After reading Shawn Achor’s book “The Happiness Advantage“, I was curious about the power of habits. Back in the late 1800’s, William James noted that humans are biologically prone to habits, and that there are many things we do unconsciously, purely out of habit for example brushing your teeth in the morning. So this week’s TED talks are taken from the TED talk playlist: “Talks to form better habits”.

 

Judson Brewer: A simple way to break a bad habit.

[ted id=2420]

This is a great talk about research showing that being mindful about your bad habits can actually help break them.

 

Emily Balcetis: Why some people find exercise harder than others

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Did you know that each of us quite literally see the world differently for example dieters perceive the size of apples larger than non-dieters. Perception is a subjective experience.

 

Dan Buettner: How to live to be 100+

[ted id=727]

Dan shares his research from examining communities where elders live with”vim and vigour”, and shares 9 diet and lifestyle habits that help people live past 100.

 

Guy Winch: Why we all need to practice emotional first aid.

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Our emotional health is often neglected, and an area where we don’t seek help with. Guy Winch suggests that we need to take care of our emotional health as much as our physical one.

 

Dean Ormish: Your genes are not your fate

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This powerful talk shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level!

 

Sandra Aamodt: Why dieting doesn’t usually work

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The science behind why dieting doesn’t usually work, and can actually be harmful.

 

Shlomo Benartzi: Saving for tomorrow, tomorrow

[ted id=1367]

It’s really hard to save for the future when you can spend money now. This talk looks at some behavioural solutions to this problem.

 

I hope you enjoy these talks

Take care for now

Karen x