The TEDTalks series dedicates itself to “ideas worth spreading,” so it comes as no surprise that many of the enlightening, provocative, and extremely educational lectures they feature revolve around the near-universal quest for personal development. While the factors that facilitate improvement vary from individual to individual, most people strive to improve themselves through finding true happiness and learning how to send ripples of love and compassion into the world. Hopefully, the following lectures can inspire audience members to look inwards and explore what they stand for and how they hope to uphold these values. By knowing themselves, they can better understand the best routes towards expressing love to others and making both the individual and the world just that much better.
1. Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids : In a society that encourages children to emulate adults, it comes as no surprise that many tend to tune out the valuable lessons that they have to offer the older generations. As Adora Svitak points out, sometimes kids receive quite a bit of condescension for their irrational behavior patterns and reliance on their imaginations. But adults can actually benefit from these qualities that they often deride. Stimulating creativity helps facilitate productivity and innovation by encouraging individuals and groups to re-think where their boundaries lay, for example.
2. Marc Pachter: The art of the interview : Whether opening up to land an important job, speaking to a journalist, or any other situation requiring detailed questions and answers, one must master interview techniques in order to communicate clearly. Even in daily life, an ability to break away from obfuscating language and mannerisms helps people speak more honestly, nurturing relationships and staving off misconceptions and misunderstandings. Marc Pachter, a curator at the National Portrait Gallery, discusses how talking can beautifully create the intimate glimpse into an individual’s inner workings – a phenomenon that prior generations attempted to capture through art.
3. Carl Honore praises slowness : Life is a delicate balancing act. Tip it too far in one direction and anxiety begins overshadowing all other facets. Tip it too far in the other and the resulting apathy dams productivity and growth. Journalist Carl Honore condemns the current pace of society, which places such a hefty emphasis on speed that it physically, mentally, and emotionally damages its members. He argues in favor of slowing things down a little bit for the sake of overall health and well-being. Though, of course, slackening the pace too much results in its own unique set of disconcerting issues.
4. Becky Blanton: The year I was homeless : When she spent one year inadvertently living out of her “1975 Chevy van,” Becky Blanton observed some highly disturbing facets of American society. In this revealing TEDTalk, she opens up about the experience with the hope that doing so will inspire viewers (and listeners) to re-think their perceptions of judgment and negativity towards others. She dissects the damages that depression sears into the psyche, most especially how it relates to allowing others to influence self-esteem, and explores the gulf between homelessness as a lifestyle and as a mindset.
5. Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice : Society upholds the value of making a choice out of a number of options, but such freedoms oftentimes come saddled with some unintended consequences. Ostensibly intended to make life easier, more customizable, Barry Schwartz believes that this facet of existence actually runs the risk of overwhelming those in a position to choose. In many ways, it has actively facilitated the exact opposite of its goal, instead forcing anxiety, inaction, and disappointment. However, offering no options whatsoever also garners similar results as well – making this a catch-22 requiring painstaking balance to actually solve.
6. David Hoffman on losing everything : Filmmaker David Hoffman is not advocating ridding the home of all material possessions in order to build character and move forward, of course, but he does have plenty to say regarding attachment. In 2008, he lost his home, his office, his collections – his life – in a devastating house fire. This TEDTalk, however brief, reveals how one must do whatever is necessary to continue following the onslaught of a wrenching tragedy. Value lay not inherently in possessions, which can get snatched away any given second, but rather in the memories and persons who shaped those around them for the better.
7. Srikumar Rao: Plug into your hard-wired happiness : Though not all instances of depression inherently involve comparative thinking – it is, of course, an incredibly complex mental illness with a number of different physiological, cultural, and psychological roots – such a mindset does nothing but harbor anxiety and negative emotions. Every human being is capable of forging some degree of happiness or contentment, provided the focus lay more on “haves” rather than “have nots,” a behavior pattern that Srikumar Rao hopes to eradicate as much as possible.
8. Jesse Schell: When games invade real life : Gamer culture exists simultaneously as something of a financially exploitable fad as well as a subculture who has struggled for decades to be recognized by the mainstream. So long as there are video games, there will be a lifestyle that embraces them – though their general social acceptance ebbs and flows over time. Jessee Schell, a game designer, believes that many of the systems that drive various play experiences have real-world applications. Whether or not this spells out an educational and positive shift or serves as a portent of doom to be avoided remains up to the viewer, of course, though few will dispute that there is absolutely no information without value when it comes to studying video game structures and cultures.
9. Gary Vaynerchuk: Do what you love (no excuses!) : Wine Library TV founder Gary Vaynerchuk believes that the internet offers boundless opportunities for entrepreneurs to make money off spreading their passions. With so many resources at their disposal, there is very little reason to press on in a position that inspires only frustration or unfulfillment. Take advantage of what is available to create a niche and forge happiness from chasing love and stimulation rather than material goods and finances. It may take quite a bit of effort as well as trial and error, but ultimately it is possible to carve satisfaction from succeeding in devoted endeavors.
10. Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory : Different aspects of the psyche interpret happiness and satisfaction in surprisingly different ways, as highly regarded psychologist Daniel Kahneman notes. Knowing the variances between experiencing an event and subsequently remembering it create a number of different “cognitive traps” for individuals both inside and outside the psychology community. However, such an understanding also helps viewers and listeners learn how to take better charge of their own minds and explore how their emotions operate from the inside out. Use Kahneman’s observances as a starting point for thorough personal investigation.
11. Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our own decisions? : Much like Adora Svitak from a previously listed video, Dan Ariely believes that there is a place for irrationality in everyday life. Specifically, it plays much more of a role in the decision-making process than people realize. While there is much to be said about imagination and innovation, the physical manifestation of many ideas succumbs to failure due to unforeseen or built-in limitations. However, illogic can lead to logic, and logic to self-awareness and an understanding of knowing where boundaries lay – rendering it a necessity for the human race to continue forging ahead.
12. Randy Pausch: Really achieving your childhood dreams : For one hour, Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon University opened up about his life experiences and observations as pancreatic cancer slowly ate away at his body. He spoke of how keeping sight of childhood dreams assisted in maintaining an upbeat attitude throughout his illness, stressing their importance to motivation and happiness – with or without the persistent specter of death hovering overhead. At the same time, he also encourages those to spread the message of remaining hopeful and striving towards achieving literally lifelong goals, ensuring that others feel the same sense of peace, accomplishment, and pride as well.
13. Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man : Rory Sutherland’s experience working in advertising has plenty to offer those hoping to understand their role in society – most especially if they grapple against materialism and manipulation. He highlights the way marketers and advertisers take advantage of human psychology as a means of pushing a product rather than focusing on the item itself. The lecture also delves into how individuals and society alike perceive value, with few realizing that something’s worth frequently comes more from their perspectives rather than anything truly intrinsic.
14. Tim Ferriss: Smash fear, learn anything : Look at fear the way The Incredible Hulk looks at Abomination – with plenty of smashing! Tim Ferriss believes that “what’s the worst that could happen?” makes for the only mantra most people need in life, as eliminating trepidation knocks downs barriers against productivity and creativity. Using his own experiences overcoming a crippling fear of water, Ferriss desires to inspire viewers and listeners to analyze why they fear what they fear and take the plunge to dissolve them entirely.
15. Richard St. John’s 8 secrets of success : After years of research, Richard St. John has compiled the very simple, straightforward, and succinct “secrets” of success. There is no need to throw down money on seminars and books and DVDs to dictate all the whats and whys of achieving goals when this brief, 3.5-minute video outlines pretty much everything everyone needs to know on the subject. The solution requires absolutely no frills whatsoever, just hard work, passion, creativity, and maybe a bit of luck as well.
16. Dan Gilbert on our mistaken expectations : In addition to a wonderful lecture on the nature of happiness and its relationship with prioritizing, Dan Gilbert also provides his audience with some neat little exercises to perform at home on their own time. Hopefully, taking the time to put some earnest effort into attempting them will reveal some interesting interpersonal results. Being able to understand expectations and predict behavior can lead to a more finely-tuned sense of self as well as reduced anxiety when life starts throwing curveballs.
17. Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf: Lose your ego, find your compassion : Using components of comparative religion, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf reveals that their core figures share at least one common trait – humility and compassion. Even those who do not believe in any divine figures can still benefit from these lessons. In order to live a full, happy, and healthy life, one must overcome boundaries set by egotism and self-centeredness. Doing so facilitates compassion and empathy that eventually drives kind acts and inspires others to follow in turn.
18. Rabbi Jackie Tabick : Society crumbles utterly without an undercurrent of compassion keeping it flowing. However, exercising excessive kindness, love, and empathy can sometimes preclude true justice or lead practitioners to fizzle out when overextended. And, unfortunately, many individuals and groups feel entitled to take advantage of others who offer them service or altruism as well. In spite of its necessity, compassion is never easy. But Rabbi Jackie Tabick’s advice on finding a balance and learning when and where to draw the line can help her audience do what they can to prevent giving into the dark side.
19. Robert Thurman: Expanding your circle of compassion : Even viewers and listeners who dislike the idea of attempting Robert Thurman’s meditation rituals can still walk away from his lecture with a greater understanding of love’s most selfless form. One of the most challenging and potentially draining acts of compassion revolves around caring for those who sow pain, exploitation, and other negatives, but people who can shatter their misgivings may find an enlightening, peaceful reward afterwards. It takes quite a bit of willpower and self-awareness, but making the effort fosters a much happier society.
20. Rev. James Forbes: Compassion at the dinner table : Progressive preacher Rev. James Forbes ruminates on the valuable lessons in compassion and love he received from his mother and father over dinner. Even with 10 people in the family, they made time to celebrate the accomplishments of all in order to build pride and self-respect as well as humility – after all, one must also learn to extend such support to others in kind. From there, the children were taught to extend this outpouring of caring to the more marginalized members of society, such as the elderly or disabled. These actions helped to strengthen their character and show them that life does not always orbit around meeting their own desires. One must also take time to quell the loneliness or pain of others in order to grow as a person.
Everyone’s paths towards self-improvement stand as different from those of others. However, at their core, most people seek fulfillment, happiness, and healthy connections with their peers. Some may find the previously listed TEDTalks one such route towards deeply plumbing their inner lives and carrying their confidence and compassion to loved ones struggling through their own journeys.