--- title: 10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You description: 1) How to be happier Harvard professor Shawn Achor is the author of the wonderful book The Happiness Advantage. 2) Is it better to come... canonical: https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-15T05:01:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:05:01.160Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You og:description: 1) How to be happier Harvard professor Shawn Achor is the author of the wonderful book The Happiness Advantage. 2) Is it better to come... og:url: https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You twitter:description: 1) How to be happier Harvard professor Shawn Achor is the author of the wonderful book The Happiness Advantage. 2) Is it better to come... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 15, 2014 5:01 AM CUT by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Dec 15, 2014 5:01 AM CUT ## 1) How to be happier Harvard professor Shawn Achor is the author of the wonderful book [The Happiness Advantage.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307591549/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307591549 "undefined") ## 2) Is it better to come in first… or third? Malcolm Gladwell is the author of the bestsellers [Blink](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316010669/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316010669&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), [Outliers](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316017930/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316017930&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") and [The Tipping Point](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316346624/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316346624&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"). ## 3) Why do we lie? And why do we lie to ourselves? Great interview with Dan Ariely, author of [Predictably Irrational](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061353248/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0061353248&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") and [The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone—Especially Ourselves](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062183591/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0062183591&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"). ## 4) What’s it take to free yourself of bad habits? A fantastic interview with Charles Duhigg, author of [The Power of Habit](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400069289/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1400069289&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"). ## 5) Are there two kinds of happiness? An excellent presentation on happiness by Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner and author of [Thinking, Fast and Slow](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374275637/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0374275637 "undefined"). In it, he draws an insightful distinction: there may be two very different types of happiness. ## 6) Is vulnerability the key to connecting with others? One of the most popular TED talks of all time is [Brené Brown](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592407331/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1592407331&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined")‘s presentation on vulnerability. ## 7) What do you want to do before you die? [Candy Chang](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G8BADIO/ref=as%5Fli%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00G8BADIO&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20&linkId=FEI2JF647U6VG7C4 "undefined") gives an inspirational talk about a project that asked people to finish the sentence: “Before I die I want to…” ## 8) Can trying something new for 30 days change your life? Matt Cutts gives a great talk about how trying new things for 30 days not only helped him learn new skills but also changed him as a person. ## 9) What motivates us? Dan Pink, author of the excellent book [Drive](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594484805/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1594484805&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), explains what makes us do what we do. ## 10) “What’s more dangerous: incompetent idiots or overconfident experts?” Malcolm Gladwell, author of the bestsellers [Blink](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316010669/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316010669&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), [Outliers](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316017930/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316017930&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined") and [The Tipping Point](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316346624/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0316346624&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"), gives a great talk about why the overconfidence of smart people can be far more dangerous than the incompetence of stupid people. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/12/10-videos-inspire-think/ "undefined")**_._** **Join over 140,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined")**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/ "undefined") [6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every Day](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/06/most-productive-people/ "undefined") [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/"},"headline":"10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You","datePublished":"2014-12-15T05:01:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:05:01.160Z","description":"1) How to be happier Harvard professor Shawn Achor is the author of the wonderful book The Happiness Advantage. 2) Is it better to come...","url":"https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/","keywords":["Psychology","Happiness","Videos","inspiration"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3632296/inspirational-videos/","name":"10 Videos Guaranteed to Inspire You"}}]}] ```