You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity

every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. It's a simple yet beautiful idea to go on a journey to

personally thank every person who helped to make your morning cup of coffee.

But for author A.J. Jacobs, this isn't just a sweet thought experiment. He actually did it.

In this 2018 archive talk, A.J. reflects on his globetrotting journey of 1,000 thank yous,

and the life-altering wisdom he picked up along the way.

So I don't like to boast, but I am very good at finding things to be annoyed about. It is a real specialty

of mine. I can hear 100 compliments and a single insult, and what do I remember? The insult.

And according to the research, I'm not alone. Unfortunately, the human brain is wired to focus on the negative.

Now, this might have been helpful when we were cave people trying to avoid predators, but now it's

a terrible way to go through life. It is a real major component of anxiety and depression. So how can we fight the brain's negative bias?

According to a lot of research, one of the best weapons is gratitude. So knowing this, I started

a new tradition in our house a couple of years ago. Before a meal with my wife and kids, I would say a prayer of Thanksgiving.

Prayer is not quite the right word.

I'm agnostic.

So instead of thanking God, I would thank some of the people who helped make my food a reality.

I'd say, I'd like to thank the farmer who grew these tomatoes

and the trucker who drove these tomatoes to the store

and the cashier who rang these tomatoes up.

And I thought it was going pretty well, this tradition.

Then one day, my 10-year-old son said,

You know, Dad, those people aren't in our apartment. They can't hear you. Then one day my 10-year-old son said,

...