Have you watched a TED Talk before? You can find them on YouTube or on the Ted Talk website. They are usually 10-20 minutes long and can be on a huge variety of subjects. I like to watch them because most of the topics are uplifting, interesting, and overwhelmingly positive. That’s not always the case with information you find online these days. Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Ted Talks about happiness.
In doing research for various topics, I often find myself listening to Ted Talks. Want to hear about some of the latest research on gratitude? There’s a talk for that. Interested in the mental benefits of exercise? There’s a talk for that. In fact, a quick search of the topic list on their website shows a wide variety of subjects. You can listen to everything from marine biology to origami and from women in business to rocket science and robots. Maybe instead of saying “there’s an app for that,” we should be saying “there’s a Ted Talk for that.”
Since My Cup of Cocoa is a blog about happiness, gratitude and favorite things, it makes sense that I’d look at talks about happiness. Clicking on “happiness” on on the Ted Talks topics list, I found just what I wanted…and more! It turns out there are a lot of Ted talks about happiness. Like, more than 100. So I went through a huge selection of them and chose my top ten Ted Talks on happiness to share with you.
10 Best Ted Talks About Happiness
1. What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness by Robert Waldinger
I found this to be one of the most interesting talks I watched. Waldinger is the current director of a study that has been going on at Harvard University for over 70 years. Beginning in the 1930s, the study has followed a group of men throughout their lives. They looked at happiness and mental health as well as physical well being. These men were 19 when the study began. They are all over 90 now. It is the longest running study of its kind.
A key finding of the study is that good relationships and our connectedness is the biggest factor in our mental well-being. It didn’t matter where the man started at. Some were very poor. Some were Harvard students and much better off. Their happiness levels were most closely tied to their relationships rather than to their bank account, profession, or even physical health.
You can watch the whole talk here or click on this link to see it later.
2. The Surprising Science of Happiness by Dan Gilbert
This is another Ted Talk about happiness that contains a lot of scientific data. Don’t let that scare you. Gilbert has a down to earth way of presenting his information. He explains why sometimes having too many choices does not bring us happiness. Often what we think will bring us happiness is not really accurate. Gilbert is also the author of Stumbling on Happiness
What I found most interesting about this talk is Gilbert’s explanation of natural versus synthetic happiness. It’s hard for me to explain, so watch the talk below or click here.
3. Where Joy Hides and How to Find It by Ingrid Fetell Lee
This talk veers away from happiness and looks at joy instead. Ingrid Fetell Lee says that joy is in the moment and happiness is something measured over time. But joyful moments add up to more than the sum of their parts. Joyful moments, places, and memories are important to our happiness.
Lee trained in design and she looks at ways good design make our lives more joyful. Her ideas are intriguing and her visual aides are fantastic, and, yes, joyful. She believes that the power of color, light, pattern, and shapes can create a happier and healthier world. For example, a bright and cheery home for the elderly is a happier environment than a cold sterile one. And a warm, bright, and inviting classroom is better for learning than a grey, dingy one is.
It’s worth the 14 minutes to watch. You can check it out here. You can also find more information at her website, www.aestheticsofjoy.com
4. Want to be Happier? Stay in the Moment by Matt Killingsworth
This is a short 10 minute talk about how to be happier. Killingsworth is the creator of an app called Track Your Happiness. He advocates mindfulness and living in the moment. He warns against “mind wandering” which he says leads to depression, anxiety, and stress. I just started using the app. I’ll update how it works in a future post. But for now, you can take 10 minutes and learn about staying in the moment here.
5. How to Be Happy Every Day. It Will Change the World by Jacqueline Way
Jacqueline Way began a goal with her 3 year-old son to do something for someone else every day for 100 days. This was the beginning of her 365give project. She says that it is better to give than to receive and that our bodies and brains are hard wired to give to others. We get a “natural high” from doing so. She suggests making a list to get started. One simple giving act a day can change your life.
6. The Ten Keys to Happier Living by Vanessa King
Vanessa King is a board member at Action for Happiness. I wrote about this group in my post on the International Day of Happiness. In this Ted Talk, King gives concrete examples of how practicing these ten keys bring more happiness into our lives. She says that these ten keys can shape our schools, our workplaces, and our local communities for the better. Who wouldn’t want that?
7. Happier in Five Minutes by Ida Abdalkhani
So this Ted Talk about happiness takes longer than five minutes…it’s closer to 9, but I think it’s totally worth a look. Abdalkhani teaches the audience about laughter yoga. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not it works, check out this video. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s definitely different, but in a fun and uplifting way. Get ready to laugh!
8. Planting Seeds of Happiness the Danish Way by Malene Rydahl
If you’ve read this blog before, you may have seen my post about The Little Book of Lykke. It talks about happiness and how the Danish people are regularly ranked highest in happiness worldwide. Rydahl covers some similar topics in this 16 minute talk. She does it with humor and fun visuals. She also encourages the listener to find their purpose and take responsibility for doing it. You can see the entire talk here.
9. Happy Brain: How to Overcome Our Neural Predispositions to Suffering by Amit Sood
As you could probably tell by the title of this talk, Amit Sood is a brain doctor (at the renowned Mayo Clinic, no less). If you’re wondering what neural predispositions are, they our what our brains are wired to do. It’s like our auto pilot setting. And Sood says we’re wired for safety and survival. Have you ever heard of the fight-or-flight response? Our brains signal that we are in danger and increase stress hormones in preparation to fight or flee.
Sood says that because of things like the fight-or-flight response, modern humans are more stressed and anxious than we need to be. We no longer live in a wild world where there is mortal danger at every turn, but our brains still respond like we are. The good news is that we can retrain our brains to reduce the stress and anxiety caused by our tendency to feel fear and worry.
I liked this talk because Sood give specific directions as to how we can improve our stress and anxiety. His first suggestion is to spend a few minutes every morning before we get out of bed thinking of five people we are grateful to have in our lives. Do this before our feet hit the floor. It sets up our brain in a peaceful and positive way for the day. It’s kind of like saying a morning prayer or a mediation. To see the other ideas, click here or watch below.
10. Why We’re Unhappy: The Expectation Gap by Nat Ware
Last, but not least, I recommend this 20 minute talk by Nat Ware. I wrote about how expectations often lead to unhappiness in a post from more than a year ago. I didn’t know about Ware’s talk at the time, but I found his ideas and suggestions to be spot on.
Ware explains how the gap between what we expect things to be and what actually is brings disappointment and unhappiness. He lists three kinds of gaps and gives clear examples of each one. And he finishes by offering specific ways to close those gaps and be happier. These include: taking our happiness seriously, competing against ourselves instead of others, and not giving our children unrealistic expectations. You can see the whole talk below. It’s one of the longer ones, but worth the time. Or click here to watch it later.
I hope that one or more of these Ted Talks about happiness helps you in some way today. Keep them in mind when you’re having a bad day. If we want happiness is our lives, we have to work for it. I love this quote: “Of this be sure: You do not find the happy life. You make it” – Thomas S. Monson.
As always, thank you for reading. I look forward to your comments. There is a section below for them. And please use the social media buttons to share with someone you think might benefit.
