How To Train Your Brain, Boost Focus & Beat Burnout | Dr Sahar Yousef | FO559 Raj Shamani

0:00If you let people have their phones out,

0:02the IQ of your employees is lower. Cuz

0:05there was a study done when the phone

0:08was visible to you. Scores were

0:10significantly decreased.

0:11>> Like my attention decreased.

0:13>> Yes, Raj. It was also general fluid

0:15intelligence. That means you're dumber.

0:17This is the scary reality of how

0:21attention works in the brain. people who

0:23hold their phone or put their phone out

0:25on the table when they're talking to

0:26people and they first meet you. You seem

0:28less trustworthy, less capable, less

0:30intelligent, all of these different

0:31things.

0:34I'm a cognitive neuroscientist. Study

0:36how we can train the brain to be better.

0:40Every single time you switch your

0:41attention, you pay for it in time and

0:43you pay for it in energy. And if you

0:45don't believe me, we can test it out.

0:47>> Grab a piece of paper. You have some

0:48paper and a pen. Now, on the top line, I

0:51want you to write, "I am a great

0:53multitasker." And then on the bottom

0:54line, I want you to write the numbers 1

0:56through 20. I want you to go as fast as

0:58you can. Okay? Go.

1:0417.72. Now, turn this paper around. Draw

1:07two more lines. You're going to do this

1:09one more time, but the way in which you

1:11will arrive will be very different.

1:13>> Okay?

1:14>> You're going to alternate. You're going

1:15to go back and forth until you finish

1:16both lines.

1:17>> Okay?

1:17>> Go.

1:22done. So you went from 17.72

1:25to 41.35

1:27more than double.

1:28>> Every single time you switch your

1:29attention, there's a payment, a

1:30biological payment. This is what makes

1:33the people that are ultra successful

1:34different from everybody else. They just

1:36choose differently.

1:38>> A lot of people think that ultra

1:40successful people have better ideas.

1:41>> They have more ideas.

1:43>> So what should I do? How can someone

1:45become a person who gets incredible

1:47ideas all the time?

1:48>> Be bored and do nothing and you get

1:51ideas. You have to let those ideas come

1:54to you by cultivating the space for

1:56them.

1:57>> I'm going to show you a city map.

1:59Explain me how my brain works as if it

2:02was a city.

2:02>> We're here to learn about getting

2:04done and being productive. Yeah.

2:05>> How do I become this person who ends up

2:07achieving all the goals? Yes.

2:10>> Yes. Okay.

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3:15>> If

3:16>> yeah,

3:17>> someone's watching you for the first

3:18time.

3:19>> Yes.

3:19>> They have no clue who you are.

3:21>> Then how would you explain what do you

3:23do and

3:26why they should watch it?

3:27>> So I'm a cognitive neuroscientist and my

3:29research is focused on cognitive

3:32neuroplasticity and also cognitive

3:35training. So I in particular study how

3:40we can train the brain to be better,

3:43better, faster, stronger.

3:45>> Okay?

3:45>> Which is why my lab colloquially is kind

3:47of called the becoming superhuman lab

3:49because that's what I study. I study how

3:50to make superhumans. And I'm obsessed

3:53with this topic. I have been for a very

3:55very long time. When I learned early on

3:58in my career that the brain is capable

3:59of change, that it's dynamic, that we

4:02can we're not born with a certain brain

4:03or it doesn't crystallize, that based on

4:06training, based on what you think, what

4:09you feel, what you do, the habits that

4:11you have, your brain can completely

4:13change and become different. Then my

4:16question became that means that people

4:18can be become smarter. That means that

4:21your ability to focus can increase. That

4:23means your memory can get better. like

4:25you can get better at that just like any

4:26other muscle, right? Like with fitness.

4:28And then of course now a huge part of

4:31what I do is really focused on minds and

4:34machines,

4:36>> okay?

4:36>> And how they interact together. If you

4:38ignore the fact that we are human and by

4:40that, by the way, I mean the biological

4:43laws that dictate how our brains and our

4:46bodies actually work. Like the laws of

4:48physics, right? Like if I like I always

4:50say gravity.

4:51>> Yeah,

4:51>> there it is. Laws of physics. Nobody's

4:54questioning the laws of gravity. Like,

4:55oh, today, never mind. It's not for me.

4:57I don't want to do that. Right? This is

4:59how our universe works. Well, there are

5:02also biological laws that dictate how

5:04our brains work best, how our bodies

5:07work best. And my goal is for people to

5:10learn these biological laws so that they

5:13can work more in line with their biology

5:15instead of against it. Right now I feel

5:18and I say this all of the time that the

5:20way in which we as a society, human

5:23global society are living and working

5:27goes against our biology. It goes

5:30against the laws of biology and we can

5:31feel it. People have brain fog. They're

5:33exhausted. They're burning out. They're

5:36not reaching their goals. Everybody I

5:38always talk to says, "Oh, I'm busy all

5:39of the time. I'm working non-stop. I'm

5:41busy busy busy busy." And it's like, "Do

5:43you actually meet your goals

5:44consistently?" Oh, no.

5:46I'm busy all of the time. I'm like, how

5:47could that be possible?

5:49>> But then do you see the difference

5:52between people who are achieving their

5:54goals all the time versus people who are

5:56not?

5:57>> Yes.

5:58>> And is it the all the difference is in

6:00the brain and the biological laws

6:01they're following.

6:02>> The most important word you just said

6:03was following.

6:06We all have very similar brains.

6:08>> The laws are the same. Physics is

6:10physics no matter where you go. The

6:12difference between me and let's say like

6:15an Elon Musk is for the laws of physics

6:18is I'm not sending rockets into space,

6:21>> right?

6:22>> It's about am I learning the laws and am

6:25I leveraging the laws and my big push to

6:28every person in the world is you have to

6:31learn the laws of your brain and your

6:32body so that you can follow them and

6:36leverage them meaning actually get more

6:38done. That's the concept of becoming

6:40superhuman is if you can learn those

6:42laws then you can do amazing things with

6:46this brain and body that other people

6:48often times they ignore those laws.

6:51They're exhausted again they're burned

6:53out. They're working all of the time but

6:56they're working inefficiently.

6:58>> These are the issues you know they say

7:00they have these dreams and they have

7:01these goals but they find it difficult

7:03to actually do those things. But the so

7:06the difference is between the people who

7:08consistently meet their goals is if

7:11they're following the actual laws of

7:14like it's it's like almost like a a

7:16cheat sheet. It's like a blueprint for

7:19how to live well.

7:21>> So you're telling me if I follow my

7:23biological laws

7:25>> Mhm. which is how like let's say if my

7:29brain is supposed to function in a

7:30certain way and I follow those laws

7:33>> then my likelihood of achieving my goals

7:36increases

7:38than normal people like other people do

7:40not follow

7:44>> but also I will say you're like I don't

7:46buy it

7:46>> okay yeah

7:47>> well you have to remember the a lot of

7:49biological laws the laws I'm hopefully

7:52we're going to talk about

7:53>> uh that I'm obsessed with are also laws

7:55around what's the science behind

7:57motivation,

7:59>> what's the science behind goal

8:00achievement,

8:02>> what's the science behind focus, what's

8:04the science behind distraction

8:06management, energy management, you

8:09realize you can have all these amazing

8:12goals in life, but if you mess up on

8:14those things, you're not going to meet

8:16those goals. Imagine like an Olympic

8:18athlete, right? Somebody wants to go to

8:19the Olympics, but they say, "I'm not

8:20focused on my training."

8:22>> Okay? I am not doing a good job managing

8:25my energy. Okay. Um I'm not motivated.

8:29>> Yeah.

8:29>> I'm motivated for 3 weeks and then I

8:31give up.

8:33>> Do you think they're going to go to the

8:34Olympics? No. That means you have to

8:36figure out, you have to hack the science

8:38of motivation. You have to hack the

8:39science of focus. You have to hack the

8:41science of managing your time, your

8:43energy, all of these things in order to

8:45meet any goals, whatever your goals are.

8:47You know, you could have any goals in

8:48the whole world. But yeah, that's these

8:50are what I mean by the laws of biology.

8:53I don't mean like take a blood test

8:55necessarily. I mean learn how does the

8:58brain motivate like what is dopamine

9:01really for example, right? How does it

9:03really work? Because the people that say

9:05like oh I want to whatever I don't know

9:08get fit. I want to raise a certain

9:09amount of money. I want to start a

9:10company. I want to do these things.

9:12That's great. But what's the first step?

9:14And do you lose hope after 3 weeks, 3

9:16months, 3 years?

9:17>> True. with we'll come to biological loss

9:21but for

9:23>> for simple average human being okay

9:26super human could mean a billionaire who

9:29looks like he's killing it in life

9:32>> right so you have also trained a lot of

9:35people from lot of these large companies

9:38you've worked with people from Nvidia

9:40Google you teach a lot of people you

9:43research about ultra achievers all of

9:46these things you do right so you have

9:47you've You've dealt with a lot of people

9:50who look like superhumans from the

9:51outside.

9:53What is one fundamental difference

9:56between a brain of, let's say, a

9:58billionaire and a broke person?

9:59>> I've worked with some pretty amazing

10:02people that have achieved

10:06amazing things.

10:08>> Truly superhuman things. And I'm always

10:12the most curious about people that

10:14achieve great things that come from

10:15nothing.

10:17If you started at zero and you achieved

10:20something close to 100, that's

10:22interesting. That's worth studying,

10:24right?

10:24>> Yeah, absolutely.

10:26>> And I've been very lucky, you know,

10:28being especially in Silicon, I've had

10:29access to a lot of some of these amazing

10:31people because of the work that I do.

10:33Um, it also helps that the lab is called

10:35Becoming Superhum, and everybody wants

10:36to be superhuman. So, it's it's a it's

10:39it's it's popular for for a few

10:41different reasons, but some of these

10:43amazing people that I've met, I'll tell

10:45you something that is wildly different

10:47from a lot of folks that I see who

10:48struggle. And that is belief.

10:55Belief about how the world works. Belief

10:59about

11:01who it is that they are. These people,

11:04these the the billionaire's brain, they

11:08don't think there are limits.

11:12They really don't. These people don't

11:15think there are any obstacles in their

11:17way.

11:19When something looks like a brick wall

11:21to the average person,

11:24that person sees a door.

11:27They know that they can open and create

11:29doors anywhere. They believe it. Truly,

11:31they believe it. And this is the

11:34fascinating thing again going back to

11:36those biological laws.

11:39The power of belief is so strong in the

11:43human brain when you believe something.

11:46And these are again the stories that we

11:48tell ourselves. Who am I? How powerful

11:51am I? What am I capable of? It's like

11:53imagine you're a character in a movie.

11:55These people like really I don't know.

11:57Have you heard of the phrase main

11:59character energy?

12:00>> Yeah.

12:00They have main character energy for

12:02real. Truly. And but everybody can have

12:06main character energy. You should be the

12:08main character of your life.

12:10>> Everybody should be. And I say that not

12:12just be to be like romantic cuz it's fun

12:15because this is how you can train the

12:17brain. If you convince yourself, I'm

12:20going to make it. This is going to be my

12:23life. This is going to be the door that

12:25I'm going to open. This is going to

12:27happen for me. And I know it's going to

12:28happen because it's possible because

12:30people like me have done. You know it.

12:32It's it's not you don't have the victim

12:34mindset.

12:36You don't have the oh these are these

12:38obstacles in my way that oh I have

12:41nothing blah blah blah. All these other

12:42people they have this help they have

12:44that's going to keep you stuck. So many

12:46amazing examples of people again Olympic

12:49athletes people that have just crushed

12:51it physically that didn't start out fit

12:54at all but they make it happen through

12:56training. I think it's the same thing

12:58with mindset. All you have to do is So,

13:01here's here's my recommendation because

13:02I I do this for a living. This is what I

13:04do. I I help people train their brains.

13:07Every single time inside of your mind,

13:10your brain starts telling you that

13:12story.

13:13I'm a victim. I come from nothing. Look

13:17at my background. I'm not going to make

13:18it. You have to tell your brain to shut

13:20up. Zip it. Be like, "Uh-uh. Don't do

13:23that." And then you have I call that by

13:25the way that's called redirection

13:28redirection. It's attentional

13:29redirection in the brain. So if your

13:31attention is somewhere like oh I'm a

13:33victim. Oh I'm the oh it's not going to

13:35work out. Oh what if I fail? Oh

13:39redirect. You say uh I'm not going to

13:41move my attention. I'm moving my

13:42attention. I'm redirecting it back to

13:45what's the story you want.

13:48And you then you repeat it. And you got

13:50to get obsessive about this. Like every

13:52day you repeat the story, who am I?

13:55What's possible? One of my favorite

13:57quotes is anything is possible because

14:00nothing is real. All of this is

14:03man-made. All of this is made up. We can

14:06make anything happen.

14:08But then if someone was never believed

14:11in themselves ever, they've never

14:13thought that they can ever become

14:16better, achieve their goals, have a

14:18dreamy life, become financially free,

14:22billionaire, millionaire, whatever,

14:23etc., etc., right? If someone never

14:25believed, how can someone build a main

14:28character energy?

14:33>> Write the story down.

14:35Take a piece of paper and you don't have

14:38to believe it in the beginning.

14:40Just trust me. Get a piece of paper and

14:43a pen and write out. Even if in the

14:46beginning you have to say this is this

14:49would be believed and this would be

14:51written by a version of me that doesn't

14:54exist

14:55that does believe in themselves and they

14:57are successful and they're amazing.

15:00Write from that person's perspective.

15:02>> What do you write? Like you take a piece

15:03of paper and what do you write?

15:04>> You can write well it depends on the

15:06your goals. It depends on your vision.

15:09So for example I might say I can I can

15:14come up with any scientific question

15:18related to the things that I am obsessed

15:20with and I will find the resources. I

15:24will find the people. I will find the

15:26funding. I will find the doors. I will

15:29make the doors open so that I can figure

15:32out what those answers are because I'm

15:33obsessed with finding out those answers.

15:35And I'm going to keep telling myself

15:36that. And when you do that, by the way,

15:38let me tell you the science of how this

15:40works. What's going to happen if you

15:42write that down, whatever story, but

15:44because it depends on the person, right?

15:45Your story is going to be different than

15:46mine. There's a network in the brain,

15:49okay? It's a neural network,

15:51>> okay?

15:52>> Which is a pattern of electrical

15:53activation. So a neural network is a

15:55collection of different brain areas that

15:58in unison like an orchestra activate

16:00together. So they're they're they're

16:02connected electrically and they activate

16:03together. Okay, we have many different

16:05neural networks in the brain, but an

16:07important one is called the DMN or the

16:11default mode network.

16:13>> Okay,

16:13>> now the DMN is the brain's storyteller.

16:19>> Interesting. M this is the brain's

16:22narrator autobiographical narration who

16:25am I what's my identity what am I what

16:28are the stories and you know when people

16:30talk about trauma when people talk about

16:32bag all this it's stories and I you

16:35collect these stories like in a bag and

16:36you're carrying it around like baggage

16:38so you got to ask yourself which stories

16:41am I still carrying and are they serving

16:44me and when I say serving me like are

16:47they actually helping you achieve your

16:49goals are they making you happier? Are

16:51they making you healthier? Are they

16:53giving you an opportunity to live the

16:55life that you want? Because if they're

16:56not, get rid of that story. Rip that

16:58story up. And you have to write your own

17:00story. Make up a new story. And then

17:02that DMN every single time, every day,

17:05you review the story. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

17:08You're going to get every guest you

17:10want, you know, whatever it may be.

17:11You're going to review the story over

17:13and over and over again. And guess

17:15what's going to happen? that DMN, the

17:17default mode network, the pattern of

17:19electrical activation that it has, it

17:20will influence other brain areas that

17:23are related to your attention.

17:27Now, we're talking about exciting

17:29executive function because that your

17:32beliefs, your stories. You asked me

17:34about the billionaire's brain and I told

17:36you the number one trait they have

17:37that's different is they have crazy

17:40beliefs.

17:42Crazy beliefs. They don't see limits.

17:45anything is possible and anything they

17:48they're capable of anything

17:50and if you believe that that DMN and

17:53those beliefs will impact

17:56different brain areas that are related

17:58to what you see what you pay attention

18:00to and what you notice have you heard of

18:03like priming

18:04>> yeah it's

18:05>> explain me let's say explain everybody

18:07okay what priming is

18:09>> it this is the science behind priming

18:11>> that if you can have information teed up

18:15so that you review that story. That's

18:17why I said like it's not enough just to

18:19write it down one time and put it in

18:20your journal and put it away. No, no,

18:22no, no. You're working on this is

18:23training. You got to hit the gym every

18:25single day. Be like, "Uh-uh. This is

18:27what's going to happen. This is what I'm

18:28going to do. This is my goals. This is

18:29how I'm going to get there. This is the

18:31plan. This is the plan." You keep

18:32writing every day. You keep reviewing

18:33and keep writing. What's going to end up

18:35happening is you're going to notice

18:36opportunities.

18:39The opportunities are everywhere.

18:42The possibilities are all right in front

18:44of us, but people don't see them. You

18:47will only see what the brain is primed

18:50to see. You will see what it is that you

18:54truly your beliefs and the data behind

18:57your beliefs are priming you to attend

19:00to in the world. So when you do that,

19:03all of a sudden so many success stories,

19:05I know you've heard these two. People

19:07will say, "Oh, and then I met this

19:10person randomly." magic right

19:13>> they opened the door I had oh one

19:15conversation it just idea came to me I

19:18then all random things they start

19:21talking about

19:23>> it's it's not that random you can make

19:26you can increase the likelihood the

19:27statistical likelihood of these things

19:29that feel random

19:30>> if you reset your DMN

19:32>> if you reset your DMN that's a beautiful

19:33way to put it re literally design use

19:37your DMN to design your beliefs about

19:40yourself design your DMN so that you can

19:43choose what are the stories I'm telling

19:45myself about myself what's possible and

19:48what I'm going to accomplish and who I

19:49am and that is going to influence your

19:52behavior

19:53because the brain is going to it's

19:56designed this way this is what I mean by

19:58biological laws

19:59>> this is everybody's brain yours mine

20:02everybody's our brains are designed

20:05they're designed to look for data that

20:09confirms your beliefs.

20:14>> Yeah,

20:16true. It happens with all the negative

20:19things as well.

20:20>> Bingo. Bingo. Which is why I'm like, if

20:23it's not helping you, get it out of

20:25there. Throw it away. Get it out. Like,

20:28you don't need it.

20:29>> Because people are like, "Oh, I'm a

20:30victim. Everybody blah blah blah.

20:32Everybody hates me. I don't get what I

20:34want." And guess what? They always see

20:35they're always complaining, right?

20:37>> Yeah.

20:38this happened, then this other thing

20:40happened. No, no, no. What's happening

20:41is your beliefs because that's how the

20:43brain works. That's a biological law.

20:45The brain is going to find and look for

20:48data to confirm its own beliefs. So,

20:52choose your beliefs, design your

20:53beliefs.

20:54>> Yeah, this this is so fascinating. It

20:56happens with me all the time, right?

20:58>> I I have an irrational belief when it

21:02comes to my work. And even if I'm

21:05sitting on a random

21:08afternoon, I start spotting

21:11opportunities out of thin air and they

21:13end up becoming opportunities worth

21:15millions of dollars and I end up just

21:17getting them. And I'm like this like 5

21:19days ago this was not even the real

21:20thing. And at the same time I always

21:25play a victim card that because of my

21:27life, because of my schedule, because of

21:29work, I'm I never I I'm never able to

21:32sleep properly, you know, I'm not this

21:34guy who'll ever be able to get sleep,

21:35etc., etc. Every little thing just

21:39confirms that belief and I always just

21:42find out new reasons why I can't sleep.

21:45And like just two different aspects,

21:47same person business, work-wise,

21:50opportunities just keep getting them.

21:52Healthwise, I just keep falling,

21:54falling, falling.

21:55>> And I just keep confirming the even if I

21:57have like 10 hours to sleep, I end up

22:00confirming some belief and be like, "Oh,

22:03why didn't I sleep that day?" Because,

22:05you know, this happened and that

22:06happened 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

22:13character energy. Okay. If someone's

22:17watching this and we have to make this

22:20make main character energy exercise sort

22:23of stuff.

22:24>> Okay.

22:24>> Okay. Okay.

22:25>> So what would you want me to write in

22:27this story? So let's say I today I

22:30decide that from right now

22:32>> I'm going to have the main character

22:35energy in my life.

22:36>> Yeah.

22:36>> Okay.

22:37>> And I am going to write take a piece of

22:39paper and write my story.

22:42>> Yeah. What should I have in this story?

22:44Identity, goal, what all did you you

22:46just threw a bunch of words. Let's make

22:48it simplest. Let's make it simpler for

22:51people to have like a template to start

22:53doing it right now.

22:54>> Beautiful.

22:55>> First begin with what we call identity

22:58based beliefs.

23:00>> Okay.

23:00>> Okay. Identity based beliefs.

23:03>> Now, I actually think we should totally

23:05do this on you related to your sleep.

23:08>> Wow. Okay.

23:09>> Cuz you brought it up yourself, right?

23:11You said, "Okay, you've got some beliefs

23:13in there that sleep is hard for you."

23:15>> Yeah.

23:15>> Is not easy, but it's totally not

23:17helping you. I'm sure.

23:19>> Not at all.

23:20>> Okay. So, let's get rid of it. Let's

23:21make a new belief. You write a new one.

23:23>> So, what you're going to want to do, so

23:25the identity based beliefs, the the way

23:27that they work is that you need to write

23:31a belief that you have that Raj has

23:34about sleep that's based on your values.

23:38So, I'll give you a few examples just to

23:40like

23:41>> get you inspired. You might write, "I

23:46prioritize my health because I know how

23:50important it is for my performance and

23:53my business." You might just write that

23:55sentence down. Do you believe that?

23:56>> Yeah.

23:57>> Totally right.

23:58>> Absolutely.

23:59>> Okay. Absolutely. So, you might write

24:00something like that down.

24:02>> Then you're going to stack the next one.

24:04You're going to say, "I know the data on

24:07sleep and health."

24:10Do you feel like that's true?

24:12>> Yeah.

24:12>> Yeah.

24:13>> Have you had some sleep experts on the

24:15pod?

24:18>> Still, it has not helped me. A lot of

24:19people have benefited from it, not me.

24:22>> Okay.

24:24>> We can bond about this. I'm not an easy

24:25sleeper either. We should talk about

24:27your sleep. Seriously. Um,

24:29>> so first is identity. Second is data.

24:31Second is well I should say identity and

24:34then you're you're still mixing your

24:36identity with facts that you know. Yeah,

24:38pretty much your data because we're

24:39going to try to bridge all of these

24:41together,

24:42>> right?

24:43>> What else do you believe about sleep?

24:44What is it that you know for sure about

24:46sleep?

24:48>> It's going to make me better.

24:49>> It's going to make you even better.

24:51So would you maybe could I even push

24:54this a little further and say

24:56I could be a smarter,

25:01better looking and happier version of

25:03self if I slept a little bit more.

25:06>> Yeah, I'll ask better questions if I'm

25:10I'll be more focused.

25:13Yeah, there are so many things that I'll

25:15I'll achieve by just sleeping better.

25:17>> Yeah. So you might you'd write all of

25:19these things down and then you would

25:21start writing bringing it all together

25:23into an identity based belief and even

25:25though it's not true yet you would say

25:27something like I make sure that I wind

25:30down for bed

25:34>> that's

25:34>> at an early enough time to make sure I

25:36at least get 6 to 7 hours a night.

25:41You write what the you essentially

25:42you're designing the habit

25:44>> like this is the part I don't believe

25:47>> I know you don't believe it now but you

25:49have to write it down and this is the

25:50process of fake it till you make it

25:52right

25:52>> got it

25:53>> yeah you got to like you got to be like

25:55yep I do that

25:56>> okay

25:57>> because why because you prioritize your

26:00health and your performance

26:02>> you know

26:03>> so it's like first was identity second

26:05was data third is what better will

26:10happen after this and fourth is new

26:13habit.

26:14>> Yeah. And this is where you bring in I

26:16would say still even one full sentence

26:19all together. I'll give you an example

26:21actually from one of my um MBA students,

26:24one of my business students.

26:25>> I'm the type of person Oh, now we're

26:28talking about what kind of person are

26:30you versus what kind of person is

26:32>> someone else,

26:33>> your competitor. M m

26:36>> I'm the type of person who makes sure

26:38that I sleep at least 6 to 7 hours a

26:41night because I know what an edge it's

26:44going to give me in my business.

26:47You're just going to write that down and

26:48you're like, "Oh, I don't do that every

26:50night." That's okay. You're But do you

26:52believe you can get there?

26:54>> Yeah.

26:55>> And do you believe it's true all the

26:56other things you've written?

26:57>> Yeah.

26:58>> Okay. Once you've done this work and

27:01you've written down that identity, I'm

27:03the type of person who does this,

27:06>> then we start going into something that

27:08we call implementation intentions. And

27:10this is from research from Peter

27:12Gwitzer. Now, implementation intentions

27:15are essentially situation action plans.

27:18For those who do computer science, it's

27:20like an old school if then statement.

27:22>> Yeah. Okay.

27:23>> If this then that. If then, when is

27:26probably a more apt way to describe it.

27:28Okay.

27:29>> So, a situation action plan would be

27:31like this.

27:33When my alarm goes off every night at 11

27:38p.m.,

27:39I begin my designed routine. I start my

27:45windown music playlist, you know, then I

27:49make my herbal tea. I do this. I start

27:52doing my physical therapy, you know,

27:54whatever it may be. You you go through

27:56your routine.

27:58The difference between I'm going to try

28:01to go to bed earlier or I have this new

28:04routine, I'm just going to do it before

28:06bed.

28:08The difference here is an implementation

28:10intention

28:12describes

28:14in

28:16crazy detail

28:18what does it look like

28:21when you do the thing you describe like

28:24a movie. I want to see you in your

28:26house, Raj. Like at and it's like 11:00

28:28p.m. the alarm goes off and you're like,

28:30uh, where are you? What is it? What does

28:32it look like? What are you wearing?

28:33Where in the house are you? What are you

28:35doing? Phone's in your hand.

28:38>> It's truly describe it in detail. I'll

28:40give you another example of the

28:43difference between having an

28:45implementation intention versus having a

28:47goal. Because a goal is

28:49>> wake random.

28:51>> Yeah. It's it's like a prayer, you know.

28:54It's like that's cute. It's nice, but

28:56there's no plan, right? There's no way

28:58to make it to execute the thing, right?

29:00We got to have a plan. So,

29:03>> uh, let's say I've heard a lot of people

29:04say, "I'm going to try to go to sleep

29:06earlier. I want to try to get more

29:07sleep."

29:09>> Adorable. How are you going to do that?

29:11Right. We actually have to get serious

29:12about what this looks like.

29:14>> Yeah. So usually for people unless your

29:17body is waking you up super you know

29:18usually we have what we have to do is

29:21>> go to bed earlier not uh keep sleeping

29:23the other way.

29:24>> Yeah.

29:25>> So the question becomes what kind of

29:28implementation intention can you design

29:32that's going to get you to do that. So

29:34you don't say I'm going to try to get to

29:35bed earlier. It's not going to work. So

29:39you describe the situation when this

29:42happens then I will do this when then

29:45>> okay so when 11 let's say when whenever

29:52my alarm goes around 11 p.m. this is

29:56what I'm going to do. That's exactly

29:58what you you want me to design.

30:00>> Yes.

30:01>> And like I'm on the right side of the

30:03bed. I have my laptop on. and I'm doing

30:05this like all of this and like I'll shut

30:07this down. I'll be doing like stuff like

30:09that like that minute detail.

30:11>> Yes.

30:12>> Okay. And then

30:13>> once you visualize it and you've written

30:15it down, then you begin the habit, you

30:19attempt to actually do the habit and you

30:22tr and here are some other tips here.

30:25Make it as easy and small as possible.

30:28>> As easy and small as possible. For

30:31example, a lot of people benefit from

30:34going to bed earlier just by brushing

30:36their teeth earlier.

30:38>> Interesting.

30:40>> That's it. You could just say, "Listen,

30:41I'm I don't know when I'm going to go to

30:43sleep, but I told myself I have to brush

30:45my teeth at 11:00."

30:47Once you brush your teeth, that means

30:48you're probably not going to eat or

30:49drink anything anymore.

30:51>> Now you have at least the kitchen is cut

30:53off. You just start cutting everything

30:55off. You're like, "And then I'm going to

30:56get in my pajamas." Okay, now we're even

30:58one step closer. You just have to figure

31:00out what behaviors that you want to

31:02design out.

31:04Commit to it. Make it as small as

31:06possible, but really make the when part,

31:09the if part, the beginning, the

31:10situation should be as clear as humanly

31:14possible. Truly clear. People really

31:17skip this step. They say things like,

31:20um, I'll give you an example of when

31:22people want to stop doing something

31:24because it's possible your viewers want

31:25to cut a habit.

31:26>> Yeah.

31:27>> Stop smoking. stop eating sweets,

31:29whatever it may be.

31:30>> Start binging on their reels overnight.

31:34>> Tricky one, but yeah, totally. Totally.

31:37You could say, "When I have a craving

31:39for another piece of chocolate, when I

31:42have a craving for a cigarette, then I

31:45will do this instead."

31:48>> And I'll tell you, this is a version of

31:50an implementation intention for a

31:53negative behavior, meaning a behavior

31:55you want to cut.

31:56>> Okay?

31:56>> Not a positive behavior. and a behavior

31:58you want to add. Say add like positive

32:00and negative or add a behavior or remove

32:02a behavior.

32:03>> Removing a behavior is insanely

32:06difficult.

32:08Super super difficult.

32:09>> Way more than adding.

32:11>> Yes.

32:12>> Why? Why cutting off an habit is more

32:15difficult than making a new habit?

32:19>> Do you have a whiteboard?

32:20>> Yeah.

32:20>> All right. All right.

32:22>> Okay. So

32:25we were talking about neural networks

32:27before, right? So neural networks again

32:29are patterns of electrical activation.

32:31So let's say for example,

32:34>> you have

32:36some pattern of electrical activation

32:37here in the brain. And let's say this

32:39represents your craving for something

32:42you don't want to crave anymore.

32:43>> Yeah. Watching reals, let's like binge

32:46watching random stuff. Yeah.

32:47>> Oh wow. Binge watching. Okay. So

32:50>> mindless scrolling, whatever you want to

32:52call Yeah,

32:53>> great. I'll even draw a little phone,

32:54you know. Okay, there you go. All right.

32:57So, this is this is the craving for it,

32:59though.

33:00>> Okay.

33:00>> This is not the behavior. This is the

33:02craving. So if this dot here represents

33:06the the actual craving for it, what that

33:08let's say ends up getting connected to

33:11is a set of patterns of electrical

33:14activation here that represents the

33:18complex behavior that ends up being you

33:21grab the phone and you start scrolling.

33:23>> Okay.

33:24>> Okay. So it starts with a craving. The

33:26craving is not by the way usually to

33:28binge watch. Usually the craving is

33:30something else. Usually, and this is

33:33where we can get a little more emotional

33:35here, 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

33:47for you to satisfy a craving. The

33:49craving you think is actually for binge

33:52watching, but it's it's a craving to

33:54binge watch in order to satisfy some

33:57feeling. That's usually what's

33:59happening. like something I'm missing.

34:02>> Something you're missing or something

34:04that you want to disassociate from, numb

34:06from

34:08usually. Usually

34:11the feeling that people have is

34:15overwhelm,

34:17stress, let's say.

34:20>> Okay,

34:21>> if you're overwhelmed, you're stressed

34:22out, you're tired, you lack motivation,

34:27>> right? M

34:28>> you're looking to solve for these

34:31feelings

34:33>> and your brain has decided a nice thing

34:36to do if you have these feelings. You're

34:38like, I don't nobody wants to feel this

34:40by the way, right? These are bad

34:41feelings.

34:42>> So if you have these feelings, your

34:45brain goes, let's get out of this. How

34:48do I solve this?

34:50>> There's a few different things you can

34:52do. But let's say you accidentally

34:55develop this addiction, this habit.

34:58>> Because by the way,

34:59>> the word habit is a common one. We're

35:03all interested in habits.

35:04>> Yeah.

35:05>> It's pretty much the same thing as

35:06addiction.

35:08>> It's the same thing. People hear the

35:10word addiction and they think it's like

35:12scary, 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

35:20are addicted to exercise or addicted to

35:23feeling healthy or addicted to being

35:26kind,

35:28right? Cuz you can you've I've met

35:30people who definitely are addicted to

35:32those things

35:34>> and I know you probably have met lots of

35:36these kinds of people because these are

35:37the people you collect. People addicted

35:39to their own success.

35:42>> Absolutely. Yeah.

35:43>> Yeah. So, it's not a bad thing.

35:46Addiction just means habit. That's it.

35:50>> Okay.

35:50>> So, we can demystify, dethrone, you

35:54know, uh uh these words really. They're

35:57coupled together. They're the same

35:59thing. They're the same thing.

36:00>> So, what is a habit? What is also an

36:03addiction? It's also the same thing as

36:05just a behavior

36:08that you do over and over.

36:12I would just say that you do a lot,

36:14right? So what ends up happening is you

36:17have a feeling there is some brain

36:19state, some cognitive or emotional brain

36:21state and then what ends up happening is

36:24you want to move away from that feeling.

36:25If it's a if it's a bad feeling like

36:27this, right? You want to move away from

36:29it. Your your brain wants to help you

36:30solve it. It doesn't want to let you sit

36:32in that in that bad feeling.

36:34>> So whatever it is that you did, let's

36:36say you did binge watching one time when

36:38you felt that way. You're like, "Let me

36:39distract myself, you know,

36:41>> go somewhere else. We don't need to

36:43think that. We don't need to feel that."

36:44So then you start binge watching and

36:46what's going to happen in the beginning?

36:48In the beginning you're distracted,

36:49right? So it feels good.

36:50>> Yeah.

36:51>> Okay. So what you ended up doing is you

36:53ended up doing the actual binge

36:54watching. So you scrolled and then what

36:57happens uh uh at the at the very end.

37:00Let's say now you're done scrolling and

37:01you put the phone away.

37:03This is a bit of a trick question

37:05because let's say you were overwhelmed

37:06about 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

37:15thing that's overwhelming you. So then

37:17you did the binge watching and then

37:18afterwards you put the phone down. Did

37:20you deal with the thing that you were

37:21actually stressed about?

37:22>> No, I get guilty.

37:24>> Yeah. So now you have this, you have the

37:27overwhelm and you have shame.

37:30>> Yeah.

37:32So the person is super sad now. We're

37:34we're just super sad. So now that you

37:36have overwhelm and shame, you know

37:39that'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,

37:48let's say you've done this one night.

37:50But come on, let's be honest. I've done

37:51this even like at least 100 times. Do

37:54you know what I mean?

37:55>> Here's the answer to your your original

37:58question. Every single time you do this,

38:00you go through this path. Every time you

38:04traverse this road and you do it again

38:06and again and again, do you see what's

38:09happening here? We're making it darker.

38:12No,

38:12>> we're making it maybe even bigger,

38:15>> stronger, deeper. This neural network

38:18starts to become like a tree trunk, like

38:21the roots of a tree.

38:24That is how a behavior. If you do it one

38:28time, that's fine. You do it 100 times,

38:311,000 times, a million times,

38:35that's a behavior that you do a lot,

38:37that's the same thing as addiction. It's

38:39the same thing as a habit. It's all the

38:41same. So habits, addictions, and

38:44behaviors that you do a lot are just

38:46really entrenched and strong

38:49associations between a feeling, a

38:51craving, and a behavior.

38:54>> So how do we break this?

38:57>> One, tip number one, don't wait for it

39:00to 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

39:07hundreds of bad behaviors which are

39:09strong in my head. Obviously hundreds of

39:11good behaviors as well.

39:12>> Yes.

39:13>> But the bad behaviors, let's talk about

39:14them. Let's get rid of them first.

39:16>> Okay.

39:18Step one, awareness.

39:21You have to understand and see the loop

39:23for yourself. You cannot

39:27change something that you do not

39:29understand that you don't have data on.

39:32>> Right? You have to understand a system

39:33if you want to change the system. So you

39:36need knowledge.

39:36>> Okay?

39:37>> Self-nowledge in this case. So you need

39:39to be aware. You need to be able to see

39:41your own behavior as it's happening.

39:43That means you actually have to answer

39:44the question, what's the feeling? So

39:48step one is you got to identify the

39:51emotions and the feelings that cause you

39:55to go down the loop in the first place.

39:56>> How do I identify this? Because I don't

39:58know if I'm if I'm falling into this

40:00trap

40:01>> of feeling

40:04like I I want to crave something. That

40:06craving can be dessert at midnight. It

40:09can be binge watching. It can be

40:12just doing all sorts of bad habits. Some

40:15for some people it can be alcohol,

40:17smoking weed, uh smoking, you know, like

40:20a cigarette.

40:21>> Mhm.

40:22>> For some a lot of young people it can be

40:24porn like all of these behaviors are

40:26stem from feeling, right?

40:27>> Yes.

40:28>> But we don't know why are they

40:31occurring.

40:32>> Yeah. Like it it can be overwhelm, it

40:34can be stress, it can be anxiety, it can

40:36be tired, it can be all it can be just

40:39pure shame or maybe lack of ability to

40:42turn around my life or the feeling like

40:44a victim.

40:45>> How do I find out which one is it?

40:48>> You have to have what's called a

40:49cognitive pause.

40:52So that means when you before you go

40:54grab the chocolate at midnight, before

40:56you grab the phone and maybe you've

40:58already grabbed it, by the way, you just

41:00you've grabbed the phone,

41:02>> you've opened up Instagram, whatever it

41:03is that your app of choice, you know,

41:06>> you grabbed it, you opened it, and you

41:08just were about to start scrolling and

41:09you go,

41:10>> you have to start to build the

41:11awareness. You go, hold on, hold on,

41:13hold on. I'm not saying you can't have

41:14it. By the way, in the beginning, we

41:16just want to know why.

41:18>> So you go, okay, hold on.

41:21What am I feeling right now?

41:24What is it that Why do I want to go and

41:26binge 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.

41:37Why are you exhausted? And then I'd

41:39force you I if I were in the room with

41:41you, I would say, well, Raj, if you're

41:43exhausted, shouldn't you go do something

41:46else like rest?

41:50Right. Or gain more energy. Do something

41:53that gives you energy.

41:54>> Like, right. If you're tired, if it

41:56depends. If it's right before bed, then

41:58if you're tired, yeah, that's right. Go

42:00to bed.

42:01>> Sleep.

42:01>> So then you go to sleep, right? We go,

42:03we help you with the sleep thing.

42:05>> But if you're tired in the middle of the

42:06day, you're like halfway in the middle

42:08of the day and you're like, I'm just

42:09exhausted and I need a break.

42:11>> Yeah.

42:11>> This is not a break. There was, by the

42:13way, a paper published in Nature.

42:16>> What is it? the world's like premier

42:18science journal 2024 that actually

42:21measured the effectiveness of different

42:23kinds of breaks.

42:25>> Okay.

42:26>> One option was no break at all. You do

42:29no break. Raj, keep working. Tired. So

42:31what?

42:32>> Keep going. Hustle. Come on. You're

42:34young. You got it. Let's go.

42:36>> The next option was you take a break uh

42:39and you look outside or you go take a

42:41walk outside in nature.

42:43>> Okay. So you're exposed to something

42:44natural. Okay. The next break was

42:48scrolling.

42:50>> Yeah.

42:51>> Can you imagine

42:53what the results were?

42:55>> It showed that scrolling is pretty much

42:59the same as not taking a break. So

43:02instead of actually letting this brain

43:04rest and make energy for you, because

43:06again this is all chemistry up in here.

43:08This is like again biological laws. You

43:11need to learn that if this system is

43:12tired in and listen I'm a high

43:15performance like I'm all about

43:18productivity and performance. So if

43:20let's say for example treat yourself

43:21like an Olympic athlete.

43:23>> If an athlete is telling you I'm

43:24exhausted right then you say okay okay

43:27get off the field go sit and rest drink

43:30some water get a snack you know we tell

43:32them to like stretch you know get ready.

43:34Why? Because I need you to go back out

43:36there and keep training.

43:37>> Yeah. If they say I'm tired, like let me

43:40open Tik Tok. That's we already know. We

43:43science has already shown that that's

43:45not a break. It doesn't replenish and

43:47increase your energy. Right?

43:49>> So going back to this, I would you would

43:51say, "Oh, I'm tired." I would actually

43:53want you to sit down and really dig into

43:55the feeling more. You know, are you

43:58really is it just tired? What's really

44:00going on? And like I then you need a

44:02replacement behavior. So in this

44:05previous example, you were doing the

44:07scrolling.

44:08It's this is what I meant by negative

44:10behavior, right? If you want to cut

44:12something off, you cannot just say, "Oh,

44:15next time I'm exhausted, I will not

44:18binge watch.

44:20>> This is impossible. Good luck. It won't

44:22happen.

44:22>> It won't happen. You're going to do it

44:23because look at this. Look at how deep

44:26this network was. It's not your choice.

44:28It's going to happen automatically. You

44:30don't have a choice. Raj is not driving

44:32this car.

44:33It's automatically just driving it on.

44:36>> It's automatically driving it. So, you

44:38need to aggressively, that's what I

44:40meant, a cognitive pause. You need to

44:42aggressively start. Number one, you need

44:44to start where it starts, which is the

44:46feeling. It starts here.

44:49>> The feeling, the brain state, the

44:51cognitive state, the craving. Why do you

44:53do the behavior in the first place? We

44:55have to cut it off there and make you

44:57pause and then say, "Okay, we're going

45:00to do something else." So that ends up

45:02being this feeling, right? That was our

45:03first step here.

45:05>> So instead of going towards the the

45:08actual binge watching, we're going to do

45:09something else.

45:10>> So let's say instead, what's a healthy

45:12behavior that you wish you did more of,

45:14too?

45:15>> Let's say breath work.

45:18>> I mean, yeah, that would be nice. I love

45:20it. Yeah, sure. So, you're going to do

45:22breath 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.

45:29You don't have to do anything else. You

45:30just

45:32>> that's it.

45:33>> Okay.

45:34>> Okay.

45:34>> That's going to be the new replacement

45:36behavior. Now, here's what I would tell

45:39you if you're really addicted. If after

45:4260 seconds of closing your eyes, you

45:44still want to scroll, go for it. Makes

45:47it a lot easier. No.

45:48>> Yeah.

45:49>> But what you're doing when you do that,

45:51by the way, is let's say the closing

45:53your eyes, this is the feeling that

45:55started. This is the new behavior. Close

45:58your eyes.

45:58>> Mhm.

45:59>> Right. I draw a little eye for you here.

46:02>> Okay. So, you close your eyes. This is

46:04the new behavior. Instead of this going

46:07immediately to the original scrolling

46:11behavior, it's going to go here first.

46:13>> Okay?

46:14>> This is you're breaking the cycle.

46:16Instead of the energy going this way,

46:18it's now going to go this way. Even if

46:20it goes this way afterwards, we're

46:22helping. Maybe one time you go, "No, I

46:24still want to scroll." Okay? The second

46:26time, maybe you're like, "Okay, fine.

46:30Really,

46:30>> I'll do something else. This is you just

46:32you have to find a way to break this

46:34thing.

46:34>> And if I break this, you're saying that

46:37after 1 minute, if I still want to do

46:39it, if I do this every time, I'll

46:42reduce.

46:44>> If you do it every time, I promise

46:47you're going to start not doing it. If

46:48you then you're just going to create a

46:50new one. I mean, listen, if you do it

46:52every time, then you're just going to

46:53start creating a new habit this way,

46:56right?

46:57>> Yeah. So, you're just saying, "Okay,

46:59before the route was this way. Now, this

47:01is a new route that I'm going to go to

47:03scrolling." Like, now you're going to be

47:04that guy that before he binge watches,

47:06he closes his 60 seconds. You've just

47:10designed a new addiction. But the idea

47:13here is you're giving your brain an

47:15opportunity. It's just an opportunity to

47:17to redirect. And what we call all of

47:20this by the way is to do one thing and

47:22that thing is called emotional

47:27regulation.

47:30>> Interesting.

47:31>> That's what you're trying to do because

47:33every behavior, even people doing hard

47:35drugs, porn addiction, it's coming from

47:38an emotion. It starts here. If you can

47:41understand the emotion, you can control

47:43the behavior because you can choose it.

47:45You can design it. But that requires

47:48regulating. Regulating is hard. So what

47:51you can do is you just can create a

47:53cognitive pause and get yourself to do

47:54something tiny. Easy, not hard. Easy,

47:57easy, easy. And then you're creating a

47:59bit of a pattern interrupt and it's an

48:02opportunity for you to choose something

48:04different. So then what ends up

48:06happening is

48:07this p road becomes less traveled. Let's

48:12say this is after one month of you

48:14closing your eyes after the feeling

48:16instead of going immediately. So now

48:20it gets skinnier. After 3 months it's

48:24even skinnier. Then this one you've been

48:26doing this, right? So this is getting

48:28stronger and stronger and this one keeps

48:30getting skinnier and this one keeps

48:31getting stronger. That's the idea. This

48:34is how you build new habits and kill bad

48:38ones that you don't want anymore. And

48:39why killing bad ones is more difficult

48:41than building a new one?

48:44>> Starting new ones. It's difficult

48:46because you're both pruning.

48:49You're both pruning. Meaning you're

48:51trying to

48:54deactivate and and weaken a neural

48:58network or a pattern of electrical

49:00activation. And in order to do that,

49:03you should be building another one. So

49:05it's like you're doing two things. You

49:07know, if you think about it from like a

49:09business perspective, it's like um if

49:12you're trying to downsize one department

49:14and create a whole new department, it's

49:15a little easier just to say everyone

49:17else keep going. We're also just going

49:19to build a new department, new project.

49:22So, you're doing two things. You're

49:24pruning is hard because the energy wants

49:26to go that way because you let it you

49:29let it go that way over and over and

49:31over again. And then it became that

49:33muscle became really strong. Going back

49:36to your identity, remember those

49:38stories? Yeah. It's the same thing.

49:41>> So, if you let yourself say, "I'm a

49:43victim. I'm a victim. I'm a victim. I'm

49:44going to stay poor forever." Blah, blah,

49:46blah. Because the system is messed up.

49:48Those people who are successful, they

49:50they were, you know, uh they they did it

49:53through tricks. They got it through

49:55luck. I'm unlucky.

49:58My family is not lucky. My We just We

50:01don't That doesn't happen for us. It

50:02doesn't happen for people from like

50:04where I'm from. Whatever it may,

50:05whatever story you're telling yourself,

50:08>> any one of these stories, if you let

50:10yourself say that story again,

50:12>> what you're doing is again you're make

50:14you're just saying that's this is what's

50:16up. This is real. This is real. This is

50:18real. This is real. And what we said

50:19before,

50:21beliefs look for data and data informs

50:25beliefs

50:27and then that cycle becomes even

50:29stronger then becomes your whole life.

50:31So when you when you get hired by these

50:35large companies to upgrade their mindset

50:38or upgrade mindset of their CEOs and

50:40their billionaires and multi-millionaire

50:43executives, right?

50:46What actual

50:48habit or like

50:51a sort of a routine you help them build

50:54so that they don't get they upgrade

50:56their mind and they don't get exhausted

50:58because you must be improving some

51:00things in their life. That's why they

51:01keep coming back to you.

51:03>> Yeah, there's a lot of habits and a lot

51:05of strategies. It kind of depends on We

51:08can go through the list.

51:09>> Yeah, tell me the list. What what can an

51:11average 25year-old or 35year-old who's

51:14watching this

51:15>> can follow in their life which you teach

51:17the top executives?

51:19>> Okay. The first and I would say the most

51:23pervasive issue that I see in most

51:28people's lives right now and in places

51:32of work as it relates to productivity

51:35is what we call bad digital hygiene.

51:40>> Okay. What do you mean by that?

51:42>> So hygiene, right? It's like having

51:43clean hands and things like this. Yeah.

51:45Bad digital hygiene is having a bad

51:47relationship with your digital tools

51:50>> and specifically your notifications.

51:53>> I'll give you an example. You sit down

51:55to work. You sit down to focus on

51:57something.

52:00Where is your phone

52:02when 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

52:09it's

52:09>> Yeah. Yeah. It's right there. Actually,

52:12for this

52:14I can actually we can do a mini

52:16experiment 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

52:22Austin that I want to share with you.

52:25>> Okay,

52:26>> but we're going to pretend like you are

52:28doing you're you're in the actual study

52:31itself.

52:32>> You're going to be like one of the

52:33participants. Okay.

52:34>> Okay. All right. So, this is your phone.

52:37>> All right. So, in this study, everybody

52:40came into the lab. So let's say you're

52:42the in the exact same situation, right?

52:44You've just come into the lab and what

52:45we're going to do, Raj, is we're going

52:47to test your general fluid intelligence.

52:50>> Okay. What do you mean by that?

52:52>> It means your mind's ability to hold

52:55important information in mind and then

52:58get new information and compute with

53:00that information without losing the

53:02stuff that was already in your mind.

53:03Honestly, you you've been doing it this

53:04whole conversation.

53:06>> You're amazing at it,

53:07>> but that's why you're successful. So,

53:09it's an important skill. Have you

53:11noticed some people, it's hard for them

53:12to do that? They like lose track of what

53:14they were trying to remember and they

53:15can't compute the stuff. Yeah. New

53:18stuff.

53:18>> Okay. So, there's actually a test for

53:21this which I bet you would score really

53:22high.

53:23>> Okay.

53:23>> Okay. It's a complex working memory

53:26task. And complex working memory is a

53:28phenomenal way to test for general fluid

53:30intelligence.

53:30>> Okay.

53:31>> I can give you this test later if you

53:33like

53:34>> uh for real. But let's say you come into

53:36the 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

53:46have a phone, right?" All right, great.

53:48Go ahead and turn your phone completely

53:49off

53:51like

53:52>> like airplane or just

53:53>> No, no, no. Full like dead.

53:56>> Yeah. Not DND, not airplane mode. The

53:59side and the button.

54:04None.

54:05>> Okay, it's off. Okay,

54:08scenario one. Your phone is going to be

54:12in another room with me. It's dead. You

54:15turned it off. You give it to me. It's

54:16going to be in the waiting room. So, I'm

54:18going to hold it. You're going to go

54:19into the testing room with a computer.

54:21You're going to sit down and you're

54:22going to hammer out all these tests.

54:24>> We're going to test your intelligence

54:25and all these things.

54:26>> Okay.

54:28>> Option two. Scenario two. I you can keep

54:31your phone but you have to put it in

54:32your pocket.

54:34>> Okay.

54:34>> Or a bag.

54:35>> Okay. Now imagine now you come and you

54:37sit down by yourself in the 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

54:46the middle of the test.

54:48>> You sit down. You do the attention span

54:50test. You do all the different tests.

54:52Scenario three. You can take your phone

54:54out of your pocket, but this time I let

54:57you put your phone face down just like

55:00where you said it was when you were

55:02working. Okay. Face down on the side.

55:04Then you're sitting in front of the

55:05computer

55:06>> and you're doing all of these

55:07assessments.

55:08>> Okay.

55:09>> Okay.

55:10>> Yeah. Okay.

55:11>> In this study, and remember the phone is

55:14dead.

55:14>> Yeah. Yeah. Technically, nothing changes

55:17in all three scenarios. The phone's

55:19dead. You're not using it.

55:20>> Exactly. M

55:21>> it's like having this eraser nearby,

55:24right? It's just an object.

55:26>> In this study, we were able to see, and

55:29by the way, this is one of the most

55:30shocking studies I think I have seen in

55:33the last number of years on this topic.

55:36>> Okay?

55:38>> When the phone was visible to you in

55:41your visual field, dead but face down

55:44off to the side, scores were

55:46significantly decreased across the

55:49board. like my attention decreased.

55:51>> Yes, it's the same you, right? Same Raj,

55:55same brain, different capability.

56:00And think about it's attention span.

56:02Raj, it was also general fluid

56:04intelligence. That means you're dumber.

56:08Literally, if the phone is visible, I'm

56:10not

56:11>> even though it's dead.

56:12>> Even though it's dead. Even though it's

56:14dead.

56:18This is the scary reality of how

56:22attention works in the brain. Remember

56:24the stories we tell, right? The brain is

56:28all about storytelling and narration.

56:30All the memories you have using that

56:32thing, all of the memories you have,

56:34binge watching, talking to friends,

56:37making plans, good news, bad news,

56:40drama, all these things are happening in

56:42the phone, right? For me, like I don't

56:44know if you use like Apple Pay, but I'm

56:46also like tapping. It's like my payment

56:48system. It's like

56:49>> everything.

56:50>> It's everything. Everything is in the

56:51phone. Memories. I have pictures, you

56:53know, of my dog. Like all this stuff is

56:55on there that I love, right? It's all

56:58there.

56:59>> And you know that. Your brain knows

57:00that. So if you can see it, it's always

57:03going to be thinking, "Oh, I'm

57:05remembering all those amazing things and

57:08I want to play." Like right now since

57:10the time we've spoken about phone, I've

57:13been 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

57:20recommendation. You should have like a

57:22parking lot, a box, something there

57:24where you hide your phone. Just put it

57:26away so that you don't see it. Bam.

57:29Gone. Out of sight, out of mind. We

57:31don't need it. Right? And this is

57:33listen, I'm not saying all the time, but

57:34when you want when you want 100% of your

57:37intelligence for me, right, I run a

57:40business, right? I I do research, I do

57:43all these different things. When it's

57:45game time,

57:47again, remember, treat yourself like an

57:49Olympic athlete. If it's game time, it's

57:51go time, you're making a big important

57:52decision, you're sitting down with your

57:54team and you're having a brainstorm, get

57:56the phones out of the room because

57:57you're literally lowering the IQ of your

57:59whole team. If you let people have their

58:02phones out, the IQ of your employees,

58:05the IQ of your team is lower.

58:08>> You're making everybody dumber just by

58:11having phone here.

58:12>> Just by having the phone there. And if

58:15you care about this, people like you

58:16less. There's been lots of really

58:19interesting studies that people who hold

58:21their phone or put their phone out on

58:22the table when they're talking to people

58:24and they first meet you, you seem less

58:26trustworthy,

58:28um, less capable, less intelligent, all

58:30of these different things. Why would

58:32that be? It's because I'm really saying,

58:34listen, you're not so important that I'm

58:38going to give up the opportunity

58:41>> to put my attention somewhere else.

58:43somebody more important than you might

58:45call me. So, I'm going to keep it here

58:47in my hand, you know, cuz that's

58:49wherever it is. Usually, it's pee in

58:50people's hands or like, you know, some

58:52I'll like sometimes put it under my arm

58:53and carry it that way, you know,

58:55whatever. But it's on the table. Two

58:57people who have a coffee chat, right?

58:58They put it on the table and they sit

58:59down and they have their coffee. But

59:01it's literally lowering the quality of

59:04the conversation. It's lowering the

59:06quality of the connection.

59:09You know,

59:10>> you're not married yet, are you?

59:11>> No.

59:12>> Okay. Hey, so you're going to be dating.

59:13It's also going to lower the quality of

59:15your date.

59:16>> No, I don't take that on the rates.

59:18>> Like, all right, good, good, good.

59:19>> I've learned it on my podcast that days

59:21when I have my phone right next to me.

59:24>> Yeah.

59:24>> My attention

59:27during the conversation is much lower

59:29versus that's why I just always give it

59:31to these guys and just, you know, either

59:33out of the room or they have it

59:34somewhere I don't even care.

59:35>> Yeah.

59:36>> And it's like on airplane mode. The

59:37moment you like you entering before even

59:39you enter like 30 minutes before you

59:41enter just off like it's gone. I don't

59:44care.

59:45>> That's such a good habit. I'm so glad

59:47you mentioned that. Your listeners need

59:50to do that too. It's the same thing.

59:51It's the same exact thing. I would also

59:54recommend going back to your sleep

59:55because now I care about your sleep.

59:57Remember I used to coach CEOs and I know

59:58I'm like so I'm going to start like

1:00:00coaching you. Bring it back to your

1:00:01sleep. I would ask you to respect your

1:00:03sleep enough because it's going to

1:00:05impact your performance that much too

1:00:07for you to put your phone away 30

1:00:09minutes before bed.

1:00:12>> Okay.

1:00:13>> You said you did it 30 minutes before I

1:00:15arrived.

1:00:16>> Yeah, but this was Yeah,

1:00:17>> I'm not as important as your sleep.

1:00:20>> Raj, your sleep is more important than

1:00:22me. I promise. I promise. Because if you

1:00:25start doing that, oh, you're going to

1:00:27see such a radical shift in your life

1:00:30and in your mindset. And do you want to

1:00:32know something? Okay, here's what I this

1:00:34I'm going to dare you to do this.

1:00:36>> Okay? And I'm going to follow up with

1:00:38you.

1:00:38>> Okay?

1:00:39>> I'm going to dare you to do this. 30

1:00:40minutes before you go to bed, have a cut

1:00:42off where you have to turn your phone

1:00:44off.

1:00:45And then don't turn it back on until 30

1:00:47minutes after you wake up. If 30 minutes

1:00:50is too much, 15 minutes. 15 minutes

1:00:53before you go to bed off and then after

1:00:55you wake up just let your eyes open

1:00:58because people use the phone as an

1:01:00alarm. It's right next to them. The

1:01:03phone rings. They immediately grab it

1:01:05and then they start. They're still in

1:01:07bed. They're like doing this. They're

1:01:09just like, "Oh,

1:01:10>> that that's me. Thanks for attacking."

1:01:13Like that's just

1:01:15>> got to talk about the truth. Yeah. I

1:01:17didn't know that. But it's this is the

1:01:18reality for so many people though,

1:01:20right? There's no no point in the shame

1:01:21because the shame makes it worse.

1:01:23Remember,

1:01:23>> it's adding an extra feeling on top of

1:01:25the other feeling. So that feeling in

1:01:28the morning, you're looking for

1:01:30stimulation and it's FOMO.

1:01:32>> You want to figure out what you missed

1:01:34while you've been sleeping.

1:01:35>> Yeah.

1:01:36>> But here, okay, here's my this is why I

1:01:39want you to not look at it for 15

1:01:40minutes.

1:01:42First thing in the morning, your brain

1:01:44is in a very delicate and powerful

1:01:47state. You have an opportunity to

1:01:50reinforce those new beliefs that we were

1:01:52talking about. You have an opportunity

1:01:54to set your brain up for the right

1:01:56mindset, for the right goals, for the

1:01:58right priorities first thing in the

1:02:01morning. When you allow the rest of the

1:02:04world to tell you who you are, where you

1:02:08should be putting your attention. So,

1:02:09hey, there's news over here. Look at

1:02:11this notification. Look at this email. I

1:02:13need this Raj. I need you to send me the

1:02:14Can I see you Tuesday at 3 p.m. Please

1:02:17confirm. Is that when we're me

1:02:20all this noise?

1:02:22All the noise from the outside is

1:02:24removing an opportunity for your own

1:02:26brain to tell you some amazing idea

1:02:29that's going to unlock something for you

1:02:31because peeps so many people have such

1:02:33amazing clarity and amazing ideas first

1:02:35thing in the morning. But right now

1:02:38across the world I think it's it's a

1:02:40generation of people are losing that

1:02:43like we're missing out. We're missing

1:02:45out on so many things. So the first

1:02:47mistake you asked me the biggest mistake

1:02:49that people are making is bad digital

1:02:52hygiene. They leave their notifications

1:02:54on on their computers. So they sit down

1:02:55on the computer and now we let's say we

1:02:57put the phones away at least, right?

1:02:58Phone is gone cuz we learned about that.

1:03:00>> Okay. If you want to be fully focused,

1:03:02you want to have the best productivity,

1:03:04the highest level of effectiveness.

1:03:07>> You also need to make sure all your

1:03:08other forms of digital hygiene are

1:03:10locked in,

1:03:11>> dialed in. That means, and let me be

1:03:14clear, most of the CEOs I work with,

1:03:16when I sat down and I would observe them

1:03:18working, you know, I would show up with

1:03:20my clipboard and all of my, you know,

1:03:22observational tools and stuff and I'd be

1:03:23like, "Go ahead. Just I'll be over here

1:03:25watching."

1:03:29They have they immediately open a

1:03:31document, right? Let's say they're

1:03:32getting ready for the board meeting or

1:03:34something. They open up a document,

1:03:35they're looking at a deck, and then

1:03:36bing, what was that? Okay. And then they

1:03:38go here. They have two monitors. on the

1:03:40other monitor they have like Slack open.

1:03:42Yeah.

1:03:42>> Constantly pinging

1:03:44like all this stuff and the phone is out

1:03:46and they have an Apple Watch and they're

1:03:47just like doing this thing and it's just

1:03:49like this.

1:03:50>> Yeah.

1:03:52>> But the brain is literally a focusing

1:03:54machine. Every single time you switch

1:03:57your attention,

1:03:59you pay for it. It's not free.

1:04:02>> What do you pay for it? How do you pay?

1:04:04What's the price?

1:04:04>> I'm glad you asked. You pay for it in

1:04:07time and you pay for it in energy.

1:04:11And if you don't believe me, we can test

1:04:12it 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

1:04:16some paper and a pen. So, on this piece

1:04:18of paper, we're just going to draw two

1:04:20lines. There you go. Okay. Now, on the

1:04:24top line, I want you to write, I am a

1:04:28great multitasker, but don't start yet.

1:04:30>> Okay? And then on the bottom line, I

1:04:32want you to write the numbers 1 through

1:04:3420.

1:04:35>> 1 through 20.

1:04:36>> 1 through 20. I want you to go as fast

1:04:38as you can. Okay. And then I'm going to

1:04:40time you. I'll hide the phone so that

1:04:42you're smart as possible. No excuses.

1:04:44Okay. 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.

1:04:50I'll read the times out out loud and

1:04:51then and then you can go for it. Okay.

1:04:53>> And then actually, how about this? I

1:04:55won't read them out loud. I'll you just

1:04:57focus.

1:04:57>> Okay.

1:04:58>> Okay. Cuz we'll have the timer going up

1:05:00there. I'll watch you and I'll stop the

1:05:02time when you finish. Okay. Get ready.

1:05:05Get set. Go.

1:05:2617.72.

1:05:28>> Super fast. Cool. Now, turn this paper

1:05:31around.

1:05:35>> Awesome.

1:05:36>> Draw two more lines.

1:05:39You're going to do this one more time.

1:05:41Okay. You're going to end with the same

1:05:43outcome. So the output at the end is

1:05:46going to be I'm a great multitasker 1

1:05:47through 20. But the way in which you

1:05:50will 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

1:05:56the top line. You're going to write

1:05:58you're going to write the letter I.

1:06:00You're going to drop down to the bottom

1:06:01line. Write the number one. Back up to

1:06:02the top line.

1:06:03>> Letter A. And then down to the bottom

1:06:04line 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

1:06:10you finish both lines.

1:06:11>> Okay.

1:06:11>> Okay. Now listen. If you think, hold on,

1:06:15I'm going to lose time, right? Going

1:06:17back and forth like meaning just my hand

1:06:20moving, right?

1:06:22>> You can, if you want, you can draw one

1:06:24extra long line, but you have to still

1:06:27alternate.

1:06:28>> So that means you still have to write in

1:06:30in between I one 2 A. Okay. All right.

1:06:34But I just want to give you options. Get

1:06:36ready. Get set.

1:06:37>> Yeah.

1:06:38>> Go.

1:06:42You got this.

1:07:10This is where you guys need to overlay

1:07:11some fun music.

1:07:19>> Done. 40 seconds.

1:07:23So, you went from 17.72

1:07:26to 41.35.

1:07:29>> More than double.

1:07:30>> More than double.

1:07:32So, and I have a question.

1:07:35>> We all saw, but did you ever make any

1:07:37mistakes?

1:07:38>> Oh, yeah. A lot.

1:07:40>> Okay.

1:07:43>> So, this goes

1:07:44>> because this time I was focused on like

1:07:45just

1:07:47Yeah. Like my brain was not able to

1:07:48comprehend like two things at the same

1:07:50time.

1:07:50>> Yeah. Well, really,

1:07:53your brain can't. This is the point I

1:07:56want to make.

1:07:56>> So, you're saying nobody can be a good

1:07:58multitasker?

1:07:59>> No. No. Listen, what you're there's let

1:08:02me and let me let's be clear. Let's

1:08:03define what we're talking about here.

1:08:06>> When people talk about multitasking, the

1:08:09way they talk about it is as if they're

1:08:12doing two different things

1:08:14with 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,

1:08:21they're like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm doing

1:08:22this 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.

1:08:30Okay, that how many attention systems do

1:08:32you have? Like you have one of

1:08:33everything.

1:08:34>> Yeah.

1:08:34>> Okay. So you don't have two brains. You

1:08:36cannot say with my full Raj brain 100%

1:08:40performance I am 100% doing this and at

1:08:43the same time I am 100% doing this. You

1:08:45don't have two 100s. You have one 100.

1:08:49So if you want you can take your 100%

1:08:52like a pie chart. You can dice it up.

1:08:56You could say 50/50. 50% of my attention

1:08:58is on this, 50% on this, 8020, 7030,

1:09:026040. No matter what your split is,

1:09:05you're splitting your attention. It's

1:09:07split. So, when we talk about

1:09:09multitasking, the way people talk about

1:09:11it, they Yeah. Yeah. I have my phone

1:09:12here, but I'm not looking. I have my

1:09:14email open, but I'm focused here. When

1:09:17the notif comes up, no, you I see you

1:09:19go. You look. Even when you're on calls

1:09:22with people, you're like on a Zoom call

1:09:24with somebody and you're look, they're

1:09:26looking at you and then all of a sudden

1:09:27you see their eyes go down and up again.

1:09:29>> Yeah.

1:09:30>> Come, we can all see you, right?

1:09:32Nobody's that slick.

1:09:33>> The people think like nobody's going to

1:09:35notice. You know, you said, "Yeah,

1:09:36because you've seen other people do it.

1:09:38I've seen other people do it. Everyone's

1:09:40doing it." And they think that I can see

1:09:42when other people are doing it, but

1:09:43nobody can tell when I do it cuz I'm

1:09:45fast. No, we can all see. My point here

1:09:48is that it's not your choice.

1:09:52It's not your choice to

1:09:56pay attention or not pay attention to

1:09:58distractions when they come up. The way

1:10:00that the brain works is it's a

1:10:03monotasking machine, not a multitasking

1:10:06machine. It is designed to focus on one

1:10:09thing. Now, does that mean you can never

1:10:13do two things at once? No, of course

1:10:15not. Listen, in my car, um, I listen to

1:10:18podcasts. I sometimes make calls. I call

1:10:21my mother. You know, I call my mom on on

1:10:23the on the my way somewhere. I have her

1:10:26on speaker, you know, and I'm driving.

1:10:29But listen, in that moment, I'm going to

1:10:31be honest with you because this is just

1:10:33as a neuroscientist, I can just tell you

1:10:34this is how the brain works. I am not

1:10:37100% focused on the road.

1:10:39>> Yeah.

1:10:39>> Otherwise, it's imp I'm not going to

1:10:40hear my mom. I don't I'm not going to

1:10:42listen to anything she's saying. Which,

1:10:44listen, that's a whole another

1:10:46conversation about mom's. She's like

1:10:48complaining on my knee, my back, my

1:10:50this, my that. You didn't you need to

1:10:52come home, blah, blah, blah, all these

1:10:53things. Okay, that's a different story

1:10:55cuz it's always the same stories. But

1:10:57the point here is that for sure it's not

1:11:00possible for me to 100% focus on the

1:11:01conversation and 100% focus on the road

1:11:04because I know where I'm going in my

1:11:06hometown. Honestly, it's like,

1:11:08>> yeah, it's like an autopilot. They're

1:11:10just going there.

1:11:11>> Bingo. So my point is listen, it's

1:11:14nuance. I'm not saying Raj you can never

1:11:16do two. Yeah. Yeah. Sure you can. But

1:11:19you just have to know the math. You have

1:11:21to understand the biological laws. You

1:11:23have to know what you're doing. Be

1:11:24strategic about it. Be strategic about

1:11:26it. Now you know that if you And by the

1:11:30way, what you did just now Oh, yeah.

1:11:34What you did here, this is not

1:11:36multitasking because that's impossible.

1:11:38Again, remember multitasking the way

1:11:39it's defined, I you did 100% one thing

1:11:41and 100% another thing. That's not

1:11:43possible here. What you're doing and

1:11:45what is possible, what happens in

1:11:47everybody's brains, yours, mine,

1:11:49everyone's, is something called task

1:11:52switching,

1:11:53>> context switching essentially.

1:11:54>> Yeah,

1:11:55>> this we do all the time. But every

1:11:57single time you switch your attention

1:11:59from A to B, B to C, C to D, all of the

1:12:02different one thing to another, to the

1:12:03Apple Watch to the phone to the back to

1:12:05the document and back to the thing, and

1:12:06then what? Oh, somebody came in my

1:12:07office. What did you want? But every

1:12:09single time you switch your attention,

1:12:11there's a payment, a biological payment.

1:12:14So the brain pays for it in time. As you

1:12:17noticed, more than double. It's not for

1:12:19free. Takes more time. And time is

1:12:22limited. Time is money. And the second

1:12:25thing that it takes is energy. You're

1:12:27going to exhaust yourself more. And

1:12:29every single time, and listen, this was

1:12:31easy. Whose job is this easy? You want

1:12:33to build an empire? You want to build a

1:12:35company? you want to cure cancer.

1:12:37Nothing is this easy. So when you're

1:12:39doing something hard and you really want

1:12:42to do good, you have to respect yourself

1:12:45enough to put the distractions out of

1:12:47sight, out of mind, notifications off,

1:12:49no email open, no phone next to you, no

1:12:52notifs available, and actually focus on

1:12:54the thing in front of you. And in the

1:12:56beginning, if you're not used to it,

1:12:57it's going to be difficult. It's going

1:12:59to be painful. Your mind's going to be

1:13:01all over the place, but you just need to

1:13:03get your muscles hard again. You need to

1:13:05get your muscles strong.

1:13:06>> But what about people who are good at

1:13:07multitasking?

1:13:09>> Is there someone like that or is it just

1:13:12a myth?

1:13:13>> Do you want to know something really

1:13:15funny?

1:13:15>> Mhm.

1:13:16>> There was a study done at Stanford that

1:13:18I'll send you. So there they're smart

1:13:19smart kids. Young healthy brains. Do you

1:13:23know what I mean? Sharp.

1:13:25>> Okay. No excuses. You can't be like

1:13:27they're just they're dumb. No, no. We we

1:13:30got we got good ones.

1:13:32This study on multitasking asked people

1:13:36upfront, "Are you a good multitasker?"

1:13:39The people who said yes confidently, "Oh

1:13:42yeah, I'm great at it." They were

1:13:45actually worse when they tested them.

1:13:48That's crazy. It's like a joke. It's

1:13:50like science jokes, right? It's

1:13:53absolutely mind-boggling, but it's so

1:13:55fascinating.

1:13:56>> Why? Well, unknown to be, you know,

1:13:59>> this random belief they've built about

1:14:00themselves.

1:14:01>> It could be because if you multitask so

1:14:05much, by the way, you try because again,

1:14:08we talked about it. You're just context

1:14:09switching all the time. Your brain is

1:14:11just foggy. I don't think you see

1:14:13straight. I think this is the problem

1:14:15with most companies right now.

1:14:18>> Most people are just bouncing back and

1:14:19forth and they think this is normal and

1:14:22they just go like, "Oh, it's hard for me

1:14:24to focus. Maybe I have ADHD. Come on.

1:14:27Every 80% of the population all of a

1:14:30sudden has ADHD.

1:14:31>> Why everybody has started saying this?

1:14:33Every like it's just like 50 things

1:14:36because of the scrolling. That's why

1:14:38because our attention spans are shot.

1:14:41This is actually some of the re recent

1:14:43research I've started doing. Truly

1:14:44attention spans have just gotten worse

1:14:46and worse and worse. And the more you

1:14:49scroll, and it's by the way, it's not

1:14:51all scrolling. And I'm not just giving

1:14:53like, you know, your podcast a

1:14:56a pat on the back here. This is actually

1:14:58the the research supports this. There is

1:15:01a massive difference between long form

1:15:03and short form media. The short form

1:15:06media is truly like garbage and candy

1:15:11for the brain. It is it's like junk

1:15:13food. That's what I mean. So the how

1:15:16would your body feel if you fill it with

1:15:18junk food? Not so good. Listen, am I

1:15:20saying sometimes we don't have some junk

1:15:22food? Oh, for sure. No problem. You

1:15:24know, you got to live a balanced life.

1:15:25You know what I mean? Life is short.

1:15:27Enjoy it a little bit. You know, do it's

1:15:29okay. But if your whole diet is junk

1:15:32food, if you eat junk food every day,

1:15:34what's going to happen in one year? Not

1:15:37so good. Bad things.

1:15:38>> Yeah.

1:15:39>> So, this is this this relationship that

1:15:42we have with our phones, our devices,

1:15:45our email.

1:15:47This is it's not I don't want people to

1:15:49think I'm just talking about just Tik

1:15:50Tok either. People are addicted to

1:15:52email. They're addicted to WhatsApp.

1:15:54They're addicted to messaging and

1:15:56communicating constantly all the time

1:15:5824/7. And that never allows them to come

1:16:02up with ideas.

1:16:04Hear what's going on inside of them. All

1:16:07of the stuff we talked about before, the

1:16:08self-awareness. You want to train your

1:16:10brain. That takes effort. That takes

1:16:12awareness. That takes focus. You want to

1:16:15build an empire. you want to build a

1:16:17business, you want to do all these

1:16:18things, that takes focus. And when we've

1:16:21removed the ability to focus, this is

1:16:24why everybody thinks they have ADHD

1:16:26because they're not listening to their

1:16:27biology. Again, it's like the laws like

1:16:29the brain works. We just tested you.

1:16:32Everybody who's listening, you believe

1:16:34that Raj is super smart. Obviously,

1:16:36that's why you're listening. That's why

1:16:37he's so successful. Even you couldn't do

1:16:40it. You more than doubled your time and

1:16:42you made mistakes. So think about how

1:16:45you work now. When you take this to your

1:16:46life, when you take this to your

1:16:47business, everybody who's listening,

1:16:49right? When you think about how you

1:16:51work, if you work d constantly, I'm

1:16:54sitting down f and then I check this and

1:16:56I check that. If you're doing it that

1:16:58way, you're going to make more mistakes

1:16:59and it's going to take you double the

1:17:01amount of time to get to your goals. You

1:17:04choose. I'm going to choose the way

1:17:06that's going to be fast for me. But this

1:17:08is what makes the people that are ultra

1:17:10successful different from everybody

1:17:11else. They just choose differently.

1:17:14>> They think about it. They're aware about

1:17:15it. Like, hold on a second. What you

1:17:17said, you said beautifully, I notice the

1:17:20days when I'm on my phone, it's harder

1:17:22for me to focus. So, when we're

1:17:24shooting, when the guest is right, I

1:17:26tell the guys, I turn it off and I tell

1:17:28the guys, get it out of here. You are in

1:17:30a beautiful example of a CEO that has

1:17:34figured it out. Everybody else can do

1:17:36the same for themselves. So, you're

1:17:38telling me that a lot of people think

1:17:41that ultra successful people have better

1:17:43ideas, but you're telling that they

1:17:45don't have better ideas. They just know

1:17:48how to protect their attention so that

1:17:50they can get ideas. Is that what you're

1:17:52saying?

1:17:53>> They have more ideas. It's like fishing.

1:17:57I can tell you this. This is the science

1:17:59of innovation and creativity. Every, by

1:18:03the way, inventor will tell you this.

1:18:06inventors, artists, engineers, people

1:18:09who build, people who come up with like

1:18:11crazy ideas, they'll tell you for every

1:18:14one good idea, they had 1 million

1:18:16ideas. This it's a numbers game.

1:18:19>> You have to become like an idea machine.

1:18:21It's it's a muscle. If you're exercising

1:18:24your idea muscle every single day, you

1:18:26allow your mind to explore and wander

1:18:29and you give it time and space to do it.

1:18:32Listen, you're going to come up with a

1:18:33lot of stupid ideas. That's okay. You

1:18:36have to. It's a process, right? One day

1:18:39after another and then finally you're

1:18:41going to hit.

1:18:42>> So, what should I do? How how can

1:18:45someone become a person who gets

1:18:48incredible ideas all the time?

1:18:51>> Okay, you ready? This is my number one

1:18:54recommendation. You might not like it or

1:18:56you might be surprised.

1:18:57>> Okay.

1:19:00>> Be bored.

1:19:03be bored and do nothing

1:19:07>> and you get ideas like that.

1:19:08>> And you get ideas. Let me explain.

1:19:13Ideas, new ideas

1:19:16often come

1:19:18when we are mind wandering. That goes

1:19:21back to the neural network that I talked

1:19:23about earlier, the DMN, the default mode

1:19:25network. That's what that when that is

1:19:28active your brain is creating. Remember

1:19:32in the beginning I said it's the

1:19:33storyteller in the brain. It's the

1:19:35storytelling machine. It's the area of

1:19:37the brain and the a areas of the brain

1:19:40that are all about narration and ideas.

1:19:43So that's your idea machine. You need to

1:19:47allow the DMN to actually become active.

1:19:50Now the opposite of the DMN is the

1:19:53central executive network, the CEN.

1:19:55Okay.

1:19:56>> And it I mean listen to the sound of it.

1:19:58The 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.

1:20:08It's the project manager. What are we

1:20:10doing? What's the goal? And then anytime

1:20:12it's also in charge of inhibition.

1:20:15So inhibition is uh suppressing the

1:20:19things that seem distracting. Listen,

1:20:21I'm on my target. I got to focus on

1:20:24this. So if you're telling me, hey, hey,

1:20:26sire, what about this idea? Shh, I don't

1:20:28want to hear about ideas. I got to I'm

1:20:30doing this focus. That's your central

1:20:33executive network and you need it. And

1:20:35it's mostly frontal areas, right?

1:20:37Because this is where a lot of your

1:20:38executive functioning is is happening in

1:20:40the first place. So you've got all these

1:20:42different this neural network that's

1:20:43again responsible for get done,

1:20:46right? Focus and do stuff. The opposite

1:20:49of that is the DMN. And the DMN is again

1:20:52all about stories, daydreaming,

1:20:55being bored, let your mind wander. When

1:20:57you daydream, that's when a bunch of

1:20:59ideas can finally come and float to the

1:21:01surface.

1:21:01>> So the first step is you have to find

1:21:03time and space

1:21:06>> to be bored,

1:21:10>> to be bored, to daydream, to let your

1:21:14mind wander. Because again, remember,

1:21:17it's easy to remember and understand

1:21:19why. What's the opposite of that? Get

1:21:21stuff done. What idea are you gonna have

1:21:24when you're like on a deadline to get

1:21:26done if you're busy all of the

1:21:28time? And then what what do people do

1:21:29when they're not working?

1:21:32What when are you what how is your brain

1:21:35going to shove an idea into your into

1:21:38your in front of you, right? How you

1:21:41have to let those ideas come to you by

1:21:43cultivating the space for them. You have

1:21:45to make the space for them. So the most

1:21:47creative people, the most amazing

1:21:49innovators, by the way, they force

1:21:51themselves to sit down. Some people call

1:21:53it think time. Some one of the guests

1:21:56you had on the show, I think Bill Gates,

1:21:58um, uh, he was really famous by having a

1:22:00think week, I believe it was, you know,

1:22:02whole week he takes off. No busy work,

1:22:05just to think, see what ideas come. It

1:22:09was actually during his one of his think

1:22:10weeks that he decided that the internet

1:22:14is not a fad. Can you imagine if Bill

1:22:18Gates didn't realize that

1:22:21decades ago?

1:22:23So these ideas come, we have to give

1:22:25them the space to come and that requires

1:22:26discipline because right now distraction

1:22:29is making money for these tech companies

1:22:32like crazy. Welcome to the distraction

1:22:35economy. So, it's keeping everybody

1:22:38stuck.

1:22:39>> It's keeping everybody stuck in their

1:22:41old loops. Because also, this is how the

1:22:44algorithm works.

1:22:47The algorithms that you're doom

1:22:48scrolling on, that you're binge watching

1:22:50on, the way they work is they're going

1:22:51to show you stuff that you like.

1:22:54>> They're going to show you more of the

1:22:55same. If you want to become a different

1:22:58version of you, you need to change your

1:23:00content. Your content is actually a

1:23:03great example of this. a lot of other

1:23:06awesome podcasts that are educational,

1:23:08right, about like how do I become

1:23:09better? How do I level myself up?

1:23:12If you all you're do when you're binge

1:23:14watching, if you're all it's just bad

1:23:16news, this that just like whatever, you

1:23:20will become more of that because what

1:23:21you're doing is you're just

1:23:23>> true

1:23:24>> the same stories over and over again.

1:23:27You want to start to become a different

1:23:29version of you, a better version of you,

1:23:31you should also change your algorithm.

1:23:34We call this by the way in the classes I

1:23:36teach changing your content diet.

1:23:41>> Yeah. And that's very important. I call

1:23:42it bloom scrolling.

1:23:44>> Oh, I love that.

1:23:45>> Yeah. So, it's like how you have doom

1:23:47scrolling.

1:23:48>> You curate your feed in a way which is

1:23:50bloom scrolling so that it makes you

1:23:51better, not actually messes up you

1:23:54messes up your entire system.

1:23:55>> Yeah, it's a beautiful way to put it.

1:23:58So, you got to give yourself think time.

1:23:59Even if it's bloom or doom, you got to

1:24:02put it away a little bit and then just

1:24:04give your mind and space to breathe. The

1:24:07next thing that's going to be important,

1:24:08and this is kind of fun. Have you ever

1:24:10have you heard of um that anecdote that

1:24:12people 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

1:24:20behind it?

1:24:21>> No.

1:24:21>> You want to learn?

1:24:22>> Yeah, of course. I want to learn all the

1:24:24science in the world. Tell me.

1:24:26>> Okay. So this is the science behind

1:24:28shower thoughts, shower ideas that so

1:24:32many people have. I've had the same

1:24:33thing as well.

1:24:35So the way that the brain works is

1:24:38you're loading up, let's say, remember

1:24:40the neural networks I talked about

1:24:41before, right? So let's say you've got

1:24:43this pattern of electrical activation

1:24:45happening in the brain, right? These

1:24:47neural networks that are on different

1:24:48brain areas, all of this stuff. So you

1:24:50have this pattern of electrical

1:24:52activation. Let's say it looks like

1:24:53this, okay? Some gridlock. Let's say

1:24:56this is your brain thinking about a

1:24:58problem.

1:24:59>> So you're there and you're thinking

1:25:01about this problem in your head

1:25:05right 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

1:25:13solution to the problem, I actually have

1:25:14to move these networks around. I have to

1:25:17get 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

1:25:25this is how you do it. This is the best

1:25:26way I teach all of the business leaders

1:25:29I work with this. You load up all of the

1:25:32data and the information that you need

1:25:35that's about the problem. You think

1:25:36about the problem. You understand the

1:25:38problem. You look at all the data

1:25:39related to the problem. Load it all up.

1:25:42Then walk away. You're going to sit

1:25:45there be like, "Okay." And then what do

1:25:46we do? What's the solution? What's the

1:25:47solution? I don't know. I don't know. I

1:25:48don't know. Get up and do something

1:25:50else.

1:25:52When you do something else, you're at

1:25:53least introducing a new variable. You're

1:25:56at least saying, "Hey, drink some

1:25:57water." At least, seriously, something

1:25:58as small as this. Because anything you

1:26:00do, anything you touch, smell, drink,

1:26:03listen, listen to a different playlist,

1:26:05different music, get up and move to

1:26:07another room. If you're sitting at your

1:26:09desk and you're always working at your

1:26:11desk and you're like, "This is my focus.

1:26:12This is where I'm at." And you're just

1:26:14like, "This is the problem." The problem

1:26:16is also here. It's in your all of the

1:26:19associations that you've built up with

1:26:22that problem. Change the environment.

1:26:25So when people finally go on a walk or

1:26:28they go take a shower,

1:26:30they've loaded all the data there. So

1:26:32the the neural networks related to the

1:26:34problem are still active or they're

1:26:36recently at least active. So then you

1:26:38get in the shower and you introduce new

1:26:39variables. Now you're not scrolling

1:26:41either because again the scrolling is a

1:26:43distraction. If you distract yourself

1:26:45with I got to text these people back. I

1:26:46got to get on WhatsApp. I gota all these

1:26:48things.

1:26:50>> Yeah.

1:26:51>> You're not going to solve any problems

1:26:53because now you're just doing more

1:26:54stuff.

1:26:55>> True.

1:26:56>> You're doing more stuff. You have to not

1:26:59do stuff to give your brain space to

1:27:01say, "Wait a minute, light bulb."

1:27:05Because the problem was still there and

1:27:06active. And then you're introducing new

1:27:08variables, whatever they may be. Have a

1:27:10little

1:27:12sip of water. put some water on your

1:27:14face. Whatever it is, you got to do

1:27:15something different. And then your brain

1:27:17goes at some point, oh, I got it.

1:27:22>> And that's why you because you're

1:27:25mindlessly just standing in sh all of a

1:27:27sudden you get that because you're not

1:27:30focused on problem anymore.

1:27:31>> Yeah. You loosened a little bit and you

1:27:35introduced new data. You introduced new

1:27:37variables and new data. It could be on a

1:27:39walk. You could start cooking dinner.

1:27:41You know, you could go exercise, go on a

1:27:44run, you know, whatever, whatever you

1:27:46want to do,

1:27:48but not something so immersive

1:27:51that you can't keep thinking about the

1:27:53other thing. This is so don't like go

1:27:55sit down and watch a movie. Do you see

1:27:57what I'm saying?

1:27:58>> Unless you want to watch a movie you've

1:28:00seen 1,000 times.

1:28:02>> Do you know how like you can still

1:28:04think? Well,

1:28:05>> you now you get it. This explain See,

1:28:07there's neuroscience to explain all of

1:28:09these human experiences we have. If

1:28:11you're watching a rerun of an old, you

1:28:13know, sitcom you've seen like a million

1:28:15times, it's kind of soothing because you

1:28:17can kind of, you're not really just

1:28:19focused and paying attention. You're

1:28:21letting your mind wander a little bit.

1:28:23>> Yeah.

1:28:23>> But when you're scrolling, it's all

1:28:25novel.

1:28:26>> So, it's designed by people like me, by

1:28:29the way, cognitive neuroscientists,

1:28:32people like me who are hired by these

1:28:33companies. We use everything we know

1:28:35about how to capture your attention and

1:28:37keep your attention to make money off of

1:28:39you. It's all embedded in how all of

1:28:41these things work.

1:28:42>> Explain me what's happening to a person

1:28:45when they're consuming long- form

1:28:47content versus what's happening when

1:28:49they're consuming only short form

1:28:51content. Like what what's going on in

1:28:53the brain? Like if you have to draw

1:28:55parallels to long form brain and short

1:28:58form brain.

1:28:59>> Yeah.

1:29:01Well, it also depends on the content.

1:29:03Could I'll say that we've we've seen

1:29:05like negative content like the news

1:29:08honestly. Like I'll say something about

1:29:10the news briefly.

1:29:14News media

1:29:16also knows what sells and what captures

1:29:20attention.

1:29:20>> Yeah. That's why they do the negative

1:29:22stuff.

1:29:22>> Yeah. Cuz bad news, rage bait, it works.

1:29:26And listen, if one company starts using

1:29:29it, one news channel starts using it,

1:29:32and the other one goes, "Oh, that's

1:29:33well, that's not fair. They're going to

1:29:35hurt. The ratings are going to hurt if

1:29:37they don't also adapt."

1:29:39>> So now everybody's doing it.

1:29:40>> Yeah. Like since the time of like

1:29:43evolution,

1:29:45the most

1:29:48primitive

1:29:50feeling that human beings have is

1:29:52threat. Threat for survival. So the more

1:29:55you induce threat more people find it

1:29:58like more people get anxious and more

1:30:00they get anxious they want to keep

1:30:01consuming that content and that's why a

1:30:03lot of news media all around the world

1:30:05is just tapping on that one primitive

1:30:07emotion that is I'm going to make you

1:30:09sure that you feel keep feeling anxious

1:30:11and anxious and anxious and the way you

1:30:13feel anxious is when I tell you

1:30:15everything is wrong.

1:30:16>> Yeah. like no matter what you're doing

1:30:17is wrong. And I find out new ways to

1:30:21make you feel that everyone's against

1:30:23you. Everything's against you. Tomorrow

1:30:24morning you're going to get up and

1:30:26things going to go down. So we just tap

1:30:28on this emotion since the time of

1:30:31evolution. And that's why there's just

1:30:34negative stuff all around.

1:30:35>> Yeah.

1:30:36>> See, it's hard for us to make positive

1:30:38content and grow.

1:30:40>> It is.

1:30:41It is. It is hard. It would be easier to

1:30:43do it the other way. Oh, absolutely.

1:30:46Absolutely. 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

1:30:53more viral if we start just making it

1:30:56about 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

1:31:04brain works. It's not you know this is

1:31:06another biological law. You can ignore

1:31:09it but other companies know it and

1:31:11they're using it against you. So you we

1:31:13should learn the loss.

1:31:15>> But that's so sad, man. Shouldn't we

1:31:17change it? I mean, we're trying to

1:31:18change it from how what what we do.

1:31:22We're trying to teach people how to get

1:31:23better.

1:31:24>> Yeah.

1:31:25>> But

1:31:27I mean, to each their own.

1:31:28>> Yeah. But I will say we can't change our

1:31:31biology

1:31:33in 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

1:31:40mean, this has been like

1:31:41>> thousands of years.

1:31:42>> Yeah. What you're we're up that's going

1:31:44to be too hard. What you can do, though,

1:31:46is you can cut yourself off from things.

1:31:49Mhm.

1:31:49>> You know, I've met many really um

1:31:54high-powered executives that have had to

1:31:57do some pretty serious

1:32:00cleansing of their content because, you

1:32:04know, and some of them, if they're

1:32:05really in a dark place and their minds

1:32:07are just so foggy and so busy, we have

1:32:10to cut them off completely from the news

1:32:12for a little while. And you know what I

1:32:14tell them?

1:32:16the world's gonna go to whether

1:32:17you're looking at it or not. You're not

1:32:19that important. Like you're not involved

1:32:21in global news. I know you're, you know,

1:32:24fancy CEO running a company, but like

1:32:27>> Yeah.

1:32:28>> You're not like deciding on what's

1:32:30happening with the war.

1:32:31>> Yeah.

1:32:31>> Do you know what I mean? So instead of

1:32:34you every single day, 15 times a day

1:32:36checking all of the different updates

1:32:38that are coming in and it's completely

1:32:39fogging up your mind, it's now you can't

1:32:43anymore.

1:32:45At least until you re it's like

1:32:47rehabilitation until you rehab yourself

1:32:50back to you can hear yourself again.

1:32:54This is another big issue that I've

1:32:56seen. You know, people complain. They

1:32:59they say like they can't hear their own

1:33:01thoughts anymore. There's no internal

1:33:04narration. That's where all those ideas

1:33:06are going to come from too. It's coming

1:33:09from the inside. It's not coming from

1:33:10the outside. Of course, you can use the

1:33:13outside stuff to trigger some ideas, but

1:33:15ideas are still coming from inside.

1:33:17>> Yeah.

1:33:18>> Yeah.

1:33:19>> People have lost their ability to

1:33:21actually have internal thoughts. That's

1:33:24so true. It's like we don't have

1:33:26internal thinking anymore.

1:33:29Very few people I meet these days who

1:33:31have their original way of thinking and

1:33:34some thoughts which there which are

1:33:36their own.

1:33:38>> Okay. Coming back to long form content,

1:33:40long form brain

1:33:42>> versus short form brain. So people who

1:33:46are watching long form content have a

1:33:49sense of story and narration because

1:33:52long form think movies think a journey a

1:33:55long form podcast that you sink into

1:33:58there's highs there's lows you're learn

1:34:00you know there's there's uh turns that

1:34:02you didn't anticipate right like we

1:34:04didn't plan to talk about long form and

1:34:06short form but we arrived here you know

1:34:08it's it there's a whole journey that

1:34:10we're on so there's a sense of story and

1:34:13narration this is going to be critical

1:34:15again for that creativity and for

1:34:17something that we call autobiographical

1:34:19planning. This is all again DMN. So

1:34:22you're able to actually activate that

1:34:24more and do a lot more of your own

1:34:26internal planning. Right.