How 30 Days of TED Talks can Assist with Veterans’ Readjustment process
Using TED Talks to Assist Veterans with the Readjustment Process

Initially, I thought this idea would done seamlessly in 30 days. I imagined I would be able to hammer out a “flow chart” of content to take a Veteran from needing to readjust to being adjusted in a month. The mental experience provided through the TED talk presenters, would be enough.

My view was this: videos could serve as nodes to “build a knowledge brain”, where each video would serve as a building block to create the foundation and its application would just lead someone lost, to be found. What I discovered over the 30 days was this product from process was not just an “A to B route”.

The initial approach was to use a template for what Veterans face after separation from the military.

I thought of no better standard to use than the VA’s documentation on the challenges Veterans face when coming back home.

The template: https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/communityproviders/docs/readjustment.pdf

Using their model, one is to deduce 3 main things:

Integrating back into the community — Connection Work — Skills Serving the community — Connection + Skills = Value

Each step builds into the next; then the goals get met, new goals emerge and so on.

Enter the TED Talks

Preparing someone for war in 9 weeks is an interesting adventure. The basics of Basic Training are to “break you down, to build you up”. Looking a little deeper and see the “break”, and seeing as though time can be just a placeholder before the next action, see that the “brake” is applied. Suspended the “I” by creating a soldier. Building you up when you exemplify the soldier and a counseling statement is emparted when the I is expressed too much.

The next 3–18 months (depending on the job) are spent completing Advanced Individual Training, and the following 4–20+ years of being the best soldier you can be.

Then the hard part, becoming a civilian again.

The “brake” is let up, and the self emerges.

So, the hypothesis was to

The Task

30 days of binge-watching TED Talks can’t be that difficult, can it?

First, there are 100,000+ TED talks and these talks sometimes overlap or “bleed over” contextually and content-wise. Despite that “building” (curating) the talks into a comprehensive “toolkit” not only seemed possible, but doable, in a month.

Early on, you realize “binge-watching” is not the way. Points are missed, lessons unseen. 30 Days of watching TED talks, begins to unveil a new challenge — “can I control my attention?”

The short answer is, not right away.

The success and the growth come when we don’t just try to synthesize info as fast as possible and move on to the next one.

The “Why” — Reasoning

In basic training in 2002, specifically doing an obstacle course; sweltering South Carolina July and pushing the body to its limit and finding…that wasn’t its limit. After obtaining the selfish goal of getting over the wall…you see others struggling.

You have a choice to go on for glory or help others get to your current level. The opportunity cost is the time spent, not going beating all the others who went on too. Time forces us to compete. What happens when the competition is no longer…does time stop?

No, the hardest thing about life, at 35, is the compounding of events. All that life is and all it ceases to be after people depart from it. Possibilities and probabilities. What’s most likely?

Being vulnerable made these 30 days valuable. The power of vulnerability video with Brene Brown was the perfect watch. You’re used to structure, so being vulnerable may be uncomfortable for you. This video showed in order to grow you need to open yourself up to the unknown. It’s a perfect start for this videological journey. There may be a “flow chart” sequence in this after all. (Note: In time I will make this, follow the @BuildACanduit handle on twitter for more)

I never realized how much impact being vulnerable would have. This month was especially trying personally, so in order to accomplish this task of helping veterans through curating this “playlist”, it was revealed to me how vulnerable I had to be to grow.

Vulnerability took me to a dark place, chaotic times. The sudden reactions occurred more than the smooth responses had all summer. Although I know, in time, chaos turns to clarity. So, keep swimming. This time, though, I wasn’t having that soothing transition that life will work out if we just keep “chipping away”. .

I learned during the chaotic times in my life, I would find a way out, every time, and that’s what I viewed it as a way out. Getting out of the chaos, was the process I was looking for, so this pausing of my normal content consumption and a complete immersion into minds who triumphed ultimately, only opened the path for more growth.

The rows were seeded.

Think about yourself as a plant, in order for you to grow, you need nourishment. Use these videos as your “digital diet”.

Peace.

30 Days of TED Talks

Brene Brown — The Price of Invulnerability

You find more value in life, when you open yourself up

Esmeralda Kleinreesink — War Changes Soldiers

How war changes Veterans

Hector Garcia — We Train Soldiers for War; Let’s Train Them to Come Home, Too

Eliminating long-term PTSD symptoms

Catherine Vader — The Power of Thought

Physiologically based, great to understand how our body reacts to fear-based thoughts.

David Lega — Dare to Become Better, Not the Best

Paralympian, who shows how to increase independence through challenging self

Ayse Birsel — If Your Life is Your Biggest Project, Why not Design it?

Elucidates on the process of how to design your life and then go live it

Daniel Levitin — How to Stay Calm, When You Know You’ll Be Stressed

Explains the “pre-mortem” — how to see where we’ll go wrong in life

Katarina Blom — You Don’t Find Happiness, You Create It

Training organizations on happiness in the workplace

Mel Robbins — How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over

Satisfaction is as easy as knowing what you want and getting it

Scott Geller — The Psychology of Self-motivation

Teaching empowerment to the point of self-motivation

Dr. Mark Holder — Three Words That Will Change Your Life

A look into a new psychology — one rooted in “what’s right” > “what’s wrong”

Majora Carter — No More Single Purpose Thinking

A view into what it takes to build a better future

Simon Sinek — Start With Why; How Great Leaders Inspire Action

What separates businesses from each other is their approach

Brady Wilson — How To Fix the Exhausted Brain

What happens when your brain is engaged but exhausted

Stephen Duneier — How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals

Immersion is the key to converting thoughts to realities

Laura Vanderkam — How to Gain Control of Your Free Time

See how much you actually work and how to work with that to do what matters to you

Tim Ferriss — Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of Your Goals

An example of employing Stoicism in everyday life

Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar — What Happens in Your Brain When You Pay Attention

How brain patterns change between covert and overt attention

Anne Lamott — 12 Truths I Learned From Life and Writing

Self explanations from an author

Manoush Zomorodi — How Boredom Can Lead to Your Most Brilliant Ideas

How your best thoughts come when you’re mind is wandering

Damon Davis — Courage is Contagious

How people handle their circumstances courageously

Emily Esfahani Smith — There’s More To Life Than Being Happy

The problem of happiness, when it is devoid of meaning

Heather Lanier — “Good” and “Bad” are Incomplete Stories We Tell Ourselves

Reality is more fluid than the stories we tell ourselves

Lisa Feldman Barrett — You Aren’t at the Mercy of Your Emotions

Emotions are a predictive model for our states of being

Cleo Wade — Want to Change the World? Start by Being Brave Enough to Care

Radical empathy to look to others’ needs > our own

Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix — What Comes After Tragedy? Forgiveness

How nonviolence can be taught, regardless of the situation

Vittorio Loreto — Need a New Idea? Start at the Edge of What’s Known

Creating new ideas using the “adjacent possible”

Lara Boroditsky — How Language Shapes the Way We Think

An anthropological view of how words form the world

Frances Frei — How to Build (and Rebuild) Trust

When delivering ideas, start with the point instead of supporting evidence

Leticia Gasca — Don’t fail fast fail mindfully

Find treasure in your failures,

Amy Herman — A lesson on looking

Training to be more visually intelligent

Al Switzler — Change anything! Use skillpower over willpower

Use your mind not just your strength

Heinrich Popow — Your Mindset Determines Your Tomorrow

Rebuilding after catastrophic events

Robert Grant — Beautiful minds are free from fear

Assuming that things can go well, even when they aren’t

Dan Gilbert — Why are we happy? Why aren’t we happy

Being stuck is a choice via perception

Bill Burnett — Designing Your Life

How emotions shape our lives

Ann Herrmann-Nehdi — One Thing to Know Your Brain That Will Change Your Life

Our brains are on autopilot until we are mindful of it

Caroline Moss — Choices that Can Change Your Life

Risks are worth the reward

Charles Faulkner — Imagination: It’s Not What You Think. It’s How You Think

Navigating life with better “instruments”

Johann Hari — Everything you know about addiction is wrong

Loss of connection is where addiction lies

Dr Clint Rodgers — Ancient Secrets of a Master Healer: Deeper Healing Solutions

Understanding the “buttons” that allow us to “tap” the subconscious

Bill Eckstrom — Why comfort will ruin your life.

Comfort leads to boredom, and that changes to bad habits

Adam Grant — The surprising habits of original thinkers

Procrastination can be virtue, not just vice

Tim Harford — A powerful way to unleash your natural creativity

The art of “slow-moving multitasking”

Ryan Martin — Why we get mad — and why it’s healthy

Our anger signals injustice

Suleika Jaouad — What almost dying taught me about living

If you barely survive hardships, you must live for meaning

Natalie Fratto — 3 Ways to Measure Your Adaptability — and How to Improve it

How to prepare for multiple versions for the future

Susan David — The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage

Leaning in to life, through journaling, to accept it

Bert Jacobs: Do What You Like, Like What You Do

Live by the principles you establish and don’t give in to social pressure

Tony Robbins — Why We Do What We Do

Discovering your dreams and then immersing yourself in them, to see them come true

Janine Shepherd — You Are Not Your Body

Your experiences may change you but your outlook shapes them

Adam Cobb — 8 Days A Week…Live By Design, Not By Default

How a routine can give you enough time, to be the 8th day of the week

Jon Gordon — The Secrets that Drive Us to Greater Success

Positivity and vision create your unique life

Shawn Achor — The Happy Secret to Better Work

Work to excel not just be average

Carrie Green — Programming Your Mind for Success

How inner self-talk denies us greater opportunities

Dan Pink — The Puzzle of Motivation

How incentives shape our output

Russell Redenbaugh — Post-Traumatic Gifted: Moving from Scarcity to Abundance

See what the possibilities are, and chase the one that provides you with the biggest voice

Charlotte Mouyal — Self-awareness Can Change Your Life

Taking mindful action in your life, can help you “level up”

Vanessa Van Edwards — You Are Contagious

Using body language and inflection to discover which TED talks go “viral”

Tom Asacker — Why TED Talks Don’t Change People’s Behaviors

Action is the difference between want and will

Meik Wiking — The Dark Side of Happiness

Quantifying the qualities of life and the hazards unhappy people face, in “happy places”

Tasha Eurich — Increase Your Self-awareness with One Simple Fix

Searching for meaning but not ruminating in it

Rory Ledbetter — The Hidden Power in a Breath of Gratitude

Physiology of breathing and the secret to deciphering emotions

Sarah Knight — The Magic of Not Giving a Fuck

How “letting go” gives you a “firmer grip”

Amy Morin — The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong

Outlook and the choices we make, determine our outcomes

Michael Brody-White — Great Leaders Do What Drug Addicts Do

Acceptance of decisions and doing what needs to get done is a competitive advantage

Lynne Franklin — Reading Minds Through Body Language

Using visual language for “lookers” and auditory language for “listeners”

Ruairi Robertson — Food for Thought: How Your Belly Controls Your Brain

Really understanding “you are what you eat”

Margaret Heffernan — Dare to Disagree

Curiosity precedes courage

Suzzanne Eder — The Dark Side of Self Improvement

We don’t know, what we don’t know

Maurice Ashley — Working Backwards to Solve Problems

Seeing how retrograde analysis aids in forecasting your future

Colin O’Brady — Change Your Mindset and Achieve Anything

Look towards the future, and have a measurable goal that goes beyond your limits

Adam Grant — Are You a Giver or a Taker?

A glimpse at how organizations operate with givers and takers
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['Psychology', 'Veterans', 'Philosophy', 'Self-awareness', 'Ted']