[Applause]
as I step into my Ober to go to the
Miami Airport I notice my driver at once
he is by far the oldest driver I have
ever had somewhere in his mid 70s
I would guess so where are you flying
off to gene asks me that’s his name
Detroit I say ah gene says with a long
sigh I used to live in Detroit Detroit
was very good to me I had planes I had
lots of cars how long have you been
driving gene I asked him for months he
says maybe five and then he adds as if
to explain
I have boomerang kids what a boomerang
is I asked him I I really don’t know
that’s when your children leave home and
come back to live with you how many
boomerangs do you have gene for he says
ouch I think to myself I pay $1,100 a
month for my water bill Jeanne
volunteers $1,100 a month I hear my
voice rise I am incredulous well there
is the pool he says and the sprinkler
system and then he proceeds in Vietnam
you can live on a thousand dollars a
month
I get about $50,000 a year right now I
want to go and live in Vietnam I listen
to gene and I think to myself this is
not a story about money or Vietnam or
the pathology of a certain family this
is a man who is redefining is enough
gene has the wisdom of advancing age it
sounds so simple doesn’t it it’s not the
message is that you and I receive every
day are brutal they are persistent and
they are absolutely everywhere and and
this is what they tell us over and over
again who you are who I am and what we
do today is not enough let’s look no
limits push further you are more
powerful than you think
invest in your brain mental blocks cured
you and improved
these are slogans for products that
promise to improve our brain functioning
now be really honest with yourselves
they sound kind of intriguing don’t they
like mental blocks cured that’s cool
right
well this is the not-so-hidden message
the way you and I function today right
now is not enough not enough not enough
not enough not enough and there’s a back
door gauge to this message a gate that
most of us open all too quickly this is
the gauge to the deep dark Valley of not
enough nests the valley that screens you
yes you to the core you’re not enough
for many of us this valley is our
permanent home now I was a pretty good
student
I went to a small private high school in
the suburbs of Washington DC there were
exactly six students in my class when I
came home after an exam my mom would ask
me two questions how did you do and what
grades did the others have having a good
grade was never enough I had to have a
better grade than the others when I
lived in New York City I taught for 12
years in a graduate program at a major
university there every time I gave a
student to be and I mean every single
time I would get a phone call from that
student for the students at this
university
Abbie was not enough there’s a price we
pay every year the Center for collegiate
mental health does a survey of mental
health habits of students one out of two
students seek mental health counseling
30 percent of all students take
antidepressant antidepressant medication
and another 30 percent have seriously
considered committing suicide while the
reasons for these statistics are complex
as we push and push
more and more excellent and exceptional
outcomes most of the time what we
produce is actually never enough dr.
Ostia my kolinsky is a pain management
physician in Miami we had a little chat
when I was studying to become a doctor
she says I got to the point where I felt
comfortable and I knew that I was ready
to do my work but I kept being showered
and showered with more and more
information and I sought clarification
so I got more information and I learned
new methods and new approaches until I
began to feel like what I knew was never
going to be enough Accio pauses and then
she adds and this sense that I was never
going to be enough it began to create
self-doubt in me and at one point it
actually stopped me from trying now if
you teach at a university and I know
that some of you know what I’m talking
about
being a great teacher is never enough
the phrase publish or perish describes
the academic pressure to publish you
have to bring in prestigious grants to
the University that has hired you
publish vigorously and constantly prove
to them that they didn’t make a mistake
what’s the result of this pressure
according to Jacob foster at UCLA a glut
of research papers that add very little
value to existing knowledge in his
massive study
he compared research projects that build
on existing knowledge with research
projects that actually added fresh
thinking and new information the
ones were startlingly consistent in
biomedicine and chemistry for example
over 60% of all papers were shown to add
no innovative thought at all so yes we
engage in lots and lots of busy work to
prove that we are enough these days I
play mostly in large corporations I help
super successful people to fine-tune
their edges and have even more impact
now the irony of what I just said does
not escape me I mean isn’t being super
successful enough in corporations folks
have very explicit conversations about
you
it’s called talent management and I
believe in the process of managing
talent but the conversations that happen
behind closed doors can be rough a bunch
of folks sit around a table and chances
are there look at a grid such as the one
you see on the screen behind me right
now they talk about you and then they
place you in a box
hey what about Enrique where would you
put him Lisa is she a high potential or
a trusted professional high potentials
are the rock stars who climbed to the
highest echelons of the business world
trusted professionals are folks to do a
superb job in their current role but are
deemed for whatever reason to have
reached the end of the line as you look
at this grid ask yourselves are you a
high potential
do you want to be a hind potential is
that important to you are you fine with
being a solid contributor what about
being a trusted professional what is
your enough compared to the high
potentials everybody in this system is
never quite enough and this is the
really vicious part of this blueprint I
coach high potentials high high
potentials and down the line every
single one of these brilliant folks has
this gnawing sense that who he is and
what she does is not enough now maybe
you work in a fast-moving startup and
nobody has ever placed you in a box on a
grid chances are you are hearing the
same drip drip drip not enough not
enough chances are you hear it on the
shop floor of the factory where you work
you hear it as a freelancer who is
chasing a new client and you hear it as
the spouse who is staying at home and is
not going to any workplace at all drip
drip I get paid pretty well for the work
I do my mentor suggests I’m leaving
money on the table I live in a funky and
emerging neighborhood in South Florida
right next to downtown Hollywood well
when you make more money my friend
Gustavo says to me you’re going to move
to the lakes right the lakes you guessed
it is the fancy neighborhood drip drip
Crysta David Iggy is a well-known
blogger on your trician and wellness she
writes what if I don’t want to write a
cookbook or earn a six-figure income or
speak in front of thousands what if I
don’t want to start an orphanage in
Africa but instead send some rags a
groceries to people here and there and
support a few kids response ership what
if I just offer the small gifts I have
to the world and let that be enough this
is my 92 year old mom she had a stroke
earlier this year the photo was taken
last month the day after she moved into
her new assisted living home mom has
been teaching me a lot about what enough
looks like her hair has always been the
bane of her existence
somehow the colour was always wrong the
texture a little too thin the cut a
little too severe the moment she returns
from her first hair salon appointment in
the basement beauty parlor of her new
retirement home she looks in the mirror
and sees herself and a big smile cuts
across her face yeah that 92 year old
hair is looking darn good that’s enough
when she reaches from my hand and grasps
it really tight with an unexpected force
and says to me with a quiver in her
voice I will never forget all you have
done for me that’s enough I mean it
later when she looks out the window
distractedly and no longer remembers
that she has just squeezed my hand
enough when she closes her eyes and
slips back into an afternoon slumber
also enough right here in this hall this
very moment all is enough I am enough
you are enough we are enough nothing
else is required the first person I
spoke with when I was invited to give
this talk was my friend Eve Simon great
Eve said this can be the topic of your
next book I have already written three
books I said to Eve maybe I don’t want
to write another book
we chuckle enough already and so it goes
happiness is the joy we feel when we
move toward our potential that’s from
shawn Achor that is my enough we don’t
move toward our potential when we live
in the valley of not enough and we never
arrive anywhere with joy I’m not enough
baguettes futile effort it starts Wars
it promotes desperate thriving and it
costs businesses billions and billions
of dollars sometimes we get mores when
we’re okay with a B now I know that my
enough have changed over time I don’t
know what yours are it’s your choice
go and have a big bold life if that’s
what you want or go and create a simple
life around a solitary passion whatever
your dreams whatever your goals whatever
the result and outcome of your efforts
know that if you do absolutely nothing
you are enough I mean really like really
enough already thank you
[Applause]
you
brutal they are persistent and they’re
absolutely everywhere and this is what
they’re telling us over and over again
who you are who I am and what we are
doing right now is not enough
as I step into my Ober to go to the
Miami Airport I notice my driver at once
he is by far the oldest driver I have
ever had somewhere in his mid 70s
I would guess so where are you flying
off to gene asks me that’s his name
Detroit I say ah gene says with a long
sigh I used to live in Detroit Detroit
was very good to me I had planes I had
lots of cars how long have you been
driving gene I asked him for months he
says maybe five and then he adds as if
to explain
I have boomerang kids what a boomerang
is I asked him I I really don’t know
that’s when your children leave home and
come back to live with you how many
boomerangs do you have gene for he says
ouch I think to myself I pay $1,100 a
month for my water bill Jeanne
volunteers $1,100 a month I hear my
voice rise I am incredulous well there
is the pool he says and the sprinkler
system and then he proceeds in Vietnam
you can live on a thousand dollars a
month
I get about $50,000 a year right now I
want to go and live in Vietnam I listen
to gene and I think to myself this is
not a story about money or Vietnam or
the pathology of a certain family this
is a man who is redefining is enough
gene has the wisdom of advancing age it
sounds so simple doesn’t it it’s not the
message is that you and I receive every
day are brutal they are persistent and
they are absolutely everywhere and and
this is what they tell us over and over
again who you are who I am and what we
do today is not enough let’s look no
limits push further you are more
powerful than you think
invest in your brain mental blocks cured
you and improved
these are slogans for products that
promise to improve our brain functioning
now be really honest with yourselves
they sound kind of intriguing don’t they
like mental blocks cured that’s cool
right
well this is the not-so-hidden message
the way you and I function today right
now is not enough not enough not enough
not enough not enough and there’s a back
door gauge to this message a gate that
most of us open all too quickly this is
the gauge to the deep dark Valley of not
enough nests the valley that screens you
yes you to the core you’re not enough
for many of us this valley is our
permanent home now I was a pretty good
student
I went to a small private high school in
the suburbs of Washington DC there were
exactly six students in my class when I
came home after an exam my mom would ask
me two questions how did you do and what
grades did the others have having a good
grade was never enough I had to have a
better grade than the others when I
lived in New York City I taught for 12
years in a graduate program at a major
university there every time I gave a
student to be and I mean every single
time I would get a phone call from that
student for the students at this
university
Abbie was not enough there’s a price we
pay every year the Center for collegiate
mental health does a survey of mental
health habits of students one out of two
students seek mental health counseling
30 percent of all students take
antidepressant antidepressant medication
and another 30 percent have seriously
considered committing suicide while the
reasons for these statistics are complex
as we push and push
more and more excellent and exceptional
outcomes most of the time what we
produce is actually never enough dr.
Ostia my kolinsky is a pain management
physician in Miami we had a little chat
when I was studying to become a doctor
she says I got to the point where I felt
comfortable and I knew that I was ready
to do my work but I kept being showered
and showered with more and more
information and I sought clarification
so I got more information and I learned
new methods and new approaches until I
began to feel like what I knew was never
going to be enough Accio pauses and then
she adds and this sense that I was never
going to be enough it began to create
self-doubt in me and at one point it
actually stopped me from trying now if
you teach at a university and I know
that some of you know what I’m talking
about
being a great teacher is never enough
the phrase publish or perish describes
the academic pressure to publish you
have to bring in prestigious grants to
the University that has hired you
publish vigorously and constantly prove
to them that they didn’t make a mistake
what’s the result of this pressure
according to Jacob foster at UCLA a glut
of research papers that add very little
value to existing knowledge in his
massive study
he compared research projects that build
on existing knowledge with research
projects that actually added fresh
thinking and new information the
ones were startlingly consistent in
biomedicine and chemistry for example
over 60% of all papers were shown to add
no innovative thought at all so yes we
engage in lots and lots of busy work to
prove that we are enough these days I
play mostly in large corporations I help
super successful people to fine-tune
their edges and have even more impact
now the irony of what I just said does
not escape me I mean isn’t being super
successful enough in corporations folks
have very explicit conversations about
you
it’s called talent management and I
believe in the process of managing
talent but the conversations that happen
behind closed doors can be rough a bunch
of folks sit around a table and chances
are there look at a grid such as the one
you see on the screen behind me right
now they talk about you and then they
place you in a box
hey what about Enrique where would you
put him Lisa is she a high potential or
a trusted professional high potentials
are the rock stars who climbed to the
highest echelons of the business world
trusted professionals are folks to do a
superb job in their current role but are
deemed for whatever reason to have
reached the end of the line as you look
at this grid ask yourselves are you a
high potential
do you want to be a hind potential is
that important to you are you fine with
being a solid contributor what about
being a trusted professional what is
your enough compared to the high
potentials everybody in this system is
never quite enough and this is the
really vicious part of this blueprint I
coach high potentials high high
potentials and down the line every
single one of these brilliant folks has
this gnawing sense that who he is and
what she does is not enough now maybe
you work in a fast-moving startup and
nobody has ever placed you in a box on a
grid chances are you are hearing the
same drip drip drip not enough not
enough chances are you hear it on the
shop floor of the factory where you work
you hear it as a freelancer who is
chasing a new client and you hear it as
the spouse who is staying at home and is
not going to any workplace at all drip
drip I get paid pretty well for the work
I do my mentor suggests I’m leaving
money on the table I live in a funky and
emerging neighborhood in South Florida
right next to downtown Hollywood well
when you make more money my friend
Gustavo says to me you’re going to move
to the lakes right the lakes you guessed
it is the fancy neighborhood drip drip
Crysta David Iggy is a well-known
blogger on your trician and wellness she
writes what if I don’t want to write a
cookbook or earn a six-figure income or
speak in front of thousands what if I
don’t want to start an orphanage in
Africa but instead send some rags a
groceries to people here and there and
support a few kids response ership what
if I just offer the small gifts I have
to the world and let that be enough this
is my 92 year old mom she had a stroke
earlier this year the photo was taken
last month the day after she moved into
her new assisted living home mom has
been teaching me a lot about what enough
looks like her hair has always been the
bane of her existence
somehow the colour was always wrong the
texture a little too thin the cut a
little too severe the moment she returns
from her first hair salon appointment in
the basement beauty parlor of her new
retirement home she looks in the mirror
and sees herself and a big smile cuts
across her face yeah that 92 year old
hair is looking darn good that’s enough
when she reaches from my hand and grasps
it really tight with an unexpected force
and says to me with a quiver in her
voice I will never forget all you have
done for me that’s enough I mean it
later when she looks out the window
distractedly and no longer remembers
that she has just squeezed my hand
enough when she closes her eyes and
slips back into an afternoon slumber
also enough right here in this hall this
very moment all is enough I am enough
you are enough we are enough nothing
else is required the first person I
spoke with when I was invited to give
this talk was my friend Eve Simon great
Eve said this can be the topic of your
next book I have already written three
books I said to Eve maybe I don’t want
to write another book
we chuckle enough already and so it goes
happiness is the joy we feel when we
move toward our potential that’s from
shawn Achor that is my enough we don’t
move toward our potential when we live
in the valley of not enough and we never
arrive anywhere with joy I’m not enough
baguettes futile effort it starts Wars
it promotes desperate thriving and it
costs businesses billions and billions
of dollars sometimes we get mores when
we’re okay with a B now I know that my
enough have changed over time I don’t
know what yours are it’s your choice
go and have a big bold life if that’s
what you want or go and create a simple
life around a solitary passion whatever
your dreams whatever your goals whatever
the result and outcome of your efforts
know that if you do absolutely nothing
you are enough I mean really like really
enough already thank you
[Applause]
you
brutal they are persistent and they’re
absolutely everywhere and this is what
they’re telling us over and over again
who you are who I am and what we are
doing right now is not enough
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