you
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Applause]
[Music]
success
we admire and are inspired by successful
people and we want to be like them we
have big dreams and we aspire to conquer
the world
but we’re often frustrated that we’re
losing the race that our classmates
co-workers friends neighbors people of
the same generation any group we relate
to are doing better than us are
achieving faster than us are more
successful than us or we’re also afraid
that there is only one path to success
and if we don’t get on this path or we
fall off it
we’re inevitably a failure for life
success in life seems like a narrow
reach we need to walk on one step to the
side and you’ll fall off it sounds
familiar but what is success and what is
failure how do you define them rather
simple right successful people are
achievers while non achievers are
failures let me tell you the story about
lives of two people person a and person
B as examples for success and failure
person a was born in a vibrant city full
of culture opera theatre festivals with
multiple historical layers of
architecture as a backdrop her family
travelled a lot and she was exposed to
many cultures as a child she has fond
memories of regular ski holidays and
winter and sunny beaches every summer on
the other hand
person B was born to an international
family living in a conservative
ethnically homogenous City being the
only different child around meant
constant bullying in school which
together with indifferent career-focused
parents made for emotionally difficult
childhood person a applies to one of the
best high schools in the city and got
full hundred-percent score on the
entrance examination which was a great
achievement considering the fact that
only one more student from all
applicants was awarded the full score
however person B almost didn’t get into
high school which was such a
disappointment for her parents high
school life brought more failures failed
grade in French the only foreign
language has been unsuccessfully
studying all these years person a was
admitted into her dream University
program again with 100% score on the
entrance exam there her fluent French
allowed her to win a scholarship for a
study abroad later she was offered a job
at her place of internship and she
enjoyed working there tremendously
however for person B the university
years were a series of social faux pas
and failed relationships she went into
clinical major but after working in the
clinics for a while and a couple of
mistakes that almost cost the life of
her patients she gave up scared she
could actually kill someone person B
followed her aspirations for research
and one PhD scholarship abroad what
could be better for someone interested
in both science and travel than going to
her dream destination
person B also aspired for PhD and spent
long time looking for scholarships
before eventually building the courage
to apply the selection procedure was
long and hard and she eventually lost at
the very last stage it took her two
years to finally get through the person
a the page tears were some of the most
exciting in her life she made tons of
friends she traveled extensively she
learned so much she discovered so many
things she had a natural talent for she
wouldn’t have known all this if she
hasn’t followed her dreams she completed
her PhD work a year earlier than
required and published in the big name
Journal where she dreamed to have her
publication in however for person B the
PhD experience was depressing to the
point of giving up the steep learning
curve the new language the isolation the
lack of support all of these was making
her doubt the decision to throw away her
comfortable secure live back home and
come to the other end of the world for
something that now appeared unachievable
after spending a year working on her
research topic the project was abruptly
canceled and she had to start a new one
from scratch her first paper submission
was rejected personai had one more thing
to celebrate with the completion of her
PhD the birth of her first child
becoming a mother was yet another
amazing life experience children teach
us what it means to be an adult and how
to become one this new life experience
allowed her to see new aspects of
herself to rediscover her strength and
her interest
she found the joys of sharing knowledge
seeing the sparks of passion for science
in the eyes of her students was even
more exciting than spending her days in
the lab digging her own projects as she
used to do most importantly this switch
allowed her to stay true to her
strongest convictions that children need
parents who are present in their life
and connected in order to grow healthy
in body and mind
however for person B things looked
completely differently her NASA and
research career was interrupted in its
start she had her first child while it
was a conscious decision she was not
prepared for the physical and
psychological overwhelm that a child
brings the responsibilities of child
care left her incapacitated for years
after which jumping back on the same
train of research seemed almost
impossible while it was her decision to
give priority to her children needs over
her own aspirations the bitter
aftertaste of regret persisted now
imagine a career counselor asking our
two characters the standard question
what are your life goals where do you
want to see yourself in 10 years for
person a there is one fundamental desire
that drives all of her choices to
explore and follow her dreams wherever
they lead her even if they take her away
from her original goals because goals
change
as passions change and passions change
as we get enriched with new experiences
looking inside ourselves and regularly
checking out with ourselves what we
truly care about helps us stay connected
stay on the road we want to be and enjoy
the view however if a person be these
questions have no answer what’s the
point of having goals of building
sandcastles if they can get destroyed by
the next wave in the ocean of life
what’s the point of looking ahead of
time if we can’t be sure about tomorrow
so here we have it a success person a
and a failure person B which one would
you like to get to know spend time with
get inspired by well in my case I can’t
really choose I know them both both the
stories of person a and the story of
person B is my story both of them are
who I am high school was in French a
language I became fluent in only a few
short years later as a school child I
considered myself unable to learn
languages I now speak five my failed
grade in university was in a subject I
liked so much it later became the area
of my PhD research there were many
occasions in my life when it felt like
I’m falling but looking back I was just
learning to fly I’ve taken gap ears from
both study and work and for which every
time I’ve been called lazy your ears
sponsible yet every time the decision
was scariest and the smartest step to
take and every time it has given me
clarity on what I really want in how to
get there my life path has taken many
turns and I’m not where I envisioned
myself being when I was in high school
but where I am now
is a result of my conscious choices and
is exactly where I want to be some
people have arrived at my current
destination faster yet my route full of
detours was more panoramic and reaching
experiences that have given me the
wisdom to look at the world with the
eyes and look at it now where is life
going to take me in ten years I have no
idea or to put it more precisely I have
so many exciting ideas I’m working on
I’m not sure which will take me farthest
from where I’m now I might be in
business I might go into politics but
one thing I know for sure wherever I
decide to go next all that I have
learned done and experienced is going to
be a strong and colorful foundation on
which all of my future steps will stand
you see at every stage of my life at
every stage of your life there is both
success and failure just change the
glasses through which you’re looking in
fact neither success nor failure
objectively exists it’s all relative
relative to what your starting point is
what you compare it with what you expect
to get what people around you say what
your values are then your values depend
on which country you live in
what’s your cultural background what’s
your education level your economic
status the only things that objectively
exist are our experiences and what we
learn from them our passions and our
determination to follow them where we
are at this point of our lives is the
result of choices we’ve made in the past
how we feel about this point in our
lives is the result of choices to focus
on one or another aspect of our
experience but we have the power to
choose differently today and outter both
our future experiences and how we feel
about them objectively there is no
success nor failure there is no
competition no firsts and no lasts just
labels labels on something that is
really a work in progress if you take
off the glasses you will see that life
is not a dangerous sharp rich
it’s a vast beautiful valley with many
directions to go step to the side and
you won’t fall you may in fact discover
a life path that is much more fulfilling
than the one you dreamt for yourself
don’t be afraid to follow your heart
wherever it takes you even if it takes
you away from your original plans
because plans change as fashions change
and passions change as we get enriched
with new experiences we all really are
on our individual journeys make sure you
enjoy the right
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Applause]
[Music]
success
we admire and are inspired by successful
people and we want to be like them we
have big dreams and we aspire to conquer
the world
but we’re often frustrated that we’re
losing the race that our classmates
co-workers friends neighbors people of
the same generation any group we relate
to are doing better than us are
achieving faster than us are more
successful than us or we’re also afraid
that there is only one path to success
and if we don’t get on this path or we
fall off it
we’re inevitably a failure for life
success in life seems like a narrow
reach we need to walk on one step to the
side and you’ll fall off it sounds
familiar but what is success and what is
failure how do you define them rather
simple right successful people are
achievers while non achievers are
failures let me tell you the story about
lives of two people person a and person
B as examples for success and failure
person a was born in a vibrant city full
of culture opera theatre festivals with
multiple historical layers of
architecture as a backdrop her family
travelled a lot and she was exposed to
many cultures as a child she has fond
memories of regular ski holidays and
winter and sunny beaches every summer on
the other hand
person B was born to an international
family living in a conservative
ethnically homogenous City being the
only different child around meant
constant bullying in school which
together with indifferent career-focused
parents made for emotionally difficult
childhood person a applies to one of the
best high schools in the city and got
full hundred-percent score on the
entrance examination which was a great
achievement considering the fact that
only one more student from all
applicants was awarded the full score
however person B almost didn’t get into
high school which was such a
disappointment for her parents high
school life brought more failures failed
grade in French the only foreign
language has been unsuccessfully
studying all these years person a was
admitted into her dream University
program again with 100% score on the
entrance exam there her fluent French
allowed her to win a scholarship for a
study abroad later she was offered a job
at her place of internship and she
enjoyed working there tremendously
however for person B the university
years were a series of social faux pas
and failed relationships she went into
clinical major but after working in the
clinics for a while and a couple of
mistakes that almost cost the life of
her patients she gave up scared she
could actually kill someone person B
followed her aspirations for research
and one PhD scholarship abroad what
could be better for someone interested
in both science and travel than going to
her dream destination
person B also aspired for PhD and spent
long time looking for scholarships
before eventually building the courage
to apply the selection procedure was
long and hard and she eventually lost at
the very last stage it took her two
years to finally get through the person
a the page tears were some of the most
exciting in her life she made tons of
friends she traveled extensively she
learned so much she discovered so many
things she had a natural talent for she
wouldn’t have known all this if she
hasn’t followed her dreams she completed
her PhD work a year earlier than
required and published in the big name
Journal where she dreamed to have her
publication in however for person B the
PhD experience was depressing to the
point of giving up the steep learning
curve the new language the isolation the
lack of support all of these was making
her doubt the decision to throw away her
comfortable secure live back home and
come to the other end of the world for
something that now appeared unachievable
after spending a year working on her
research topic the project was abruptly
canceled and she had to start a new one
from scratch her first paper submission
was rejected personai had one more thing
to celebrate with the completion of her
PhD the birth of her first child
becoming a mother was yet another
amazing life experience children teach
us what it means to be an adult and how
to become one this new life experience
allowed her to see new aspects of
herself to rediscover her strength and
her interest
she found the joys of sharing knowledge
seeing the sparks of passion for science
in the eyes of her students was even
more exciting than spending her days in
the lab digging her own projects as she
used to do most importantly this switch
allowed her to stay true to her
strongest convictions that children need
parents who are present in their life
and connected in order to grow healthy
in body and mind
however for person B things looked
completely differently her NASA and
research career was interrupted in its
start she had her first child while it
was a conscious decision she was not
prepared for the physical and
psychological overwhelm that a child
brings the responsibilities of child
care left her incapacitated for years
after which jumping back on the same
train of research seemed almost
impossible while it was her decision to
give priority to her children needs over
her own aspirations the bitter
aftertaste of regret persisted now
imagine a career counselor asking our
two characters the standard question
what are your life goals where do you
want to see yourself in 10 years for
person a there is one fundamental desire
that drives all of her choices to
explore and follow her dreams wherever
they lead her even if they take her away
from her original goals because goals
change
as passions change and passions change
as we get enriched with new experiences
looking inside ourselves and regularly
checking out with ourselves what we
truly care about helps us stay connected
stay on the road we want to be and enjoy
the view however if a person be these
questions have no answer what’s the
point of having goals of building
sandcastles if they can get destroyed by
the next wave in the ocean of life
what’s the point of looking ahead of
time if we can’t be sure about tomorrow
so here we have it a success person a
and a failure person B which one would
you like to get to know spend time with
get inspired by well in my case I can’t
really choose I know them both both the
stories of person a and the story of
person B is my story both of them are
who I am high school was in French a
language I became fluent in only a few
short years later as a school child I
considered myself unable to learn
languages I now speak five my failed
grade in university was in a subject I
liked so much it later became the area
of my PhD research there were many
occasions in my life when it felt like
I’m falling but looking back I was just
learning to fly I’ve taken gap ears from
both study and work and for which every
time I’ve been called lazy your ears
sponsible yet every time the decision
was scariest and the smartest step to
take and every time it has given me
clarity on what I really want in how to
get there my life path has taken many
turns and I’m not where I envisioned
myself being when I was in high school
but where I am now
is a result of my conscious choices and
is exactly where I want to be some
people have arrived at my current
destination faster yet my route full of
detours was more panoramic and reaching
experiences that have given me the
wisdom to look at the world with the
eyes and look at it now where is life
going to take me in ten years I have no
idea or to put it more precisely I have
so many exciting ideas I’m working on
I’m not sure which will take me farthest
from where I’m now I might be in
business I might go into politics but
one thing I know for sure wherever I
decide to go next all that I have
learned done and experienced is going to
be a strong and colorful foundation on
which all of my future steps will stand
you see at every stage of my life at
every stage of your life there is both
success and failure just change the
glasses through which you’re looking in
fact neither success nor failure
objectively exists it’s all relative
relative to what your starting point is
what you compare it with what you expect
to get what people around you say what
your values are then your values depend
on which country you live in
what’s your cultural background what’s
your education level your economic
status the only things that objectively
exist are our experiences and what we
learn from them our passions and our
determination to follow them where we
are at this point of our lives is the
result of choices we’ve made in the past
how we feel about this point in our
lives is the result of choices to focus
on one or another aspect of our
experience but we have the power to
choose differently today and outter both
our future experiences and how we feel
about them objectively there is no
success nor failure there is no
competition no firsts and no lasts just
labels labels on something that is
really a work in progress if you take
off the glasses you will see that life
is not a dangerous sharp rich
it’s a vast beautiful valley with many
directions to go step to the side and
you won’t fall you may in fact discover
a life path that is much more fulfilling
than the one you dreamt for yourself
don’t be afraid to follow your heart
wherever it takes you even if it takes
you away from your original plans
because plans change as fashions change
and passions change as we get enriched
with new experiences we all really are
on our individual journeys make sure you
enjoy the right
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
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