Carpe Diem: Why Don't We | Ayu Shahirah Salem | TEDxSunway University

Key Concepts

• Carpe Diem: Seizing the day, living in the moment.
• LinkedIn Viral Post: A resume post that gained significant traction and engagement.
• Resume Review: Providing feedback and suggestions to improve resumes.
• Not-To-Do List: A list of things to avoid to achieve success.
• Fear, Perfectionism, Comfort Zone, Distraction, Waiting for Permission: Obstacles to overcome for success.
• Small Wins: Celebrating small achievements as part of the journey.

Main Topics and Key Points

Introduction: The True Meaning of Carpe Diem

• The speaker challenges the common, often superficial, understanding of "Carpe Diem."
• She questions how many people truly live in the moment without future anxieties.

Personal Anecdote: Overcoming Pandemic Challenges

• Context: The speaker shares her experience as a final-year student during the 2020 pandemic, a time of job losses and uncertainty.
• Achievement: She secured a job one semester before graduating, despite not coming from a privileged background.
• Resume Viral: Her resume went viral on Malaysian social media, leading to unexpected opportunities.

The Viral Resume and Its Impact

• Lecturer's Suggestion: A lecturer encouraged her to share her resume to help other fresh graduates.
• LinkedIn Debut: She created a LinkedIn profile and posted her resume, which quickly went viral (10,000 likes, 2 million views in one day).
• Positive Feedback: She received messages from people who secured jobs after using her resume format.
• Capedium Moment: A message from a woman who lost her mother to COVID-19 but secured a job using her resume format made her realize the impact of her actions.
• Motivation: This experience motivated her to share her knowledge and help others.

Commitment and Growth on LinkedIn

• Daily Posting Challenge: She challenged herself to post daily on LinkedIn for two years.
• Free Resume Reviews: She offered 1,000 free resume reviews.
• Multiple Roles: She balanced LinkedIn activities with being a full-time software engineer at an oil and gas company, a PhD student, and a book author.
• Growth: Over four years, she grew her LinkedIn following from zero to 120,000.
• Recognition: She became the number two LinkedIn influencer in Malaysia, after Tony Fernandes.

The Importance of Taking Action

• Regret Avoidance: She emphasizes that she wouldn't be where she is if she hadn't taken the initial step of posting her resume.
• Say Yes First: She advocates for saying yes to opportunities and figuring out the details later.
• Action-Oriented: She believes that meaningful things happen because of action, not by chance.

The Reality of the Journey

• Nobody Cares Until You Win: She acknowledges that people often don't pay attention to struggles until success is achieved.
• Personal Struggles: She shares her past struggles, including burnout and hospitalization.
• Motivation to Win: She used the idea that people would listen to her story when she succeeded as motivation to persevere.

The "Not-To-Do List" for Success

• Not to Fear:
  • Fear is a constant presence, including fear of judgment and rejection.
  • She received hateful messages on LinkedIn criticizing her age and experience.
  • She focused on the 99% of supporters and ignored the 1% of haters.
  • Fear is portrayed as the villain in one's personal movie.
• Not to Perfectionism:
  • Waiting for perfection can prevent one from starting.
  • She learned to prioritize finishing over achieving perfection.
  • Delivering results is what matters most.
• Not to Comfort Zone:
  • She emphasizes the need to step outside one's comfort zone.
  • She used Toastmasters to improve her public speaking skills.
  • This helped her become a speaker for universities.
• Not to Distraction:
  • She recognized the tendency to procrastinate with enjoyable activities.
  • She realized that the work being avoided is often the key to success.
  • She advises focusing on tasks that contribute to long-term goals.
• Not to Waiting for Permission:
  • She encourages people to start without waiting for external validation or the "right time."
  • She uses the example of becoming a content creator.

Conclusion: The Truth About Carpe Diem

• Small Wins Matter: Carpe Diem is about celebrating small achievements, not just grand victories.
• Actionable Advice: She encourages the audience to identify one thing they've been avoiding due to fear and to start doing it.
• Potential for Growth: She suggests that taking action can lead to unexpected opportunities and personal growth.

Technical Terms, Concepts, or Specialized Vocabulary

• Carpe Diem: Latin phrase meaning "seize the day."
• LinkedIn Influencer: A person with a significant following and influence on the LinkedIn platform.
• Resume Review: The process of providing feedback and suggestions to improve a resume.
• Toastmasters: An educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills.
• Burnout: A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress.

Logical Connections

• The speaker begins by questioning the superficial understanding of "Carpe Diem" and then uses her personal story to illustrate a deeper meaning.
• Her viral resume experience serves as a concrete example of how taking action can lead to unexpected opportunities and positive impact.
• The "Not-To-Do List" is presented as a practical framework for overcoming common obstacles to success.
• The conclusion ties back to the initial question about "Carpe Diem" by emphasizing the importance of small wins and taking action despite fear.

Data, Research Findings, or Statistics Mentioned

• 10,000 likes and 2 million views: The engagement her resume post received on LinkedIn within one day.
• 1,000: The number of free resume reviews she offered.
• 120,000: The number of LinkedIn followers she gained over four years.
• Number two LinkedIn influencer in Malaysia: Her ranking after Tony Fernandes.
• 1%: The percentage of haters on LinkedIn that she chose to ignore.
• 99%: The percentage of supporters on LinkedIn that she focused on.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The speaker's message centers on the idea that "Carpe Diem" is not just a motivational quote but a call to action. She uses her personal journey, from a struggling student to a successful LinkedIn influencer, to illustrate the power of taking initiative, overcoming fear, and celebrating small wins. The "Not-To-Do List" provides a practical framework for avoiding common pitfalls, and the overall message encourages listeners to identify their fears and start pursuing their dreams, no matter how small the first step may seem. The core takeaway is that meaningful change happens through consistent action and a willingness to step outside one's comfort zone.