Four years ago I gave a TEDx talk called “Stop searching for your passion.” This is not news.
I memorized every word of that talk. I delivered it in a room of around 1500 people. And I walked out of there and thought, “Ok! that was fun. I hope someone outside of that theater ever sees it.”
And someone did. A lot of someones. Not at first, though.
I don’t consider it a “viral” talk because it didn’t explode over night. It’s much more akin to a chronic disease; imperceptible at first, imperceptible at first, but the symptoms increase, year over year. But in a good way. Ok. bad analogy.
That talk continues to find its way to people on their laptops and iphones, in the dark of night somewhere in Sydney, or during someone’s hard day in Dayton. Young men in India email me at 3am all the time for some reason.
Some people say it changed their lives, which is very humbling. But that talk also changed MY life—it gave me a new platform and a new way of seeing and talking about things.
One thing I’ve always said about any talk is that it should be the start of a conversation, not the end of one. And that talk started a lot of conversations for me.
I have a new talk, one I’ve test-driven at a few events, and people liked it so much that I’ve been invited back to give it a few more times. I like to think it’s continuing a conversation I started 4 years ago, which is, ok, if I’m not searching for my passion, what am I doing instead?
So I titled the new talk: “Stop Searching for Your Passion (Do This Instead).”
(I’m no dummy. It worked once!)
I pitched it to SXSW. They loaded it into their “Panel Picker” and they said, essentially, “Here’s a link to share. See if anyone else cares.”
You don’t have to be going to SXSW or even know what it is, you don’t have to give a crap about any of it.
But.
If you took the time to read this, you’re obviously in my corner, and I’d like to ask you for your vote. Your UPvote, that is.
Just click on over to this page, register to vote (this does not obligate you to anything). And VOTE UP.
…If you DO NOT think I should be anywhere NEAR SXSW, then I understand your decision to respectfully decline to vote. Voting down just seems mean.
Thank you!
