5 Insanely Profound TED Talks on Happiness

Happiness has been one of the most sought-after things by humans historically. Human beings have been obsessed with happiness since time immemorial. Or have we? This one article from Harvard Business Review talks about the History of Happiness and how modern version of happiness as an ultimate aim in life is an 18th century concept.

We live at a time and age where happiness is ‘sold’ everywhere. Buy the latest gadget and you will be so happy! Buying this one soda will ensure you choose happiness. How will you be happy if you don’t own clothes that are ‘in’? Wanna be happy, enrol yourself with this dating platform!

And we all constantly obsess about being happy too. Ask any random group of people what their aim in life is and I am confident you will have people crooning about how they all want to be happy. And this longing for happiness is an integral part of our thinking and being. But do we truly understand what being happy entails?

What is Happiness?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines happiness as ‘ the state of being happy’. This implies that happiness is a state and not a characteristic that someone is born with. And what does being happy entail? Well, that is a very subjective question. It is so tailored for every individual that no one can truly define what being happy entails.

This brings to my mind the two cases of Pete Best and Dave Mustang that Mark Manson so famously talked about in The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Both of these guys are musicians who were kicked out of bands that went on to become super famous. Dave Mustang, in spite of making it big with his own band, has lived a miserable life feeling like a failure whereas Pete Best said, ” I’m happier than I would have been with the Beatles.”

So, what is it that makes one person extremely happy about one situation while making someone else completely miserable? Here, I have compiled a list of five profound TED Talks on happiness that will give you some much-needed insights into the phenomenon of happiness!

5 TED Talks that will Change the Way You Look at Happiness

When researching about this most-craved-for thing called happiness, I came across a number of TED Talks that really shed light on the intricacies and components of happiness. Some of them are humorous, some are insightful and all of them will give you their own unique perspective.

A few weeks ago, I also wrote an article on the 5 Insanely Profound TED Talks to Help You Become Better at Communication. If you want to check out the article, you can find it here.

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Here are the 5 TED Talks that will change the way you think about happiness:

Synthetic Happiness

In this very scientific talk, Dan Gilbert takes us on a journey that explores this concept of synthetic happiness. He talks about numerous experiments conducted to study what makes people happy and how certain things that you know for sure will make you happy, sometimes have an opposite effect. This talk is humorous, informative and an absolute delight to watch!

The Secret of Being Happy

Jacqueline Way, the speaker of this TED Talk started this movement called 365give which focuses on the act of giving. Through this wonderfully impactful talk, Jacqueline takes us through her journey with her son, Nic, and how simple acts of giving every day has transformed so many lives across the world. As of this moment, 365give has a global impact on 46696 people, 11351 animals and 42547 gives to the planet. Check out this TED Talk to know how the simple act of giving can have such a huge impact!

The Phenomenon called Grateful Living

Through this talk about gratefulness, David Steindl-Rast, monk, author, and lecturer, takes us through this beautiful concept of grateful living. He emphasises how it is important to take the opportunity to be grateful for every moment. He talks about this simple technique of Stop, Look, Go to be grateful in our lives. This talk really makes you think about the way we approach our daily lives.

Happiness is a Skill

Katarina Blom, a psychologist and author, talks about how only positive thinking is not enough to be happy. She introduces the concept of positive actions which is based on the premise that humans are more skilled at controlling their actions than controlling their thoughts. She talks about how cognitive biases affect how we deal with our relationships, jobs and affect all our actions and how forming psychological habits can transform us.

What Makes a Good Life?

In this talk, Robert Waldinger, talks about the longest study conducted at Hardvard called the Harvard Study of Adult Development where they have been studying their subjects for 75 years and observed their lives, their relationships, their jobs and their health. This is by far one of the most impressive research projects I have read or seen about. Some of the things that Robert talks about are extremely impressive yet super simple in their message.

So, this is my compilation of 5 super impactful TED Talks on happiness. Being happy and content is a very integral part of building a successful Life Résumé. For those of you who are new here and would like to know about what Life Résumé really is, you can find the post here.

Do you have any thoughts on what makes you happy? What has been your biggest take-away from these talks?