An NFL quarterback on overcoming setbacks and self-doubt | Alex Smith

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 December 2021

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith almost died after a particularly rough tackle snapped his leg in 2018 -- yet he was back on the field just two years later. In this inspiring talk, he shares his hard-won insights on overcoming fear, self-doubt and anxiety that could help anyone endure life's challenges. (This talk contains graphic images.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:07.2	This is Ted Health, I'm your host, Dr. Shoshana Unger-Lighter.
0:11.8	Throughout life, setbacks are all but guaranteed, but it's often our worst moments and biggest
0:17.1	mistakes that profoundly shape who we become.
0:20.4	In 2018, after a tackle left former NFL quarterback, Alex Smith, bedbound and critically ill,
0:27.4	he learned firsthand how perspective and priorities change when the unthinkable happens.
0:32.7	In his 2021 Ted Monterey talk, Alex shares the advice that was crucial to his emotional
0:38.4	healing during recovery and how to break the cycles of self-sabotage that prevent us
0:43.7	from owning our scars.
0:45.6	There's another podcast you might enjoy, it's called Am I Normal from the Ted Audio Collective?
0:52.6	It's back with a new mini-series all about the stories behind the statistics.
0:58.0	What does adulthood mean in a place where more than three-quarters of people between ages
1:01.9	18 and 35 live with their parents?
1:05.0	What defines joy when you live in one of the top ranked countries for happiness?
1:09.0	Here from the people that make up every interesting data point, listen to Am I Normal, wherever
1:13.2	you get your podcasts.
1:15.8	I wake up in a hospital bed and I'm surrounded by doctors.
1:21.8	Everything is hazy.
1:23.6	I've been in and out of consciousness for over a week.
1:27.8	The doctors are telling me that I have a bad infection in my leg.
1:31.9	They say that they've operated eight times already.
1:35.0	They say that at one point my fever spiked and my immune system started attacking my body.
	...

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