FLOW | Yiwen Zhang | TEDxRDFIS Youth
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG-LnKYKTCk Video ID: gG-LnKYKTCk ============================================================ Transcriber: Tuyet Vu Reviewer: phuong do So. Hi everyone, I'm Joel and today I'll share with you my take on the concept of flow. And if you see my picture back there, like don't mind the hair. You know, I look very different because, you know, the photographer had to do a special makeup on me. I'm never going to that photo booth again. So flow, I would like to start by explaining my understanding. No, I don't like to give academic definitions like that's not my thing. So I searched through the dictionaries, looked through some tutorials like Merriam-Webster's dictionaries, and then came up with these definitions. So it's a state of high concentration where I'm so focused that if you try to call my cell at that point, I would not be able to answer because my phone would be turned off. And if you look at the meme to the other side, Finding Nemo. You don't want to be like Dory. Like Dory is distracted. And that's kind of why she lost Nemo. And so when we think of the concept of flow. It's this superpower. It's superpower in the sense that it's so hard to achieve, but it's a superpower also because it's unique to each and every one of us. And it doesn't have to be something very complicated or high end. And I'll show you my experience and how I came to that conclusion. So, um, you know, I'm not the perfect student. Some of my teachers might tell you that I've had many different teachers, from doctor dentists to doctor Papa from Mr. Aqib, Miss Helen and some other math teachers. And they'll tell you I'm not the greatest mathematician. But when I got to the village in Guizhou, I had to teach them everything. There was a lot of things that I never knew myself. So I had to look after these kids like Doctor Dennis mentioned, you know, being a part time parent. And I'll be honest, it's not an easy job. It's not close to easy. So what happened was I would go there six in the morning, every single day to prepare everything, to prepare for class, to check the classrooms and to see if there’s anything on the running tracks that could endanger them. I was still surprised by how I could wake up six in the morning for something like this. If somebody told me one day, Joe, you're waking up six for school, I'm like, nah, I'm not doing that. But somehow I stuck to the schedule. I enjoyed it. It was fun. This might not being the perfect student myself. So on the way to the classrooms, I would ask myself, what would my teachers say to these kids? You know. Why would Doctor Dennis say. What would Doctor Pappas say now? How would Miss Celina teach this math question? I would actually ask myself. I would look through my class materials and be like, oh, you know, yeah, maybe there's something I can use from there. So I think it's also about drawing on your personal experience. And after I did it the first time, I did it the second time. You know, this is an addiction. Almost. It's if you do it the first time and you enjoy it, it's gonna happen over and over again. And so here I was, scorching August in Guangzhou. The temperature was hitting 30°C. And if my math is right, it won't be. It's going to be about maybe 80 to 90 Fahrenheit. For anyone that uses a different unit of measurement. So this is a picture of us paying a visit to a family of the students. We do it every year and this time I let you know it was so special because I really enjoyed having these two kids there to my, I think, left side and to the right side of the picture is my friend Laura. She's holding some homemade chicken wings that the parents gave us. It was delicious. And if you look closely, there is sauce and saliva dripping off of her. Yeah, it was a very fun trip. You know, we actually understood the challenges. And I was so focused that I never even realized my phone is dead. So the batteries ran out. And with these two students, it was something really special for me. And every time I think of this experience, I get reminded of Doctor Dennis. I have him. I've had had him for two years in English, although I taught arts this time, so it wasn't all smooth. You know, people came to me and they said, you know, Joe, the class is kind of boring. Somebody actually came to me and said that. So I'm not sure if any other teachers here have experienced something similar, but I was told the second day, Joe, the class is getting a little boring and they wanted me to teach something else. So I had to teach arts. At that point. I had to make sure they're in that classroom for the next 45 minutes. And so I did some research. I spoke with a few of them, and I realized, you know, hey, they're a big fan of cartoons, just like many of my peers. So I'm like, why don't I show them how to draw cartoon figures? And you can see some of our students work on the whiteboard. The one that looks a little more rough. I drew that I did my best, but turns out that, you know, I can't really draw that well. But, you know, they achieved great success. They were well focused. They respected me. They respected their peers. I'm like, wow, you know, we can achieve this much just by doing something we enjoy. And if anybody asks, I'll be there again next year, right? I promise I'll be there again next year. I'll make sure I sign up on time. And so besides teaching, you know, you can have a lot of other things that bring you a sense of passion. That's something you enjoy. I do have friends that work for an airline, China Southern. If you want the name and he works as a pilot, he flies many different models from the three 30s all the way to the three 50s. Some of the most grueling and longest flight times in the world. He flew once, actually, from Shenzhen to Mexico City. The longest flight 16 hours and 30 minutes. He was sitting there in that metal tube, crammed And you can see his dinner. The box of noodles with the fork on top. He's a really successful pilot. That's definitely granted, right? Because chances are, if you work for an airline, there is a very large success already. It doesn't matter what position. And so he gave me some advice he wants me to think about for this speech and for my career, both as a student and any other thing I want to do. He told me that I should be smart about the situation. You know, have a plan. I'm like, you know, that's great advice. That's really deep. He's like, be passionate. I'm like, that's very deep, too. And the next thing he said kind of surprised me. And he said, don't eat anything spicy because you can, like before you do something important, like giving a speech or flying a plane because that box of noodles, um, gave him diarrhea. So here's what happened. He took off 830 and 920. He was at cruise altitude, 38,000ft in the air, and he was eating away. And after 10 to 20 minutes of him finishing his meal and he was like, I have this weird feeling in my stomach right now. So he had to get his coworkers into the cockpit, keep the door locked, and he was stuck in the restroom for like 15 to 20 minutes. So it's really bad advice. Don't eat anything strong on your stomach before something grant's about to happen, because you're not going to want to get diarrhea there. And it can also be something so simple and so basic, like being a fan of food. You know, my classmates and my teachers, my parents would tell you that I'm a really, really big fan of food. I can't eat nonstop from daylight to the day when the day ends. And so what I do on the weekends is I keep searching for new foods like different restaurants, different combinations of meals, different drinks. And I would think about how I can blend that into my ECA. So I have this ECA, I host every Thursday with food, and this is something you can connect easily with people because everybody eats at some point. And so to find flow, like how do you do it? I don't have a definite answer, unfortunately. You know, as much as I like to give something simple and straightforward, it just takes time and it takes trial and error. So I like to describe this as climbing up a pyramid. You start with very basic things. You understand how something works, you give it a try, and when you climb up, you're going to start experiencing setbacks. You know, at some point you'll feel like giving up, right? But don't. And you just keep going. Keep going. You find new methods. Good. And you encounter some new friends. You know, new challenges, new opportunities. And eventually you'll hit that stage, that block of time where you're like, I just did something amazing. And I could keep going because it has to be sustainable. And for the setbacks part. Yes, I experienced a lot of setbacks myself. You know, some curriculums never actually worked out. And I had kids when I taught them, like they would tell me the lessons. Boring. They would want another teacher. This can be hard at you on like at first it was hard on me because, I mean, it hurts my feelings, right? But I'm like, you know what? What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger. Like, with that mindset, I just kind of kept going. I'm like, I'll just keep going. I'll just let it go. Slip. And it turned out all right. So I think my final advice is not so much about, oh, you know, how you can find flow. You do this, you do that. Like it's not about that. Like the mindset of, hey, I can do this. And I really, really enjoy doing this. Like it's everything. And there are times where things are not always fair. There are. Sometimes it's unwarranted. Sometimes it's challenging, and sometimes you'll want to give up. Like it's happened to me numerous times already. Like I'm used to it. But for me, the advice would be no, don't give up. Just keep going. Keep pushing. No, you've got to believe in yourself and enjoy what you're doing, because that way it doesn't even feel like you're working. And eventually you'll find out things turn out all right. And that's it for me. I hope all of you find something that you're passionate about, especially my peers, and have a nice day. Thank you.