How to Find Your Purpose (W/ Yara Shahidi) | How to Be a Better Human | TED

Reject the either/or mentality

When advisers claimed no symbiotic relationship existed between her acting career and Harvard education, Shahidi chose to honor both passions rather than compartmentalize them.

Identify your three core priorities

Borrowing from her aunt's concept of 'highest order,' Shahidi recommends defining the three core drivers that guide your actions on both macro and micro scales.

Build your life around honoring interests

By centering her life on curiosities ranging from the Glockenspiel to Octavia Butler, she created a foundation that allows excited movement toward unknown futures rather than fear of leaving familiar spaces.

Choose action over critique

Shahidi discovered that her period of academic critique and pessimism led to paralysis, while optimistic action—however naive—accomplished more than doing nothing.

Treat optimism as a daily discipline

Citing Dr. Lorie Santos' research, she frames optimism not as blissful ignorance but as the difficult daily work of fighting for joy while acknowledging harsh realities.

Embrace productive uncertainty

Recognizing she operates with perhaps 0.98% of the world's knowledge allows her to see possibility in what she hasn't yet learned rather than limiting herself to current understanding.

Create a hard yes list

After a 'year of no' (boundary setting) and a 'year of yes' (indiscriminate acceptance), she now tracks specific things that bring undeniable joy—from live music to wearing color—to deploy during difficult moments.

Adopt historical perspective

Her 1963 tattoo reminds her that progress requires fighting for futures not guaranteed to the fighters, reframing current work as part of a generational journey rather than immediate gratification.

Navigate shifting winds with values

As activism moves from being 'in vogue' to high-stakes, she uses 'highest order' conversations to determine which risks are worth taking when consensus disappears.