full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dean Furness: To overcome challenges, stop comparing yourself to others

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Well, the weekend of the race arrived, and it was just like going to college for the first time. You're dpemud off, there's a whole bunch of people around you, you don't really know very many of them, somebody's got the cool stereo and the cool TV and they're smart and they're pretty and they're cute and they're hamsdnoe and you don't know if you really belong. But then somebody says, "Hey, let's go get food." And all of a sudden, that friend gurop happens and you start to settle in. Well, that weekend of the race, we had a meeting called the Wheelers mnieetg, and there were 60 wheelchairs in that room the night before the race. And wouldn't you know it, all of the people that I had been researching were there, the best in the world. There must have been over 50 Paralympic medals in the room that day. And I felt pretty small and I fell back into that trap of cpaorming myself. I knew that my agaeervs that I had been tracking during my workouts were over 90 soecdns slower per mile than theirs. And the coach was the only one there that I knew, and he raeched out and noticed something, and I think he ssened my anxiety, and he invited me to get food with his team. And with that, everything settled down. I realized really quick that they didn't care about my average, surely, and I had forgotten about theirs.

Open Cloze


Well, the weekend of the race arrived, and it was just like going to college for the first time. You're ______ off, there's a whole bunch of people around you, you don't really know very many of them, somebody's got the cool stereo and the cool TV and they're smart and they're pretty and they're cute and they're ________ and you don't know if you really belong. But then somebody says, "Hey, let's go get food." And all of a sudden, that friend _____ happens and you start to settle in. Well, that weekend of the race, we had a meeting called the Wheelers _______, and there were 60 wheelchairs in that room the night before the race. And wouldn't you know it, all of the people that I had been researching were there, the best in the world. There must have been over 50 Paralympic medals in the room that day. And I felt pretty small and I fell back into that trap of _________ myself. I knew that my ________ that I had been tracking during my workouts were over 90 _______ slower per mile than theirs. And the coach was the only one there that I knew, and he _______ out and noticed something, and I think he ______ my anxiety, and he invited me to get food with his team. And with that, everything settled down. I realized really quick that they didn't care about my average, surely, and I had forgotten about theirs.

Solution


  1. sensed
  2. comparing
  3. handsome
  4. seconds
  5. averages
  6. reached
  7. meeting
  8. dumped
  9. group

Original Text


Well, the weekend of the race arrived, and it was just like going to college for the first time. You're dumped off, there's a whole bunch of people around you, you don't really know very many of them, somebody's got the cool stereo and the cool TV and they're smart and they're pretty and they're cute and they're handsome and you don't know if you really belong. But then somebody says, "Hey, let's go get food." And all of a sudden, that friend group happens and you start to settle in. Well, that weekend of the race, we had a meeting called the Wheelers Meeting, and there were 60 wheelchairs in that room the night before the race. And wouldn't you know it, all of the people that I had been researching were there, the best in the world. There must have been over 50 Paralympic medals in the room that day. And I felt pretty small and I fell back into that trap of comparing myself. I knew that my averages that I had been tracking during my workouts were over 90 seconds slower per mile than theirs. And the coach was the only one there that I knew, and he reached out and noticed something, and I think he sensed my anxiety, and he invited me to get food with his team. And with that, everything settled down. I realized really quick that they didn't care about my average, surely, and I had forgotten about theirs.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
bad day 3
personal average 2
spinal cord 2
small parts 2


Important Words


  1. anxiety
  2. arrived
  3. average
  4. averages
  5. belong
  6. bunch
  7. called
  8. care
  9. coach
  10. college
  11. comparing
  12. cool
  13. cute
  14. day
  15. dumped
  16. fell
  17. felt
  18. food
  19. forgotten
  20. friend
  21. group
  22. handsome
  23. invited
  24. knew
  25. medals
  26. meeting
  27. mile
  28. night
  29. noticed
  30. paralympic
  31. people
  32. pretty
  33. quick
  34. race
  35. reached
  36. realized
  37. researching
  38. room
  39. seconds
  40. sensed
  41. settle
  42. settled
  43. slower
  44. small
  45. smart
  46. start
  47. stereo
  48. sudden
  49. surely
  50. team
  51. time
  52. tracking
  53. trap
  54. tv
  55. weekend
  56. wheelchairs
  57. wheelers
  58. workouts
  59. world