0:00:01.087,0:00:06.003
I want to discuss with you this afternoon

0:00:06.003,0:00:10.011
why you're going to fail to have a great career. (Laughter)

0:00:10.011,0:00:14.089
I'm an economist. I do dismal.

0:00:14.089,0:00:19.036
End of the day, it's ready for dismal remarks.

0:00:19.036,0:00:23.022
I only want to talk to those of you who want a great career.

0:00:23.022,0:00:24.098
I know some of you have already decided

0:00:24.098,0:00:27.011
you want a good career.

0:00:27.011,0:00:29.049
You're going to fail, too — (Laughter) —

0:00:29.049,0:00:32.057
because — Goodness, you're all cheery about failing. (Laughter)

0:00:32.057,0:00:38.020
Canadian group, undoubtedly. (Laughter)

0:00:38.020,0:00:40.066
Those trying to have good careers are going to fail,

0:00:40.066,0:00:44.042
because, really, good jobs are now disappearing.

0:00:44.042,0:00:47.067
There are great jobs and great careers,

0:00:47.067,0:00:51.038
and then there are the high-workload, high-stress,

0:00:51.038,0:00:54.083
bloodsucking, soul-destroying kinds of jobs,

0:00:54.083,0:00:56.017
and practically nothing in between.

0:00:56.017,0:00:58.052
So the people looking for good jobs are going to fail.

0:00:58.052,0:01:01.048
I'm going to talk about those looking for great jobs, great

0:01:01.048,0:01:05.050
careers, and why you're going to, why you're going to fail.

0:01:05.050,0:01:11.075
First reason is that no matter how many times people tell you,

0:01:11.075,0:01:15.028
"If you want a great career, you have to pursue your passion,

0:01:15.028,0:01:18.031
you have to pursue your dreams, you have to pursue,

0:01:18.031,0:01:21.047
the greatest fascination in your life,"

0:01:21.047,0:01:23.079
you hear it again and again and then you decide

0:01:23.079,0:01:27.087
not to do it. It doesn't matter how many times you download

0:01:27.087,0:01:32.013
Steven J.'s Stanford commencement address,

0:01:32.013,0:01:35.043
you still look at it and decide not to do it.

0:01:35.043,0:01:37.082
I'm not quite sure why you decide not to do it.

0:01:37.082,0:01:39.082
You're too lazy to do it. It's too hard.

0:01:39.082,0:01:42.031
You're afraid if you look for your passion and don't find it,

0:01:42.031,0:01:45.041
you'll feel like you're an idiot, so then you make excuses

0:01:45.041,0:01:48.035
about why you're not going to look for your passion.

0:01:48.035,0:01:49.097
And they are excuses, ladies and gentlemen.

0:01:49.097,0:01:52.075
We're going to go through a whole long list, your creativity,

0:01:52.075,0:01:55.067
and thinking of excuses not to do what you really

0:01:55.067,0:01:58.064
need to do if you want to have a great career.

0:01:58.064,0:02:04.069
So, for example, one of your great excuses is,

0:02:04.069,0:02:09.070
"Well, great careers are really and truly, for most people,

0:02:09.070,0:02:13.018
just a matter of luck, so I'm going to stand around,

0:02:13.018,0:02:15.086
I'm going to try to be lucky, and if I'm lucky,

0:02:15.086,0:02:18.084
I'll have a great career. If not, I'll have a good career."

0:02:18.084,0:02:22.032
But a good career is an impossibility, so that's not going to work.

0:02:22.032,0:02:26.019
Then, your other excuse is, "Yes, there are special people

0:02:26.019,0:02:30.016
who pursue their passions, but they are geniuses.

0:02:30.016,0:02:33.043
They are Steven J. I'm not a genius.

0:02:33.043,0:02:36.002
When I was five, I thought I was a genius,

0:02:36.002,0:02:38.004
but my professors have beaten that idea

0:02:38.004,0:02:41.022
out of my head long since." (Laughter) Mm?

0:02:41.022,0:02:45.080
"And now I know I am completely competent."

0:02:45.080,0:02:48.052
Now, you see, if this was 1950,

0:02:48.052,0:02:51.019
being completely competent,

0:02:51.019,0:02:53.042
that would have given you a great career.

0:02:53.042,0:02:57.047
But guess what? This is almost 2012, and saying

0:02:57.047,0:03:01.060
to the world, "I am totally, completely competent,"

0:03:01.060,0:03:05.085
is damning yourself with the faintest of praise.

0:03:05.085,0:03:08.018
And then, of course, another excuse:

0:03:08.018,0:03:11.055
"Well, I would do this, I would do this, but, but,

0:03:11.055,0:03:15.097
well, after all, I'm not weird.

0:03:15.097,0:03:18.051
Everybody knows that people who pursue their passions

0:03:18.051,0:03:23.028
are somewhat obsessive. A little strange? Mm? Mm? Okay?

0:03:23.028,0:03:26.049
You know, a fine line between madness and genius.

0:03:26.049,0:03:30.095
I'm not weird. I've read Steven J.'s biography.

0:03:30.095,0:03:34.047
Oh my goodness. I am not that person. I am nice.

0:03:34.047,0:03:37.051
I am normal. I'm a nice, normal person,

0:03:37.051,0:03:39.064
and nice, normal people

0:03:39.064,0:03:43.032
don't have passion.

0:03:43.032,0:03:46.013
Ah. But I still want a great career.

0:03:46.013,0:03:48.037
I'm not prepared to pursue my passion, so I know

0:03:48.037,0:03:51.009
what I'm going to do, because I have, I have a solution,

0:03:51.009,0:03:53.008
I have a strategy.

0:03:53.008,0:03:55.026
It's the one Mommy and Daddy told me about.

0:03:55.026,0:03:58.053
Mommy and Daddy told me that if I worked hard,

0:03:58.053,0:04:02.010
I'd have a good career. So, if you work hard

0:04:02.010,0:04:05.028
and have a good career, if you work really, really, really hard,

0:04:05.028,0:04:07.048
you'll have a great career. Doesn't that, like,

0:04:07.048,0:04:09.010
mathematically make sense?"

0:04:09.010,0:04:10.060
Hmm. Not. (Laughter)

0:04:10.060,0:04:13.040
But you've managed to talk yourself into that.

0:04:13.040,0:04:15.041
You know what? Here's a little secret.

0:04:15.041,0:04:18.055
You want to work? You want to work really, really, really hard?

0:04:18.055,0:04:20.069
You know what? You'll succeed. The world will give you

0:04:20.069,0:04:25.059
the opportunity to work really, really, really, really hard,

0:04:25.059,0:04:30.032
but are you so sure that that's going to give you

0:04:30.032,0:04:34.065
a great career when all the evidence is to the contrary?

0:04:34.065,0:04:38.000
So let's assume, let's deal with those of you

0:04:38.000,0:04:40.017
who are trying to find your passion.

0:04:40.017,0:04:42.041
You actually understand that you really had better do it,

0:04:42.041,0:04:46.037
never mind the excuses. You're trying to find your passion,

0:04:47.078,0:04:49.087
and you're so happy.

0:04:49.087,0:04:52.021
You found something you're interested in.

0:04:52.021,0:04:55.015
I have an interest! I have an interest! You tell me.

0:04:55.015,0:04:57.048
You say, "I have an interest!" I say, "That's wonderful!

0:04:57.048,0:05:00.062
And what, what are you trying to tell me? That you — "

0:05:00.062,0:05:02.017
"Well, I have an interest."

0:05:02.017,0:05:03.062
I say, "Do you have passion?"

0:05:03.062,0:05:06.009
"I have an interest," you say.

0:05:06.009,0:05:07.090
Your interest is compared to what?

0:05:07.090,0:05:10.035
"Well, I'm interested in this."

0:05:10.035,0:05:13.098
And what about the rest of humanity's activities?

0:05:13.098,0:05:15.098
"I'm not interested in them."

0:05:15.098,0:05:17.097
You've looked at them all, have you?

0:05:17.097,0:05:20.074
"No. Not exactly."

0:05:20.074,0:05:23.035
Passion is your greatest love.

0:05:23.035,0:05:28.030
Passion is the thing that will help you create

0:05:28.030,0:05:30.069
the highest expression of your talent.

0:05:30.069,0:05:33.015
Passion, interest -- it's not the same thing.

0:05:33.015,0:05:35.062
Are you really going to go to your sweetie and say,

0:05:35.062,0:05:42.001
"Marry me! You're interesting." (Laughter)

0:05:42.001,0:05:47.032
Won't happen. Won't happen, and you will die alone. (Laughter)

0:05:47.032,0:05:50.077
What you want, what you want, what you want,

0:05:50.077,0:05:54.035
is passion. It is beyond interest.

0:05:54.035,0:05:57.094
You need 20 interests, and then one of them,

0:05:57.094,0:06:00.095
one of them might grab you, one of them might engage you

0:06:00.095,0:06:03.046
more than anything else, and then you may have found

0:06:03.046,0:06:07.055
your greatest love in comparison to all the other things

0:06:07.055,0:06:10.096
that interest you, and that's what passion is.

0:06:10.096,0:06:14.000
I have a friend, proposed to his sweetie.

0:06:14.000,0:06:16.098
He was an economically rational person.

0:06:16.098,0:06:20.059
He said to his sweetie, "Let us marry.

0:06:20.059,0:06:23.059
Let us merge our interests."

0:06:23.059,0:06:25.053
(Laughter)

0:06:25.053,0:06:27.045
Yes he did.

0:06:27.045,0:06:31.079
"I love you truly," he said. "I love you deeply. I love you

0:06:31.079,0:06:35.031
more than any other woman I've ever encountered.

0:06:35.031,0:06:39.082
I love you more than Mary, Jane, Susie, Penelope,

0:06:39.082,0:06:41.085
Ingrid, Gertrude, Gretel --

0:06:41.085,0:06:44.025
I was on a German exchange program then." (Laughter)

0:06:44.025,0:06:47.000
"I love you more than — "

0:06:47.000,0:06:53.036
All right! She left the room halfway through his enumeration

0:06:53.036,0:06:55.040
of his love for her.

0:06:55.040,0:06:58.019
After he got over his surprise at being, you know,

0:06:58.019,0:07:03.075
turned down, he concluded he'd had a narrow escape

0:07:03.075,0:07:07.060
from marrying an irrational person,

0:07:07.060,0:07:09.085
although he did make a note to himself that the next time

0:07:09.085,0:07:13.095
he proposed, it was perhaps not necessary to enumerate

0:07:13.095,0:07:19.093
all of the women he had auditioned for the part. (Laughter)

0:07:19.093,0:07:23.019
But the point stands. You must look for alternatives

0:07:23.019,0:07:24.094
so that you find your destiny,

0:07:24.094,0:07:27.083
or are you afraid of the word "destiny"?

0:07:27.083,0:07:30.064
Does the word "destiny" scare you?

0:07:30.064,0:07:32.083
That's what we're talking about, and if you don't find

0:07:32.083,0:07:35.059
the highest expression of your talent, if you settle

0:07:35.059,0:07:38.018
for "interesting," what the hell ever that means,

0:07:38.018,0:07:41.045
do you know what will happen at the end of your long life?

0:07:41.045,0:07:44.060
Your friends and family will be gathered in the cemetery,

0:07:44.060,0:07:47.088
and there, beside your gravesite will be a tombstone,

0:07:47.088,0:07:50.075
and inscribed on that tombstone, it will say,

0:07:50.075,0:07:57.093
"Here lies a distinguished engineer who invented Velcro."

0:07:57.093,0:08:02.046
But what that tombstone should have said,

0:08:02.046,0:08:05.029
in an alternative lifetime,

0:08:05.029,0:08:08.096
what it should have said if it was your highest expression of

0:08:08.096,0:08:14.026
talent, was, "Here lies the last Nobel Laureate in Physics,

0:08:14.026,0:08:17.057
who formulated the Grand Unified Field Theory

0:08:17.057,0:08:21.040
and demonstrated the practicality of warp drive."

0:08:21.040,0:08:23.075
(Laughter)

0:08:23.075,0:08:27.085
Velcro, indeed. (Laughter)

0:08:27.085,0:08:31.070
One was a great career.

0:08:31.070,0:08:35.070
One was a missed opportunity.

0:08:35.070,0:08:37.070
But then, there are some of you,

0:08:37.070,0:08:41.033
in spite of all these excuses, you will find,

0:08:41.033,0:08:45.005
you will find your passion,

0:08:45.005,0:08:48.029
and you'll still fail.

0:08:48.029,0:08:51.069
You're going to fail, because,

0:08:51.069,0:08:54.071
because you're not going to do it,

0:08:54.071,0:08:58.056
because you will have invented a new excuse,

0:08:58.056,0:09:03.083
any excuse to fail to take action, and this excuse

0:09:03.083,0:09:06.038
I've heard so many times.

0:09:06.038,0:09:18.014
"Yes, I would pursue a great career, but I value

0:09:18.014,0:09:23.034
human relationships more than accomplishment.

0:09:23.034,0:09:28.015
I want to be a great friend. I want to be a great spouse.

0:09:28.015,0:09:31.082
I want to be a great parent, and I will not sacrifice them

0:09:31.082,0:09:35.074
on the altar of great accomplishment."

0:09:35.074,0:09:37.077
(Laughter)

0:09:37.077,0:09:39.038
What do you want me to say?

0:09:39.038,0:09:42.037
Now, do you really want me to say now, tell you,

0:09:42.037,0:09:45.070
"Really, I swear I don't kick children." (Laughter)

0:09:45.070,0:09:49.092
Hmm? Look at the worldview you've given yourself.

0:09:49.092,0:09:54.095
You're a hero no matter what, and I, by suggesting,

0:09:54.095,0:09:58.025
ever so delicately, that you might want a great career,

0:09:58.025,0:10:01.026
must hate children. I don't hate children. I don't kick them.

0:10:01.026,0:10:04.003
Yes, there was a little kid wandering through this building

0:10:04.003,0:10:08.032
when I came here, and no, I didn't kick him. (Laughter)

0:10:08.032,0:10:11.040
Course, I had to tell him that the building was for adults only

0:10:11.040,0:10:12.082
and to get out.

0:10:12.082,0:10:14.082
He mumbled something about his mother,

0:10:14.082,0:10:18.066
and I told him she'd probably find him outside anyway.

0:10:18.066,0:10:22.012
Last time I saw him, he was on the stairs crying. (Laughter)

0:10:22.012,0:10:24.058
What a wimp. (Laughter)

0:10:24.058,0:10:27.003
But what do you mean? That's what you expect me to say.

0:10:27.003,0:10:29.027
You really think, you really think it's appropriate

0:10:29.027,0:10:32.012
that you should actually take

0:10:32.012,0:10:35.094
children and use them as a shield?

0:10:35.094,0:10:37.079
You know what will happen someday,

0:10:37.079,0:10:41.088
you, you ideal parent, you?

0:10:41.088,0:10:45.016
The kid will come to you someday and say,

0:10:45.016,0:10:47.037
"I know what I want to be.

0:10:47.037,0:10:49.040
I know what I'm going to do with my life."

0:10:49.040,0:10:51.079
You are so happy. It's the conversation

0:10:51.079,0:10:54.068
a parent wants to hear, because your kid's good in math,

0:10:54.068,0:10:57.080
and you know you're going to like what comes next.

0:10:57.080,0:10:59.096
Says your kid, "I have decided

0:10:59.096,0:11:02.063
I want to be a magician.

0:11:02.063,0:11:06.076
I want to perform magic tricks on the stage."

0:11:06.076,0:11:08.079
(Laughter)

0:11:08.079,0:11:11.025
And what do you say?

0:11:11.025,0:11:13.072
You say, you say,

0:11:13.072,0:11:17.002
"Umm ... that's risky, kid.

0:11:17.002,0:11:19.084
Might fail, kid. Don't make a lot of money at that, kid.

0:11:19.084,0:11:21.000
You know, I don't know, kid,

0:11:21.000,0:11:22.092
you should think about that again, kid,

0:11:22.092,0:11:24.045
you're so good at math, why don't you — "

0:11:24.045,0:11:25.093
And the kid interrupts you, and says,

0:11:25.093,0:11:30.037
"But it is my dream. It is my dream to do this."

0:11:30.037,0:11:32.027
And what are you going to say?

0:11:32.027,0:11:33.093
You know what you're going to say?

0:11:33.093,0:11:39.040
"Look kid. I had a dream once, too, but -- but."

0:11:39.040,0:11:42.027
So how are you going to finish the sentence with your "but"?

0:11:42.027,0:11:48.022
"... But. I had a dream too, once, kid, but I was afraid to pursue it."

0:11:48.022,0:11:50.082
Or, are you going to tell him this?

0:11:50.082,0:11:54.056
"I had a dream once, kid.

0:11:54.056,0:11:59.061
But then you were born." (Laughter)

0:11:59.061,0:12:01.047
(Laughter) (Applause)

0:12:01.047,0:12:06.089
Do you, do you really want to use your family,

0:12:06.089,0:12:09.059
do you really ever want to look at your spouse

0:12:09.059,0:12:14.011
and your kid and see your jailers?

0:12:14.011,0:12:18.000
There was something you could have said to your kid

0:12:18.000,0:12:22.012
when he or she said, "I have a dream."

0:12:22.012,0:12:27.055
You could have said, looked the kid in the face, and said,

0:12:27.055,0:12:30.026
"Go for it, kid,

0:12:30.026,0:12:34.055
just like I did."

0:12:34.055,0:12:37.029
But you won't be able to say that

0:12:37.029,0:12:44.079
because you didn't. So you can't. (Laughter)

0:12:44.079,0:12:47.034
And so the sins of the parents

0:12:47.034,0:12:52.035
are visited on the poor children.

0:12:52.035,0:12:57.071
Why will you seek refuge in human relationships

0:12:57.071,0:13:03.045
as your excuse not to find and pursue your passion?

0:13:03.045,0:13:05.065
You know why.

0:13:05.065,0:13:08.092
In your heart of hearts, you know why,

0:13:08.092,0:13:11.016
and I'm being deadly serious.

0:13:11.016,0:13:13.079
You know why you would get all warm and fuzzy

0:13:13.079,0:13:16.082
and wrap yourself up in human relationships.

0:13:16.082,0:13:20.059
It is because you are —

0:13:20.059,0:13:22.040
You know what you are.

0:13:22.040,0:13:26.019
You're afraid to pursue your passion.

0:13:26.019,0:13:28.032
You're afraid to look ridiculous.

0:13:28.032,0:13:34.090
You're afraid to try. You're afraid you may fail.

0:13:34.090,0:13:41.028
Great friend, great spouse, great parent, great career.

0:13:41.028,0:13:46.028
Is that not a package? Is that not who you are?

0:13:46.028,0:13:49.053
How can you be one without the other?

0:13:49.053,0:13:52.012
But you're afraid.

0:13:52.012,0:14:00.073
And that's why you're not going to have a great career, unless --

0:14:00.073,0:14:07.003
unless, that most evocative of all English words --

0:14:07.003,0:14:08.091
unless.

0:14:08.091,0:14:13.003
But the unless word is also attached

0:14:13.003,0:14:18.067
to that other, most terrifying phrase,

0:14:18.067,0:14:21.048
"If only I had ... "

0:14:21.048,0:14:24.032
"If only I had ... "

0:14:24.032,0:14:29.034
If you ever have that thought ricocheting in your brain,

0:14:29.034,0:14:33.001
it will hurt a lot.

0:14:33.007,0:14:35.077
So, those are the many reasons

0:14:35.077,0:14:37.028
why you are going to fail

0:14:37.028,0:14:40.047
to have a great career,

0:14:40.047,0:14:45.043
unless ...

0:14:45.043,0:14:49.081
Unless.

0:14:49.081,0:14:54.001
Thank you. (Applause)