0:00 If you let people have their phones out, 0:02 the IQ of your employees is lower. Cuz 0:05 there was a study done when the phone 0:08 was visible to you. Scores were 0:10 significantly decreased. 0:11 >> Like my attention decreased. 0:13 >> Yes, Raj. It was also general fluid 0:15 intelligence. That means you're dumber. 0:17 This is the scary reality of how 0:21 attention works in the brain. people who 0:23 hold their phone or put their phone out 0:25 on the table when they're talking to 0:26 people and they first meet you. You seem 0:28 less trustworthy, less capable, less 0:30 intelligent, all of these different 0:31 things. [music] 0:34 I'm a cognitive neuroscientist. Study 0:36 how we can train the brain to be better. 0:40 Every single time you [music] switch 0:41 your attention, you pay for it in time 0:43 and you pay for it in energy. And if you 0:45 don't believe me, we can test it out. 0:47 >> Grab a piece of paper. You have some 0:48 paper and a pen. Now, on the top line, 0:50 [music] I want you to write, "I am a 0:52 great multitasker." And then on the 0:54 bottom line, I want you to write the 0:56 numbers 1 through 20. I want you to go 0:58 as fast as you can. Okay? Go. 1:02 [music] 1:04 17.72. Now, turn this paper around. Draw 1:07 two more lines. You're going to do this 1:09 one more time, but the way in which you 1:11 will arrive will be very different. 1:13 >> Okay? 1:14 >> You're going to alternate. You're going 1:15 to go back and forth until you finish 1:16 both lines. 1:17 >> Okay? 1:17 >> Go. 1:20 >> [music] 1:22 >> done. So you went from 17.72 1:25 to 41.35 1:27 more than double. 1:28 >> Every single time you switch your 1:29 attention, there's a payment, a 1:30 biological payment. This is what makes 1:33 the people that are ultra successful 1:34 different from everybody else. They just 1:36 choose [music] differently. 1:38 >> A lot of people think that ultra 1:40 successful people have better ideas. 1:41 >> They have [music] more ideas. 1:43 >> So what should I do? How can someone 1:45 become a person who gets incredible 1:47 ideas all the time? 1:48 >> Be bored and do nothing and you get 1:51 ideas. You have to let those ideas come 1:54 to you by cultivating the space for 1:56 them. 1:57 >> I'm going to show you a city map. 1:59 Explain me how my brain works as if it 2:02 was a city. 2:02 >> We're here to learn about getting 2:04 [music] done and being productive. Yeah. 2:05 >> How do I become this person who ends up 2:07 achieving all the goals? Yes. 2:10 >> Yes. Okay. [music] 2:14 I have a small favor to ask you. I need 2:17 you to subscribe to our channel. The 2:19 more subscribers we have, the better and 2:21 bigger guests we can bring and provide 2:24 you more value through these 2:25 conversations. And the full audio 2:27 experience of this show is also 2:29 available on Spotify where you can 2:31 follow us and listen to the new episodes 2:34 as well. We usually think about how food 2:36 affects our body, but we rarely think 2:38 about how it affects our brain. What you 2:41 eat impacts your focus, your energy, and 2:43 your ability to think clearly. [snorts] 2:45 That's why the ingredients used in your 2:47 food matter so much. Urban Platter 2:50 understands this, and that's why they 2:52 make better for you products that 2:54 deliver on both taste and quality, so 2:56 you don't have to choose between the 2:58 two. Every ingredient is thoughtfully 3:00 sourced, giving you cleaner alternatives 3:02 for your everyday meals. Because when 3:04 you eat clean, your body feels better 3:06 and your brain thinks better. To know 3:08 more about Urban Platter, check the link 3:10 in the description below. 3:15 >> If 3:16 >> yeah, 3:17 >> someone's watching you for the first 3:18 time. 3:19 >> Yes. 3:19 >> They have no clue who you are. 3:21 >> Then how would you explain what do you 3:23 do and 3:26 why they should watch it? 3:27 >> So I'm a cognitive neuroscientist and my 3:29 research is focused on cognitive 3:32 neuroplasticity and also cognitive 3:35 training. So I in particular study how 3:40 we can train the brain to be better, 3:43 better, faster, stronger. 3:45 >> Okay? 3:45 >> Which is why my lab colloquially is kind 3:47 of called the becoming superhuman lab 3:49 because that's what I study. I study how 3:50 to make superhumans. And I'm obsessed 3:53 with this topic. I have been for a very 3:55 very long time. When I learned early on 3:58 in my career that the brain is capable 3:59 of change, that it's dynamic, that we 4:02 can we're not born with a certain brain 4:03 or it doesn't crystallize, that based on 4:06 training, based on what you think, what 4:09 you feel, what you do, the habits that 4:11 you have, your brain can completely 4:13 change and become different. Then my 4:16 question became that means that people 4:18 can be become smarter. That means that 4:21 your ability to focus can increase. That 4:23 means your memory can get better. like 4:25 you can get better at that just like any 4:26 other muscle, right? Like with fitness. 4:28 And then of course now a huge part of 4:31 what I do is really focused on minds and 4:34 machines, 4:36 >> okay? 4:36 >> And how they interact together. If you 4:38 ignore the fact that we are human and by 4:40 that, by the way, I mean the biological 4:43 laws that dictate how our brains and our 4:46 bodies actually work. Like the laws of 4:48 physics, right? Like if I like I always 4:50 say gravity. 4:51 >> Yeah, 4:51 >> there it is. Laws of physics. Nobody's 4:54 questioning the laws of gravity. Like, 4:55 oh, today, never mind. It's not for me. 4:57 I don't want to do that. Right? This is 4:59 how our universe works. Well, there are 5:02 also biological laws that dictate how 5:04 our brains work best, how our bodies 5:07 work best. And my goal is for people to 5:10 learn these biological laws so that they 5:13 can work more in line with their biology 5:15 instead of against it. Right now I feel 5:18 and I say this all of the time that the 5:20 way in which we as a society, human 5:23 global society are living and working 5:27 goes against our biology. It goes 5:30 against the laws of biology and we can 5:31 feel it. People have brain fog. They're 5:33 exhausted. They're burning out. They're 5:36 not reaching their goals. Everybody I 5:38 always talk to says, "Oh, I'm busy all 5:39 of the time. I'm working non-stop. I'm 5:41 busy busy busy busy." And it's like, "Do 5:43 you actually meet your goals 5:44 consistently?" Oh, no. 5:46 I'm busy all of the time. I'm like, how 5:47 could that be possible? [snorts] 5:49 >> But then do you see the difference 5:52 between people who are achieving their 5:54 goals all the time versus people who are 5:56 not? 5:57 >> Yes. 5:58 >> And is it the all the difference is in 6:00 the brain and the biological laws 6:01 they're following. 6:02 >> The most important word you just said 6:03 was following. 6:06 We all have very similar brains. 6:08 >> The laws are the same. Physics is 6:10 physics no matter where you go. The 6:12 difference between me and let's say like 6:15 an Elon Musk is for the laws of physics 6:18 is I'm not sending rockets into space, 6:21 >> right? 6:22 >> It's about am I learning the laws and am 6:25 I leveraging the laws and my big push to 6:28 every person in the world is you have to 6:31 learn the laws of your brain and your 6:32 body so that you can follow them and 6:36 leverage them meaning actually get more 6:38 done. That's the concept of becoming 6:40 superhuman is if you can learn those 6:42 laws then you can do amazing things with 6:46 this brain and body that other people 6:48 often times they ignore those laws. 6:51 They're exhausted again they're burned 6:53 out. They're working all of the time but 6:56 they're working inefficiently. 6:58 >> These are the issues you know they say 7:00 they have these dreams and they have 7:01 these goals but they find it difficult 7:03 to actually do those things. But the so 7:06 the difference is between the people who 7:08 consistently meet their goals is if 7:11 they're following the actual laws of 7:14 like it's it's like almost like a a 7:16 cheat sheet. It's like a blueprint for 7:19 how to live well. 7:21 >> So you're telling me if I follow my 7:23 biological laws 7:25 >> Mhm. which is how like let's say if my 7:29 brain is supposed to function in a 7:30 certain way and I follow those laws 7:33 >> then my likelihood of achieving my goals 7:36 increases 7:38 than normal people like other people do 7:40 not follow 7:44 >> but also I will say you're like I don't 7:46 buy it 7:46 >> okay yeah 7:47 >> well you have to remember the a lot of 7:49 biological laws the laws I'm hopefully 7:52 we're going to talk about 7:53 >> uh that I'm obsessed with are also laws 7:55 around what's the science behind 7:57 motivation, 7:59 >> what's the science behind goal 8:00 achievement, 8:02 >> what's the science behind focus, what's 8:04 the science behind distraction 8:06 management, energy management, you 8:09 realize you can have all these amazing 8:12 goals in life, but if you mess up on 8:14 those things, you're not going to meet 8:16 those goals. Imagine like an Olympic 8:18 athlete, right? Somebody wants to go to 8:19 the Olympics, but they say, "I'm not 8:20 focused on my training." 8:22 >> Okay? I am not doing a good job managing 8:25 my energy. Okay. Um I'm not motivated. 8:29 >> Yeah. 8:29 >> I'm motivated for 3 weeks and then I 8:31 give up. 8:33 >> Do you think they're going to go to the 8:34 Olympics? No. That means you have to 8:36 figure out, you have to hack the science 8:38 of motivation. You have to hack the 8:39 science of focus. You have to hack the 8:41 science of managing your time, your 8:43 energy, all of these things in order to 8:45 meet any goals, whatever your goals are. 8:47 You know, you could have any goals in 8:48 the whole world. But yeah, that's these 8:50 are what I mean by the laws of biology. 8:53 I don't mean like take a blood test 8:55 necessarily. I mean learn how does the 8:58 brain motivate like what is dopamine 9:01 really for example, right? How does it 9:03 really work? Because the people that say 9:05 like oh I want to whatever I don't know 9:08 get fit. I want to raise a certain 9:09 amount of money. I want to start a 9:10 company. I want to do these things. 9:12 That's great. But what's the first step? 9:14 And do you lose hope after 3 weeks, 3 9:16 months, 3 years? 9:17 >> True. with [snorts] we'll come to 9:20 biological loss but for 9:23 >> for simple average human being okay 9:26 super human could mean a billionaire who 9:29 looks like he's killing it in life 9:32 >> right so you have also trained a lot of 9:35 people from lot of these large companies 9:38 you've worked with people from Nvidia 9:40 Google you teach a lot of people you 9:43 research about ultra achievers all of 9:46 these things you do right so you have 9:47 you've You've dealt with a lot of people 9:50 who look like superhumans from the 9:51 outside. 9:53 What is one fundamental difference 9:56 between a brain of, let's say, a 9:58 billionaire and a broke person? 9:59 >> I've worked with some [gasps] 10:02 pretty amazing people that have achieved 10:06 amazing things. 10:08 >> Truly superhuman things. And I'm always 10:12 the most curious about people that 10:14 achieve great things that come from 10:15 nothing. 10:17 If you started at zero and you achieved 10:20 something close to 100, that's 10:22 interesting. That's worth studying, 10:24 right? 10:24 >> Yeah, absolutely. 10:26 >> And I've been very lucky, you know, 10:28 being especially in Silicon, I've had 10:29 access to a lot of some of these amazing 10:31 people because of the work that I do. 10:33 Um, it also helps that the lab is called 10:35 Becoming Superhum, and everybody wants 10:36 to be superhuman. So, it's it's a it's 10:39 it's it's popular for for a few 10:41 different reasons, but some of these 10:43 amazing people that I've met, I'll tell 10:45 you something that is wildly different 10:47 from a lot of folks that I see who 10:48 struggle. And that is belief. 10:55 Belief about how the world works. Belief 10:59 about 11:01 who it is that they are. These people, 11:04 these the the billionaire's brain, 11:07 [snorts] they don't think there are 11:10 limits. 11:12 They really don't. These people don't 11:15 think there are any obstacles in their 11:17 way. 11:19 When something looks like a brick wall 11:21 to the average person, 11:24 that person sees a door. 11:27 They know that they can open and create 11:29 doors anywhere. They believe it. Truly, 11:31 they believe it. [snorts] And this is 11:34 the fascinating thing again going back 11:35 to those biological laws. [snorts] 11:39 The power of belief is so strong in the 11:43 human brain when you believe something. 11:46 And these are again the stories that we 11:48 tell ourselves. Who am I? How powerful 11:51 am I? What am I capable of? It's like 11:53 imagine you're a character in a movie. 11:55 These people like really I don't know. 11:57 Have you heard of the phrase main 11:59 character energy? 12:00 >> Yeah. [laughter] They have main 12:01 character energy for real. Truly. And 12:05 but everybody can have main character 12:06 energy. You should be the main character 12:08 of your life. 12:10 >> Everybody should be. And I say that not 12:12 just be to be like romantic cuz it's fun 12:15 because this is how you can train the 12:17 brain. If you convince yourself, I'm 12:20 going to make it. This is going to be my 12:23 life. This is going to be the door that 12:25 I'm going to open. This is going to 12:27 happen for me. And I know it's going to 12:28 happen because it's possible because 12:30 people like me have done. You know it. 12:32 It's it's not you don't have the victim 12:34 mindset. 12:36 You don't have the oh these are these 12:38 obstacles in my way that oh I have 12:41 nothing blah blah blah. All these other 12:42 people they have this help they have 12:44 that's going to keep you stuck. So many 12:46 amazing examples of people again Olympic 12:49 athletes people that have just crushed 12:51 it physically that didn't start out fit 12:54 at all but they make it happen through 12:56 training. I think it's the same thing 12:58 with mindset. All you have to do is So, 13:01 here's here's my recommendation because 13:02 I I do this for a living. This is what I 13:04 do. I I help people train their brains. 13:06 [snorts] Every single time inside of 13:09 your mind, your brain starts telling you 13:12 that story. 13:13 I'm a victim. I come from nothing. Look 13:17 at my background. I'm not going to make 13:18 it. You have to tell your brain to shut 13:20 up. Zip it. Be like, "Uh-uh. Don't do 13:23 that." And then you have I call that by 13:25 the way that's called redirection 13:28 redirection. It's attentional 13:29 redirection in the brain. So if your 13:31 attention is somewhere like oh I'm a 13:33 victim. Oh I'm the oh it's not going to 13:35 work out. Oh what if I fail? Oh 13:39 redirect. You say uh I'm not going to 13:41 move my attention. I'm moving my 13:42 attention. I'm redirecting it back to 13:45 what's the story you want. 13:48 And you then you repeat it. And you got 13:50 to get obsessive about this. Like every 13:52 day you repeat the story, who am I? 13:55 What's possible? One of my favorite 13:57 quotes is anything is possible because 14:00 nothing is real. All of this is 14:03 man-made. All of this is made up. We can 14:06 make anything happen. 14:08 But then if someone was never believed 14:11 in themselves ever, they've never 14:13 thought that they can ever become 14:16 better, achieve their goals, have a 14:18 dreamy life, become financially free, 14:22 billionaire, millionaire, whatever, 14:23 etc., etc., right? If someone never 14:25 believed, how can someone build a main 14:28 character energy? 14:33 >> Write the story down. 14:35 Take a piece of paper and you don't have 14:38 to believe it in the beginning. 14:40 Just trust me. Get a piece of paper and 14:43 a pen and write out. Even if in the 14:46 beginning you have to say this is this 14:49 would be believed and this would be 14:51 written by a version of me that doesn't 14:54 exist 14:55 that does believe in themselves and they 14:57 are successful and they're amazing. 15:00 Write from that person's perspective. 15:02 >> What do you write? Like you take a piece 15:03 of paper and what do you write? 15:04 >> You can write well it depends on the 15:06 your goals. It depends on your vision. 15:09 So for example I might say I can I can 15:14 come up with any scientific question 15:18 related to the things that I am obsessed 15:20 with and I will find the resources. I 15:24 will find the people. I will find the 15:26 funding. I will find the doors. I will 15:29 make the doors open so that I can figure 15:32 out what those answers are because I'm 15:33 obsessed with finding out those answers. 15:35 And I'm going to keep telling myself 15:36 that. And when you do that, by the way, 15:38 let me tell you the science of how this 15:40 works. What's going to happen if you 15:42 write that down, whatever story, but 15:44 because it depends on the person, right? 15:45 Your story is going to be different than 15:46 mine. There's a network in the brain, 15:49 okay? It's a neural network, 15:51 >> okay? 15:52 >> Which is a pattern of electrical 15:53 activation. So a neural network is a 15:55 collection of different brain areas that 15:58 in unison like an orchestra activate 16:00 together. So they're they're they're 16:02 connected electrically and they activate 16:03 together. Okay, we have many different 16:05 neural networks in the brain, but an 16:07 important one is called the DMN or the 16:11 default mode network. 16:13 >> Okay, 16:13 >> now the DMN is the brain's storyteller. 16:19 >> Interesting. M this is the brain's 16:22 narrator autobiographical narration who 16:25 am I what's my identity what am I what 16:28 are the stories and you know when people 16:30 talk about trauma when people talk about 16:32 bag all this it's stories and I you 16:35 collect these stories like in a bag and 16:36 you're carrying it around like baggage 16:38 so you got to ask yourself which stories 16:41 am I still carrying and are they serving 16:44 me and when I say serving me like are 16:47 they actually helping you achieve your 16:49 goals are they making you happier? Are 16:51 they making you healthier? Are they 16:53 giving you an opportunity to live the 16:55 life that you want? Because if they're 16:56 not, get rid of that story. Rip that 16:58 story up. And you have to write your own 17:00 story. Make up a new story. And then 17:02 that DMN every single time, every day, 17:05 you review the story. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 17:08 You're going to get every guest you 17:10 want, you know, whatever it may be. 17:11 You're going to review the story over 17:13 and over and over again. And guess 17:15 what's going to happen? that DMN, the 17:17 default mode network, the pattern of 17:19 electrical activation that it has, it 17:20 will influence other brain areas that 17:23 are related to your attention. 17:27 Now, we're talking about exciting 17:29 executive function because that your 17:32 beliefs, your stories. You asked me 17:34 about the billionaire's brain and I told 17:36 you the number one trait they have 17:37 that's different is they have crazy 17:40 beliefs. 17:42 Crazy beliefs. They don't see limits. 17:45 anything is possible and anything they 17:48 they're capable of anything 17:50 and if you believe that that DMN and 17:53 those beliefs will impact 17:56 different brain areas that are related 17:58 to what you see what you pay attention 18:00 to and what you notice have you heard of 18:03 like priming 18:04 >> yeah it's 18:05 >> explain me let's say explain everybody 18:07 okay what priming is 18:09 >> it this is the science behind priming 18:11 >> that if you can have information teed up 18:15 so that you review that story. That's 18:17 why I said like it's not enough just to 18:19 write it down one time and put it in 18:20 your journal and put it away. No, no, 18:22 no, no. You're working on this is 18:23 training. You got to hit the gym every 18:25 single day. Be like, "Uh-uh. This is 18:27 what's going to happen. This is what I'm 18:28 going to do. This is my goals. This is 18:29 how I'm going to get there. This is the 18:31 plan. This is the plan." You keep 18:32 writing every day. You keep reviewing 18:33 and keep writing. What's going to end up 18:35 happening is you're going to notice 18:36 opportunities. 18:39 The opportunities are everywhere. 18:42 The possibilities are all right in front 18:44 of us, but people don't see them. You 18:47 will only see what the brain is primed 18:50 to see. You will see what it is that you 18:54 truly your beliefs and the data behind 18:57 your beliefs are priming you to attend 19:00 to in the world. So when you do that, 19:03 all of a sudden so many success stories, 19:05 I know you've heard these two. People 19:07 will say, "Oh, and then I met this 19:10 person randomly." magic right 19:13 >> they opened the door I had oh one 19:15 conversation it just idea came to me I 19:18 then all random things they start 19:21 talking about 19:23 >> it's it's not that random you can make 19:26 you can increase the likelihood the 19:27 statistical likelihood of these things 19:29 that feel random 19:30 >> if you reset your DMN 19:32 >> if you reset your DMN that's a beautiful 19:33 way to put it re literally design use 19:37 your DMN to design your beliefs about 19:40 yourself design your DMN so that you can 19:43 choose what are the stories I'm telling 19:45 myself about myself what's possible and 19:48 what I'm going to accomplish and who I 19:49 am and that is going to influence your 19:52 behavior [snorts] 19:53 because the brain is going to it's 19:56 designed this way this is what I mean by 19:58 biological laws 19:59 >> this is everybody's brain yours mine 20:02 everybody's our brains are designed 20:05 they're designed to look for data that 20:09 confirms your beliefs. 20:14 >> Yeah, 20:16 true. It happens with all the negative 20:19 things as well. 20:20 >> Bingo. Bingo. Which is why I'm like, if 20:23 it's not helping you, get it out of 20:25 there. Throw it away. Get it out. Like, 20:28 you don't need it. [snorts] 20:29 >> Because people are like, "Oh, I'm a 20:30 victim. Everybody blah blah blah. 20:32 Everybody hates me. I don't get what I 20:34 want." And guess what? They always see 20:35 they're always complaining, right? 20:37 >> Yeah. 20:38 this happened, then this other thing 20:40 happened. No, no, no. What's happening 20:41 is your beliefs because that's how the 20:43 brain works. That's a biological law. 20:45 The brain is going to find and look for 20:48 data to confirm its own beliefs. So, 20:52 choose your beliefs, design your 20:53 beliefs. 20:54 >> Yeah, this this is so fascinating. It 20:56 happens with me all the time, right? 20:58 >> I I have an irrational belief when it 21:02 comes to my work. And even if I'm 21:05 sitting on a random 21:08 afternoon, I start spotting 21:11 opportunities out of thin air and they 21:13 end up becoming opportunities worth 21:15 millions of dollars and I end up just 21:17 getting them. And I'm like this like 5 21:19 days ago this was not even the real 21:20 thing. And at the same time I always 21:25 play a victim card that because of my 21:27 life, because of my schedule, because of 21:29 work, I'm I never I I'm never able to 21:32 sleep properly, you know, I'm not this 21:34 guy who'll ever be able to get sleep, 21:35 etc., etc. Every little thing just 21:39 confirms that belief and I always just 21:42 find out new reasons why I can't sleep. 21:45 And like just two different aspects, 21:47 same person business, work-wise, 21:50 opportunities just keep getting them. 21:52 Healthwise, I just keep falling, 21:54 falling, falling. 21:55 >> And I just keep confirming the even if I 21:57 have like 10 hours to sleep, I end up 22:00 confirming some belief and be like, "Oh, 22:03 why didn't I sleep that day?" Because, 22:05 you know, this happened and that 22:06 happened and just 22:08 >> it happens. 22:09 >> There's excuses in my head. 22:11 >> Yeah. 22:11 >> But but I love this. Okay. You said main 22:13 character energy. Okay. If someone's 22:17 watching this and we have to make this 22:20 make main character energy exercise sort 22:23 of stuff. 22:24 >> Okay. 22:24 >> Okay. Okay. 22:25 >> So what would you want me to write in 22:27 this story? So let's say I today I 22:30 decide that from right now 22:32 >> I'm going to have the main character 22:35 energy in my life. 22:36 >> Yeah. 22:36 >> Okay. 22:37 >> And I am going to write take a piece of 22:39 paper and write my story. 22:42 >> Yeah. What should I have in this story? 22:44 Identity, goal, what all did you you 22:46 just threw a bunch of words. Let's make 22:48 it simplest. Let's make it simpler for 22:51 people to have like a template to start 22:53 doing it right now. 22:54 >> Beautiful. 22:55 >> First begin with what we call identity 22:58 based beliefs. 23:00 >> Okay. 23:00 >> Okay. Identity based beliefs. 23:03 >> Now, I actually think we should totally 23:05 do this on you related to your sleep. 23:08 >> Wow. Okay. 23:09 >> Cuz you brought it up yourself, right? 23:11 You said, "Okay, you've got some beliefs 23:13 in there that sleep is hard for you." 23:15 >> Yeah. 23:15 >> Is not easy, but it's totally not 23:17 helping you. I'm sure. 23:19 >> Not at all. 23:20 >> Okay. So, let's get rid of it. Let's 23:21 make a new belief. You write a new one. 23:23 >> So, what you're going to want to do, so 23:25 the identity based beliefs, the the way 23:27 that they work is [snorts] that you need 23:30 to write a belief that you have that Raj 23:34 has about sleep that's based on your 23:37 values. So, I'll give you a few examples 23:39 just to like 23:41 >> get you inspired. You might write, "I 23:46 prioritize my health because I know how 23:50 important it is for my performance and 23:53 my business." You might just write that 23:55 sentence down. Do you believe that? 23:56 >> Yeah. 23:57 >> Totally right. 23:58 >> Absolutely. 23:59 >> Okay. Absolutely. So, you might write 24:00 something like that down. 24:02 >> Then you're going to stack the next one. 24:04 You're going to say, "I know the data on 24:07 sleep and health." 24:10 Do you feel like that's true? 24:12 >> Yeah. 24:12 >> Yeah. [laughter] 24:13 >> Have you had some sleep experts on the 24:15 pod? 24:18 >> Still, it has not helped me. A lot of 24:19 people have benefited from it, not me. 24:22 >> Okay. 24:24 >> We can bond about this. I'm not an easy 24:25 sleeper either. We should talk about 24:27 your sleep. Seriously. Um, 24:29 >> so first is identity. Second is data. 24:31 Second is well I should say identity and 24:34 then you're you're still mixing your 24:36 identity with facts that you know. Yeah, 24:38 pretty much your data because we're 24:39 going to try to bridge all of these 24:41 together, 24:42 >> right? 24:43 >> What else do you believe about sleep? 24:44 What is it that you know for sure about 24:46 sleep? 24:48 >> It's going to make me better. 24:49 >> It's going to make you even better. 24:51 So would you maybe could I even push 24:54 this a little further and say 24:56 I could be a smarter, 25:01 better looking and happier version of 25:03 self if I slept a little bit more. 25:06 >> Yeah, I'll ask better questions if I'm 25:10 I'll be more focused. 25:13 Yeah, there are so many things that I'll 25:15 I'll achieve by just sleeping better. 25:17 >> Yeah. So you might you'd write all of 25:19 these things down and then you would 25:21 start writing bringing it all together 25:23 into an identity based belief and even 25:25 though it's not true yet you would say 25:27 something like I make sure that I wind 25:30 down for bed 25:34 >> that's 25:34 >> at an early enough time to make sure I 25:36 at least get 6 to 7 hours a night. 25:39 [snorts] 25:41 You write what the you essentially 25:42 you're designing the habit 25:44 >> like this is the part I don't believe 25:46 [laughter] 25:47 >> I know you don't believe it now but you 25:49 have to write it down and this is the 25:50 process of fake it till you make it 25:52 right 25:52 >> got it [laughter] 25:53 >> yeah you got to like you got to be like 25:55 yep I do that 25:56 >> okay 25:57 >> because why because you prioritize your 26:00 health and your performance 26:02 >> you know 26:03 >> so it's like first was identity second 26:05 was data third is what better will 26:10 happen after this and fourth is new 26:13 habit. 26:14 >> Yeah. And this is where you bring in I 26:16 would say still even one full sentence 26:19 all together. I'll give you an example 26:21 actually from one of my um MBA students, 26:24 one of my business students. 26:25 >> I'm the type of person Oh, now we're 26:28 talking about what kind of person are 26:30 you versus what kind of person is 26:32 >> someone else, 26:33 >> your competitor. M m 26:36 >> I'm [clears throat] the type of person 26:37 who makes sure that I sleep at least 6 26:40 to 7 hours a night because I know what 26:43 an edge it's going to give me in my 26:45 business. 26:47 You're just going to write that down and 26:48 you're like, "Oh, I don't do that every 26:50 night." That's okay. You're But do you 26:52 believe you can get there? 26:54 >> Yeah. 26:55 >> And do you believe it's true all the 26:56 other things you've written? 26:57 >> Yeah. 26:58 >> Okay. Once you've done this work and 27:01 you've written down that identity, I'm 27:03 the type of person who does this, 27:06 >> then we start going into something that 27:08 we call implementation intentions. And 27:10 this is from research from Peter 27:12 Gwitzer. Now, [snorts] implementation 27:14 intentions are essentially situation 27:17 action plans. For those who do computer 27:19 science, it's like an old school if then 27:21 statement. 27:22 >> Yeah. Okay. 27:23 >> If this then that. If then, when is 27:26 probably a more apt way to describe it. 27:28 Okay. 27:29 >> So, a situation action plan would be 27:31 like this. 27:33 When my alarm goes off every night at 11 27:38 p.m., 27:39 I begin my designed routine. I start my 27:45 windown music playlist, you know, then I 27:49 make my herbal tea. I do this. I start 27:52 doing my physical therapy, you know, 27:54 whatever it may be. You you go through 27:56 your routine. 27:58 The difference between I'm going to try 28:01 to go to bed earlier or I have this new 28:04 routine, I'm just going to do it before 28:06 bed. 28:08 The difference here is an implementation 28:10 intention 28:12 describes 28:14 in 28:16 crazy detail 28:18 what does it look like 28:21 when you do the thing you describe like 28:24 a movie. I want to see you in your 28:26 house, Raj. Like at and it's like 11:00 28:28 p.m. the alarm goes off and you're like, 28:30 uh, where are you? What is it? What does 28:32 it look like? What are you wearing? 28:33 Where in the house are you? What are you 28:35 doing? Phone's in your hand. 28:38 >> It's truly describe it in detail. I'll 28:40 give you another example of the 28:43 difference between having an 28:45 implementation intention versus having a 28:47 goal. Because a goal is 28:49 >> wake random. 28:51 >> Yeah. It's it's like a prayer, you know. 28:54 It's like that's cute. It's nice, but 28:56 there's no plan, right? There's no way 28:58 to make it to execute the thing, right? 29:00 We got to have a plan. So, 29:02 >> [snorts] 29:03 >> uh, let's say I've heard a lot of people 29:04 say, "I'm going to try to go to sleep 29:06 earlier. I want to try to get more 29:07 sleep." 29:09 >> Adorable. How are you going to do that? 29:11 Right. We actually have to get serious 29:12 about what this looks like. 29:14 >> Yeah. So usually for people unless your 29:17 body is waking you up super you know 29:18 usually we have what we have to do is 29:21 >> go to bed earlier not uh keep sleeping 29:23 the other way. 29:24 >> Yeah. 29:25 >> So the question becomes what kind of 29:28 implementation intention can you design 29:32 that's going to get you to do that. So 29:34 you don't say I'm going to try to get to 29:35 bed earlier. It's not going to work. So 29:39 you describe the situation when this 29:42 happens then I will do this when then 29:45 >> okay so when 11 let's say when whenever 29:52 my alarm goes around 11 p.m. this is 29:56 what I'm going to do. That's exactly 29:58 what you you want me to design. 30:00 >> Yes. 30:01 >> And like I'm on the right side of the 30:03 bed. I have my laptop on. and I'm doing 30:05 this like all of this and like I'll shut 30:07 this down. I'll be doing like stuff like 30:09 that like that minute detail. 30:11 >> Yes. 30:12 >> Okay. And then 30:13 >> once you visualize it and you've written 30:15 it down, then you begin the habit, you 30:19 attempt to actually do the habit 30:21 [snorts] and you tr and here are some 30:23 other tips here. Make it as easy and 30:26 small as possible. 30:28 >> As easy and small as possible. For 30:31 example, a lot of people benefit from 30:34 going to bed earlier just by brushing 30:36 their teeth earlier. 30:38 >> Interesting. 30:40 >> That's it. You could just say, "Listen, 30:41 I'm I don't know when I'm going to go to 30:43 sleep, but I told myself I have to brush 30:45 my teeth at 11:00." 30:47 Once you brush your teeth, that means 30:48 you're probably not going to eat or 30:49 drink anything anymore. 30:51 >> Now you have at least the kitchen is cut 30:53 off. You just start cutting everything 30:55 off. You're like, "And then I'm going to 30:56 get in my pajamas." Okay, now we're even 30:58 one step closer. You just have to figure 31:00 out what behaviors that you want to 31:02 design out. 31:04 Commit to it. Make it as small as 31:06 possible, but really make the when part, 31:09 the if part, the beginning, the 31:10 situation should be as clear as humanly 31:14 possible. Truly clear. People really 31:17 skip this step. They say things like, 31:20 um, I'll give you an example of when 31:22 people want to stop doing something 31:24 because it's possible your viewers want 31:25 to cut a habit. 31:26 >> Yeah. 31:27 >> Stop smoking. stop eating sweets, 31:29 whatever it may be. 31:30 >> Start binging on their reels overnight. 31:34 >> Tricky one, but yeah, totally. Totally. 31:37 You could say, "When I have a craving 31:39 for another piece of chocolate, when I 31:42 have a craving for a cigarette, then I 31:45 will do this instead." 31:48 >> And I'll tell you, this is a version of 31:50 an implementation intention for a 31:53 negative behavior, meaning a behavior 31:55 you want to cut. 31:56 >> Okay? 31:56 >> Not a positive behavior. and a behavior 31:58 you want to add. Say add like positive 32:00 and negative or add a behavior or remove 32:02 a behavior. 32:03 >> Removing a behavior is insanely 32:06 difficult. 32:08 Super super difficult. 32:09 >> Way more than adding. 32:11 >> Yes. 32:12 >> Why? Why cutting off an habit is more 32:15 difficult than making a new habit? 32:19 >> Do you have a whiteboard? 32:20 >> Yeah. 32:20 >> All right. All right. [snorts] 32:22 >> Okay. So 32:25 we were talking about neural networks 32:27 before, right? So neural networks again 32:29 are patterns of electrical activation. 32:31 So let's say for example, 32:34 >> you have 32:36 some pattern of electrical activation 32:37 here in the brain. And let's say this 32:39 represents your craving for something 32:42 you don't want to crave anymore. 32:43 >> Yeah. Watching reals, let's like binge 32:46 watching random stuff. Yeah. 32:47 >> Oh wow. Binge watching. Okay. So 32:50 >> mindless scrolling, whatever you want to 32:52 call Yeah, 32:53 >> great. I'll even draw a little phone, 32:54 you know. Okay, there you go. All right. 32:57 So, this is this is the craving for it, 32:59 though. 33:00 >> Okay. 33:00 >> This is not the behavior. This is the 33:02 craving. So if this dot here represents 33:06 the the actual craving for it, what that 33:08 let's say ends up getting connected to 33:11 is a set of patterns of electrical 33:14 activation here that represents the 33:18 complex behavior that ends up being you 33:21 grab the phone and you start scrolling. 33:23 >> Okay. 33:24 >> Okay. So it starts with a craving. The 33:26 craving is not by the way usually to 33:28 binge watch. Usually the craving is 33:30 something else. Usually, and this is 33:33 where we can get a little more emotional 33:35 here, it's a feeling. 33:38 >> Okay. What do you mean by that? 33:40 >> Well, let's let's 33:42 >> The craving is not for binge watching. 33:44 >> Well, that ends up becoming the behavior 33:47 for you to satisfy a craving. The 33:49 craving you think is actually for binge 33:52 watching, but it's it's a craving to 33:54 binge watch in order to satisfy some 33:57 feeling. That's usually what's 33:59 happening. like something I'm missing. 34:02 >> Something you're missing or something 34:04 that you want to disassociate from, numb 34:06 from 34:08 usually. Usually 34:11 the feeling that people have is 34:15 overwhelm, 34:17 stress, let's say. 34:20 >> Okay, 34:21 >> if you're overwhelmed, you're stressed 34:22 out, you're tired, you lack motivation, 34:27 >> right? M 34:28 >> you're looking to solve for these 34:31 feelings 34:33 >> and your brain has decided a nice thing 34:36 to do if you have these feelings. You're 34:38 like, I don't nobody wants to feel this 34:40 by the way, right? These are bad 34:41 feelings. 34:42 >> So if you have these feelings, your 34:45 brain goes, let's get out of this. How 34:48 do I solve this? 34:50 >> There's a few different things you can 34:52 do. But let's say you accidentally 34:55 develop this addiction, this habit. 34:58 >> Because by the way, 34:59 >> the word habit is a common one. We're 35:03 all interested in habits. 35:04 >> Yeah. 35:05 >> It's pretty much the same thing as 35:06 addiction. 35:08 >> It's the same thing. People hear the 35:10 word addiction and they think it's like 35:12 scary, like it's some moral, 35:16 >> you know. 35:16 >> Yeah. It's a bad thing. 35:17 >> It's a bad thing. What about when people 35:20 are addicted to exercise or addicted to 35:23 feeling healthy or addicted to being 35:26 kind, 35:28 right? Cuz you can you've I've met 35:30 people who definitely are addicted to 35:32 those things 35:34 >> and I know you probably have met lots of 35:36 these kinds of people because these are 35:37 the people you collect. People addicted 35:39 to their own success. 35:42 >> Absolutely. Yeah. 35:43 >> Yeah. So, it's not a bad thing. 35:46 Addiction just means habit. That's it. 35:50 >> Okay. 35:50 >> So, we can demystify, dethrone, you 35:54 know, uh uh these words really. They're 35:57 coupled together. They're the same 35:59 thing. They're the same thing. 36:00 >> So, what is a habit? What is also an 36:03 addiction? It's also the same thing as 36:05 just a behavior 36:08 that you do over and over. 36:12 I would just say that you do a lot, 36:14 right? So what ends up happening is you 36:17 have a feeling there is some brain 36:19 state, some cognitive or emotional brain 36:21 state and then what ends up happening is 36:24 you want to move away from that feeling. 36:25 If it's a if it's a bad feeling like 36:27 this, right? You want to move away from 36:29 it. Your your brain wants to help you 36:30 solve it. It doesn't want to let you sit 36:32 in that in that bad feeling. 36:34 >> So whatever it is that you did, let's 36:36 say you did binge watching one time when 36:38 you felt that way. You're like, "Let me 36:39 distract myself, you know, 36:41 >> go somewhere else. We don't need to 36:43 think that. We don't need to feel that." 36:44 So then you start binge watching and 36:46 what's going to happen in the beginning? 36:48 In the beginning you're distracted, 36:49 right? So it feels good. 36:50 >> Yeah. 36:51 >> Okay. So what you ended up doing is you 36:53 ended up doing the actual binge 36:54 watching. So you scrolled and then what 36:57 happens uh uh at the at the very end. 37:00 Let's say now you're done scrolling and 37:01 you put the phone away. [snorts] 37:03 This is a bit of a trick question 37:05 because let's say you were overwhelmed 37:06 about a work deadline 37:09 >> and then you started binge watching for 37:11 >> 45 minutes 37:13 >> in the evening instead of working on the 37:15 thing that's overwhelming you. So then 37:17 you did the binge watching and then 37:18 afterwards you put the phone down. Did 37:20 you deal with the thing that you were 37:21 actually stressed about? 37:22 >> No, I get guilty. 37:24 >> Yeah. So now you have this, you have the 37:27 overwhelm and you have shame. 37:30 >> Yeah. 37:32 So the person is super sad now. We're 37:34 we're just super sad. So now that you 37:36 have overwhelm and shame, you know 37:39 that's even worse than before. No. 37:41 >> Yeah. 37:41 >> So guess what I want to do again? 37:44 >> Watch again. 37:45 >> Go around the circle again. So okay, 37:48 let's say you've done this one night. 37:50 But come on, let's be honest. I've done 37:51 this even like at least 100 times. Do 37:54 you know what I mean? 37:55 >> Here's the answer to your your original 37:58 question. Every single time you do this, 38:00 you go through this path. Every time you 38:04 traverse this road and you do it again 38:06 and again and again, do you see what's 38:09 happening here? We're making it darker. 38:12 No, 38:12 >> we're making it maybe even bigger, 38:15 >> stronger, deeper. This neural network 38:18 starts to become like a tree trunk, like 38:21 the roots of a tree. 38:24 That is how a behavior. If you do it one 38:28 time, that's fine. You do it 100 times, 38:31 1,000 times, a million times, 38:35 that's a behavior that you do a lot, 38:37 that's the same thing as addiction. It's 38:39 the same thing as a habit. It's all the 38:41 same. So habits, addictions, and 38:44 behaviors that you do a lot are just 38:46 really entrenched and strong 38:49 associations between a feeling, a 38:51 craving, and a behavior. 38:54 >> So how do we break this? 38:57 >> One, tip number one, don't wait for it 39:00 to get so strong. You know, ideally, 39:02 >> what if it's so strong already? 39:04 >> Okay, let's assume it's strong 39:05 >> because there I'm sure there must be 39:07 hundreds of bad behaviors which are 39:09 strong in my head. Obviously hundreds of 39:11 good behaviors as well. 39:12 >> Yes. 39:13 >> But the bad behaviors, let's talk about 39:14 them. Let's get rid of them first. 39:16 >> Okay. [snorts] 39:18 Step one, awareness. 39:21 You have to understand and see the loop 39:23 for yourself. You cannot 39:27 change something that you do not 39:29 understand that you don't have data on. 39:32 >> Right? You have to understand a system 39:33 if you want to change the system. So you 39:36 need knowledge. 39:36 >> Okay? 39:37 >> Self-nowledge in this case. So you need 39:39 to be aware. You need to be able to see 39:41 your own behavior as it's happening. 39:43 That means you actually have to answer 39:44 the question, what's the feeling? So 39:48 step one is you got to identify the 39:51 emotions and the feelings that cause you 39:55 to go down the loop in the first place. 39:56 >> How do I identify this? Because I don't 39:58 know if I'm if I'm falling into this 40:00 trap 40:01 >> of feeling 40:04 like I I want to crave something. That 40:06 craving can be dessert at midnight. It 40:09 can be binge watching. It can be 40:12 just doing all sorts of bad habits. Some 40:15 for some people it can be alcohol, 40:17 smoking weed, uh smoking, you know, like 40:20 a cigarette. 40:21 >> Mhm. 40:22 >> For some a lot of young people it can be 40:24 porn like all of these behaviors are 40:26 stem from feeling, right? 40:27 >> Yes. 40:28 >> But we don't know why are they 40:31 occurring. 40:32 >> Yeah. Like it it can be overwhelm, it 40:34 can be stress, it can be anxiety, it can 40:36 be tired, it can be all it can be just 40:39 pure shame or maybe lack of ability to 40:42 turn around my life or the feeling like 40:44 a victim. 40:45 >> How do I find out which one is it? 40:48 >> You have to have what's called a 40:49 cognitive pause. 40:52 So that means when you before you go 40:54 grab the chocolate at midnight, before 40:56 you grab the phone and maybe you've 40:58 already grabbed it, by the way, you just 41:00 you've grabbed the phone, 41:02 >> you've opened up Instagram, whatever it 41:03 is that your app of choice, you know, 41:06 >> you grabbed it, you opened it, and you 41:08 just were about to start scrolling and 41:09 you go, 41:10 >> you have to start to build the 41:11 awareness. You go, hold on, hold on, 41:13 hold on. I'm not saying you can't have 41:14 it. By the way, in the beginning, we 41:16 just want to know why. 41:18 >> So you go, okay, hold on. 41:21 What am I feeling right now? 41:24 What is it that Why do I want to go and 41:26 binge watch right now? 41:27 >> I'm just exhausted. Like just 41:30 >> Okay, so you're you're tired. 41:32 >> I would still ask you go deeper. 41:37 Why are you exhausted? And then I'd 41:39 force you I if I were in the room with 41:41 you, I would say, well, Raj, if you're 41:43 exhausted, shouldn't you go do something 41:46 else like rest? 41:50 Right. Or gain more energy. Do something 41:53 that gives you energy. 41:54 >> Like, right. If you're tired, if it 41:56 depends. If it's right before bed, then 41:58 if you're tired, yeah, that's right. Go 42:00 to bed. 42:01 >> Sleep. 42:01 >> So then you go to sleep, right? We go, 42:03 we help you with the sleep thing. 42:04 [laughter] 42:05 >> But if you're tired in the middle of the 42:06 day, you're like halfway in the middle 42:08 of the day and you're like, I'm just 42:09 exhausted and I need a break. 42:11 >> Yeah. 42:11 >> This is not a break. There was, by the 42:13 way, a paper published in Nature. 42:16 >> What is it? the world's like premier 42:18 science journal 2024 that actually 42:21 measured the effectiveness of different 42:23 kinds of breaks. 42:25 >> Okay. 42:26 >> One option was no break at all. You do 42:29 no break. Raj, keep working. Tired. So 42:31 what? 42:32 >> Keep going. Hustle. Come on. You're 42:34 young. You got it. Let's go. 42:36 >> The next option was you take a break uh 42:39 and you look outside or you go take a 42:41 walk outside in nature. 42:43 >> Okay. So you're exposed to something 42:44 natural. Okay. The next break was 42:48 scrolling. 42:50 >> Yeah. 42:51 >> Can you imagine 42:53 what the results were? 42:55 >> It showed that scrolling is pretty much 42:59 the same as not taking a break. So 43:02 instead of actually letting this brain 43:04 rest and make energy for you, because 43:06 again this is all chemistry up in here. 43:08 This is like again biological laws. You 43:11 need to learn that if this system is 43:12 tired in and listen I'm a high 43:15 performance like I'm all about 43:18 productivity and performance. So if 43:20 let's say for example treat yourself 43:21 like an Olympic athlete. 43:23 >> If an athlete is telling you I'm 43:24 exhausted right then you say okay okay 43:27 get off the field go sit and rest drink 43:30 some water get a snack you know we tell 43:32 them to like stretch you know get ready. 43:34 Why? Because I need you to go back out 43:36 there and keep training. 43:37 >> Yeah. [snorts] If they say I'm tired, 43:39 like let me open Tik Tok. That's we 43:42 already know. We science has already 43:44 shown that that's not a break. It 43:46 doesn't replenish and increase your 43:47 energy. Right? 43:49 >> So going back to this, I would you would 43:51 say, "Oh, I'm tired." I would actually 43:53 want you to sit down and really dig into 43:55 the feeling more. You know, are you 43:58 really is it just tired? What's really 44:00 going on? And like I then you need a 44:02 replacement behavior. So in this 44:05 previous example, you were doing the 44:07 scrolling. 44:08 It's this is what I meant by negative 44:10 behavior, right? If you want to cut 44:12 something off, you cannot just say, "Oh, 44:15 next time I'm exhausted, I will not 44:18 binge watch. 44:20 >> This is impossible. Good luck. It won't 44:22 happen. 44:22 >> It won't happen. You're going to do it 44:23 because look at this. Look at how deep 44:26 this network was. It's not your choice. 44:28 It's going to happen automatically. You 44:30 don't have a choice. Raj is not driving 44:32 this car. 44:33 It's automatically just driving it on. 44:36 >> It's automatically driving it. So, you 44:38 need to aggressively, that's what I 44:40 meant, a cognitive pause. You need to 44:42 aggressively start. Number one, you need 44:44 to start where it starts, which is the 44:46 feeling. It starts here. 44:49 >> The feeling, the brain state, the 44:51 cognitive state, the craving. Why do you 44:53 do the behavior in the first place? We 44:55 have to cut it off there and make you 44:57 pause and then say, "Okay, we're going 45:00 to do something else." So that ends up 45:02 being this feeling, right? That was our 45:03 first step here. 45:05 >> So instead of going towards the the 45:08 actual binge watching, we're going to do 45:09 something else. 45:10 >> So let's say instead, what's a healthy 45:12 behavior that you wish you did more of, 45:14 too? 45:15 >> Let's say breath work. 45:18 >> I mean, yeah, that would be nice. I love 45:20 it. Yeah, sure. So, you're going to do 45:22 breath work. Great. Okay. 45:23 >> Like just 1 minute. 45:24 >> 1 minute is amazing. 45:27 >> 60 seconds. Close your eyes. That's it. 45:29 You don't have to do anything else. You 45:30 just [snorts] 45:32 >> that's it. 45:33 >> Okay. 45:34 >> Okay. 45:34 >> That's going to be the new replacement 45:36 behavior. [snorts] Now, here's what I 45:39 would tell you if you're really 45:40 addicted. If after 60 seconds of closing 45:43 your eyes, you still want to scroll, go 45:45 for it. Makes it a lot easier. No. 45:48 >> Yeah. 45:49 >> But what you're doing when you do that, 45:51 by the way, is let's say the closing 45:53 your eyes, this is the feeling that 45:55 started. This is the new behavior. Close 45:58 your eyes. 45:58 >> Mhm. 45:59 >> Right. I draw a little eye for you here. 46:02 >> Okay. So, you [snorts] close your eyes. 46:04 This is the new behavior. Instead of 46:06 this going immediately to the original 46:10 scrolling behavior, it's going to go 46:12 here first. 46:13 >> Okay? 46:14 >> This is you're breaking the cycle. 46:16 Instead of the energy going this way, 46:18 it's now going to go this way. Even if 46:20 it goes this way afterwards, we're 46:22 helping. Maybe one time you go, "No, I 46:24 still want to scroll." Okay? The second 46:26 time, maybe you're like, "Okay, fine. 46:30 Really, 46:30 >> I'll do something else. This is you just 46:32 you have to find a way to break this 46:34 thing. 46:34 >> And if I break this, you're saying that 46:37 after 1 minute, if I still want to do 46:39 it, if I do this every time, I'll 46:42 reduce. 46:44 >> If you do it every time, I promise 46:47 you're going to start not doing it. If 46:48 you then you're just going to create a 46:50 new one. I mean, listen, if you do it 46:52 every time, then you're just going to 46:53 start creating a new habit this way, 46:56 right? 46:57 >> Yeah. So, you're just saying, "Okay, 46:59 before the route was this way. Now, this 47:01 is a new route that I'm going to go to 47:03 scrolling." Like, now you're going to be 47:04 that guy that before he binge watches, 47:06 he closes [laughter] his 60 seconds. 47:09 You've just designed a new addiction. 47:12 But the idea here is you're giving your 47:14 brain an opportunity. It's just an 47:16 opportunity to to redirect. And what we 47:19 call all of this by the way is to do one 47:21 thing and that thing is called emotional 47:27 regulation. 47:30 >> Interesting. 47:31 >> That's what you're trying to do because 47:33 every behavior, even people doing hard 47:35 drugs, porn addiction, it's coming from 47:38 an emotion. It starts here. If you can 47:41 understand the emotion, you can control 47:43 the behavior because you can choose it. 47:45 You can design it. But that requires 47:48 regulating. Regulating [snorts] is hard. 47:51 So what you can do is you just can 47:52 create a cognitive pause and get 47:54 yourself to do something tiny. Easy, not 47:57 hard. Easy, easy, easy. And then you're 47:59 creating a bit of a pattern interrupt 48:01 and it's an opportunity for you to 48:03 choose something different. So then what 48:05 ends up happening is 48:07 this p road becomes less traveled. Let's 48:12 say this is after one month of you 48:14 closing your eyes after the feeling 48:16 instead of going immediately. So now 48:20 it gets skinnier. After 3 months it's 48:24 even skinnier. Then this one you've been 48:26 doing this, right? So this is getting 48:28 stronger and stronger and this one keeps 48:30 getting skinnier and this one keeps 48:31 getting stronger. That's the idea. This 48:34 is how you build new habits and kill bad 48:38 ones that you don't want anymore. And 48:39 why killing bad ones is more difficult 48:41 than building a new one? 48:44 >> Starting new ones. It's difficult 48:46 because you're both pruning. 48:49 You're both pruning. Meaning you're 48:51 trying to 48:54 deactivate and and weaken a neural 48:58 network or a pattern of electrical 49:00 activation. And in order to do that, 49:03 you should be building another one. So 49:05 it's like you're doing two things. You 49:07 know, if you think about it from like a 49:09 business perspective, it's like um if 49:12 you're trying to downsize one department 49:14 and create a whole new department, it's 49:15 a little easier just to say everyone 49:17 else keep going. We're also just going 49:19 to build a new department, new project. 49:22 So, you're doing two things. You're 49:24 pruning is hard because the energy wants 49:26 to go that way because you let it you 49:29 let it go that way over and over and 49:31 over again. And then it became that 49:33 muscle became really strong. Going back 49:36 to your identity, remember those 49:38 stories? Yeah. It's the same thing. 49:41 >> So, if you let yourself say, "I'm a 49:43 victim. I'm a victim. I'm a victim. I'm 49:44 going to stay poor forever." Blah, blah, 49:46 blah. Because the system is messed up. 49:48 Those people who are successful, they 49:50 they were, you know, uh they they did it 49:53 through tricks. They got it through 49:55 luck. I'm unlucky. 49:58 My family is not lucky. My We just We 50:01 don't That doesn't happen for us. It 50:02 doesn't happen for people from like 50:04 where I'm from. Whatever it may, 50:05 whatever story you're telling yourself, 50:07 [snorts] 50:08 >> any one of these stories, if you let 50:10 yourself say that story again, 50:12 >> what you're doing is again you're make 50:14 you're just saying that's this is what's 50:16 up. This is real. This is real. This is 50:18 real. This is real. And what we said 50:19 before, 50:21 beliefs look for data and data informs 50:25 beliefs 50:27 and then that cycle becomes even 50:29 stronger then becomes your whole life. 50:31 So when you [clears throat] when you get 50:33 hired by these large companies to 50:36 upgrade their mindset or upgrade mindset 50:39 of their CEOs and their billionaires and 50:42 multi-millionaire executives, right? 50:46 What actual 50:48 habit or like 50:51 a sort of a routine you help them build 50:54 so that they don't get they upgrade 50:56 their mind and they don't get exhausted 50:58 because you must be improving some 51:00 things in their life. That's why they 51:01 keep coming back to you. 51:03 >> Yeah, there's a lot of habits and a lot 51:05 of strategies. It kind of depends on We 51:08 can go through the list. 51:09 >> Yeah, tell me the list. What what can an 51:11 average 25year-old or 35year-old who's 51:14 watching this 51:15 >> can follow in their life which you teach 51:17 the top executives? 51:19 >> Okay. The first and I would say the most 51:23 pervasive issue that I see in most 51:28 people's lives right now and in places 51:32 of work as it relates to productivity 51:35 is what we call bad digital hygiene. 51:40 >> Okay. What do you mean by that? 51:42 >> So hygiene, right? It's like having 51:43 clean hands and things like this. Yeah. 51:45 Bad digital hygiene is having a bad 51:47 relationship with your digital tools 51:50 >> and specifically your notifications. 51:53 [snorts] 51:53 >> I'll give you an example. You sit down 51:55 to work. You sit down to focus on 51:57 something. 52:00 Where is your phone 52:02 when you're doing this? Usually 52:05 >> it's on my desk like right here. 52:07 >> Yeah. 52:07 >> Like right now it's not here, but mostly 52:09 it's 52:09 >> Yeah. Yeah. It's right there. Actually, 52:12 for this 52:14 I can actually we can do a mini 52:16 experiment together if you're up for it. 52:18 >> Okay, I'm up for it. 52:19 >> Okay, cuz there was a study done in UT 52:22 Austin that I want to share with you. 52:25 >> Okay, 52:26 >> but we're going to pretend like you are 52:28 doing you're you're in the actual study 52:31 itself. 52:32 >> You're going to be like one of the 52:33 participants. Okay. [snorts] 52:34 >> Okay. All right. So, this is your phone. 52:37 >> All right. So, in this study, everybody 52:40 came into the lab. So let's say you're 52:42 the in the exact same situation, right? 52:44 You've just come into the lab and what 52:45 we're going to do, Raj, is we're going 52:47 to test your general fluid intelligence. 52:50 >> Okay. What do you mean by that? 52:52 >> It means your mind's ability to hold 52:55 important information in mind and then 52:58 get new information and compute with 53:00 that information without losing the 53:02 stuff that was already in your mind. 53:03 Honestly, you you've been doing it this 53:04 whole conversation. 53:06 >> You're amazing at it, 53:07 >> but that's why you're successful. So, 53:09 [snorts] it's an important skill. Have 53:11 you noticed some people, it's hard for 53:12 them to do that? They like lose track of 53:14 what they were trying to remember and 53:15 they can't compute the stuff. Yeah. New 53:18 stuff. 53:18 >> Okay. So, there's actually a test for 53:21 this which I bet you would score really 53:22 high. 53:23 >> Okay. 53:23 >> Okay. It's a complex working memory 53:26 task. And complex working memory is a 53:28 phenomenal way to test for general fluid 53:30 intelligence. 53:30 >> Okay. [clears throat] 53:31 >> I can give you this test later if you 53:33 like 53:34 >> uh for real. But let's say you come into 53:36 the lab and I want to test that 53:39 >> and I want to test your attention span. 53:41 >> Okay. 53:43 >> Okay. 53:44 >> Now you come in and I say, "Okay, you 53:46 have a phone, right?" All right, great. 53:48 Go ahead and turn your phone completely 53:49 off 53:51 like 53:52 >> like airplane or just 53:53 >> No, no, no. Full like dead. 53:56 >> Yeah. Not DND, not airplane mode. The 53:59 side and the button. 54:04 None. 54:05 >> Okay, it's off. Okay, 54:08 scenario one. Your phone is going to be 54:12 in another room with me. It's dead. You 54:15 turned it off. You give it to me. It's 54:16 going to be in the waiting room. So, I'm 54:18 going to hold it. You're going to go 54:19 into the testing room with a computer. 54:21 You're going to sit down and you're 54:22 going to hammer out all these tests. 54:24 >> We're going to test your intelligence 54:25 and all these things. 54:26 >> Okay. 54:28 >> Option two. Scenario two. I you can keep 54:31 your phone but you have to put it in 54:32 your pocket. 54:34 >> Okay. 54:34 >> Or a bag. 54:35 >> Okay. [snorts] Now imagine now you come 54:37 and you sit down by yourself in the 54:39 room. 54:39 >> Remember your phone is dead. 54:42 >> Okay. This off. 54:42 >> Yeah. 54:44 >> You're not taking a text or something in 54:46 the middle of the test. 54:48 >> You sit down. You do the attention span 54:50 test. You do all the different tests. 54:52 Scenario three. You can take your phone 54:54 out of your pocket, but this time I let 54:57 you put your phone face down just like 55:00 where you said it was when you were 55:02 working. Okay. Face down on the side. 55:04 Then you're sitting in front of the 55:05 computer 55:06 >> and you're doing all of these 55:07 assessments. 55:08 >> Okay. 55:09 >> Okay. 55:10 >> Yeah. Okay. 55:11 >> In this study, and remember the phone is 55:14 dead. 55:14 >> Yeah. Yeah. Technically, nothing changes 55:17 in all three scenarios. The phone's 55:19 dead. You're not using it. 55:20 >> Exactly. M 55:21 >> it's like having this eraser nearby, 55:24 right? It's just an object. 55:26 >> In this study, we were able to see, and 55:29 by the way, this is one of the most 55:30 shocking studies I think I have seen in 55:33 the last number of years on this topic. 55:36 >> Okay? 55:38 >> When the phone was visible to you in 55:41 your visual field, dead but face down 55:44 off to the side, scores were 55:46 significantly decreased across the 55:49 board. like my attention decreased. 55:51 >> Yes, it's the same you, right? Same Raj, 55:55 same brain, different capability. 56:00 And think about it's attention span. 56:02 Raj, it was also general fluid 56:04 intelligence. That means you're dumber. 56:08 Literally, if the phone is visible, I'm 56:10 not 56:11 >> even though it's dead. 56:12 >> Even though it's dead. Even though it's 56:14 dead. 56:18 This is the scary reality of how 56:22 attention works in the brain. Remember 56:24 the stories we tell, right? The brain is 56:28 all about storytelling and narration. 56:30 All the memories you have using that 56:32 thing, all of the memories you have, 56:34 binge watching, talking to friends, 56:37 making plans, good news, bad news, 56:40 drama, all these things are happening in 56:42 the phone, right? For me, like I don't 56:44 know if you use like Apple Pay, but I'm 56:46 also like tapping. It's like my payment 56:48 system. It's like 56:49 >> everything. 56:50 >> It's everything. Everything is in the 56:51 phone. Memories. I have pictures, you 56:53 know, of my dog. Like all this stuff is 56:55 on there that I love, right? It's all 56:58 there. 56:59 >> And you know that. Your brain knows 57:00 that. So if you can see it, it's always 57:03 [snorts] going to be thinking, "Oh, I'm 57:05 remembering all those amazing things and 57:08 I want to play." Like right now since 57:10 the time we've spoken about phone, I've 57:13 been anticipating 57:15 >> really 57:15 >> like a notification will come right 57:18 >> but it's dead. It's dead. So here's my 57:20 recommendation. You should have like a 57:22 parking lot, a box, something there 57:24 where you hide your phone. Just put it 57:26 away so that you don't see it. Bam. 57:29 Gone. Out of sight, out of mind. We 57:31 don't need it. Right? And this is 57:33 listen, I'm not saying all the time, but 57:34 when you want when you want 100% of your 57:37 intelligence for me, right, I run a 57:40 business, right? I I do research, I do 57:43 all these different things. When it's 57:45 game time, 57:47 again, remember, treat yourself like an 57:49 Olympic athlete. If it's game time, it's 57:51 go time, you're making a big important 57:52 decision, you're sitting down with your 57:54 team and you're having a brainstorm, get 57:56 the phones out of the room because 57:57 you're literally lowering the IQ of your 57:59 whole team. If you let people have their 58:02 phones out, the IQ of your employees, 58:05 the IQ of your team is lower. 58:08 >> You're making everybody dumber just by 58:11 having phone here. 58:12 >> Just by having the phone there. And if 58:15 you care about this, people like you 58:16 less. There's been lots of really 58:19 interesting studies that people who hold 58:21 their phone or put their phone out on 58:22 the table when they're talking to people 58:24 and they first meet you, [snorts] you 58:26 seem less trustworthy, 58:28 um, less capable, less intelligent, all 58:30 of these different things. Why would 58:32 that be? It's because I'm really saying, 58:34 listen, you're not so important that I'm 58:38 going to give up the opportunity 58:41 >> to put my attention somewhere else. 58:43 somebody more important than you might 58:45 call me. So, I'm going to keep it here 58:47 in my hand, you know, cuz that's 58:49 wherever it is. Usually, it's pee in 58:50 people's hands or like, you know, some 58:52 I'll like sometimes put it under my arm 58:53 and carry it that way, you know, 58:55 whatever. But it's on the table. Two 58:57 people who have a coffee chat, right? 58:58 They put it on the table and they sit 58:59 down and they have their coffee. But 59:01 it's literally lowering the quality of 59:04 the conversation. It's lowering the 59:06 quality of the connection. 59:09 You know, 59:10 >> you're not married yet, are you? 59:11 >> No. 59:12 >> Okay. Hey, so you're going to be dating. 59:13 It's also going to lower the quality of 59:15 your date. 59:16 >> No, I don't take that on the rates. 59:17 [laughter] 59:18 >> Like, all right, good, good, good. 59:19 >> I've learned it on my podcast that days 59:21 when I have my phone right next to me. 59:24 >> Yeah. 59:24 >> My attention 59:27 during the conversation is much lower 59:29 versus that's why I just always give it 59:31 to these guys and just, you know, either 59:33 out of the room or they have it 59:34 somewhere I don't even care. 59:35 >> Yeah. 59:36 >> And it's like on airplane mode. The 59:37 moment you like you entering before even 59:39 you enter like 30 minutes before you 59:41 enter just off like it's gone. I don't 59:44 care. 59:45 >> That's such a good habit. I'm so glad 59:47 you mentioned that. Your listeners need 59:50 to do that too. It's the same thing. 59:51 It's the same exact thing. I would also 59:54 recommend going back to your sleep 59:55 because now I care about your sleep. 59:57 Remember I used to coach CEOs and I know 59:58 I'm like so I'm going to start like 1:00:00 coaching you. Bring it back to your 1:00:01 sleep. I would ask you to respect your 1:00:03 sleep enough because it's going to 1:00:05 impact your performance that much too 1:00:07 for you to put your phone away 30 1:00:09 minutes before bed. 1:00:12 >> Okay. 1:00:13 >> You said you did it 30 minutes before I 1:00:15 arrived. 1:00:16 >> Yeah, but this was Yeah, 1:00:17 >> I'm not as important as your sleep. 1:00:19 [laughter] 1:00:20 >> Raj, your sleep is more important than 1:00:22 me. I promise. I promise. Because if you 1:00:25 start doing that, oh, you're going to 1:00:27 see such a radical shift in your life 1:00:30 and in your mindset. And do you want to 1:00:32 know something? Okay, here's what I this 1:00:34 I'm going to dare you to do this. 1:00:36 >> Okay? And I'm going to follow up with 1:00:38 you. 1:00:38 >> Okay? 1:00:39 >> I'm going to dare you to do this. 30 1:00:40 minutes before you go to bed, have a cut 1:00:42 off where you have to turn your phone 1:00:44 off. 1:00:45 And then don't turn it back on until 30 1:00:47 minutes after you wake up. If 30 minutes 1:00:50 is too much, 15 minutes. 15 minutes 1:00:53 before you go to bed off and then after 1:00:55 you wake up just let your eyes open 1:00:58 because people use the phone as an 1:01:00 alarm. It's right next to them. The 1:01:03 phone rings. They immediately grab it 1:01:05 and then they start. They're still in 1:01:07 bed. They're like doing this. They're 1:01:09 just like, "Oh, 1:01:10 >> that that's me. Thanks for attacking." 1:01:13 [laughter] Like that's just 1:01:15 >> got to talk about the truth. Yeah. I 1:01:17 didn't know that. But it's this is the 1:01:18 reality for so many people though, 1:01:20 right? There's no no point in the shame 1:01:21 because the shame makes it worse. 1:01:23 Remember, 1:01:23 >> it's adding an extra feeling on top of 1:01:25 the other feeling. So that feeling in 1:01:28 the morning, you're looking for 1:01:30 stimulation and it's FOMO. 1:01:32 >> You want to figure out what you missed 1:01:34 while you've been sleeping. 1:01:35 >> Yeah. 1:01:36 >> But here, okay, here's my this is why I 1:01:39 want you to not look at it for 15 1:01:40 minutes. [snorts] 1:01:42 First thing in the morning, your brain 1:01:44 is in a very delicate and powerful 1:01:47 state. You have an opportunity to 1:01:50 reinforce those new beliefs that we were 1:01:52 talking about. You have an opportunity 1:01:54 to set your brain up for the right 1:01:56 mindset, for the right goals, for the 1:01:58 right priorities first thing in the 1:02:01 morning. When you allow the rest of the 1:02:04 world to tell you who you are, where you 1:02:08 should be putting your attention. So, 1:02:09 hey, there's news over here. Look at 1:02:11 this notification. Look at this email. I 1:02:13 need this Raj. I need you to send me the 1:02:14 Can I see you Tuesday at 3 p.m. Please 1:02:17 confirm. Is that when we're me 1:02:20 all this noise? 1:02:22 All the noise from the outside is 1:02:24 removing an opportunity for your own 1:02:26 brain to tell you some amazing idea 1:02:29 that's going to unlock something for you 1:02:31 because peeps so many people have such 1:02:33 amazing clarity and amazing ideas first 1:02:35 thing in the morning. But right now 1:02:38 across the world I think it's it's a 1:02:40 generation of people are losing that 1:02:43 like we're missing out. We're missing 1:02:45 out on so many things. So the first 1:02:47 mistake you asked me the biggest mistake 1:02:49 that people are making is bad digital 1:02:52 hygiene. They leave their notifications 1:02:54 on on their computers. So they sit down 1:02:55 on the computer and now we let's say we 1:02:57 put the phones away at least, right? 1:02:58 Phone is gone cuz we learned about that. 1:03:00 >> Okay. If you want to be fully focused, 1:03:02 you want to have the best productivity, 1:03:04 the highest level of effectiveness. 1:03:07 >> You also need to make sure all your 1:03:08 other forms of digital hygiene are 1:03:10 locked in, 1:03:11 >> dialed in. That means, and let me be 1:03:14 clear, most of the CEOs I work with, 1:03:16 when I sat down and I would observe them 1:03:18 working, you know, I would show up with 1:03:20 my clipboard and all of my, you know, 1:03:22 observational tools and stuff and I'd be 1:03:23 like, "Go ahead. Just I'll be over here 1:03:25 watching." 1:03:29 They have they immediately open a 1:03:31 document, right? Let's say they're 1:03:32 getting ready for the board meeting or 1:03:34 something. They open up a document, 1:03:35 they're looking at a deck, and then 1:03:36 bing, what was that? Okay. And then they 1:03:38 go here. They have two monitors. on the 1:03:40 other monitor they have like Slack open. 1:03:42 Yeah. 1:03:42 >> Constantly pinging 1:03:44 like all this stuff and the phone is out 1:03:46 and they have an Apple Watch and they're 1:03:47 just like doing this thing and it's just 1:03:49 like this. 1:03:50 >> Yeah. [snorts] 1:03:52 >> But the brain is literally a focusing 1:03:54 machine. Every single time you switch 1:03:57 your attention, 1:03:59 you pay for it. It's not free. 1:04:02 >> What do you pay for it? How do you pay? 1:04:04 What's the price? 1:04:04 >> I'm glad you asked. You pay for it in 1:04:07 time and you pay for it in energy. 1:04:11 And if you don't believe me, we can test 1:04:12 it out. 1:04:13 >> Go ahead. 1:04:14 >> Yeah. 1:04:14 >> Tell me. Yeah. 1:04:15 >> Okay. Grab a piece of paper. You have 1:04:16 some paper and a pen. So, on this piece 1:04:18 of paper, we're just going to draw two 1:04:20 lines. There you go. Okay. Now, on the 1:04:24 top line, I want you to write, I am a 1:04:28 great multitasker, but don't start yet. 1:04:30 >> Okay? And then on the bottom line, I 1:04:32 want you to write the numbers 1 through 1:04:34 20. 1:04:35 >> 1 through 20. 1:04:36 >> 1 through 20. I want you to go as fast 1:04:38 as you can. Okay. And then I'm going to 1:04:40 time you. I'll hide the phone so that 1:04:42 you're smart as possible. No excuses. 1:04:44 Okay. Right. 1:04:44 >> I'm a great multitasker. And 1 to 20. 1:04:47 >> Exactly. 1:04:48 >> And I want you to go as fast as you can. 1:04:50 I'll read the times out out loud and 1:04:51 then and then you can go for it. Okay. 1:04:53 >> And then actually, how about this? I 1:04:55 won't read them out loud. I'll you just 1:04:57 focus. 1:04:57 >> Okay. 1:04:58 >> Okay. Cuz we'll have the timer going up 1:05:00 there. I'll watch you and I'll stop the 1:05:02 time when you finish. Okay. Get ready. 1:05:05 Get [snorts] set. Go. 1:05:26 17.72. 1:05:28 >> Super fast. Cool. Now, turn this paper 1:05:31 around. 1:05:35 >> Awesome. 1:05:36 >> Draw two more lines. 1:05:39 You're going to do this one more time. 1:05:41 Okay. You're going to end with the same 1:05:43 outcome. So the output at the end is 1:05:46 going to be I'm a great multitasker 1 1:05:47 through 20. But the way in which you 1:05:50 will arrive will be very different. 1:05:52 >> Okay? 1:05:52 >> You're going to alternate. 1:05:54 >> You're going to start at one at the at 1:05:56 the top line. You're going to write 1:05:58 you're going to write the letter I. 1:06:00 You're going to drop down to the bottom 1:06:01 line. Write the number one. Back up to 1:06:02 the top line. 1:06:03 >> Letter A. And then down to the bottom 1:06:04 line number two. Back up to the top line 1:06:07 >> after every letter. 1:06:08 >> Mhm. 1:06:08 >> Okay. 1:06:09 >> You're going to go back and forth until 1:06:10 you finish both lines. 1:06:11 >> Okay. 1:06:11 >> Okay. Now listen. If you think, hold on, 1:06:15 I'm going to lose time, right? Going 1:06:17 back and forth like meaning just my hand 1:06:20 moving, right? 1:06:22 >> You can, if you want, you can draw one 1:06:24 extra long line, but you have to still 1:06:27 alternate. 1:06:28 >> So that means you still have to write in 1:06:30 in between I one 2 A. Okay. All right. 1:06:34 But I just want to give you options. Get 1:06:36 ready. Get set. 1:06:37 >> Yeah. 1:06:38 >> Go. 1:06:42 You got this. 1:07:10 This is where you guys need to overlay 1:07:11 some fun music. 1:07:19 >> Done. 40 seconds. 1:07:23 [snorts] So, you went from 17.72 1:07:26 to 41.35. 1:07:29 >> More than double. 1:07:30 >> More than double. 1:07:32 So, and I have a question. 1:07:35 >> We all saw, but did you ever make any 1:07:37 mistakes? 1:07:38 >> Oh, yeah. A lot. [laughter] 1:07:40 >> Okay. 1:07:43 >> So, this goes 1:07:44 >> because this time I was focused on like 1:07:45 just 1:07:47 Yeah. Like my brain was not able to 1:07:48 comprehend like two things at the same 1:07:50 time. 1:07:50 >> Yeah. Well, really, 1:07:53 your brain can't. This is the point I 1:07:56 want to make. 1:07:56 >> So, you're saying nobody can be a good 1:07:58 multitasker? 1:07:59 >> No. No. Listen, what you're there's let 1:08:02 me and let me let's be clear. Let's 1:08:03 define what we're talking about here. 1:08:06 >> When people talk about multitasking, the 1:08:09 way they talk about it is as if they're 1:08:12 doing two different things 1:08:14 with full fidelity at the same time. 1:08:17 >> That's how they talk about it. 1:08:19 >> Yeah. 1:08:19 >> When they talk about multitasking, 1:08:21 they're like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm doing 1:08:22 this and I'm doing this." 1:08:24 >> Yeah. 1:08:25 >> Okay. How many brains do you have? 1:08:28 >> One. 1:08:29 >> Yeah. 1:08:30 Okay, that how many attention systems do 1:08:32 you have? Like you have one of 1:08:33 everything. 1:08:34 >> Yeah. 1:08:34 >> Okay. So [snorts] you don't have two 1:08:36 brains. You cannot say with my full Raj 1:08:39 brain 100% performance I am 100% doing 1:08:42 this and at the same time I am 100% 1:08:45 doing this. You don't have two 100s. You 1:08:47 have one 100. 1:08:49 So if you want you can take your 100% 1:08:52 like a pie chart. You can dice it up. 1:08:56 You could say 50/50. 50% of my attention 1:08:58 is on this, 50% on this, 8020, 7030, 1:09:02 6040. No matter what your split is, 1:09:05 you're splitting your attention. It's 1:09:07 split. So, when we talk about 1:09:09 multitasking, the way people talk about 1:09:11 it, they Yeah. Yeah. I have my phone 1:09:12 here, but I'm not looking. I have my 1:09:14 email open, but I'm focused here. When 1:09:17 the notif comes up, no, you I see you 1:09:19 go. You look. Even when you're on calls 1:09:22 with people, you're like on a Zoom call 1:09:24 with somebody and you're look, they're 1:09:26 looking at you and then all of a sudden 1:09:27 you see their eyes go down and up again. 1:09:29 >> Yeah. 1:09:30 >> Come, we can all see you, right? 1:09:32 Nobody's that slick. 1:09:33 >> The people think like nobody's going to 1:09:35 notice. You know, you said, "Yeah, 1:09:36 because you've seen other people do it. 1:09:38 I've seen other people do it. Everyone's 1:09:40 doing it." And they think that I can see 1:09:42 when other people are doing it, but 1:09:43 nobody can tell when I do it cuz I'm 1:09:45 fast. No, we can all see. [snorts] My 1:09:47 point here is that it's not your choice. 1:09:52 It's not your choice to 1:09:56 pay attention or not pay attention to 1:09:58 distractions when they come up. The way 1:10:00 that the brain works is it's a 1:10:03 monotasking machine, not a multitasking 1:10:06 machine. It is designed to focus on one 1:10:09 thing. Now, does that mean you can never 1:10:13 do two things at once? No, of course 1:10:15 not. Listen, in my car, um, I listen to 1:10:18 podcasts. I sometimes make calls. I call 1:10:21 my mother. You know, I call my mom on on 1:10:23 the on the my way somewhere. I have her 1:10:26 on speaker, you know, and I'm driving. 1:10:29 But listen, in that moment, I'm going to 1:10:31 be honest with you because this is just 1:10:33 as a neuroscientist, I can just tell you 1:10:34 this is how the brain works. I am not 1:10:37 100% focused on the road. 1:10:39 >> Yeah. 1:10:39 >> Otherwise, it's imp I'm not going to 1:10:40 hear my mom. I don't I'm not going to 1:10:42 listen to anything she's saying. Which, 1:10:44 listen, that's a whole another 1:10:46 conversation about mom's. She's like 1:10:48 complaining on my knee, my back, my 1:10:50 this, my that. You didn't you need to 1:10:52 come home, blah, blah, blah, all these 1:10:53 things. Okay, that's a different story 1:10:55 cuz it's always the same stories. But 1:10:57 the point here is that for sure it's not 1:11:00 possible for me to 100% focus on the 1:11:01 conversation and 100% focus on the road 1:11:04 because I know where I'm going in my 1:11:06 hometown. Honestly, it's like, 1:11:08 >> yeah, it's like an autopilot. They're 1:11:10 just going there. 1:11:11 >> Bingo. So my point is listen, it's 1:11:14 nuance. I'm not saying Raj you can never 1:11:16 do two. Yeah. Yeah. Sure you can. But 1:11:19 you just have to know the math. You have 1:11:21 to understand the biological laws. You 1:11:23 have to know what you're doing. Be 1:11:24 strategic about it. Be strategic about 1:11:26 it. Now you know that if you And by the 1:11:30 way, what you did just now Oh, yeah. 1:11:34 What you did here, this is not 1:11:36 multitasking because that's impossible. 1:11:38 Again, remember multitasking the way 1:11:39 it's defined, I you did 100% one thing 1:11:41 and 100% another thing. That's not 1:11:43 possible here. What you're doing and 1:11:45 what is possible, what happens in 1:11:47 everybody's brains, yours, mine, 1:11:49 everyone's, is something called task 1:11:52 switching, 1:11:53 >> context switching essentially. 1:11:54 >> Yeah, 1:11:55 >> this we do all the time. But every 1:11:57 single time you switch your attention 1:11:59 from A to B, B to C, C to D, all of the 1:12:02 different one thing to another, to the 1:12:03 Apple Watch to the phone to the back to 1:12:05 the document and back to the thing, and 1:12:06 then what? Oh, somebody came in my 1:12:07 office. What did you want? But every 1:12:09 single time you switch your attention, 1:12:11 there's a payment, a biological payment. 1:12:14 So the brain pays for it in time. As you 1:12:17 noticed, more than double. It's not for 1:12:19 free. Takes more time. And time is 1:12:22 limited. Time is money. And the second 1:12:25 thing that it takes is energy. You're 1:12:27 going to exhaust yourself more. And 1:12:29 every single time, and listen, this was 1:12:31 easy. Whose job is this easy? You want 1:12:33 to build an empire? You want to build a 1:12:35 company? you want to cure cancer. 1:12:37 Nothing is this easy. So when you're 1:12:39 doing something hard and you really want 1:12:42 to do good, you have to respect yourself 1:12:45 enough to put the distractions out of 1:12:47 sight, out of mind, notifications off, 1:12:49 no email open, no phone next to you, no 1:12:52 notifs available, and actually focus on 1:12:54 the thing in front of you. And in the 1:12:56 beginning, if you're not used to it, 1:12:57 it's going to be difficult. It's going 1:12:59 to be painful. Your mind's going to be 1:13:01 all over the place, but you just need to 1:13:03 get your muscles hard again. You need to 1:13:05 get your muscles strong. 1:13:06 >> But what about people who are good at 1:13:07 multitasking? 1:13:09 >> Is there someone like that or is it just 1:13:12 a myth? 1:13:13 >> Do you want to know something really 1:13:15 funny? 1:13:15 >> Mhm. 1:13:16 >> There was a study done at Stanford that 1:13:18 I'll send you. So there they're smart 1:13:19 smart kids. Young healthy brains. Do you 1:13:23 know what I mean? Sharp. 1:13:25 >> Okay. No excuses. You can't be like 1:13:27 they're just they're dumb. No, no. We we 1:13:30 got we got good ones. 1:13:32 This study on multitasking asked people 1:13:36 upfront, "Are you a good multitasker?" 1:13:39 The people who said yes confidently, "Oh 1:13:42 yeah, I'm great at it." They were 1:13:45 actually worse when they tested them. 1:13:48 That's crazy. It's like a joke. It's 1:13:50 like science jokes, right? It's 1:13:53 absolutely mind-boggling, but it's so 1:13:55 fascinating. 1:13:56 >> Why? Well, unknown to be, you know, 1:13:59 >> this random belief they've built about 1:14:00 themselves. 1:14:01 >> It could be because if you multitask so 1:14:05 much, by the way, you try because again, 1:14:08 we talked about it. You're just context 1:14:09 switching all the time. Your brain is 1:14:11 just foggy. I don't think you see 1:14:13 straight. I think this is the problem 1:14:15 with most companies right now. 1:14:18 >> Most people are just bouncing back and 1:14:19 forth and they think this is normal and 1:14:22 they just go like, "Oh, it's hard for me 1:14:24 to focus. Maybe I have ADHD. Come on. 1:14:27 Every 80% of the population all of a 1:14:30 sudden has ADHD. 1:14:31 >> Why everybody has started saying this? 1:14:33 Every like it's just like 50 things 1:14:36 because of the scrolling. That's why 1:14:38 because our attention spans are shot. 1:14:41 This is actually some of the re recent 1:14:43 research I've started doing. Truly 1:14:44 attention spans have just gotten worse 1:14:46 and worse and worse. And the more you 1:14:49 scroll, and it's by the way, it's not 1:14:51 all scrolling. And I'm not just giving 1:14:53 like, you know, your podcast a 1:14:56 a pat on the back here. This is actually 1:14:58 the the research supports this. There is 1:15:01 a massive difference between long form 1:15:03 and short form media. The short form 1:15:06 media is truly like garbage and candy 1:15:11 for the brain. It is it's like junk 1:15:13 food. That's what I mean. So the how 1:15:16 would your body feel if you fill it with 1:15:18 junk food? Not so good. Listen, am I 1:15:20 saying sometimes we don't have some junk 1:15:22 food? Oh, for sure. No problem. You 1:15:24 know, you got to live a balanced life. 1:15:25 You know what I mean? Life is short. 1:15:27 Enjoy it a little bit. You know, do it's 1:15:29 okay. But if your whole diet is junk 1:15:32 food, if you eat junk food every day, 1:15:34 what's going to happen in one year? Not 1:15:37 so good. Bad things. 1:15:38 >> Yeah. 1:15:39 >> So, this is this this relationship that 1:15:42 we have with our phones, our devices, 1:15:45 our email. 1:15:47 This is it's not I don't want people to 1:15:49 think I'm just talking about just Tik 1:15:50 Tok either. People are addicted to 1:15:52 email. They're addicted to WhatsApp. 1:15:54 They're addicted to messaging and 1:15:56 communicating constantly all the time 1:15:58 24/7. And that never allows them to come 1:16:02 up with ideas. 1:16:04 Hear what's going on inside of them. All 1:16:07 of the stuff we talked about before, the 1:16:08 self-awareness. You want to train your 1:16:10 brain. That takes effort. That takes 1:16:12 awareness. That takes focus. You want to 1:16:15 build an empire. you want to build a 1:16:17 business, you want to do all these 1:16:18 things, that takes focus. And when we've 1:16:21 removed the ability to focus, this is 1:16:24 why everybody thinks they have ADHD 1:16:26 because they're not listening to their 1:16:27 biology. Again, it's like the laws like 1:16:29 the brain works. We just tested you. 1:16:32 Everybody who's listening, you believe 1:16:34 that Raj is super smart. Obviously, 1:16:36 that's why you're listening. That's why 1:16:37 he's so successful. Even you couldn't do 1:16:40 it. You more than doubled your time and 1:16:42 you made mistakes. So think about how 1:16:45 you work now. When you take this to your 1:16:46 life, when you take this to your 1:16:47 business, everybody who's listening, 1:16:49 right? When you think about how you 1:16:51 work, if you work d constantly, I'm 1:16:54 sitting down f and then I check this and 1:16:56 I check that. If you're doing it that 1:16:58 way, you're going to make more mistakes 1:16:59 and it's going to take you double the 1:17:01 amount of time to get to your goals. You 1:17:04 choose. I'm going to choose the way 1:17:06 that's going to be fast for me. But this 1:17:08 is what makes the people that are ultra 1:17:10 successful different from everybody 1:17:11 else. They just choose differently. 1:17:14 >> They think about it. They're aware about 1:17:15 it. Like, hold on a second. What you 1:17:17 said, you said beautifully, I notice the 1:17:20 days when I'm on my phone, it's harder 1:17:22 for me to focus. So, when we're 1:17:24 shooting, when the guest is right, I 1:17:26 tell the guys, I turn it off and I tell 1:17:28 the guys, get it out of here. You are in 1:17:30 a beautiful example of a CEO that has 1:17:34 figured it out. Everybody else can do 1:17:36 the same for themselves. So, [snorts] 1:17:37 you're telling me that a lot of people 1:17:41 think that ultra successful people have 1:17:42 better ideas, but you're telling that 1:17:45 they don't have better ideas. They just 1:17:48 know how to protect their attention so 1:17:50 that they can get ideas. Is that what 1:17:52 you're saying? 1:17:53 >> They have more ideas. It's like fishing. 1:17:57 I can tell you this. This is the science 1:17:59 of innovation and creativity. Every, by 1:18:03 the way, inventor will tell you this. 1:18:06 inventors, artists, engineers, people 1:18:09 who build, people who come up with like 1:18:11 crazy ideas, they'll tell you for every 1:18:14 one good idea, they had 1 million 1:18:16 ideas. This it's a numbers game. 1:18:19 >> You have to become like an idea machine. 1:18:21 It's it's a muscle. If you're exercising 1:18:24 your idea muscle every single day, you 1:18:26 allow your mind to explore and wander 1:18:29 and you give it time and space to do it. 1:18:32 Listen, you're going to come up with a 1:18:33 lot of stupid ideas. That's okay. You 1:18:36 have to. It's a process, right? One day 1:18:39 after another and then finally you're 1:18:41 going to hit. 1:18:42 >> So, what should I do? How how can 1:18:45 someone become a person who gets 1:18:48 incredible ideas all the time? 1:18:51 >> Okay, you ready? This is my number one 1:18:54 recommendation. You might not like it or 1:18:56 you might be surprised. 1:18:57 >> Okay. 1:19:00 >> Be bored. 1:19:03 be bored and do nothing 1:19:07 >> and you get ideas like that. 1:19:08 >> And you get ideas. Let me explain. 1:19:13 Ideas, new ideas 1:19:16 often come 1:19:18 when we are mind wandering. That goes 1:19:21 back to the neural network that I talked 1:19:23 about earlier, the DMN, the default mode 1:19:25 network. That's what that when that is 1:19:28 active your brain is creating. Remember 1:19:32 in the beginning I said it's the 1:19:33 storyteller in the brain. It's the 1:19:35 storytelling machine. It's the area of 1:19:37 the brain and the a areas of the brain 1:19:40 that are all about narration and ideas. 1:19:43 So that's your idea machine. You need to 1:19:47 allow the DMN to actually become active. 1:19:50 Now the opposite of the DMN is the 1:19:53 central executive network, the CEN. 1:19:55 Okay. 1:19:56 >> And it I mean listen to the sound of it. 1:19:58 The central executive network. 1:20:02 >> What do you think? It's like the CEO. 1:20:04 >> Yeah. 1:20:04 >> What's the goal? 1:20:05 >> Operator. 1:20:06 >> It's the operator. Beautifully said. 1:20:08 It's the project manager. What are we 1:20:10 doing? What's the goal? And then anytime 1:20:12 it's also in charge of inhibition. 1:20:15 So inhibition is uh suppressing the 1:20:19 things that seem distracting. Listen, 1:20:21 I'm on my target. I got to focus on 1:20:24 this. So if you're telling me, hey, hey, 1:20:26 sire, what about this idea? Shh, I don't 1:20:28 want to hear about ideas. I got to I'm 1:20:30 doing this focus. That's your central 1:20:33 executive network and you need it. And 1:20:35 it's mostly frontal areas, right? 1:20:37 Because this is where a lot of your 1:20:38 executive functioning is is happening in 1:20:40 the first place. So you've got all these 1:20:42 different this neural network that's 1:20:43 again responsible for get done, 1:20:46 right? Focus and do stuff. The opposite 1:20:49 of that is the DMN. And the DMN is again 1:20:52 all about stories, daydreaming, 1:20:55 being bored, let your mind wander. When 1:20:57 you daydream, that's when a bunch of 1:20:59 ideas can finally come and float to the 1:21:01 surface. 1:21:01 >> So the first step is you have to find 1:21:03 time and space 1:21:06 >> to be bored, 1:21:10 >> to be bored, to daydream, to let your 1:21:14 mind wander. Because again, remember, 1:21:17 it's easy to remember and understand 1:21:19 why. What's the opposite of that? Get 1:21:21 stuff done. What idea are you gonna have 1:21:24 when you're like on a deadline to get 1:21:26 done if you're busy all of the 1:21:28 time? And then what what do people do 1:21:29 when they're not working? 1:21:32 What when are you what how is your brain 1:21:35 going to shove an idea into your into 1:21:38 your in front of you, right? How you 1:21:41 have to let those ideas come to you by 1:21:43 cultivating the space for them. You have 1:21:45 to make the space for them. So the most 1:21:47 creative people, the most amazing 1:21:49 innovators, by the way, they force 1:21:51 themselves to sit down. Some people call 1:21:53 it think time. Some one of the guests 1:21:56 you had on the show, I think Bill Gates, 1:21:58 um, uh, he was really famous by having a 1:22:00 think week, I believe it was, you know, 1:22:02 whole week he takes off. No busy work, 1:22:05 just to think, see what ideas come. It 1:22:09 was actually during his one of his think 1:22:10 weeks that he decided that the internet 1:22:14 is not a fad. Can you imagine if Bill 1:22:18 Gates didn't realize that 1:22:21 decades ago? 1:22:23 So these ideas come, we have to give 1:22:25 them the space to come and that requires 1:22:26 discipline because right now distraction 1:22:29 is making money for these tech companies 1:22:32 like crazy. Welcome to the distraction 1:22:35 economy. So, it's keeping everybody 1:22:38 stuck. 1:22:39 >> It's keeping everybody stuck in their 1:22:41 old loops. Because also, this is how the 1:22:44 algorithm works. 1:22:47 The algorithms that you're doom 1:22:48 scrolling on, that you're binge watching 1:22:50 on, the way they work is they're going 1:22:51 to show you stuff that you like. 1:22:54 >> They're going to show you more of the 1:22:55 same. If you want to become a different 1:22:58 version of you, you need to change your 1:23:00 content. Your content is actually a 1:23:03 great example of this. a lot of other 1:23:06 awesome podcasts that are educational, 1:23:08 right, about like how do I become 1:23:09 better? How do I level myself up? 1:23:12 If you all you're do when you're binge 1:23:14 watching, if you're all it's just bad 1:23:16 news, this that just like whatever, you 1:23:20 will become more of that because what 1:23:21 you're doing is you're just 1:23:23 >> true 1:23:24 >> the same stories over and over again. 1:23:27 You want to start to become a different 1:23:29 version of you, a better version of you, 1:23:31 you should also change your algorithm. 1:23:34 We call this by the way in the classes I 1:23:36 teach changing your content diet. 1:23:41 >> Yeah. And that's very important. I call 1:23:42 it bloom scrolling. 1:23:44 >> Oh, I love that. 1:23:45 >> Yeah. So, it's like how you have doom 1:23:47 scrolling. 1:23:48 >> You curate your feed in a way which is 1:23:50 bloom scrolling so that it makes you 1:23:51 better, not actually messes up you 1:23:54 messes up your entire system. 1:23:55 >> Yeah, it's a beautiful way to put it. 1:23:58 So, you got to give yourself think time. 1:23:59 Even if it's bloom or doom, you got to 1:24:02 put it away a little bit and then just 1:24:04 give your mind and space to breathe. The 1:24:07 next thing that's going to be important, 1:24:08 and this is kind of fun. Have you ever 1:24:10 have you heard of um that anecdote that 1:24:12 people have awesome ideas in the shower? 1:24:14 >> Yeah. 1:24:14 >> You've heard of Have you ever had? 1:24:16 >> Of course. 1:24:17 >> Really? 1:24:17 >> Yeah. So many times. 1:24:18 >> Okay. Hey, do you know the science 1:24:20 behind it? 1:24:21 >> No. 1:24:21 >> You want to learn? 1:24:22 >> Yeah, of course. I want to learn all the 1:24:24 science in the world. Tell me. 1:24:26 >> Okay. So this is the science behind 1:24:28 shower thoughts, shower ideas that so 1:24:32 many people have. I've had the same 1:24:33 thing as well. [snorts] 1:24:35 So the way that the brain works is 1:24:38 you're loading up, let's say, remember 1:24:40 the neural networks I talked about 1:24:41 before, right? So let's say you've got 1:24:43 this pattern of electrical activation 1:24:45 happening in the brain, right? These 1:24:47 neural networks that are on different 1:24:48 brain areas, all of this stuff. So you 1:24:50 have this pattern of electrical 1:24:52 activation. Let's say it looks like 1:24:53 this, okay? Some gridlock. Let's say 1:24:56 this is your brain thinking about a 1:24:58 problem. 1:24:59 >> So you're there and you're thinking 1:25:01 about this problem in your head 1:25:05 right now. What's in my brain? 1:25:08 >> The problem. 1:25:08 >> The problem stuck. 1:25:10 >> Yeah. Where's the solution? If I want a 1:25:13 solution to the problem, I actually have 1:25:14 to move these networks around. I have to 1:25:17 get different electrical activity. 1:25:19 >> Yeah. 1:25:19 >> To happen 1:25:20 >> because my brain's occupied with this. 1:25:22 >> Mhm. It's focused on the problem. So 1:25:25 this is how you do it. This is the best 1:25:26 way I teach all of the business leaders 1:25:29 I work with this. You load up all of the 1:25:32 data and the information that you need 1:25:35 that's about the problem. You think 1:25:36 about the problem. You understand the 1:25:38 problem. You look at all the data 1:25:39 related to the problem. Load it all up. 1:25:42 Then walk away. You're going to sit 1:25:45 there be like, "Okay." And then what do 1:25:46 we do? What's the solution? What's the 1:25:47 solution? I don't know. I don't know. I 1:25:48 don't know. Get up and do something 1:25:50 else. 1:25:52 When you do something else, you're at 1:25:53 least introducing a new variable. You're 1:25:56 at least saying, "Hey, drink some 1:25:57 water." At least, seriously, something 1:25:58 as small as this. Because anything you 1:26:00 do, anything you touch, smell, drink, 1:26:03 listen, listen to a different playlist, 1:26:05 different music, get up and move to 1:26:07 another room. If you're sitting at your 1:26:09 desk and you're always working at your 1:26:11 desk and you're like, "This is my focus. 1:26:12 This is where I'm at." And you're just 1:26:14 like, "This is the problem." The problem 1:26:16 is also here. It's in your all of the 1:26:19 associations that you've built up with 1:26:22 that problem. Change the environment. 1:26:25 So when people finally go on a walk or 1:26:28 they go take a shower, [snorts] they've 1:26:30 loaded all the data there. So the the 1:26:32 neural networks related to the problem 1:26:34 are still active or they're recently at 1:26:36 least active. So then you get in the 1:26:38 shower and you introduce new variables. 1:26:40 Now you're not scrolling either because 1:26:41 again the scrolling is a distraction. If 1:26:44 you distract yourself with I got to text 1:26:46 these people back. I got to get on 1:26:47 WhatsApp. I gota all these things. 1:26:50 >> Yeah. 1:26:51 >> You're not going to solve any problems 1:26:53 because now you're just doing more 1:26:54 stuff. 1:26:55 >> True. 1:26:56 >> You're doing more stuff. You have to not 1:26:59 do stuff to give your brain space to 1:27:01 say, "Wait a minute, light bulb." 1:27:05 Because the problem was still there and 1:27:06 active. And then you're introducing new 1:27:08 variables, whatever they may be. Have a 1:27:10 little 1:27:12 sip of water. put some water on your 1:27:14 face. Whatever it is, you got to do 1:27:15 something different. And then your brain 1:27:17 goes at some point, oh, I got it. 1:27:22 >> And that's why you because you're 1:27:25 mindlessly just standing in sh all of a 1:27:27 sudden you get that because you're not 1:27:30 focused on problem anymore. 1:27:31 >> Yeah. You loosened a little bit and you 1:27:35 introduced new data. You introduced new 1:27:37 variables and new data. It could be on a 1:27:39 walk. You could start cooking dinner. 1:27:41 You know, you could go exercise, go on a 1:27:44 run, you know, whatever, whatever you 1:27:46 want to do, [snorts] 1:27:48 but not something so immersive 1:27:51 that you can't keep thinking about the 1:27:53 other thing. This is so don't like go 1:27:55 sit down and watch a movie. Do you see 1:27:57 what I'm saying? 1:27:58 >> Unless you want to watch a movie you've 1:28:00 seen 1,000 times. 1:28:02 >> Do you know how like you can still 1:28:04 think? Well, 1:28:05 >> you now you get it. This explain See, 1:28:07 there's neuroscience to explain all of 1:28:09 these human experiences we have. If 1:28:11 you're watching a rerun of an old, you 1:28:13 know, sitcom you've seen like a million 1:28:15 times, it's kind of soothing because you 1:28:17 can kind of, you're not really just 1:28:19 focused and paying attention. You're 1:28:21 letting your mind wander a little bit. 1:28:23 >> Yeah. 1:28:23 >> But when you're scrolling, it's all 1:28:25 novel. 1:28:26 >> So, it's designed by people like me, by 1:28:29 the way, cognitive neuroscientists, 1:28:32 people like me who are hired by these 1:28:33 companies. We use everything we know 1:28:35 about how to capture your attention and 1:28:37 keep your attention to make money off of 1:28:39 you. It's all embedded in how all of 1:28:41 these things work. 1:28:42 >> Explain me what's happening to a person 1:28:45 when they're consuming long- form 1:28:47 content versus what's happening when 1:28:49 they're consuming only short form 1:28:51 content. Like what what's going on in 1:28:53 the brain? Like if you have to draw 1:28:55 parallels to long form brain and short 1:28:58 form brain. 1:28:59 >> Yeah. 1:29:01 Well, it also depends on the content. 1:29:03 Could I'll say that we've we've seen 1:29:05 like negative content like the news 1:29:08 honestly. Like I'll say something about 1:29:10 the news briefly. 1:29:14 News media 1:29:16 also knows what sells and what captures 1:29:20 attention. 1:29:20 >> Yeah. That's why they do the negative 1:29:22 stuff. 1:29:22 >> Yeah. Cuz bad news, rage bait, it works. 1:29:26 And listen, if one company starts using 1:29:29 it, one news channel starts using it, 1:29:32 and the other one goes, "Oh, that's 1:29:33 well, that's not fair. They're going to 1:29:35 hurt. The ratings are going to hurt if 1:29:37 they don't also adapt." 1:29:39 >> So now everybody's doing it. 1:29:40 >> Yeah. Like since the time of like 1:29:43 evolution, 1:29:45 the most 1:29:48 primitive 1:29:50 feeling that human beings have is 1:29:52 threat. Threat for survival. So the more 1:29:55 you induce threat more people find it 1:29:58 like more people get anxious and more 1:30:00 they get anxious they want to keep 1:30:01 consuming that content and that's why a 1:30:03 lot of news media all around the world 1:30:05 is just tapping on that one primitive 1:30:07 emotion that is I'm going to make you 1:30:09 sure that you feel keep feeling anxious 1:30:11 and anxious and anxious and the way you 1:30:13 feel anxious is when I tell you 1:30:15 everything is wrong. 1:30:16 >> Yeah. like no matter what you're doing 1:30:17 is wrong. And I find out new ways to 1:30:21 make you feel that everyone's against 1:30:23 you. Everything's against you. Tomorrow 1:30:24 morning you're going to get up and 1:30:26 things going to go down. So we just tap 1:30:28 on this emotion since the time of 1:30:31 evolution. And that's why there's just 1:30:34 negative stuff all around. 1:30:35 >> Yeah. 1:30:36 >> See, it's hard for us to make positive 1:30:38 content and grow. 1:30:40 >> It is. 1:30:41 It is. It is hard. It would be easier to 1:30:43 do it the other way. Oh, absolutely. 1:30:46 Absolutely. If I start today, 1:30:48 >> like you and I. 1:30:50 >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 1:30:51 >> Like this could we can make this go 10x 1:30:53 more viral if we start just making it 1:30:56 about threats and anxieties. 1:30:58 >> Totally. 1:30:59 >> About the world. 1:31:00 >> And it's so sad. 1:31:01 >> Yeah. 1:31:02 >> But it is how the world it's how the 1:31:04 brain works. It's not you know this is 1:31:06 another biological law. You can ignore 1:31:09 it but other companies know it and 1:31:11 they're using it against you. So you we 1:31:13 should learn the loss. 1:31:15 >> But that's so sad, man. Shouldn't we 1:31:17 change it? I mean, we're trying to 1:31:18 change it from how what what we do. 1:31:22 We're trying to teach people how to get 1:31:23 better. 1:31:24 >> Yeah. 1:31:25 >> But 1:31:27 I mean, to each their own. 1:31:28 >> Yeah. But I will say we can't change our 1:31:31 biology 1:31:33 in that way. Like 1:31:35 >> we keep thinking for 1:31:37 >> survival and threat. 1:31:38 >> We have to cuz this is an evolution. I 1:31:40 mean, this has been like 1:31:41 >> thousands of years. 1:31:42 >> Yeah. What you're we're up that's going 1:31:44 to be too hard. What you can do, though, 1:31:46 is you can cut yourself off from things. 1:31:49 Mhm. 1:31:49 >> You know, I've met many really um 1:31:54 high-powered executives that have had to 1:31:57 do some pretty serious 1:32:00 cleansing of their content because, you 1:32:04 know, and some of them, if they're 1:32:05 really in a dark place and their minds 1:32:07 are just so foggy and so busy, we have 1:32:10 to cut them off completely from the news 1:32:12 for a little while. And you know what I 1:32:14 tell them? 1:32:16 the world's gonna go to whether 1:32:17 you're looking at it or not. You're not 1:32:19 that important. Like you're not involved 1:32:21 in global news. I know you're, you know, 1:32:24 fancy CEO running a company, but like 1:32:27 >> Yeah. 1:32:28 >> You're not like deciding on what's 1:32:30 happening with the war. 1:32:31 >> Yeah. 1:32:31 >> Do you know what I mean? So instead of 1:32:34 you every single day, 15 times a day 1:32:36 checking all of the different updates 1:32:38 that are coming in and it's completely 1:32:39 fogging up your mind, it's now you can't 1:32:43 anymore. 1:32:45 At least until you re it's like 1:32:47 rehabilitation until you rehab yourself 1:32:50 back to you can hear yourself again. 1:32:53 [clears throat] 1:32:54 This is another big issue that I've 1:32:56 seen. You know, people complain. They 1:32:59 they say like they can't hear their own 1:33:01 thoughts anymore. There's no internal 1:33:04 narration. That's where all those ideas 1:33:06 are going to come from too. It's coming 1:33:09 from the inside. It's not coming from 1:33:10 the outside. Of course, you can use the 1:33:13 outside stuff to trigger some ideas, but 1:33:15 ideas are still coming from inside. 1:33:17 >> Yeah. 1:33:18 >> Yeah. 1:33:19 >> People have lost their ability to 1:33:21 [snorts] actually have internal 1:33:23 thoughts. That's so true. It's like we 1:33:26 don't have internal thinking anymore. 1:33:29 Very few people I meet these days who 1:33:31 have their original way of thinking and 1:33:34 some thoughts which there which are 1:33:36 their own. 1:33:38 >> Okay. Coming back to long form content, 1:33:40 long form brain 1:33:42 >> versus short form brain. So people who 1:33:46 are watching long form content [snorts] 1:33:49 have a sense of story and narration 1:33:52 because long form think movies think a 1:33:55 journey a long form podcast that you 1:33:57 sink into there's highs there's lows 1:33:59 you're learn you know there's there's uh 1:34:02 turns that you didn't anticipate right 1:34:04 like we didn't plan to talk about long 1:34:05 form and short form but we arrived here 1:34:08 you know it's it there's a whole journey 1:34:10 that we're on so there's a sense of 1:34:12 story and narration this is going to be 1:34:15 critical again for that creativity and 1:34:17 for something that we call 1:34:18 autobiographical planning. This is all 1:34:21 again DMN. So you're able to actually 1:34:23 activate that more and do a lot more of 1:34:25 your own internal planning. Right. 1:34:27 >> Okay. What is autobiographical planning? 1:34:29 >> Uh autobiographical planning is 1:34:32 essentially you talking about the story 1:34:34 of you and planning your future. M 1:34:38 and the one where we have to change our 1:34:41 future by thinking positive and optimism 1:34:43 and having a belief where I am the main 1:34:45 character and everything nice happens 1:34:47 with me that narration is going to come 1:34:50 through the story and narrative. 1:34:51 >> Yeah. 1:34:52 >> And that's autobiographical 1:34:54 planning. 1:34:56 >> Okay. That is literally the what we 1:34:57 talked about in the very beginning. That 1:34:59 is the definition of autobiographical 1:35:01 planning is you sit down and you think 1:35:04 you make the story and you say the story 1:35:07 of who you are going to be. 1:35:10 But think about kids these days. They 1:35:12 almost never do that 1:35:13 >> cuz they're scrolling most of the time. 1:35:15 So they're letting the outside 1:35:16 >> I know so many old people 1:35:20 >> way old 10 years older than me. They 1:35:22 don't know about their autobiographical 1:35:25 planning. They have no idea about their 1:35:27 story. 1:35:28 >> So sad. 1:35:30 >> But it's the autobiographical planning, 1:35:32 by the way, is something that happens 1:35:33 when we're bored. 1:35:35 >> That's why boredom is so important. 1:35:37 >> We have to find ways to force it. Force 1:35:40 it if you need to be bored. And by the 1:35:42 way, I'm not saying be bored for 5 hours 1:35:43 a day. No, no, no, no. 1:35:45 >> Yeah. 1:35:45 >> We got to we got to get done. 1:35:47 [laughter] 1:35:48 But but a little bit 1:35:49 >> Sundays are for boredom. Sundays every 1:35:51 morning. I my personal opinion just a 1:35:54 little bit in the morning and a little 1:35:55 bit before bed. Pretty nice if you can 1:35:58 manage it sometimes in the afternoon 1:36:00 because sometimes the afternoons people 1:36:01 have crazy ideas because they're tired. 1:36:04 >> They have a little bit of a slump and 1:36:06 when you are a little bit slumping in 1:36:08 your energy often times your inhibition 1:36:11 is lower so you come up with crazy 1:36:13 ideas. You just go let's do this. You 1:36:16 just like it's like being a little 1:36:16 drunk. You're just like why not? Let's 1:36:19 do it. Let's go after it. So, okay, long 1:36:21 form, you got story and narrative 1:36:24 because long- form content typically 1:36:27 also does a lot of work around like 1:36:30 character building, right? Like for 1:36:32 example, think of the difference between 1:36:36 your podcasts that are many hours long 1:36:38 where you actually really get to know 1:36:40 the guest 1:36:41 >> really like there's a sense of 1:36:43 personalization in in here like people 1:36:45 will learn about the person. Then you 1:36:48 actually develop empathy. 1:36:50 >> Yeah. 1:36:50 >> And by the way, there's a study for this 1:36:52 that we can link here [snorts] where uh 1:36:56 long form media like films have actually 1:36:59 been shown to increase empathy in 1:37:00 people. 1:37:02 >> Wow. 1:37:04 >> So the power of long- form media, the 1:37:06 power of movies, long- form podcasts 1:37:09 that are educational, you can actually 1:37:11 increase different things and memory. 1:37:16 You will remember long form media. 1:37:19 >> True. 1:37:21 >> Now we go to this side here. By the way, 1:37:25 in case in case someone right now is 1:37:28 watching this in a short, 1:37:30 >> okay, that's fine. I dare you for just 1:37:35 the next second, try to remember three 1:37:38 reels ago. 1:37:40 If you're scrolling right now, if you're 1:37:42 scrolling right now, I What was the 1:37:45 three reels ago? What did you see? If 1:37:48 you can't remember, I don't want you to 1:37:49 feel shame. You're not alone. I can't 1:37:51 remember either. [laughter] 1:37:53 And it's because short form scrolling is 1:37:55 designed for you to just it's just like 1:37:58 crack. You're just going to move from 1:38:00 one thing to the other. It's just full 1:38:01 novelty. So, there's no memory. So, you 1:38:04 have less memory, which by the way, 1:38:07 what's another word for memory? 1:38:09 learning. 1:38:10 >> Mhm. 1:38:11 >> People think they're like exposing 1:38:13 themselves to like new ideas and you 1:38:15 can't freaking remember it. What's your 1:38:17 It's not You're not absorbing any of it. 1:38:19 There's no me. If there's no memory, 1:38:21 there's no learning. 1:38:24 >> Here, you have an opportunity to learn. 1:38:28 By the way, not very many people know 1:38:30 this, but um when I was growing up, um a 1:38:34 lot of people think because I do so much 1:38:36 research on like screen time and 1:38:38 scrolling and technology and stuff that 1:38:39 I like never watch. 1:38:42 When I was little, 1:38:45 I watched hours of TV every day, like 1:38:49 unlimited television, no limits at all 1:38:51 from my family. 1:38:52 >> So, didn't your brain become this 1:38:54 >> mush? Yeah. 1:38:55 >> Well, we didn't have short form reals. 1:38:57 I'm a little old, you know. [laughter] 1:38:58 We didn't have there were no cell 1:39:00 phones, man. This was before that time. 1:39:02 We had old school uh you know, I even 1:39:05 the the first TV I had to go and change 1:39:07 the buttons on the on the actual 1:39:08 television. [snorts] But no, my um my 1:39:11 mom my mom and my dad uh requested that 1:39:15 I watch television so I learn English. 1:39:19 >> I was born in the United States, but my 1:39:21 family didn't speak that much English 1:39:23 because we had immigrated. They had 1:39:24 immigrated. I was born here. Um, but 1:39:26 they wanted me to learn English. So, and 1:39:28 they couldn't teach me. So, then they 1:39:30 said, "You have to sit. You have to sit 1:39:32 down. TV time." I had to sit there and I 1:39:36 had to watch. But everything is long 1:39:37 form. And listen, [snorts] 1:39:41 go look at an old TV show or an old 1:39:44 movie from 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 1:39:48 [snorts] and I want you to count how 1:39:50 many times the scene changes. 1:39:54 cuts. 1:39:56 And now compare it to something that 1:39:58 came out recently. 1:40:01 Wildly different. Our attention [snorts] 1:40:03 spans have gotten so bad. And 1:40:07 producers know this, directors know 1:40:08 this, editors know this, that the more 1:40:11 you cut things up, the more it's going 1:40:12 to capture attention. 1:40:13 >> Yeah. 1:40:14 >> This is even in shows for little kids. 1:40:17 Little kids shows are total to totally 1:40:19 different than what they used to be. 1:40:21 >> Yeah. Like I know this there's 1:40:24 now Netflix in all of their meetings 1:40:27 they they ask this one question to the 1:40:30 person who's selling them the show is 1:40:31 like is it second screen viewing or no 1:40:35 >> because Netflix wants to make all their 1:40:37 shows 1:40:38 >> based on second screen not the first 1:40:40 screen because they know they're already 1:40:42 watching like phone. So is it 1:40:45 >> is it like when someone's on their phone 1:40:47 can they still watch it and be engaged? 1:40:49 Can you actually make them stop their 1:40:51 phone and watch and then come back or 1:40:54 no? Like you don't have to make like one 1:40:58 long scene where somebody if they go to 1:41:00 their phone they forget what was 1:41:01 happening. So they have to make it like 1:41:03 super 1:41:04 >> Yeah. 1:41:04 >> super quick. 1:41:06 >> You know how depressing that is when we 1:41:09 think about how many billions of people 1:41:11 right now on this planet want to become 1:41:13 successful? 1:41:15 Listen, 1:41:17 you've started your own empire. 1:41:21 Do you talk about how hard you've had to 1:41:23 work to make that happen? How much focus 1:41:25 it requires? Dedication. 1:41:29 Nobody's taking that many off days. I 1:41:31 can tell you this. I have a business. I 1:41:34 tell people this all the time. If you 1:41:36 want off days, go get a job. 1:41:38 >> Yeah. 1:41:38 >> Because they give you time off. 1:41:39 >> True. 1:41:41 >> I run a lab. It's my heart and my soul 1:41:43 is in it. I don't I'm always thinking 1:41:45 about it. It's like my baby. Your 1:41:47 business is your baby. There's no off. 1:41:50 You don't become not a mother just 1:41:52 there's no off day. It's a It's 1:41:55 >> true. 1:41:56 >> So if we know that's what it takes to 1:41:59 succeed. 1:42:01 And we right now are letting these 1:42:04 companies 1:42:06 train our brains in such a way that it's 1:42:09 making it impossible even to watch a 1:42:11 movie and focus. 1:42:13 Think about how boring it is sometimes. 1:42:16 Sometimes, not all the time, but to run 1:42:17 a business and start a business, 1:42:19 sometimes you got to do some boring 1:42:21 It's hard, but you got to get 1:42:24 through it. Listen, I do science. Like, 1:42:26 you got to It's a slog. You got to 1:42:27 analyze data. You got to be looking at 1:42:29 stuff. You have to sit there. You have 1:42:30 to work late at night sometimes. You're 1:42:32 working hard. [gasps] 1:42:33 And it's not fun. It's not always like a 1:42:37 movie. If we are training the next 1:42:40 generation of brains in the world to be 1:42:42 so distracted 1:42:44 and so unfocused that they need two 1:42:47 script I mean this is crazy. It to me it 1:42:51 feels like mass manipulation. 1:42:54 [clears throat] 1:42:56 The world doesn't want people thinking. 1:42:58 It's easier to control people 1:43:02 if they're dumb and not thinking at all. 1:43:04 They're distracted. 1:43:06 Depressing thought. But we go back to 1:43:08 this. [snorts] Okay. So you've got short 1:43:10 form, there's story or in long form 1:43:13 there's story and narrative. Here 1:43:15 there's no memory. There's no learning. 1:43:18 Short form scrolling has also this is 1:43:21 there's data to support this increase in 1:43:23 depressive symptoms. We know people are 1:43:25 more sad. We see an increase in anxiety. 1:43:29 The more you scroll short form reals, 1:43:32 short form media, the more anxious you 1:43:35 get. Really? 1:43:37 >> Yes. 1:43:38 >> But what if I'm I'm just laughing and 1:43:41 I'm watching funny reels? 1:43:43 >> It's about the cuts. It's about how 1:43:46 short it is. Don't If you want to laugh, 1:43:49 watch a 20 minute video on YouTube. 1:43:51 That's funny. It's literally We're just 1:43:54 talking about long and short. We're not 1:43:55 even talking about the content. But 1:43:57 [snorts] that jumpy back and forth, the 1:43:59 the cuts create more, it seems, more 1:44:03 anxiety. Now you get depressive 1:44:05 symptoms, an increase in anxiety and an 1:44:08 increase in loneliness. 1:44:11 Whereas here in long form we see 1:44:13 empathy. And empathy by the way allows 1:44:15 you to connect more. 1:44:17 >> So you'd have an increase in connection 1:44:19 versus an increase in loneliness. So 1:44:22 they're like opposites of each other. 1:44:23 >> But what's happening in my brain which 1:44:25 is making me lonier if I consume short 1:44:28 form? What's the correlation? 1:44:30 >> You know, I will say this. We're not 1:44:32 100% sure, but I will give you my 1:44:34 hypothesis 1:44:36 as somebody who is studying this right 1:44:37 now. What I believe is happening in the 1:44:40 brain when like why is it that we are 1:44:44 experiencing the loneliness epidemic 1:44:46 right now? It's not just in the United 1:44:48 States. We're seeing it pretty much 1:44:50 across any part of the world 1:44:53 >> that has embraced technology. 1:44:55 >> We see this increase in loneliness. Why 1:44:58 does it make any sense? Because think 1:44:59 about it. You and I and your team, we 1:45:01 were all able to connect when we were 1:45:03 halfway across the world from each 1:45:04 other. It's pretty cool. Yeah, 1:45:06 >> technology is pretty amazing like that, 1:45:07 you know. 1:45:08 >> So, I'm not saying, oh, I'm not like 1:45:10 anti-tech like, oh, it's terrible. It's 1:45:11 pretty cool. It allows people to connect 1:45:13 from all over. It's amazing. [snorts] 1:45:16 >> But that means we're more connected. So, 1:45:18 how could it be possible that we're more 1:45:20 lonely? Well, again, let's think about 1:45:22 the craving and then the behavior and 1:45:24 that whole response loop we talked about 1:45:26 before. 1:45:28 when I am let's say for example I'm 1:45:31 seeking connection and let me begin by 1:45:34 saying one other important biological 1:45:36 law there's a biological law that's very 1:45:39 important for us to accept it's not your 1:45:42 choice human beings are pack animals 1:45:47 >> we're designed for a collective we're 1:45:49 not designed to live like lone wolves in 1:45:51 silos that means human connection is in 1:45:55 need like food or like water. You need 1:45:58 it. You'll get sick if you don't get it. 1:46:01 And that's been proven. 1:46:03 >> Yeah. Longhaul truck drivers who don't 1:46:06 get a lot of socializing. They have 1:46:09 nobody to talk to for days and weeks 1:46:11 sometimes, 1:46:12 literally their brains start to degrade. 1:46:15 They start to atrophy like they're 1:46:17 experiencing almost like accelerated 1:46:19 aging or dementia. It's so sad cuz a lot 1:46:22 of them are young guys most of the time. 1:46:25 >> [snorts] 1:46:25 >> Okay, going back to this uh when you are 1:46:29 craving 1:46:31 social connection, which is a natural 1:46:34 need, we all do it. We all need it. So, 1:46:36 we all have the craving. [snorts] You 1:46:39 have two options. Let's say you can 1:46:41 either reach out to a friend, somebody 1:46:44 you're living with, your family, you 1:46:45 know, talk to somebody, whoever is 1:46:48 nearby, pick up the phone and call 1:46:50 somebody, text some at least. You know, 1:46:52 there's like a whole from the best is 1:46:54 like in real life, real connection. 1:46:56 >> Yeah. 1:46:57 >> Live. Okay. Next best is maybe the phone 1:46:59 or something or FaceTime or something 1:47:01 like that. 1:47:02 >> Maybe a text. But if you say, "Oh, 1:47:06 I want to know what other people are 1:47:07 doing." If you get on social media, 1:47:09 listen, let's be honest, social media is 1:47:12 not social anymore, right? 1:47:15 When you open up Instagram, 1:47:18 it used to be when they first started, 1:47:20 you would see the pictures and videos 1:47:22 that your friends would post. 1:47:24 >> Yeah. 1:47:24 >> It's not like that anymore. 1:47:26 >> True. 1:47:26 >> It's other people you don't know. It's 1:47:29 other people you don't know. So, you are 1:47:32 seeking social connection and then you 1:47:34 get you go on to short form media 1:47:37 and then you start scrolling. 1:47:40 >> So, you're distracted. Sure, you're 1:47:42 distracted, but it feels kind of good in 1:47:44 the moment, doesn't it? 1:47:45 >> Yeah. Distraction feels good. So, it's 1:47:47 like eating candy when you're hungry. 1:47:50 So, you're hungry. You're hungry for 1:47:52 something real. Really? Food, but you 1:47:55 eat candy instead. What happens when you 1:47:57 eat candy when you're hungry? 1:48:00 >> In 1 hour, 1:48:02 >> you feel more hungry. 1:48:03 >> Yeah. You're you're hungry again because 1:48:04 then you never filled yourself with 1:48:06 nutrition, 1:48:07 >> with the food your body needs. So you 1:48:09 were, let's say, you were seeking social 1:48:11 connection. It's like hunger. So, but 1:48:14 instead of really seeking true 1:48:16 connection, you instead went to short 1:48:18 form media and you're scrolling. It's 1:48:20 like candy. So, you're just going to be 1:48:22 even hungrier in another hour. So, 1:48:24 you're even So, then you were maybe a 1:48:26 little lonely before. Now, you're even 1:48:28 more lonely because it's never 1:48:31 satisfying that need. It never satisfies 1:48:34 that need. My [snorts] hypothesis is 1:48:36 that what's happening in the brain is 1:48:39 there's first dopamine. 1:48:43 Dopamine is the brain's primary 1:48:46 motivation molecule. So dopamine is all 1:48:50 about motivation. 1:48:52 You have dopamine and you have you have 1:48:54 a desire for social connection. 1:48:58 [clears throat] 1:49:00 That's what you want. So you're 1:49:01 motivated towards it. So in order to get 1:49:04 this need met, what do you do? Let's say 1:49:07 you do the there's two options. Option 1:49:09 A, option B. We'll go two options here. 1:49:12 One option is you go short form, you 1:49:15 scroll. Okay, so you grab the phone 1:49:19 versus you grab a person. We they're 1:49:23 friends. There we go. 1:49:25 >> Yay. Okay, so there's two other two 1:49:29 other uh brain chemicals that I want to 1:49:31 bring into the mix here. Okay, there's 1:49:33 [snorts] something called oxytocin 1:49:36 and there's something called serotonin. 1:49:40 Okay, so you've got oxytocin and 1:49:43 serotonin. Oxytocin, if you've ever 1:49:46 heard of this, this is a hormone that's 1:49:49 the known as the bonding hormone. So 1:49:52 this is what bonds humans together. So 1:49:54 if your dopamine levels are high, so 1:49:56 meaning you're motivated for what? 1:49:58 Social connection, that means what you 1:50:00 want is oxytocin. you're you're seeking 1:50:02 it. 1:50:02 >> Okay, 1:50:02 >> this is might might be what we could say 1:50:04 this is what's satisfying it. This would 1:50:06 satisfy it. And also serotonin is 1:50:08 another neurom modulator that would that 1:50:10 makes you feel good and content. 1:50:11 >> Okay, 1:50:12 >> makes you feel content and good. 1:50:14 >> So bonding satisfaction. 1:50:15 >> Very good. Yes. 1:50:16 >> Okay. 1:50:17 >> So this is really like the science of 1:50:19 what it is that we're looking for here. 1:50:21 I'm looking for this but really like I 1:50:23 need these things in order to check this 1:50:25 box. 1:50:26 >> Okay. [snorts] If you go to short form, 1:50:29 do you think what are we bonding with? I 1:50:31 don't know. Like if I get on and I see 1:50:33 one of your reels or I see one of my 1:50:35 own, right? Where we both have short 1:50:38 form media. I'm not bonding with this 1:50:40 person. I don't even know them. 1:50:42 >> True. 1:50:42 >> So, I'm not getting any oxytocin 1:50:44 contentment. I'm not getting because I 1:50:46 already told you it increases anxiety, 1:50:48 right? And depressive symptoms. So, it's 1:50:50 leaving the person more sad. So, while 1:50:52 they're doing it, they don't notice 1:50:54 because while you're eating the candy, 1:50:56 come on, man. It tastes good. 1:50:57 >> Yeah, [laughter] 1:50:58 >> we all think it tastes good. It's 1:51:00 delicious. But afterwards is when you 1:51:02 feel bad. It's afterwards where you're 1:51:04 like, "Oh my god, I ate too much and I 1:51:06 now I feel like crap. It is It wasn't 1:51:09 nutritious." 1:51:10 Now, if you actually seek real social 1:51:12 connection, then you get the oxytocin. 1:51:14 You get the serotonin. So, you actually 1:51:15 get to check the box. So, you had the 1:51:17 dopamine, you were motivated, you sought 1:51:19 social connection, you got social 1:51:20 connection. Good. 1:51:22 >> But that doesn't happen. 1:51:24 >> Not if you go this way. 1:51:26 If you're if let's say for example 1:51:28 dopamine goes high cuz you're hungry or 1:51:31 you're thirsty. Like right now you and I 1:51:32 have water. I go I I am thirsty. So I 1:51:35 have this need. 1:51:37 Dopamine goes up. That's motivation. 1:51:39 Motivation so I can recruit 1:51:43 my motor cortex and everything else to 1:51:44 go and grab the water to drink from it. 1:51:49 If I drink from it, then I satisfy the 1:51:51 need. 1:51:52 >> I got a little bit of hydration, so I 1:51:54 feel better. Now, if I had the same 1:51:57 loop, but I never get the water. I I 1:52:00 don't know, 1:52:01 go eat a cracker or something like this, 1:52:05 then I might feel even worse than when I 1:52:07 started. 1:52:09 >> Yeah. The need's never satisfied. 1:52:11 >> Well, this is how we look when we 1:52:15 >> Oh, [laughter] yeah. I did. I told you 1:52:17 before. I've I've always had a sweet 1:52:19 tooth. So listen, I no shame in the 1:52:22 game. I've always loved sweets. 1:52:24 >> Yeah. So this is this is how we look 1:52:26 when we are going for this candy. So 1:52:28 this is what's happening. 1:52:29 >> Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] Pretty much. I 1:52:33 hope that you know I I I tell my 1:52:35 students this all the time that um I'm 1:52:38 passionate about a lot of this stuff 1:52:40 because I'm not better than anybody 1:52:42 else. I struggle with it myself. I've 1:52:45 been addicted to scroll. I've struggled 1:52:47 with addiction to many different things 1:52:49 in my life. 1:52:50 >> Mhm. 1:52:50 >> Many things in my life. I've had to 1:52:52 break addictions. 1:52:55 I'm not above this. I studied this 1:52:58 stuff. All of this stuff. I even studied 1:53:01 addiction and I still became addicted. 1:53:04 Like nothing can prevent this. Like you 1:53:07 just need the awareness, the discipline, 1:53:09 the desire for better. You have to just 1:53:12 do the hard work, right? It's and 1:53:14 listen, maybe it's like the the question 1:53:16 you asked before about the billionaire's 1:53:18 brain. It's like, are they just born 1:53:19 different? Maybe some some people are 1:53:21 probably lucky enough where they don't 1:53:23 have a lot of this addiction stuff, you 1:53:24 know? I was not one of those people. I 1:53:27 love chocolate. I love sweets. I would 1:53:30 eat dessert all day if I could. So, I 1:53:32 have to create systems in my life in 1:53:34 order to create balance. It doesn't come 1:53:36 naturally. 1:53:38 You have to be systems minded, aware, 1:53:41 systems minded. You got to have the 1:53:42 discipline. Um, I think that's the only 1:53:44 way around it. 1:53:45 >> So, we're going to do, what are we going 1:53:46 to do? I'm going to show you a city map. 1:53:49 >> Okay. 1:53:49 >> Okay. Explain me how my brain works as 1:53:53 if it was a city. 1:53:54 >> So nice looking, huh? 1:53:56 >> Okay. All right. 1:54:00 Where shall I begin for you? [snorts] 1:54:02 So, not that this is what the brain 1:54:04 actually looks like, right? It's not 1:54:06 perfectly accurate in terms of 1:54:08 locations, but I what I think is really 1:54:10 beautiful about this particular setup 1:54:12 you have here is [snorts] you have so 1:54:15 many of the different brain areas and 1:54:17 the neural networks that I think are the 1:54:19 most important for performance. They're 1:54:22 the most relevant. You know what I mean? 1:54:23 We don't nobody not every single person 1:54:25 needs to go get a PhD in neuroscience. 1:54:27 You know what I mean? This is like tell 1:54:28 me the stuff I need to know. 1:54:30 >> Yeah. The meaty stuff. 1:54:31 >> The meaty stuff. Yeah. Okay. So, let's 1:54:34 use actually an example because we're 1:54:36 here to learn about getting done 1:54:38 and being productive. I have a goal. I 1:54:40 want to meet my goals, right? How do I 1:54:43 do that? 1:54:43 >> Yeah. How do I become this person who 1:54:45 ends up achieving all the goals? 1:54:47 >> Yes. Yes. Okay. 1:54:50 Let's say what does that look like for 1:54:52 you by the way? But you want to achieve 1:54:54 your goals. A lot of it is like stuff on 1:54:56 the computer. Yeah. Right. You sit down 1:54:57 and you're reading, you're writing, 1:54:59 >> researching, coming up with questions, 1:55:01 thinking a lot. Yeah. 1:55:03 >> Beautiful. And it's on the computer, 1:55:05 right? In your office 1:55:06 >> or wherever somewhere. Okay. [snorts] 1:55:09 >> So, in order for that to happen, a few 1:55:12 things. 1:55:13 >> One, 1:55:15 the default mode network that we talked 1:55:16 about before here called beautifully 1:55:19 story studios, right? It's where all the 1:55:22 stories are made. This is the story 1:55:23 making machine. 1:55:24 >> So, the story about myself that hey, I 1:55:26 want to be this podcaster and this and 1:55:28 that. It's here. 1:55:30 >> Beautiful. Yes. and how you're going to 1:55:32 get there too. Like it's going to 1:55:33 happen. I need to do research blah blah 1:55:34 blah. So this story network is sending 1:55:38 information and that information is 1:55:40 going into city hall. 1:55:43 This is your CEN, your central executive 1:55:46 network, the CEO, the very front section 1:55:48 of the brain. And this is going, okay, 1:55:50 Raj wants to be the number one podcast 1:55:53 in the world. Okay, you want to build 1:55:55 that. That's what we're that's the goal. 1:55:57 That's what we're going towards. Then 1:55:59 your CEN, this sort of frontal parietal 1:56:02 area that's going to be focused on how 1:56:04 you do that goal achievement, goal 1:56:06 directed attention, it's going to try to 1:56:09 quiet everything else down and just stay 1:56:11 focused on whatever it is you're doing. 1:56:12 So let's say you're doing research. So 1:56:13 you're on your computer and you're doing 1:56:15 research on it on the next thing, right? 1:56:17 [snorts] 1:56:18 You have meaning. This is where the 1:56:20 meaning is coming from. Why? Why am I 1:56:22 doing it? It's coming from the story. 1:56:24 Then you have city hall that the CEO 1:56:27 that's actually going towards the thing 1:56:28 making it happen. Okay. Then you have a 1:56:32 really important place here. It's 1:56:33 another neural network. It's not just a 1:56:35 place. It's a network. The dorsal 1:56:37 attention network. The DN. 1:56:40 The DN is like the watchtowwer 1:56:44 looking. 1:56:45 >> I don't know if you've seen Lord of the 1:56:46 Rings. 1:56:47 >> No. 1:56:47 >> No. It's the Eye of Sauron. Okay. For 1:56:50 those that have seen it, [snorts] 1:56:52 >> this is the Watchtower. The DN is 1:56:54 looking look and it's pointing a 1:56:56 spotlight, you know. So, it's like a 1:56:58 like a flashlight or a spotlight of your 1:57:00 attention on whatever it is that it 1:57:03 needs to focus on. Whatever it is that 1:57:06 and this is the tricky part. It says it 1:57:07 needs to focus on. Who's telling it 1:57:12 where to shine the light? 1:57:14 >> The city hall. 1:57:15 >> Sure. The city hall can do that. You 1:57:17 know who else might [snorts] in the 1:57:19 middle? Not this one necessarily. the 1:57:22 alarm tower. If there's an emergency and 1:57:26 this one says, "Hey, oh my god, panic," 1:57:28 then the DN will say, "Raj, stop 1:57:31 focusing on your Google doc. We have 1:57:33 there's emergencies happening. Go look 1:57:35 at this." Or, for example, the dispatch 1:57:38 center 1:57:39 salance network. This is like emergency 1:57:42 calls, your satellite system. 1:57:44 Something's happening. I don't know what 1:57:46 it is. Maybe it's not an emergency. 1:57:48 Maybe it's not an alarm. That's your 1:57:50 amydala. It's a walnut- sized area deep 1:57:52 inside of the center of the brain. And 1:57:54 that brain area is the brain's alarm 1:57:56 system 1:57:58 every time there's some sort of 1:58:00 emergency. Okay, so that's [snorts] the 1:58:01 alarm tower. You've got this amazing 1:58:06 team. 1:58:08 >> Okay, that is either going to help you 1:58:10 meet your goals or it's going to make it 1:58:13 potentially more difficult. But it 1:58:14 depends on how you set yourself up for 1:58:16 success. So going back to the example, 1:58:19 you sit down and you have a goal. 1:58:21 >> H 1:58:21 >> you have that's your meaning. 1:58:22 >> Okay, 1:58:23 >> your CEO, your CEN, but it's your CEO. 1:58:26 Let's say that's going to start 1:58:28 focusing. 1:58:29 >> Okay. 1:58:29 >> Okay. Your DN says, "Got it. No problem. 1:58:32 Let's focus on the computer. Let's focus 1:58:34 on the research." So your DA, the 1:58:36 watchtowwer goes, it's focusing on the 1:58:38 work. 1:58:40 As long as you keep focusing and as long 1:58:43 as nothing distracts you or interrupts 1:58:46 you, then maybe as long as you can, you 1:58:49 will keep focusing. 1:58:50 >> This is my tension. 1:58:52 >> Yeah. But what's the usual setup? 1:58:55 Remember when we talked about your phone 1:58:56 and where you keep it? 1:58:57 >> It's like 1:58:58 >> here 1:58:58 >> there's one notification, another there 1:59:00 are five tabs opening, two people 1:59:02 talking, and then I have to be 1:59:03 everywhere and then I have to message 1:59:06 >> probably scroll a little in between. 1:59:08 That's what always happens. So now 1:59:10 you've got every time the notification 1:59:12 comes in, salance network goes, "Hey, 1:59:15 look over here. What's over there? Oh, 1:59:18 what's that?" And then when 911, this 1:59:21 dispatch center, the salance network 1:59:23 says, "Look over here." The watchtowwer 1:59:25 goes, "What do you want me to look at?" 1:59:27 So it looks at something else. So this 1:59:30 area, the salance network is what is the 1:59:34 external essentially distraction. It is 1:59:37 it is telling you where to orient your 1:59:39 attention. 1:59:41 >> So that's why you need to keep your 1:59:42 digital hygiene clean. You need to have 1:59:46 good digital hygiene when you're sitting 1:59:47 down to work. Otherwise, you're setting 1:59:49 yourself up for failure instead of 1:59:50 success. 1:59:51 >> So to shut this down, 1:59:53 >> you have to shut that down. Well, it's 1:59:54 not shut it down. You can't shut it 1:59:56 down. It's there to keep you alive. You 1:59:59 [snorts] have to clean your environment 2:00:02 and control your environment 2:00:05 so that you set this whole system up for 2:00:07 success. This is you can't shut this 2:00:09 down. 2:00:10 >> The brain is going to do its thing. 2:00:12 These are the biological laws. Remember 2:00:14 like gravity, you can't fight this 2:00:16 thing. This is the brain. 2:00:17 >> Okay. But then I want to clean my 2:00:18 environment in a way so that it it 2:00:20 doesn't get triggered. 2:00:22 >> Yeah. 2:00:23 >> Okay. 2:00:23 >> Think about, you know, um a lot of 2:00:25 people have young kids, right? Imagine 2:00:27 if you have a kid and they get go to 2:00:29 school and then they come back with a 2:00:31 bad grade and they really studied hard, 2:00:34 you know, and then they're like so sad 2:00:36 about it. You find out that the teacher 2:00:40 let them all be on their phones talk. 2:00:42 There was like a party. They're playing 2:00:43 music. Like all these things were 2:00:45 happening. People were chitchatting with 2:00:47 each other. People were coming in and 2:00:48 out while they were sitting down and 2:00:50 taking their exam. 2:00:52 All the parents would go crazy. They 2:00:54 would be like, "This is not fair. this 2:00:56 is not how you run a classroom. This is 2:00:58 not how you give an exam. And then they 2:00:59 would pretty much, you know, 2:01:01 >> say like we demand a redo. You have to 2:01:04 redo it. 2:01:06 But how do you sit down and work? 2:01:10 You're a leader like I am. I run a team, 2:01:12 right? When our teams sit down to 2:01:14 actually get work done, how what's their 2:01:16 environment like? Is it built for focus 2:01:19 or is it built for distraction? 2:01:22 So this is this is all of these amazing 2:01:25 different brain areas are there to keep 2:01:27 you alive. They're there for a purpose 2:01:29 for sure. 2:01:30 >> But what are these two? 2:01:32 >> Oh, 2:01:32 >> hippocampus. It's library and archive. 2:01:35 >> This is just your memories. And your 2:01:38 memories by the way are very very close 2:01:39 typically to the amydala. So your 2:01:41 hippocampus and the amydala are rather 2:01:42 close. This [snorts] is an important 2:01:46 I would say maybe an important note. 2:01:49 [snorts] 2:01:49 Your amygdala is the seat of a lot of 2:01:52 fear, right? Fear and anxiety, negative 2:01:56 affect. 2:01:58 Your hippocampus is the seat of a great 2:02:01 deal of memory. 2:02:03 Things that are negative and scary are 2:02:07 more memorable. 2:02:10 So, and this is actually true 2:02:12 technically for all emotion. If you can 2:02:15 heighten your emotions, you will 2:02:17 remember the situation better. If you 2:02:20 can increase, for example, even your 2:02:22 anxiety about whether you'll forget it 2:02:25 or not. If you're afraid of forgetting 2:02:28 something, you're less likely to forget. 2:02:33 >> So, how do I improve my memory then of 2:02:36 the positive things? M in general 2:02:40 improving your memory and this is 2:02:43 actually a a I think kind of a fun fact 2:02:46 that's a little bit um counterintuitive. 2:02:50 >> If you want to strengthen your memory, 2:02:52 open the aperture of your attention if 2:02:55 you you can only remember what you're 2:02:58 attending to, 2:03:00 right? You can't remember something that 2:03:02 you weren't paying attention to. 2:03:03 >> Yeah. So if you can heighten and sharpen 2:03:06 your focus and your attention, 2:03:09 then your memory will get better. 2:03:12 It's like the funnel, right? The 2:03:14 attention is what you're paying 2:03:16 attention to. All the stuff that's 2:03:17 getting in. So if you want more stuff to 2:03:19 get in, 2:03:21 focus on your attention if you want to 2:03:23 remember more stuff, right? 2:03:24 >> Things h you have to come in in order to 2:03:26 go down into memory. 2:03:28 >> Yeah. But 2:03:30 >> that's pretty much the end of the brain 2:03:31 city map. One thing that I keep failing 2:03:35 at is waking up super early. And I've 2:03:38 tried so many times. Some like I I've 2:03:42 somehow 2:03:48 what do you [clears throat] say? Somehow 2:03:49 trained myself to get up at like 7:30 2:03:53 8:00 a.m. But I'm still not able to do 2:03:55 the 5:00 a.m. club. Like I've tried 2:03:58 really hard. Why do you want to do the 5 2:04:01 a.m. club? 2:04:02 >> Is it like you become better, your 2:04:03 energy gets better, you focus better, 2:04:05 all of a sudden your life turns around. 2:04:07 This whole hype around 5:00 a.m. club, 2:04:10 early to rise, early to bed, all that. 2:04:13 Isn't it like that? 2:04:14 >> It's 2:04:16 For some people, yeah, for some people, 2:04:19 but not for everybody. 2:04:22 The most important is the foundation, 2:04:24 the principle, the biological law and 2:04:26 the principle is that you need to be 2:04:28 getting enough high quality sleep. 2:04:31 Shoot for 7 hours minimum. 2:04:34 That should be the goal. So if you're 2:04:36 getting enough sleep, that's the most 2:04:38 important. This is the foundation. 2:04:41 Doesn't really matter what time you wake 2:04:42 up, right? this myth uh this is truly 2:04:47 like people get off on this idea that um 2:04:50 you know we have the saying the early 2:04:52 bird gets the worm right 2:04:55 we have all of these sayings because 2:04:57 waking up late and staying up late has 2:04:59 been historically associated with being 2:05:01 lazy with sloth doesn't have to be that 2:05:03 way I'm actually really proud of so many 2:05:06 I would say modern-day leaders that are 2:05:09 actually coming out of the closet 2:05:11 of being night owls of being PM shifted 2:05:14 Um, Sundar, [snorts] the CEO of Google, 2:05:16 has come out and and admitted that he 2:05:18 does some of his best thinking at like 2:05:19 10:00 p.m. 2:05:20 >> I didn't know what did he say 2:05:22 >> that he does his best thinking at like 2:05:24 late at night and some days he like, you 2:05:26 know, after like dinner, blah blah blah, 2:05:27 he like likes to really like that's his 2:05:30 sometimes his really high quality focus 2:05:31 time. That's like that's some of the 2:05:34 because he's PM shifted. Mhm. 2:05:36 >> Now, I know that we gave you 2:05:39 >> to do it, 2:05:39 >> a biological chronotype assessment as 2:05:41 well, but I [snorts] want to first talk 2:05:43 about chronotypes in general. So, this 2:05:46 whole idea of being in the 5 a.m. club 2:05:49 and all of this stuff, this comes from 2:05:50 society and it's honestly BS. We don't 2:05:54 need it. 2:05:54 >> Why do you call it 5 a.m. club porn? 2:05:56 Like 5 a.m. pawn? What is [snorts] 2:05:58 >> it's okay? There's this there's this 2:06:01 whole 2:06:03 I don't even know what to call it. 2:06:04 There's like it's like a club of people, 2:06:06 okay, that believe that and they they 2:06:09 love doing this as a habit. And you know 2:06:11 what? Listen, if it works for you, do 2:06:13 it. I think it's great. I know lots of 2:06:15 people that wake up at 5:00 in the 2:06:16 morning. And listen, I'm not getting up 2:06:18 super late either. I think it's great, 2:06:20 but the most important thing is to 2:06:22 listen to your body. I call it 5 a.m. 2:06:25 club porn because there's so many blogs 2:06:27 and books and other podcasts, tweets. Uh 2:06:31 you see all of these different like just 2:06:33 articles and all of this content about 2:06:36 people. It's like if you want to be the 2:06:38 most successful version of yourself, you 2:06:40 need to wake up at 4:30 in the morning 2:06:42 and then you need to do 25 push-ups and 2:06:45 then you need to drink a tall glass of 2:06:46 lemon water with cayenne in it and then 2:06:48 you need to do a cold plunge and then 2:06:50 you need to do this and then you need to 2:06:52 what a sauna then this and that and it's 2:06:54 like oh my god what are we doing? Like 2:06:57 if listen, if you are not getting at 2:07:00 least 7 hours of high quality sleep, 2:07:02 what's the point of you waking up at 5, 2:07:05 right? Because of this like idea that 2:07:07 we're all like addicted to that like see 2:07:09 it's like I call it porn because it 2:07:11 seems like such a great idea, but it's 2:07:13 not. It's only a good idea like if 2:07:16 you've got all the other things like 2:07:17 lined up truly like it's this thing that 2:07:20 people are obsessed with. So, they're 2:07:21 talking about it and writing about it, 2:07:22 and it's like, look, this one CEO woke 2:07:25 up at 5:00 and he does all this 2:07:26 before 7:00 a.m. and that's why he's 2:07:28 successful. And it's just not true. 2:07:31 That's not why he's successful. It's one 2:07:33 of his strategies. But some other CEOs 2:07:36 do some of their best work from 8:00 2:07:38 p.m. to midnight. It doesn't matter 2:07:40 which time it is. It matters which time 2:07:44 it is for you. And each person is a 2:07:47 little bit different. 2:07:49 >> [snorts] 2:07:49 >> In 2017, the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2:07:54 went to three researchers who discovered 2:07:56 that human beings do not share one 2:08:00 circadian rhythm. 2:08:04 So, circadian rhythms are the biological 2:08:06 sort of clock that we have that that 2:08:08 that tells us when that we have high 2:08:10 energy, low energy, so on and so forth. 2:08:12 Peaks and troughs of energy throughout 2:08:14 the course of the day. 2:08:17 We thought that all humans generally 2:08:20 speaking, we wake up with the sun, 2:08:21 right? 2:08:22 >> Yeah. And 2:08:23 >> creatures of light, we wake up with the 2:08:25 sun and we go to bed at night. 2:08:26 >> Yeah. 2:08:28 >> Story is a little more complicated. 2:08:30 Welcome science to science, right? It's 2:08:32 like a little more complicated than we 2:08:33 thought. In 2017, the Nobel Prize in 2:08:37 medicine went to these three researchers 2:08:38 who discovered we don't share one 2:08:40 circadian rhythm. We at least have three 2:08:42 genetic what are called chronotypes. 2:08:46 Now your chronotype 2:08:48 is the your genetic optimum of when you 2:08:51 feel the most energized when you feel 2:08:53 the most uh motivated. It's even for 2:08:56 physical f fitness it makes a big 2:08:58 difference. Ideal times you should wake 2:09:00 up go to sleep so on and so forth. Okay. 2:09:03 Now the three major chronotypes 2:09:05 are am shifted 2:09:08 which are the folks that wake up 2:09:10 naturally hormonally pretty early in the 2:09:12 morning. [snorts] bifphasic 2:09:16 which is in the middle it stands for the 2:09:17 Latin two phases or two peaks 2:09:19 >> okay 2:09:20 >> and the third PM shifted 2:09:24 the AM shifted people they linearly 2:09:27 decrease in energy over the course of 2:09:29 the day 2:09:30 >> now these individuals usually by even 2:09:34 early evening are struggling a little 2:09:36 bit right and their bodies will 2:09:37 naturally wake them up how do you know 2:09:39 your AM shifted versus the second type 2:09:41 by phasic 2:09:43 if you wake up super early in the 2:09:46 morning. No matter what, even if you go 2:09:47 to bed late, your body will wake you up. 2:09:49 Can you imagine? Like, you go to bed at 2:09:50 like 2 3:00 in the morning. For some 2:09:54 people, it doesn't matter. Their body's 2:09:55 going to wake them up at 5:00. 2:09:57 >> I know. You're like, "Not me." No, 2:10:00 [snorts] 2:10:00 >> I can sleep at 10:00 and still not wake 2:10:02 up at [laughter] 5. 2:10:04 >> Good for you. Wow. Really? You're a good 2:10:06 You can You can do that. 2:10:07 >> Yeah. Yeah, I can sleep very long. As 2:10:08 long as Alam doesn't hit it, I I don't 2:10:10 get up. Rarely, I get up. That's a 2:10:13 blessing. Congratulate. Seriously. 2:10:15 >> Yeah. Either I can't sleep or if I sleep 2:10:18 then 2:10:19 >> you're sleeping. 2:10:20 >> It's such a It's a gift by the way. It's 2:10:22 such a blessing. It truly I sometimes 2:10:27 I'm like I have to I have systems for it 2:10:30 >> but I am PM shifted which means 2:10:33 naturally I could if left to my own 2:10:36 devices I would be up until like 2 3:00 2:10:38 in the morning. 2:10:38 >> Mhm. 2:10:39 >> Easily. 2:10:40 >> Same. like by 4 I'm like now I'm ready 2:10:43 maybe to go to bed. 2:10:44 >> Yeah, 2:10:45 >> but this is not functional. [laughter] 2:10:47 If I'm going to bed at 4, then I 2:10:50 probably wouldn't wake up and I have 2:10:51 like blackout curtains and an eye mask 2:10:53 and all of this stuff to help keep me 2:10:54 asleep and then I'm not waking up until 2:10:56 way late in the morning. And you know, 2:10:57 you get this. You run a business. I run 2:10:59 a business. Like this is not possible. 2:11:00 Okay, [snorts] so I got to get up. So 2:11:03 that means I have to create systems. So 2:11:04 I go to bed usually around like 11:00 by 2:11:07 midnight. I'm asleep. This is my 2:11:10 >> Okay. That's good. That's not bad. 2:11:12 >> No. And you can do that. So, I'm telling 2:11:14 you genetically, biologically, my body 2:11:17 wants to go to bed in the 2 to 4 a.m. 2:11:19 range. I'm able to shift it back at 2:11:21 least 3 hours through behavioral 2:11:24 adjustments. Those behavioral 2:11:26 adjustments I can outline with you 2:11:27 because 2:11:29 Do you want to share your results? 2:11:30 >> Yeah. So, you gave me this whole uh 2:11:35 questionnaire to fill. 2:11:36 >> Mhm. to find out can we do something 2:11:39 like so I filled that question and it 2:11:41 took me like 3 4 minutes it didn't take 2:11:42 me long can we do that for people as 2:11:45 well can you give me some link so that a 2:11:47 lot of people who want to find out what 2:11:50 are they what's their natural type of 2:11:53 sleeping and waking up and what is the 2:11:55 hour where they feel the most energetic 2:11:59 versus when they feel really sloppy if 2:12:02 they want to find out can we have some 2:12:03 link of this this test to something 2:12:05 >> yes yeah we our lab has um it's it's 2:12:08 www.mmyronotype.com 2:12:11 and we can absolutely give give folks 2:12:13 access to it so they don't have to pay 2:12:15 for it but to get the assessment done 2:12:17 the same assessment you did. 2:12:18 >> Perfect. Done. So we're going to we're 2:12:20 going to go through my results. 2:12:22 >> Okay. 2:12:22 >> And then we'll put out a link in the 2:12:24 description for anyone who wants to 2:12:26 actually go test it. 2:12:27 >> Okay. So this is what the report was. 2:12:30 >> Yes. Let's look at it. So here's an 2:12:33 outline first of just the three types, 2:12:35 right? the three different types we 2:12:37 talked about AM shifted bifphasic and PM 2:12:39 shifted and anybody else who's watching 2:12:41 if you also take the assessment you're 2:12:43 going to get a report as well a PDF 2:12:45 report that's going to go over all of 2:12:46 this information so these are the three 2:12:48 main chronotypes now as you can see here 2:12:50 in the center we have population 2:12:52 distributions the population [snorts] 2:12:53 distribution here shows that the 2:12:56 majority of people in the world are 2:12:58 bifphasic 2:13:00 >> even they are not like 5 a.m. type 2:13:02 >> no [laughter] so that's why I say it's 2:13:03 stupid this 5 a.m. club for everybody 2:13:06 like, "Oh, if you want to be the most 2:13:07 successful version of yourself, you got 2:13:08 to wake up at 5." No, you 2:13:10 don't. No, you don't. This is great for 2:13:12 like a quarter of the human population 2:13:14 that naturally they prefer to go to bed 2:13:16 early and wake up early. Amazing. If 2:13:18 that's you, enjoy. 2:13:20 >> Brilliant. Yeah. 2:13:20 >> Brilliant. Good for you. 2:13:22 >> Don't force that on me. 2:13:23 >> Yeah. Go work in finance. Everybody's 2:13:25 waking up at 5. Great. Awesome. 2:13:26 [laughter] 2:13:27 Awesome. [snorts] 2:13:28 The majority of the human population is 2:13:30 bifphasic. Also research from my lab 2:13:32 shows by the way PM shifted is actually 2:13:34 closer to 10% of the human population. 2:13:37 So super minority. So the bifphasic 2:13:39 energy curve bifphasic stands for the 2:13:41 Latin two phases or two peaks. So that 2:13:45 means these individuals have a midm 2:13:47 morning peak. So not first thing in the 2:13:49 morning. So they need like 45 minutes 2:13:51 maybe an hour to kind of ramp up. but 2:13:53 they're going to peak in their cortisol 2:13:55 levels, their epinephrine, all of this 2:13:56 amazing hormones that keep you focused 2:13:58 and alert and awake and excited. They're 2:14:01 going to get there. Give it an hour. So, 2:14:03 if you wake up in the morning and you're 2:14:05 like, "Okay, but then within 45 minutes 2:14:09 you're like, I feel amazing, 2:14:11 >> but in an hour you feel amazing, 2:14:13 probably you're bifphasic." 2:14:14 >> Okay, 2:14:15 >> now these individuals, that's their 2:14:17 first peak in the morning. second and 2:14:19 then they come down for an super 2:14:22 afternoon dip. Super afternoon dip. Like 2:14:25 they're crashing. They're these folks 2:14:27 crash harder than anybody else. So they 2:14:29 could really take a nap, you know, in 2:14:31 the middle of the day. But if they 2:14:34 listen to their body, maybe they take a 2:14:36 break, maybe they do a workout, maybe 2:14:37 they do some other stuff, they take a 2:14:39 little bit of a break. After that, they 2:14:41 get a second wind 2:14:44 of 2:14:44 >> focus again. 2:14:45 >> Yeah. A second peak. So sometimes it's 2:14:48 early evening, sometimes it's later 2:14:49 evening, sometimes it's late afternoon. 2:14:51 You know, it really depends when you 2:14:52 wake up. But you will have another peak 2:14:55 if you're bifphasic, if you play your 2:14:56 cards right, you this is what I mean by 2:14:59 leverage your biology 2:15:01 >> because these people if they don't take 2:15:03 a proper break midday and they don't 2:15:05 listen to their body, that second peak 2:15:07 will be less peaky. They won't take 2:15:09 advantage of it. 2:15:10 >> Got it? 2:15:11 >> So this whole 9 to5, it doesn't really 2:15:14 serve. It's not the way this is 2:15:16 designed. You should be you should learn 2:15:19 what your chronoype is so you can take 2:15:20 advantage of your peak performance 2:15:22 hours. 2 to three hours every single day 2:15:25 your brain is at its best. 2:15:26 >> Is it you know [clears throat] what I 2:15:28 know somebody I'm not allowed to take 2:15:30 their names but super [snorts] 2:15:32 successful multi-billionaire lives on an 2:15:34 island bunch of things right? 2:15:37 He did some tests with his performance 2:15:40 coaches and all over all all those 2:15:42 things right and he says that he sleeps 2:15:45 4 hours then functions then sleep 4 2:15:48 hours he doesn't sleep at he doesn't 2:15:50 sleep like 8 hours a stretch will he 2:15:52 come in by phasic 2:15:54 >> no that's that's an old school tactic 2:15:57 called like split sleep listen it's hard 2:16:00 on the brain and the body that's not how 2:16:02 our brains and our bodies are designed 2:16:05 Matthew Walker who's also at UC Berkeley 2:16:07 one of the world's most, you know, 2:16:09 renowned sleep psychologists in his 2:16:12 book, all of his research. Yeah, exact, 2:16:14 you know, it y [snorts] 2:16:16 >> literally it spells out, all of the 2:16:18 sleep research spells out pretty clearly 2:16:21 that we need 2:16:23 sustained contiguous hours of sleep. You 2:16:26 even get some higher quality benefits if 2:16:28 you go to bed before midnight. 2:16:30 Not really sure why. Kind of sucks for 2:16:33 the PM shifted people, [snorts] 2:16:35 but it is what it is. So science would 2:16:38 definitely disagree with that strategy 2:16:40 for sure. Now, if it's working for 2:16:42 performance, you know, fine, but it's 2:16:45 it's not going to work for his health. 2:16:47 >> It's going to be a sacrifice. You know, 2:16:48 it would be like I've also met people 2:16:50 that drink like five cups of coffee a 2:16:51 day and they're just like, okay, but 2:16:53 you're doing something not so great for 2:16:55 yourself long at some point there will 2:16:56 be consequences. 2:16:58 >> Yeah. Oh, [snorts] 2:16:59 >> good. So okay you've got bifphasic 2:17:01 people as mentioned majority of the 2:17:02 human population and then you have the 2:17:05 tired the lonely the few now really 10 2:17:10 to 15% of the human population is PM 2:17:14 shifted PM shifted people prefer to go 2:17:17 to bed later and wake up later 2:17:19 biologically 2:17:21 >> that's me 2:17:23 >> it is you you are PM shifted it is your 2:17:26 chronotype we were able to actually test 2:17:28 this and see that your chronoype is PM 2:17:32 shifted. Now, every chronoype has a 2:17:35 peak, a dip, and a recovery period. 2:17:37 Okay. Now, for a PM shifted person, and 2:17:40 maybe for this so that you can see it 2:17:42 too, we do it this way. [snorts] Okay. 2:17:45 So, for a PM shifted person, 2:17:47 >> all right, if we take the hours, let's 2:17:49 say, of like 9:00 a.m. to to to 1:00 2:17:51 a.m. that you see here on the x-axis, 2:17:54 you've got creative work ideally being 2:17:57 done 2:17:59 in the morning. 2:18:02 This might be when you have some of your 2:18:03 best ideas. Why? Because you're probably 2:18:06 a little tired of the mornings, aren't 2:18:07 you? 2:18:08 >> Yeah, I'm very tired in the morning. 2:18:09 Because when you're tired, you're more 2:18:11 likely to allow yourself to activate 2:18:14 that DMN and be bored. You can just kind 2:18:17 of sit back, give yourself a few 2:18:19 minutes, let your mind wander, journal a 2:18:20 little bit, brainstorm, just expose 2:18:23 yourself to like really interesting, 2:18:25 good content, and see what comes up, see 2:18:27 what ideas you might have. When we are a 2:18:29 little bit lower in energy levels, 2:18:32 you're less inhibited. 2:18:34 So, you're going to come up with a few 2:18:36 more ideas. 2:18:37 So, I should do my reading and like just 2:18:39 thinking work during this time. 2:18:42 >> You could experiment with it. At least 2:18:44 try it. 2:18:46 It's [snorts] possible you've already 2:18:47 trained yourself enough to like be able 2:18:49 to still get a lot of really like to 2:18:51 activate that central executive network, 2:18:53 that CEN to get stuff done really early 2:18:56 in the morning. But probably, and you'll 2:18:59 tell me if this is true, that you likely 2:19:02 hit your 2:19:05 peak 2:19:07 >> in the evening for sure. 2:19:08 >> Yeah. 2:19:09 >> That means I'm like, "Go, go, go, go 2:19:12 during the night." 2:19:14 >> Really? 2:19:14 >> Yeah. 2:19:15 >> That's when you should be doing your 2:19:16 focused work. You got to get done. 2:19:18 You got to be doing that stuff at night. 2:19:20 That evening range is when people, and 2:19:23 by the way, I'm PM shifted, too. Women 2:19:25 who are PM shifted are even more the 2:19:27 minority of the human population. 2:19:29 There's very few of us. So, but PM 2:19:31 shifted in general, we're both 2:19:32 minorities in the human population. So, 2:19:35 this is we need to be taking advantage 2:19:37 of this time. And listen, not every day 2:19:39 because I don't know about you, but if I 2:19:40 stay up super late working, it's going 2:19:42 to ruin my work day and all of this 2:19:43 stuff. I have stuff to do during the 2:19:45 day. I have meetings sometimes at 8:00 2:19:46 in the morning. So, like I can't do this 2:19:48 often, but sometimes I give myself the 2:19:51 gift of allowing myself to work in the 2:19:54 evenings and then when I have time to 2:19:56 sleep in the next day, it works really 2:19:59 well. I can take advantage of it and get 2:20:01 more done. So, [snorts] that's what I 2:20:03 recommend people do is really um 2:20:05 >> and what do I do in the dip? 2:20:07 >> Oh, administrative work. Stuff that is 2:20:09 less important for you. We all have 2:20:12 administrative work. Even if you 2:20:14 outsource most of it, we still have some 2:20:16 administrative work like less important 2:20:18 work 2:20:18 >> like checking emails and 2:20:20 >> Yeah. Take your calls then. 2:20:22 >> Send message then. 2:20:23 >> Yeah. Send all the messages, take your 2:20:25 calls then and get that stuff done. You 2:20:26 have some shopping to do, do it then. 2:20:29 Get a workout in. If you work out here 2:20:32 during your dip, your peak will be even 2:20:35 pickier. You're going to feel amazing. 2:20:38 >> So many people wait until after work to 2:20:40 go work out. 2:20:41 >> Yeah. 2:20:41 >> I do it in the morning. That's great. 2:20:44 Especially for a PM shifted person. I 2:20:46 have recommended to a lot of um CEOs 2:20:49 that uh are A.M. shifted for them to not 2:20:51 work out in the morning. 2:20:53 >> Why? 2:20:54 >> Because they wake up at 5 2:20:56 5:00 a.m. club porn, right? They wake up 2:20:59 at 5:00 a.m. and their their brain is 2:21:01 already on, man. It's like what your 2:21:03 brain is like at night time. They're 2:21:05 ready. They're fire. 2:21:06 >> So, I should work out in the morning, 2:21:08 not at night. 2:21:08 >> For you, I would say for me, too. Yeah. 2:21:11 because I'm not listen I'm not solving 2:21:13 the world's biggest problems in the 2:21:14 morning anyway I'm like drinking my 2:21:16 coffee I'm like all right I'm like very 2:21:17 meditative I'm very relaxed soft you 2:21:21 know then later in the day I'm like all 2:21:23 right let's go let's let's hit it so 2:21:26 yeah I would my recommendation is 2:21:27 everyone should figure out what their 2:21:29 type is and strategically design their 2:21:32 day when they can listen we all have 2:21:34 meetings and responsibilities but at 2:21:36 least know what your type is so that if 2:21:39 you get an opportunity to protect a few 2:21:41 hours in that peak performance window 2:21:43 that for you is the evening. For most 2:21:46 other people, it's going to be midm 2:21:48 morning. That's the majority. Some 2:21:50 people it's early morning. Protect that 2:21:52 time. 2:21:53 >> But I'm going to be anxious till 6:00 2:21:55 p.m. If I don't do like the the minute I 2:21:58 wake up and if I'm not like getting all 2:22:00 the stuff done. 2:22:01 >> Yeah. 2:22:03 >> The whole day I'm going to spend an 2:22:04 [clears throat] anxiety of what am I 2:22:07 missing out if I'm not doing the work. I 2:22:09 won't be able to think and brainstorm 2:22:11 and read and like I won't be able to 2:22:13 wander. 2:22:15 >> How about if you wander tried wandering 2:22:17 for you schedule it and you time 2:22:18 yourself. You say I'm going to give 2:22:20 myself one hour to brainstorm to see if 2:22:23 I can come up with how many good ideas 2:22:26 for the business and for the podcast. 2:22:29 >> Does it does like scheduling wandering 2:22:32 works? 2:22:33 >> Mhm. 2:22:34 >> Really? 2:22:35 >> Yeah. We call it 2:22:36 >> shouldn't it be like just it should be 2:22:37 what do you call 2:22:38 >> think time? 2:22:39 >> Yeah, but then shouldn't think time be 2:22:41 just out of nowhere random. 2:22:44 >> Then it's not disciplined. [laughter] 2:22:46 Then what what if you never do it? We're 2:22:49 busy people. I think if you really care 2:22:51 about something, you should schedule it. 2:22:53 >> Got it. Interesting. 2:22:57 Let me try this and then I'll tell you 2:22:58 the results if I'm able to actually fix 2:23:00 it or not. 2:23:01 >> I love it. 2:23:02 >> Here's one thing very interesting. You 2:23:05 talk a lot about burnout, 2:23:07 >> right? How is burnout different than 2:23:11 anxiety or stress? 2:23:13 >> Is it different? Isn't it like when 2:23:15 you're when you're stressed all the 2:23:17 time, when you're anxious all the time, 2:23:19 you eventually burn out? 2:23:21 >> This is such an important question. And 2:23:23 the answer is no. They're not the same 2:23:25 thing. But yes, if you keep stressing 2:23:28 over and over and over again, at some 2:23:31 point it is likely you'll burn out. It 2:23:33 depends on how you are experiencing that 2:23:36 stress. So let me let me put it this 2:23:38 way. 2:23:40 Humans are designed 2:23:43 we're designed to experience stress. 2:23:47 We're we're made for it. I know people 2:23:49 like usually these days like hate the 2:23:51 word stress. It's like a naughty word. 2:23:53 They're like everything is about 2:23:54 anti-stress and lowering your stress and 2:23:56 all this stuff. Listen, stress just 2:23:58 means like stress hormones. It just 2:24:00 means focus, alertness, motivation. Like 2:24:02 it's a lots of good stuff. Like stress 2:24:05 is not just a bad thing. You need it. If 2:24:07 you removed all the cortisol, for 2:24:09 example, in your body, you would be in a 2:24:10 coma. 2:24:12 Truly, you'd be in a coma. So, you need 2:24:16 cortisol. It's not a bad thing. It's a 2:24:18 good thing. So, what is bad though? And 2:24:22 and as I mentioned, the human is 2:24:25 designed for experiencing stress cycles. 2:24:29 What is a stress cycle? Stress cycle is 2:24:31 the cycle of that cortisol going up and 2:24:34 what goes up must come down. 2:24:38 >> So stress goes up, stress comes down. So 2:24:40 we're designed for experiencing these 2:24:42 stress cycles. Get stressed, get 2:24:44 stressed, get stressed, 2:24:46 okay? And it's done. Get stressed about 2:24:48 something and deal with it. And it's 2:24:50 done. It's over. 2:24:53 You can experience this dozens of times 2:24:55 all day. Get stressed, complete the 2:24:59 stress cycle. 2:25:01 What [snorts] does modern life look like 2:25:03 for so many people? They wake up in the 2:25:05 morning, the alarm goes off, they grab 2:25:07 their phone because that's the alarm. 2:25:10 Then they start scrolling and looking at 2:25:12 an email and messages that have come in, 2:25:14 WhatsApp. They're just checking all the 2:25:15 different things. Sending them yes, 2:25:17 confirmed, thumbs up, heart, blah, blah, 2:25:19 blah, blah. Yes, you all of these things 2:25:21 already. checking the news 2:25:25 immediately before you've even had the 2:25:27 opportunity 2:25:29 to listen right to that internal voice. 2:25:32 Where are my priorities? What are my 2:25:34 goals? Who am I? What's the story? Where 2:25:36 is the mindset? Do any kind of work and 2:25:38 training on yourself? You've [snorts] 2:25:39 launched yourself onto this roller 2:25:41 coaster ride that you didn't anticipate. 2:25:44 And now, unfortunately, in my opinion, 2:25:48 you've started that stress response. But 2:25:50 what happens once you start that way? 2:25:52 Usually people keep going until they 2:25:54 start work and then they start work and 2:25:58 then they're in their first meeting and 2:25:59 then the next meeting and then more 2:26:00 emails and then more calls and then this 2:26:02 thing and then when does it ending? It 2:26:04 just keeps going and going and going. 2:26:06 When are you completing the stress 2:26:08 cycle? Remember what we said before. 2:26:10 We're designed for stress cycles. Stress 2:26:12 goes up, stress comes down. Stress goes 2:26:15 up, stress comes down. 2:26:16 >> It's not coming down. 2:26:17 >> It's never coming down. 2:26:19 Stress doesn't kill. 2:26:22 Never completing the stress cycle kills. 2:26:26 So if you never complete these stress 2:26:27 cycles, it just keeps going up up up and 2:26:30 then you just pass out and go to sleep 2:26:31 and then you wake up the next morning 2:26:32 and you just keep doing this and you're 2:26:34 on this roller coaster ride with 2:26:36 yourself. Eventually, yes, you'll 2:26:38 experience burnout. Your adrenals like 2:26:40 will finally give out and you'll be 2:26:42 like, "Okay, I'm done. I'm done giving 2:26:43 you cortisol." 2:26:47 Isn't how mostly everybody's living 2:26:50 these days? 2:26:51 >> Yeah. And that's why, Listen, can you 2:26:53 imagine going back and talking to your 2:26:56 grandfather and saying, "I'm burned out 2:26:58 at your age." 2:27:01 Why is it that all of a sudden 2:27:03 everybody's burning out? 2:27:05 I met a a kid, a guy, 2:27:11 22 and a half, just graduated college, 2:27:14 just started working. It had been the 2:27:16 first quarter. I have a [clears throat] 2:27:18 and I don't I met the kid, but my friend 2:27:21 is the one who's supervising the kid. 2:27:24 He's like, "This guy is already saying 2:27:25 he's burned out." Like clinically, he's 2:27:27 like, "I need to go to the doctor. I'm 2:27:29 burned out." And I'm just like, "You 2:27:30 just started. You're burn I'm burned 2:27:33 out. [laughter] Like, how could you 2:27:35 possibly be burned out? How is that even 2:27:37 feasible?" But like right now, everyone 2:27:39 everyone is saying that they're 2:27:40 experiencing this burnout. Well, first 2:27:41 of all, I don't think they are. Clinical 2:27:43 [snorts] burnout is super serious. When 2:27:45 people are stressed and they're anxious, 2:27:47 sometimes they call that burnout. That's 2:27:49 not the same thing. You can be stressed. 2:27:51 It's not going to kill you. 2:27:54 Chronic stress 2:27:56 that never closes out for a very long 2:27:59 time can have detrimental effects for 2:28:01 your health for sure. So, the goal is 2:28:05 close out your stress cycles. And 2:28:08 there's a framework that I teach in my 2:28:11 classes and in my lab called the 3M 2:28:14 framework for preventing burnout. 2:28:16 >> What is it? 2:28:17 >> It's three different kinds of breaks. 2:28:20 Breaks that everyone should be taking in 2:28:23 order to actually prevent burnout from 2:28:26 happening even if you work really hard. 2:28:28 This is again made for super peak 2:28:30 performers. We developed this framework 2:28:32 and we've tested it and it works. Three 2:28:35 different kinds of breaks. Micro breaks. 2:28:38 This is every single day for a matter of 2:28:41 minutes. You need to be taking a break 2:28:44 every day for a few minutes. You can do 2:28:47 that, right? 2:28:49 Every week, 2 to 4 hours. Focus on the 2:28:52 two. If the four is too much, 2 hours. 2:28:56 And then every month, half day to a full 2:28:59 day. You can focus on the half if you 2:29:01 like. Half day off. When you put it that 2:29:05 way, it doesn't sound that scary, right? 2:29:07 Like, come on. What are you talking 2:29:08 about? Few minutes every day. I do that. 2:29:11 >> Yeah. The distinction is, and this is 2:29:14 what's critical. In [snorts] order for 2:29:17 all three of these kinds of breaks to 2:29:19 actually be effective, biologically 2:29:22 effective, for you to actually prevent 2:29:23 burnout, you have to employ something 2:29:26 that we call complete psychological 2:29:29 detachment. 2:29:31 >> What do you mean by that? 2:29:33 Glad you asked. You need to be the 2:29:36 mental equivalent of off the grid. 2:29:39 Complete psychological detachment means 2:29:41 you're not thinking about all of the 2:29:42 stuff that's stressing you out. You're 2:29:43 not thinking about your deadlines. 2:29:44 You're not thinking about necessarily if 2:29:46 you have kids, your family, whatever the 2:29:48 people that is that you're responsible 2:29:49 for. You are just mentally off. Your 2:29:52 mind is not on all of the things. 2:29:56 That's really hard, isn't it? 2:29:59 >> So, what do you So, what do you do in 2:30:00 the breaks then? 2:30:02 Well, ideally you're just resting, but 2:30:04 that's too hard, I think, for people. 2:30:06 When they're resting, they're thinking 2:30:07 about stuff. 2:30:08 >> Exactly. 2:30:08 >> Yeah. 2:30:10 >> So, my recommendation is to do 2:30:13 something. Do something active that is 2:30:16 challenging enough. Active enough so 2:30:18 that it's impossible for you to do that 2:30:20 thing and be thinking about all of your 2:30:22 stuff at the same time. 2:30:23 >> Like playing something, 2:30:25 >> like hosting a podcast, 2:30:28 right? Like you you can't tune out. We 2:30:31 have to stay here. Otherwise, we're 2:30:33 [laughter] 2:30:33 >> Yeah. I don't know what to ask then 2:30:35 next. 2:30:35 >> Exactly. We're just going to be like, 2:30:37 >> "Okay, thank you for saying that. It's 2:30:38 going to be [laughter] super awkward. 2:30:39 You're going to host the most awkward 2:30:41 podcast in the history of time." Right. 2:30:42 You're just going to be like, "Oh, the 2:30:43 host keeps like daydreaming and 2:30:45 forgetting what he's doing and where he 2:30:46 is." Right? Or like if I started 2:30:48 daydreaming, you're going to ask me a 2:30:49 question like, "What was the question?" 2:30:51 Right? It's not. We have to. We're 2:30:53 engaged right now in something that is 2:30:55 cognitively challenging and engaging. 2:30:58 >> [snorts] 2:30:58 >> So right now for me and you, it's 2:31:01 impossible for me to be worried about 2:31:03 all the other stuff. I know you have 2:31:04 work later tonight. So do I. 2:31:07 >> Okay. 2:31:07 >> Like this won't consider this won't be a 2:31:09 break for me, right? Because 2:31:11 >> it's work, right? 2:31:12 >> It's work. 2:31:13 >> Oh, it's work. 2:31:14 >> I'm not I'm not like stressing about 2:31:16 anything at all in this particular 2:31:18 moment. But before and after, I will. 2:31:20 >> Yes. So this is 2:31:23 >> for these 4 hours. I'm just going to be 2:31:25 like I don't care about the world at 2:31:27 all. Well, then in that case, I would 2:31:29 oddly maybe consider this a break for 2:31:31 you because you're in flow 2:31:33 >> at least. 2:31:34 >> Absolutely. 2:31:35 >> Your da that that right that watchtower 2:31:39 >> it's here. 2:31:41 >> It's we're not letting anything else 2:31:43 take us away. 2:31:44 >> So I would actually imagine for for you 2:31:47 and actually for me too, we're both in 2:31:50 flow. So, for this few hours, I've 2:31:53 allowed myself to stop worrying about 2:31:56 everything else and just be here present 2:31:58 in this conversation with you. Now, for 2:32:01 most other people, they're not hosting a 2:32:03 podcast or not on a podcast. Okay? So, 2:32:04 what can you do? If you're going to do a 2:32:07 workout to de-stress, 2:32:09 do a workout that is different, hard 2:32:12 enough, novel. If a lot of people I know 2:32:15 go on runs, don't go on the same run 2:32:18 every single day because you're going to 2:32:19 go on autopilot and just tune out. 2:32:21 You're going to be like on the run and 2:32:22 you know exactly where you're going 2:32:24 every single time. So it's going to be 2:32:26 too easy if you do the same exact 2:32:28 workout every single time. So change it 2:32:30 up, mix it up, make it novel so that 2:32:32 your brain goes, "Oh, hold on a second. 2:32:33 Where are we? What are we doing?" And 2:32:35 when it does that, you can't think about 2:32:37 anything else. You have to be present. I 2:32:39 like to cook. I love food, so I like to 2:32:42 cook. Okay. So, when I'm cooking, if I 2:32:45 make the same recipes that I've made 2:32:47 hundreds of times, I can be worrying and 2:32:51 thinking while I'm chopping my 2:32:53 vegetables, doing all the things, right? 2:32:55 Easy. But if I do something I've never 2:32:58 done before, new crazy recipe, totally 2:33:01 different, and now I have to focus. I 2:33:04 have to put the baggage down. My 2:33:06 watchtowwer needs to be right here. 2:33:09 >> I can't be anywhere else. That's 2:33:11 [snorts] what I want people to find. The 2:33:14 mental equivalent of off the grid. This 2:33:17 thing is quieted down and you're focused 2:33:18 on something else, immersed. Pick up a 2:33:20 hobby. Like force yourself. Seriously, 2:33:22 force yourself. [snorts] 2:33:24 I'll tell you why hobbies are really 2:33:26 important. Like active hobbies that are 2:33:29 new and challenging, like you're 2:33:30 learning a new skill. Learned how to 2:33:32 play the harmonica. I'm learning by 2:33:34 that, by the way. Maybe next time I see 2:33:36 I'll bring a harmonica. Um or for 2:33:38 example, whatever. Hacky sack. something 2:33:40 silly juggling. You could learn how to 2:33:42 juggle. You could pick a hobby for 2:33:44 yourself and say, "I'm going to dedicate 2:33:46 force myself even." Seriously, you don't 2:33:48 actually have to be interested. It could 2:33:49 be by force for burnout. You could be 2:33:51 like, "Listen, I'm just a high 2:33:52 performance junkie and but I'm worried 2:33:55 about burnout." Okay, then you have to 2:33:57 force yourself to have some other hobby 2:33:59 cuz that's a part of your peak 2:34:01 performance. 2:34:02 >> Interesting. 2:34:03 >> You force yourself to have the hobby and 2:34:05 then you immerse yourself in it because 2:34:07 it's hard. So if I want to learn how to 2:34:09 play the guitar, it's going to take all 2:34:11 of my energy and mind in that moment. I 2:34:13 get a YouTube, you know, like video 2:34:14 playing and the guy's like teaching me 2:34:16 what to do and I'm like doing the 2:34:17 things. I'm not thinking about anything 2:34:19 else. I have to be right there. So 2:34:21 that's those are my recommendations. 2:34:23 Every day for a few minutes, you have to 2:34:25 go mentally. 2:34:26 >> What do you mean by few? 2:34:28 >> 15 20. 2:34:30 >> Sure. It's it's this is different for 2:34:32 every person. So I can't give but I 2:34:33 would say at least 10. 2:34:36 >> Okay. 10 minutes even. 2:34:37 >> So 10 minutes a day. 2:34:39 >> Yeah. 2:34:39 >> Then 2:34:41 2 hours a week. 2:34:43 >> Mhm. 2:34:44 >> Okay. 2:34:45 >> And half day a month. 2:34:47 >> And what do you call them? 3M. Why do 2:34:49 you call it 3M framework? 2:34:50 >> Micro, messo, and macro breaks. Easy to 2:34:54 remember. Micro break, mess break, and a 2:34:57 macro break. Three different kinds of 2:34:59 breaks. You did a research right 2:35:00 recently about people who were 2:35:06 stressed, anxious, lonely, depressed, 2:35:10 and then you did something about them in 2:35:12 9 weeks. 2:35:14 >> Yes. 2:35:14 >> And then you saw miraculous results. 2:35:16 What was it? 2:35:17 >> This is currently unpublished. So, 2:35:19 you're like the first to hear about this 2:35:21 right now. I was literally [snorts] 2:35:22 looking at this data last night. It's 2:35:25 kind of um amazing. I don't know how to 2:35:27 describe [clears throat] it. I'm very 2:35:29 excited. 2:35:30 >> Okay. 2:35:30 >> Yeah. 2:35:30 >> What is it? 2:35:32 >> Okay. 2:35:34 I started teaching a class at UC 2:35:36 Berkeley for undergraduates, so for 2:35:38 younger people called mind machine and 2:35:40 meaning. 2:35:42 >> This class is a living experiment. 2:35:46 Meaning instead of just learning about 2:35:48 things in the class, I'm asking the 2:35:50 students to change their behavior. 2:35:53 New habits. We're breaking habits and 2:35:55 building new ones. So, we're actually 2:35:58 going through behavior change and 2:35:59 neuroplasticity while the class is 2:36:01 happening. 2:36:02 >> Fascinating. 2:36:04 >> Hard work. 2:36:05 >> Okay. 2:36:05 >> Class of 450. 2:36:08 >> And you're actually making them go 2:36:09 through neuroplasticity. 2:36:11 >> Yeah. 2:36:12 >> Each one of them. It'll be different for 2:36:13 each one of them. 2:36:14 >> Yeah. 2:36:15 >> Okay. What is it? 2:36:16 >> And we're tracking it all. 2:36:17 >> We're doing research on the students. 2:36:20 [snorts] 2:36:20 >> So, we actually asked the students at 2:36:22 the beginning of the class, sign up for 2:36:24 science. Let's do this. 2:36:28 come into the lab and we're going to 2:36:29 test your attention span. We're [snorts] 2:36:32 going to test your complex working 2:36:33 memory. We're going to test your 2:36:35 loneliness. We're going to test your 2:36:38 meaning and life satisfaction. 2:36:41 We're going to test your depression, 2:36:43 your anxiety, your stress levels. We're 2:36:46 going to test all these things. Then 2:36:48 we're going to go through a 9week 2:36:50 digital detox. 2:36:53 You're [snorts] going to change your 2:36:54 relationship with scrolling. Oh, 2:36:57 >> the binging, the short form media. I 2:36:59 tell them the same thing we talked about 2:37:00 today. Long form could be fine. We had, 2:37:03 you know, for homework one week everyone 2:37:05 had to watch a movie without a second 2:37:07 screen. That's homework in my class. 2:37:10 This week you have to watch a movie 2:37:13 minimum 90 minutes. 2:37:15 They could also watch your podcast. 2:37:17 >> What a privileged class you are in. 2:37:19 [laughter] 2:37:19 >> Well, we're we're but we're doing the 2:37:21 hard work. I'm telling you because it's 2:37:22 become hard. It's like we were talking 2:37:23 about before, right, with Netflix. 2:37:25 You're telling me for younger kids it's 2:37:27 harder to watch a movie. 2:37:28 >> Yeah. 2:37:29 >> They can't sit through a 90minute movie. 2:37:32 >> No. Even if it's a good movie to to me 2:37:35 at least. I'm like this is crazy. I'm 2:37:37 like completely like engrossed in the 2:37:39 thing. But it's not their fault. It's 2:37:41 because this the short form is so it's 2:37:43 the candy. Imagine if you're addicted to 2:37:45 candy and what you're saying is by the 2:37:48 way do you have like a delicious 2:37:49 favorite meal? 2:37:50 >> Yeah. So many. 2:37:52 >> What? Like give me like one example. 2:37:55 pick up any like I said mapu tofu I love 2:37:57 a lot [laughter] 2:37:58 >> so good so good okay like a good one 2:38:00 like okay so that has a lot of nutrition 2:38:04 like it's going to fill you up right the 2:38:05 tofu is also lots of protein and it's 2:38:07 it's good stuff right 2:38:09 >> if you were addicted to candy and it's 2:38:12 not your fault right because it's in 2:38:14 your p the candy's always in your pocket 2:38:16 for some reason and it's always in your 2:38:17 hand and you get hungry you're supposed 2:38:19 to you're eating now you're addicted to 2:38:21 candy do you think people who are 2:38:23 addicted to junk food and candy like 2:38:24 mapu tofu. 2:38:25 >> Not at all. 2:38:26 >> No, 2:38:26 >> even I will. 2:38:27 >> Oh, no. Exact. There you go. [snorts] So 2:38:31 that's why so the movie is totally hard 2:38:33 work for them. So we have them go 2:38:35 through this 9 week digital detox. 2:38:38 We have them change their relationship 2:38:40 with scrolling. We have them put limits 2:38:42 on how much they can scroll. We have 2:38:45 them do it in such a way that if they go 2:38:46 over the limit, it's going to send a 2:38:48 text message to one of their friends. 2:38:50 And I find out too. We all find out. So 2:38:52 it like keeps them it's social 2:38:53 accountability, right? And [snorts] 2:38:56 because remember if you take away your 2:38:59 coping mechanism for stress because for 2:39:01 most people they're scrolling because 2:39:03 they're stressed out and it's become a 2:39:05 coping mechanism. They're numbing. If 2:39:08 you take that away from them, they're 2:39:10 going to feel even worse. They're going 2:39:12 to have to sit with those negative 2:39:13 feelings and it feels really, really 2:39:15 bad. So we also brought in a therapist 2:39:18 to teach them emotional regulation, 2:39:20 healthier emotional regulation 2:39:22 techniques and strategies. Then we also 2:39:25 had other people who have been through 2:39:27 serious digital addiction come and tell 2:39:29 their stories. That's what was happening 2:39:31 in class. They were getting the 2:39:32 inspiration. [snorts] What did you call 2:39:34 the highquality content? Bloom. 2:39:38 >> Bloom scrolling. 2:39:39 >> Yeah. 2:39:39 >> Bloom scrolling. We were we taught them 2:39:41 about the content diet and we said you 2:39:43 need to make your doom scrolling into 2:39:45 bloom scrolling ch following all of 2:39:48 these accounts that don't teach you 2:39:50 anything. They don't challenge you. They 2:39:52 don't expose you to new ideas. Now I 2:39:54 want you to actually go in and think 2:39:55 about like find new accounts. Talk to 2:39:57 each other. Do research which accounts 2:40:00 are going to actually level you up and 2:40:02 and all whatever in in everybody's 2:40:04 different you know. Some of the students 2:40:06 are really into like art. Some of them 2:40:08 are into they want to start a business. 2:40:10 They're all over the place, right? For 2:40:11 you in your niche. Go find the bloom. 2:40:15 Seek the bloom. Then we're also making 2:40:17 sure that they in general have less 2:40:19 screen time. And we are replacing 2:40:22 the digital connection with real 2:40:25 in-person connection. We threw a party, 2:40:30 huge party, food, games, the whole 2:40:33 thing. Live music. We people went on 2:40:36 hikes. We set up the students on blind 2:40:38 dates. 2:40:40 >> What kind of class is this? [laughter] 2:40:43 >> The best class [snorts] actually. That 2:40:45 was a lot of hard work. 2:40:47 >> The class is a study. It's research. 2:40:50 >> I want to see and I know we can do this. 2:40:53 But now I have the data to back it up. 2:40:56 that 2:40:57 people, especially young people, do not 2:40:59 have to be as isolated and lonely, as 2:41:02 depressed and anxious, and their 2:41:05 attention spans do not need to be as 2:41:07 shot as they are. Neuroplasticity is 2:41:10 real. Neuroplasticity is real. That 2:41:13 means that whatever we did, we did 2:41:16 something to make this happen. 2:41:18 >> You can undo it. 2:41:20 It's like muscles, right? I can eat and 2:41:23 never move and something's going to 2:41:24 happen for sure to my body or I can 2:41:26 force myself to eat good food and 2:41:29 exercise and then other things are going 2:41:30 to happen to my body. 2:41:31 >> But what were the results like what what 2:41:33 happened then? Like you at the beginning 2:41:36 of the class you got their attention and 2:41:39 like you tested bunch of things 2:41:41 >> then you did all of this made it fun. 2:41:44 >> Yes. 2:41:44 >> What happened then? 2:41:45 >> It was also hard. They a lot of tears by 2:41:47 the way had a lot of students crying. It 2:41:49 was really difficult because it's it's 2:41:51 an addiction. Everyone is going through 2:41:53 withdrawal together. If I have 450 2:41:56 people, we are all experiencing 2:41:58 withdrawal together at the same time. 2:42:00 We're just trying to make it better by 2:42:01 injecting connection and play. We I 2:42:04 forced everybody for the final project. 2:42:06 You have to pick up a hobby and work on 2:42:08 it throughout the semester, you know. 2:42:11 So, this was this was what we did. 2:42:12 >> And for 9 weeks, they were not allowed 2:42:14 to touch their phones. 2:42:14 >> No, no, no, no. They all had their 2:42:16 phones. M 2:42:17 >> they just scrolled a little bit less. 2:42:19 Specifically, also short form media. 2:42:20 That was what I said. Social media and 2:42:22 the scrolling. We're going to doom 2:42:23 scroll a little less. Watch a movie. 2:42:25 Watch long YouTube videos. Watch other 2:42:27 stuff, 2:42:28 >> you know. 2:42:28 >> And and by the way, they still scrolled. 2:42:31 They just scrolled a little less. 2:42:33 >> So if someone was doing for 2 hours, 2:42:34 they did it for like 30 minutes. 2:42:36 >> Exactly. Some of them were doing it for 2:42:37 6 hours and then they brought it down to 2:42:38 like two. 2:42:39 >> Okay. 2:42:40 >> Awesome. 2:42:42 >> Okay. Then what happened 2:42:43 >> after 9 weeks? Scores showed 2:42:46 significantly less lonely, significantly 2:42:49 less depressed, significantly less 2:42:52 anxious. Their attention spans went up 2:42:55 significantly. Their complex working 2:42:57 memory, which is a proxy for general 2:43:00 fluid intelligence, significantly 2:43:02 increased. 2:43:04 It's it's almost unbelievable when I 2:43:06 look at the results myself. I didn't 2:43:07 think it was going to be this good. To 2:43:08 be honest [laughter] with you, [snorts] 2:43:10 I knew I knew my intuition told me as a 2:43:13 scientist who's been working with people 2:43:15 about this topic for a long time that we 2:43:17 were going to see some benefits. I 2:43:19 didn't realize we were going to see this 2:43:20 many benefits so fast. 2:43:23 And by the way, they came in at the 2:43:25 beginning of the semester when everybody 2:43:27 was just came back from break and they 2:43:29 were all feeling good. And when I had 2:43:31 them do the after test after, you know, 2:43:33 9 weeks, they were in the middle of 2:43:35 midterms. So they were all super 2:43:37 stressed out. Seriously. And even though 2:43:40 they were during midterms, the results 2:43:41 were still that uplifting and inspiring. 2:43:45 >> But wouldn't their results be some 2:43:47 somewhat biased as well? 2:43:49 >> Because like because I've gone through 2:43:52 such thing 9 weeks, I'm just going to 2:43:54 take all the good things in a survey, 2:43:55 right? 2:43:56 >> Well, you can't really gify your 2:43:58 attention span. That's a digital 2:43:59 assessment. Those those cognitive 2:44:02 assessments you can't really game. Sure, 2:44:03 I guess you could like lie for some 2:44:05 reason. 2:44:05 >> Yeah, let's say I can say I'm less 2:44:07 lonely, whatever. 2:44:09 >> Sure, it is possible to lie, but this is 2:44:11 this is But why would you? It's all 2:44:14 anonymous. 2:44:15 >> There's no benefit. If anything, the the 2:44:18 the thing that I was worried students 2:44:20 would do, especially during midterms, is 2:44:21 just answer so fast that they're not 2:44:23 even paying attention to the answers. 2:44:24 They're just like, cuz it's anonymous. 2:44:29 I you know I don't want to make them 2:44:30 feel like you know they have to answer a 2:44:32 certain way because you're right then as 2:44:33 a professor they're gonna be like oh I 2:44:35 need to say these things. 2:44:36 >> Yeah. But then attention span like 2:44:38 through the device you found out like it 2:44:40 just improved. 2:44:41 >> We have a test of attention that we do. 2:44:43 It's a cognitive assessment. Um these 2:44:45 are things I can test you on too. If you 2:44:47 ever want you come to my lab at Berkeley 2:44:48 and we'll get you fully tested. 2:44:50 >> Okay. 2:44:50 >> Complex working memory, visual memory, 2:44:52 attention span, the whole thing. Okay. 2:44:55 But you sit down and these are digital 2:44:56 assessments that you do. 2:44:58 >> [snorts] 2:44:58 >> So there's no I'm not asking you 2:45:00 anything. I'm actually testing it. Can 2:45:02 you focus on this boring thing? And how 2:45:04 long can you go before you make a 2:45:05 mistake and miss something? 2:45:08 And their scores improved in 9 weeks 2:45:11 even though they were more stressed 2:45:12 because it's now exam time. 2:45:16 >> So just you're really making short form 2:45:19 level. 2:45:22 >> I'm making it candy 2:45:24 and I have a sweet tooth like you do. I 2:45:27 still eat candy, but eat them up with 2:45:30 tofu first, you know? Like, don't fill 2:45:32 up on the candy. I I I scroll. Be the 2:45:36 first to admit on your show. I'm going 2:45:38 to tell the world, the anti-crolling 2:45:40 lady, I scroll, but I have limits on it. 2:45:43 You know, like and I ask yourself the 2:45:46 question, how much time is it worth it 2:45:49 for you to give of your life, your 2:45:52 precious life 2:45:55 to scrolling every day. I'm not saying 2:45:58 don't do it. 10 minutes is good. Maybe 2:46:01 10 minutes of scrolling. And I'm not 2:46:03 even saying that's all of your media. 2:46:05 >> If you want to sit down and watch good 2:46:07 quality YouTube videos for like, I don't 2:46:09 know, 20, 30 minutes, like learn 2:46:11 something, right? You could do, okay, I 2:46:13 I want to do at least half an hour of 2:46:14 that. I want to like I have these 2:46:16 accounts I'm following. Bloom, you know, 2:46:18 I want to bloom [snorts] scroll a little 2:46:19 bit on these and then but like long form 2:46:22 content that's actually challenging your 2:46:24 mind that you remember you're learning 2:46:26 something. You can pause the video and 2:46:27 go look something up. These kinds of 2:46:30 things 2:46:32 as opposed to the doom. 2:46:36 >> Interesting. I I heard the moment you 2:46:38 were saying how much of the time you're 2:46:39 going to do this. I'm I'm hearing how 2:46:41 much of the time you're going to invest 2:46:45 in becoming dumb, 2:46:47 in becoming lonier, in becoming less 2:46:50 empathetic, 2:46:52 in becoming 2:46:54 in ma in in making your memory worse. 2:46:58 All of these things at the same time. 2:47:01 Here's the last thing I ask everybody is 2:47:05 when were you the most powerless or 2:47:09 anxious in your life. 2:47:21 I would say for me 2:47:24 when I was struggling with addiction 2:47:28 I felt powerless. 2:47:31 And man, it felt like um a cruel joke 2:47:35 from the universe. I study addiction. I 2:47:38 study neuroplasticity. I study this 2:47:40 stuff. And somehow I got tricked. You 2:47:43 know, it's not really a trick. It's 2:47:45 biology. 2:47:47 It's science. 2:47:49 But it's humbling. 2:47:51 Um, and I think it's an important 2:47:53 message because people need to know that 2:47:56 everybody, we're all human, everybody's 2:47:59 susceptible. It's about the choices we 2:48:01 make. It's about awareness 2:48:04 and being intentional about how you 2:48:07 spend your time, and also what you do 2:48:10 with your life, what you choose to 2:48:13 ingest, what you choose to think. 2:48:15 [snorts] 2:48:16 Be careful about what you expose your 2:48:18 mind to. 2:48:20 What were you addicted to? 2:48:23 >> I've been addicted to a great number of 2:48:25 things in my life. I have been addicted 2:48:28 to uh I've I've smoked, I've drank, I've 2:48:31 done uh scrolling, uh sugar, you name 2:48:34 it. Um 2:48:36 it it has been my life's most 2:48:42 You know what's interesting? I love the 2:48:44 word you used, powerless. 2:48:47 From what felt like the most powerless 2:48:51 moment in my life, 2:48:54 it gave rise to the most powerful 2:48:56 feelings I've ever had in my entire 2:48:58 life. [snorts] I feel unstoppable and so 2:49:03 powerful 2:49:05 because 2:49:07 of overcoming addiction. 2:49:10 So it was an opportunity. 2:49:13 So now when you feel powerless again, 2:49:16 what's your personal framework to become 2:49:18 powerful? 2:49:21 >> Well, 2:49:24 this one is going to maybe sound even a 2:49:26 little bit spiritual. 2:49:28 [snorts] I have a few beliefs. 2:49:31 One of my beliefs is that the universe 2:49:35 and the world is not how it seems. 2:49:39 that a great amount of my reality is a 2:49:42 construct of my own mind, which means I 2:49:45 can influence the world and my life 2:49:47 through what's happening in here. So, I 2:49:50 protect this thing. 2:49:53 I protect it by not letting bad stuff 2:49:55 in. I audit what it's doing and what 2:49:58 it's thinking. And if I'm ever feeling 2:50:00 powerless, I remind myself that I am 2:50:03 God. 2:50:06 I am all powerful. I create everything 2:50:08 in my life 2:50:10 because you can. You truly can. You can 2:50:13 create your own reality, your 2:50:15 consciousness. Like literally truly my 2:50:17 conscious experience. If I close my eyes 2:50:19 right now, and so do you. You can dream 2:50:22 a reality inside of your mind. Now you 2:50:24 might say, "But but that's not real. 2:50:26 It's in your mind." But when something 2:50:29 is truly real in your mind, it's real 2:50:31 for you. 2:50:33 So much research has also shown us that 2:50:35 when you rehearse something and you 2:50:37 visualize it, you daydream, you daydream 2:50:40 about it, that the brain [snorts] can 2:50:42 barely tell the difference between 2:50:43 daydreaming about X and actually doing 2:50:45 X. 2:50:46 >> True. 2:50:47 >> So if you're ever feeling powerless, you 2:50:49 go into a daydream where you are the 2:50:51 most powerful person in the world. Go 2:50:54 into that daydream because then all of a 2:50:56 sudden you're going to start to feel 2:50:57 more powerful again. 2:50:59 >> Nice. Here is the last question which is 2:51:02 we always ask people about cost of 2:51:04 ambition right? So what's the cost? 2:51:09 What's the cost you have personally paid 2:51:12 to become 2:51:14 the person who you are today? What's the 2:51:16 cost of becoming this top level 2:51:19 scientist, researcher, businesswoman 2:51:22 running 50 things at the same time and 2:51:24 researching and probably telling the 2:51:26 world about something that they don't 2:51:28 believe in? What's the cost of all of 2:51:30 this? 2:51:33 >> My family and friends know the cost 2:51:36 because they see it. 2:51:39 There is always a cost. So, I'm so glad 2:51:41 you asked people this question. 2:51:45 I have been relentless and very focused 2:51:47 in my life on building what I want to 2:51:50 build and doing what I want to do. 2:51:54 It doesn't allow for a lot of space for 2:51:58 distraction. 2:52:00 But the thing is, I've also sacrificed a 2:52:03 lot of fun. 2:52:05 I've sacrificed personal travel, 2:52:07 vacations, leisure, 2:52:10 um, scrolling. I avoided getting social 2:52:13 media, by the way, just until recently. 2:52:15 Completely avoided it. 2:52:18 I have um 2:52:21 given up friendships. 2:52:23 I've lost friendships. 2:52:26 I've lost a lot of very important 2:52:28 relationships in my life because of my 2:52:30 hyperfocus on prioritizing work. Um 2:52:35 addictions, as I've mentioned before, 2:52:36 that all comes out of this relentless 2:52:40 ambition and relentless drive towards 2:52:43 performance. 2:52:46 And um yeah, I've I've nearly lost my 2:52:49 life and given my life. I will say that 2:52:52 in the pursuit of my goals and that 2:52:56 amount of sacrifice, I can't say I 2:52:59 regret it because even though regretful 2:53:02 things have happened because of it, 2:53:05 I'm happy with where I'm at today. Not 2:53:07 just from a success metric perspective, 2:53:09 but I learned and now I can teach 2:53:14 and I've corrected and now I prioritize 2:53:19 the people in my life, the most 2:53:21 important people. I'm like extremely 2:53:23 community oriented and there's people 2:53:26 around my loved ones are around me all 2:53:28 the time and I'm around them and it's 2:53:30 completely shifted what I sacrificed and 2:53:34 the 2:53:36 the negative side effects I would say 2:53:40 what I lost um I've learned from it 2:53:43 which is all we can do right 2:53:46 >> thank you for sharing that thank you so 2:53:48 much for spending time with us and 2:53:50 teaching us about brain and productivity 2:53:53 and cognitive things. We have missed one 2:53:55 very important topic. We need to do that 2:53:57 next time which are the 10 laws. We will 2:54:00 do that. How can a human being become a 2:54:03 superhuman? We will go through it and we 2:54:07 will do that next podcast. So thank you 2:54:10 so much. 2:54:11 >> Thank you 2:54:11 >> and to many more podcasts together 2:54:13 >> to many more podcast together. 2:54:15 >> Cheers. Done. 2:54:16 >> Cheers. 2:54:17 >> How are you? 2:54:19 Pleasure. Nice to meet you. No, we're 2:54:20 here just for 2:54:22 >> purely for work. Don't care about fun at 2:54:24 least for next two, three years. 2:54:26 >> Really? 2:54:27 >> Oh, yes. 2:54:27 >> Are you sure? 2:54:28 >> Oh, how absolutely. 2:54:31 >> Just whatever makes more sense in terms 2:54:34 of 2:54:35 >> impact maximization, [music] 2:54:36 you know. Thank you for watching this 2:54:39 episode till the end. We would love to 2:54:41 know what you liked or disliked about 2:54:43 this episode and which guests you would 2:54:45 like to see on the show. Let us know in 2:54:47 the comments. Your feedback help us 2:54:49 improve and make every episode a little 2:54:52 better. I'll see you next time. Until 2:54:54 then, keep figuring out.