Often it takes a lot of hard work to make a big improvement in your life. Ok, let’s be honest: It almost always takes a lot of hard work.
But every once in a while, what it takes instead — or at least what makes it suddenly easier to do all that hard work (or to know exactly what the hard work is that you should be doing) — is a mental breakthrough.
A sudden transformation in the way you look at things. A fresh perspective that leads you in new, more positive directions. A powerful insight.
And how cool is it when something as low-effort as watching a video or movie can result in said mental breakthrough?
So here I present for your viewing pleasure four videos (or, more precisely, three video-recorded talks and one documentary film) that have that power…
They’re taken from a longer list of resources I created (and later expanded upon) for a two-day workshop I recently taught on “Creating a Healthy Work Environment”. And each of them has been personally transformative for me and/or for someone I know.
All of these videos are currently free to watch.
“The Happy Secret to Better Work”
You’ll laugh your way through this entertaining TED Talk by Shawn Achor, positive psychology researcher, consultant, and author of the book The Happiness Advantage. And at the same time, you’ll gain insight into how your happiness (and consequent success at work) is impacted by the way you look at the world. Many of us, it turns out, are thinking about happiness in a way that’s completely backwards. Toward the end of the talk, he also shares a few quick tips for ways to train your brain to think in more positive ways.
(Running time: 12:21)
“The Power of Vulnerability”
In yet another inspiring TED Talk, Brené Brown shares her research findings about the secret to love, belonging, and wholehearted living. In a beautiful demonstration of what it means to be authentic and vulnerable, she also shares the funny and touching story of her personal struggle to come to terms with her research findings. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be a little misty-eyed by the end of the talk — and feeling moved to share your very real and imperfect self more fully with the world.
Brené Brown is a social work researcher, university professor, and author of several books, including The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. If you enjoy this talk, you might also want to view her subsequent TED Talk in which she discusses her shell-shock after her first TED Talk went viral and then shares some of her important foundational research about shame.
(Running time: 20:20)
“Search Inside Yourself”
Sharing key ideas from his terrific book, Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace), Google engineer (and practicing Buddhist) Chade-Meng Tan illustrates in this Google Authors Talk how very simple mindfulness techniques can build the self-awareness, mental habits, and emotional intelligence skills that lead to career and leadership success, stronger relationships, a clearer mind, greater self-control, and happiness in life.
(Running time: 54:15 total, or 41:10 if you skip the introduction and the Q&A at the end.)
“Forks Over Knives”
Over the last ten months, I’ve lost 40 pounds — largely due to a switch to the kind of whole foods, plant-based (i.e., healthy vegan) diet described in this compelling and informative documentary. The movie shares scientific and clinical findings illustrating how diet alone can be used to prevent and in many cases even reverse serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity.
Beyond my weight loss, other benefits for me have been an over 50-point drop in my LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, lower blood pressure, reduction in pain (associated with uterine fibroids that were troubling me for a while), and increases in energy and productivity. Diet alone didn’t do it, obviously. I also increased my activity levels and mostly stopped drinking any of my calories. (Bye-bye venti Starbucks lattes. Hello water, seltzer, and unsweetened tea.) But I credit the plant-based diet with most of the benefits I’ve seen. Care to join me?
You can currently watch this movie for free on Hulu.com, and it’s also free to stream on Amazon.com if you have a Prime membership. In the future, if you find you can’t access it on Hulu, you can still stream it on Amazon even if you don’t have a Prime membership; currently the cost for a one-week “rental” is $3.99.
(Running time: 1:36:00)
So, whadya think?
If these resources have had an impact on you too, please share your experience in the comments section below…
And then please pass these resources along to others. (It’s easy: Click on the email icon to the right of the words “Share this:” at the bottom of this post.)
Just imagine the beautiful things that could happen as the growing Working Well community is transformed by the simple act of watching a video!