It’s incredible how a 20-minute short video with just someone talking can change the way you view the world. Today we’ll take a look at three very inspiring and mind-opening speeches held on the stage of TED Talks:
1. Stop Waiting for Life to Happen(Peter Sage)
2. What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? (Kyle MacDonald)
3. The skill of self-confidence (Dr. Ivan Joseph)
In the past, getting access to great ideas, especially for free, hasn’t been easy at all, but thanks to modern-day technology and the power of the internet, we are all one click away from the inspiration.
Having the power to instantly get the information we need has left us only focus on being inspired and motivated to become amazing creators loke our idols.
And since the topic of inspiration and motivation is so important today, we have yet another article for you on the matter.
When talking about sources for inspiration, a lot of people think about their favorite famous quotes from people like Steve Jobs or Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Everybody loves hearing great inspiring speeches and what a better place to find them then TED Talk.
For the uninitiated TED Talk is a presentation where people talk on stage in front of an audience on a variety of topics such as entertainment, philosophy, morality, inspiration, passion, etc. with the sole purpose of popularizing valuable knowledge around the world.
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, basically everything in the modern world. The company posts the talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.
TED Talks is the best place if you are someone with a strong passion and want your story told. The platform gave birth to numerous talented and fabulous individuals and brought them in front of the world.
There are many different topics that are subject to a discussion like philosophy, leadership, entrepreneurship, happiness, creativity, personal stories, human behavior, etc. but what all have in common is the ability to inspire people and make them take action.
You may recognize some of the “preachers” like Simon Sinek, Amy Cuddy, Susan Cain, Robert Waldinger. These are all great people that we can all inspire to be like, not because they were on stage and became famous, but because they wanted to tell the world something valuable.
Whether it’s Mike Robbins talking about the power of appreciation or Shahrukh Khan’s motivational speech about his life, we can all relate and get touched by the thing they speak about.
No matter what video you watch, all TED Talks videos have one thing in common, they all have a deeper meaning beyond the surface of the subject of talk. Some of them are subtle in conveying moral lessons.
For those of you who hadn’t gotten the chance to see one of the best YouTube content before there you have it: TEDx Talks
Having said all of that here are some of the most inspiring TED Talks that can motivate you even in your worst days:
Stop Waiting for Life to Happen(Peter Sage)
Peter Sage is a teacher, author, philosopher, and most notably a man with over 20 years of experience in the field of entrepreneurship.
Here is a brief part of his incredible and inspiring TED speech back from 2015 that still holds to this date:
“…it never matters what happens to you in life, my friends. That’s a story, that’s what keeps us here instead of here. The only thing that matters is what we do with the story; for some people, divorce is traumatic; for others, it’s freedom. It’s how you write the story. How do you hold the pen?”
Peter Sage
Source
In his speech, Sage shared his view of the world through personal stories of his and his family and friends. He talked about loneliness, overcoming tragedy, the power of love, human behavior, the pros and cons of the evolution of technology, and happiness. His goal was to help people appreciate the gift of life and was telling them not to be afraid of living.
But Peter Sage’s speech doesn’t end by just that. He left the stage with earth-shattering words. If we were to paraphrase his words’ meaning, that’s how they would sound: true happiness is found in the people around us, the people we let in, living is seeking love through connecting with people not with technology. The technology was meant to elevate the human spirit, not imprisoning it.
This speech has the main goal to inspire people to take action and live their lives with people instead of waiting for something to happen because all life is precious, and you shouldn’t waste it.
What if you could trade a paperclip for a house? (Kyle MacDonald)
The next one shows us the potential of taking action when met with opportunity.
Have you ever wondered what if you could trade a paperclip for a house? Well, you maybe did not, but a man with the name of Kyle MacDonald certainly did, but the amazing thing is that he actually managed to do so.
At first glance, you’d probably see this as a rather odd idea that can’s possibly turn into reality in a million years, but sometimes impossible can become possible.
One day he while on his desk, he found a paperclip sitting there which reminded him of a game called ‘Bigger and better.’ The premise of the game was about trading something with a lower value for something else with a bigger value repeatedly and continuously improving from the last trade. And that’s how he started the project by posting the paperclip on ‘craigslist.’
Some of his odd goods like the electric generator he exchanged for a camping stove took him weeks to trade, but his patience rewarded Kyle with a house in the beautiful town of Kipling, Canada, after one year of random trades.
“The best part about this whole project though, is fun, making the trades for things, it’s easier to tell the story with the objects, but it was the people behind it…”
Kyle MacDonald
Source
At the end of the day, it’s not about the paperclip; it’s about the opportunity you get and the decisions in life you do that matter the most.
The skill of self-confidence (Dr. Ivan Joseph)
Self-confidence is a major factor in how we behave and how we live our lives. With his speech, the Athletic Director and head coach of the Varsity Soccer team at Ryerson University, Dr. Joseph shared his philosophy about self-confidence and how we can develop it like any other skill.
He talks in-depth how we, as individuals, are always in our heads, doubting everything we do out of fear that we are not good enough. Dr. Joseph states that to become self-confident is required more than just saying – “I am confident,” it requires training and practice.
“The problem is, we expect to be self-confident, but we can’t be unless the skill, or the task we’re doing, is not novel, is not new to us. We want to be in a situation where we have so much pressure in that and what I mean because pressure builds diamonds; we want to be in a situation where “Hey, I’ve done this a thousand times.”
Dr. Ivan Joseph
Source
To become the best version of ourselves, confidence is one of the key elements we must master. By becoming masters of our self-confidence, we become masters of ourselves and thus opening many doors that were locked for us before.
Dr. Joseph stated that he was a terrible athlete, but that did not stop him from finding his purpose. He did not give up, and shortly he found out that finding what others were good at was the thing he was good at.
Final Thoughts
These three individuals are humans just like us, but they made decisions that let them live their best lives thanks to their philosophy and view of the world.
People like these three great individuals are what a lot of people wish to see when looking at the mirror, not realizing that they are a reflection of us, of what we can accomplish. The strength is in us; it always has been, we just needed someone to show it to us.
The world needs inspired people so that we can grow bigger and better and leave a legacy for the future generations, what better way to do so than through personal stories and ideas worth spreading from people with experience.
We hope that these speeches have impacted you in the same positive way they did to us, if so, please share your thoughts with us and stay tuned for more. Always be inspired!
