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Recently I wrote an article for Everyday Power Blog and wanted to share it with you. Are you a fan of TED talks? If you don't know what that is, please keep reading. After doing some research trying to find the very best TED talks ever, I finally just had to stop looking. There are so many great ones! I quit searching after finding seventeen TED talks worthy of a "must-watch" rating!

Because I found so many worth watching or watching again, I decided to break them into a series of articles. This is part one where I will share three amazing TED talks with you and give you the option to click below for the full article where you'll find two more.

TED Talks are Miracle Gro for the body, mind and soul! They are cutting edge philosophy, psychology, science and insight, among many other wonderful “ideas worth sharing.” The very first TED Talks were posted online in July, 2006 and continue to serve as a phenomenal resource for seekers like us who are striving to make ourselves and this world a better place.

I never run out of curiosity, or the need to grow into someone I like more than the day before. As a teenager, I had two choices. I could cave and let hard situations and obstacles drive the essence of me deep into the ground, where not even a flicker of light existed. The alternative was to start asking questions, to seek understanding and greater insight, and to let myself learn from events that might otherwise keep me in dark places.

I searched for answers in books on spirituality, religion, relationships, psychology and all other things self-help. I attended seminars, twelve-step groups, webinars, and creative circles to untangle the beliefs I learned early—beliefs and philosophies that no longer served me. Eventually I discovered TED Talks, which continue to disclose the answers I seek. Whether you’re new to TED or an avid fan, the following TED Talks are a must-watch and worth repeating. I had a difficult time narrowing down my favorites, so these five are the first batch, with more to follow.

Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do

TED Description: Tony Robbins discusses the "invisible forces" that motivate everyone's actions — and high-fives Al Gore in the front row.

One of the first six TED Talks posted online July, 2006, Tony Robbins’s talk is worth watching again today. Tony reveals his thirty-year obsession about what makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives. He is quick to point out how many of us have figured out the achievement part of life, but very few of us have learned how to become fulfilled and impactful to the world around us.

“I look at life and say there's two master lessons. One is: there's the science of achievement, which almost everyone here has mastered amazingly. How do you take the invisible and make it visible. How do you make your dreams happen? Your business, your contribution to society, money—whatever, your body, your family.

The other lesson that is rarely mastered is the art of fulfillment. Because science is easy, right? We know the rules, you write the code and you get the results. Once you know the game, you just up the ante, don't you? But when it comes to fulfillment -- that's an art. The reason is, it's about appreciation and contribution. You can only feel so much by yourself.”

Growing up feeling lost with a sense of never really belonging, I made an early decision to master achievement. I made the best grades, won the contests, got great jobs and blew the company records off the wall. I had everything I ever wanted, so why wasn’t I happy? I hadn’t yet tapped into the second key: fulfillment. We have to nurture the desires of our souls in a way that spills out and touches the people around us in a signficant way. If you’re not there yet, don’t sweat it. You’re still gathering lessons so keep searching.  

http://www.ted.com/talks/tony_robbins_asks_why_we_do_what_we_do

Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability

TED Description: Brené Brown studies human connection — our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand humanity. A talk to share.

Are you one of the more than twenty-three million viewers who’ve seen this TED talk? Have you had the pleasure of watching Brene Brown demonstrate why it’s so powerful to be vulnerable, and what some might confuse with being “weak?” As Brene Brown dug into her research and focused on connection, she realized how many of us actually feel disconnected, and what’s worse, we are ashamed of that, adding to our overall bad feelings.

“And shame is really easily understood as the fear of disconnection: Is there something about me that, if other people know it or see it, that I won't be worthy of connection? The things I can tell you about it: It's universal; we all have it. The only people who don't experience shame have no capacity for human empathy or connection.

No one wants to talk about it, and the less you talk about it, the more you have it. What underpinned this shame, this ‘I'm not good enough,’ -- which, we all know that feeling: ‘I'm not blank enough. I'm not thin enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, promoted enough.’ The thing that underpinned this was excruciating vulnerability. This idea of, in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.”

Oh did this ever touch a nerve in me the first time I listened! I understand shame and feeling inferior. My solution? To act confident and to accomplish great things! But that didn’t solve anything and in fact, it only buried my real problem which made it that much harder years later to excavate my soul and tell myself it’s okay to have the need to belong and feel connected.

We weren’t meant to live life separate from everyone else, and we certainly weren’t born unworthy and fearful. Please watch this (again) as Brene shares the key differences between those of us who battle a grave sense of unworthiness and shame, and those who don’t. As a bonus, she manages to convey this soulful topic with laugh-out-loud humor. Watch!

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

TED Description: Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

What I love about TED Talks is that many of them seem like good common sense but they are backed by science. It’s the best of both worlds! Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist who overcame a debilitating car accident that caused her identity and worthiness to plummet. Her research is focused on nonverbal body language, but not so much what we observe in others, but what our brains conclude from our own nonverbal cues, including our thoughts and posture.

“So when we think of nonverbals, we think of how we judge others, how they judge us and what the outcomes are. We tend to forget, though, the other audience that's influenced by our nonverbals, and that's ourselves. We are also influenced by our nonverbals, our thoughts and our feelings and our physiology.

…When I tell people about this, that our bodies change our minds and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes, they say to me, ‘It feels fake.’ Right? So I said, fake it till you make it. … She comes back to me months later, and I realized that she had not just faked it till she made it, she had actually faked it till she became it."

One of the many ways I’ve rebuilt my psyche from a troubled past is by using positive affirmations and visualization. In fact, the first few mantras I learned as a teenager in twelve-step recovery was, “ Fake it till you make it,” and, “Take the actions first, and let the feelings follow.” When our internal software is critically flawed, we can keep limping along with broken beliefs or we can take an active role in re-programming our internal language. But this TED talk goes well beyond basic affirmations.

Amy offers an engaging talk and demonstrates scientifically how a confident person shows up in the world, versus someone less confident. She offers a proven technique which only takes two minutes a day to literally change your hormone levels and boost your esteem. You will present an improved version of “you” to the world, yes, but most importantly … to YOURSELF. Our sub-conscious believes what we tell it and I think yours is telling you to watch this TED talk (again) right now!

If you want to read the rest of the article and explore the other two, must-watch TED talks, click here. I'll give you a teaser. Number four is Andrew Solomon: How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are. Number five is Steve Jobs: How to live before you die.