【TEDx】The Magic of Not Giving a F*** | Sarah Knight | TEDxCoconutGrove | eJOY English
arrow next
Shape
listen
arrow next
quiz
arrow next
Combined Shape
write
arrow next
speak
Cut a part
Cut a part
play iconPlay (Space)
sound iconMute (M)
Auto pause - Delay showing subtitle (Q)
slow iconSlow (S)
loop iconLoop 1 sub ( L )
1
    loop iconStart looping AB (Shift + 3)
    AB
  • Start Start loop (Shift + 1)0:0:0 End End loop (Shift + 2)0:0:0
ejoyIconAI Complete sub
setting iconSettings
medium screen iconTheater Mode (T)
full screen iconFull Screen (F)
Your browser doesn't support full screen mode.
icon mic
alt
0%
icon micNext
icon micTry Again
icon micCompare
play
play
cancel
Translation
Definition
Slang
Video
loading
Transcript
Auto Scroll
AI Transcript
SplitOverflowSaved phrases
We're living in a post-tidying society.
loading
Everyone, including me, has a story about de-cluttering their home.
loading
Gathering all of their possessions into the middle of the floor,
loading
deciding what brings joy,
loading
and then bidding farewell to a set of spatulas
loading
in pursuit of a calmer, happier life.
loading
But what if we could gather up all of the other stuff -
loading
tasks, events, obligations relationships -
loading
and drop it at the kerb without a single regret?
loading
And by doing so,
loading
be free to focus our time, energy, and money
loading
on the stuff that really makes us happy?
loading
Well, I figured out how to do it.
loading
It is great, and I call it,
loading
"The life-changing magic of not giving a fuck."
loading
(Cheers) (Applause)
loading
I hope you'll excuse my language because there is more where that came from.
loading
Before I can teach you how to stop giving a fuck,
loading
we have to talk about what it means to give one in the first place.
loading
'Giving a fuck' means you care, right?
loading
So when I say, "I don't give a fuck about 'Game of Thrones,'"
loading
I mean, "I don't care about 'Game of Thrones.'"
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Now, let's take the concept a step further.
loading
Let's define your 'fucks' as your time, energy, and money.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
If you don't care about something, you should stop giving your fucks to it.
loading
I don't care about 'Game of Thrones' so I don't spend time watching it;
loading
I don't spend energy wondering where the next season is going;
loading
and I don't spend my money on the books, merchandise, or anything Westeros related.
loading
'Game of Thrones' does not get any of my fucks.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Make sense?
loading
By making these calculated decisions,
loading
you wind up with more time, energy, and money
loading
to spend on the things you really do care about.
loading
And I call that "making a fuck budget."
loading
(Laughter)
loading
I'll get back to fuck budgets in a minute, but first, I want to tell you a little bit
loading
about how the life-changing magic of not giving a fuck happened to me.
loading
Two and a half years ago,
loading
I was a senior editor at a major New York publishing house.
loading
I had spent 15 years clawing my way up the corporate ladder,
loading
I had a roster of best-selling authors,
loading
and everything I always thought I wanted from my career was coming to pass.
loading
But I was really, really unhappy.
loading
The kind of unhappy that makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning;
loading
the kind of unhappy that makes it hard to commute 45 minutes on the NYC subway;
loading
and hard to spend eight - ten hours at your desk before turning around,
loading
going home, and doing it all over again.
loading
So, I quit.
loading
And making that decision was also really hard.
loading
A lot of red wine, a lot of tears.
loading
But what came after I quit was nothing short of life-changing.
loading
Once I removed myself from the culture and lifestyle
loading
of a job that had been making me so unhappy,
loading
I was free to focus my time and energy on what would make me happy -
loading
including working, but just in a different way -
loading
and eventually, on moving from Brooklyn to a tropical island.
loading
I stopped giving my fucks to working for a corporation, wearing pants,
loading
and taking those long subway commutes.
loading
And I started giving my fucks to working for myself, wearing bikinis,
loading
and taking long walks on the beach.
loading
I'm telling you, life changing.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
But none of that change happened because I had tidied up my apartment.
loading
It happened because I cleared out my mind.
loading
Let me try and explain.
loading
Imagine your mind is a barn,
loading
and inside it is are all of the things that bring you joy,
loading
but also, all of the stuff that annoys you.
loading
The potential for a happy life is there,
loading
but you have to clear out the annoy to make room for the joy.
loading
This is mental de-cluttering, and it is magical.
loading
I did it by accident when I quit my job, but it was so amazing
loading
that I developed a way for you to do it on purpose.
loading
I call it "the not sorry method."
loading
It has two steps.
loading
Step one: Decide what you don't give a fuck about.
loading
Step two: Don't give a fuck about those things.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Simple, right?
loading
But I know what you're thinking:
loading
This sounds like a recipe for turning into an asshole.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
It's okay, I get that a lot.
loading
But that's where the "not sorry" part comes in.
loading
My method is all about not giving a fuck using honesty and politeness.
loading
So in the end, you don't have to feel guilty.
loading
You are on your best behavior, and you have nothing to apologize for.
loading
You are quite literally not sorry.
loading
You're also not an asshole.
loading
So how might the not sorry method work for you?
loading
Well, let's say, you love 'Game of Thrones'
loading
and you've been invited to a Sunday night dinner party
loading
that interferes with watching your favorite show.
loading
You feel bad about turning down the invite,
loading
but you really love 'Game of Thrones,'
loading
and you don't want to record it to watch later because... spoilers.
loading
Well, you only have so much time, energy, and money to spend on Sunday night.
loading
So, you need to consult your fuck budget.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Decide which activity brings more joy
loading
and allocate your fuck bucks accordingly.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
I'm telling you,
loading
if you respond in a timely fashion,
loading
"No thanks, can't make it to that dinner party,"
loading
you've done nothing wrong.
loading
You were honest, you were polite, and you don't have to be sorry about it.
loading
And that's just the tip of the fuck-berg.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
You can apply the "not sorry" method to anything:
loading
tasks, events, obligations, even people.
loading
You start by making a list of everything that's cluttering up your mental barn;
loading
all of the impositions on your time, energy, and money;
loading
the fucks you're being asked to give.
loading
To keep it manageable, I go by category.
loading
So for example, work is one category,
loading
and five fucks on your list might be mandatory meetings, conference calls,
loading
your coworkers charity half-marathon,
loading
a going away party for a coworker you don't even like,
loading
and doing your actual job.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Once you've listed them all out, you perform the "not sorry" method.
loading
Step one: Decide what annoys you.
loading
Non-essential stuff you don't care about.
loading
Step two: Stop giving your fucks in the form of time, energy, and money
loading
to those things.
loading
Then cross them off your list with a big black marker.
loading
It feels good, just go with it.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
What I'm saying is, yes, you may have to get up and go to work every day,
loading
and you may have to attend some mandatory meetings.
loading
But you do not have to attend a going away party
loading
for a colleague you don't even like.
loading
But if you are still having trouble not giving that fuck?
loading
I recommend a visualization exercise.
loading
Picture how you're going to feel when you walk into that party:
loading
annoyed or full of joy?
loading
(Laughter)
loading
It's been a long day, your feet hurt,
loading
you don't love socializing with your colleagues at the office,
loading
let alone at a shitty bar.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
You really don't love pitchers of warm Coors Light.
loading
So, what should you do?
loading
RSVP 'No' of course.
loading
Why would you spend your fuck bucks or your actual bucks on this party?
loading
I'll tell you why.
loading
You do it because you feel obligated and guilty.
loading
You are psyching yourself out of a perfectly fine response, "No,"
loading
before you even try it.
loading
Most people just don't think this stuff through.
loading
They say "Yes" to things like this right away,
loading
then wind up wasting time, energy, and money
loading
on an annoying, unenjoyable night out.
loading
You waste even more time and energy just dreading the party a week beforehand.
loading
And even more, trying to come up with ways to weasel out of your commitment,
loading
then worrying you'll be seen as an asshole for bailing at the last minute.
loading
And honestly?
loading
If you do bail at the last minute,
loading
having never intended to go in the first place,
loading
then you are an asshole.
loading
And you should feel bad about it.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
Instead, pause;
loading
visualize;
loading
and say a timely, polite, "No, thanks. Can't make it."
loading
This is how you stop spending time you don't have,
loading
with people you don't like,
loading
doing things you don't want to do.
loading
You'll be less busy, less burdened, less annoyed.
loading
You'll have so much more time, energy, and money,
loading
and you will wonder why you didn't stop going to baby showers ten years ago.
loading
(Laughter)
loading
But look.
loading
You don't have to quit your job and escape to a tropical island like I did.
loading
You can make massive, liberating, meaningful change
loading
just by clearing out your mental barn, making a fuck budget,
loading
and sticking to it.
loading
You don't have to organize a yard sale.
loading
You just have to say the words "No, thank you."
loading
"I don't have time."
loading
"I can't afford it."
loading
You can even say, "I don't want to."
loading
The world will not end.
loading
This is you being honest and polite.
loading
No fucks given, not sorry.
loading
The life-changing magic is right there for the taking.
loading
To be honest, de-cluttering your house only takes about a week.
loading
Then it lasts one or two.
loading
But mental de-cluttering?
loading
Learning how to say "No," set boundaries, and give fewer, better fucks?
loading
That lasts forever.
loading
Thank you.
loading
(Cheers) (Applause)
loading
Click here to download video transcript
Click here to copy video transcript
Subtitle Settings
×
Size
Aa
Aa
Aa
Aa
Aa
Preset
Aa
Aa
Aa
Aa
This is an example
tab icon Video info
tab icon Vocabulary

【TEDx】The Magic of Not Giving a F*** | Sarah Knight | TEDxCoconutGrove

Favorite
Like this video?
Sign in and save your favorites.
SIGN IN
Share
Report
Guide
4
High Intermediate
|
General
We're living in a post-tidying society.Everyone, including me, has a story about de-cluttering their home.Gathering all of their possessions into the middle of the floor,
0
Added to