In 2011, Kylie Dunn, a writer from Australia, decided to shake up her life. Every month for a year, she decided to try two new activities. In February 2012, for example, one of her goals was to eat less meat for 30 days. Later, she wrote a letter to a friend or relative every day for a month. In just 12 months, she changed her life in more than 20 different ways.

Dunn was inspired to try her project after watching a TED Talk by Matt Cutts. To get ideas for activities, she watched hundreds of other TED Talks. Her first activity, in November 2011, was inspired by Jessi Arrington’s talk “Wear Nothing New.” Dunn tried each activity for 30 days, and then wrote about her experiences in a blog called “My Year of TED.”

Finally, when her project was over, Dunn talked about her experiences at a TEDx conference (会议) in Hobart, Australia. Dunn’s talk in January 2014 inspired other people to change their attitudes and their lives. Before her project, Dunn says, she didn’t think she had the courage to change her life. The project showed her she had more power than she thought.

“People who watch TED Talks… end up changing their view of the future,” says Chris Anderson, the head of TED. He says that TED’s goal isn’t to make a single big change. TED’s effect is the millions of stories of small changes. Personal changes like Kylie Dunn’s are happening every day. Together, these changes have the power to change the future in a positive way. As Anderson explains, “Instead of thinking of the future as an unstoppable force… people can play a part in shaping it.” 

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