Youtube Exercise » English Grammar Homework

What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

TED

34K views 2 months ago

Warm-up Questions

What does it mean to “measure your life every day”?
Do you track anything daily (health, habits, time, mood)? Why or why not?
What parts of life do you think matter most besides health?

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What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

From wearables to a bigger question (00:00 – 02:51)

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1. What main idea does the speaker propose at the beginning?

We should stop using wearables because they are inaccurate.
We should focus only on professional success to feel fulfilled.
We should measure more than health—other important parts of life too.
We should avoid numbers because life can’t be measured.

2. What problem did the speaker experience after turning 25?

He started getting sick frequently.
He often woke up at night with panics and big worries about his life.
He couldn’t sleep because of too much coffee.
He lost his job and had financial stress.

3. Which phrase does the speaker use to express a core belief from his work as a consultant?

No pain, no gain.
Less is more.
Time heals all wounds.
What gets measured gets managed.

What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

Building the tracker and challenging distorted thinking (02:51 – 07:13)

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1. What did the speaker use to track the “dimensions of a good life”?

A professional therapist’s scoring system
A notebook he updated once a month
A simple (but clunky) Excel tracker
A smartwatch app designed by Gallup

2. About how long does the daily survey usually take him?

About 30 minutes
About 5 seconds
About 10 minutes
About 90 seconds

3. After a tough Monday, what does the tracker help him realize?

He should quit his job immediately.
He should stop asking mentors for feedback.
His life is permanently falling apart.
He actually just had one bad day, and other days were fine.

What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

Patterns, balance across dimensions, and a wake-up call (07:13 – 10:27)

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1. What pattern does he notice about his “Monday storm”?

It usually passes by Tuesday or Wednesday.
It happens only during holidays.
It usually gets worse all week until the weekend.
It disappears only when he stops working.

2. What does the speaker say the tracker forces his brain to do?

Work longer hours to improve performance
Optimize across dimensions and balance trade-offs
Compete with other people’s scores
Ignore emotions and focus on logic only

3. What realization hits him hard while filling out the tracker on vacation?

One important relationship was being neglected even though other areas looked fine.
Excel is not the right tool for tracking life.
His career goals are too small.
He should move to a different country.

What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

Transcript will load here…

1. What is the speaker’s overall message?

Happiness mainly depends on becoming famous or powerful.
Measuring life is pointless because people can’t change.
Therapy is the only effective way to improve your life.
If you track what matters, you can manage it and move toward a good life.

2. Why does the tracker help with the speaker’s anxiety and negative thinking?

It proves he is better than other people.
It replaces relationships with numbers.
It guarantees that every day will be a good day.
It gives evidence and context, so one bad moment doesn’t define everything.

3. What is a key risk the speaker describes when focusing too much on one area (like work)?

You will lose the ability to measure anything accurately.
You will become unable to set goals.
You will stop caring about personal growth.
You may neglect other important dimensions of life.

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

What Happened When I Started Measuring My Life Every Day | Chris Musser | TED

Which “dimensions” (areas) of a good life would you include if you made your own tracker? Why?
Do you think “what gets measured gets managed” is true for personal life? When might it be false?
What are the benefits and dangers of quantifying personal things like relationships or character?
If you tracked one habit or behavior for 30 days, what would you choose and how would you measure it?