How to find your purpose (w/ Yara Shahidi)

“Optimism is not what exists in a vacuum on your best day, but how you're pulling through for yourself on your worst days,” says actress Yara Shahidi. Yara is known for her sitcoms Black-ish and its spinoff Grown-ish. She shares what she learned from creating a “Hard Yes” list, why she chose to attend Harvard after acting, and why she thinks anyone can find their highest order if they pay attention. Featured guest Follow Yara Shahidi on Instagram and at yarashahidi.com/ Listen to The Optimist Project podcast Connect with the team Follow Chris on Instagram and at chrisduffycomedy.com Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective Follow TED on X , Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn , and TikTok For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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How to find your purpose (w/ Yara Shahidi) is an episode from How to Be a Better Human by TED.

This episode is 40:31 long.

This episode was published on Mar 16, 2026.

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