Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career

See Larry Smith's Ted Talk directly on the main site.

Who says economists don't understand human nature? Below is a delightful, poignant, provocative TED Talk from Economics Professor Larry Smith from the University of Waterloo in Canada (who happens to also be a master storyteller). He has also mentored many of his students through the often scary world of forming a start up business.

Through an eloquent weaving of storytelling, along with that dry sense of humor that we all love from people of more mathematical, scientific, or engineering minds, Larry takes the listener on a journey to understand what it takes to succeed. Hint: It's not money!

 

Larry starts out by saying point blank that he is going to explain why you are going to fail to have a great career. That pulled me (and the audience) right in. This fifteen minute Ted Talk will fly right by. I don't want to give too much away, but he breaks things down into the difference between a good career and a great career. He then talks about why those things were different fifty years ago versus in today's world.

See, nowadays, it just doesn't suffice to have a good career anymore. We need more. Larry talks about the difference between pursuing things that merely interest us versus things that awaken the most passion in us.

Now, that sounds easy enough to distinguish between those two. However, in my own life I have had to look deeply at this crucial difference to determine what among my many interests I am the most passionate about. So think in your mind for a moment. What are your biggest interests? And of those interests, which ONE brings out the most passion and energy from you?

That place of passion is the place to start. That's it, right? Wrong! Larry then goes on to talk about why we will fail because we are afraid to pursue it. The build up that he weaves is incredible.

He talks about the many excuses that we then make for not having a great career pursuing our passion.  We make "human excuses," as he calls them. We then make more excuses on top of those. He makes a strong case as to why we will fail to have a great career. And he is right on the money the whole time.

Finally, he goes for the jugular by describing the TWO most death-dealing words that we utter that destroy any chances of success. What are those two little words? Should I tell you?

And then, he goes on to end with the ONE word that you can say to turn it all around. It's a magic word indeed. Should I tell you?

I just can't do it justice like Larry does. I'm sorry but you are just going to have to listen to it yourself. If you don't, then you can spend the rest of your life wondering, "if only." Well, that is, "unless..." :-)