Why you will fail to have a great career | You Can’t Have a Great Career, Unless, Career Near Me

When I heard these words a week ago my eye’s sparkled and something in my brain went, “Yep, you’re clicking that.”

What I saw next has stuck with me since.

So I’m here today to share what I saw and why you too “will fail to have a great career.”

An Economist’s View On Careers
What I saw that day was a video on TED from economist Larry Smith. And he laid it out straight, “I’m an economist, I do dismal”.

He went on to make it clear who his audience was, “I’m not talking to those who want ‘good’ jobs, or ‘okay’ jobs. I’m talking about those who truly want ‘GREAT’ jobs.”

“Oh, people who want ‘good’ jobs will fail as well,” he went on to say. “Because good jobs are disappearing. There are great jobs and great careers… and there are high workload, high stress, blood sucking, soul destroying kinds of jobs…and nothing really in between. So people looking for good jobs are going to fail.”

So if we’re doomed from at least having a good career…what’s stopping us from having a “great” career.

No matter how many times we are told to find your dream, your passion, we don’t find it.
Pursuing your passions has become one of the biggest cliches of the universe, yet we ignore it and make excuses.

Our first excuse, “Great careers for most people are a matter of luck.” I’ll do the right things, study the right courses, and if I’m lucky I’ll have a great career. If not, at least I’ll have a good career. But, Larry Smith already told us “good” careers aren’t possible so that won’t work.

Excuse number two, “Yes, some people pursue passions but they’re geniuses.” We tell ourselves, “I’m no Steve Jobs. I don’t have the brains to carry out my passion.” We tell ourselves we’re competent, but in 2012 competence doesn’t get you “great” jobs.

Excuse number three, “I would do it…but I’m not weird.” We see successful people as walking a fine line between madness and genius. They are a little crazy, mean, odd, quirky, strange, and different. But you…you’re normal. So you can’t possibly be the next Mark Zuckerberg or Oprah Winfrey.

Excuse number four, “Mommy and Daddy taught me that if I work really hard I’ll have a great career.” Oh sure, the world will give you plenty of opportunities to work REALLY hard, but does that honestly give you a great career?

Excuse number five, “I have an interest.” Men, would you approach the women of your dreams, bow down on one knee and then exclaim at the top of your lungs, “Marry me…you’re interesting?” Why are you studying the major you picked, was it because you had a passion for that subject…or did it just interest you?

Some of you will find your passion…but you still won’t do it.
Yes, some of you will find what you love and are passionate about, but will drop it for your next excuse.

“I want to value human relationships over a great career…”

You’ve just made yourself a hero no matter what happens.

You’ve given yourself the ultimate excuse for not having a “great” career.

If you fail now, at least you were a good person.

And you’ll pass on the same things to your children
Your kid one day will come up to you and say, “Dad, Mom… I want to be a magician.”

You Can’t Have a Great Career, Unless You’re Willing to Fail First.

In “Batman Begins,” Alfred Pennyworth said, “Why do we fail sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

You might be one of the many people that feel like failure is afoot or you’re stuck in a career rut. If you fall into this category, then you must listen to this hilarious and witty Ted.com Talk by Larry Smith, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo in Canada. It’s called “Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career,” and it’s worth the 15 minutes of time to watch it.

His talk is about focusing on building a great career, not just settling for a good one. In fact, he humorously states that there is a huge supply of good jobs, calling them “soul destroying types of jobs.” Haha.

His only order of business is to convince you to pursue your passion and dreams in order to find a great career.

He says that we derail ourselves by making excuses for why we can’t get to where we want to be. Like people that find great careers just do it out of luck, great careers are for special people, or how about the excuse that people who pursue their passions are weirdo’s, strange, and live in a state of madness. I find this so entertaining. But let’s be honest, we all do make excuses when we’re afraid to try something new or explore uncharted territory.

According to the Pew Research Center, over 50% of American’s are not satisfied with their jobs. With this stat, we can assume that many or more of those same people haven’t arrived at a career that they believe to be great.

Smith suggests that we change our thinking from what interests us, to things that we truly love. We have to seriously look for alternatives to reach our destinies and that involves change and choice.

He asks his audience to think about what they want to see on their tombstone and we can all agree that we don’t want it to remind people that we were just satisfied with our lives. Rather, we want it to say that we achieved our highest expression of talent.

James C. Collins, the author of the book “Good to Great” said it very well, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline. Good is the enemy of great.”

We can’t miss out on our opportunities because of the paralyzing fear of the unknown. Think about talking to your kid, a loved one, or a friend. Do you want to say, “I had a dream too…but I didn’t realize it.” Or would you rather be able to give the advice, “Got for it, just like I did.”

The thought of “If only I had…” is painful and in the end will hurt a lot. Smith concludes his presentation with the word “unless.” And he prompts the audience to think, I could fail, I could disappoint myself, I could strive for mediocrity, or I can say, “unless.” And that means, unless, I do something, right now, I won’t be able fulfill my true passion.

Remember what Dr. Suess said in his writing of “The Lorax.” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

And you’ll tell them, “It’s risky…It doesn’t make much money…You’re good at math, you should try that.”

And he’ll look at you with his puppy eyes and plea, “But it’s my dream!”

To which you will have to tell him, “Look kid I had a dream too once but…”

What do you say?

“I had a dream too once but… I was afraid to pursue it.”

Or.

“Look kid I had a dream too once…but then you were born.”

‘Do you really want to look at your spouse…your family and see jailors?’ Larry asks.

Don’t you wish you could say, “I had a dream too son, go for it… just like I did.”

But you won’t be able to say that because you didn’t.

And so the sins of the parents are visited on the children.

Why will you seek refuge in human relationships as your excuse not to find and pursue your passion?
You know why.

Because you’re afraid…

to pursue it, to look ridiculous, to try, to fail.

“Great friend. Great spouse. Great parent. Is that not a package…not who you are…can you be one without the other?” Smith asks.

“But you’re afraid, and that’s why you will not have a great career”

Unless….unless.

You Can’t Have a Great Career, Unless You’re Willing to Fail First.

In “Batman Begins,” Alfred Pennyworth said, “Why do we fail sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

You might be one of the many people that feel like failure is afoot or you’re stuck in a career rut. If you fall into this category, then you must listen to this hilarious and witty Ted.com Talk by Larry Smith, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo in Canada. It’s called “Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career,” and it’s worth the 15 minutes of time to watch it.

His talk is about focusing on building a great career, not just settling for a good one. In fact, he humorously states that there is a huge supply of good jobs, calling them “soul destroying types of jobs.” Haha.

His only order of business is to convince you to pursue your passion and dreams in order to find a great career.

He says that we derail ourselves by making excuses for why we can’t get to where we want to be. Like people that find great careers just do it out of luck, great careers are for special people, or how about the excuse that people who pursue their passions are weirdo’s, strange, and live in a state of madness. I find this so entertaining. But let’s be honest, we all do make excuses when we’re afraid to try something new or explore uncharted territory.

According to the Pew Research Center, over 50% of American’s are not satisfied with their jobs. With this stat, we can assume that many or more of those same people haven’t arrived at a career that they believe to be great.

Smith suggests that we change our thinking from what interests us, to things that we truly love. We have to seriously look for alternatives to reach our destinies and that involves change and choice.

He asks his audience to think about what they want to see on their tombstone and we can all agree that we don’t want it to remind people that we were just satisfied with our lives. Rather, we want it to say that we achieved our highest expression of talent.

James C. Collins, the author of the book “Good to Great” said it very well, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline. Good is the enemy of great.”

We can’t miss out on our opportunities because of the paralyzing fear of the unknown. Think about talking to your kid, a loved one, or a friend. Do you want to say, “I had a dream too…but I didn’t realize it.” Or would you rather be able to give the advice, “Got for it, just like I did.”

The thought of “If only I had…” is painful and in the end will hurt a lot. Smith concludes his presentation with the word “unless.” And he prompts the audience to think, I could fail, I could disappoint myself, I could strive for mediocrity, or I can say, “unless.” And that means, unless, I do something, right now, I won’t be able fulfill my true passion.

Remember what Dr. Suess said in his writing of “The Lorax.” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

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