life
These resources helped me change my life and leave my job.
I just left a reasonably well paid job at a large corporation. I won't lie: It was tough. The job wasn't horrible, the pay wasn't bad, I got to work with some outrageously large firms, and the corporation itself is very well known and respected.
Leaving the company was a big decision. I've spent three years with a big consulting firm, learned an exceeding amount about business and technology, and traveled a good chunk of the globe with them.
However, at this stage in my life I couldn't help waking up every morning and asking myself in the mirror:
Is this really what I want to be doing at this stage in my life?
Is this job too safe right now?
Making the decision was tough and I found some resources very valuable. I've included them here for you in the case that you need to find the motivation, inspiration and guidance needed to change your life.
1. Anything from TED.com, but specifically...
The TED conference, produces more life changing video and inspirational talks that can be described in text. I have made a habit of watching a TED video everyday since they are generally quite short and easily digestible in a single sitting.
However -- one video stands out for me and I watch it whenever I feel myself being a bit lazy. Tony Robbins (don't laugh) gives a talk on 'Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better'.
Wow.
2. Steve Jobs' Convocation Speech (Stanford)
Steve Jobs teaching a group of graduating kids about connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Read the entire transcript here.
3. Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch's last speech
Professor Randy Pausch, who recently died from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the Carnegie university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
R.I.P. Randy
4. The Alchemist
The Alchemist, the most famous work of author Paulo Coelho. It is a symbolic story that urges its readers to follow their dreams.
You can read a free summary here, or you can purchase The Alchemist from Amazon.
5. WNYC Radio Labs
Radio labs is my favorite podcast to listen to. It can be a bit cheesy, and it sometimes feels like listening to vaudeville...... Moreover, it doesn't provide any direct advice for changing your life.
It does however, make me 'think'. It makes me question my surroundings, question my assumptions, and postulate from others perspectives.
My favourite episode is
Emergence from 2005.
Fire up your ipod and download them all.
That's it.
Are you where you want to be in life? I'm still deciding what is next but I know I made the right decision at this stage in my career.
Hopefully these resources will help you as much as they helped me.
