Transcript

Living Up to Expectations | Andrew Smith | TEDxLingnanUniversity

can you please open the packet take out the balloon and the plastic straw the rubbish put neatly on the floor please place the plastic tube inside the end of the balloon patience patience we're going to try and do this together okay I can't do it in up put the balloon the tube in the balloon should have put my glasses on thank you very much thank you very much so inflate the balloon and when you've been feted the bloop not quite that much and take the plastic straw out and dispose of that in the same place as you put the plastic packet okay hello it helps there's one or two faces here they're looking a bit scared it's not going to kill you please blow up the balloon when you're ready hold the balloon up so we can see that we're ready I think we'll wait a couple more that's good good good good good good good alright are you ready anybody having trouble good yeah doesn't matter it doesn't matter it doesn't matter alright we're going to do a countdown on the counter when we get to zero we're going to let them go point them to all to stage okay are you ready three two one fire oh my love thank you very much thank you very much too many people too many people a balloon is a child's toy it's something that's handed out at birthday parties at fairs and all sorts of celebrations to me a balloon is a tool it's how I earn my income I do shows I travel the world this tool allows me to earn a good income to do the things i want to do spend time with the people that I want to do it's a way of me being able to communicate and express a message my father he went to university at the age of 16 by the time he was 19 he'd qualified as a pharmacist by the time he was 30 he had a chain of eight chemist shops he got bored sold the businesses retired learnt to fly an aeroplane at the age of 40 he decided that wasn't enough so he went back to university and became a lawyer with that law he became a pharmaceutical consultant at the age of 70 he went for a doctorate very good for him thank you very much dad the pressure was immense my father was a family man he made sure my sister and I had good schooling we went left our lovely home over the country for some exotic holidays when aeroplanes had very square windows they we went skiing holidays when other tremendous adventures but as I say the pressure was immense the pressure for me to do and follow in his footsteps to become a pharmacist a lawyer an engineer to follow in the standard to be do what everyone is expected to do is to become a professional some of you will find that that sort of pressure is just too much Andy not the life for me there's no way could i come over here but i'm sure some of you cannot sort of appreciate and have the same sort of feelings that there's pressure out there from your parents from your peers from your friends your colleagues at school all sorts of people the world this day is to focus on trying to follow in the set pattern of becoming a qualified professional it's just not for me I couldn't do that I couldn't do that at all and I had to break free a balloon it's not much until you blow it up to break free from those expectations you have to do something that's different stretch yourself and as you stretch yourself like a balloon you feel the pressure of that of those family and friends saying that I want you to do what is expected the challenge is how to break free how to do something that you want to do and to follow your own dreams how are we going to do I about 20 years ago I was in a professional job at the time as a salesman in the financial services industry I'd join that from school I didn't go to university because I hadn't got a clue what i wanted to do on you wasn't going to be a lawyer an engineer ms was ok but not really and so I became a salesman and I had a successful career in sales and sales management I work for the financial services industry and then I was made redundant laid off three times in two years I wasn't in control and mortgaged pay family to feed no holidays there was no financial security you're in a job you're out of control it don't matter how good you are the industry said getting rid of the sales force so what are we going to do we packed up our bags we flew to hong kong and i'm going to become an IT expert because that's what was expected to do something standard and I had this hobby as a kid of magic and I love making little tricks absolutely useless idea but I love magic and I decided that I was going to be an IT expert the Millennium was coming up there's the chance of that millennium bug and I could make some money but it wasn't for me and so what i'm doing i bought this laptop and of course on how to do a microsoft certified practitioner but i had me magic I love my magic and I wanted to be involved with the magic and so I turned a hobby into a paying thing I did a couple of magic shows they weren't very good but I did a couple of magic shows and then the magic led on to the balloons and the computer course got left in the cupboard and I've now still got a boxed gray scales 256 speed computer in a box if anybody wants it it's going up in value i'm sure it's unused and i decided that i was going to become a balloon artist now stepping out and doing something different the feeling of upsetting your family your friends letting them down because parents invest in us to get our education they want us to become a lot they think that becoming a lawyer is the way to being successful engineer or whatever and it's up to us as individuals to go out and find a passion that really bites you so where do you give how do you find a passion easy isn't it everyone tells you find your passion and you can do it I got three what to do I like my balloons but I managed to turn this into a business that's grown and grown and grown but how are you going to find your passion it's very difficult everyone says you can do it you can do it easy easy no it's not it was that easy it's mine took 20 years for me to find and develop my passion and if it was that easy we'd all be doing it I discovered something quite recently but there's two phrases that will help us as individuals find what it is we want to do simple the two phrases are good morning good afternoon good evening and thank you and you're going to say what on earth has that got to do with finding your passion I'm a man who goes into a coffee shop on a regular basis and I go in and I say good morning and if you go into a coffee shop on a regular basis you see the same old faces you get on the same old bus you see the same old bus driver if you catch the same taxi you might be the same taxi driver I go into a copy and I say good morning they've got their money helps because I've got a terrible memory there's a guy in Causeway Bay called Terrance found out he's a lawyer with he's working in a coffee shop and he wants to be a liar and he's got a passion it's in another coffee shop in discovery bay I'm in there and I was talking to a gentleman over there and his passion is shoot shoot crabs what's the name XM horseshoe crabs they're in there was a horseshoe crabs ugly things ugly things but that's his passion and he is really really into it and that's with his actions he's down now why am I asking saying good morning and why am I saying thank you because I believe that to find your passion you've got to try something new every day and that again is hard to do but if you go in and start a dialogue with someone and the easiest way to start a dialogue is to the person you see every time you go and buy your noodles every time you buy a latte every time you get some chips or get on the bus if you start a conversation by saying good morning and the australia's got these little name up there and when you get off the bus go by Joe get everyone in the basket woodmont City Griner talking about the talking to the bus track people will appreciate that and they will start to open up Terrence has told me all about his law the horseshoe crab Kevin man man Kevin pushy he's told me all about his crabs and he he has introduced me to other people and so what I'm saying is that if you don't know what your passion is by talking and creating a dialogue you will perhaps uncover things that you're not even thought of when you started now now you've got your passion now you know what you're doing you've got to decide you've got to get good at it getting good at something takes practice they say an avatar practices until they get it right a professional practices until they don't get it wrong now you've got your passion to turn it into a business you've got to be the best you possibly can at doing what you do and you've got to keep practicing and learning a reading and studying until you've discovered what it is and how it works and when you've done that says twisting away it's normally a comedy routine with this but not today when you've mastered your art you now are expert in balance or an expert in where they've told that you have and that you use but unfortunately this day and age being the best balloon man in the world doesn't cut mustard it wasn't very well I had to put him down today you need to learn how to promote yourself and market yourself and expand and get your message out there to everyone else and you can try it whitter facebook but there's other people there's other balloon men out there who are saying pick me pick me I can do dogs and pick me pick me I can do monkeys and it's how do you make yourself different from everywhere else and so you need to find mentors and helpers that take your business and your idea to help you guide you to the next level doctors learn how to improve by studying under other doctors lawyers practice which is a strange term same as that but they learn from other people athletes learn from a coach entertainers like myself I learn from coaches to take themselves to the next level so part of finding what your message is is finding how to then take it to the next level the next though and you don't mind studying and doing all the extra bits because your passion is in your heart and you want to take you forward so you read extra you take it to go to conventions there are balloon conventions it's weird it may be that the help is closer to home I mean Sherlock Holmes has dr. Watson to help him yeah he's at home it may be that your flatmates can help you and get you to the next level it's all about learning and practicing and taking it on and as you go your parents my parents me as a parent of four children don't necessarily want you to be a doctor or lawyer pharmacist they see that as the way that they've invested their income and that they're going to get a return of that income that you can look after them in their old age they want really that you are happy doing what you do that's what I want I want my kids to be happy I know my parenting parents want me to be happy to doing what I do and as long as I'm happy and successful at what I do I can take the balloons and oh my living from them so please think about how you can take your passion and take you to the next step and then take it up and up and up and go focus with it and then you can take it on to the level that you can be the question is not necessarily what is your passion the question perhaps should be why you have a question why is your pain because if you know the why the what is so much easier and I'm often asked not what I do you can see what I do I'm asked why I do what I do and I'd like you to go away thinking today that perhaps you could consider why you have your passion and why you want to go forward and when people ask me why why I do what I do it's the smile the smile is why I do what I do you