Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling | Emilie Wapnick | TED

Translator: Susana Arrizado Gago Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

Raise your hand if you've ever been asked the question

Levantade a man se algunha vez vos preguntaron:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

que queres ser de maior?

Now if you had to guess,

Agora, tratade de calcular

how old would you say you were when you were first asked this question?

a vosa idade a primeira vez que oístes esta pregunta.

You can just hold up fingers.

Podedes levantar os dedos.

Three. Five. Three. Five. Five. OK.

Tres. Cinco. Tres. Cinco. Cinco... OK

Now, raise your hand if the question

Agora, levantade a man se a pregunta

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Que queres ser de maior?"

has ever caused you any anxiety.

vos causou ansiedade dalgún xeito.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Any anxiety at all.

Nada de ansiedade.

Nunca fun quen de contestar esa pregunta:

I'm someone who's never been able to answer the question

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Que queres ser de maior?"

See, the problem wasn't that I didn't have any interests --

O problema non era a falta de intereses,

it's that I had too many.

o problema era que tiña demasiados.

In high school, I liked English and math and art and I built websites

Gustábame o inglés, as mates, a arte e facer páxinas web.

and I played guitar in a punk band called Frustrated Telephone Operator.

Tocaba a guitarra nunha banda punk chamada "Frustrated Telephone Operator".

Maybe you've heard of us.

Quizáis oíron falar de nós.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Tralo instituto seguín así

This continued after high school,

and at a certain point, I began to notice this pattern in myself

e nalgún momento, comecei a decatarme dese patrón.

where I would become interested in an area

Ficaba interesada nun tema,

and I would dive in, become all-consumed,

submerxíame nel, autoconsumíame.

and I'd get to be pretty good at whatever it was,

E cando xa era boa dabondo, no que fose,

and then I would hit this point where I'd start to get bored.

chegaba a ese punto en que comezaba a enfastiarme.

Normalmente, tentaba persistir

And usually I would try and persist anyway,

because I had already devoted so much time and energy

xa que adicara tantas horas e esforzo

and sometimes money into this field.

e mesmo cartos nese eido.

But eventually this sense of boredom,

Pero o fastío impúñase,

this feeling of, like, yeah, I got this, this isn't challenging anymore --

ese sentimento de: "xa está, conseguino, xa non é un desafío".

it would get to be too much.

Comezaba a ser moi duro.

And I would have to let it go.

E tiña que deixalo ir.

But then I would become interested in something else,

Entón, volcávame noutra cousa,

something totally unrelated, and I would dive into that,

algo completamente diferente no que tamén me submerxía.

and become all-consumed, and I'd be like, "Yes! I found my thing,"

Autoconsumíame e pensaba: "si, isto é o meu".

and then I would hit this point again where I'd start to get bored.

E volta outra vez ao mesmo punto en que comezaba a aborrecer.

And eventually, I would let it go.

E ao final, tiña que deixalo pasar.

But then I would discover something new and totally different,

Aparecía entón algo novo e diferente

and I would dive into that.

e metíame de cabeza.

This pattern caused me a lot of anxiety,

Este patrón causábame moita ansiedade

for two reasons.

por dúas razóns:

The first was that I wasn't sure

a primeira, que non estaba segura

how I was going to turn any of this into a career.

de como convertir todo iso nunha carreira.

I thought that I would eventually have to pick one thing,

Cría que ao cabo tería que escoller unha soa cousa,

deny all of my other passions,

renegar do resto das miñas paixóns,

and just resign myself to being bored.

e resignarme a aburrirme.

The other reason it caused me so much anxiety

A outra razón de que me angustiase

was a little bit more personal.

era de índole máis persoal.

I worried that there was something wrong with this,

Preocupábame que houbese algo malo niso,

and something wrong with me for being unable to stick with anything.

algo malo no feito de ser incapaz de aferrarme a unha soa cousa.

I worried that I was afraid of commitment,

Preocupábame ter medo ao compromiso;

or that I was scattered, or that I was self-sabotaging,

estar dispersa ou ser unha autosabotadora,

afraid of my own success.

con medo ao meu propio éxito.

If you can relate to my story and to these feelings,

Se a miña historia, eses sentimentos vos soan familiares

I'd like you to ask yourself a question

quero que vos fagades a pregunta

that I wish I had asked myself back then.

que me gustaría ter proposto daquela.

Ask yourself where you learned to assign the meaning of wrong or abnormal

Preguntádevos onde aprendestes a asignar o concepto de errado ou anormal

to doing many things.

a facer moitas cousas.

I'll tell you where you learned it:

Direivos de onde o aprendestes:

you learned it from the culture.

foi da cultura.

We are first asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Pregúntannos por vez primeira: "que queres ser de maior?"

when we're about five years old.

cando temos uns cinco anos.

And the truth is that no one really cares what you say when you're that age.

O certo é que a ninguén lle importa o que contestades a esa idade.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

It's considered an innocuous question,

Considérase unha pregunta inocua

posed to little kids to elicit cute replies,

para lles sacar aos meniños respostas graciosas

like, "I want to be an astronaut," or "I want to be a ballerina,"

coma "quero ser astronauta" ou "quero ser bailarina"

or "I want to be a pirate."

ou "quero ser pirata".

Insert Halloween costume here.

Engadíde un disfraz de Samaín a iso.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

But this question gets asked of us again and again as we get older

Seguen a preguntarcho de diversas formas mentres medras.

in various forms -- for instance, high school students might get asked

Por exemplo, aos estudiantes de instituto

what major they're going to pick in college.

pregúntanlles que especialidade escollerán na universidade.

And at some point,

Nalgún momento,

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Que queres ser de maior?"

goes from being the cute exercise it once was

pasa de ser un exercicio gracioso

to the thing that keeps us up at night.

a manterte en vela toda a noite.

Why?

Por que?

A pregunta inspira aos nenos a soñar co que poderían ser,

See, while this question inspires kids to dream about what they could be,

it does not inspire them to dream about all that they could be.

mais non os inspira a soñar con todo o que poderían ser.

In fact, it does just the opposite,

De feito, fai xusto todo o contrario.

because when someone asks you what you want to be,

Porque se alguén pregunta que queres ser

you can't reply with 20 different things,

non podes dar vinte respostas distintas.

though well-meaning adults will likely chuckle and be like,

Os adultos ben pensantes esbozarían un sorriso:

"Oh, how cute, but you can't be a violin maker and a psychologist.

"Que curriño, pero non podes ser á vez fabricante de violíns e psicólogo.

You have to choose."

Tes que escoller."

This is Dr. Bob Childs --

Este é o Dr. Bob Childs.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

and he's a luthier and psychotherapist.

E é luthier e psicoterapeuta.

And this is Amy Ng, a magazine editor turned illustrator, entrepreneur,

Esta é Amy Ng, unha editora de revista convertida en ilustradora, empresaria,

teacher and creative director.

profesora e directora creativa.

But most kids don't hear about people like this.

Pero a maioría dos rapaces non oen falar de xente así.

All they hear

Todo o que oen

is that they're going to have to choose.

é que van ter que escoller.

But it's more than that.

Pero é máis ca iso.

The notion of the narrowly focused life

A noción dunha vida claramente definida

is highly romanticized in our culture.

está moi idealizada na nosa cultura.

It's this idea of destiny or the one true calling,

Esa idea do destino ou da vocación.

the idea that we each have one great thing

A idea de que todos estamos destinados

we are meant to do during our time on this earth,

a algo grande durante o noso paso por esta terra,

and you need to figure out what that thing is

e tes que descubrir que cousa é

and devote your life to it.

e adicarlle a túa vida.

But what if you're someone who isn't wired this way?

E se ti non estás feito desa pasta?

What if there are a lot of different subjects that you're curious about,

Cal é o problema se tes curiosidade por multitude de materias,

and many different things you want to do?

se queres facer diferentes cousas?

Well, there is no room for someone like you in this framework.

Non hai lugar para alguén así nese patrón.

And so you might feel alone.

Podes chegar a sentirte só.

You might feel like you don't have a purpose.

Podes pensar que non tes un propósito.

And you might feel like there's something wrong with you.

Podes sentir que tes algún problema.

There's nothing wrong with you.

Pero non tes ningún problema.

What you are is a multipotentialite.

Ti es unha multipotencialidade.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits.

Unha multipotencialidade ten moitos intereses e ocupacións creativas.

It's a mouthful to say.

É moito dicir.

It might help if you break it up into three parts:

Pode axudar se o divides en tres partes:

multi, potential, and ite.

multi-, potencial, e -idade.

You can also use one of the other terms that connote the same idea,

Podes usar tamén calquera outro termo que implique a mesma idea,

such as polymath, the Renaissance person.

como polimatemático, a xente do Renacemento.

Actually, during the Renaissance period,

En realidade, durante o Renacemento,

it was considered the ideal to be well-versed in multiple disciplines.

considerábase un ideal estar versado en varias disciplinas.

Barbara Sher refers to us as "scanners."

Barbara Sher fala de nós coma "escáneres".

Use whichever term you like, or invent your own.

Usa o termo que che pareza ou inventa un.

I have to say I find it sort of fitting that as a community,

Teño que dicir que para min ten un senso de comunidade,

we cannot agree on a single identity.

non se axusta a unha soa identidade.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

It's easy to see your multipotentiality

É fácil ver a túa multipotencialidade

as a limitation or an affliction that you need to overcome.

coma unha limitación ou unha aflición que tes que superar.

But what I've learned through speaking with people

Pero o que aprendín falando coa xente

and writing about these ideas on my website,

e escribindo sobre isto na miña páxina web

is that there are some tremendous strengths to being this way.

é que ten uns puntos fortes incribles.

Here are three

Velaquí tres superpoderes

multipotentialite super powers.

da multipotencialidade.

One: idea synthesis.

Primeiro: síntese de ideas.

That is, combining two or more fields

É dicir, combinar dous ou máis campos

and creating something new at the intersection.

e crear algo novo da súa intersección.

Sha Hwang and Rachel Binx drew from their shared interests

Sha Hwang e Rachel Binx tiraron dos seus intereses compartidos

in cartography, data visualization, travel, mathematics and design,

en cartografía, visualización de datos, viaxes, matemáticas e deseño

when they founded Meshu.

cando fundaron Meshu.

Meshu is a company that creates custom geographically-inspired jewelry.

Meshu é unha compañía que se inspira na xeografía para crear xoias á carta.

Sha and Rachel came up with this unique idea

Sha e Rachel atoparon esta idea orixinal

not despite, but because of their eclectic mix of skills and experiences.

non a pesar mais grazas ao eclectismo das súas habelencias e experiencias.

Innovation happens at the intersections.

A innovación aparece nas interseccións.

That's where the new ideas come from.

De aí veñen as novas ideas.

And multipotentialites, with all of their backgrounds,

E as multipotencialidades, coa súa bagaxe,

are able to access a lot of these points of intersection.

acceden a moitos puntos de intersección.

The second multipotentialite superpower

O segundo superpoder multipotencial

is rapid learning.

é a rapidez de aprendizaxe.

When multipotentialites become interested in something,

Cando os "multipotenciais" se interesan por algo,

we go hard.

vamos a por todas.

We observe everything we can get our hands on.

Observamos todo o que cae nas nosas mans.

We're also used to being beginners,

Tamén estamos afeitos a ser novatos,

because we've been beginners so many times in the past,

porque o fomos moitas veces no pasado.

and this means that we're less afraid of trying new things

É dicir, non tememos probar cousas novas

and stepping out of our comfort zones.

e saír da nosa zona de confort.

What's more, many skills are transferable across disciplines,

Aínda máis, moitas habilidades son transversais entre disciplinas

and we bring everything we've learned to every new area we pursue,

e aportamos todo o aprendido a cada nova área que exploramos,

so we're rarely starting from scratch.

polo que rara vez comezamos de cero.

Nora Dunn is a full-time traveler and freelance writer.

Nora Dunn é unha viaxeira empedernida e escritora free-lance.

As a child concert pianist, she honed an incredible ability

Como concertista de piano dende nena, perfeccionou unha incrible habilidade

to develop muscle memory.

de desenvolver a memoria muscular.

Now, she's the fastest typist she knows.

É a mecanógrafa máis rápida que coñece.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Before becoming a writer, Nora was a financial planner.

Antes de convertirse en escritora, Nora foi planificadora financeira.

She had to learn the finer mechanics of sales

Aprendeu os finos mecanismos das vendas

when she was starting her practice,

cando comezou a súa práctica

and this skill now helps her write compelling pitches to editors.

e esa pericia axúdaa a escribir convincentes discursos aos editores.

It is rarely a waste of time to pursue something you're drawn to,

Practicar algo que te atrae nunca é unha perda de tempo

even if you end up quitting.

aínda que acabes abandonando.

You might apply that knowledge in a different field entirely,

Podes aplicar ese coñecemento nun campo completamente diferente

in a way that you couldn't have anticipated.

dun xeito que nunca puideches anticipar.

The third multipotentialite superpower

O terceiro superpoder multipotencial

is adaptability;

é a adaptabilidade:

that is, the ability to morph into whatever you need to be

a maña para metamorfosearse no que precises

in a given situation.

segundo a situación.

Abe Cajudo is sometimes a video director, sometimes a web designer,

Abe Cajudo ás veces é director de vídeos, outras deseñador de páxinas web.

sometimes a Kickstarter consultant, sometimes a teacher,

Ás veces é consultor de novas empresas, outras veces é un profesor

and sometimes, apparently, James Bond.

e outras, aparentemente, James Bond.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

He's valuable because he does good work.

A súa valía vén do seu bo facer.

He's even more valuable because he can take on various roles,

É incluso máis valioso porque pode ter varias funcións

depending on his clients' needs.

dependendo das necesidades do seu cliente.

Fast Company magazine identified adaptability

A revista Fast Company identificou a adaptabilidade

as the single most important skill to develop in order to thrive

coma a habilidade máis importante que debemos desenvolver

in the 21st century.

para prosperar no século vinteún.

The economic world is changing so quickly and unpredictably

O mundo económico está cambiando tan rápido e tan impredecible

that it is the individuals and organizations that can pivot

que os individuos e organizacións que poden pivotar

in order to meet the needs of the market that are really going to thrive.

axustándose ás necesidades do mercado son as que realmente van medrar.

Idea synthesis, rapid learning and adaptability:

Capacidade de síntese, aprendizaxe rápida e adaptabilidade.

three skills that multipotentialites are very adept at,

Tres habilidades ás que somos adeptas as multipotenciais.

and three skills that they might lose if pressured to narrow their focus.

Tres habilidades que podemos perder se somos forzados a estreitar a atención.

As a society, we have a vested interest in encouraging multipotentialites

Como sociedade, temos un interese persoal en alentar os multipotenciais

to be themselves.

a ser eles mesmos.

We have a lot of complex, multidimensional problems in the world right now,

No mundo hai moitos problemas complexos e multidimensionais actualmente

and we need creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to tackle them.

e precisamos pensadores creativos, fóra do común, para solucionalos.

Now, let's say that you are, in your heart, a specialist.

Agora, digamos que vós sodes, no fondo, un especialista.

You came out of the womb knowing you wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Saístes do ventre sabendo que queriades ser neurocirurxáns pediátricos.

Don't worry -- there's nothing wrong with you, either.

Tranquilos, non tedes ningún problema grave.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

In fact, some of the best teams are comprised of a specialist

De feito, os mellores equipos están compostos dun especialista

and multipotentialite paired together.

facendo parella con alguén multipotencial.

The specialist can dive in deep and implement ideas,

O especialista pode afondar e implementar ideas

while the multipotentialite brings a breadth of knowledge to the project.

mentres que o multipotencial aporta un abano de coñecementos ao proxecto.

It's a beautiful partnership.

É unha colaboración preciosa.

But we should all be designing lives and careers

Todos deberiamos deseñar as nosas vidas e carreiras

that are aligned with how we're wired.

aliñadas co modo en que estamos feitos.

And sadly, multipotentialites are largely being encouraged

Tristemente, os multipotenciais son animados con frecuencia

simply to be more like their specialist peers.

a parecerse sen máis aos seus homólogos especialistas.

So with that said,

Dito isto,

if there is one thing you take away from this talk,

se sacades algunha cousa desta charla

I hope that it is this:

espero que sexa esta:

embrace your inner wiring, whatever that may be.

abraza a túa conexión interior, sexa cal for.

If you're a specialist at heart,

Se no teu corazón es un especialista,

then by all means, specialize.

entón, por todos os medios, especialízate.

That is where you'll do your best work.

Aí alcanzarás os teus mellores logros.

But to the multipotentialites in the room,

Pero ás persoas "multipotenciais" desta sala,

including those of you who may have just realized

incluídas aqueles que acaban de decatarse

in the last 12 minutes that you are one --

nos últimos doce minutos,

(Laughter)

(Risos)

to you I say:

diríavos:

embrace your many passions.

abraza todas as túas paixóns.

Follow your curiosity down those rabbit holes.

Segue a túa curiosidade até o fin.

Explore your intersections.

Explora as túas interseccións.

Embracing our inner wiring leads to a happier, more authentic life.

Abrazar a nosa conexión interior lévanos a unha vida máis feliz e plena.

And perhaps more importantly --

E quizáis o máis importante: "multipotenciais",

multipotentialites, the world needs us.

o mundo necesítanos.

Thank you.

Moitas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)