7 Must-See TED Talks For Aspiring Entrepreneurs

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Episode #61

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This podcast is all about taking your passion and transforming it into a business or freelance gig you love and creating the life you deserve. To do that, your mindset is all important and a big impact on your mindset is motivation. If you don’t feel motivated or inspired to keep going, it can be easy to fall behind. Even when you are fully pumped up and ready to work for and smash your entrepreneurial goals you can get down days. You know, those times when you just have no energy or drive and just getting to the end of the day is as far ahead as you can think. You need a burst of inspiration, a way to remind yourself of your purpose and that your plans are possible.

Well, when I’m feeling like nothing I’m doing is worth it and when blaring out my favourite tune just isn’t lifting my mood like it usually does, I turn to my favourite TED Talks. Here are some of the TED talks that never fail to inspire me when I need a quick boost to remind me of why I do what I do.

How To Live Before You Die - Steve Jobs

First up is the 2005 Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, gave not long after he fought cancer the first time, which definitely had a big effect on his mindset and the direction of this speech. Now I’m cheating a bit on this one, because it is not exactly a Ted Talk, but the video does appear on the TED site under their “Best of the Web pick” so I’m going to go with it! I think it counts!

In the speech, he included three stories from his life: The first two, focus on pivotal times of his life namely dropping out of college and being fired from Apple, and the importance to trusting your gut and finding something your love. The memorable quote from that is

'Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet -- keep looking.'

The third is more profound about his reflections on death. He said "Remembering that you are going to die, is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life ... Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

Whenever I want a reminder or doubt the path I’ve taken, I listen to this speech because it fits so closely with my why, which is helping people to follow their hearts, find their passion and do what they love. Not wasting your life is what I learned from losing my sister to cancer when she was just 32. Time is limited, so we must make the most of it and fulfil our potential.

Whether you're a fan of Steve Jobs or not, this is a raw message from someone who had just become aware of his own mortality and wanted to pass on a message to us all about making the most of our lives. If you are not one of the millions who as already watched it then you should definitely check it out.

How To Stop Yourself Screwing Yourself Over - Mel Robbins

If you’ve read the book The 5-second rule, this is where that concept first became a viral sensation. Mel Robbins is a criminal lawyer, and one of the top career and relationship experts in America. She’s widely respected for her tough advice and her speciality is drilling through the mental clutter that stands between people and what they want.

In this humorous and entertaining talk, Mel Robbins explains how turning off our brain's autopilot and demolishing our comfort zones is key to a rewarding life. How do you get on the road to being happier? She says to start by setting your alarm for 30 minutes earlier than usual and not hitting the snooze button. The effort required to leave that warm bed and enter the world is the same amount of effort needed to shake up your life and make that elusive change.

I can see why this video has become so popular, not only is her delivery sassy, funny and impactful but she gives solutions and tips and tricks that are simple to start using straight away and you can’t but go away feeling like you can do anything you want in life.

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable - Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Luvvie Ajayi Jones is a writer, activist and self-titled professional trouble maker who isn't afraid to speak her mind or to be the one dissenting voice in a crowd, and her message is neither should you. She says "Your silence serves no one," and encourages all of us to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable. I love her messaging because it is uncomfortable bringing your ideas to the world, it’s uncomfortable showing people your passions talents and skills and being judged. But if you stay silent or hide your gifts, you may be comfortable but you won’t be reaching your potential, and the world will be poorer from not having your voice heard or your idea fulfilled.

I first saw Luvvie at an online conference i attended and really connected with her energy, attitude and fearlessness which is so inspiring. Although her key points relate to having a voice and speaking up when you have something to say, I also took away the message that if you have a passion, or a talent or a message that you are hiding and fearful to bring to the world you need to be fearless and let it out. Without overthinking what the reaction will be, get uncomfortable. Just like leaping put of a plane to skydive was a petrifying but ultimately amazing experience for Luvvie, the leap to pursue your passion may be scary and uncomfortable, but when you have landed and are living with purpose, intent and joy it will all be worth it. Watch Luvvie in action and see what message you get from her words and how she inspires you.

How Great Leaders Inspire Action - Simon Sinek

This talk is one of the most popular TED Talks of all time, so you may have already heard about it or seen it. His style of delivery message connects with people time and time again, whether they have a leadership role or not. Simon Sinek shares his (at the time) radical views on how great leaders begin and run successful companies or achieve great things. He talks about how it all comes down to purpose. In other words their ‘Why’ . He highlights the importance of talking freely about what you believe and why you believe it, showing how you’ll be able to inspire action.

I first saw this talk when I was working on developing leaders in the corporate world and it definitely connected with them and got them thinking about how they could share their own personal why and the why of the company. But I find it even more meaningful now as a small business owner and working with aspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers because talking about your purpose, what motivates you and what you believe in is so important to connect with your ideal customers and future clients. As Sinek says, “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. If you talk about what you believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe. After you watch this talk, you will be just as excited to find your why and share it with the world as I am. In my view, this talk is essential to watch for any aspiring entrepreneur or anyone who wants to influence others to follow them in something they are passionate about.

The happy secret to better work - Shawn Anchor

Shawn Achor is a Harvard psychologist, happiness researcher and author of The Happiness Advantage. This one is really entertaining as well as informative. He starts by talking about his sister and unicorns so you know it's not going to be an average talk! His main point is that most of us probably link happiness to success. As in, if we work harder and become more successful, we’ll be happier. Then he argues that actually, happiness inspires us to be more successful, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work.

Here’s what he says “ If you can raise somebody's level of positivity in the present, then their brain experiences what we now call a happiness advantage, which is your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, and your energy levels rise. In fact, we've found that every single business outcome improves. Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed”

He also mentions a study that showed 75 per cent of professional successes included in the study could be attributed to positivity. People who focused on the positive aspects of their situation tended to achieve their professional goals more easily.

He finishes by explaining how we can reprogram our brains to become more positive in order to gain a competitive edge at work and gives some examples on how you can get started.

I’m a big fan of the power of positivity so it was natural that I was drawn to this talk. But even if you are more of a glass type empty person, there is a lot in this talk to get you thinking about success and how being happy now can lead to you achieving your goals.

Your Elusive Creative Genius - Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert is an American writer, best known for her 2006 best-selling memoir, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. I have a confession that I haven’t actually read this book yet or seen the movie. Everyone I know seems to have had but hasn’t got around to it yet. Saying that I love this TEDTalk in which Elizabeth discusses her belief that after Eat Pray Love was such a success she would never have such a success again, a scary thought.

People associate creative works with mental health issues and a fear that their work won’t be good enough, or not as good as their past work. Indeed, a lot of writers in the 20th century have committed suicide or suffered depression. Elizabeth talks about how she tries to construct barriers between her work and this anxiety about how it will be received.

If you are creating anything, whether it's a painting, a book, a podcast or a business, there is always this fear or anxiety about what people will think. So I found this talk really interesting and helpful in how to act when that self-doubt or doubt of what you are creating sets in.

I took away that when you doubt yourself and what you can do; show up and do the work. You are 100% responsible for the effort, not the outcome. The outcome will be dependent on a lot of factors but the effort you put in and showing up for yourself and what you are creating, that’s on you.

There is so much that you can take away from this talk, it’s no wonder is in the top 20 TED Talks in terms of views and is recommended over and over again. It’s also very entertaining and worth the time out to have a watch.

Regret-Free Living - Bronnie Ware

This one is one of the lower viewed (around 100,000 or so views) and less flashy talks, but no less impactful. In fact, one of the comments under the video says ‘Wow! How does this not have a bazillion views? Such a deep, beautiful, profound and heartfelt message to live and die by’ and I completely agree!

Bronnie Ware is the author of the international bestseller, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, which is a really impactful and thought-provoking read. Drawing on the insights she gained while caring for dying people as an end-of-life carer, where she found most people had regrets, Bronnie created a new life for herself and says she has now become the person she hoped to be and more. In a gentle, caring way she shares tools with us on how to live an authentic life, drawing on courage to follow your heart’s guidance, while still managing regret-free living.

There are three things she says that stuck with me:

You need to be compassionate with yourself and forgive any mistakes you may have made in the past.
Give yourself permission to do what you want to do. Self-love is not about not caring for other people, self-love is about caring for yourself as well. You need to balance giving to others with self-care or you will get burn out.
Before you make a decision, you should ask yourself “If I do this, am I going in the direction of my heart, or am I going in the direction that will create regret”. She reminds us that we have the power of choice.
Honour your calling, even if you don’t understand it. Listen to what your heart needs. Let go of your need to know the outcome, and have trust and faith in yourself.

Bronnie’s talk comes from the heart and is backed up by the experiences of hundreds of people she spoke to just before their death, a wisdom that can’t be ignored. It’s less of a punchy shot in the arm of motivation and more of a reflective kind of inspiration that goes much deeper and I think is all the more powerful.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS…

After watching one or more of these talks I’ve no doubt you’ll be feeling motivated, inspired and ready to move forward to achieve your work and life goals, I know I was!

I’ve put the links to all these talks in the episode show notes and you can find them by going to my website nicholaohara.com/podcast or by clicking in the link in the episode description wherever you are listening to this podcast. Bookmark the page and whenever you want to get a burst of inspiration you can go there, pick one and hit play.

That’s it for this episode. I hope you enjoy this selection of TED Talks as much as I did and as always, remember you deserve to live your passion, so go for it, this is your time!

Links mentioned in this episode

How to Live Before You Die - Steve Jobs

https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die

How To Stop Yourself Screwing Yourself Over - Mel Robbins

https://www.ted.com/talks/mel_robbins_how_to_stop_screwing_yourself_over

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable - Luvvie Ajayi Jones

https://www.ted.com/talks/luvvie_ajayi_jones_get_comfortable_with_being_uncomfortable

How Great Leaders Inspire Action - Simon Sinek

https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

The happy secret to better work - Shawn Anchor

https://www.ted.com/talks/shawn_achor_the_happy_secret_to_better_work

Your Elusive Creative Genius - Elizabeth Gilbert