TED Talks Daily

Valorie Kondos Field knows a lot about winning. As the longtime coach of the UCLA women's gymnastics team, she won championship after championship and has been widely acclaimed for her leadership. In this inspiring, brutally honest and, at times, gut-wrenching talk, she shares the secret to her success. Hint: it has nothing to do with "winning."

(This episode originally aired in 2021.)

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Author Gregg Ward spent decades grappling with guilt from a personal tragedy before recognizing a different path forward — where purpose replaced self-punishment. What he learned about transforming regret into positive change might make you rethink your own mistakes.

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Around the world, people who work hard are often seen as morally good -- even if they produce little to no results. Social psychologist Azim Shariff analyzes the roots of this belief and suggests a shift towards a more meaningful way to think about effort, rather than admiring work for work's sake.

(This episode originally aired in 2023.)

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Social entrepreneur Van Jones believes a new human civilization is being born in real time — and that our technology is racing ahead of our wisdom. In this urgent and hopeful talk, he reframes the AI debate, showing why the real danger isn't the technology itself but rather the communities it leaves behind. His solution? A new deal between big tech and humanity, built on a different kind of "AI" that we desperately need.

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Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar and author Simone Stolzoff have each spent years studying how people navigate uncertainty (and why it often feels so difficult). In this conversation, they discuss why your discomfort with not having the answers might be holding you back — and how leaning into life’s unpredictable moments can unlock resilience, growth and new possibilities. (This conversation was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)

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