Quit your tedious job to succeed | Issam Salih | TEDxUPM

[Music] and it weird like if you ask it a little kid what do you want to be when you grow up isn't it weird that the answer is never judge I mean often you ask little kids and they go a doctor a lawyer or an engineer as if those professions are the pinnacle of all professions you know I want to meet a kid who goes like butcher you know you ask a kid what do you want to be in the future and they go something like a baggage handler at the airport now that would have been an interesting kid but I can remember when I was a kid I I never wanted to do an ordinary thing you know because when you're a child your brain simplifies things you don't really think of a profession being a profession per se you just look at people who do it and you think whether you want to be them or not so I used to look at for example I had a friend whose father is a famous rich doctor but I never liked him I mean the dude was always busy and his house smelled like kinder nido milk I never liked that so I didn't want to become that I remember wanting to become someone interesting you know happy and interesting and I remember very clearly that I wanted money even at a young age because I come from a poor family so we struggled a lot my father is working class man you know he pushed through life he worked 70 80 hours a week so money was an issue so I remember one thing to have money in my life and one thing to do something really interesting so I set out to do that but just like everybody else reality slapped me in the face you know the first job that I got I was studying so I didn't have enough money to continue my study so I decided to get a job entry-level job through a connection you know it was data entry for an airline so I sat there typing away you know it was cargo available so very boring job so I kept doing this for two years I remember feeling really depressed after a couple of years because I think you know most of you can relate that if you do something you don't enjoy I mean who enjoys data-entry I don't unless you're on drugs you're high and sitting there typing you're never gonna enjoy it so that's what happened with me I started feeling depressed but people who are depressed they they often don't know that they are depressed I mean unless they get a professional diagnosis or they stop being depressed only then they know that I was depressed for a long time so I was doing this job two years and I got to a point you know it's the same thing every single day extremely boring the stress that I have to work five days a week every day about ten hours finishing a thick pile of variables that wasn't pleasant at all so I remembered when I was being a kid and I said to myself well this is not interesting I mean it's it's getting me some money but this is not interesting so I tried to make it interesting because I wanted to fulfill that dream when I was a kid interesting and money those things I wanted to fulfill through an entry-level job so I did what I had to do I saw pattern in numbers I saw that certain commodities are being shipped at certain times of the year so I concluded a plan it was really not rocket science it was pure observation you know I saw a pattern movements of certain Goods at certain times of the year and I proposed a plan to my boss luckily enough he took me seriously and I said you know what let's give it a shot so we offered special discounts to certain commodities at specific times of the year and hallelujah at worked so the company made more profit and as a result I got a promotion and I was I was so happy for about like a couple of days and then I was depressed again because that's what happens you do a boring job and that's what happens to you but you get sucked into it you get sucked into this bubble of comfort knowing that tomorrow is nothing extraordinary I mean it's just is gonna be just like the day just like the day before it is extremely convenient to go and do the same job every single day because you know the outcome there's no challenges you know what's gonna happen to you right and I see many of you are students I mean I see young faces maybe you can't relate to this but picture this you're studying something like biochemistry and by mistake you stepped into a lecture about corporate governance and you're too shy to get out so you just sit through that lecture which is two hours now imagine doing this for 10 hours every single day it's it's not fun it is extremely depressing but for some reason people don't change people who do boring jobs they keep dukedom thinking that tomorrow may be different so the equation is that I trade in now in order to have a better future but if you think about it future is a tall concept it's always now isn't it it's it's literally always now the future never arrives what are you gonna do you're gonna keep doing the same job every single day for 20 years so what's gonna happen to you within those ways you're an accountant you do your job well you become the head of your department and then what what's gonna happen well I mean what is the best-case scenario if you stayed doing your boring job every single day the best-case scenario is that you keep doing what you're doing at a larger scale and you get paid slightly more you never become rich never so what are you supposed to do then if you have this problem if you're going to do your job every single day bored not having enough money and keep doing it this is I'm sorry that there's no good way to put it this is extreme least bit because if you're doing it for the money well you have to notice you're not making that money that you want to make and you're doing exactly the same thing hoping for a better outcome but there's no better outcome we all know the best case scenario I mean look at your father for example you know most of us we have fathers who worked 30 years in the same company or doing the same thing that's it this is your future right there when you're a kid you look at your father do you really want to become that mostly kids say no I want to do something different so what's stopping you then why don't you tender your resignation today you go and you say you know what that's it I'm walking out I want to do something else well often people are scared because they don't want to lose that money but that's not really the reason because what you're doing this to make money but you're not making enough money so the very reason you don't have money is because you're doing it do you see the circular argument here it's it's a vicious circle and it sucks you in nothing is challenging about this there's nothing interesting about doing something you don't enjoy so what is the alternative you do something that you enjoy but most people just like when I was a kid I never know what I wanted to do I don't know what I like I thought there's something wrong with me because all the other kids they had it figure it out I mean I want to be a doctor I want to be an engineer I didn't know what I want to be so how do you know what you want to do how do you know what really really attracts you you get it you get to try it on there's no there's no better way to do it you got to experiment think so the first the very first step that you need to do is you quit your boring job once you do that you go and you try something different and something else and something else until you find joy in something that you do and then guess what you will make money because if you do something that you enjoy you do it well and a well done job pays you a lot of money you would be surprised I mean people pay money for a well rendered service it's really that that simple money making is not rocket science you just do something that you enjoy as a result you will be rich the other day I had a plumbing problem in my house so I called the plumber and the plumber came he didn't do a good job the same problem occurred I called another plumber and the new plumber came and he was I tell you it was the most beautiful scene I've seen in my he made love to my sink I mean he did the job perfectly it was flawless he enjoyed his job there's nothing wrong with that what's wrong with that what's wrong with being a plumber and you enjoyed plumbing you can do that and in every aspect guess what mine I know bloggers they're not even talented you know they just sit at home wearing a sweater typing away you know with like to read those dusts on their t-shirt and they make more money than five engineers so what is it about your boring job that keeps you coming every single day think about it what are you doing what do you achieve doing that job quit it what's stopping you what is stopping you isn't it lovely to go to sleep not knowing what tomorrow is gonna bring to you here you go so that's what you need to do the first step you quit your boring job second step you try different things go ahead try be a plumber be like that plumber try something you know when you enjoy it you keep doing it and it doesn't feel like a job anymore it's your lifestyle you become that guy which you look up to when you were a kid so for me my experience was I quit my boring job I was scared to death I really was so afraid I was never that afraid in my whole life because I was relying on that money I quit my job and I started a business with a couple of beautiful individuals now we have a multi-million dollar company so I guess what I want you to do is to change don't be afraid there's nothing to lose here what are you going to lose your studio apartment you're not gonna lose that you can do anything else you complete there are food critics on the internet you can do that it's there's only so many options so the disconnect from reality you go about your day every single morning and you have this feeling that it's not you who is doing it like the your consciousness is somewhere in your head we often feel that don't you like when you think about yourself you think that your self is located somewhere in your head and that is a disconnect from reality there's no physical place for your consciousness there's only your experience so if you have a bad experience every day you're depressed you can stop that you have the option just stop it stop it find something that you love do it you do it well it brings you money so in conclusion I just want you to know that it's really warm and fuzzy feeling that when you change something that you hate so much it's liberating and you go to bed and you don't know what tomorrow holds and it conducted yourself as best as you can and you become rich as a result that's all it doesn't matter what rich people do I see those text books you know people go and read like the daily routine of Steve Jobs it doesn't matter why does it matter I mean like Warren Buffett the guy eats breakfast at a deli he pays like three dollars for a meal that is not what it's like rich that is his experience it doesn't matter what they do there's no secret they just do what they love can you name one millionaire who's doing something they don't enjoy guess what they don't exist they all do something that they like that's it this is the money-making equation folks solve settled so those were some of my ideas I hope they were worth sharing thank you so much for being here okay [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 96,162

Rating: 4.9067454 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Life, Career, Change, Money, Passion, Self-help, Truth, Value, Work

Id: iiGuMQXV1Ow

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 07 2018