The City that Waits | Rahmani Ratu Bilqees | TEDxUNS

Quick Overview

Rahmani Bilqees delivers a TEDxUNS talk titled "Confidence Unfiltered," arguing that true confidence is not achieved through constant rush or external validation, but by intentionally slowing down to reconnect with oneself, citing Billy Joel's song "Vienna" as a metaphor for finding balance by listening to the part of life that waits patiently.

Key Points: The talk centers on achieving genuine confidence, contrasting it with the feeling of burnout experienced when constantly rushing through life's obligations. Bilqees references Billy Joel's song "Vienna," which contains the lyric "Slow down you crazy child," as a metaphor for recognizing when one needs to pause and reflect. She describes her own experience of burnout characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment, fulfilling Christina Maslach's three components of burnout. Bilqees suggests that true confidence comes from fulfilling the three basic psychological needs identified in Self-Determination Theory (SDT): autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The speaker encourages the audience to stop activities that excite but eventually exhaust them, and instead, take time to evaluate what they are doing and why. A key takeaway is that slowing down—like taking a walk or pausing before a meeting—allows individuals to reclaim autonomy and competence, leading to authentic confidence rather than performance-based confidence. The presentation concludes by prompting the audience to realize that 'Vienna' (balance/self-care) waits for them until they are ready to listen.

Context: This video features a TEDx talk delivered by Rahmani Bilqees at TEDxUNS, focused on the theme of genuine confidence versus the pressure of constant productivity and burnout. Bilqees uses personal anecdotes, the lyrics of Billy Joel's song "Vienna," and concepts from Christina Maslach's Burnout Theory and Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to illustrate the importance of intentional slowing down for mental well-being and self-reconnection.