Ken Robinson - Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life

T HE AIM OF this book is to help you find your Element.

I was in Oklahoma a few years ago and heard an old story. Two young fish are swimming down a river and an older fish swims past them in the opposite direction. He says, Good morning, boys. Hows the water? They smile at him and swim on. Further up the river, one of the young fish turns to the other and says, Whats water? He takes his natural element so much for granted that he doesnt even know hes in it. Being in your own Element is like that. Its about doing something that feels so completely natural to you, that resonates so strongly with you, that you feel that this is who you really are.

What about you? Are you in your Element? Do you know what your Element is or how to find it? There are plenty of people who live their lives in their Element and feel theyre doing exactly what they were born to do. There are very many who do not. Consequently, they dont really enjoy their lives; they endure them and wait for the weekend.

In 2009 we published The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. That book is about the difference between these two ways of living and the difference it makes. The Element is where natural aptitude meets personal passion. To begin with, it means that you are doing something for which you have a natural feel. It could be playing the guitar, or basketball, or cooking, or teaching, or working with technology or with animals. People in their Element may be teachers, designers, homemakers, entertainers, medics, firefighters, artists, social workers, accountants, administrators, librarians, foresters, soldiers, you name it. They can be anything at all. I was talking recently to a woman in her early sixties who has spent her life as an accountant. As a child at school she understood numbers right away and became fascinated by mathematics. She just got it. So an essential step in finding your Element is to understand your own aptitudes and what they really are.

But being in your Element is more than doing things you are good at. Many people are good at things they dont really care for. To be in your Element you have to love it, too. That was true of the accountant. She wasnt just good with numbers. She relished them. For her, being an accountant was not work at all. It was what she loved to do. As Confucius said, Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucius had not read The Element, but it feels like he did.

The aim of The Element was to encourage people to think differently about themselves and the lives they could lead. Its had a wonderful response from people of all ages from all around the world and has been translated so far into twenty-three languages. At talks and book signings, people often tell me that theyre buying The Element because theyre looking for a new direction in their own lives. Others say they are buying it for their children, for their partners, for their friends or their parents. I always ask people what they do and if they enjoy it. No matter what they do, some say spontaneously, I love it, and their faces light up. I know right away that they have found their Element. Others hesitate and say something like, Its okay for now, or, It pays the bills. I know they should keep looking.

Why is it important to find your Element? The most important reason is personal. Finding your Element is vital to understanding who you are and what youre capable of being and doing with your life. The second reason is social. Very many people lack purpose in their lives. The evidence of this is everywhere: in the sheer numbers of people who are not interested in the work they do; in the growing numbers of students who feel alienated by the education system; and in the rising use everywhere of antidepressants, alcohol and painkillers. Probably the harshest evidence is how many people commit suicide every year, especially young people.