Top 10 Ted Talks that Will Make You Happier

Here is the unconventional truth: happiness isn’t just one big emotion that exists alone. The things that make you happier can often come from a myriad of other feelings: laughter at a silly joke, relief of the weekend after a gruesome five-day work week, the quiet reassurance that you are not alone during a non-routine thyroid check-up, the moment you get to hug your loved ones after being away for a while. This author cannot bring you to those moments of happiness…  

…But, if you are asking, What TED Talks can make you happy? Then, here are ten that don’t just inspire happiness, but that gently shift something inside you.

When you want Ted Talks that Make You Choose Happiness:

1. Jacqueline Way: How to be Happy Every Day: It Will Change the World
2. Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work
3. Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability
4. Sir Kevin Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?
5. Jill Bolte Taylor: My Stroke of Insight
6. Kid President: I Think We All Need A Pep Talk
7. Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius
8. Dan Gilbert: The Surprising Science of Happiness
9. Scott Dinsmore: How to Find Work You Love
10. Andrew Solomon: How the Worst Moments in Our Lives Make Us Who We Are

Happiness With a Meaning: 

1. Jacqueline Way – How to be Happy Every Day: It Will Change the World

In her talk about her initiative, 365Give, Jacqueline Way shared what started as a family experiment: give something every day for three-hundered and sixty-five days. What began as a small parenting idea became a global movement, built on one radical belief: Giving every day changes not just the world, but it can, and does, change you. 

This Ted Talk is not just about giving or inspiring a charitable nature in children, but also about happiness. Giving, as per Jacqueline, herself, teaches more than just philanthropy. In fifteen minutes, Jacqueline teaches the audience about how giving can make you happier. Giving can:

• Shifts the brain toward joy 
• Giving Reframes Hard Days
• Consistent Giving Teaches Children (and Adults) That Happiness Is a Practice
• It Builds Connection (The Strongest Predictor of Happiness)
• It Moves Happiness From Consumption to Contribution

When You Need to Laugh and Reset Your Brain: 

2. Shawn Achor – The Happy Secret to Better Work

At its core this Ted Talk is about how your brain actively works to make you happier when you’re positive, the positive impact of happiness on productivity, creativity and problem solving, and how waiting for happiness to come after achieving something keeps happiness out of reach. Achor calls this the, “happiness advantage.”

When your brain is in a positive state:

• You are more innovative
• You see more possibilities
• You build stronger relationships 
• You are more resilient under stress

• In other words, happiness is more than a reward for success—its a competitive advantage. 

In other words, happiness is more than a reward for success—its a competitive advantage.

When You Need to Feel Connected Again

3. Brené Brown – The Power of Vulnerability

Brené Brown’s Ted Talk is not just about challenging yourself out of your comfort zone, this twenty-minute ted talk explores the definition of vulnerability and how it can contribute to making you happier. 

Vulnerability, as per Brené, is about liberation. The ted talk takes you through how vulnerability can be liberating. Brené teaches that 

• worthiness matters
• perfectionism is an armour
• courage requires vulnerability

The liberty that comes from acts of vulnerability with the intention of choosing self-worth, the imperfections of life, and courage, will make you happier.

When You Miss Being Creative 

4. Sir Ken Robinson – Do Schools Kill Creativity?

This talk feels like oxygen. Robinson’s wit and storytelling remind you that creativity isn’t reserved for artists — it’s human. If adulthood has dulled your imagination, this reignites it.

Robinson’s presentation is all about:

• How the traditional education systems suppress creativity, 
• The importance of creativity for wakefulness and playfulness, and their impact on children’s happiness, and 
• The long term impact of unhappiness on children

When You Need Perspective 

5. Jill Bolte Taylor – My Stroke of Insight

For this ted talk, Jill Bolte Taylor talks about experiencing a stroke and losing function in the left side of her brain. Going into great detail, this brain scientist explained what it felt like to watch her own brain shut down in real time. 

As the left side of her brain, the side responsible for language, logic, and our sense of individual identity, began to fail, she experienced something unexpected: A profound sense of peace.

Throughout the ted talk, Jill Bolte Taylor explores the lessons that she learned from her experience and the perspective that she got. 

She connects, what is a harrowing experience, to learning to be happier by using perspective. 

When You Need a Pep Talk

6. Kid President – I Think We All Need A Pep Talk

This ted talk is, at its core, exactly as it sounds: a pep talk. Kid President (Robby Novak)’s message is a simple one of how the world needs you to make it awesome. But underneath the jokes and dance breaks, there’s a serious message, that we don’t need permission to create joy. Choosing to actively participate in making life better for ourselves and others is the key to making you happier.

Kid President offers a few ways to go about how to make you happier, by:

• Choosing action, not just inspiration
• Realize that joy is more accessible than you think (from high-fives to smiles pointed at strangers, each act of joy, however small, contributes to making you happier), and
• Focus on the possibilities and not the problems

When You Feel Creative Pressure

7. Elizabeth Gilbert – Your Elusive Creative Genius

This ted talk is not a twenty-plus-minutes monologue hyping the audience up, as Elizabeth Gilbert does not promise happiness, but she does encourage the audience to try. She puts the impacts of pressure to create and be creative into perspective. 

In under a half-hour, Elizabeth Gilbert talks about how you can be happier by: 

• Attaching your worth to your work
• Make peace with fear rather than fight it
• Stop chasing perfection
• Redefining success to be consistent effort, and seeing plans through
• Prioritizing sustainability over burnout

When You Want to Understand Your Own Mind

8. Dan Gilbert – The Surprising Science of Happiness

Unlike Kid President’s pep talk, in this ted talk, Dan Gilbert challenges the audience on our understanding of happiness, and what really makes us happy. Dan Gilbert argues that no one truly knows how to be happy, doing so by breaking down the concepts of happiness, and pointing out that humans are really bad at predicting what makes us happy. 

This unique approach to considering happiness, and what makes you happier, allows the audience the opportunity to perceive happiness a little differently:

• Failure is not the emotional death sentence we think it is, as failure is really as important as we say it is, 
• Emotional Resilience is built through learning to find joy where possible, instead of focusing on perfection or a set of checklists to be marked off, and
• The human mind is capable of authentic happiness from imperfect outcomes. 

When You Are Rethinking Your Career

9. Scott Dinsmore – How to Find Work You Love

This one is all about breaking out of autopilot and intentionally designing a career that actually excites you—not just pays your bills. Dinsmore shares his own journey of feeling stuck in work that drained him. He talks about how so many people settle even though they may have talent, because they lack clarity, courage, or community.

Dinsmore argues that finding work you love isn’t about quitting tomorrow, or winning the lottery, it is about three things: 

1. Understanding your strengths, and what works for you, 
2. Surrounding yourself with people that push you keep trying, and
3. Doing the uncomfortable things, consistently.

The ted talk brings these uncomfortable truths back to the audience, and connects with how to make you happier, by reminding us, the audience, of the significance that our work can have on our happiness:

• Meaningful work can make life meaningful, and therefore, much happier, 
• Passive living challenges our innate human creativity and curiosity, which negatively impacts our moods and feelings, 
• Community is important in contributing to your happiness.

When You Need Motivation & Strength

10. Andrew Solomon – How the Worst Moments In Our Lives Make Us Who 

Andrew Solomon spent much of his career speaking about the hardships of others, but in this ted talk, he draws inspiration from himself, and poses the underlying importance and significance of resilience and how resilience builds the foundations for what will make you happier. 

Solomon’s message:

• Happiness isn’t forced here. It’s earned through understanding, and overcoming grief and hardships. 
• Happiness does not exist in the absence of suffering—both can exist together. 
• Listening to stories about struggles and hardships go on to redefine and reframe our own frustrations and struggles, providing perspective, and shining light on the often overlooked opportunities for joy and happiness.

In the End, what is it that Makes You Happier?

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to happiness, and there is no strict formula. Unlike the certainties that lie in arithmetics or calculus, happiness has no set of definitions that remains constant. Like the varieties of life and circumstances, the definition of happiness changes due to a myriad of factors. And if there is anything from these ten ted talks that you can take away, it’s this: there is power over how and when you can be happy. 

Through deliberate actions, plans and decisions, the best way to be happy is to choose happiness and prioritize joy.

If you are looking for a practical way to begin prioritizing happiness and joy for yourself, you can get started right here with 365give. We provide you with free programs to build empathy, compassion and kindness. Thanks to AI, we have been able to vibe code our way to creating the 365give Impact Tracker. This simple practice helps turn real human skills into daily habits.

And if you’re ready to keep exploring, here are a few more reads to guide you further along the path to joy and purpose.

Mubashera Mashraka

+ postsBio

I am a volunteer at 365Give with years of experience in community service for charitable causes, political activism in local communities, and decades of work with technology in education, administration and communication. As a young woman in a big city, I believe that actions speak louder than words, so I continue to support local governments, nonprofit organizations and grassroots movements to encourage positive change in the world. Aside from all that, I’m a bookworm, student, and work in Office Admin.

• Mubashera Mashraka

  7 Tiny Gives That Strengthen Real Love in Busy Lives
• Mubashera Mashraka

  Lost in Tech? Rediscover Real-World Reading – Family Literacy Day