On this beautiful weekend I want to share with you some of my favorite TED Talks about living a more meaningful life, doing work you love and leading with purpose. These talks are both inspirational and thought-provoking. I enjoy watching them. I’m sure you will too.
So find a quiet moment this weekend, get yourself a warm cup of coffee or tea, and enjoy some encouraging words about finding more meaning in your life and work.
1) “A Life Of Purpose” by Rick Warren
Length: 21 min
Rick Warren, author of bestseller “The Purpose-Driven Life,” talk about importance of understanding your worldview and reflects on his own crisis of purpose in the wake of his book’s wild success.
“..I think inside at some point, we put our heads down on the pillow and we go, “There’s got to be more to life than this.” I think it comes down to this issue of: “Why am I here? What am I here for? Where am I going?” These are not religious issues. They’re human issues. And so, you need to understand what your worldview is. Your worldview, though, does determine everything else in your life, because it determines your decisions; it determines your relationships; it determines your level of confidence. It determines, really, everything in your life. What we believe, obviously — and you know this — determines our behavior, and our behavior determines what we become in life.”
2) “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” by Simon Sinek
Length: 18 min
Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership — starting with a golden circle and the most powerful question.
“…How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? As it turns out, all the great inspiring leaders and organizations in the world, whether it’s Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers, they all think, act and communicate the exact same way. And it’s the complete opposite to everyone else….”
3) “How To Find Work You Love” by Scott Dinsmore
Length: 17 min
Scott Dinsmore quit a job that made him miserable, and spent the next four years wondering how to find work that was joyful and meaningful. He shares what he learned in this deceptively simple talk about finding out what matters to you — and then getting started doing it.
“…It was that I would ask one simple question, “Why are you doing the work that you’re doing?” And so often their answer would be, “Well, because somebody told me I’m supposed to.” And I realized that so many people around us are climbing their way up this ladder that someone tells them to climb, and it ends up being leaned up against the wrong wall, or no wall at all…”
4) “How To Make Work-Life Balance Work” by Nigel Marsh
Length: 10 min
Work-life balance, says Nigel Marsh, is too important to be left in the hands of your employer. Marsh lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity — and offers some stirring encouragement to make it happen.
“….Being more balanced doesn’t mean dramatic upheaval in your life. With the smallest investment in the right places, you can radically transform the quality of your relationships and the quality of your life. Moreover, I think, it can transform society…”
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