I think we all go through periods in our lives when we feel stuck. In fact, a survey showed that one-third of American’s, that’s 100 million of us, feel dissatisfied with their lives. I’ve been there and I know how overwhelming and defeating it can feel. I also know what it’s like to get unstuck and come out the other side filled with hope and gratitude.
These three TED Talks are the perfect combination to help you get unstuck and start taking positive action today. From Mel Robbin’s tough love and hard-hitting truth to Susan David’s permission to feel all your feels, this lineup is the inspiration you need. But remember, all the information in the world is just information until you use it to take action. Find the courage to take one small step to start getting unstuck today.
How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over
Mel Robbins has become a sensation since the launch of The 5 Second Rule. She describes it as “the gap between thinking about what needs to be done and actually doing it.” In this groundbreaking TED Talk, Robbin’s explains how you can turn off your autopilot, get unstuck, and start living a more meaningful life today.
Top Three Takeaways
- The odds of you being born YOU are one in 400 Trillion. You owe it to yourself, to humanity, to start living up to your potential.
- When you feel stuck or dissatisfied, recognize it as a signal that you need to change, not as a signal your life is broken. It’s a signal that one of your most basic needs is not being met and the only way you’ll meet it is by forcing yourself to get uncomfortable.
- If you have an impulse that is pulling you and you don’t
marry it within an action within five seconds, you pull the emergency brake and kill the idea. Your problem isn’t ideas, your problem is that you don’t act on them.
If you didn’t do it while you were watching the talk, think about what you want. What you really, really want. Then think of one thing you can do in the next five seconds to put action to that idea. Then actually do it. Try to do this each day until taking action is just what you do.
The Psychology of Your Future Self
Dan Gilbert is a Harvard psychologist and a leading expert on happiness. In this talk, Gilbert explores why we make decisions that our future selves regret and how we can avoid it.
Top Three Takeaways
- Many of us walk around with the illusion that our personal history has come to an end. That we have become the people that we were meant to be and will be this way for the rest of our lives.
- We only recognize how much change happens over the course of 10 years when we look backward.
- “Human beings are a work in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished. The person you are right now is as transient, fleeting, and as temporary as all the people you’ve ever been.”
This is an inspiring message for anyone who feels stuck. Think about how much further along you are today than you were 10 years ago. Now imagine the possibility of what could be 10 years from now. Better yet, decide what that might look like in the best case scenario and start moving in that direction today. You can explore the process of creating a 10 Year Plan by following the instructions in this post.
The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage
Susan David is a Harvard Medical School psychologist and author of the book Emotional Agility. She studies how we can use emotion to bring out our best selves in all areas of our lives. This talk will challenge your belief that the key to happiness is positivity.
Top Three Takeaways
- A third of us either judge ourselves for having so-called “bad” emotions or actively try to push aside these feelings. Not only are we doing this to ourselves, but we are inadvertently shaming our children out of emotions seen as negative.
- Being positive has become a new form of moral correctness. Research on emotional suppression shows that when emotions are suppressed or ignored, they get stronger. Internal pain ALWAYS comes out.
- Research shows that the radical acceptance of all of our emotions is the cornerstone to resilience and authentic happiness. When we label our emotions accurately, we are more able to discern the exact cause of our feelings, activating the readiness potential in our brains that allows us to get unstuck and move forward.
A great way to start connecting with your emotions is what David’s teacher suggested. Write what you’re feeling. Tell the truth. Write like nobody’s reading. I promise you it works!
I hope these TED Talks brought value to your life. I’ve watched all of them several times and learn more and more each time. As I mentioned in the beginning, you won’t begin to get unstuck until you start taking action. Pick one thing you learned today and make it a priority to incorporate it into your day. As Dan Gilbert said, we grossly underestimate how far we can go in ten years. So why not wow yourself and blow your expectations
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