Counterintuitive advice that will help you set and achieve your goals for the short-term, long-term and those moments in between.

In 2000, the UN laid out 8 goals to make the world better by reducing poverty and disease -- with a deadline of 2015. As that deadline approaches, Jamie Drummond of ONE.org runs down the surprising successes of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, and suggests a crowdsourced reboot for the next 15 years.

After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret. He presents research stretching as far back as the 1920s to show why people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them.

The same resolutions every year -- get more sleep, eat healthier -- we know the drill. Let these talks inspire you to keep with those goals and perhaps add a few more to your list too.

Psychologist Angela Duckworth studies the traits that allow us to stick to our goals — and she chose four great talks that explore other facets of how human beings behave.

It never hurts to have a basic set of guiding principles. Let these insightful talks help shape, redefine and build out your own leadership goals. (Curated in partnership with Brightline Initiative.)

Our leaders and institutions are failing us, but it's not always because they're bad or unethical, says venture capitalist John Doerr -- often, it's simply because they're leading us toward the wrong objectives. In this practical talk, Doerr shows us how we can get back on track with "Objectives and Key Results," or OKRs -- a goal-setting system...

"We are living in a world that is tantalizingly close to ensuring that no one need die of hunger or malaria or diarrhea," says economist Michael Green. To help spur progress, back in 2015 the United Nations drew up a set of 17 goals around important factors like health, education and equality. In this data-packed talk, Green shares his analysis ...

Saving money is like working out or eating right -- it's easier said than done. Behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa streamlines the process with two quick tips that can help you achieve your goals.

The hard choices -- what we most fear doing, asking, saying -- are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take action? Tim Ferriss encourages us to fully envision and write down our fears in detail, in a simple but powerful exercise he calls "fear-setting." Learn more about how this practice can help you th...

Water is essential to life. Yet in the eyes of the law, it remains largely unprotected -- leaving many communities without access to safe drinking water, says legal scholar Kelsey Leonard. In this powerful talk, she shows why granting lakes and rivers legal "personhood" -- giving them the same legal rights as humans -- is the first step to prote...

Can we end hunger and poverty, halt climate change and achieve gender equality in the next 15 years? The governments of the world think we can. Meeting at the UN in September 2015, they agreed to a new set of Global Goals for the development of the world to 2030. Social progress expert Michael Green invites us to imagine how these goals and thei...

The pressures of having to make an amazing film sent this deadpan, deep-voiced, award-winning filmmaker into a crippling spiral of self-doubt and comic indecision. (Credits: Music by Stillhead; Executive Producer, TED2018 Film Program: Sinéad McDevitt; Director of Production and Video Operations, TED: Mina Sabet)

How do we respect someone's religious beliefs, while also holding religion accountable for the damage those beliefs may cause? Chelsea Shields has a bold answer to this question. She was raised in the orthodox Mormon tradition, and she spent the early part of her life watching women be excluded from positions of importance within the LDS Church....

Ever gaze up at the starry night sky? This stunning view is at risk of disappearing -- unless we act now, says astrophysicist Kelsey Johnson. In this fascinating, unexpectedly funny talk, she explains how light pollution affects almost every species on earth (including us) and shares five "stupidly simple" things you can do to help solve the pro...

What does it take to be a pro gamer? Esports expert William Collis charts the rise of the multibillion-dollar competitive gaming industry and breaks down three skills needed to master video games like Fortnite, League of Legends and Rocket League. And watch out, Collis says: these skills can set you up for crushing it at work, too.

Sayonara 2010s! Enjoy this look back on which popular TED Talks caught our attention from 2010 to 2019.

Using a mobile app to check glucose levels, sending selfies to receive diagnoses and receiving text reminders to take pills. Is this what the future of healthcare will look like? Karalee Close believes it should, considering that medical mistakes are the fourth leading cause of death in the US. She argues that a closer marriage of technology, bi...

What could you do with the world's smallest 3D printer? Klaus Stadlmann demos his tiny, affordable printer that could someday make customized hearing aids -- or sculptures smaller than a human hair.

In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that's how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida -- at age 64. Hear her story.

Maintaining a healthy weight takes more than diet and exercise, says physical activity epidemiologist Olivia Affuso. In this actionable talk, she shows how you can kickstart a healthy life by tapping into the collective power of a community that supports and motivates your health goals.

You might have a 5-year plan, but what about a 200-year plan? Artist Raghava KK has set his eyes on an ultra-long-term horizon; at TEDxSummit, he shows how it helps guide today's choices and tomorrow's goals -- and encourages you to make your own 200-year plan too.

After his son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Billy Samuel Mwape realized that his project management skills might be put to use to support his child's special needs. In this inspiring, personal talk, he describes how project management -- the process of leading a team's work to achieve goals on a tight timeline -- can help you tackle life's ...

So, you've decided to pursue your dreams. Go you! It'll be hard work, but well worth the effort. Throughout your quest, let these TED Talks reinvigorate your sense of purpose when times get tough.

What makes a great leader? These TED Talks offer surprising, nuanced approaches on how to inspire and empower others to do their very best.

The United Nations has set a goal to free the world from hunger, poverty and HIV related deaths. But where does the money come from? Conscious capitalist Sahil Sethi identifies a sector resource-rich enough to make the UN's ambitious goals a reality: the corporate world. By donating .7% of their annual profits to the UN goals, he believes corpor...

At her Harvard commencement speech, "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling offers some powerful, heartening advice to dreamers and overachievers, including one hard-won lesson that she deems "worth more than any qualification I ever earned."

Climate action can be a vehicle to deliver dignity, opportunity and equality for all. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed invites us to reimagine what the journey to net-zero could look like if we invest in people's climate efforts while prioritizing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals -- a blueprint of interlinked global goals to pro...

How much do you think about your future self? If your answer is not much, you're not alone. It can be difficult to plan for a version of yourself you haven't met yet, says psychologist Meg Jay. Sharing how to close the empathy gap between you and your future selves, she outlines courageous questions to ask about how your present and future can a...

Born with a rare disorder that prevents her from gaining weight, Lizzie Velasquez has faced more negativity and bullying than most. Over time, she's developed a simple but effective coping mechanism. "Tell me those negative things," she says. "I'm gonna turn them around and use them as a ladder to climb up to my goals." In this funny, personal t...