TED Talks Daily

You know how resolutions often go: you set a goal and start strong ... then the motivation runs out and feelings of frustration and shame creep in. The struggle is real -- but what if it doesn't have to be? Sociologist Christine Carter shares a simple step to shift your mindset and keep you on track to achieving your grandest ambitions.

Inspired by the rising movement against racism in the US, WNBA champion Renee Montgomery made an unexpected decision: she opted out of her dream job. As she says in this stirring talk, she wanted to "make it felt," and that meant turning her attention from the court to the community. But you don't have to be a basketball star to make it felt; anyone can turn important moments into meaningful momentum. How will you?

When we experience loss, grief travels with us everywhere -- even work. What can companies do to support grieving employees? Sharing his own story of unimaginable heartbreak, Tilak Mandadi offers three ways organizations can cultivate a culture of workplace empathy, creating an environment that encourages community, productivity and joy. (This talk contains mature content.)

Concrete is all around us: we use it to build our roads, buildings, bridges and much more. Yet over the last 2,000 years, the art of mixing cement and using it to bind concrete hasn't changed very much -- and it remains one of the world's biggest emitters of carbon. Entrepreneur Tom Schuler previews an innovative way to create concrete, potentially turning it into a carbon sink that traps CO2 from the atmosphere -- while producing a viable building material.

How you respond to setbacks is what defines your character, says Stacey Abrams, the first Black woman in the history of the United States to be nominated by a major party for governor. In an electrifying talk, she shares the lessons she learned from her campaign for governor of Georgia -- and some advice on how to change the world. "Be aggressive about your ambition," Abrams says.

Wendy Troxel looks at the cultural expectations that pressure couples into sharing a bed and why some relationships would benefit from sleeping separately. This talk was filmed at TEDxManhattanBeach. All TEDx events are organized independently by volunteers in the spirit of TED's mission of ideas worth spreading. To learn more about TEDxSHORTS, the TEDx program, or give feedback on this episode, please visit go.ted.com/tedxshorts.

Capitalism urgently needs an upgrade, says PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, and it starts with paying people enough to actually invest in their futures. He explains the epiphany that led PayPal to create a whole new metric for adequate pay, Net Disposable Income, and why investing in employees' financial health is just good business. After the talk, host Modupe Akinola makes the case for going one step further and considering how fair pay might actually mean something pretty different for every employee. Listen and subscribe to "TED Business" and more podcasts from the TED Audio Collective at audiocollective.ted.com.

Comedian Aparna Nancherla loves to take out the trash. In this funny and sharp meditation on garbage -- "the stuff that our modern, consumerist, carbon-powered culture makes us buy endlessly, and often for no reason" -- she shares thoughts on how to use less in a world that's choking on ever-larger piles of waste.

Civil rights leader and longtime US congressman John Lewis spent his life fighting for freedom and justice for everyone. In this illuminating conversation with lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson, Lewis discusses the essential importance of voting, shares encouraging words of wisdom for the generation of young people currently organizing in the struggle for racial justice and tells moving stories from his decades of making "good trouble" -- at the Freedom Rides, March on Washington and in the halls of Congress. "When you see something that's not right or fair or just, you have to say something," Lewis says. "You have to do something." (This conversation is part of the TED Legacy Project. Recorded November 19, 2019)

Meet Liberato Kani, a hip hop artist in Lima, Peru -- or as he says, "the Andean Bronx". At his concerts, a typical call and response you hear is "Quechua es resistencia": Quechua is resistance. Though Quechua is spoken by nearly ten million people, Peru's native language is at risk of dying off because of anti-indigenous prejudice. Liberato and other musicians like Renata Flores are here to save it -- and restore a country's pride while they're at it (Audio only). See more podcasts from the TED Audio Collective at ted.com/podcasts