By MAMAMIA TEAM
What is the work you can’t not do?
This is the question Scott Dinsmore posed in his 2012 TEDx talk in San Francisco.
Sure, it’s a double negative – but it has a positive message. What is your passion? What kind of work would make you actually want to get out of bed in the morning? What work would do the… opposite of grind your gears. Rev your engine?
Dinsmore’s TED talk was viewed more than 180,000 times in the first few weeks after it was posted online, and is now one of the top 25 most viewed TED talks on the channel. That’s right. Out of all the TED talks – and my goodness, there have been a lot — this one is in the top 25.
In the talk, Dinsmore talks about how people can find out what they love (and also mentions the business side of things, which is his website LiveYourLegend.net).
At 1.30, Dinsmore reveals that 80 per cent don’t like their job. Eighty. That’s what started his mission to discover what the 20 percent who do like their job, are doing differently.
At 2.30, Dismore reveals the question that caused 80 percent (there’s that number again) of friends who asked him for career advice to quit their jobs. That question was: “Why are you doing the work that you’re doing?”At 3.30, he shares the three main principles for finding out what you love – and what you should be doing with your life. 1. Becoming a self-expert. 2. Believing that you can do the impossible. 3. Surrouding yourself with passionate people.
At 9.00, Dinsmore shares the best life advice he ever got. From a 13-year-old kid. So you know it’s got to be good. We’ll leave you to hear this one for yourself.
One of the strongest messages to come through in Dinsmore’s talk, is the importance of surrounding yourself with passionate people. You are so much more likely to succeed in your chosen field, if you feel challenged and inspired by – and actually like – the people who you associate with professionally (and personally).
As Dinsmore points out, the opposite is also true. If you surround yourself with apathetic, complacent, or negative people – those emotions are likely to rub off on you. So, scarily, the ’80 percent of people hating their job’ statistic might be contagious.
If there is an immunity to such an infection, it’s probably this: infectious enthusiasm for what you do.
So – what is the work you can’t not do?
Live off your passion.If you’re as inspired by Scott Dinsmore’s words and philosophy as we were, then you can find out more about him at his website here. He also has courses and books available that you can get your hands on if his words appealed to you or you’re planning on a career change. Clickety click right this way… HERE.
Top Comments
I've taken some jobs that I've HATED but they've been just as important in my life. Sometimes they've connected me with someone who has ended up being a mentor or a great friend. Sometimes they've just demonstrated to me what I really, really DON'T want to do with my life (like work as a TV publicist ... I desperately wanted to be one for years and then when I finally worked in that field, I hated it).
Other times I've learned skills or lessons that I've been able to transfer to jobs I'm more passionate about.
I think the problem is that many people DON'T know what they're passionate about and so the key is to try different things. I don't think life is meant to be about making one perfect decision after another. Our lives (and our careers) are often a big zig-zag. And I think that's how it should be. You try something -- you hate it -- you try something else. You learn bucketloads about yourself along the way.
I agree with Amandarose and Danni R. If we are all working in jobs we are 'passionate' about who is working at the sewerage farm, picking up my stinky rubbish, stocking the shelves at my supermarket, working on production lines, working at the council tip and cleaning the toilets at shopping centres. This is self indulgent, middle class aspirational idealism (not all bad of course, but .....). So some of us get to be 'passionate' about our jobs while the under class do all the shit jobs. Nice. Now that's the kind of world I want to live in.