By Jenn Mori, Toppel Peer Advisor
So I may love Ted Talks too much, but I’ve found
the advice they provide to be the most inspiring and motivating life advice I
hear. This one, by Larry Smith, a professor of Economics at the University of Waterloo,
is no different; he once told a reporter “Wasted talent is a waste I cannot
stand” and that viewpoint can be seen easily in this amusing video, titled “Why
you will fail to have a great career.”
It’s kind of a cynical video - the title
portrays some of that cynicism. Smith begins by talking about how we all settle
for good careers, and settle for working really, really hard to get to a great
career. That hard work ethic is something I see all the time - but not just in
certain college kids - I see it in some adults I know who have worked overtime
their whole life, but are still nearly in the same position in their company
that they were 10 years ago. So maybe Smith has a point, and there’s more to
making a memorable impact on the world than working hard to get there.
Which brings me to the point of his entire video
- we need to find our passion. Not our interest, which there are many of (and I
can attest to that), but the one passion that stands out above the rest and
that can be the difference between finding a “good” career and a GREAT one. And
I feel like as college students, we’re given so many options and clubs and
majors and minors to pursue and look at that even knowing the difference
between those two words, passion and interest, can be difficult. But Smith does
an excellent job at explaining what the difference is, why it matters and why
no one should make excuses once they find their one passion - it could bring
out a talent in you, you may not have even known existed.
Here’s the video, so check it out!
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