Write It Down: My Best Career Advice
Tal Ben-Shahar
Tal Ben-Shahar is an author and lecturer at Harvard University. He currently teaches the largest course at Harvard on "Positive Psychology" and the third largest on "The Psychology of Leadership"--with a total of over 1,400 students.
Tal consults and lectures around the world to executives in multi-national corporation, the general public, and at-risk populations. Topics include happiness, self-esteem, resilience, goal setting, mindfulness, and leadership.
An avid sportsman, Tal won the U.S. Intercollegiate and Israeli National squash championships. He obtained his PhD in Organizational Behavior and BA in Philosophy and Psychology from Harvard.
Question: What is the best career advice you've ever received?
Tal Ben Shahar: The best advice that I got was from my philosophy teacher, Ohad Kamin. After graduating from college and feeling very lost, I went to him, and his advice was, Tal, think about the things that you want to do and write them down. Then look at these things and identify the things that you really want to do, and write these down. And from those things, identify the things that you really, really want to do, and then go ahead and do it. You know, life is short. We don't have that much time. And it's too short to do what we feel that we have to do; it's barely long enough to do what we want to do.
Recorded on: September 23, 2009
Tal Ban Shahar’s best career advice involved getting some important words on paper.
What’s funny? How comedians translate humor.
When it comes to making others laugh, you have to help them observe an absurd fact of life with you.
10 December, 2019
Videos
- When you're trying to write something funny, it has to be an idea that first strikes you, personally, as funny.
- The reason for this is that, then, it's something you're genuinely amused by. When this is so, it's based on observation of an experience that others may relate to.
- The next step, after this, is to try to translate it for others to understand. Sometimes you can't reword it perfectly for others to appreciate because the words themselves carry different notes of meaning to you. Nevertheless, the aim is to try to keep your audience's jargon, their palette of words, in mind.
The Sooner You Expose A Baby To A Second Language, The Smarter They’ll Be
Just hearing two languages helps babies develop cognitive skills before they even speak. Here's how - and how you can help them develop those skills.
08 April, 2016
Personal Growth
A new study shows that babies raised in bilingual environments develop core cognitive skills like decision-making and problem-solving -- before they even speak.
Keep reading
Show less
'Zuckerbergism': Why the young founder myth is a trap for entrepreneurs
A recent study challenges the conventional thinking that says only young people can dream up successful new businesses.
10 December, 2019
Rick Friedman / Getty
Personal Growth
- A recent study found the mean age for the 1-in-1,000 fastest growing new ventures to be 45 years.
- The authors suggested that people tend to accumulate resources, skills and experience with age, all of which boost their chances of entrepreneurial success.
- The results suggest that young entrepreneurs should consider the long haul when planning new ventures.
Keep reading
Show less
Trending
Featured Video
