As summer starts to wind down, we thought it would be nice to come through with a little motivation here on the blog. Since we have already shared some motivational podcasts you can listen to, we figured why not share some TED Talks that will motivate you as well. In all the TED Talks that we watched for this post, one thing that stood out was how motivation in your personal life crosses over into your professional life. It seems the two ‘worlds’ (professional and personal) are directly related in terms of your productivity and performance. With that being said, we are sure that these five TED Talks will give you some added encouragement in all aspects of your life.
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We all know the saying “work hard, play hard.” We have even heard that if you work hard enough, you will get to live a life that makes you happy. CEO and author, Shawn Achor thinks that we have it all backwards. What if happiness in life brought us a stronger sense of productivity which led to us accomplishing more at work? This talk is laced with humor, but also drives the big question: which comes first, happiness or hard work?
Already being fans of her shows (Greys Anatomy and Scandal to name a few) as well as having read her book “Year of Yes” we knew that we would be nothing short of impressed by Shonda’s TED Talk. After years of fueling her career by listening to her “hum” (a term that Shonda uses to describe the deep feeling that drives her work) she lost it. In search of something that would get her back on track, Shonda decided to do something that she never did: say yes to everything that came her way. One year later and her life was changed forever. This talk is a great snapshot of how she got her “hum” back, but we also encourage everyone to read her book, Year of Yes.
Most people think that a big motivator for working is money or happiness. While these are motivating factors for some, Dan Ariely has discovered that there is something bigger pushing people to work hard: progress and a sense of purpose. Ariely who is a behavioral economist and an author, discuss two surprising experiments that revealed to him some remarkable insights on what drives people in their work. If you thought you were just chasing a paycheck all these years…think again.
Successful venture capitalist John Doerr really took us by surprise with this talk. At first we were not sure where the talk was going as he debates how leaders are failing those around them, but John’s constructive conversation on goal setting was quite eye-opening. His system of Objectives and Key Results (OKR) has been used by companies like Google and Intel. The system not only helps people set realistic goals that keep themselves accountable, but it allows one to create goals that can lead to success.
When it comes to motivation, nothing compares to the stories of those who have fallen, stood back up, and proceeded to succeed at achieving the things they fell down going after. The success of author JK Rowling is no secret, but her story around her own personal experience with failure and how those low moments created unlikely benefits is nothing short of inspiring. While it’s not the traditional TED Talk (this video is from her Harvard commencement speech), it is still worth every minute.
Do you love a good TED Talk? Be sure to share your favorite talks in the comment section below!