neglected emotionally and felt uncertain about being able to succeed in dead end jobs like their boomer parents. The Gen X learned through their Boomer parents what they didn't want out of life. Gen X(Adults) entered the workforce with the boomer debt but didn't want to be stuck at the same company so Gen Xers became entrepreneurial and as adults Xer's wanted more time with family so they tried to balance work and family and because of that boomer neglect over compensated with pandering to their Gen Y children. Generation Y(Childen) where left feeling uncertain of their futures but where told that to live their dreams but can't because of the lack of work, education, money. Now Generation Y (adults) are in a workplace with no room left for them, with an education system that is going to put them into debt and thus had to find a means to adapt which led to.... ... Facebook and other forms of social media and smart phones. Generation Y (adults)are the one are the ones who pioneered the idea of being able to take work with them, and being able to do passion projects. Gen Y adults are only recently learning to do this. The Gen Yers are slowly achieving what the Gen Xers aspired to. Which leads us into the Millennial(Children) who are gonna be experts in these technological resources. Their attitudes is what is gonna shape the world economically. This is the generation who are gonna be the ones who are capable of balancing work/pleasure. These are the ones who are truly the ones to be able to follow their passions.
***** I agree, Momo - a lot of the critical comments here seem to be coming from people barely out of college. A little bit more of "real life" will wake most of them up to the fact that it's complicated, and if they somehow have "all the answers", refer them back to the boomer generation who chanted "make love, not war". They thought they were somehow more enlightened too...
***** Actually he didn't say that. Someone started that as a meme on the internet back in 2012. It's funny that people believe it just because it has Einstein's name with it. "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
Being born in Gen Y, I remember reading something quite life-changing that I think would be great if more Gen Y'ers get: "don't do what you love. Love what you do." I think that it is a controversial statement but an important one.
How can you stand to cut hair and do nails for a living she answered I have found my passion I love it and I cant think of anything I would rather do. My wife shot back cutting hair and doing nails? her friend replied laughing; I dont cut hair and do nails, I change the lives of those I serve by helping them to look and feel their best. The best part of my week is when I go to the nursing home those little old ladies are soo appreciative.. They just smile form ear to ear.
Good talk. I have to say, I'm sick of members of the older generations, particularly Gen Boom and the older Gen Xers, looking down on us Ys and late Xers for simply not knowing what we want to do with our lives. If you'd asked Julia Child in her 20s and 30s what she wanted to do, you'd have gone away thinking 'what a loser' because till she was in her 40s she had NO CLUE! Yet today she's famous! Put that in your pipe and smoke it you self-righteous types! Never look down on anyone because that one person who you despise the most could end up being the one person who gives you a job one day.
Whoa a lot of anger. Don't you think you are generalizing just a tad? Not all boomers/gen Xers are guilty of looking down at the poor Y-Zrs. Yes some are more annoyed by the attitude of self-entitlement. Wanting to go from 0-to-60 w/o bothering to fill up the tank. But as was pointed out every generation is criticized by the those before. They told us genXers that we were slackers and lost. Take it all with a grain of salt. just find you way and do your thing and forget what pundits say.
Exactly what I think, too. I am a teenager and am in the phase of life where I have to make "important decisions" like choosing my college major. I was so sure I was going to study fine arts and become either a graphic designer or an illustrator or anything creative. From my own experiences, I realized that money is really important. If someone says it's not, they are either lying or extremely ignorant.
It is true that we are the worst generation and we all know that... who doesn't? Just compare things 10 years ago to now, things are much worse now than they were; marriage, teen pregnancies, finances, politics, economics, relationships, etc. The problem is that we are miseducated about freedom. The problem is that we are born into freedom, we inherited the freedom to have all the choices we want. Because of this we feel entitled to always have choices and not understand the sacrifice, work, and duty it takes to gain and maintain the freedom that provides those choices. This is history, it happens over and over. Leaders rise up when they're needed to set things straight, then the future generations lives and enjoys it, not understanding how freedom works, slowly letting it get taken away in front of their eyes. But they don't know what to do! So they complain, whine, cry, say that life is unfair. But there are a few who will stand up.
I dont think so man, not as long as a few from our generation take talks like this to heart every day or week or month. We are the future and it doesnt seem to me like we are this horrible group who are unconsciously going in a backwards direction with no restraint. I feel in a short time there will be a huge revolution in thinking and we as a whole will strive to change the way we function as a society for the better. It just takes one to talk and a few to listen to get some wheels really rolling.
I did like Seth Willimson's comment from three years ago where he quoted Jiro Dreams of Sushi, though. The more practical approach to finding and following your passion is creating it with disciplined work, that before you have attained a high level of some skill, will not be very rewarding. As one improves the reward of recognition provides the positive reinforcement that increasaes behaviors of practicing more and improving even more - raising one's evel above average that much more, fueling even more recognition. This leads to "passion". The cellists who are passionate about cello, with few exceptions were not, when they first started learning etudes. Cal explains all of this.
Generations before us had working class jobs that could buy you a house and two cars and college fees you could pay by working a summer job. All we've got are dreams. The generations before us promised us the world and delivered a job at McDonalds and crippling unpayable debt.
If you are Gen Y try : Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy. It's the best article about Gen Y I ever read. And why no one talk about Gen X? I still don't sure what is concept of Gen x except the day of their born.
I like what this girl had to say. It is a practice I followed. I am a technical person by nature. I am working a job I wasn't interested in but I do it well and enjoy it. And there will always be demand for what I can supply. That is why I am sticking to my career as an electrician for the time being.
How do people not get this? Following your passion is super important, of course it is. A life not lived honestly will not be a happy experience. But how can we honestly devote ourselves to a life of doing things that do not meet needs of our world and community? We're all part of a big community here and we all rely on each other. If you don't align what you do to producing genuine help for others then you are really not much more than a glorified parasite. Don't take it like I'm being too tough though. There's so many ways to help our communities, many of them in which the relationship is a bit less tangible but still completely real and useful.
Its ok to not know what you want and enjoy the discovery process. Passion searches can give rise to anxiety. Letting go of it and just following your curiosity gives us the space to let passion organically arise, and if it doesnt, our happiness or sense of identity does not have to be compromised.
I believe in the future there will be a shift in consciousness. Millions, if not billions of people will start their own businesses. Ones that enhance their own life and well as the lives they touch with their business. I believe that people will be looking to themselves to see their strengths and to work with them to serve others. I believe that one day the idea of getting a job and working mindlessly for someone else will be seen a very old fashioned way of thinking.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life” “Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Steve Jobs
Antonio Gutierrez lit·er·al·ly ˈlidərəlē,ˈlitrəlē/ adverb in a literal manner or sense; exactly. "the driver took it literally when asked to go straight across the traffic circle" synonyms:exactly, precisely, actually, really, truly;More informal used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true. "I have received literally thousands of letters"
I like this talk a lot. It is much more realistic advice than most of the TED talks. I am still struggling with this idea of what my passions are much less how to apply that to society. But it is good to keep in mind.
These days, anyone can just walk in from the street and give a lecture on TED. A confusing, rambling monologue, but i admire a young 'un who has the belly to stand in front of an audience and not lose it. I've heard worse.
83 to 2000 is a long time. How can anyone label generation Y as being lazy or spoilt?. I was born in 1983 so i just about make the cut in the Y club...and i was neither spoiled or lazy.
Generation Y is the generation of communications and connections. We hope to link everything around us together. Don't look at Y as "why?" look at Y as three lines coming together or one point being pulled in three different ways. We belong nowhere and everywhere at the same time. We feel entitled since we must ensure our security more than anyone else because we live in a digital world where rejection can happen in a millasecond. Yet we still choose to reach out to others in everyway possible.
The reason you don't know what you want to do when you graduate is because our current educational and social systems aren't conducive for developing that kind of awareness. Why would anyone want to preserve a social infrastructure that doesn't teach people to become engaged in what they do? I've got a hunch that if the number of passionate people increase in the world we'll see a decrease in homelessness and unemployment. Why would anyone remain defective unless they thought there was no point in becoming effective?
I loved watching her giving a speech. I was really touched and inspired by her speech whether it was professional or not... We make mistakes and it happens all the time, what matter, in many times, simply would be the passion which creates really good energy that makes ppl happy rather than judging , criticising like other haters comments down below... Thank you for a great speech!
I didn't like this talk, I feel that at the end she says nothing, about how follow your passion, about the generation Y, when she doesn't know what her passion is yet and the "real world" works
Identify what you enjoy to do and then find a way to make it useful to others by turning it into a service :-) So, e.g., if you like serving good food to people, you can become a waiter at a really good restaurant or start a catering service. Or find out what it is that makes you want to serve good food to people, and then find out how you can turn that into a job or service that is not related to food at all. That was her message.
There are multiple (contradicting) ted talk present and there cannot be one correct idea. It is just that which idea do you connect most to. I thought this was the best talk I had in recent times
I was going with her up until the point that we took the walk down the hallway. We started from a place of no risks, bureaucracy, rules and structure and each generation since resisted, and took risks. When I receive this information the progression I take it that we (I am from GenY) are the penultimate delivery of that resistance. We are taking the big risk of all, and betting everything on ourselves and our passions. The earlier generations may not like the result of their request but that doesn't mean we don't deliver.
It jus sounds like Generation Y cannot be "controlled." I think that is awesome. Cal Newport actually wrote several books beforehand that encouraged following your passion during college, so hmmmm that's an interesting contradiction. Seriously guys think for yourself! We need stop depending on contradicting professors like Newport and these studies/professors/experts who think they can tell us how to live or think like they're the new Gods. I am going to think for myself, work hard, "follow "my" passion", and live life. I am tired of the view that we are always children and always need to listen to "experts" who become our new parents. I am tired of a view that we are not human beings capable of making mistakes, thinking critically and for ourselves, and learning on our own. Our lives are not solely to work or barely survive. I want and choose to live.
The major flaw in these people is self-absorption. A reality check is needed. Nobody cares about YOUR passion unless you make them care by using your passion to ADD VALUE/ SERVE OTHERS.
Perhaps there is no better time to be a Cynic than in 2015-2020. When there are young adults blinded by an unfortunate over-trusting belief that humanity is fundamentally good, and a bitter older generation probably jealous of all the optimism found within Gen Y. With that said, I agree with this TEDxTalk, it's time for people to get their heads on straight -- anyone with the head in clouds needs a reality check, and, anyone overly depressed needs a goddamn hug. If you ask me, and I was born in 1993, Gen Y will be notorious for making multiple mistakes in a blind trusting faith of the good of humanity, BUT, we will also be notorious for making our ambitions a reality -- because, at the end of the day, all we have is persistence right? I feel that the majority will make whatever it be they desire a reality. Now, if you take this to mean that the Boomers desired War and Violence -- take that to mean what you will. As for Y'ers, I envision a very different future where the world will undergo a dramatic shift in culture everywhere. It is curious to me that may Boomers generally refer to Gen Y optimism as Entitlement or Out of Line behavior. I'd like to challenge the Boomers to be a little more open-minded -- perhaps, even consider that it was their parents who screwed up the foundation for the world before them. Perhaps, Boomers, you have done a great job with the world, so much so that you can see the difference in your children. Please don't punish Gen Y'ers for simply viewing the world in the way that you manufactured. Ease up with the pessimism, it's ok, the world isn't going to be War Torn or in Poverty for much longer -- Gen Y'ers will take it from here. Even typing this, it's ironic that I have displayed the fundamental elements of over-optimism or "entitlement" or "bad attitudes." But ya know what, more than anything else, I think anyone who refers to Gen Y as "The Worst Generation Ever" is doing nothing but projecting their insecurities onto a Generation that is admittedly impressionable. I guess what I'm trying to say is, as a Y'er or Millenial, my peers, stop being so trustful-- not everyone is a good person ok? Lot's of people will lie to hurt you, ok? Does that mean we should give up our vision for a better world? Absolutely not -- so Boomer's, quit worrying, we understand that now, ok? The one common trend I see amongst fellow millennials is a very exciting, and persistent, desire to change the world in a way that serves the better of humanity. I say, let us -- take the risk and come along for the ride!
This may be the worst advice I have ever heard. The only way to do any work worth while is to do something that you love, become obsessed with, and master. If someone wants to change the world, it takes huge risk; and without ambition, the world would be a very unexciting bureaucratized place. Dont work just to support an unbalanced, unfair economy.
Cory Myers Some people are passionate and obsessed with their works but how did they contribute to the society? One example is, by creating very lovely computer games, are you really helping others? Generation y right?
It must be nice to worry about following your passions or just having normal work in an economy where many struggle to find work. However, claiming that "Following your passion" wrecked a generation is silly since it's not Gen Y's fault that the bottom fell out on the economy. Most Gen Yers were still in college and hadn't even entered the work force when the worst recession since forever hit. Plus Cal Newport's advice of "throwing out your passions" falls apart considering he's following his passion right now.
I think passion is over exaggerated. Teachers encourage students to go for something they're passionate about but not prepare them for the challenges they will face after college. For instance, what is a student with an art degree going to do? He follows his passion but there aren't that many art-related jobs out there. How is he going to bring money to the table? Perhaps working in a factory? My sister is a Gen Y and I am trying to encourage her to go for something that will guarantee her a job once she's done with college. Having a degree doesn't always help and to top it of, following your passion doesn't always give you a job.
Mai Lee Yang I'm honestly not sure that any degree can guarantee a person work in this economy. There are some fields that are currently more in demand, but the job market tends to go in cycles where something might be in demand then a ton of students decide to enter that market which causes an overflow (I've known a lot of people who chose the wrong time to major in education, both in terms of today and decades ago) or other market conditions suddenly change. / I agree that art should be more of a minor than a major, though, since virtually every field pertaining to art (except maybe teaching it) puts a greater emphasis on a portfolio than the actual education. Otherwise you might consider talking her into double-majoring because it's easier than just talking a would-be artist out of being an artist.
Mai Lee Yang There's nothing wrong with art as a major. A passionate and talented artist can make a good living. They have the choice of being creative on their own projects or being creative in advertising or some other commercial field. Cultivating one's creativity is something that's going to last you a lifetime. I'd much rather see someone do that than spend their time getting a degree in a technical field that may be revolutionized overnight (and made obsolete) by the next wave of technology.
"The worst recession since forever"? LOL. Tell that my grandparents who were children in Europe in the 30ies and witnessed how their parent's life savings (previously of the value of a small house) suddenly were just about enough to buy 10 potatoes and 6 eggs - but only when you were quick - perhaps just 8 potatoes and 4 eggs 2 hours later.
Tina-Karen Pusse This recession was widely described as the worst recession since the Great Depression. You know, that thing your ancestors (and mine and everybody else's, more or less) went through. So yes, it's the worst recession since forever.
Gen x here. I was born too soon. All my friends are systematically 5 to 10 years younger than me, and I can't help but think about this ALL THE TIME!!. I got the degree, I got the jobs, but I'm not happy. I'm single. I have no children. I've never been married. I'll be 39 next week... and yet, I think just the fact that i have always felt out of place with people my age that it has given me the the grace to look and act and dream like I am still 29. I just need a new identity! :)
I LIKED YOUR PRESENTATION A LOT. IT'S FINE. I FELT I UNDERSTOOD EVERY THING BUT WHEN I TRIED TO RECALL WHAT I THOUGHT, I WAS IN A BIG AMBIGUITY THAT WHETHER YOU SUPPORT ' TO BE PASSIONATE OR NOT TO BE SO'. IT'S JUST FOR HUMOR. THANKS A LOT.
Who cares what the New York Times or whoever says. Of course you should follow your passion. It's an idiotic article. It doesn't warrant deep breathes between paragraphs but for you to take the article, rip it up and throw it in the garbage. They're basically trolling.
The only individuals who have ever turned their passion into a profession are the individuals who are strong enough to persevere and work to achieve their dream. That's a fact.There's a difference between those who work for their passion, and those who are lazy.
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“It doesn’t mean anything to follow your passion if it isn’t in the service of others." ~ Eunice Hii
That's her core message. Saved you 20 minutes
Cheers.
I found this helpful. Ty
thank you i fucking hate watching the whole thing
The real MVP
I want to make games, and games are for people, so technically I'm serving people with games!
I'LL PURSUE THE HELL OUT OF IT
The reason for all the TED Talks contradicting each other is that we look for guidance and are attracted by people appearing self-confident, successful and inspiring. It is not the content, we are actually looking for.
STOP believing there's one way to achieve something.
STOP following others. There's simply not just one way that is going to work.
You for yourself must find purpose. No one can do that for you.
Just start somewhere and find inspiration for yourself.
Living in a world full of information how can you know which advice is good? You simply can't.
STOP watching Ted videos or any other of that kind if you're still looking for one goddamn purpose and just start doing.
I couldn't say it better !!
It's good to see different perspectives and decide for yourself what you will get from the talk. Personally I have found, not enough to to be passionate, you need to be good at what you do, find a way to stand out and network network. I
+Vol de Mort Lmao
uou ;-);-)
take a deep breath and relax dude !!.
Let me summarize the morale of this video in a sentence:
Do follow your passion, but make sure to do something useful with it and work hard.
It's that simple really, and could've been said in about 2 minutes.
agreed but there's a lot of reasoning to it to come to that conclusion if you listen to the talk
"Love the work you do. This is not 'do the work you love.' This distinction is important." ~ Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
That one bit helped me through a complete paradigm shift and find joy and motivation in what I was doing instead of desperately searching for a calling that I felt defective for not having.
Lol such lack of logic there
You are not flawed for not having direction, you just have no real control over what you really want and how to get it.
Seth Williamson
Margaret
Seth Williamson
Wow, not sure why there are so many hateful comments on here. I thought this TED was really interesting because of the posed question of passion vs entitlement. She did a great job of explaining the balance of passion AND hard work, and I loved what she said about how you need to follow your passions- even if it isn't you job. That's a realistic down to earth approach that I feel like doesn't get circulated very much. I also appreciated her thoughts on redeeming the Y generation. This TED was great!
I love how all of TED Talks often contradict each other.
+Eric Nguyen precisely what I was thinking watching this.
+Eric Nguyen So true man. Watching too many ted talks gives a headache.
τρακτερ
They fucking do that !
My thought exactly.. but probably because people are so diverse and no two individuals are exactly alike. therefore people do things their way.. coz there's no such thing as a way that fits to all.
she completely missed the point of what Newport was saying: "follow your passion" is bad advice when your passion is for hanging out and drinking beer.
in his book on the topic, he gave lots of examples of people dumping productive jobs to follow passions where they had no skills. they really, really cared about what they were trying to do, but they weren't doing any good for themselves or for others, because they basically weren't providing any value for anyone.
he also addresses Steve Jobs' quote: Jobs didn't follow his own advice. he leapt into something for the money, originally on a short term basis, and became passionate about it later.
develop the skills first, then take a leap if you still want to.
Thanks for showing me your opinion. Your last sentence makes me think a lot. I didn't find out my passion yet. I don't know exactly what I want to do in the future. Therefore, I try to do a lot of different jobs before choosing one as my career. However, sometimes I think that I'm wasting my time. If I just do one job, spend a lot of time for it, I will be more successful.
Ngoc Bich Nguyen I'm really glad that my comment is helpful!
"If I just do one job, spend a lot of time for it, ..."
it depends on what 'success' means to you.
in his book, Cal Newport describes two kinds of paths: one depends almost exclusively on just one skill, and the other depends on a variety of skills.
so, if what you want to do depends on one main skill, then you might be best sticking with one type of job for a lot longer.
in my case, I've been working for years in a job that's good, but not a great match for me in the long run. I want to switch to a different industry, but for years I didn't know what I wanted to do. I finally came full circle, and realized that what I want to do is the two things I wanted to do as a child. so, now, I'm working on one of those things around 10 hours a week, in addition to working two jobs in the industry I've been in for years. hopefully, as my skills come up to par in the first one, I'll be able to transition partway to that, and get the equipment I need for the second one, and go from there.
altogether, this means that success-for me-means doing the things I want to do, on my own terms, and earn enough to support a family.
what does success mean for you?
ThoperSought I learned more from you than I did from this cliche video, thanks !
***** well, thank you very much! that's very good to hear, and very kind of you to say.
***** Newport gives another example to present a clear criteria. I don't remember the guy's name, but he founded an online business, then sold it off-gave almost all the money to charity-and became a musician (where he worked as backup for Ryuichi Sakamoto, among others), and then did something else that was pretty different. That guy did things part time, first, and his criteria was that when he could make enough money from something to live, he was ready to move to doing that full time.
by contrast, one of Newport's early examples in the book was a woman who had a job in something like advertising and dumped it to become a yoga teacher. presumably she was good at yoga, and presumably she knew something about business, but she was on food stamps within a year. this is the epitome of not providing value for anyone-including herself.
I think a more accurate name for Generation Y is "The Generation of Confusion." I mean, consider that the development of the web in its infancy and the explosion of information and media that followed has exposed Y to so many differing perspectives and differing influences from a young age.
No one knows quite how to handle so much information and influence, not even Y itself - and certainly not the generations that preceded it. These TED talks being so accessible on the web is a perfect example: Tons of knowledge, stories, perspectives, information, and Y is supposed to do something with that?
This idea that Y doesn't understand hard work is a confused perspective. The assumption, to me, is that hard work means long work days and stressing yourself out, but spending hours on facebook or twitter is laziness. And although this looks correct, intuitively, it's missing something vital in the equation: That there's nothing particularly relaxing or idle about repeatedly refreshing a webpage, hoping for updates (it actually indicates addictions and other such awesomely debilitating things but that's a topic in itself).
In fact, the tragic mistake of accusing Y'ers of being lazy and incompetent for not exerting themselves in the ways that previous generations have is that it implies a malfunction on the part of Generation Y. It implies that it's the fault of the people, first and foremost - never mind the fact that half the world is telling Y'ers not to overwork themselves, even as older generations are telling them that they're lazy and wasting their lives.
I think the tragedy of Y'ers is that they have so many well-supported perspectives and influences at their fingertips, all during some of their most vulnerable periods of growth, that it's hard to nail down things like passion and work and purpose. This information-thick world tells them that if they keep looking long enough, they'll find the correct answer this time. Now this time. And this time. It's a never-ending search that ultimately focuses more on questions and answers than *experience*.
I truly believe that experience - learning to appreciate what you have and learning to sincerely believe that you are worthy of all of it - is the greatest answer you can ever discover for yourself. Once your focus changes to appreciation of your world and of yourself, you can begin to see that passion is not a question or an answer. It's not something you follow; it's something you live. And you can start living it today or you can start living it 50 years from now. The world doesn't care and the rules that you think might stop you, or slow you down, are often more arbitrary than they look.
What matters, ultimately, is that you wake up appreciating and loving your life, no matter what you do or why you do it - or what you want to do and haven't done yet. Because if you don't, then with what energy will you ever improve yourself? Improve others? Improve the world?
This is a great comment. I especially like your last paragraph. I am just about to finish a Masters and my 5th year of university, and I am very uncertain about where I will end up. But I am actually somewhat excited about this uncertainty, and the opportunity to try out new things, and love life no matter where I end up :)
Out of curiosity, are you a Generation Y'er?
frohesmaedchen
Thank you - that's kind of you to say. Yes, I'm part of Generation Y. Actually finished college less than a year ago, so some of the stuff I'm talking about in that comment is firsthand experience.
I'm happy to hear about your excitement and I wish you luck with loving your life! What's your masters in?
You're welcome :) It was such a well-written response! Wow, what is it like to be finished? What did you graduate with? Are you happy with where you are at the moment? (I do realise that is quite a personal question.)
Thanks for that :) It's in Geography/Environmental Science, and more specifically air quality for my thesis. It's an interesting area to be involved with, but as to what I will do with it, I am still unsure. Not to mention I want to travel more as well!
Can You give a ted talk 😂
Hey thanks it helped me. with all these datas online and present. And all the contrast of preach. thank you.
Don't let people break you only you know what your going to do. It may not be clear but all we do is believe and seek and never quit.
The reason "follow your passion" doesn't work all that well as advice is that people get the wrong idea that following your passion should be easy and feel natural. They don't understand the reason behind that advice. The reason why following your passion is necessary is that you really have to work very hard to achieve success. If you aren't passionate you won't feel like it's worth it to put in the hours of drudgery to get really good at what you do. The reason Gen Y is "the worst" is that they think success should fall into their laps. They aren't willing to put in the hours. Ms Hii still doesn't get it because she hasn't put in the hours.
I think the speaker made a good point. I am glad that she brought up Cal Newport's point of view ( 'follow your passion' is wrong: Cal Newport speaks at World Domination Summit 2012 ). Even though Cal Newport has data to back it up, I don't necessarily think 'follow your passion' is always wrong. It's just that 'passion' is the wrong word to use. I would say 'passion' is secondary to sth. more important - PURPOSE. Blindly believing that u will succeed just by 'following ur passion' w/o working hard will get u nowhere. Since what truly determines success are persistence and hardwork (which lead to skill, consistent with Newport's data), we need to ask instead what makes one work hard for sth. Passion is not always the driving force behind hardwork, but PURPOSE is always the case. You may not enjoy doing sth. (i.e. no passion) but if you have a strong purpose for doing sth. you will stick to it and work hard to achieve that purpose no matter hw much u dislike doing that thing. Once u r used to doing sth. after persisting or working hard at it, passion will follow.
To sum it all up, PURPOSE leads to Persistence & Hardwork which lead to Mastery/Skill which lead to Passion which leads to SUCCESS. So, the right advice shld. be 'Find a Strong Purpose'. Examples of a strong purpose to fulfill varies from person to person, some examples include earning lots of money, discover a new species of animal, solve global warming or clean the polluted river in your neighbourhood.
Wei Shen Agree!
She did mention that passion is a privilege and that we have to work hard for it as we have been given an opportunity to pursue our passions. So I think she's aware that success won't fall in our laps.
Wei Shen When you love your work you don't work at all. That's the cause behind passion in her speech. If you are doing what you really have a will it's going to be an ignite and as so even with problems, all hard work won't be even felt because you like doing it, e. g. when I was 7 I started learning english because I wanted to understand it, that was my passion, when I was 13 doing an english course I liked classes and kept on going, while all other people of all ages (even younger) didn't get through, why? Because they were only there for their jobs, they were doing it because someone or something forced them to do it or lose it.
So passion works as a purpose as you said but the hard work won't be even felt.
***** I totally agree with what u said. I will just add that focusing on purpose may be better, because not everyone get to follow their passion (due to lack of money etc.) and some ppl. (to the best of their knowledge) do not have passion in anything. I come to this conclusion when I consider a few case studies. An uneducated and poor parent with a few kids to raise, work day and night, in multiple jobs and under harsh working conditions, so that his or her kids can pay for college. It is obvious that the parent here does not have 'passion' for those jobs, but he or she is driven to do them, by a very strong sense of purpose: to put money on the table for his or her kids. It is this drive to do things (and actually doing it, lol) that truly determines success. Yes, passion can be the drive, but as Alex Barroso (comment above) put it, passion is a luxury for some. On the contrary, anyone can find a strong purpose, if they do some soul-searching.
She hadn't graduated and she was giving advice on life chocies? I guarantee two years after joining the workforce her opinion has changed. After spending a couple years in the industry, I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt we are not the worst generation. We are the savior generation. We are on a quest to revive humanity with or without institutional religion. We are the ones who want to clean the planet up and ensure our kids don't have to live in acid rain every day. We have learned the hard way that debt is slavery, and we now live on the pay-go plan rather than borrow now and pay later. We do like our technology but our social status is not based on material possessions (big house, new car, 3 TV's). We don't like credit cards. We don't like mortgages. We would rather live happily than live large. We value family and friends over money. Older generations hate us because we choose happiness over corporate prostitution.
I have learned how to live happily making less than 30k a year. What's your excuse?
Will I sell out on my ideals and become a bitter old person?
***** Sometimes I wonder if the old should just wither away and stop meddling in things. Bad memory, not learning from your own mistakes. Older doesn't always equate to wisdom. People look older because they've made poor lifestyle choices, some people are older and healthier, and smarter. Those are the ones I prefer to follow.
***** you are angry and have bad memory.
***** Senile and Angry people needs to go live in the woods away from other people.
Mic Do I'm already paying on my student loans. It's brutal. I live paycheck to paycheck and have nothing at all left over. If anything, it's strengthened my resolve to never take on more debt. I never want a credit card or a mortgage, because it is a subtle form of economic slavery in my opinion.
I LOVE her smile. She smiles as she speaks. That is SO attractive. Otherwise, I enjoyed listening to her talk. She is young, but full of passion and promise.
I think you best serve your community/society /the world when you are genuinely passionate about what you do. If you are passionate, you will likely seek to master your chosen field of study and work hard to be the best at whatever it is, and the world needs people like that. If someone thinks what you are doing is not "important enough" work for dear "society" well, that's when you tell them to piss off. I mean, sure, you can go become a doctor or a scientist, but that's not what the world really needs. The world needs more people who make *GREAT* doctors, scientists, and just great whatever, and you're not really servicing anyone by going into such a field half heartedly, because you will never be as good as someone who feels that they were born to do such work. I'd rather have someone be an amazing makeup artist, than just a so-so electrical engineer.
Whatever it is you love, you should go for it! Maybe you'll "make it" (whatever that means), or maybe you won't, but you'll never regret that you gave it all you had. :)
+Lisa Galarza I totally agree Lisa! You gotta be happy with who and what you are; never live a life of regret.
Can I quote your comment Lisa?? you are totally correct, it is what I have been wanting to say, thank you
i just used ur comment as a part of my essay on this video. thanks!
critics who say we are the worst generation has no idea what harm their generation has done to the future...
I fully agree with Eunice on the point that having passion is a privilege. It's a privilege in every way. The experience that lead to the passion, the ideas that lead to the passion, the people who walked with you for the passion (or those against your passion who further shaped it), the resources... etc.
I just read Cal Newport's article and it's not offensive at all. It's very informative and eye-opening. Cal Newport (and myself) are from the Gen-Y generation too. He is sticking up for us by saying 'We're not lazy or entitled, we were simply misinformed by Gen-X when we were being taught as children'. We are taught to believe that we will IMMEDIATELY LOVE a career the moment we start working in it. The reality is, hard work comes first and the love will come later. And that's the hardest thing for Gen-Y's to understand. It also explains why so many of us quit a career that we thought we'd love, before we've even worked through the hard first couple of years. Cal wrote;
"This tough skill-building phase can provide the foundation for a wonderful career, but in this common scenario the “follow your passion” dogma would tell you that this work is not immediately enjoyable and therefore is not your passion."
Who told you, you would immediately love your career? That is ridiculous, we are not teaching kids that at all. Maybe a tiny minority (people like your parents).
SavageInstitute People like my parents? Excuse me?
April K Yeah, your parents from GenX, (which you mentioned) Duuuuh. ;)
You have no idea who you're talking to lol.
absolutely agree would like to add some people might not understand your passion when these are your parents who dont seem to care for the passion you find it can be dispiriting to say the least
Eunice Hii says, "Choose passionate and purposeful lives." There, you're done. Don't waste another minute watching this video.
She doesn't say anything else of value, nor does she offer insight or give practical tips on how to create a passionate and purposeful life. Don't waste 18 minutes thinking she's going to get to the "important part" any second now.
You're welcome!
PS - Even her punchline quote is misattributed. According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Nelson Mandela never said that thing she claims she heard him say. It was Marianne Williamson who wrote that in her book, A Return To Love...Ch. 7, Section 3 (1992), p. 190
What I like the most about being Gen Y, is the fact that we truly care about making an difference in our communities and the globe as a whole. I think we are not the worst generation. I don't believe any generation is better or worse. We are just different, and now that we are heading to the workplace, we must take the criticism from our baby-boomer bosses and prove them wrong.
***** Nice generalization you got there.
I am 47 years old, and I think today's generation is the best generation of all the time,,,they live free and independence, also they live how they want to live, that is the beauty of our lives
Thanks from a Baby Boomer. You spoke about some things that ring true for me. Following your passion and all its consequences is being evaluated at even my age. Good luck in your future
I'm glad she mentioned 'helping the community' is as important as doing what you love. To me, the biggest problem is people are selfishly following their passions. For example, it's a 'selfish passion' to say "I want to be a rockstar so I'll have fans and millions of dollars". A 'giving passion' would be to say "It's my mission to address social issues and help people through my love of playing music". Having a passion is wonderful but you're not helping yourself by keeping it locked inside you for personal gain.
I was born in Generation Y, and I've been told by older generations that I'm one of the hardest working people they've ever met. No matter what I'm doing I'm dedicated and willing to go the extra mile. I've also been laid off twice in the past 6 years. I probably won't have the big retirement my parents had (since they did have excellent job security until retirement) Don't call me entitled. I am certainly not. I know I'll be working until I die, so why can't I just enjoy doing it?
I'm fairly sure it was intended to be a rule of thumb, not an absolute.
It's hilarious that older folks complain that we're the worst generation when THEY'RE the ones who raised us and told us to dream and do what we loved.
Yeah.
I highly doubt most parents raised their offspring telling them to sit in front of a TV/monitor and stream all day and get richer by doing nothing but play games and be of no use to the society/community.
one of the best TEDx videos i have ever seen. Eunice Hii u r amazing
our generation is the best so far, the one whom start the changing of the world in a better place.
Pretty sure there's been people throughout history who were trying to change the world to a better place
This is one of the best way to put it. You don't need to have your passion in your primary vocation to follow your passion :). Great Talk. Really liked it.
IMO the speed of change in our generation is so great that there is no real concrete advice. Lots of things that used to be gospel simply don't work anymore and everyone is grasping at straws hoping things don't fall apart. Its like you have to be willing to change professions, standards of living and your whole belief system overnight because nothing is constant and everything is competitive.
The best advice I can give is to learn to become an entrepreneur. If you can start a business you'll never be out of a job, and if you are your own boss you have much more control over how much you earn and which direction you take a company to manage around problems that crop up.
Follow your passion, work hard and try to make an impact for the community.
This talk reminds me of grade 10 where we had to analyze a song's meaning in front of the whole class. The smartest girl in the room analyzed "Piano Man" by Billy Joel and totally got it wrong. The teacher beamed a smile during the analysis because as she would later tell this girl that she got the whole meaning wrong, but that it wasn't her fault because she had simply not experienced life as an adult. The girl felt that people were bartenders and waitresses in a bar because it was their life calling, and had no clue that they were stuck there due to life circumstances.
The Star Trek generation :). Born 83 and proud of it! Generation didn´t start WW1, nor WW2 and we won´t be responsible for WW3. How ever, generation Y might be the generation that ends all wars. Technology is here to aid us with the stuff we don´t want to do. stay strong, soulmates :)!
Good luck!
Finally someone who talks about the logistics of following your passion.
Every single time the newest generation is always labelled "the WORST" by the previous ones this cliche is nothing new it has been happening all the time. It comes from the previous generations seeing that the new generation has far "better conditions" to live in and still struggles with the challenges of life. Life is always challenging no matter how you are or how you look at it just cause the next generation does not have the same problems the previous one had does not mean they have fewer problems and challenges, just the previous generation does not recognize or accept these as hard.
I am not saying people who lived througth the horrors of the world wars didn't have it hard, not at all they did. But life is never easy, even today no matter how you look at it there are always challenges and problems that need to be overcome.
Yep, what comes to mind is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. No matter where you are in the pyramid, you're always fighting to go up, and because of that, life is a constant challenge.
Word!!!
You Go Girl! & The rest of Generation Y, and Beyond. You are our future.
I think this is the message she is trying to give:
Our world is created in a "GIVE-and-TAKE" manner. If you want to land your dream job, follow your passion, but how would you use it to serve the community?
First, you "GIVE" the world by serving the community, then only can you "TAKE" the rewards (money, doing things you love) from the world.
Sorry for my bad English.
I am 48 and a foreigner, a minority in the US. Covid made me lose the work I was doing. This was a life saver and changer because I chose to follow my passion. I work hard and with no help whatsoever. I am a visual artist and my dream is to work in the music industry. Giving up is so easy because I have no idea whether my hard work will pay off. But I keep going, and I am not giving up.
Coming from a semi-engineering and artistic background, I would say our generation (Gen-Y) has the least clue what we want to do, not so much because "following your passion" means looking for a worthwhile job that we love but of the fear of being stuck in a 9-6 job for 26 years, unhappy, bitter and regretful of the passions we did not heed. Each generation has a new ideology in the work/life balance, and from what I take, each generation improves on the past in possibly every way, how else do you explain the increasing opportunity/pampering each following generation gets?
Reality will kick in eventually and everyone grows up and maybe away from their passion but at the end of the day the kids today will be better off in the future, the ideas and cultural change each generation brings is what gives life to the human community. If every generation were to follow in their ancestor's footsteps, we wouldn't progress anywhere on the work/life balance debate, the economy would still crash every 8-10 years, the financial disparity between the rich and the poor would continue to widen, fiat money would continue to place people without financial education into debt, industry would continue to burden the environment on the pretense of "economic development", while marketing corporate social responsibility by posting politically skewed news articles on "reputable", "independent" broadcasters saying how much they are doing to save their children who will be living in the degraded environment which is, by the way, the product of industrialism and their rush for economic development. That would be the "worst generation".
So maybe, living on an economically sustainable "work smart (not less or hard), enjoy the moment, save the environment while you aren't working in a 6 day 9-6 job" suddenly becomes a very very sensible alternative. Gen-Y is the "worst generation" in the workplace, because the workplace was designed by baby boomers for baby boomers.
Edit: I am an Electronic Engineering graduate and currently work as a barista to make ends meet because I refuse to be treated as a pampered kid under my father's million dollar bank account. I also watch the stock market and do freelance graphic design and web development on the side to explore new entrepreneurial ventures on the internet. So you, the 40+ y/o in a desk job in a multinational company earning a 5 figure salary, have no right to tell me or my generation that we are "lazy" or "feel entitled". You gave us this opportunity to be more than you, so embrace it, teach us and guide us. Just calling us "the worst generation" because we don't adhere to your workplace comfort and habits simply doesn't cut it.
This matches up with advice I got from my cousin. He said find a way to help people with the thing you love to do. If you can help people with your passion you have a demand and can thus fund your passion.
Someone tell me I'm wrong for dismissing this video as empty feel-good bullshit to launch this woman's career purely by the first few seconds ("So, when I was younger"), title and comments.
I like TED talks that are scientific with real data based upon real experiments producing something tangible and useful, not anecdotal waffle, or a profound toilet thought expanded into an entire seminar.
Most TED talks are pretty empty, even the scientific ones. The only way (for bad storytellers) to create a compelling narrative in 15 minutes is to gut the complexity of reality, ala TED Talks. Find your favorite science talk, then look up the speaker, listen to a series of actual university lectures by them, and then you'll really start to notice how diluted TED is.
troweltheory I think your not getting the idea of these TED talks. They are more thought out to inspire the listeners and get them thinking about the subject, not to scientifically explain it.
Completely agree with you. "Look at all these people on Kickstarter or Etsy. This woman landed a gig through Twitter." Blah blah blah. I'm ashamed to be part of this generation because they expect everything to be handed to them.
"Don't forget to work hard..." Then she admits that she doesn't know what hard work is.
kris is I didn't say they had to scientifically explain it. What I am saying is that TED is equivalent to a Hallmark card; saccharine and empty, with not too much information to overwhelm, but just enough to let you fill in your own meaning. Like a fortune cookie, or a weekly horoscope. Some talks are good, though.
it's a motivational speech, should of figured that out by the title that what you're looking for isn't going to be here.
the moment you don't follow your passion you're a dead person walking
my 'passion' is to leech off of my parents, watch daytime television and play video games all day. I think I'll get myself a diploma in video game design, or a short course in how to wave my dick in the wind(!)
don't be a bum - invest your time wisely.
billionbuckscool you can't tell anyone else what being a "bum" is
***** do college on somenthing that will get you a job and follow your passion at the same time, but as a hobby instead, it looks like a win win situation. hell, i love science, so instead of working on it, wich is a painfull hell of poverty, i'll blog about it, and maybe do videos about it, increasing visibility and further allowing me to spend time on this hobby of mine.
***** Bullshit. The moment you don't follow your passion you have graduated from a self-centred teenage narcissist to a realistic adult that becomes a valuable member of society. Most passions are not worth pursuing.
Samurailord uhh since when have realistic adults been valuable to society? we need individuals with an utter disregard for society's norms and practices. we need people who couldn't care less about a nicely paying desk job and would rather spend their one chance on this earth doing as they please, because anything less is just absurd
she doesn't half drag this speech out, she could've made her point in half the time
Incredibly repetitive. Unclear delivery. Bleugh
She seems incredibly pleased with herself
its coz she's a nerd, she thinks she;s achieving something by the simple fact she's doing it, the classic American mistake "it's all about taking part"
Jack Hernandez Nice slam on America?!?! but I am pretty sure she is Canadian, since she has a Canadian accent and goes to school at the UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
same diff.. it's the american movies and TV thing tho init
her talk ended without really defining what she was really trying to say. She really left us with a cliffhanger there
"Generation Y is the worst generation." Pffft, they're not the ones who almost blew up the planet.
Don't forget destroyed the world's economy where the only countries not gripped by poverty are in massive debt with no way to pay for their future liabilities.
Just wait, Gen Y will finish the job. ;)
***** What? Feelings of entitlement have always been there, arguably even worse in previous generations from the slave built Roman Empire to the social Darwinian divide that still permeates British society. Segregation in America is a prime example of a more insidious sense entitlement than whining about school/work.
The Wikipedia definition of Gen Y states that the age bracket starts from the late 80's to early 2000's, meaning that Gen Y is still too young to fully see how they are changing the world as all the strife of the world can still be attributed to the previous generation.
I am a firm believer that the sins of the father past to the son.
I love the honorable, dear and most prominently loving TED Talk. All are amazing.
well I wanted to be a photographer. So I enrolled in a technician program got a job paid my bills. Now I can concentrate on my passion now that I have a steady income.
This so damn relatable I will graduating from high school in 5 months and no idea what college or subject or stream I m gonna chose, that's the reason i opened this vedio in first place
If you have a passion that will lead you into a "dead end", get a realistic job AND then work on your passion on the side. Once you can make reasonable profit from your passion, you can make the switch.
or, like Jiro from the world's highest rated sushi stand says: "Love the work you do. This is not 'do the work you love.' This distinction is important."
I think one of the greatest things about having something you're passionate about is it gives you something to work for. For example, this summer, I had to leave my hometown just to find a job so I could earn money for school in the fall. So far my days have basically consisted of working as a housekeeper, eating and sleeping. Though I'm so relieved to have a job for the summer there are times when I feel worn down, those moments when finding something really, really gross in a room to clean only to have the supervisor get at you for taking too long to clean it gets to me. But while I have those moments, they don't keep me down and I've never considered quitting my job or arriving late or not working hard because I know that working for the summer will allow me to go back to school where I can keep taking steps towards my goals and what I really want to do and at the very least, give me a chance to see the friends I've made at school again. Whatever I do is worth it as long as it helps me get closer to where I want to be, even if it's hard, and I think that's the meaning I personally take out of following your passion.
Even I opened a pie shop as it was my passion .Named it "American pie" , police shut it down.
idontbelieveyou.gif
My wifes friend continued; I know they arent going any where special, and probably wont be visited any time soon but when Iam done cutting their hair and doing their nails I can see it in their eyes, they feel better. it is important to them to look their best and its important to me to help them look their best. I might be just a beautician, but I change lives...now whats better than that.
Passion only you know what your passion is. we need you to get in the game and take responsibilitie
I waited n waited to see where she was going..... but I couldn't finish it...... this is TERRIBLE!!!!!.... SHAME ON YOU TED TALKS!!!!! YOU SHOULD'VE SKIPPED THIS ONE!!!!!!...... Our generation is THE MAIN GENERATION who've been STRIPPED of their passions by being encouraged to keep it on the side in their spare time.... or to pursue it later on down the road once we get established.... just to NEVER BE ABLE TO GET ESTABLISHED because the dynamics of the entire work forced switched on us and TO THIS DAY people refuse to acknowledge the fact that this is no longer the world our parents and grand parents grew up in..... Yeah they talked that whole "follow your passions and dreams you can be ANYTHING" bs..... but when you ACTUALLY DO IT that's when you get tugged aside n get that pep talk on "reality" n how you gotta just take whatever you can get n make the best of it because of how rough it is out here.... which is their way of saying "heeey...... you weren't suppose to take that serious.... we just needed to sound good......".....
This is the "worst generation" because EVERYBODY IS LOST!!!!!!!... n they're lost because THEY DEPARTED WITH THEIR PASSION!!!!!..... anybody who LOVES what they do will tell you that they don't need to push theirself to do what they do... n they don't need to take many breaks because they don't get tired because the energy that naturally SURGES FROM THEM while doing it is 1,000X more nourishing THAN SLEEP!!!!!..... whether it be their dream job or their own Business..... if they love it IT DRIVES THEM!!!!!.......
She should look into the studies done on how the workforce has created SOCIOPATHS by the way they have to be around a bunch of people more than their own family and have to get along n work with them but NOT be friends because they gotta be willing to cut their throat at the drop of a dime..... So they gotta be CLOSE to them with NO personal feelings or friendships between them....... then go home to their families with that SAME SOCIAL STRUCTURE because you can't just willingly turn that on and off when you're like that the majority of they day 5 DAYS A WEEK!!!!.......... hence the "divorce generation" she talked about.......
+TheMighty Optiq i agree 100% people seem to think you can only make it big 'if you're lucky' and don't realize how much power they actually posses over their own lives. people chose to follow others and not to go online and research things or try something new, and stay at the same job. i figure if you have atleast 1 hour a day to watch tv you have an hour to spend moving your life in a better direction. but because of our society people just don't believe it's even possible. or even worse young people think you need to go to school for years and build up a huge life long debt in loans to land that perfect job and finally be able to live the dream life. then leave school like her without knowing what to do or not even being able to land a job in their own field because either the school you went to wasn't a credited school and your diploma is considered worthless, there are too many others trying to get the same job, or you don't have enough experience. we are definitively a very lost and confused generation.
she'll be fine. she was good enough to put together a good presentation, talk to a large audience, and have many people intrigued and applaud her.
There's a reason a "job" is said to mean "just over broke." It's the riskiest thing to do in an ever changing economy. Having a boss that controls your pay, hours, and whether you get to keep the job or not when something happens is not secure at all. Being secure means you have control of your pay, hours, and whether or not you are effective or not. It bugs me when people try to get a job and think it's the same thing as security.
So inspiring to see an Asian woman with a smile on her face talking about pursuing one's passion and service to others. Time for the "tiger parenting" child abuse mentality to end. Every child deserves to live a life where success doesn't entail selling your soul for a dollar and a perfect report card.
Every generation before us said the last sucked and yet each one is better than the last.
If we follow our parents then we will have the same backwards attitude of "we've always done it this way" or my favorite bullshit answer, "everyone else is doing it..."
If we wait long enough, there will be no elders left to tell us we are the worst and then we will decide what makes sense much like the generations before us.
Wonderful advice. The example of passion intersecting with community need is right on target. That is so much better than telling people "Do what you love".
Follow your passion, break this opressive system.
Wow, I wish I could live in the world these Gen y people live in. Trophies for all. Gimme gimme gimme...want want want...take take take.....have have have.
here is my observation.
Generation Y(Children) shouldn't entirely be at fault for being self entitled. That fault lies with Generation X(Adults) who started the idea of mixing work and pleasure because they wanted to get away from the Baby Boomer(Adults) attitude towards work and family, which was to stay with one job til retirement and expect pay off and have very little contact with family.
Which they as Boomer(children) learned from the Silent Generation(Adults) but didn't have that financial turmoil and thus where reckless and pilfered our economy through unneeded debt.
Boomer(adults) started to value individuality more but still had to deal with grind of work.
Thus Gen X(Children) felt neglected emotionally and felt uncertain about being able to succeed in dead end jobs like their boomer parents. The Gen X learned through their Boomer parents what they didn't want out of life.
Gen X(Adults) entered the workforce with the boomer debt but didn't want to be stuck at the same company so Gen Xers became entrepreneurial and as adults Xer's wanted more time with family so they tried to balance work and family and because of that boomer neglect over compensated with pandering to their Gen Y children.
Generation Y(Childen) where left feeling uncertain of their futures but where told that to live their dreams but can't because of the lack of work, education, money.
Now Generation Y (adults) are in a workplace with no room left for them, with an education system that is going to put them into debt and thus had to find a means to adapt which led to....
... Facebook and other forms of social media and smart phones. Generation Y (adults)are the one are the ones who pioneered the idea of being able to take work with them, and being able to do passion projects. Gen Y adults are only recently learning to do this. The Gen Yers are slowly achieving what the Gen Xers aspired to.
Which leads us into the Millennial(Children) who are gonna be experts in these technological resources.
Their attitudes is what is gonna shape the world economically. This is the generation who are gonna be the ones who are capable of balancing work/pleasure. These are the ones who are truly the ones to be able to follow their passions.
***** We get it you're bitter, if you hate life so much perhaps just give up?
***** I agree, Momo - a lot of the critical comments here seem to be coming from people barely out of college. A little bit more of "real life" will wake most of them up to the fact that it's complicated, and if they somehow have "all the answers", refer them back to the boomer generation who chanted "make love, not war". They thought they were somehow more enlightened too...
***** Actually he didn't say that. Someone started that as a meme on the internet back in 2012. It's funny that people believe it just because it has Einstein's name with it.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
@@theBROWNbanditP hey, there's no fairy ssa in this thread.🤤
Being born in Gen Y, I remember reading something quite life-changing that I think would be great if more Gen Y'ers get: "don't do what you love. Love what you do." I think that it is a controversial statement but an important one.
How can I make myself love what is not exactly what is a natural source of pleasure to me though?
That quote at the end is not originally from Nelson Mandela but from Marion Williamson's "A Course in Miracles"..
How can you stand to cut hair and do nails for a living she answered I have found my passion I love it and I cant think of anything I would rather do. My wife shot back cutting hair and doing nails? her friend replied laughing; I dont cut hair and do nails, I change the lives of those I serve by helping them to look and feel their best. The best part of my week is when I go to the nursing home those little old ladies are soo appreciative.. They just smile form ear to ear.
Good talk. I have to say, I'm sick of members of the older generations, particularly Gen Boom and the older Gen Xers, looking down on us Ys and late Xers for simply not knowing what we want to do with our lives. If you'd asked Julia Child in her 20s and 30s what she wanted to do, you'd have gone away thinking 'what a loser' because till she was in her 40s she had NO CLUE! Yet today she's famous! Put that in your pipe and smoke it you self-righteous types! Never look down on anyone because that one person who you despise the most could end up being the one person who gives you a job one day.
Whoa a lot of anger. Don't you think you are generalizing just a tad? Not all boomers/gen Xers are guilty of looking down at the poor Y-Zrs. Yes some are more annoyed by the attitude of self-entitlement. Wanting to go from 0-to-60 w/o bothering to fill up the tank. But as was pointed out every generation is criticized by the those before. They told us genXers that we were slackers and lost. Take it all with a grain of salt. just find you way and do your thing and forget what pundits say.
Exactly what I think, too. I am a teenager and am in the phase of life where I have to make "important decisions" like choosing my college major. I was so sure I was going to study fine arts and become either a graphic designer or an illustrator or anything creative. From my own experiences, I realized that money is really important. If someone says it's not, they are either lying or extremely ignorant.
It is true that we are the worst generation and we all know that... who doesn't? Just compare things 10 years ago to now, things are much worse now than they were; marriage, teen pregnancies, finances, politics, economics, relationships, etc. The problem is that we are miseducated about freedom. The problem is that we are born into freedom, we inherited the freedom to have all the choices we want. Because of this we feel entitled to always have choices and not understand the sacrifice, work, and duty it takes to gain and maintain the freedom that provides those choices. This is history, it happens over and over. Leaders rise up when they're needed to set things straight, then the future generations lives and enjoys it, not understanding how freedom works, slowly letting it get taken away in front of their eyes. But they don't know what to do! So they complain, whine, cry, say that life is unfair. But there are a few who will stand up.
I dont think so man, not as long as a few from our generation take talks like this to heart every day or week or month. We are the future and it doesnt seem to me like we are this horrible group who are unconsciously going in a backwards direction with no restraint. I feel in a short time there will be a huge revolution in thinking and we as a whole will strive to change the way we function as a society for the better. It just takes one to talk and a few to listen to get some wheels really rolling.
I did like Seth Willimson's comment from three years ago where he quoted Jiro Dreams of Sushi, though.
The more practical approach to finding and following your passion is creating it with disciplined work,
that before you have attained a high level of some skill, will not be very rewarding. As one improves the
reward of recognition provides the positive reinforcement that increasaes behaviors of practicing more and
improving even more - raising one's evel above average that much more, fueling even more recognition.
This leads to "passion". The cellists who are passionate about cello, with few exceptions were not, when they
first started learning etudes. Cal explains all of this.
Generations before us had working class jobs that could buy you a house and two cars and college fees you could pay by working a summer job. All we've got are dreams. The generations before us promised us the world and delivered a job at McDonalds and crippling unpayable debt.
Those who call us the "worst" Genertion, forget who raised us to be the way we are!!
If you are Gen Y try : Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.
It's the best article about Gen Y I ever read.
And why no one talk about Gen X? I still don't sure what is concept of Gen x except the day of their born.
+FluffyUnicorn Yeah that article is pure gold. It actually helped me understand myself better.
thx!
I like what this girl had to say. It is a practice I followed. I am a technical person by nature. I am working a job I wasn't interested in but I do it well and enjoy it. And there will always be demand for what I can supply. That is why I am sticking to my career as an electrician for the time being.
How do people not get this? Following your passion is super important, of course it is. A life not lived honestly will not be a happy experience. But how can we honestly devote ourselves to a life of doing things that do not meet needs of our world and community? We're all part of a big community here and we all rely on each other. If you don't align what you do to producing genuine help for others then you are really not much more than a glorified parasite.
Don't take it like I'm being too tough though. There's so many ways to help our communities, many of them in which the relationship is a bit less tangible but still completely real and useful.
Its ok to not know what you want and enjoy the discovery process. Passion searches can give rise to anxiety. Letting go of it and just following your curiosity gives us the space to let passion organically arise, and if it doesnt, our happiness or sense of identity does not have to be compromised.
I believe in the future there will be a shift in consciousness. Millions, if not billions of people will start their own businesses. Ones that enhance their own life and well as the lives they touch with their business. I believe that people will be looking to themselves to see their strengths and to work with them to serve others. I believe that one day the idea of getting a job and working mindlessly for someone else will be seen a very old fashioned way of thinking.
I most certainly agree!
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life”
“Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Steve Jobs
she was literally talking about nothing waste of time
Literally?
Yes
Arathorn Dezeus
ok
Figuratively?
Antonio Gutierrez lit·er·al·ly
ˈlidərəlē,ˈlitrəlē/
adverb
in a literal manner or sense; exactly.
"the driver took it literally when asked to go straight across the traffic circle"
synonyms:exactly, precisely, actually, really, truly;More
informal
used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true.
"I have received literally thousands of letters"
I like this talk a lot. It is much more realistic advice than most of the TED talks. I am still struggling with this idea of what my passions are much less how to apply that to society. But it is good to keep in mind.
These days, anyone can just walk in from the street and give a lecture on TED. A confusing, rambling monologue, but i admire a young 'un who has the belly to stand in front of an audience and not lose it. I've heard worse.
Passion is NOT a privelege; it's a life force. We do not FOLLOW our passions; we ARE passion.
83 to 2000 is a long time. How can anyone label generation Y as being lazy or spoilt?. I was born in 1983 so i just about make the cut in the Y club...and i was neither spoiled or lazy.
label a generation as the worst generation, rise that generation
Really?...i thought 83 to 2000 sounded a little off
PixelPerfect28 no it was 83-2000....anyways. Its just in "general" Its not like everyone is the same. But you are missing the point...
jimmy Lim ts just in "general" Its not like everyone is the same. But you are missing the point...
Översätt
Glad to know i am still belonging to Yers...
Generation Y is the generation of communications and connections. We hope to link everything around us together. Don't look at Y as "why?" look at Y as three lines coming together or one point being pulled in three different ways. We belong nowhere and everywhere at the same time. We feel entitled since we must ensure our security more than anyone else because we live in a digital world where rejection can happen in a millasecond. Yet we still choose to reach out to others in everyway possible.
The reason you don't know what you want to do when you graduate is because our current educational and social systems aren't conducive for developing that kind of awareness. Why would anyone want to preserve a social infrastructure that doesn't teach people to become engaged in what they do? I've got a hunch that if the number of passionate people increase in the world we'll see a decrease in homelessness and unemployment. Why would anyone remain defective unless they thought there was no point in becoming effective?
Loved the talk! I don't just want to solely stick to my 'passions' as an often blind guide. More is needed to determine my calling; my vocation.
"I was 'complanning' to my friend of mine..."
Andria Ruset Is that a Canadian thing?
I loved watching her giving a speech. I was really touched and inspired by her speech whether it was professional or not...
We make mistakes and it happens all the time, what matter, in many times, simply would be the passion which creates really good energy that makes ppl happy rather than judging , criticising like other haters comments down below... Thank you for a great speech!
I didn't like this talk, I feel that at the end she says nothing, about how follow your passion, about the generation Y, when she doesn't know what her passion is yet and the "real world" works
Identify what you enjoy to do and then find a way to make it useful to others by turning it into a service :-) So, e.g., if you like serving good food to people, you can become a waiter at a really good restaurant or start a catering service. Or find out what it is that makes you want to serve good food to people, and then find out how you can turn that into a job or service that is not related to food at all. That was her message.
There are multiple (contradicting) ted talk present and there cannot be one correct idea.
It is just that which idea do you connect most to.
I thought this was the best talk I had in recent times
" Follow your heart, but take your mind with you"
I was going with her up until the point that we took the walk down the hallway. We started from a place of no risks, bureaucracy, rules and structure and each generation since resisted, and took risks. When I receive this information the progression I take it that we (I am from GenY) are the penultimate delivery of that resistance. We are taking the big risk of all, and betting everything on ourselves and our passions. The earlier generations may not like the result of their request but that doesn't mean we don't deliver.
It jus sounds like Generation Y cannot be "controlled." I think that is awesome. Cal Newport actually wrote several books beforehand that encouraged following your passion during college, so hmmmm that's an interesting contradiction. Seriously guys think for yourself! We need stop depending on contradicting professors like Newport and these studies/professors/experts who think they can tell us how to live or think like they're the new Gods. I am going to think for myself, work hard, "follow "my" passion", and live life. I am tired of the view that we are always children and always need to listen to "experts" who become our new parents. I am tired of a view that we are not human beings capable of making mistakes, thinking critically and for ourselves, and learning on our own. Our lives are not solely to work or barely survive. I want and choose to live.
The major flaw in these people is self-absorption. A reality check is needed. Nobody cares about YOUR passion unless you make them care by using your passion to ADD VALUE/ SERVE OTHERS.
Perhaps there is no better time to be a Cynic than in 2015-2020. When there are young adults blinded by an unfortunate over-trusting belief that humanity is fundamentally good, and a bitter older generation probably jealous of all the optimism found within Gen Y. With that said, I agree with this TEDxTalk, it's time for people to get their heads on straight -- anyone with the head in clouds needs a reality check, and, anyone overly depressed needs a goddamn hug.
If you ask me, and I was born in 1993, Gen Y will be notorious for making multiple mistakes in a blind trusting faith of the good of humanity, BUT, we will also be notorious for making our ambitions a reality -- because, at the end of the day, all we have is persistence right?
I feel that the majority will make whatever it be they desire a reality.
Now, if you take this to mean that the Boomers desired War and Violence -- take that to mean what you will. As for Y'ers, I envision a very different future where the world will undergo a dramatic shift in culture everywhere.
It is curious to me that may Boomers generally refer to Gen Y optimism as Entitlement or Out of Line behavior. I'd like to challenge the Boomers to be a little more open-minded -- perhaps, even consider that it was their parents who screwed up the foundation for the world before them. Perhaps, Boomers, you have done a great job with the world, so much so that you can see the difference in your children. Please don't punish Gen Y'ers for simply viewing the world in the way that you manufactured. Ease up with the pessimism, it's ok, the world isn't going to be War Torn or in Poverty for much longer -- Gen Y'ers will take it from here.
Even typing this, it's ironic that I have displayed the fundamental elements of over-optimism or "entitlement" or "bad attitudes." But ya know what, more than anything else, I think anyone who refers to Gen Y as "The Worst Generation Ever" is doing nothing but projecting their insecurities onto a Generation that is admittedly impressionable.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, as a Y'er or Millenial, my peers, stop being so trustful-- not everyone is a good person ok? Lot's of people will lie to hurt you, ok? Does that mean we should give up our vision for a better world? Absolutely not -- so Boomer's, quit worrying, we understand that now, ok?
The one common trend I see amongst fellow millennials is a very exciting, and persistent, desire to change the world in a way that serves the better of humanity. I say, let us -- take the risk and come along for the ride!
Robbie Wilson never knew madara was capable of such rational thoughts...
"At the end of your feelings in nothing but at the end of every principle is a promise"- Eric Thomas
This may be the worst advice I have ever heard. The only way to do any work worth while is to do something that you love, become obsessed with, and master. If someone wants to change the world, it takes huge risk; and without ambition, the world would be a very unexciting bureaucratized place. Dont work just to support an unbalanced, unfair economy.
Cory Myers Some people are passionate and obsessed with their works but how did they contribute to the society? One example is, by creating very lovely computer games, are you really helping others? Generation y right?
+Najib Bubong I agree with how the contribution to society is important. But I doubt generation Y is ignoring that aspect.
Passion is redundant; commitment and discipline is everything.
It must be nice to worry about following your passions or just having normal work in an economy where many struggle to find work. However, claiming that "Following your passion" wrecked a generation is silly since it's not Gen Y's fault that the bottom fell out on the economy. Most Gen Yers were still in college and hadn't even entered the work force when the worst recession since forever hit.
Plus Cal Newport's advice of "throwing out your passions" falls apart considering he's following his passion right now.
I think passion is over exaggerated. Teachers encourage students to go for something they're passionate about but not prepare them for the challenges they will face after college. For instance, what is a student with an art degree going to do? He follows his passion but there aren't that many art-related jobs out there. How is he going to bring money to the table? Perhaps working in a factory? My sister is a Gen Y and I am trying to encourage her to go for something that will guarantee her a job once she's done with college. Having a degree doesn't always help and to top it of, following your passion doesn't always give you a job.
Mai Lee Yang I'm honestly not sure that any degree can guarantee a person work in this economy. There are some fields that are currently more in demand, but the job market tends to go in cycles where something might be in demand then a ton of students decide to enter that market which causes an overflow (I've known a lot of people who chose the wrong time to major in education, both in terms of today and decades ago) or other market conditions suddenly change. /
I agree that art should be more of a minor than a major, though, since virtually every field pertaining to art (except maybe teaching it) puts a greater emphasis on a portfolio than the actual education. Otherwise you might consider talking her into double-majoring because it's easier than just talking a would-be artist out of being an artist.
Mai Lee Yang
There's nothing wrong with art as a major. A passionate and talented artist can make a good living. They have the choice of being creative on their own projects or being creative in advertising or some other commercial field. Cultivating one's creativity is something that's going to last you a lifetime. I'd much rather see someone do that than spend their time getting a degree in a technical field that may be revolutionized overnight (and made obsolete) by the next wave of technology.
"The worst recession since forever"? LOL. Tell that my grandparents who were children in Europe in the 30ies and witnessed how their parent's life savings (previously of the value of a small house) suddenly were just about enough to buy 10 potatoes and 6 eggs - but only when you were quick - perhaps just 8 potatoes and 4 eggs 2 hours later.
Tina-Karen Pusse This recession was widely described as the worst recession since the Great Depression. You know, that thing your ancestors (and mine and everybody else's, more or less) went through. So yes, it's the worst recession since forever.
Gen x here. I was born too soon. All my friends are systematically 5 to 10 years younger than me, and I can't help but think about this ALL THE TIME!!. I got the degree, I got the jobs, but I'm not happy. I'm single. I have no children. I've never been married. I'll be 39 next week... and yet, I think just the fact that i have always felt out of place with people my age that it has given me the the grace to look and act and dream like I am still 29. I just need a new identity!
:)
Nice talk. FYI: It's a Marrianne Williamson quote from her book "A Return to Love", not Nelson Mandela
I LIKED YOUR PRESENTATION A LOT. IT'S FINE. I FELT I UNDERSTOOD EVERY THING BUT WHEN I TRIED TO RECALL WHAT I THOUGHT, I WAS IN A BIG AMBIGUITY THAT WHETHER YOU SUPPORT ' TO BE PASSIONATE OR NOT TO BE SO'. IT'S JUST FOR HUMOR. THANKS A LOT.
Who cares what the New York Times or whoever says. Of course you should follow your passion. It's an idiotic article. It doesn't warrant deep breathes between paragraphs but for you to take the article, rip it up and throw it in the garbage. They're basically trolling.
She may have messed some things up , but her overall talk is inspiring ! Thank you.
12:10 Skip the bullshit
+LIQUIDSNAKEz28 Thanks, she was really irritating.
+LIQUIDSNAKEz28 Thanks.
+LIQUIDSNAKEz28 Thank you very much.. You saved my lot of time...
Thanks Snake! Snake? Snakeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?
The only individuals who have ever turned their passion into a profession are the individuals who are strong enough to persevere and work to achieve their dream. That's a fact.There's a difference between those who work for their passion, and those who are lazy.