Rethinking Success

NPR’s TED Radio Hour chooses a theme, then pulls excerpts from several full TED talks, and interviews the speakers. In this episode, they explore the notion of success. The first speaker bluntly says “if you don’t like your job, change it!” He promotes “owning your story,” one that will empower you to be the person you want to be. The next talks about how “grit,” not IQ may be what you need. You’ll also hear about the power of smiling, why you shouldn’t follow your passion and the uncomfortable truth that you might have to choose only one area in your life to achieve success. As we plan out our own career advancement, deciding what success means to you could be the key to find the right path.

TED speakers include Professor Angela Duckworth, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, HealthTap CEO Ron Gutman, Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, and writer Alain de Botton.

Discussion:

1. How has learning from your past failures given you more grit to succeed?

2. Did you have a passion outside of your career or is your career your passion? How do you think this attributes to your success?

3. Do you agree with Alain de Botton that to be successful in one area of your life probably means that your neglecting another?Should women let go of the notion that we can do it all?