The traits of an athlete are in high demand in the world of business. A relentless drive, achievement-oriented methodology, willingness to expand skill sets, collaborative approach to success, and more distinguish athletes from nonathletes. Leaders across a wide array of industries have studied the nature of athleticism and the unique characteristics of the lives of those who participate in sport. The TED Talks highlighted below follow a pattern of physical activity and how our relationship with it evolves.
1. Are we born to run?
In his 2010 TEDxPennQuarter talk, Christopher McDougall explored the mystery that is the human runner. An individual who can endure the pains of covering long distances on foot from the age of 9 to the age of 69. Using a little-known, and little-changed, Mexican tribe, Christopher reveals a connection between running and freedom, as well as survival and cooperation.
2. Changing my legs – and my mindset
When Aimee Mullins was born, she was missing fibulas in both of her legs. Despite being born without legs, she was still born to run. The Paralympic sprinter crushed records at the 1996 Paralympic Games. Throughout her running career, she constantly learned new things about herself and her prosthetic legs.
“It’s important to focus on a goal, I think, but also recognize the progression on the way there and how you’ve grown as a person.” – Aimee Mullins
Aimee’s TED Talk is a lesson in placing yourself outside of your comfort zone. It’s a reminder to always focus on the activities you can do as opposed to those you can’t.
3. Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?
Athletes do the impossible every single day. One athlete breaks another athlete’s record and the cycle goes on and on for what will probably be eternity. TED Talk speaker, David Epstein, wondered if athletes are continually improving their speed, strength, and ability. He begins his speech with a few case studies – pitting Jesse Owens, Usain Bolt, and Sir Roger Bannister against each other to demonstrate the enhancement of performance throughout the years. David covers 3 main points in his speech:
“Changing technology, changing genes, and a changing mindset.”
The third point is the differentiator.
4. Flow, the secret to happiness
The right mindset for a competitive individual starts to develop when they are appropriately challenged and when they have the skills to meet those challenges. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this the “flow experience.”
“If we know what that set point is, we can predict fairly accurately when you will be in flow, and it will be when your challenges are higher than average and skills are higher than average.” – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
With his studies of human happiness and creativity, Mihaly hopes to help people from all walks of life operate in the flow state more often.
5. The exhilarating peace of freediving
Finally, I round out the list of the top 5 TED Talks for athletes with Guillaume Nery’s technical and poetic explanation of a free dive. He describes it much more beautifully than I ever could:
“A journey that takes place between two breaths – the last one before diving into the water, and the first one, coming back to the surface.” – Guillaume Nery
To Guillaume, his sport calms the body, mind, and spirit in an age where stress weighs us down.
These TED Talks show how humans have a built a foundation in exercise for survival purposes, but have since moved beyond base concerns. Running, biking, swimming, and lifting weights… The activities are beneficial for more than our physical health. They contribute to our spiritual health, as well.
For more TED Talk reviews, check out these posts from our archives:
Must-See TED Talks for Women Entrepreneurs
Presentation Writing Lessons from Anne Lamott
How an Interesting Topic Can Draw in an Audience: The Dead Malls TED Talk
