To find work you love, don't follow your passion | Benjamin Todd | TEDxYouth@Tallinn

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Published 2015-03-26
Mainstream career advice tells us to “follow our passion”, but this advice is dead wrong. Research shows that people who take this approach are ultimately no more likely to enjoy or excel at their jobs. Instead, if you’re looking for a fulfilling career, here’s a new slogan to live by: Do what’s valuable.


Benjamin Todd is the co-founder and Executive Director of 80,000 Hours, an Oxford-based charity dedicated to helping people find fulfilling careers that make a real difference. In three years, 80,000 Hours has grown from a student society to a thriving charity featured on the BBC, the Washington Post, NPR and more, and whose online careers guide has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.
Benjamin Todd on heategevusorganisatsiooni 80 000 Hours kaasasutaja, nende eesmärk on aidata inimesi, kes tahavad suurendada oma karjääri positiivset mõju maailmale. Ben on juhtinud 80 000 Hoursi kasvu kolme aasta jooksul tudengiorganisatsioonist Oxfordi heategevusorganisatsiooniks, mida on mainitud nii BBC, Washington Post ja NPR jt.meediaväljaannetes. Ben on õppinud Oxfordis füüsikat ja filosoofiat, avaldanud kirjutisi kliimafüüsika teemal ja räägib hiina keelt.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
All Comments (21)
  • @pocok5000
    Let's not forget, that every time a successful person gives career advice, there is a selection bias in the background. Other people might tried the very same thing and failed, but we will never hear about them, because they are not successful. Your personal experience is the most reliable source of information, don't follow any advice blindly. Try things, don't be afraid of failure, and see what works for you.
  • @ofnir123
    I literally just quit a job I was very skilled at because I absolutely hated it. Though hearing what I've been told when I left, I would have probably made it to the top and have had "success". I was also helping people not get their money stolen on fake electronic scams, so you could say I was making a difference in people's lives. I ran away from "success". Why? Because I was about to kill myself if I stayed there. Honestly, I believe the best success you can have, is living a life you actually want to live. And there's just no objective way to calculate this
  • @thomaslavelle1853
    my experience is that once your "passion" turns into job , it changes it's characteristics . It turns into something that eventually disgusts you because you have to do so many tedious and unpleasant duties that didn't exist when it was just a "passion". This has happened to me 3 times in my life. because I was stuck on the idea of only doing things I was" passionate about" and naturally good at. Finally after seeing through the whole "passion" fallacy , My advice is that it's best to find something that you neither like or hate, one that you can take or leave, you don't mind going to work , in other words neutral. If it helps the world , great. If it only helps the people you serve , fine.if it supports your life well and doesn't burn you out , cool. As a add-on piece of advice, I would suggest when you need to make a decision between 2 things, for example learning a trade or becoming a professional dancer, do both. When you are young , you have enormous energy , so do both things. Then you have practicality and passion both covered.
  • @InMotionForAMillion
    "Following their passion actually made them more likely to die." Well, that's uplifting.
  • @Je_suis_Jefe
    You could be passionate with something and be horrible at it at the same time.
  • @timelessadventurer
    A 15 minute talk to tell you to help others to be happy. There, now I helped others by saving them 15 minutes
  • @poly_hexamethyl
    Counterexample: I followed my passion and have a successful career. Conclusion: Don't follow other people's examples. When young people ask me for career advice, I always feel uncomfortable. I never suggest that anybody use me as a role model. You need to figure out what works for you.
  • @jackclouds
    99% of people don't care about success and money, most of them just think that they do, but actually everyone is looking for empathy, connection, realization, belonging, love and being loved, being able to feed yourself and your beloved ones, etc...
  • @ambergrubenmann9111
    Comparing the number of people who say their passion is something creative to the number of jobs available in the creative field is disempowering. Statistics like these teach young people to wait until they are chosen, or wait on others to create opportunities for them, instead of challenging themselves to create the conditions they desire on their own. Young people are waiting to be accepted by a good school and then hoping to be hired after an interview. Doing and saying the right things all their lives with the hopes that someone will choose them out of the crowd. Dear young people, don't wait on someone to call on you, create value without permission. With tools like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Wordpress, etc. You can do it for free and you can start today.
  • @emmamorgan2002
    I think what he's trying to say is just don't blindly follow your "passion" or interests as a career. Rather you should incorporate your passion(s) into a career that doesn't only benefit you. I just started going to college for interior design and honestly am still not sure if this is really what i want to do. I care a lot about the environment and feel like a career involving that would possibly be better. With that in mind I could easily become an interior designer who uses only recycled and sustainable materials for my projects and could inspire others to do so as well. The question I'm left with is "is that doing enough for the environment to me?"
  • @Hexanitrobenzene
    Something tells me that when he was "passionate" about martial arts and philosophy, he didn't know himself well. His true passion is helping others, and he is fulfilling it by working in a charity. Passion and happiness are very subjective words with many meanings. Naturally, confusion arises when using them. I think what he is really trying to say is this: "Don't simply follow your interests which bring you pleasure and joy (note: I'm not using the word 'happiness', it is something a lot more permanent than joy). Instead, do something you really care about. Something you care about will probably be hard and tedious, but it will be worth it, because it will be meaningful."
  • @horrorpill
    "The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all the matters of the heart, you'll know it when you find it." - Steve Jobs (1955-2011).
  • @brunodays
    I mean... If you follow your passion there is sure to be people who'll benefit from it. Not just you. And if you build your career from a passion you'll either see how you were wrong... Or you'll grow to love what you do each and every day. Not everyone is the same. And like someone once said, make your passion a career and you won't have to work at all. Also, if you follow his advice and do something intricately more valuable for the world and start loving what you do... You found another passion. Because a person doesn't have a single interest, a single passion, a single thing they love. We as human beings are ever evolving, ever changing. If we can find happiness doing something we have found a passion. An interest. And that's the beauty of it.
  • @maeghanmondelo18
    This reminds me of the movie Soul. When the idk what creature she was said "Your spark is not your purpose" really hit me hard.
  • @manny3095
    Follow your passion, don't follow your passion. fuck! fuck I say! you all have to realize that their is absolutely no RIGHT answer for this conundrum. what you do is pick something, and make that choice the RIGHT choice.
  • @blackhawkX02
    Man, the world is full of people who follow their passion and have fulfilling lives, and also it's full of people that follow money and have fulfilling lives, and others that pursuit a meaning and have fulfilling lives. The key is to find what is best for you out of those things and balance it with the others because that way you can find a way to make it fulfilling and give something back to society. If you can't balance these things of course you're going to fail, it is not as simple as saying "choose/don't choose what you're passionate about. Lately I've been realising that almost anyone can apply for a TED talk and speak like if they had all the answers. So, it's on us, to figure out which TED talks are useful for us and which ones are not.
  • @emox9
    It’s just his point of view, don’t let the others tell you what to do in your life, follow your dreams, fail, fall down in pieces, rise up again and never give up. There’s no only one path, you may end up finding a new path for your life. So do things, try, explore, and you will discover yourself!
  • @perfectmoments3876
    5 Years ago this guy helped me choose my career, and I could´nt be more thankful. Do what´s valuable!