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What is success?
Recently, I was talking to my oldest daughter about career and success.
This made me think:
What would I tell myself if I had the chance to talk to a 20-year-old me?
This series is for the young professional starting his or her professional life.
And it is not an easy task.
Even more now. The complexity of the pandemic
and all the transformation we face regarding the future of work
brings us unprecedented challenges.
Maybe this tragedy can bring you an opportunity
to revisit your career and find things you really like.
Before we start, we need to define what success is about.
For many people, success is about money, is about fame, is about power.
Maybe. But for me, success is all about fulfillment.
Fulfillment is directly related with the pleasure of doing something that matters to you.
If money is what gives you a reason to live, go for it.
I'm not here to talk about how to become a CEO.
Maybe you want to become one
maybe you want to become a musician,
a priest or a basketball player.
It doesn't matter.
It's all about what makes your career,
your work, and your life meaningful.
And remember
I'm not a psychologist,an HR expert or a career counselor.
I'm a chemical engineer. I work with project management
I transform ideas into results.
From industry power plants to M&A, from roads to digital transformation.
This is why this series is called
WHAT MATTERS
During my career, I learned that
passion and reputation,
associated with adequate level of personal planning,
are capable of helping you to create options.
And options are the best career insurance you can have.
It will allow you to do something you love
and making your living out of that.
You may look at these barrels of port wine behind me
and you may ask why I am recording this video
in Porto, Portugal, inside one of the oldest port cellars.
It is all about passion.
I am passionate about wine
especially Port Wine.
20 years ago, I was here in this same cellar.
I was a visitor on my first trip to Portugal.
I felt in love immediately for the Douro valley,
the traditions around the Port Wine and Portugal.
And today I live here in Portugal.
I worked extremely hard to build a path that would bring me here.
At the same time, living in Europe was a very, very long shot.
But I had the passion for planning a path
that could bring me here.
It took me 15 years.
But it happened.
The first concept I want to challenge
is the concept of work-life balance.
For me, there is no such thing as work-life balance.
The work-life balance concept is based on a simple assumption:
When you work, you don't live.
And to have a life, it must be out of work.
If you think that way
you are telling me that out of 24 hours per day
you really live maybe 6 hours.
Because you sleep 8 hours
and you work about 10 hours a day.
This is why passion for what you do
is critically important.
I am not saying it is easy.
Nothing is easy. But you cannot give up.
I worked many times doing things I did not want.
and it was not always a perfect path.
However, every single step was with a mindset
that would drive me to where I want to go.
Of course, if you do not have this passion,
you can still do the work and make your living.
But it's harder for you to have a fulfilling life.
Always think:
what makes your heart beat stronger?
What makes you feel outstanding and accomplished?
Think about people that inspire you.
You will probably find a strong passion,
drive, and love for what they do.
And this has nothing to do with money.
This is above and beyond that.
and I know many people that are very successful financially,
but they struggle to find happiness and fulfillment.
Maybe you will think that I am passionate
because Brazilians are passionate.
This is also not true.
It is not related to what you say externally
or your cultural background.
Passion is a feeling inside you.
It is the passion that a nurse demonstrates to the patient
the passion that a cook has to serve the best possible food
It is the passion that someone shows when he or she
moves to a war-torn country
to help children to get a minimum decent education
the happiness and fulfillment that a financial broker
demonstrates when her or his economic forecast is right,
or even the passion for seeing that someone is getting engaged
listening to the music you created.
This is what really matters.
For me, without passion, life becomes gray.
I know that people tell you that you need to work hard.
Yes, absolutely.
I fully agree that you need to work very hard
even more if you are starting your career.
But your life will be much easier
if you work hard on something you love.
Passion gives you that extra energy
to go a little bit further, a little bit further
to make a real difference.
Don't fall into a trap that looks for shortcuts
because, in life, there are no shortcuts.
Let's take my work.
I work with Project Management.
I'm absolutely passionate about getting things done.
Take things from paper and turn them into reality.
Imagine you playing with Lego bricks
and transforming them into what we want.
This is what makes me happy.
Finally, it is important that you should live a life that is true for yourself.
Do not live other people's life.
Every single one is different.
Do not follow a career
just because your parents expect you to live this way.
Or because this is what the society expects from you.
You need to live a life that will make you happy.
But you need to develop options
and have a roadmap to get there.
And we will discuss
in our next episode.
