TED Talk in two minutes: How to find the work you love with Scott Dinsmore

We know you love TED talks, but don’t always have the time. So you don’t miss out on learning something new, here’s our two-minute lowdown.

Here’s the scoop from TED talk “How to Find The Work You Love” by Scott Dinsmore.

Firstly, are you climbing the wrong ladder?

After doing all the right things after graduating, Scott Dinsmore realized he hated his job. He took Warren Buffett’s advice “taking jobs to build up for resume is the same as saving up sex for old age”, quit and went looking for people who only did work they loved. He read hundreds of books, took countless people to lunch and asked thousands of questions. He took all of the information he collected and created his Passion Work Framework, three steps for anyone wanting to transform their career or work.

1. Become a self-expert

If you don’t understand yourself, you’ll have no idea what you’re looking for. Being intentional with your self-knowledge will set you up for nailing your purpose. Set your direction with these critical questions:

Identify your strengths

Use the book and online tool Strengths Finder 2.0 to help. What would you wake up and do no matter the pay? What are you naturally good at and people thank you for?

Identify your priorities

Family? Health? Achievements? How are you currently making decisions about these things? You might need to refresh your approach to this so you don’t compromise on what you really care about. For Scott Dinsmore, how to find work you love starts with knowing your values.

Pay attention to yourself

Scott says: “we learn things every day… about what we love, what we hate, what we’re good at, what we’re terrible at”. Be mindful of your daily experiences to see what makes you tick. Also look at those around you, especially those that inspire you. What’s special about them? What do they do differently? Keep track of all these observations and read back often.

2. Prove yourself wrong

Once you’ve got your direction use this to push your limits. Scott says, find “your own impossibilities” and make “incremental pushes”. Whether it’s swimming in the deep dark ocean, or public speaking or starting a business; find all the little and big things you thought impossible and crush them. The more you do this, the more rocket fuel for personal achievement you’ll have.

3. Surround yourself with the right people

Finally, Scott suggests “the fastest way to do things you don’t think can be done is to surround yourself with people already doing them”. You want to spend the most time with people who will keep on you track to pursue the things that matter the most. You want them to hold your bar higher.

You’re 100% in control

Finally, in the How to Find Work You Love TED talk, Scott reminds us that “these three steps are “100 percent in our control” and the only limitation is your imagination. He’s a full-time champion of his approach and runs “Live Your Legend”, where you can find training and tools, and read about other people that have made the switch.

Watch Scott’s full TED talk:

Scott Dinsmore tragically passed away in September 2015 climbing Kilimanjaro while travelling with his wife. In his short life, he established Live Your Legend, a thriving community helping people discover the work they were born to do.

Like Scott Dinsmore’s TED Talk? Check out our summary of Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are.

Written by Martin Douglas Hendry