Mein Rezept für ein erfolgreiches und glückliches Leben | Ben Kindler | TEDxFreiburg

14 May 2024 (7 months ago)

Personal Background

The speaker, a 42-year-old with five children from three different mothers, achieved his dream job at a young age as a head chef in a renowned ski resort in Austria, where he cooked for celebrities and royalty.
He is an author of four books and is currently writing his fifth, which is about his life.
For 13 years, he has run his own cooking school in Freiburg, Germany, which is consistently booked months in advance.

The speaker endured physical and emotional abuse from his father, who forced him to learn the cello and punished him severely for any mistakes.
This abuse lasted for eight years, from the age of five to thirteen, until the speaker finally fought back in self-defense.
After breaking free from his father's abuse, the speaker went through a rebellious phase in his youth, engaging in excessive drinking, drug use, and destructive behavior.

Despite his struggles, the speaker maintained a passion for cooking and began collecting food magazines, restaurant guides, and cookbooks.
While still in high school, he secretly applied for a cooking apprenticeship at the best restaurant in the city and got accepted, leading him to drop out of school.
He excelled in his culinary training, receiving a scholarship and graduating with honors.
After completing his apprenticeship, he traveled to Thailand for further training in Thai cuisine.
By the age of 25, he had become the head chef of one of the top restaurants in Switzerland, earning 19 out of 20 Gault Millau points.

The speaker shares their recipe for a happy and successful life, which includes intuition, inspiration, communication, love, discipline, and gratitude.
They encourage viewers to write their own recipes for life and to always give it their all, never giving up on their dreams no matter how difficult things get.