Talks to Motivate You Playlist (5/10): Let your ambition light you up, not burn you out | Tarveen Forrester

0:03Hey, everyone. You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Welcome back to our first podcast playlist of 2026. Today, we have dropped 10 talks from our archive onto the feed all at once to motivate you, to keep you going when things are hard, to inspire you as the weather shifts, to help kickstart that new project or idea. or if things are feeling good for you right now, just to offer a different perspective. Whatever type of motivation you might need, we have a TED Talk for that. Next up, it's hard to say no or to set healthy boundaries around work.

0:44Just last night, I was working until past 10 p.m. I know I'm not alone in this. We live in a world where extreme hustling is often seen as a good thing and where adding more and more to your plate can be rewarded. But there's a dark side to this. Burnout, adverse health effects from stress, exhaustion. Burnout shouldn't be the price of success, but setting boundaries at work is easier said than done. Tarveen Forrester, who oversees workplace culture at Kickstarter, shares some practical strategies for protecting your time and cultivating sustainable ambition so you can crush your goals without letting them crush you.

1:20As she puts it, it's her secret sauce for developing a healthy relationship with the word no. Coming up right after a short break.

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2:53Subject to credit approval, Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at applecard.com. This episode is brought to you by Planet Visionaries, a podcast in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative. If you've been feeling overwhelmed by climate headlines lately, here's something worth your time. A show focused on solutions. It's called Planet Visionaries, hosted by Alex Honnold. Yes, the climber from Free Solo who recently completed an impressive skyscraper climb in Taipei, now turning his attention to protecting the only planet we've got. What makes this show stand out is the people.

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4:06And now, our TED Talk of the day. Like many of you, I was enamored by the hustle culture. As a VP of people and multi-time HR executive, I've led many teams and companies through burnout. I've also gone through it myself. Turns out, a lot of us have. Studies show that at least one in four employees globally have experienced burnout. Burnout sucks. If you know, you know. But you know what's worse? It's dimming your light and your ambition. You see, your ambition is a very special gift. It's that fire in you that keeps you aspiring for more and pushes you to your fullest potential. I believe with the right tools, you can nurture your ambition and avoid burnout.

4:57This all starts with learning to set and maintain your boundaries within work, life, and your relationships. Now, boundaries kind of have a bad reputation, right? Some people think of them as an excuse to work less. Others as a reason to say no to everybody and everything. And some even believe they minimize your dreams. But boundaries are actually what empower you to do more and do it better. Boundaries give your ambition a sense of rhythm and pace. So you can create what I call sustainable ambition. So what's the secret sauce? How do we effectively set boundaries? Well, it starts with this hard truth.

5:42You can't do everything and avoid burnout. I'll paint the picture for you. It's four weeks away from that big deadline. You have mouths to feed, a home to maintain, workouts to attend, and then boom. The inconvenient thing happens. Your child is sick, you're rushing to the vet, or the worst, you receive bad news that rocks you. You're now sitting there in this predicament of trying to figure out, how am I going to do it all? Well, guess what? You're not. Before you can even begin to tackle your goals, you have to make peace with the reality that you can't do and be everything, especially in these moments of the unknown.

6:27Pushing yourself to the point of unsustainability is an extremely toxic cycle. And unsustainability and unrealistic expectations are exactly where burnout starts. So let's talk about how you can create a system to support your ambitions and your boundaries. First, you have to get crystal clear on your non-negotiables. It's up to you to decide what tasks and what habits are essential for you when you hit those high-pressure moments. A non-negotiable could be something like meditating 10 minutes a day, getting to your kid's baseball game, or prioritizing that workout. As it does, life be life in, and it'll throw you another curveball.

7:13And when it does, I want you to ask yourself, how am I going to prioritize my non-negotiable? What is the trade-off? A trade-off is typically something like rescheduling a social activity, canceling your golf lesson. This one's a little controversial, but maybe you're not watching Sunday night football. I know. I know it's football season, I know. At the end of the day, we can't control all the things that are happening around us, but we can control how we react. So it's up to us to accept these trade-off moments, adapt, and move forward. The second step is becoming aware of what I call your time bank.

7:55Now, when you're frugal with your time, you have more time for your ambitions, and your non-negotiables. And when you're frivolous with your time, you're running on that hamster wheel from one thing to another to another to another. So just like you would ponder a big purchase, the next time somebody requests your time or a commitment from you, I want you to ask yourself, is this time worth spending? Is this feasible? I like to ask myself, is future me going to be mad at current me if I say yes to this? It's important to talk to future you. And does this align with what future me wants? As you would be selective with a big purchase, learn to be selective with your time commitments.

8:41This is how you learn to protect your time. The final step to sustaining your ambition is my favorite, clearly communicating your boundaries. Now, nobody likes to say no. It's extremely uncomfortable. We know this. I'm going to give you a few examples of how you can do this. The first could sound something like, I'd love to help with that, but I only have 30 minutes today. Is that enough time to get us started? Or it could be, thank you so much for the invite, but I already have plans. Or maybe it's, Mrs. Manager, this project sounds so exciting, but I'm already at capacity. I'm happy to help with this, but I will need to shift and reprioritize my deadlines.

9:24Now, when we first start to say no, it will be extremely uncomfortable, kind of cringe. You're probably going to feel guilty. This is natural. When this happens, I want you to remember your work, your life, and your relationships will never set boundaries for you. It's up to you to create them. After all, only you know your limits, your potential, and your needs. Starting to leverage clear communication as a resource and a tool will contribute to a higher performing and more sustainable version of you. So to bring us full circle, the hustle culture that we've been entrenched in for too long is being taken over by a generation of workers that are prioritizing work-life balance.

10:10The Gen Zs have completely run away from the hustle culture, yet the millennials are still stuck in it. It's two sides of a spectrum. But what if the sweet spot is actually in the middle? This means we hustle when we need to because goals do require hard work, and we prioritize balance and boundaries when we need to because we must rest, recharge, and reconnect with others. A life with boundaries is a sustainable one. Give yourself the permission to have the time to crush your goals, the space for rest, and the energy to continue to dream big. It's time we let our ambitions light us up and not burn us out.

10:53Thank you. Thank you.

11:24If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at ted.com slash curation guidelines. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact-checked by the TED Research Team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, and Tonsika Sungmarnivong. This episode was mixed by Lucy Little. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Ballarezo. I'm Elise Hu. Thanks for listening.

12:21Tarveen Forrester: Thank you. Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com slash bank. Capital One N.A. Member FDIC. You have the vision for your business. You have the plan. And you just got handed a huge opportunity. But is your business connectivity reliable enough to make a move? Spectrum Business delivers fast, reliable internet, phone, TV, and mobile services. So you're always connected when it matters most. Get connectivity packages built for your business with savings that keep your budget in check. And with fast, reliable internet and 100 % U.S.-based customer support, you'll stay connected and ready to bring your vision to life.

13:00Tarveen Forrester: Learn more at spectrum.com slash business. Restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. This episode is brought to you by Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Hosted by Katie Milkman, an award-winning behavioral scientist and author of best-selling book, How to Change. Choiceology is a show about the psychology and economics behind our decisions. Hear true stories from Nobel laureates, authors, athletes, and everyday people about why we do the things we do. Listen to Choiceology at schwab.com slash podcast or wherever you listen.