24 NOV 2015
5 TED Talks To Help You Drive Your Career To New Heights
Having a 'great' career is something many of us aspire to, fostering a desire to be 'successful' and influential, to work for something, and to be respected in our field. However despite this shared aspiration, in today's society there is extremely high career dissatisfaction, with at least a quarter of UK workers wishing they had a different career entirely.
Having a 'great' career is something many of us aspire to, fostering a desire to be 'successful' and influential, to work for something, and to be respected in our field. However despite this shared aspiration, in today's society there is extremely high career dissatisfaction, with at least a quarter of UK workers wishing they had a different career entirely. Getting from where you are to where you want to be proves a challenge too far for most, and discontent reigns in thousands of offices around the country. There are hundreds of reasons we don't achieve our career ambitions. There's also a plethora of advice claiming it will help us do so. This mainly focuses on building your confidence to go for career opportunities, but as the following TED Talks demonstrate, there's far more to finding your 'perfect' career than that. Watch these 5 TED talks and learn how passion, purpose and self understanding are the ultimate career drivers, and how you can bring these into your life.
Scott Dinsmore: How to find work you love
We absolutely love Scott Dinsmore's talk, mainly because it is totally actionable. Scott uses a few simple concepts we can use to find and do work we love. First you need to discover what makes you tick in order to define what success means to YOU. You don't need to change the world necessarily, just find out what you find joyful and meaningful. Then when it comes to achieving this, he asserts "the fastest way to do things you don't think can be done, is to surround yourself with people already doing them," some simple advice that really works.
Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
To investigate the career anxiety that so many of us experience in modern society, Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. He shrewdly demonstrates that where our ideology suggests anyone can do anything because we live in a just and equal society, in reality this level of meritocracy is simply not possible, so we attribute the labels of 'loser' and 'failure' to ourselves and others far too quickly and unfairly. He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond this snobbery to find true pleasure in our work.
Kare Anderson: Be an opportunity maker
In this charming talk, Kare Anderson explains her 'opportunity maker' experiences and explains why this activity is so important for the World. Simply put, we can do far more good by pooling our talents with others.
Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?
This one is a must watch for employers, managers and teachers. Dan Ariely demonstrates that contrary to conventional wisdom we are not generally motivated to work just by money, or from joy. In fact, most of us do best when making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. When we don't allow workers to experience this, productivity can hit rock bottom.
Larry Smith: Why you will fail to have a great career
In this brilliantly blunt talk, Larry Smith pulls calls out the crazy excuses people invent when they fail to pursue their passions, demonstrating why it is more than likely you will fail to have a 'great' career!
What drives you?
Are you satisfied with your career or do you feel there's something missing? Did these talks resonate with you? And are there any resources you feel have helped you develop your career to new heights? Let us know in the comments!