so I have a problem I’m sure many of you
have the same problem many times in your
life whether you’re a student at Seoul
bridge whether you’re a teacher in our
English language department or whether
you’re a Dean of one of our colleges as
you take a look here
I’ve had this problem my entire life I
had this problem when I was a painfully
shy student in primary school in
Yorkshire in England I had this problem
when I was a teenager sitting on my
mom’s couch trying to look cool eating
cereal I had this problem when I
graduated from university a number of
years ago now and I definitely had this
problem when I moved into the world of
work and became a teacher for the first
time but what’s interesting is that for
the vast majority of my life I didn’t
realize that this was a problem it just
wasn’t conscious I wasn’t aware of it
but that changed a few years ago it
changed when I actually left this
university to take on a new job at a
different University it was a fantastic
job I had great co-workers wonderful
boss the students I’m sure like you at
Seoul Bridge were fantastic it was a
wonderful job the problem came was to do
with freedom they said to me Wayne would
you like to do overtime work and it gave
me the opportunity to make more money
and money and of course we all want more
money we want to be more successful and
so when they offered this overtime I
jumped into both arms
give me more overtime I’ll do it I’ll do
it I’ll do it and so I would leave my
apartment this isn’t my empowerment in
Gyeonggi dough in an Sam on the top
floor so leave my apartment at 9:00 a.m.
in the morning most days of the week and
I would get back at 9:30 at night 10:00
p.m. at night and I did that for one
year and for a while it was fine for a
few weeks no problem I could multitask I
made my lesson plans the night before I
would teach the next day
I would grade my students papers
absolutely no problem it was fine there
was a honeymoon period I felt great for
a few weeks
and even better at the end of the month
fantastic I had huge salary lots of
money that success isn’t it that’s what
we want in life more money and it was
great for a few weeks a month even two
months it was fantastic and then I
started to notice changes I started to
notice problems the first problem was
this this is something deeply
embarrassing for any teacher quite
humiliating when you think about it and
we try to avoid it as much as we can I
was writing on the whiteboard answers to
my students questions on grammar and I
thought you know no problem I’m a
teacher I’ve been in a long time I’m
very passionate about it and so I wrote
the answer and immediately the student
said that’s wrong and when I looked at
my textbook and I looked at the
whiteboard and I looked at the student
he was right and I was so embarrassed in
that moment that I couldn’t think of the
right answer I could not think of the
right answer if this was one time that’s
okay you make mistakes were all human
absolutely no problem this was now
becoming regular I was making mistakes
all the time
why because I didn’t have time to
prepare my classes properly I was
preparing 50 minutes the night before on
my classes and now I was making mistakes
and what do you think happened my image
before when I would to do some before I
won’t teach her the Year awards big part
of an organization where I would give
conference presentations now I realized
I was a much worse teacher I was not a
good teacher anymore but I was making
lots of money so that was okay this
cycle continued for over a year so here
this was sang nach su station I would
make my one hour commute to my
classrooms and I would make the one hour
commute back coming home and that was
okay you know I would get on my bus I
come back to my apartment but what was
the problem
I got home do you think I was running
home at 9:30 to get a good night’s sleep
to have a nice meal have a shave have a
shower and then start this process again
the next day what was I doing when I got
home this so I’ve got no free time
whatsoever but I still wanted free time
and so I’d be watching Netflix does
anybody here watch Netflix I binge on
Netflix sometimes and I was still doing
it even though I didn’t have time to do
it I would play video games I’ve got a
Playstation in my apartment and I don’t
know if this happens to you as a student
or even a teacher you’d be binging on
Netflix daredevil or what are those
shows and it would get to 2:00 a.m. 2:30
3:00 a.m. and then there’s some panic
because you know you have to wake up at
8:00 a.m. and I was doing that all the
time almost every night I was doing that
and so by the time I reached my bed my
very comfortable bed had set the alarm
for 8:00 a.m. five hours sleep and what
you think happened to my image as a
teacher or my satisfaction as a teacher
of course what happened it became even
worse not only was I making lots of
mistakes now and not preparing properly
I didn’t have the energy I didn’t have
that spark that lightning bolt that you
need to be a great teacher it was gone I
was a zombie in the classroom but I was
making money so hey no problem right
this was the street near my apartment so
I would get off the bus 9:30 at night
before I would binge on Netflix I would
go onto this street and I wasn’t running
home to get a salad out of the
refrigerator I wasn’t running home to
cook a healthy meal I didn’t have time I
wanted to watch Netflix I wanted to play
video games and so what do you think I
ate when I got to this street every
night of course I was eating pizza I was
eating takeaway chicken I was eating
everything you’re not supposed to be
eating because it was fast it was easy
and it felt like it was giving me energy
and even
worse I would be guzzling all this down
with soda I don’t know if anybody here
does that but for me so that I
psychologically it seems to give me
energy
and so I was doing that for quite a
while and I didn’t even think about it I
just thought this is perfectly fine
this photograph however started to
change things at my university I had to
teach a five week intensive public
speaking program and they said Wayne we
want to create a poster we want to put
it on the wall and we need a picture of
you doing public speaking this was
actually a picture taken when I worked
at Sol Bridge five years ago I was on
business trip in China and I’m actually
singing here a Beatle song Hey Jude it’s
not even public speaking but it’s the
only picture I had that looked like I
was doing public speaking and so I gave
this picture to my to my boss they put
it on the poster no problem that’s
perfectly fine and then the same evening
I had dinner with my co-workers and one
of them very nice guy he’s from New York
a very nice guy if he was here now I’d
be very happy to say hello to him but
the problem was or not a problem but he
was quite direct quite blunt and I was
with my co-workers eating dinner and he
said Wayne what happened and at that
moment I didn’t really quite get what he
was talking about but I had a feeling
that I knew a feeling that I knew what
he was talking about and so I went home
the same evening and I asked my
girlfriend to take a photograph
photograph from the side from this angle
I still remember in my apartment my
girlfriend was there take a photograph
because I was very suspicious of what
was happening and this was the
photograph if you take a look so as you
can see I wasn’t drinking water I was
drinking Cola at this point and worse in
this picture not so much my body but my
mind I realized at that moment it was
an awakening for me that I had started
to hurt my body and so very quickly I
went to the hospital this was the
hospital near my apartment like a
15-minute walk and I had a medical check
I had a medical check and what do you
think the result was of course I was
overweight that was true but my blood
pressure was through the roof really
really high all that junk food all that
soda I was drinking really starting to
affect my body if you check research
this happens if you work longer than
seven hours a day you can suffer heart
problems I was doing 10 11 12 hours
absolutely no surprise what really
started to affect me though was not my
realization that I got fat because you
know I went bald that’s a change in the
body I got used to it changes in your
body I can quite accept making mistakes
in the classroom
okay I’m human I make mistakes I’m
making good money maybe knowing that I’m
not a good teacher anymore I could I
guess live with that ever what really
started to change things for me is
almost around that time I went back to
my apartment and I closed the room door
behind me and I locked it because I
didn’t want my girlfriend to disturb me
I was having one of these quite painful
introspective self-reflective moments
and I sat down and I expand Lea accepted
that I was not confident anymore I was I
felt like a broken teacher a broken
person and the reason was I realized
then even doing basic things I was now
extremely nervous like even going into
my classroom just to say hello to my
students now made me very nervous and so
I knew at that point things had to start
changing I realized compared to the
person who left University I was not the
guy going into moving to South Korea at
the other side of the world anymore
chasing his dreams I wasn’t the
confident guy on a stage seeing Hey Jude
to 100 Chinese students anymore in China
so I realized at that moment I’m in
trouble
if anybody here is in the same situation
now you’ll realize you do have a choice
everybody has a choice at this moment it
was my lowest point two years ago
because my body was destroyed and my
mind felt broken at that moment I did
have a choice do I continue along that
same path or do I realize and accept
reality that something’s got to change
you will have that moment in your life
several times and you must decide what’s
important as a work martyr which is what
I think I am too many times I sacrifice
too many things in my life to reach a
goal whether it’s to make more money or
to get a promotion and I forget about my
body I forget about my mind I forget
about relationships thankfully and when
I reach that lowest point I did start
trying to make changes almost
immediately I accepted reality
completely and so I started changing my
diet immediately the junk food was gone
all the solder I was going down was gone
and I talked to my employees and said
please I’m gonna limit the overtime now
I don’t care about the money it’s not
worth it and so every few weeks my
girlfriend would take a photograph here
I look a little bit arrogant I think but
that’s not deliberate I didn’t know it
would be in a TED speech one day just a
private photograph but what really
started to make me happy is that just a
few weeks later I was presenting at a
conference and remember I was so nervous
even just talking to my students and now
I was gonna be talking to all these
professors in a conference what made me
really happy was limiting how much work
I was doing did bring my confidence back
and that was the number one thing
because if you don’t have confidence
whatever your dreams are you’re not
going to achieve them so that was
absolutely critical for me and
thankfully now I do know to set
boundaries because is that goal is that
work is that dream so so important that
we lose everything else if I can leave
you do it with just one message today
it’s
won’t stop working hard we should work
hard don’t give up trying to make more
money don’t give up your dream of a
wonderful job in the future my advice as
someone who suffered many times as a
work martyr work hard but please set
boundaries set limits because if you
work too much if you start sacrificing
everything like I do you will pay in so
many of a ways it’s just not worth it
thank you [Applause]
have the same problem many times in your
life whether you’re a student at Seoul
bridge whether you’re a teacher in our
English language department or whether
you’re a Dean of one of our colleges as
you take a look here
I’ve had this problem my entire life I
had this problem when I was a painfully
shy student in primary school in
Yorkshire in England I had this problem
when I was a teenager sitting on my
mom’s couch trying to look cool eating
cereal I had this problem when I
graduated from university a number of
years ago now and I definitely had this
problem when I moved into the world of
work and became a teacher for the first
time but what’s interesting is that for
the vast majority of my life I didn’t
realize that this was a problem it just
wasn’t conscious I wasn’t aware of it
but that changed a few years ago it
changed when I actually left this
university to take on a new job at a
different University it was a fantastic
job I had great co-workers wonderful
boss the students I’m sure like you at
Seoul Bridge were fantastic it was a
wonderful job the problem came was to do
with freedom they said to me Wayne would
you like to do overtime work and it gave
me the opportunity to make more money
and money and of course we all want more
money we want to be more successful and
so when they offered this overtime I
jumped into both arms
give me more overtime I’ll do it I’ll do
it I’ll do it and so I would leave my
apartment this isn’t my empowerment in
Gyeonggi dough in an Sam on the top
floor so leave my apartment at 9:00 a.m.
in the morning most days of the week and
I would get back at 9:30 at night 10:00
p.m. at night and I did that for one
year and for a while it was fine for a
few weeks no problem I could multitask I
made my lesson plans the night before I
would teach the next day
I would grade my students papers
absolutely no problem it was fine there
was a honeymoon period I felt great for
a few weeks
and even better at the end of the month
fantastic I had huge salary lots of
money that success isn’t it that’s what
we want in life more money and it was
great for a few weeks a month even two
months it was fantastic and then I
started to notice changes I started to
notice problems the first problem was
this this is something deeply
embarrassing for any teacher quite
humiliating when you think about it and
we try to avoid it as much as we can I
was writing on the whiteboard answers to
my students questions on grammar and I
thought you know no problem I’m a
teacher I’ve been in a long time I’m
very passionate about it and so I wrote
the answer and immediately the student
said that’s wrong and when I looked at
my textbook and I looked at the
whiteboard and I looked at the student
he was right and I was so embarrassed in
that moment that I couldn’t think of the
right answer I could not think of the
right answer if this was one time that’s
okay you make mistakes were all human
absolutely no problem this was now
becoming regular I was making mistakes
all the time
why because I didn’t have time to
prepare my classes properly I was
preparing 50 minutes the night before on
my classes and now I was making mistakes
and what do you think happened my image
before when I would to do some before I
won’t teach her the Year awards big part
of an organization where I would give
conference presentations now I realized
I was a much worse teacher I was not a
good teacher anymore but I was making
lots of money so that was okay this
cycle continued for over a year so here
this was sang nach su station I would
make my one hour commute to my
classrooms and I would make the one hour
commute back coming home and that was
okay you know I would get on my bus I
come back to my apartment but what was
the problem
I got home do you think I was running
home at 9:30 to get a good night’s sleep
to have a nice meal have a shave have a
shower and then start this process again
the next day what was I doing when I got
home this so I’ve got no free time
whatsoever but I still wanted free time
and so I’d be watching Netflix does
anybody here watch Netflix I binge on
Netflix sometimes and I was still doing
it even though I didn’t have time to do
it I would play video games I’ve got a
Playstation in my apartment and I don’t
know if this happens to you as a student
or even a teacher you’d be binging on
Netflix daredevil or what are those
shows and it would get to 2:00 a.m. 2:30
3:00 a.m. and then there’s some panic
because you know you have to wake up at
8:00 a.m. and I was doing that all the
time almost every night I was doing that
and so by the time I reached my bed my
very comfortable bed had set the alarm
for 8:00 a.m. five hours sleep and what
you think happened to my image as a
teacher or my satisfaction as a teacher
of course what happened it became even
worse not only was I making lots of
mistakes now and not preparing properly
I didn’t have the energy I didn’t have
that spark that lightning bolt that you
need to be a great teacher it was gone I
was a zombie in the classroom but I was
making money so hey no problem right
this was the street near my apartment so
I would get off the bus 9:30 at night
before I would binge on Netflix I would
go onto this street and I wasn’t running
home to get a salad out of the
refrigerator I wasn’t running home to
cook a healthy meal I didn’t have time I
wanted to watch Netflix I wanted to play
video games and so what do you think I
ate when I got to this street every
night of course I was eating pizza I was
eating takeaway chicken I was eating
everything you’re not supposed to be
eating because it was fast it was easy
and it felt like it was giving me energy
and even
worse I would be guzzling all this down
with soda I don’t know if anybody here
does that but for me so that I
psychologically it seems to give me
energy
and so I was doing that for quite a
while and I didn’t even think about it I
just thought this is perfectly fine
this photograph however started to
change things at my university I had to
teach a five week intensive public
speaking program and they said Wayne we
want to create a poster we want to put
it on the wall and we need a picture of
you doing public speaking this was
actually a picture taken when I worked
at Sol Bridge five years ago I was on
business trip in China and I’m actually
singing here a Beatle song Hey Jude it’s
not even public speaking but it’s the
only picture I had that looked like I
was doing public speaking and so I gave
this picture to my to my boss they put
it on the poster no problem that’s
perfectly fine and then the same evening
I had dinner with my co-workers and one
of them very nice guy he’s from New York
a very nice guy if he was here now I’d
be very happy to say hello to him but
the problem was or not a problem but he
was quite direct quite blunt and I was
with my co-workers eating dinner and he
said Wayne what happened and at that
moment I didn’t really quite get what he
was talking about but I had a feeling
that I knew a feeling that I knew what
he was talking about and so I went home
the same evening and I asked my
girlfriend to take a photograph
photograph from the side from this angle
I still remember in my apartment my
girlfriend was there take a photograph
because I was very suspicious of what
was happening and this was the
photograph if you take a look so as you
can see I wasn’t drinking water I was
drinking Cola at this point and worse in
this picture not so much my body but my
mind I realized at that moment it was
an awakening for me that I had started
to hurt my body and so very quickly I
went to the hospital this was the
hospital near my apartment like a
15-minute walk and I had a medical check
I had a medical check and what do you
think the result was of course I was
overweight that was true but my blood
pressure was through the roof really
really high all that junk food all that
soda I was drinking really starting to
affect my body if you check research
this happens if you work longer than
seven hours a day you can suffer heart
problems I was doing 10 11 12 hours
absolutely no surprise what really
started to affect me though was not my
realization that I got fat because you
know I went bald that’s a change in the
body I got used to it changes in your
body I can quite accept making mistakes
in the classroom
okay I’m human I make mistakes I’m
making good money maybe knowing that I’m
not a good teacher anymore I could I
guess live with that ever what really
started to change things for me is
almost around that time I went back to
my apartment and I closed the room door
behind me and I locked it because I
didn’t want my girlfriend to disturb me
I was having one of these quite painful
introspective self-reflective moments
and I sat down and I expand Lea accepted
that I was not confident anymore I was I
felt like a broken teacher a broken
person and the reason was I realized
then even doing basic things I was now
extremely nervous like even going into
my classroom just to say hello to my
students now made me very nervous and so
I knew at that point things had to start
changing I realized compared to the
person who left University I was not the
guy going into moving to South Korea at
the other side of the world anymore
chasing his dreams I wasn’t the
confident guy on a stage seeing Hey Jude
to 100 Chinese students anymore in China
so I realized at that moment I’m in
trouble
if anybody here is in the same situation
now you’ll realize you do have a choice
everybody has a choice at this moment it
was my lowest point two years ago
because my body was destroyed and my
mind felt broken at that moment I did
have a choice do I continue along that
same path or do I realize and accept
reality that something’s got to change
you will have that moment in your life
several times and you must decide what’s
important as a work martyr which is what
I think I am too many times I sacrifice
too many things in my life to reach a
goal whether it’s to make more money or
to get a promotion and I forget about my
body I forget about my mind I forget
about relationships thankfully and when
I reach that lowest point I did start
trying to make changes almost
immediately I accepted reality
completely and so I started changing my
diet immediately the junk food was gone
all the solder I was going down was gone
and I talked to my employees and said
please I’m gonna limit the overtime now
I don’t care about the money it’s not
worth it and so every few weeks my
girlfriend would take a photograph here
I look a little bit arrogant I think but
that’s not deliberate I didn’t know it
would be in a TED speech one day just a
private photograph but what really
started to make me happy is that just a
few weeks later I was presenting at a
conference and remember I was so nervous
even just talking to my students and now
I was gonna be talking to all these
professors in a conference what made me
really happy was limiting how much work
I was doing did bring my confidence back
and that was the number one thing
because if you don’t have confidence
whatever your dreams are you’re not
going to achieve them so that was
absolutely critical for me and
thankfully now I do know to set
boundaries because is that goal is that
work is that dream so so important that
we lose everything else if I can leave
you do it with just one message today
it’s
won’t stop working hard we should work
hard don’t give up trying to make more
money don’t give up your dream of a
wonderful job in the future my advice as
someone who suffered many times as a
work martyr work hard but please set
boundaries set limits because if you
work too much if you start sacrificing
everything like I do you will pay in so
many of a ways it’s just not worth it
thank you [Applause]
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