Why specializing early doesn't always mean career success | David Epstein

This is so true, my father was the most educated guy in his family, whereas my uncle who wasn't interested in education tried a bunch of things. Everyone in the family thought my uncle's a loser, he'll never amount to anything big as he never went to a college. However after working a dozen of jobs(whereas my father stuck to only one job) and trying half a dozen of business ideas finally one of his business idea worked and today my uncle is a multi-millionaire. What my father has earned in his entire life, my uncle maybe could earn in a month. Specialization is good but it narrows down the perspective. One should be curious about everything in life.

As a 21 y/o who is very frustrated with his scattered skills, I really needed this video. Never been happy about being a generlist. Thank you for this great insight, Ted-Talk

"It is important to draw wisdom from many places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale." - Gen. (ret.) Iroh

This fills me up with a burst of confidence about my career.

This is probably the best tedtalk I've ever encountered

I've always felt I had to choose my career far too early. "Right, you're 15 now, what do you want to do with your entire life then?" lol

“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible

Very cool talk, actually changed my perspective on this topic. I've always thought that specialising in one area early was the best way to form a career, and it's what I did personally, starting video-game development and animation at 13, and doing it professionally by 18. I'm 30 now and feeling very bored of my work, despite being successful and making a lot of money. Maybe it's time for me to start trying other things.

Best Ted talk I ever watched. It's so much relatable to everyone of us.

This was so much needed . So glad to hear the stories of great people and to realise 'oh i wasn't the only one who felt this way' and this way is good on a long run!

Phew 😅 this makes me feel so much better about things. I’m 33, am on my 6th field, and getting educated in a 7th field. Currently I’m in a role that is at the intersection of my previous experience and am pulling out ahead of my peers. My multi-disciplinary background/being well rounded opens up a lot more opportunities for me as I am eligible for a wider variety of roles. I honestly wouldn’t change it for the world. I think it is important to try different things to learn about yourself and what is important to you!

Why making comments early doesn’t always mean instant likes

Success is defined to us by society and if you don't come to the expectation then you are labeled as a failure, they rush you to specialize at an early age before you learn how to think, try to make you narrow expert and the problem is that we fell for these notions. There is no definition of success and head starts are overrated. Explore diverse expertise and broaden your horizons. As it is said, “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

This talk is so comforting because I feel like I have been aimlessly wandering through life. It's nice to know that something good can come out of not being able to settle down to just one specific thing right now.

Inspiring speech. I specialised early and became a chartered accountant at 23, and now at 25 I feel like it's too late to change and do something I actually like. It's easy to get hooked on a decent income and not want to retrain or change direction.

It’s amazing when we realize that everything can be different only with a new perspective. Astonishing talk !!

This makes me feel good as a liberal arts student.

I got a degree in finance, worked in sales, and ended up a software engineer. People seem to think that's crazy. I'm glad this video exists, I feel a lot better about my drastically meandering career path now.

Wow. This is such a great TED talk. I feel like sometimes society makes me think that the only way to succeed is to hyper specialize in one area in order to get good and look good to employers. I guess this may not be the only way/best way to think about how to educate a person.

Thank you very much for uploading this inspirational video. I'm planning to pursue my education again after taking a degree that my parents forced me into and landing in a job that I didn't enjoy at all. I'll continue my education two years later as I still need to settle many of my parents' problems. Better late than never.