1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,960 Welcome to Sheeper Assisted. I'm your host Sadie Sutton, a 19 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:06,440 year old from the Bay Area studying psychology at the 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:10,000 University of Pennsylvania. Sheeper Assisted is the teen 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,880 mental health podcast made for teenagers by a teen. 5 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,120 In each episode I'll bring you authentic, accessible and 6 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,440 relatable conversations about every aspect of mental Wellness 7 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,000 you can expect. Evidence based teen approved 8 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,040 resources, coping skills including lots of DBT insights 9 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:28,680 and education and each piece of content you consume. 10 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,479 She Persisted offers you a safe space to feel validated and 11 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,160 understood in your struggle while encouraging you to take 12 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,440 ownership of your journey and build your life worth living. 13 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,720 So let's dive in this week on She persisted. 14 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,200 If you are on TikTok or Instagram reels, you guys seen 15 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,040 those super Moody, low brightness entrepreneur videos. 16 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,680 They have the big microphones. They're like never tell anyone 17 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:53,720 your goals. Build in private, work in 18 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,880 private, celebrate publicly. Never tell anyone what your 19 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,680 plans are wrong. Psychologically, scientifically 20 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,880 speaking, if you want to reach your goal, you will declare your 21 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,560 goal publicly and you will do so in person. 22 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,280 You will tell those around you what you're working towards, 23 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,200 what you're trying to do, and you are exponentially more 24 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,240 likely to achieve that goal than if you are the only one that is 25 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,480 aware of that goal and holding yourself accountable. 26 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,320 Hello, hello, and welcome to Cheap Assisted. 27 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:23,760 If this is your first episode, I'm so excited you're here. 28 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,040 If this is not your first episode, welcome back. 29 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,360 Happy 2025. We have a really exciting 30 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,760 episode. It is going to set you up for 31 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,360 success, I think this year with your goals and your habits and 32 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:35,920 successes and failures and all the things. 33 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,080 We're going to dive into a lot of psychology research and all 34 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:39,320 those topics. And then I'm going to talk about 35 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:42,160 my goals for 2025. And I know we're a little bit 36 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:43,520 late. I'm recording this on January 37 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:45,240 12th. I know a lot of people do their 38 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,400 goal setting content like end of December, very beginning of 39 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,720 January. I was on a mental hiatus after 40 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,480 the full semester and grad school apps and finals and all 41 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,680 the things. I've been taking a little bit of 42 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,440 a mental break, doing lots of reading, relaxing over winter 43 00:01:58,440 --> 00:01:59,560 break. But we're back. 44 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,000 I start my final semester at Penn in a couple of days, which 45 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,320 is absolutely wild. And I'm setting my goals right 46 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,520 now for 2025. And I hope that this is helpful 47 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,480 for you guys as well as you're starting school and that it's 48 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,880 not too late and you guys still find value from this. 49 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:19,120 Also, you are just getting back into your school routine or you 50 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,080 have new classes or a new schedule or any big changes 51 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,040 happening. That is scientifically the best 52 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,800 time to start new habits and routines because it's easier to 53 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,520 implement them in a new environment than it is in your 54 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,480 same environment with new behaviors because those cues are 55 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,360 tied to old behaviors. So hopefully this will be a good 56 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,280 point for you guys to implement those things. 57 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,280 And I hope you guys find a lot of value from this episode and 58 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:42,440 we're just going to dive right in. 59 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,400 The first thing that we're going to talk about is the difference 60 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,560 between motivation and volition. So motivation is why we do 61 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,280 something. It's a lot of times tied to our 62 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,040 lived experiences, our emotions, our values, our interests. 63 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,880 That's kind of what is urging us to do something. 64 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:57,880 But our volition is how we do something. 65 00:02:57,880 --> 00:02:59,560 So that's what we're going to be talking about today. 66 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,120 Our volition with regard to habits and routines and plans 67 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:04,840 and goals and successes and failures. 68 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,360 Like how can we be most effective and get the outcomes 69 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,920 that we want and follow through and building on that idea within 70 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:16,840 our volition? There are four different little 71 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:18,920 steps that you could call them. I'm going to give you guys a lot 72 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,480 of frameworks and ways to think about goals and take what you 73 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,040 like, leave what you don't. But I feel like it's helpful to 74 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,360 kind of hear different ways of thinking about these things and 75 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,600 where you can potentially insert new thoughts and behaviors to be 76 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,680 more efficient and improved. So this one comes from an 77 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,640 article called Mindset Theory of Action phases. 78 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,280 And if then planning is from 2019, we can put it in the show 79 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,360 notes. But there are four steps that 80 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,600 take place when an action occurs. 81 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,720 So that's pre decisional. So that's like your pros and 82 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,120 cons thinking about if you want to do this thing, weighing your 83 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,160 options, then we have our preactional. 84 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,440 So taking our steps to set ourselves up for success, what 85 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,520 is going to happen? And we're going to talk a lot 86 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,360 about this preactional phase today. 87 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,080 There's the actual, so you actually do the thing and then 88 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,760 the post actual reflecting on it, getting feedback, was it 89 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,680 effective, what would I change next time, etcetera. 90 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,320 And so within that pre actual phase, there is something that 91 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,760 you can implement called an implementation intention. 92 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,040 So this is a specific plan that is better than a goal intention. 93 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,079 So a goal intention would be I want to get better running, I'm 94 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:21,920 going to start running, I am going to run a 5K, I'm going to 95 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,840 run everyday. Like those are goal intentions, 96 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,280 an if then plan and when we learn them in grit lab this past 97 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,400 semester, which I'm pulling a lot from my notes for that. 98 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,520 And you guys are going to get a grit lab recap episode, the next 99 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,240 solo episode, which I'm really excited about. 100 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,680 We learned about them as when then plans, which it rhymes a 101 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,880 little bit easier to remember and it makes more sense. 102 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:45,480 But the when is the cue? So when I get home from school, 103 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,400 when it turns 5:00, when my alarm goes off in the morning, 104 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,000 then I'm going to run one mile. Then I am going to get up, put 105 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,280 on my work at clothes, go downstairs and walk 2 miles. 106 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,880 So one way we can set a goal that's more effective than just 107 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,560 saying I'd like to do this is an implementation intention. 108 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,440 So when this thing happens, then I will do this. 109 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,560 Some other characteristics of effective goals is that they're 110 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,160 specific, they're challenging, and they're declared publicly in 111 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,960 person, which if you are on TikTok or Instagram Reels, you 112 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,280 guys seen those like super Moody, low brightness 113 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,680 entrepreneur videos. They have the big microphones. 114 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,720 They're like never tell anyone your goals build in private, 115 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,840 work in private, celebrate publicly. 116 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,320 Never tell anyone what your plans are wrong. 117 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,480 Psychologically, scientifically speaking, if you want to reach 118 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,240 your goal, you will declare your goal publicly and you will do so 119 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,480 in person. You will tell those around you 120 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,240 what you're working towards, what you're trying to do, and 121 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,440 you are exponentially more likely to achieve that goal than 122 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,840 if you are the only one that is aware of that goal and holding 123 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,360 yourself accountable. Another statistic that I'll give 124 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,720 you related to this is that 7% of people achieve their goals 125 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:57,800 without setting an intention, only 7%. 126 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,640 So if we're not setting specific intentions, if we're not being 127 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:04,200 clear about what we want to achieve, we're not going to 128 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,520 achieve that thing. But it's not just magically 129 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:07,960 going to happen or change in our life. 130 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,600 As humans, we're wired to do as little as possible. 131 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,240 Like we're wired to conserve energy and stay in our routines 132 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,080 and stay in our habits and stay in our comfort zone and not 133 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,080 change or move out of that. Like evolutionary speaking, 134 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,320 that's what we're meant to do. So creating new habits, setting 135 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,720 new goals, pushing ourselves outside of our comfort zone is a 136 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,480 really foreign and not intuitive experience. 137 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,200 So it's not just magically going to happen. 138 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,880 We have to put effort and guardrails in place to allow us 139 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,600 to get to that end point. And then another piece of an 140 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,200 effective goal is that you have to have a sub goal related to 141 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,120 your performance. When you don't have a sub goal 142 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:46,720 that's performance related, you don't have a goal at all. 143 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,720 So if we go back to the 5K example, if your goal is to run 144 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,680 a 5K in under 30 minutes, I feel like I've had friends that run 5 145 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,320 Ki feel like they said 30 minutes was like sometime that 146 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,120 people run a 5K in. I don't know. 147 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,080 I don't run 5 KS. You will say have sub goals 148 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,120 related to your performance. I will run a mile in under 10 149 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,320 minutes. I will run 2 miles in under 18 150 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,600 minutes. I will run 3 miles in under 25 151 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:12,840 minutes. And you will attach dates to 152 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,600 those and specific measurable outcomes related to your 153 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,760 performance. And you can be flexible with 154 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:19,920 that. Maybe you have to push it back. 155 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:21,480 Maybe you have to give yourself more grace. 156 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,200 But those sub goals related to your performance are really 157 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:26,360 important so that you eventually get to that outcome. 158 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:28,920 Because again, it's just not magically going to happen. 159 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,360 We're wired against those goals magically happening. 160 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:34,880 So we have to be really intentional and objective with 161 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,440 the way that we measure if we're on the right track. 162 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,680 So I'm going to give you guys another framework for goals 163 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,680 before we talk about plans. And so there's this thing called 164 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,680 the Rubicon model. And if you've ever heard of the 165 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,920 phrase like crossing the Rubicon, it's like crossing a 166 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:49,120 river. And the point is that once 167 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:50,320 you've crossed, you can't go back. 168 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,080 Like you've committed to something, you've made the 169 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,160 decision, and now you're in the process of implementing that. 170 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:57,520 There's no reverse. You can't draw out of it like 171 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,240 you've made the decision, you've made the commitment. 172 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:03,200 So basically in the Rubicon model, this model of actions and 173 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,760 goals happening, the first step is deliberating thinking about 174 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:08,280 what the goal is. That's what we're doing right 175 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:09,920 now. Then you're going to set a goal 176 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,120 and we're going to talk about all the best ways to set a goal. 177 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,800 We talked about specific challenging, declared publicly 178 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,240 sub goals related to performance. 179 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,680 We'll talk about more things that you can do your when. 180 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:20,840 Then plans will give you more frameworks, but you set your 181 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,560 goal and that is crossing the Rubicon. 182 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,480 Once you've set that goal, you can't go back. 183 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:26,840 The goal's been set and now you either achieve it or you don't. 184 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:29,880 After that you plan, which we're going to also do today. 185 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,919 So plan to set yourself up for success, you act, you actually 186 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:34,799 do the behavior and then you evaluate. 187 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:36,640 Did it work? Did not work, you get feedback, 188 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,480 etcetera. And so that's one way that we 189 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,039 can view goals. So again, deliberate, set a 190 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,360 goal, plan, act and evaluate. So now we're going to kind of 191 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,200 circle in on plans. What are plans? 192 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,200 Why do we set them? What purpose do they serve? 193 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,680 How can we be more effective with the plans that we set? 194 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,280 And then we're going to continue along this cycle of like goal 195 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:54,360 setting and what we're going to do. 196 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,280 So plans are the articulation of an intended future action. 197 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,080 And we could say when thens are plans, the implementation 198 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:02,920 intentions are a version of plans. 199 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,040 But plans are really powerful. There are studies that have been 200 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,120 done about the specificity of a flu shot appointment and how 201 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,600 likely it is that people actually get their vaccinations. 202 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,080 So they mailed out these little cards and some of them just said 203 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,400 just get your flu shot. Some of them said get your flu 204 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:19,440 shot at this date. Some of them said get your flu 205 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,920 shot at this date, at this time, at this specific location. 206 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,000 And it was drastically different how many people showed up and 207 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,000 actually got vaccinated when they were given a specific plan 208 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,160 with the location and the time and what was going to happen. 209 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,920 Rather than just saying do this, the implementation intention of 210 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,160 like get your flu shot or the goal intention, I'm going to get 211 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,960 vaccinated. And the, the completion rate 212 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,840 here is really wild. So 32% versus 71% completion 213 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,720 rate when saying where and when you're going to do something 214 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,800 versus again, just having that general idea of like, I'd like 215 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,200 to do this thing in general at some point in the future. 216 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,320 And so we're going to get into habits, right? 217 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,160 Habits are like, we go on autopilot. 218 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,040 We don't think through things. We just react. 219 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:01,560 We have the cue and then the behavior. 220 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:03,720 So you don't have that thought of like, should I do this? 221 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:05,280 Should I not do this? Pros and cons? 222 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,920 What are the benefits? Instead, you just say, I woke 223 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:09,800 up, my alarm went off. So then I did the thing. 224 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,720 Implementation intentions. And these really specific plans 225 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,840 can kind of act as that. You're not thinking because 226 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,280 you've already made the plan. It's a certain date, it's a 227 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:18,840 certain time, so you do the thing. 228 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,320 And again, 32 versus 71% difference in completion rates 229 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,360 when you have that plan, that implementation intention of what 230 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,360 time is it happening and where is it happening. 231 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:31,000 But plans don't always work. There's this really interesting 232 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:32,360 thing called the planning fallacy. 233 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,320 So we plan for the best case scenario, but we also expect the 234 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,280 outcome to reflect that. And that's not the case. 235 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,960 Our plans don't always go according to our intentions. 236 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,240 The best case scenario isn't always going to happen. 237 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,440 So it's important to flag that, but they increase the likelihood 238 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:49,000 of us being really flawed and inefficient at completing these 239 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,360 goals as humans. It increases the likelihood of 240 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,440 us actually following through. So how can we set effective 241 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,440 goals and make plans that increase the likelihood of us 242 00:10:58,440 --> 00:10:59,760 doing something? I'm going to give you guys a 243 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,960 framework, and I'm hoping to have the scientist who came up 244 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:04,320 with this on the podcast at some point. 245 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,480 We're still figuring out scheduling, but it will be a 246 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:08,160 really great episode when it comes out. 247 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,160 But this is called the WOOP framework, and it's been shown 248 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:16,040 to increase GPA, improve school conduct, improve attendance. 249 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,360 It's a really powerful framework and improving behavioral 250 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:25,200 outcomes and again, decreasing our human nature of not doing 251 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,920 different behaviors automatically. 252 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,440 So WOOP stands for wish, outcome, obstacle and plan. 253 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,600 So wish, what's the goal that you want to achieve? 254 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,760 We're going to set that intention, the outcome. 255 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,160 How will you feel when you achieve this outcome? 256 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:39,120 We're going to talk about positive thinking, which 257 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,320 actually decreases the likelihood of you achieving your 258 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,040 goal, which is an interesting paradox. 259 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,640 But how do you want to feel like what is the positive that's on 260 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:48,440 the other side of doing this hard thing? 261 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,760 Obstacles. What are the main obstacles? 262 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,080 Are you going to procrastinate? Are you going to get distracted? 263 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:54,360 Are you going to scroll on Tiktok? 264 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,600 Are you going to not want to do it and just decide not to? 265 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,120 Like, what are the potential obstacles that would prevent you 266 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,360 from completing this goal? And then plan how are you going 267 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,160 to tackle these obstacles? Are you going to shut off your 268 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:06,360 phone? Are you going to let your 269 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,000 friends know in advance? Like I can't do that this day, I 270 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,440 have this thing that I'm trying to do. 271 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,440 Are you going to prepare for the fact that you're going to 272 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,680 procrastinate and write down the pros and cons? 273 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,120 So in the moment, you know, like I thought this out, this is 274 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,480 really important to me and I'm going to do the opposite of what 275 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:21,920 I want to do, which is procrastinate. 276 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,400 So that's the WOOT method, effective, evidence based, 277 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,840 simple, and you can use it for almost any goal. 278 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:31,120 I want to give you guys a couple little like facts, things to be 279 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:35,520 aware of when it comes to human psychology and goals that I 280 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:37,760 think can be helpful when you're creating these loop goals. 281 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,960 And we're just generally structuring our plans and what 282 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,800 we hope to happen. So the first is the importance 283 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,120 of examples and models. We learn faster and more 284 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,240 effectively and better when we have an example of something or 285 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,680 a model of something. So they did this study where 286 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:56,600 they had people use ChatGPT to write a cover letter and they 287 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,200 objectively rated the quality of the cover letter when people 288 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,560 worked completely independently and on their own versus when 289 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:03,880 they worked with ChatGPT to write a cover letter. 290 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:06,200 And they found that people learn faster and they produce better 291 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,160 cover letters when they work with ChatGPT, which was the 292 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,160 opposite of the hypothesis. They didn't think that people 293 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,680 would get better. They're not actually learning 294 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:14,240 because they're working with something else and they're 295 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:15,920 getting examples. The answers are quote UN quote 296 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,000 being handed to them, but that wasn't the case. 297 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,600 They learned more effectively by having an example and being 298 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,160 shown what to do. This is also something you hear 299 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,600 a lot in medicine. See one, do one, teach, 1. 300 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,480 You observe you have that model, you take it in, you then do 1, 301 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:34,480 you practice and then you teach to really solidify and reinforce 302 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,760 that learning. So we learned really well by 303 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,960 example. Anytime you have a goal that the 304 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:40,880 skill you haven't already established. 305 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,360 What examples can you look at? If you want to start posting on 306 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,440 TikTok or online more, follow creators who are documenting 307 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:48,920 their journey of posting regularly. 308 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,240 If you want to learn how to edit videos, watch video editing 309 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,880 tutorials. If you want to get a certain 310 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,680 grade in a certain class, compare past work that you've 311 00:13:56,680 --> 00:13:58,880 submitted versus a friend who's gotten A's own assignments. 312 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,120 What are the differences? Go to the teacher and ask them 313 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:03,960 for examples of past assignments that have gotten good grades. 314 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,240 Another piece of thing to keep in mind is that as humans, we 315 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,880 have really social brains when they've done research on what 316 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,840 sets us apart as humans, as being really an exceptional 317 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:19,360 species compared to like chimps or apes or maybe those lions or 318 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,680 dolphins. These other animals that are 319 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:26,080 smart and have similar brains to us but are in nowhere near as 320 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,840 innovative and evolved as we are. 321 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,400 What sets us apart is not the structure of our brain. 322 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,880 The number of neurons, the complexity is our social brain. 323 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,080 It's our ability to relate with others and communicate with them 324 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,120 and collaborate and work together like that is what you 325 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,640 is unique about us and it's allowed us to thrive as a 326 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,840 species. So we use that to our example. 327 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,920 We learn socially, we learn with others and so collaborate with 328 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,800 others, get feedback from others. 329 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,960 So those are two things that we're really going to expedite 330 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,320 the rate that you're learning and executing on these goals, 331 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,880 which is one, working with others, and two, learning from 332 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:01,840 models. And then the last thing that I'm 333 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,160 going to mention here is this thing called the three box model 334 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,520 or process theory. And this is a theory of 335 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,760 emotions, and it comes from Doctor Angela Duckworth and then 336 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,280 a professor at Stanford. And it's technically four 337 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,440 different steps, but she condenses it down to just three 338 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,640 for the purpose of understanding this easily and implementing it. 339 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,440 So we have our situation that we put ourselves in our box 1, the 340 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:24,640 context box 2 is our thoughts. How do we interpret the 341 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:26,880 situation? Technically, it's our attention 342 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,600 and our appraisal, but like, what do we think about and react 343 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,160 to with regard to this situation? 344 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,080 And then three, we have our response. 345 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:34,920 How do we behave? Do we achieve the goal? 346 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,040 Like what happens after we've been in a situation? 347 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,080 We thought about it, and then how do we respond? 348 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,000 And we do a lot of episodes on this podcast about how we think 349 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,120 about things because that's really powerful. 350 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,960 It can change how we feel. We do a lot about how we can 351 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,840 change our behaviors, which then in turn changes our feelings and 352 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,080 our thoughts. But for the purpose of this 353 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,760 episode, I really want to emphasize that Box 1, and this 354 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:58,800 is one of my biggest takeaways from this class, which we're 355 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,080 going to again, do a recap on Grit Lab and you guys are going 356 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,880 to hear all about this. But the box one that you put 357 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,680 yourself in is going to impact the thoughts you have and the 358 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,240 actions you take. So are you putting yourself in a 359 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,280 situation where you'll be held accountable, where you will have 360 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,240 deadlines that help you towards a larger goal? 361 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:18,320 Do you have others achieving similar goals to you so you guys 362 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,000 can work together and collaborate? 363 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:23,040 Do you have models of what you should be doing? 364 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,760 An example so that you can thrive and do what you're 365 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:27,760 supposed to be doing? So what box 1 are you putting 366 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,000 yourself in and are you giving yourself the best chance of 367 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,000 success? The example I'll give you guys 368 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,120 of this is me doing my work, which is that when I go to my 369 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,880 room at Penn and after class I like sit and relax and I read a 370 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,760 book or I watch TV or just hang out, eat a snack. 371 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,360 I will not do work. I've tried, it just doesn't 372 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:45,400 happen. Maybe I'll do a little bit of 373 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,080 work like 3 hours later, but it's not going to happen. 374 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,320 If I refuse and like white knuckle my way to not going to 375 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,720 my room and I sit at a coffee shop or I sit in an empty 376 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:56,920 building or I sit in a classroom, I will get my work 377 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:59,800 done. I might be a little bit more 378 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,560 tired. I might be like, oh I just want 379 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,640 to be done for the day, but I will get my work done before I 380 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,640 go back to my dorm. When I'm go back to my dorm room 381 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,599 after class, I'm like, oh I get to relax. 382 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:11,160 I'm so excited. I'm done for the day. 383 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:13,119 I'm not setting myself up for success. 384 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,680 My Box 1 is not conductive to me getting my work done. 385 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:18,760 When I go to Starbucks or I meet up with friends or I sit in a 386 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,040 classroom and intend to do my work, I'm setting myself up for 387 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,720 success because I know that I'm more likely to complete my work 388 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,960 and then get to go home to my lovely room and get ready for 389 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,000 bed and watch TV. So think about your Box 1. 390 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,760 I think that's the most powerful thing you can manipulate when it 391 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:37,360 comes to goal setting because you don't have to like work 392 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,720 against yourself with your emotions and your thoughts. 393 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,000 You're setting yourself up for success to be productive or 394 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:44,400 whatever. It is the goal that you're 395 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:47,040 achieving. So to recap so far, motivation 396 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,880 is why we do something. Volition is how we do it. 397 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,120 Our goals direct, our energy, our plans specify what we're 398 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,880 going to do and ideally when and where we're going to do it. 399 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,840 The more specific the better. And then we have our woo, which 400 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,880 is our wish, our outcome, our obstacle and our plan, a really 401 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:08,360 effective evidence based framework to set our goals and 402 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,360 have a higher likelihood of achieving them. 403 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,400 So with that little summary talked about what goals are, 404 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,960 what plans are, how do we set our goals, how can we set 405 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:20,280 ourselves up for success there? A lot of your execution of your 406 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,560 goals is going to come down to our habits because as humans, 407 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,080 we're really bad at using willpower and self-control. 408 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,040 We're just not good at it. It requires a lot of emotional 409 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,280 and mental energy. As humans, we're wired to 410 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,760 conserve energy, doing as little as possible. 411 00:18:35,120 --> 00:18:38,440 And so when we set goals that require us to do the opposite of 412 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:42,040 that or like brains and body are fighting against us so we can 413 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,560 use willpower psychologically, But scientifically speaking, 414 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,120 it's the least effective way to achieve our goals because it 415 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:51,160 requires a lot of emotional energy, a lot of mental energy, 416 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:55,440 and the likelihood of you achieving your goal based on 417 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:57,600 willpower and self-control is low. 418 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,960 What's more effective is habits because we think about the box 419 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,000 model, right? So we had our context that we 420 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,080 put ourselves in, which is our box 1. 421 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:07,840 Box 2 is our attention and appraisals or our thoughts. 422 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,480 And then box 3 is our response or our actions. 423 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,720 A habit removes box 2. Like obviously we're always 424 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,080 thinking, but for example, purposes to explain this, we 425 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,160 don't think, we just do. So we're in a context and the 426 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,160 response is our habit. And there's a lot of different 427 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,440 ways that we form habits and a lot of different contexts that 428 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,040 these show up. We could think of like classical 429 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:26,400 conditioning. If you've ever watched The 430 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,600 Office where there's that episode where Jim trains Dwight, 431 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,360 every time he hears the computer ping, he asks for breath mint. 432 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,240 This also happened with dogs. Whenever they pressed a lever, 433 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,040 food came out. So they pressed a lever. 434 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:39,200 They would expect food. They would salvate at the sound 435 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:40,800 of the bell when they pressed a little lever. 436 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,520 So they're not thinking. They're not thinking I'm hungry. 437 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:44,960 I could go for a snack right now. 438 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,360 They've conditioned that response where they hear the cue 439 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,200 that box 1 happens and the result is the habit, which is 440 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,760 that they salvate or they want food. 441 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,800 These also happen in more complex situations where there 442 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,520 is some thought involved, but it's a lot less thought involved 443 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,000 because you've already solidified that mental pathway. 444 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,480 Like, you know, your body knows this thing happens. 445 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:05,920 This is how I respond. So an example might be when you 446 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,080 pick up your toothbrush, you put your toothpaste on it. 447 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,760 Or after you brush your teeth, you floss. 448 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,000 We have bad habits. When I feel bored, I will open 449 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,600 my phone and go on TikTok. Maybe when your alarm goes off 450 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,880 in the morning, you sit up, you turn off your alarm. 451 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,080 Or maybe for me, my alarm goes off, I snooze. 452 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,280 These are habits that, again, are a little bit more complex. 453 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,760 Sometimes they're like multiple series of steps, but the context 454 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,000 happens and you respond behaviorally. 455 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,600 And this is more effective long term than relying on your 456 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,840 thoughts to overpower your internal urges to not do the 457 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,920 thing every single time you want to execute a behavior. 458 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,200 Another really interesting thing about habits is these are 459 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:43,360 states, not traits. We're putting ourselves in a 460 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,960 context. It's not a certain ability or 461 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,280 mentality that you have to already be in possession of to 462 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,920 be able to thrive in this area. You don't have to have a certain 463 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,560 thing to be able to thrive. You're just putting yourself in 464 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,040 this state and depending on how well you do that, that will 465 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,640 impact the outcome you get. I'm going to give you guys some 466 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,240 learnings from a study we read called Healthy through Habit 467 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,480 interventions for initiating and maintaining health behavior 468 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,840 changes. So improving health, promoting 469 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,960 behavior is things like working out, eating healthy, etcetera. 470 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,920 And how different interventions increase the likelihood of 471 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,200 people engaging in those behaviors and maintaining them 472 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:20,880 long term. So the findings were the 473 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:23,680 interventions are not super successful long term for short 474 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,000 term behavior change, they work like the first three weeks of 475 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,240 January, but months and years down the line, they're not that 476 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,640 effective. But Breaking Bad habits and 477 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,480 forming healthy habits simultaneously, that's what 478 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,440 leads to long term outcomes. So when we're setting our 479 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,640 habits, we're not just like I'm going to implement this new 480 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,480 intervention, I'm going to start this new thing that doesn't 481 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,200 work, but breaking a bad habit while replacing it with a 482 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,480 healthier habit is effective to get that long term outcome. 483 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,200 Another thing worth noting, you're listening to a podcast, 484 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,440 you're learning about behavior change and habits and goal 485 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,960 setting. Knowing about something just not 486 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,760 lead to behavior change. They've done a ton of research 487 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,120 on educating people that like vegetables are good to have, 488 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:05,640 they contribute to your health. This is something that is a 489 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,360 health promoting behavior. It's good for you. 490 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,800 You'll get these outcomes doesn't lead to people eating 491 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,040 more vegetables. So just because you know 492 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,160 something, just because the knowledge is introduced and 493 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,880 you're now aware of it doesn't lead to behavior change. 494 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,960 So take this episode with a grain of salt. 495 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,640 Actually implement it or it's not going to magically work. 496 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,600 And like I said, willpower is really ineffective. 497 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,520 And they found that in the study as well, which is that healthy 498 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,880 behaviors are a result of habits, not willpower. 499 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:31,600 People that engage in healthy behaviors like taking the stairs 500 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,040 rather than the elevator, walking a certain amount every 501 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:35,840 day, working out, eating healthy, that's habits. 502 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,000 That's not willpower every day. They're not saying like, I'd 503 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,920 like to do this thing and now I'm going to force myself to do 504 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:41,440 it. They do it because it's a habit 505 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,920 and they've done it 6000 times before, so they're going to 506 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,280 continue to do it again. And the key here is to make the 507 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,040 choice easy by setting up that habit. 508 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:52,040 So there are three steps to habit formation, behavioral 509 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,240 repetition, associated context cues and rewards. 510 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:56,720 So you're repeating the behavior. 511 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,600 You have your cues that when, then statement, when this 512 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,240 thing's happened, then I will do the behavior and then rewards. 513 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,280 You have to reward yourself. You have to make it enjoyable. 514 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,440 A lot of the times the goals we're setting for ourselves 515 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,480 aren't necessarily innately enjoyable or we don't reap the 516 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,280 rewards for like weeks, months, years. 517 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,280 So for example, if your goal is to study 30 minutes a day before 518 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,680 every exam, rather than just like cramming right before the 519 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,720 exam, maybe you buy yourself a special treat that you eat when 520 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,440 you're studying, but you don't eat it any of the time. 521 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,960 Or you say I'm going to watch an episode of my favorite TV show 522 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,400 after I finish studying, but I won't let myself do that unless 523 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,800 I do my 30 minutes of studying or I'm going to study with 524 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,120 friends. If that works for you, it might 525 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:31,880 not. So that that's rewarding in 526 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,880 itself. A little fact about rewards. 527 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,280 The mint and toothpaste, there's no function. 528 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,440 It's just rewarding. It's a positive experience. 529 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,920 So people are more likely to brush their teeth when they have 530 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,720 like a positive, good tasting mint toothpaste than if it was 531 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:45,720 just like bland, disgusting paste. 532 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,200 Same thing with kids. They have these really intense, 533 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,240 interesting flavors like bubble gum and blue Raspberry, like all 534 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,520 of these really intense flavors because it's more positive and 535 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,200 rewarding and it gets kids to learn to brush their teeth than 536 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,000 if they were using for them something aversive, which is 537 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000 mint. And we talked about this. 538 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,160 You might be able to infer this, but habits are a lot more 539 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,600 effective and bring results a lot more than intentions. 540 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,520 Do you guys also might have heard that like it takes 18 541 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,840 times to form a habit or some people say it's 200 days, 542 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,360 sometimes it's five to six weeks. 543 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:17,880 It really depends on the person. It's about repetition. 544 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,200 So there's not a certain number of times you need to do a habit. 545 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,440 There's not a certain number of days that you need to have that 546 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,240 mentality. It's going to be dependent on 547 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,640 the person. So we talked about context cues 548 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,240 as being the thing that's going to initiate your habit. 549 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:31,440 Again, we're not thinking about things, we just have the context 550 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,920 box 1 and then our result box 3. So things that you can do is 551 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,360 cues at the time of day, a location, a prior behavior or 552 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,360 person. So I'll give you an example for 553 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:43,160 all of these for like brushing your teeth, maybe it's the time 554 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,320 of day, morning when I wake up, I brush my teeth. 555 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:47,240 Before I go to bed, I brush my teeth. 556 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,440 Maybe it's the location when I'm standing in front of the 557 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,280 bathroom sink, I brush my teeth. Maybe it's the prior behavior. 558 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,440 After I floss, I brush my teeth. After I wash my face, I brush my 559 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,720 teeth. Maybe it's people I don't know. 560 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,880 I brush my teeth by myself. I'm lonely person, maybe when my 561 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,000 like partner or spouse or whatever is brushing their 562 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,760 teeth, I brush my teeth next to them. 563 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,640 So these are different ways that those cues initiate the 564 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:10,800 behavior. And you can do this for any 565 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,320 behavior that you're implementing. 566 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:16,360 Do as many of them as possible. So like what time, what is the 567 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:17,880 location? Is someone else going to be 568 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,000 there? And what is the behavior that's 569 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,520 happening before your implementation intention? 570 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,280 Like I want to do this thing as a stepping stone towards the 571 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:26,840 habit, but that's not enough, right? 572 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,000 So like, I want to do this thing, the when, then that is 573 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:32,040 going to allow you to get towards that goal, but it's not 574 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:33,720 going to work entirely by itself. 575 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,240 Another way that you can increase the likelihood of 576 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,920 implementing a new habit is piggybacking or habit stacking. 577 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:41,800 You guys have probably seen this all over social media. 578 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,480 It's pretty popular. One of those like more widely 579 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:47,240 known ways to build habits. But the idea is that you stack 580 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,400 an existing habit with a new one you want to build. 581 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:53,160 So maybe you want to meditate. So you take a habit that's 582 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:55,520 really solidified in your life, brushing your teeth. 583 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,400 You say during the two minutes that I'm brushing my teeth, I'm 584 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,840 going to meditate. And so over time, you've already 585 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,600 had that cue established. So you're always going to brush 586 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,160 your teeth. And because that's something 587 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,120 that happens every day and that time is carved out and you know 588 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:10,680 it's going to take place, you have it stacked On top of that, 589 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:12,160 while I'm brushing my teeth, I'm meditating. 590 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,400 We talked about that rewards are an important piece of habit 591 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:16,920 formation. There's a couple of different 592 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,760 ways you can implement rewards. One is the intrinsic payoff. 593 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,200 You feel good, you're proud of yourself, you did the thing. 594 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,080 Maybe it's a sense of pride, maybe it's a sense of mastery. 595 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:26,800 Maybe if you're doing something like working out, there's 596 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,560 dopamine involved. So the intrinsic payoff is one 597 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,400 way to have that positive reinforcement. 598 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,120 A second is the extrinsic reward. 599 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,400 So like watching a show, seeing a person, something externally 600 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,920 that's rewarding. Another one is avoiding negative 601 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,320 consequences, which is called a contingency contract. 602 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,160 So like if you've ever heard of timeshares, when people sign 603 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,960 timeshares, they have all these contingencies for what's going 604 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,320 to happen if this person tries to like sell the timeshare. 605 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,160 They owe a ton of money, they have to go to court. 606 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:53,480 I don't really know. I've never signed a timeshare 607 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,640 thing, but there's a lot of things in place that make it 608 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:57,800 really aversive and really negative to pull out of a 609 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,160 timeshare contract. That's what you want to do if 610 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,840 you don't fulfill your habit. And avoiding native consequences 611 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,720 is a lot easier when someone else is putting them on you 612 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,600 rather than you're the one in charge of having that negative 613 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,400 consequence take place. But a really good example of 614 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:12,640 this is putting on your seat belt. 615 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,520 So when you get in the car and you start driving without a seat 616 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,280 belt, the beep, beep, beep happens, right? 617 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,000 The way that you get that set up is you put your seat belt on and 618 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,360 that's a habit in itself, but you are avoiding the negative 619 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,560 consequence of the aversive beeping noise by putting on your 620 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:26,920 seat belt. So that's how that habit is 621 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,240 formed. The most effective reward that 622 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,240 you can use when building your habit is an uncertain reward. 623 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,400 So this means it happens at a random interval. 624 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,160 Again, this is something that is harder to do on yourself. 625 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,720 The best example of this is like the TikTok algorithm or 626 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:43,960 gambling. Every couple of videos you get 627 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:45,640 something really funny. Some of them are dead, some of 628 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,240 them are horrible, but every couple of videos you get 629 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,360 something that's really enjoyable and you laugh and you 630 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:53,560 enjoy it, but it's uncertain. And so it's a really effective 631 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:55,680 reinforcement for scrolling on the algorithm. 632 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:58,120 Similarly, you don't win every time you gamble. 633 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,120 You don't win every five times or 10 times. 634 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:03,440 It's not a predictable interval, but every so often, when you're 635 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,280 least expecting it, you get that positive reward, which is a 636 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,160 really positive experience. Again, these are harder to do on 637 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,240 yourself, so if you have any ideas of how to do a random 638 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,960 reward interval schedule, let me know and I can share it on the 639 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:17,840 podcast. But if you can somehow 640 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:21,200 manufacture that for yourself, that will be the most effective 641 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,320 way to reward yourself for doing a habit. 642 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,480 So the three things that you're going to do when you're doing 643 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,360 your habit, just to reiterate response repetition. 644 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,960 So when you have the queue, you do the response, you engage in 645 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,760 the habit, You need to have a certain number of repetitions. 646 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,280 It's different for each person, but you have to have enough 647 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,680 repeats of your habit for it to actually solidify. 648 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,800 The second is the stable cues. You have to have the same cues 649 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,600 every single time. Again, we talked about location, 650 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:47,960 time of day, prior behaviors, people's. 651 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,280 Those have to be consistent and stable so you know what to 652 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,880 expect and you train yourself. And then uncertain rewards. 653 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,880 Again, you could use other rewards because those are easier 654 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,080 to implement, but the most effective way to have a habit 655 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,200 and form it quickly is uncertain rewards. 656 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,000 So we talked about a couple minutes ago how it's not as 657 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,080 effective to just introduce an intervention. 658 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,720 It's best to break a bad habit and replace it with a good one. 659 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,120 So for example, when I try to scroll less on TikTok, I say I 660 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:13,280 will not scroll on TikTok and said I will watch an episode of 661 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,960 television. Is this great? 662 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,920 Is this like perfect an intervention of no being on 663 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:19,520 screens? No, but it's better. 664 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,760 It's less engaging, it's less stimulating, it's a step in the 665 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,240 right direction. So ways that you can break 666 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:27,960 habits is cue disruption. So removing, for example, the 667 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,880 time of day, the people, the location, the behavior. 668 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,000 I talked to you guys about how not going to my room after class 669 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,240 makes me a lot better about getting all my work done before 670 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,440 bed. Another one is environmental re 671 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,440 engineering. I told you guys the beginning of 672 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,320 this, having a new schedule, having a new routine is the best 673 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,960 way to start new habits. This is because you're breaking 674 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,280 old ones. So a new location, a new 675 00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,320 routine, a new schedule, best time to break an old habit. 676 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,280 And 3rd is vigilant monitoring and inhibition. 677 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:56,960 Vigilant monitoring is literally just telling yourself don't do 678 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,160 it. It sounds dumb. 679 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,120 Again, we're not relying on both power, but short term breaking 680 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:02,560 habits. Research shows that it's really 681 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,160 effective and people do this a lot when they successfully break 682 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,240 habits as they tell themselves over and over again, don't do 683 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,680 it, don't do it, don't do it. And then the last thing I will 684 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,360 give you for this little like habit overview from this article 685 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,800 is to add or reduce behavioral friction. 686 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,840 So you guys have probably heard of this and you probably do this 687 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:20,560 in your own lives without being aware of it. 688 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,560 But an example of this is the screen time app, right? 689 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,800 So you are increasing behavioral friction that when you go to 690 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,600 open TikTok, you have to type in a password or you have to click 691 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:32,600 one more minute, 15 more minutes. 692 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,800 You're increasing the number of steps in the amount of energy it 693 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,080 takes to engage in the behavior. You can also reduce behavioral 694 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,240 friction. For example, if you're trying to 695 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,440 work out in the morning, sleep in your workout clothes, you're 696 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,800 reducing behavioral friction. You don't have to wake up in the 697 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,040 morning and go through the energy of picking out your 698 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,400 outfit and getting dressed and getting ready. 699 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,720 Nope, you wake up, the outfit's on, you can immediately work 700 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,600 out. So increasing or reducing 701 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,840 behavioral friction, again, as humans were wired to conserve 702 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,920 energy, making yourself do more to do the thing you're less 703 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,320 likely to do it, and doing less makes you more likely to do it. 704 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,600 Another little fun fact she'll give you about habits moving 705 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,080 into more general things. They're not a personality type 706 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,440 that's associated with your ability to build habits or 707 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:13,720 maintain habits. It's not people that have a 708 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,880 certain trait or think about things a certain way, but people 709 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,960 vary with how much dopamine gets released when they engage in 710 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,360 certain behaviors. So people that have like an 711 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:25,600 insane amount of dopamine released when they gamble, 712 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,360 that's going to be a stronger solidified habit than people 713 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,600 that have no mental response. So what gets in the way of us 714 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,160 achieving our goals and following through with our 715 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,760 habit? A lot of the time it's our 716 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,720 willpower and our ability to do the actual thing right. 717 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:44,680 So we have this conflict between the easier choice, probably the 718 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,680 more enjoyable one, and the habit or the goal that we've set 719 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:50,880 for ourselves. You're like working uphill. 720 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:52,720 I want you to remember when you're setting goals and habits, 721 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,960 like give yourself some grace here because you're literally 722 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,520 trying to tell yourself, do the worst thing, do the last fun 723 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,280 thing, do the harder thing like it's hard. 724 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,280 It's not easy. And so give yourself a lot of 725 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,560 grace, a lot of praise, a lot of reward because it's not easy to 726 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,040 build new habit and your entire body and mind is wired against 727 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,480 it. But the piece of advice here is 728 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,000 to instead going back, we said this at the beginning, change 729 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,080 your box 1, not your box 3. So your box 3 is your willpower, 730 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:17,760 right? Trying to get yourself not to do 731 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,920 the behavior Box 1 is the situation you're putting 732 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,560 yourself in that would result in the behavior at all. 733 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,200 So again, if I don't go back to my room before a certain time, 734 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,160 I'm not even in the position where I have to exercise 735 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,000 willpower and say say, don't sit in bed and scroll on TikTok to 736 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,520 your work. Instead, I just have to do my 737 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:35,080 work because I'm sitting in a random classroom with my laptop. 738 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,040 So again, change your box 1, not your box 3. 739 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,000 Don't rely on willpower. Put yourself in a situation that 740 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,760 sets yourself up for success. But I'm going to give you guys a 741 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,720 couple of tips for how you can increase your willpower if you 742 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,160 need it. Again, I wouldn't recommend 743 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,520 relying on this. It's not super effective long 744 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,640 term, it's not efficient. But in those moments where 745 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,080 you're like, I can't do this, like I really don't want to, 746 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,480 here's what you're going to do. The first thing is to deploy 747 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,200 your attention. So pay attention to other 748 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:02,880 things. A lot of you guys have probably 749 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,240 heard of the marshmallow experiment. 750 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,040 They did this at Stanford a number of years ago where they 751 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,600 had like 3 year old kids sit in a room. 752 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,440 They gave them a marshmallow and they said if you wait 3 minutes 753 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:14,920 and don't eat this marshmallow, you'll get 2 marshmallows. 754 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,240 And the kids that waited and used willpower, they have better 755 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,840 outcomes long term. And there's like a lot of drama 756 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,520 with this study because they were kids of Stanford professors 757 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,040 and that already they're more likely to have positive 758 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:28,960 outcomes. Whatever we can discuss at a 759 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:31,720 later time. But basically, they observed 760 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,760 these kids and they found that the older kids looked away from 761 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:37,720 the marshmallow to increase their willpower. 762 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,520 If they weren't looking at it, they didn't have to mentally say 763 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,960 don't eat it, don't do this. I'm not supposed to do this. 764 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:44,400 The kids knew. They said if I don't like the 765 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,760 marshmallow, I'm not going to remember as vividly that it's 766 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,280 there, so we don't have to exercise as much willpower. 767 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,960 So distract yourself. Listen to music, think about 768 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,400 something else, watch a show, do something that takes your 769 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,400 attention away from the thing that you want to do. 770 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,760 Another thing that you're going to do is psychologically 771 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,640 distance yourself from the situation. 772 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,280 So you're literally going to imagine yourself in the 773 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,320 situation from third person. This increases your emotion 774 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,480 regulation. This comes from Ethan Cross, 775 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,400 who's an emotion researcher. But what you're going to do is 776 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,159 instead of being first person, being like, should I go to the 777 00:34:14,159 --> 00:34:15,400 gym? Should I not go to the gym? 778 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,040 Pretend you're in a movie. Imagine looking at yourself in 779 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,600 your room or at your desk wherever you're sitting when 780 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:23,080 you're making this decision and imagine yourself going through 781 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:24,800 the motions and doing the pros and cons. 782 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,840 You're going to regulate your emotions more effectively, 783 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,120 you're sychologically distanced, and you're more likely to engage 784 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,679 in the positive behavior. The next thing that you can do 785 00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:35,440 is to change the situation or environment. 786 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:37,239 So there's a number of ways you can do this. 787 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,960 One of this is game theories, imagining that you're playing a 788 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,440 game within yourself, like you're in a war against yourself 789 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,520 and the goal is to be a temptation. 790 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:48,000 So you're using tactics to like outsmart yourself and increase 791 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,920 your willpower. Again, gamifying things is 792 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,000 really effective in getting us to get our results. 793 00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:54,920 So imagine like you're at war with yourself and what tactics 794 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,360 can you use to not get yourself to engage in the thing? 795 00:34:57,360 --> 00:34:59,600 Another study that showed the impact of changing the 796 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,240 environment was that the further away kids put their phones when 797 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,240 they're studying, the higher their GPA was. 798 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,400 So whether it was on the desk next to them, whether it was in 799 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:10,520 their backpack on the floor, was it in the other room? 800 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:12,680 Was it not even on them when they were at the library? 801 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,600 Did they leave it at home? The further their phone was from 802 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,160 them when they were studying, the higher their GPA was. 803 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,720 But there's also this really challenging paradox where people 804 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:23,600 know that they should change the situation, but they just don't. 805 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,520 So you know that like situation modification is going to improve 806 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,840 your goal accomplishment. But again, knowledge doesn't 807 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,000 always lead to that change of behavior. 808 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,400 So here's a piece of knowledge. Even though this isn't going to 809 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,600 cause the behavior change, it can help you when you're doing 810 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,640 that like mental willpower and deciding to do these when then 811 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:41,160 statements and create the habits. 812 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,840 Changing the situation changes temptation. 813 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,600 When you change the situation, you feel less tempted. 814 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,680 Another little fun fact is that the number of self-control 815 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,280 strategies that kids used correlated with their SAT score. 816 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,960 So did they move their phone away? 817 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:56,640 Did they study in a new environment? 818 00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:58,680 Did they use positive rewards after? 819 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,280 Did they increase behavioral friction to getting to their 820 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,160 phone? The number of these strategies 821 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,120 they employed, the higher their score. 822 00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:07,720 So again, what's your box 1? Are you setting yourself up for 823 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,400 success and doing everything possible to encourage that 824 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,240 outcome you're hoping for? So here's your little habit 825 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:15,240 summary, and then we're going to talk about my goals for this 826 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,640 year and habits I'm trying to create. 827 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,840 So habits circumvent the thought box box too. 828 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,440 So you go straight from your situation to your action. 829 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:25,600 Consistent rewards are more effective. 830 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,720 Your routine should be as habitual as possible. 831 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,640 So taking out the thought process as much as you can, 832 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,040 trying to implement systems rather than just doing it and 833 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,280 exerting that mental willpower because it's really not 834 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,800 effective. And statistically speaking, if 835 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,800 your goal or habit requires doing something that requires a 836 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,920 lot of attention and thought and focus, doing it in the morning, 837 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,680 statistically you will have less distractions than if you do it 838 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:52,720 later in the day. So if you're trying to study or 839 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:55,680 learn a new skill, if you can, if you have the schedule 840 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:58,200 flexibility, do that in the morning at the beginning of your 841 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,120 day rather than at the end. So your little summary is that 842 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:04,640 you always have an easier, more enjoyable alternative to doing 843 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,840 your harder habits. We can use strategies to target 844 00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,240 the context that we put ourselves in and the thoughts 845 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:12,680 that we'll have, the lack of thought so that we can influence 846 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,760 the behavior or the outcome. And again, habits are autopilot 847 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,800 in response to our cues. So we intentionally make and 848 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,080 break them. And I gave you guys a bunch of 849 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,360 tips and tricks and skills that you can use to implement new 850 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,640 habits when breaking old ones. So there is your habit one O 1. 851 00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,160 I hope that was helpful. And I hope you guys have a bit 852 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:35,440 more information on how we can set goals, how we can set plans, 853 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,000 how we can actually follow through with those using habits. 854 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,000 And then we're going to talk a little bit about my habits and 855 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,920 goals for 2025 and I will run here what you guys are working 856 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:44,960 towards. So send me a message, comment on 857 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:48,160 Instagram, leave a comment on here and keep me posted. 858 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:51,600 I'm really curious. So my ongoing goal and routine 859 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:54,720 and habit is always my sleep. I'm not a good sleeper. 860 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,040 It's been a problem since like middle school. 861 00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,960 It's somewhat physical. I have an OR ring and I've never 862 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:03,560 gotten above like an 85. Above an 85 you get a crown. 863 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,160 I've never gotten a sleep crown and I've had my OR ring for 864 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,280 three years. My average every year is in the 865 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:09,760 60s. I'm not a good sleeper. 866 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,880 I'm always tired. That is where I can use 867 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:14,840 improvement. And we talked about how our 868 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:16,520 goals need to be something that we can control. 869 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,160 So I'm not going to set the goal of I'm going to sleep better. 870 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,240 I'm doing things that are more sleep hygiene based. 871 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:25,520 So one of my biggest goals this year is to get up at the same 872 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,560 time every day with a little bit of variation, but generally 873 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,720 within one hour. And I'm going to like give 874 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,000 myself grace. It's not going to be something 875 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,320 crazy like 6:00 AM or 5:00 AM. The earliest classes I have this 876 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:38,120 semester are 1015. So my goal is that throughout 877 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,760 the whole semester, I'm going to get to the point where every 878 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,080 single day, six out of seven days of the week, I am up by 879 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,080 9:00 AM. And that is regardless of what 880 00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:48,560 time I go to bed the night before. 881 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,280 Because when you sleep later and you keep snoozing that it's 882 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:53,560 harder to fall asleep that night. 883 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,440 And then just becomes a whole recurring cycle that it makes it 884 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,040 really challenging to break. So my goal for myself this 885 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:03,160 semester and this year is to wake up consistently 6 out of 886 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,640 seven days of the week, give myself a little grace by 9:00 887 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,560 AM. One of my biggest walls that I 888 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,960 hit as far as habits and routines and all these things 889 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,840 that improve my mental health is my sleep and daily productivity. 890 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,520 I find that when it's hard to fall asleep, I stay up late. 891 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:21,160 I sleep and later I end up behind on things. 892 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,520 I'm napping during the day, I think can't be productive and 893 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,080 get what I need to get done. And then I'm stressed and I'm 894 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:27,440 staying up later because I'm stressed. 895 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,520 It's a recurring cycle and it leads to so much unnecessary 896 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,840 anxiety and overwhelm that's really preventable with a 897 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:37,480 consistent sleep and daily routine. 898 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:40,040 Magic Mind is a really cool framework for looking at this 899 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,320 and these basic foundational principles that we need to 900 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,680 maintain to be able to thrive. They are sleep, diet, exercise, 901 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,920 stress management, and exogenous compounds, and all of these 902 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,560 contribute to mental wealth. So investing in our habits that 903 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:56,200 we can increase our emotional baseline, improve our resilience 904 00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:59,840 so that we're less susceptible to mental health challenges when 905 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,560 we do struggle with one of those pillars. 906 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,720 For me the biggest too is definitely SLEE and stress 907 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:07,240 management, and one of my favorite hacks for this is Magic 908 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:08,800 Mine. They just came out with slee 909 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,280 shots. I've already been using their 910 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,120 focus shots for years at this point. 911 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:16,160 It is a great natural alternative to increasing 912 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:19,360 caffeine or other supplements to improve your sleep and focus. 913 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,640 You can use both shots for 24 hours of mental performance. 914 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,640 Sleep shots help with better sleep and focus shots help with 915 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,160 daytime clarity. Their sleep shots have made such 916 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,520 a difference in my nighttime routine and increasing that 917 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,960 queue of it's time to go to bed, it's time to relax and wind down 918 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,320 and having an easier time falling asleep at night. 919 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:38,960 I love the Magic Mind mental performance shot during the day. 920 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:41,840 It really helps with focus and clarity and decreasing stress. 921 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,840 I'm not a huge caffeine person because I'm really mindful of 922 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:48,640 how it impacts my anxiety. I will do one, maybe 2 cups of 923 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:51,120 coffee at the very most. So this is a great alternative 924 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,440 because it has matcha and natural herbs that help decrease 925 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,400 stress, increase your sense of calmness, and improve your mood. 926 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,360 I pair it with my iced vanilla latte in the morning and it's 927 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:03,720 the perfect duo, especially on a heavy class load day or if I'm 928 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:05,600 feeling extra stressed or overwhelmed. 929 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:07,400 You guys know I'm big on research. 930 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:10,120 They've developed this over the past 10 years with hundreds of 931 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:11,840 iterations for the perfect formula. 932 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:15,040 There's over 200 studies behind every single ingredient. 933 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,800 It definitely been trying and you can target 2 really 934 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:20,000 important parts of your mental health routine in your sleep and 935 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:21,960 then your daily productivity and focus. 936 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,520 They're offering an amazing deal, which is 45% off the Magic 937 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:27,400 Mind bundle. You can use the link in the show 938 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,880 notes, just magicmind.com/she persisted Jan. 939 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:35,600 Again, that's magicmind.com/she Persisted Jan Make sure to check 940 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,560 out Magic Mind Performance Shots and Sleep and their new bundle 941 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,400 in the show notes. Another goal is one that I've 942 00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:44,080 been doing for a couple of years now, but I again have the OR 943 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,360 ring and so I track a lot of my behaviors like my sleep and my 944 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:49,800 activity. And I found that when I get 945 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:54,880 above like 7.5000 steps, I am out and about and doing things 946 00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,440 and generally being productive. It doesn't necessarily mean that 947 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:01,480 I have classes that day or I'm getting an insane amount of work 948 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:04,040 done or I'm working out, but it means I've been around campus. 949 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,280 Maybe I wouldn't got coffee, maybe I saw a friend class days. 950 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,680 It meant I was like walking to and from my classes. 951 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,920 It's a good predictor that I physically have done something 952 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:14,960 with the day. So 6 out of seven days of the 953 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:17,680 week, I'm aiming to get 7.5000 steps. 954 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,560 And because I live on campus and things are like a little bit 955 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:24,640 spread out, not too bad. But like I can easily get 7 1/2 956 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:27,320 thousand steps if I'm going to class or just going somewhere 957 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,920 throughout the day. It's an achievable goal, but it 958 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,760 also is a predictor that routine wise I'm in a good space 959 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:36,200 mentally. So that's another goal for 960 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,880 myself this year. I am constantly. 961 00:42:39,160 --> 00:42:42,320 It's not even an uphill paddle. There's no reason for why I 962 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:45,080 don't post on TikTok more, do more short form videos or why 963 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,920 I'm not on stories more often. I just don't do it. 964 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:50,040 And I really, really want to get better at it. 965 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,240 Every single year I'm like, I'm going to post on TikTok more, 966 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:54,760 I'm going to do a series, I'm going to edit videos. 967 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,640 And a lot of this comes from the fact that I do a lot of social 968 00:42:57,640 --> 00:42:59,800 media management video editing for other people. 969 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:02,520 I have social media clients that I help them on their podcasts 970 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:06,000 and their platforms as part of my social media agency that I 971 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,280 run. So by the time it gets to 972 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:10,120 cheaper assisted and this other content that I'm just making for 973 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:13,160 fun, it tends to be I'm more burnt out, like there's not 974 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:16,600 enough energy to expend. But I have to think about the 975 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:18,400 box one that I'm putting myself in there. 976 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:20,840 That's not a great box one. I'm setting myself up for 977 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:24,000 failure. So my goal is to post at least 978 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:28,040 three TikTok real short form videos a week and do stories at 979 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:30,440 least three days a week. And that can just be like one or 980 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:32,200 two slides. It can just be showing up and 981 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:33,920 sharing with you guys the new episode. 982 00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:38,200 But the box 1 there that I'm going to give myself so I can be 983 00:43:38,200 --> 00:43:42,240 more effective is to plan out the prompts and do those the 984 00:43:42,240 --> 00:43:44,840 week before. It's going to be related to the 985 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,920 insights and analytics of what's performed well in the account in 986 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,120 the past. And it's going to be related to 987 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:52,800 what I'm already talking about in the episode. 988 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,320 So I'm decreasing the friction. Like I know what I'm going to 989 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:57,640 talk about decreasing the mental load. 990 00:43:57,680 --> 00:43:59,880 And then time wise, I'm going to do it when I'm getting ready in 991 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:02,520 the morning because it's engaging for you guys to watch. 992 00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,760 It's a habit that's already happening, which is that I'm 993 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,480 getting ready for the day, doing my hair and makeup, and I can 994 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,040 just talk to the camera while I'm doing that. 995 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,480 And so I'm reducing friction, I'm decreasing the amount of 996 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:16,320 energy I'm expending by planning the prompts and I'm making it 997 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:18,880 achievable, which is like three days a week, which I can do. 998 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:22,560 So if I'm not posting, get mad at me because this is an 999 00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:27,080 achievable goal that I'm making very easy for myself so I can do 1000 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:28,480 it. Another goal that I've been 1001 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:32,160 working on is running. I am not a very athletic person. 1002 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:33,920 I love walking. It's like one of my favorite 1003 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:35,200 things. I'll walk around campus. 1004 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:37,280 I listen to my Taylor Swift, love it. 1005 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:39,920 I want to be able to like run a mile and not be dying. 1006 00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:42,120 I'm OK at it. I have to be like, oh, this is 1007 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:42,920 horrible. I can do it. 1008 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,800 I like watch the mileage go down on the treadmill. 1009 00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:49,280 So before break, I was pretty consistent doing a run a couple 1010 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:52,240 days a week on the treadmill. I would walk and then I'd do my 1011 00:44:52,240 --> 00:44:54,720 mile of running. I'd be really out of breath. 1012 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:56,560 And so I want to keep doing that. 1013 00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:59,920 So I'm going to say once a week I'm going to run a mile on the 1014 00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:01,600 treadmill. I feel like that's realistic and 1015 00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:04,360 achievable. And I have to do a couple of 1016 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,560 weeks of my schedule to determine what day will make the 1017 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:09,320 most sense to set myself up for success. 1018 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,880 So I'm going to set a time. The location is going to be the 1019 00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:15,760 gym in my building. I will set the time and the day 1020 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:17,640 so that I can be more effective with that goal. 1021 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:21,120 But that is another goal that I'm setting for myself. 1022 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:23,920 And then the last goal that I'll share with you guys is like 1023 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:26,480 exposure therapy related. We've done episodes in the past 1024 00:45:26,480 --> 00:45:28,480 on exposure therapy. I think it's something that 1025 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:30,640 everyone could benefit from implementing in their life, 1026 00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:33,480 especially if you're a young adult, especially in social 1027 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:36,280 situations. Whenever I'm like uncomfortable 1028 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:40,480 or feeling some avoidance in any social respect, I try and do a 1029 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,280 little bit of exposure therapy. Other it's talking to people in 1030 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:46,200 line when you're grabbing a coffee, making friends in class, 1031 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,440 getting someone's number to ask them a question about an 1032 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:50,200 assignment, those types of things. 1033 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,720 I try to do one of those like every week ish where I'm pushing 1034 00:45:53,720 --> 00:45:55,200 myself outside of my comfort zone. 1035 00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:57,600 I'm building those social relationships, I'm building that 1036 00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:01,800 skill set and I find that's really helpful for a the mental 1037 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,800 health piece of feeling connected and engaged in your 1038 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,760 community, but also the exposure therapy piece of decreasing 1039 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,360 avoidance and anxiety around social relationships. 1040 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,480 So those are some of my goals. I really want to know what your 1041 00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,480 guys's are. Leave a comment, DM me all the 1042 00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:18,960 things if you guys enjoyed this episode, share on social media, 1043 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,320 leave a review. It really helps out the podcast. 1044 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:23,360 And also would love to hear what you guys want to hear about on 1045 00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:25,360 the podcast this year. So if you have any guest 1046 00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:28,480 requests or styles of episodes or things you want me to talk 1047 00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:30,200 about, definitely keep me posted. 1048 00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:33,520 I'm very much open to suggestions and I have a lot of 1049 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:35,960 things in mind, but I really want to know what you guys want 1050 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,360 to hear. So keep me posted, give me all 1051 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:41,520 your ideas, and with that, I'm going to hop off and I hope you 1052 00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:45,280 guys have a great start to your spring semester in 2025. 1053 00:46:45,720 --> 00:46:46,640 And you got that?