Elise Hu

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.

It happens to the best of us.

The resolutions we set at the beginning of a new year become harder to accomplish, and maybe we've already given up on a few.

And yet, at the start of every year, many of us continue to turn our attention to goals or resolutions.

What is the deeper question that sits behind this yearly cycle of planning?

For journalist and psychologist Emily Esfahani-Smith, it's what truly gives our lives meaning and how we stay grounded in what matters most.

In a conversation from January, Emily joins TED curator Whitney Pennington-Rogers to explore questions around how to cultivate purpose, belonging, and a deeper sense of fulfillment as we continue into this year and beyond.

That was Emily Esfahani-Smith in conversation with Whitney Pennington Rogers for a TED membership event in 2026.

If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines.

And that's it for today.

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 Tansika Sangmarnivong.

This episode was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan.

Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo.

I'm Elise Hugh.

I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

Thanks for listening.

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