Live the soundtrack of your life | Saskia Rudolph | TEDxLinz

You are in charge! Mix your tape the way you want it. Listen to the sound of your life. Skip backward. And forward. Record what you love. Pause. Play. Live.
And maybe - if necessary - change the tape and escape from the sounds which no longer suit you.

Saskia Rudolph is a speaker, lecturer and author in the field of applied happiness and well-being science.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

In our modern world, everyone
is always looking for the next big thing:

the key to success, health,
happiness, and well-being.

New methods, solutions, insights,
facts and figures pop up everywhere

in this sheer endless search
for "The Perfect Life."

This is my grandma

on her motorbike in Italy in 1956,

not knowing that this would be
one of the last trips she would take

for a very, very long time.

When the Wall was built in 1961,

it divided Germany,
the country she grew up in,

and ended her freedom.

But she never stopped hoping, dreaming,
and believing in a better future.

In 1989, four years after I was born,

suddenly the wall was history.

My grandparents put my sister and me

into their tiny little, GDR,
East German, Trabant car,

and finally took us to all the different
places they had been longing to visit

and missing for such a long time.

We slept in this car;
there were four of us.

(Laughter)

When we got taller, we moved
into a tiny little tent next to it.

We even slept in a cow stable.

We didn't have any money,
but we were finally free,

and that's what really mattered.

As a cultural scientist and psychologist,

I guess I know almost everything
there is to know

about the science
of happiness and well-being.

All the facts and figures,

all the studies.

I know that 50 percent of your happiness
is determined by your genes,

so you cannot do anything about it;

another 10 percent by circumstances
you cannot change or influence,

as good or bad as they might be;

but the remaining 40 percent -

and that's what really counts -

are influenced by yourself,

by your internal state of mind,
your actions, thoughts, and behaviour.

So in my case,

my childhood experiences, our adventures,

and not the least, my grandma's words

told me more about happiness
than anything or anyone else ever did.

Because, in the end,
it's not about science;

it's not about brain structures
or chemical reactions.

In the end, it's all about how you fill
this mix-tape called your life.

So, imagine your life was a tape recorder.

Sometimes,

one or the other button might get stuck.

Sometimes, the tape
gets tangled in the small cogs.

But most of the time, it is running:
the soundtrack of your life.

When do you push which button?

"Play" is all about the many different
reasons you get up in the morning.

It's about motivation.

It's about getting started
or getting started ahead.

And it's about what you love.

And it's about the best state
your mind and body can possibly be in.

When time rushes and everything
seems perfectly under control,

this state is called "flow."

So think about,

When was the last time
you were so motivated and so focused

that nothing else played a role anymore,
and time just went by?

Once we've started moving,

there's one thing
we sometimes tend to forget

and might end up being totally stressed.

It's my favourite button;
it's the "Pause" button.

Because sometimes
I myself forget to press it.

The Pause button is about finding time
to calm down and to rest.

It's about mindfulness,

and it's about being exactly here and now

and nowhere else.

And it's about taking a deep breath,

here and now.

And while you're breathing,

I want you to skip back

to all the moments and memories
you've had so far in your life.

I want you to remember them
because they mattered so much.

Skip back to all the places
you've already been to,

to all the wonderful things
you've already done,

and to all the good things
you've already learned,

because I think there's
so much to remember.

And while you're there,

skipping back,

also think about everyone
you've met along the way.

So many people.

There's a saying that says

that you become like the five people
you spend most time with.

So choose wisely whose voices
and actions you would like to record.

Whose words do you never,
ever want to forget?

Who mattered so much that you want to
have them in your life on a regular basis?

Think about the people who really count,

and get in touch with them -

today, tomorrow,

and every single day that follows.

Play, Pause, Rewind, Record.

Last but not least, there's one button
that takes a look into your future.

"Skip Forward" to the unknown,

and look what the future might bring.

What would you do
if you knew you could not fail?

And,

when was the last time you did something
for the very, very first time?

You are in charge.

Mix your mix-tape the way you want it.

Listen to the sound of your life.

Skip Back and Forward,
Record, Play, and Pause.

Live your life,

because as far as I know,
there's only one life you've got.

My grandma's soundtrack

is one of the most colourful, loveliest,
and inspiring ones I have ever known.

I often wish it would still be playing,

and in a way, I think it always will be.

So, why am I telling you this?

I want you to go to these five buttons
on your tape recorder as a daily routine.

I want you to use them all;
don't only play one of them all the time.

Use them all.

Implement them
into the fabric of your life

because every mix-tape
tells another story.

Let yours be unique, authentic,

full of love, laughter, and learnings.

Let it be a daily inspiration

for yourself and for the people
you love the most.

Thank you.

(Applause)