Late Night Sunday Syndrome | Fabrício Batista | TEDxBrasília

A lot of us cannot wait for the weekend to start, so that we can relax and do whatever we like, isn't it? But later on we start feeling down when Sunday comes to an end and Monday is just around the corner.

Fabrício Batista identified that feeling as "Late Night Sunday Syndrome", and he started questioning the purpose of his life and everything he did. Since then, he decided to give his days new meaning.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

My uncle arrived at Brasilia in 1972
with this suitcase here.

This is all he had.

Inside this suitcase,
he had more books than clothes.

It's funny, but it makes sense,
as this was his project,

because he came to Brasilia
with a clear goal in mind:

"I'm going to Brasilia to study and
to succeed in life through my studies."

That's why he had
so many books in his suitcase.

After he arrived here,
all my family came too,

and my mom came to do
the exact same thing as my uncle:

"I'm going to Brasilia to study
and start a career there."

All of this happened before I was born.

When I was born,
that suitcase was already here.

The project in that suitcase was a success
both for my uncle and my mom:

they both studied and succeeded in life.

So, natural logic would establish

that a project that was a success
for both my uncle and my mom

would be a success for me too.

But when I started school,
I didn't feel well there,

I wasn't at ease.

And since then, I started suffering
from "Late Night Sunday Syndrome",

an exasperating ghost
that would appear on Sundays and say:

"Oh, tomorrow is Monday

and you'll have to do
something you don't like doing.

You'll have to carry that suitcase
that you don't want to carry."

I had this syndrome
for almost my whole student life,

and for a good deal
of my professional life too.

To give you an idea,
of every ten people,

seven suffer from
Late Night Sunday Syndrome.

And it's very likely
that you have that syndrome too.

If you suffer from this syndrome,

it's because, on Mondays, you are doing
something you don't like doing,

you are carrying a suitcase
you don't want to carry.

The first time I got rid of this syndrome
was out of pure luck.

There was this teacher at my school

who made us all do
whatever we liked to do the most,

and it was amazing
as I ended up enjoying Mondays.

But I grew up,
and I entered the labor force.

I became a publicist, and after a while,
the syndrome came back to haunt me,

and this time it was much worse,

as I had a set-up career,
a child to raise,

and a lot of bills to pay.

I had the career I wanted,
the job I wanted,

and the salary I wanted,
but I wasn't feeling well.

And the truth is that
it's not all about the career,

the job or the salary you have.

The truth is that,
if you have this syndrome,

it's because you are carrying
a suitcase you don't want to carry,

and you are still doing it
because there are bills to pay.

I want you all to stop
for a moment and think:

If you didn't have bills to pay,

what would you do with your life?

Maybe some would say: "God,
I cannot stop and think of this.

I have so many bills to pay..."
(Laughter)

Others would say: "I wouldn't do anything.

I would travel and watch Netflix
all day, or whatever."

But just think about this seriously:

What would you really spend
your time and energy on?

If the answer came straight to you,
that's the way out.

You will put an end
to the Late Night Sunday Syndrome

as soon as you start
putting this into practice.

But if the answer didn't come to you,

if you haven't come up with it
at that moment,

you need to find it,
as this is very serious.

Really, it's a serious matter.

It's very likely that, whenever you
find out what you want to do in life,

you will not know where to start,

or maybe you will want to unpack
your suitcase straight away

and pack it all over again.

But this is not the way to make
such an important change in your life.

You have to change
what's in your suitcase little by little.

For example, if you like photography,
and you want to become a photographer,

you need a camera in your suitcase.

Of course, you don't need
an entire photography studio.

You need to make room
for photography in your life.

If you like to cook,

start off with some recipes,
prepare them with your friends,

start doing this for free,
in the beginning,

start to experiment, in the beginning,

make room for cooking in your life.

When you least expect it,

your suitcase will be complete
and full of things you decided to pack,

things that you chose,

things that make sense to you,

and that will be useful
for other people too.

My suitcase is very light
and easy to carry.

What I packed in this suitcase today
is a project that I chose.

It's not my uncle's project,
nor my mom's,

not even an advertisement project.

It's a project I chose,

that involves helping people
find out the things they like to do

and figure out
how to make a living with it.

Late night, on Sunday,
you will remember this talk.

Maybe because you feel good
about Monday coming up,

and relaxed because you're doing
something you like doing,

or maybe because the Late Night
Sunday Syndrome haunted you.

If it's the syndrome,
go repack that suitcase.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Cheering)