I live in a cabin in the the woods offgrid. Time has slowed down. Definitely downstream. I feel successful. I'm sure people can't see that. I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm free. That's success to me.

"Your success might not look successful to the people around you but it will feel successful to you internally." wow, that is one way to look at life. Amazing.

“Our authentic life choices won’t always be easy, but they will always be worth it because it helps us live with integrity.” What a powerful statement.

She was my professor in grad school and I was blessed to work under her guidance. The way she mentored us was amazing and tbh changed my life in a positive way.

If you want to get something done, you often don't have to push harder. Take a step back and do something else. Then look at it with fresh eyes and it suddenly works. At least that's my experience.

Basically, don't stop working hard, but direct your efforts to the flow of things. That way, you will be propelled towards success with the inertia of what's already working for you.

This came at a good time. I’ve burnt out twice in 2022, and I don’t ever wanna do that again. A week of headaches and difficulty experiencing joy and getting rid of anxiety.

She basically summarized whole year of therapy sessions in 16:31 minutes. What a brilliant character. Thanks for sharing!

Key take away: Define what is your true success work for it. Don't go by the society. And this true success does keep changing with time so be conscious of it and adapt.

So, in a word, we don't feel our efforts as efforts only if we're doing something personally meaningful.

In short, develop your spiritual quotient. Live the way you want to live....like a child. Most of the times, our efforts are propelled by our desire to achieve what others have achieved. This phenomenon starts in adolescence when our awareness ignites and continues till we suffer severe damages both mental and physical. And by then we have no courage, energy and will power to make the necessary changes. God Bless

This is actually one of the best TED Talks, in my opinion.

"Flow State". .... trying without trying is the essence of TAOISM

Upstream effort. Downstream effort. Find what you authentically want, how you want to feel, and what you value. Act on those values and feelings in the real world. Use discernment to evaluate the results of our decisions. Are you experiencing flow? Is synchronicity occurring in your life? Stop trying at things that don't matter to you and start trying at things that do. Wuwei. Great guidance! Thank you.

I'm quite old now, but will attest to the priciples of this philosophy. When I worked I only 6 hours a day for 4+ days a week. How was this, I didn't waste time driving in grid-lock traffic so I would arrive about 10am, when in the office I would leave about 4pm. However, I worked like a whirlwind for those 6 hours, nothing got in my way, not Lunch or anything. In that time I set my appointments for the week and rarely went to the office until Friday. I generally earnt 2 to 3 times the average, I disposed of my mortgage thirty years ago, I love paying all my bills when or before they're due, so I have zero debt, money in the bank, and really don't give a darn about material things. It's all in the attitude. Do what you have to do, be effective, then spend real time with your loved ones, go out sailing or whatever. Gain Contentment.

Authenticity is important I think it means living like a king even when you're poor.

Yes, wearing our busyness as a badge of honor while it burns us out and we lack joy & fulfillment in life.

Flow and sychronicity are very zen topics. Achieving flow is as easy as not thinking before acting. Hovering a helicopter, landing a plane, applying the brakes on a car to avoid an accident, shooting a bow. All good examples of zen, of flow. You both act and decide to act at the exact same moment. This was a beautiful talk.

"Our authentic life choices, they won't always be easy, but they'll always be worth it because they help us live with integrity" So true, so true, so true.

I have a huge problem with the "upstream effort". I tend to care too much, work too much and expect too much from myself. I literally got quite hill a couple years ago, and I'll have sequels for the rest of my life. I have "fixed" a lot of psychological problems I've had by studying the right stuff, meditation, self awareness and a healthy lifestyle. Now I'm addressing this. Life Never should feel like a burden. For several reasons I never fully explored what comes easy to me. But it's never too late. If your life feels like a burden, pause. There is something to consider and the moment is now.

Nothing wrong with quitting Harvard and living in the woods for 2 months then moving to Europe. She was exhibiting classic signs of burnout and that's how she dealt with it. I'm happy she found a new path. No one ever got burned out doing something they absolutely loved.

I have started to live a downstream life for a while, and then I watched this video.... everything she said is so relatable to me.

This is so great, I am proud to say that i've been living a downstream life and it feels very successful and i am excited for whatever comes next in my life

Hello! I'm from Azerbaijan. I wish you all good and well-being. I started learning English. I really want to go to college in Canada. Therefore, I watch these roles, although now I can say I don’t understand anything, but I continue to watch and study in parallel. So I decided to share. Thanks a lot! Peace to your home!

It is beautiful way to say "do what you love and you won't have to try so hard because it will be easy" :) I agree!

Amen to that! I've been doing a lot of upstream effort my whole life with all the "shoulds" and "have-tos" . Even after you achieve what you've achieved it leaves you wanting. However I would argue that people are often not in the position for lots of reasons to chose to do what they want to do in life.

I am just trying to apply what I learned from this video to my current difficult situation. Before I got into nursing school, I used to love reading health articles,books, watch health videos, and work out. Now I see it very difficult to study nursing and it's very boring. Teachers are rude and arrogant, this made my learning experience very difficult. About 60% of what we learn in Nursing doesn't apply in the real world. Now I stopped working out as a result of the stress nursing education has caused me. I feel like I am trying hard definitely in the upstream direction. My values didn't change. I still enjoy to read about health however my goal has changed as I don't want to study nursing anymore. Success to me right now is to be debt free from all the loans I took for university education. I don't care about being rich.I don't care about achieving anything. I believe the real achievement anyone can reach is to free themselves from enslavement. We live in a time where people can't find jobs easily, and if they ever find a job they have to enslave themselves to the job, work long hours, and probably hold two jobs just to pay off bills. I just want to be debt free, and I want to be free from enslavement. Likely I have to enslave myself to a work that I don't like just to pay off my school loans, and this is why I feel forced to continue working upstream to graduate and get a nursing job that pays well just to pay off my school loans. Otherwise I wish I can quit nursing right now and get any job even if it pays less than a nursing job. Going downstream right now is not an option, easy to say than done.

Don’t work so hard for things that doesn’t matter to you

Billionaires often say "Money doesn't matter" Models say "Appearance doesn't matter" Geniuses often say "Grade doesn't matter" People tend to underestimate things they have and value things they don't. Anyway, she chose fame and approval over well-being and health. If she wasn't academically successful, I wonder if she could still think the same way. P.S. No offense. I just want to express my thought. Her speech is still amazing in many ways :)

"Looking at the comments after the talk won't help you" - Lao Tzu

The downstream and upstream effort can be decomposed into two questions: 1. How bad do you want it? 2. How much effort do you have to/are you willing to pay to achieve it? If both answers turn out negative, then you may be paying upstream effort and need to find what you want the most first. Those who are struggling for their goal are not discouraged by the speaker from my perspective. At least you have another option: try to live happy with your current situation. I myself am poor and hopeless in the sense of future success. But I’m happy with a lowered need and more focus on my health and soul. This speech synchronise with what I think really 👍👏👏

As a person who recently started re-assessing what is really important to me and discovering the deep wisdom of Daoism and the wonderful concept of Wu Wei bei Lao Tzu, you talk really felt like something I needed to hear. Thank you.

‘“ Authentic life choices will never be easy, but they will always let us live with integrity “❤️

Your internal well-being is more important than any external success

I love the way she speaks! So calm, like a flow. Very nice to listen. Totally agree with her ideas!

If you love it, hard is not hard. It's easy

The last 30 sec are the conclusion of the whole speech.

Probably the most personally impactful-to-me TED Talk, I've ever listened to. And she was so calm and composed too.

It's not necessary doing less, but expending less effort while doing what you love.

"Your success might not look successful to the people around you, but it will feel successful to you internally." That's it!

I worked at a job that I really liked, but it was also a lot of hard work that drained me after a few years. I made the mistake of staying at that job, which brought me more rewards, but at the expense of completely exhausting myself.

In every TED video some people comment- This is the best TED video.

Bottom line plunge into my heart. "Your Authenticity are more important than any job, any promotion, any salary, any degree or frankly, anyone else's opinion of you." Need to think what is my Authenticity during my daily life. Surely, It doesn't mean that we don't need to take effort on daily life to wander seeking the other way. If the authenticity is still hard to find even though we keep thinking of it, we better to just accept the task in the front of us and try to find the better way to do it. Then the door might be opened for us in unexpected way. I have learned that all human lives are matter of time.

We all tried hard in life, from schools, works, to relationships. Don't work hard for the thing that doesn’t matter to us.

This video is sooooo on time! I couldn't agree and appreciate more! Spectacular insight on the whole matter.

This resonates with the metaphysics conception of feeling the flow of life. The life is the path, not a destination!

Thank you! This is what has been happening to me for the last few years, and I knew it was right. No one could understand, and I couldn't put it into words. I shared this with my family to finally help them "get it".

What I am getting out of this is whatever you are wanting to achieve, be clear on the WHY. Because after you achieve it, the WHY might still not be answered. Hence you feel like you were too busy for nothing. If it is your passion and answers your WHY, then it is not really doing too much. Plus live your WHY, not anyone else's WHY.

Thank you very much! Now I finally found my compass so that I wouldn't be exhausted and sacrifices my health, which would risk my family to lost me and make them sad. I will remind my self on the real and authentic values while I working harder.

This is the revelation that everyone should discover. This is immense and sooo useful. Thank you.

Probly the best tedx talk I have heard !!!

It is cute that looking back she’s thinking I wish I’d enjoyed the journey better. The truth is she wouldn’t have got where she is if she’d taken it slow and was super chill.

Brilliant. I don't know how many people were present at this talk, but had I been among them that applause would have sounded thunderous.

Love this idea of personal reflection when facing obstacles

Anyone who struggles to make decisions should watch this !!! Life changing !!

I quit my management job to go back to school and pursue the science industry to relocate to Germany. I have money investment that is driven by my self worth. Everyone told me, every step of the way, that I was making a mistake. Im pretty decent in the German language, my investments are doing great, I'm presenting at national confrences. Things just kind of fell in place and studying took a priority. This is the necessary upstream! There is a lot of light to this talk.

Great speech. That's why I love the quote by Steve Jobs: "Focus what matters". Achievement is also a never ending process, one achieved another new will born.

Bethany, thank you so much for doing this TEDx talk, it really helped me understand myself, what I have been going through for so many years (similar to you). Thank you for the lengthy explanation/discussion. More power to you.

It’s amazing getting into the “flow”, it happens in software development where all of the sudden everything clicks and you can hyper-focus unburdened by anything else around you.

I needed this reminder today.

Bethany, well done! This is a project I am still working on. I have suffered a lot of harsh conditions because of my decision to study biochemistry, but I have no regrets because the said decision was a true and authentic decision for me, even if everyone else thinks otherwise.

Awesome way of putting things into perspective. Heard similar ideas, but this was one of the most clearest and concise. Enjoyed and thank you !

Fantastic video. . I am very pleased that I found this. Clarity......

This is the most relatable and comprehensive Ted Talk ever 👏🏻👏🏻 She's so down to earth and smart too...

Whoa, this is wise beyond. This succinctly hits so many of the pieces I've been struggling with. Thank you.

Bethany!! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Her last moment smile is a sign of gratified addiction

Thank God for this speech! I always knew I didn't make a mistake not to finish the school I didn't like. I found a field that suits me much better and I am much more happy like this. The challenge is to dismiss all the negative comments coming from those who "just want the best for you". (Oh boy are those comments coming for years! 😆) Even though they really want to help they are not in your shoes so just listen to that inner voice of yours and follow your own path. Only your health depends on it.

I can definitely identify with the truths shared in this talk, in terms of where I currently am in my life... This speaks deeply to me. Thank you for sharing

Thank you for spreading this knowledge. I'm enlightened.

Love this ! I have a great life so far. What is important to you ? Just make the best of life. Enjoy there are always people above us no matter what ! I, am grateful and blessed ! Thank you 🙏🏻❤️

Bethany thank you for the inspiring speech. It came to my life in the best timing. 😊🙌

Authenticity is key.

Thank you so much. I need to listen to this everyday.

Thank you so much. You speak to my heart. I'm working things out. I'm not giving up on myself.

Omg, this helped me figuring out my priorities right now! She is so inspiring really!! Many times I find it hard to make myself happy over my family happines or my husband. But this is my life,I make the rules. Hope not loose focus,this time I'm determined!! Thank you

I was wrong. I think this talk offers some thoughts and concepts that can actually be helpful.

I'm watching this video again after a few months, what an impact. Thank you :)

This is exactly what I am going through. Thank you very much!

This is the most meaningful and valuable talk I've ever watched. Thanks.

Great! Thanks! I learned from this video that we need to make sure our inner environment should support we do in daily basis

This is the answer I've been searching during those hardship towards my goals🖤

Valuable speech ! As an example, I was doing my PhD in Nanotechnology (after spending 12 years of university life) when I realized that what I was doing in life was not aligned with my values at all 😱I was at the age of 33 then.. After lots of struggles especially psychologically I quit everything that I had worked for and started a new life from zero. I became both a musician and a healer which both allowed me to go with my own flow of spiritual journey 😊 I feel much more connected to my higher self and I am at peace 🙏

"I was addicted to achieving success." *Gives a TEDx talk*

I am so happy to see that the speaker in this video quotes one of the TAO's saying. I took the words of "down stream effort" as going along the law of the universe. I am a Taoist.

That’s what I need to hear . Been feeling lost for a while. I have tried so hard in my degree study while taking care of my children, and looking for internship job at the same time. Yes, I need to stop and reflect, start to pay more attention to my inner voice. Finding the direction first.

THANK YOU so much!!! Wonderful speaker, and every word is extremely supportive! Thank YOU!

Identify what we value in life Identify how we want to feel every day (focus on process and remind yourself of your dreams in face of obstacles)

Her TedX talk is a practical guide to manage professional and personal life,a very feasible strategy to manage stress,to slow down during reach goal,when we realize enjoying journey is equally important as enjoying success.Overall a great lecture to relax mind and lead a healthier life,both professional life and personal life😍😍👍👍👍

it feels like a blessing to be hear these thoughts of wisdom. Thank you so much for the speech. It is a life-changing one for so many people. If you feel hard to understand what she says, trust me you need to stop what you doing and really think about your life again.

Definitely, this one of the greatest talk on goals and achievement. The authentic goals change depending on our current passion in life, My deeper understanding of downstream efforts is to stay aware of what is currently passionate about at the moment and align your goals in an authentic way.

Thank you very much for this eye opening & remarkable messages. I hope you can inspire more people through more videos like this.

Hard work is very often, if not always, considered by many a price you pay for dignity or decency. Leaders' speeches compel people by reproducing such principle. Values we should start reflecting about. Thanks, Bethany!

This lady is amazing. Thanks alot for this beautiful uplifting message. 💕💕

When forced to rest after a burnout, I realised how much the brain and the body can achieve when I'm not pushing and pushing and pushing. Just as Bethany says, we need to listen to how we actually feel. And every now and then just let things be. There is very much going on inside us, even when we're not thinking about it, or when we're not engaged in it.

Absolutely loved this video. I practice inspired action everyday. Thank you so much for this valuable information Bethany. GOD bless you:)

I love her voice! 💞 Such a beautiful message!!! 🙌🏽

It resonates so much to me. An achievement addict I was, got me a lupus disease. But God gave me a second chance so now I’m doing things that I love the most in my heart, regardless other people expectation. It gave me inner happiness. I believe now people started to feel the same, that I’m successful in doing things that first was only for my own life calling.

I'm a total overachiever and upstream effort worker and this resonates with me. Although, I have to say I'm not as much of an achiever so as to have gotten a job at Harvard Medical School. As a nurse, I am finding the work to be lots of effort on many levels, spiritual, emotional, physical, mental, sociological, and I have not gotten anywhere. For the past year and a half, since earning my Masters, I've been working on a fiction novel and working part time. So I understand the downstream effort, where I go for a hike, sit down, write the scene and am free, authentic, feel good and have psychological flow. Even if I self-publish my novel on Amazon, nobody ever buys it, maybe some people read it for free, and I continue to write novels until it isn't important to me anymore, that would be more successful to me than when I go into work as a nurse and make a lot of money even working part time but it leaves me stressed. So I have let go of working full time and have my writing part time so it is a good balance. But my children are grown and out of the house so it is just me and my student loans. I get it how people think she sounds kind of like a spoiled brat but she does have some good points and she doesn't dismiss that people need to provide for themselves.

Xcellent. Very strait forward and to the point!-) Thank you 🙏