Which do you prefer: becoming famous on TED or being famous in general?

Are you well-known, or are you just well-known inside your family?

The majority of the finest TED presenters are not well-known to the broader public; rather, they are well-known within the TED community.

You can be well-known throughout the world, or you can be well-known within your own family.

There is a sort of two ways to build a reputation: general or specific.

It’s simple to build a general reputation. Bring your A-game and be nice.

While spreading a good general reputation takes time, the true challenge is matching it with a specific reputation.

It takes courage to build a specific reputation since there will be innumerable instances when you won’t receive the call.

And when the phone doesn’t ring, we’ll do everything to get it to ring… we’ll risk our reputation for a quick gain.

You will only get calls that you are excited to answer if you persevere and establish that specific reputation on top of your excellent reputation.

The goal is to matter to people who matters.

To the world you are a mother, but to the family, you are the world.