# The City that Waits | Rahmani Ratu Bilqees | TEDxUNS Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg-F7oV3NCA Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/xg-F7oV3NCA Generated: 2026-01-14T16:35:02.78+00:00 --- ## 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. ![Screenshot at 00:11: Speaker Rahmani Bilqees introduces her talk titled "Confidence Unfiltered" on stage at TEDxUNS, setting the context for discussing the struggles associated with a fast-paced life.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-00-11.jpg) **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. ## Detailed Analysis Rahmani Bilqees opens her talk by greeting the audience and asking how their lives are going, noting that her own life is currently a juggle of many things, leading to a feeling of fast-paced living that is draining. She introduces the central theme by referencing Billy Joel's song "Vienna," specifically the line, "Slow down you crazy child," explaining that she only realized the song's true meaning when she herself was experiencing burnout. Bilqees shares that during this time, she felt drained, disconnected from what she was doing, and that nothing she did was enough, aligning these feelings with Christina Maslach's three components of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of accomplishment. She then pivots to the solution, referencing Self-Determination Theory (SDT) which posits that confidence stems from fulfilling three simple needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Bilqees argues that the constant rush to meet deadlines (like needing to be on campus for back-to-back meetings) prevents people from truly evaluating their actions. She uses the metaphor of Vienna—as described by Billy Joel—to represent the part of life waiting patiently for you. The speaker concludes by urging the audience to intentionally slow down, even for short periods like taking a walk, to re-evaluate their pace and regain their sense of autonomy and competence, which is the true path to confidence, rather than relying on performative confidence derived from meeting deadlines. ### Introduction and Hook - Speaker introduces herself (Rahmani Bilqees) and immediately engages the audience by asking about their lives, setting up the theme of a fast-paced, juggling lifestyle (00:09-00:17) - Cites Billy Joel's "Vienna" lyric "Slow down you crazy child..." as the inspiration for the talk (00:14-00:20) - Defines her own fast-paced life as hectic, draining, and causing a feeling of being overwhelmed (00:45-01:04) ### Defining Burnout - Speaker details her personal experience of burnout, linking it to Maslach's three components: emotional exhaustion (feeling drained), depersonalization (disconnecting from self), and reduced sense of accomplishment (feeling nothing is enough) (01:51-02:10, 03:47-04:52) ### The Solution - Confidence through Self-Determination Theory (SDT): Introduces SDT's three needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—as the foundation for genuine confidence (08:25-08:34) - Argues that slowing down is the key to reclaiming these needs (08:36-09:06) ### Conclusion and Call to Action - Reaffirms that Billy Joel's "Vienna" is a metaphor for balance, representing the part of life that waits patiently (09:11-10:15) - Asks the audience "When will you realize Vienna waits for you?" (10:55-10:57) - Encourages listeners to stop rushing and re-evaluate their daily tasks to find true confidence (10:32-10:45) ![Screenshot at 00:04: The TEDxUNS logo and definition of the 'x' as independently organized TED event \(00:04\)](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-00-04.jpg) ![Screenshot at 00:06: A slide displaying the sponsors of the TEDxUNS event, including Waskita, Eiger, Cheers, Hycamera, Grab, Gradient, Jagoan Hosting, and Eterniskin \(00:06\)](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-00-06.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:11: A slide showing the lyric from Billy Joel's "Vienna": "Slow down you crazy child..." used as a central metaphor for the talk \(01:11\)](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-01-11.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:51: A slide posing the central question of the talk: "IS THAT A TRUE MEANING OF CONFIDENCE ??" \(01:51\)](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-01-51.jpg) ![Screenshot at 03:47: A slide summarizing Christina Maslach's Burnout Theory components: Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Reduced Sense of Accomplishment \(03:47\)](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/xg-F7oV3NCA/00-03-47.jpg)