1. Christopher McDougall: Are We Born to Run?

[ted id=1067]

Christopher McDougall explores the mysteries of the human desire to run. How did running help early humans survive — and what urges from our ancient ancestors spur us on today? McDougall tells the story of the marathoner with a heart of gold, the unlikely ultra-runner, and the hidden tribe in Mexico that runs to live.

---

2. David Blaine: How I Held My Breath for 17 Minutes

[ted id=741]

In this highly personal talk from TEDMED, magician and stuntman David Blaine describes what it took to hold his breath underwater for 17 minutes — a world record (only two minutes shorter than this entire talk!) — and what his often death-defying work means to him. Warning: do NOT try this at home.

---

3. Matt Cutts: Try Something New for 30 Days

[ted id=1183]

 Is there something you’ve always meant to do, wanted to do, but just … haven’t? Matt Cutts suggests: Try it for 30 days. This short, lighthearted talk offers a neat way to think about setting and achieving goals.

---

4. Ben Saunders: Why Bother Leaving the House?

[ted id=1631]

Explorer Ben Saunders wants you to go outside! Not because it’s always pleasant and happy, but because that’s where the meat of life is, “the juice that we can suck out of our hours and days.” Saunders’ next outdoor excursion? To try to be the first in the world to walk from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back again.

---

5. Derek Sivers: Keep Your Goals to Yourself

[ted id=947]

After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it’s better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

---

6. John Wooden: The Difference Between Winning and Success

[ted id=498]

With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father’s wisdom.

---

7. Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are

[ted id=1569]

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.

Health

8. A.J. Jacobs: How Healthy Living Nearly Killed Me

[ted id=1312]

For a full year, AJ Jacobs followed every piece of health advice he could — from applying sunscreen by the shot glass to wearing a bicycle helmet while shopping. Onstage at TEDMED, he shares the surprising things he learned.

---

9. Jamie Oliver: Teach Every Child About Food

[ted id=765]

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, West Virginia — and a shocking image of the sugar we eat — TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

---

10. Mary Roach: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm

[ted id=549]

“Bonk” author Mary Roach delves into obscure scientific research, some of it centuries old, to make 10 surprising claims about sexual climax, ranging from the bizarre to the hilarious. (This talk is aimed at adults. Viewer discretion advised.)

---

11. Graham Hill: Why I’m a Weekday Vegetarian
[ted id=860]

We all know the arguments that being vegetarian is better for the environment and for the animals — but in a carnivorous culture, it can be hard to make the change. Graham Hill has a powerful, pragmatic suggestion: Be a weekday veg.

---

12. Dan Buettner: How to Live to be 100+

[ted id=727]

To find the path to long life and health, Dan Buettner and team study the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. In his talk, he shares the 9 common diet and lifestyle habits that keep them spry past age 100.

---

13. Daniel Kraft: Medicine’s Future? There’s an App for That

[ted id=1168]

Daniel Kraft offers a fast-paced look at the next few years of innovations in medicine, powered by new tools, tests and apps that bring diagnostic information right to the patient’s bedside. (Filmed at TEDxMaastricht.)

---

14. Dean Ornish: Healing Through Diet

[ted id=377]

Dean Ornish talks about simple, low-tech and low-cost ways to take advantage of the body’s natural desire to heal itself.

Happiness

15. Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work

[ted id=1344]

We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity. (Filmed at TEDxBloomington.)

---

16. Brené Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

[ted id=1042]

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.

---

17. Meg Jay: Why 30 is Not the New 20

[ted id=1741]

Clinical psychologist Meg Jay has a bold message for twentysomethings: Contrary to popular belief, your 20s are not a throwaway decade. In this provocative talk, Jay says that just because marriage, work and kids are happening later in life, doesn’t mean you can’t start planning now. She gives 3 pieces of advice for how twentysomethings can re-claim adulthood in the defining decade of their lives.

---

18. Nigel Marsh: How to Make Work-Life Balance Work

[ted id=1069]

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.

---

19. Dan Gilbert: The Surprising Science of Happiness

[ted id=97]

Dan Gilbert, author of “Stumbling on Happiness,” challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.

---

20. Matt Killingsworth: Want to be Happier? Stay in the Moment

[ted id=1607]

When are humans most happy? To gather data on this question, Matt Killingsworth built an app, Track Your Happiness, that let people report their feelings in real time. Among the surprising results: We’re often happiest when we’re lost in the moment. And the flip side: The more our mind wanders, the less happy we can be. (Filmed at TEDxCambridge.)

---

21. Stefan Sagmeister: The Power of Time Off

[ted id=649]

Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali.

---

22. Paul Zak: Trust, Morality… and Oxytocin?

[ted id=1259]

What drives our desire to behave morally? Neuroeconomist Paul Zak shows why he believes oxytocin (he calls it “the moral molecule”) is responsible for trust, empathy and other feelings that help build a stable society.

---

List put together by: Greatist
Text Source: TED