13 TED Talks to cheer you up on a bad day

playlist TEDTalks

It’s a widely documented fact: bad days are cumulative. They begin with pouring yourself a bowl of cereal, only to find that you’re out of milk. They escalate with discovering that the hot water isn’t working in the shower, and they percolate over a terrible morning commute. Add in a thunderstorm or an unexpected tiff with a co-worker and, well, it is all downhill from there. Your bad day will keep on rolling, picking up more and more material as it spins, like a tumbleweed of annoyance.

Bad days are the worst. But these TED Talks are very likely to cheer you up. Enjoy.

Kathryn Schulz: On being wrongKathryn Schulz: On being wrong
Perhaps it’s maybe, kind of, sort of possible that something you did contributed to your bad day. Kathryn Shulz’s talk will make you feel very comfortable with the idea of being wrong, because fallibility is just part of being human. Bonus: the opening anecdote will make you laugh.Amy Webb: How I hacked online datingAmy Webb: How I hacked online dating
Maybe it’s that slippery thing called “love” that’s got you down. If that’s the case, this talk from Amy Webb is the answer. After a string of disastrous dating incidents, she decided to write her own algorithm for love and reverse-engineer online dating. The result: well, it’s really good. And her conclusion: the problem wasn’t that she was being too picky, it was that she wasn’t being picky enough.Phil Hansen: Embrace the shakePhil Hansen: Embrace the shake
When artist Phil Hansen developed a debilitating hand tremor, he thought his career was done. And then a doctor suggested: “Embrace the shake.” In this talk, he shares how a physical limitation drove him on to incredible creativity. Think: portraits in matches, painting with karate chops and tattooed bananas.Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a championRita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion
Work can be draining, yes. But this talk from Rita Pierson will have you up on your feet and ready to take on any challenge. A long time educator working in some of the most challenging classrooms in the country, Pierson has found a foolproof way to get through to any student: by actually taking the time to form a relationship with them.Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happinessDan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness
Psychologist Dan Gilbert has spent decades studying what makes us happy — and it isn’t what we think. This talk gives insight into why lottery winners and paraplegics report themselves as being equally happy a year after the moment that changed their life. Because of our incredible “psychological immune system,” which helps us synthesize happiness when things go wrong. It’s certainly something to tap into on a bad day.

Now get back out there, tiger …

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