Prioritize a single specific goal at a time to increase the likelihood of success and prevent failure in pursuing multiple goals simultaneously.
Write out goals with specific actionable steps to clarify the actions required and enhance commitment to achieving them.
Regularly update and change the location of visual reminders for goals to capture attention and engage the brain areas associated with novelty and emotionality.
Avoid the 'Accountability Fallacy' by not sharing goals before taking action to prevent the reduction of motivation from positive feedback.
Utilize a 12-week cycle for goal pursuit, specifying the number of hours per week, hours per day, and specific days dedicated to working on the goal to enhance commitment and effectiveness.
Visualize the feeling of failure when lacking motivation to pursue goals to understand the consequences and stay motivated.
Implement extreme measures, such as locking away distractions, to maintain focus and avoid interruptions during goal pursuit.
Incorporate random intermittent reinforcement in goal achievement to sustain motivation over time by randomly rewarding successes and not rewarding oneself for milestones. (Time 0:00:00)
Anchored in the biology of goal setting and pursuit
Summary:
Understanding that goals are innate in humans and animals provides confidence in achieving them.
To succeed in goal pursuit, focus on a single specific goal rather than trying to achieve multiple simultaneously. Prioritizing one goal at a time increases the likelihood of success and prevents failure in pursuing numerous goals at once.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Anchored in the biology of goal setting and pursuit as we understand them to exist in all humans and indeed in other animals as well well then we should have the greatest possible confidence That we will in fact achieve our goals so how do we go about doing that well the first question you need to ask yourself is what goal do I want to pursue and the first protocol for deciding What goal you want to pursue is actually quite simple one in terms of how it's stated but it's fairly complex for a lot of people to answer and that is which specific goal are you going to Try and pursue because guess what folks most people who try to achieve many goals simultaneously fail at all of them this is what I call the overhaul approach when people think okay you Know in January 1 or next month or next week or perhaps even today I'm going to start exercising I'm going to start meditating I'm going to learn a language I'm going to learn to dance I'm Going to do all these different things and that's just too many goals I think here is an appropriate place to highlight the word priority a priority literally means one thing that you Place ahead of all others these days we hear a lot about priorities plural but we really should be thinking about priority and defining our priority for learning in a given phase so if You are somebody (Time 0:09:21)
The Importance of Writing Out Goals in the Goal-Setting Process
Summary:
Writing out goals is crucial for embedding knowledge effectively.
When setting goals, it is essential to be specific about the actions involved, such as the frequency of activities or the duration. For instance, instead of a vague goal like 'getting more fit,' specify actionable steps like 'running a certain number of miles per week' or 'attending gym classes regularly.' The specificity helps in clarifying the actions required and enhances commitment to achieving the goal.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Out is not only important it's also the most effective way to embed knowledge in our nervous system and so i highly recommend that you write things out on a piece of paper in your process Of goal setting so when we are talking about generating verb specificity about your goal it would look like the following so let's say i want to quote-unquote get more fit or learn conversational French or anything for that matter gardening maybe i want to build a gazebo in the backyard or a deck in the backyard the key thing to answer is what is the major block of action that's going To be involved in pursuing that goal so for instance if you want to get more fit and you're going to do that primarily through running and weight training or swimming and weight training You would want to get very specific in defining that priority goal as i'm going to run x number of miles per week or i'm going to go to the gym three times per week to lift weights although I would recommend getting even more specific than that i would recommend that you literally write down i'm going to go to the gym three times per week for a minimum of 60 minutes where 50 minutes of that are carrying out hard work okay with of course rest between sets etc or i'm going to attend three classes per week or perhaps even just one class per week of (Time 0:19:39)
Instead of the post-it fallacy
Summary:
Continually write out your goals each day and place visual reminders in different locations daily to effectively incorporate them in your goal setting and pursuit.
The idea that sticking a post-it in a frequented area leads to higher adherence is a myth; regular updates and changes in location are necessary to capture attention and engage the brain areas associated with novelty and emotionality.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Instead a better approach is to continually write that thing out each day and put up a new sticky put it in a new place perhaps on the refrigerator sometimes in the kitchen maybe on the Windshield of your car although of course remove that while you're driving etc if you are going to incorporate visual reminders in your goal setting and goal pursuit process you want To change those each and every day this is actually something that perhaps app developers will start to incorporate because i think the notifications that come through on various Apps designed to remind us to do certain things can be helpful but there too we tend to attenuate to them and we simply either do not notice them or we start to swipe them away over time so Visual reminders can be very effective if you want to use them great you certainly don't have to but if you're going to use them you want to update them every single day otherwise your Visual system and certainly the areas of your brain that are associated with assessing novelty and emotionality will simply start to cancel those away so the first common myth that We're dispelling is what i call the post-it fallacy the idea that if you write something down on a post-it and you post it in an area that you frequent every morning or every day or every Night that you stand a higher probability of adhering to what is on that post it that is simply not true you would want to replace it every day and you would also be wise to move that post-it To different locations the second myth is that if (Time 0:25:25)
The Myth of Accountability in Goal Pursuit
Summary:
Positive feedback from others when announcing a goal can activate reward and motivation systems in the brain, but this motivation quickly diminishes, reducing the likelihood of achieving the goal.
This is known as the 'Accountability Fallacy.' While accountability is essential for personal growth, sharing goals before taking action can hinder progress as the positive feedback may reduce motivation to consistently pursue the goal and achieve it.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Going to write a book or i'm going to pursue a new fitness goal or i'm going to learn a language we say great go for it you can totally do it you're very likely to succeed go for it how do you Want me to support you is there anything i can do to support you those all are frankly healthy exchanges and yet the data tell us that the positive feedback that we get from others when We announce that we're going after a goal activate certain reward systems and motivation systems within our brain that then quickly dissipate and then diminish the probability that We'll engage in the type of behaviors that actually lead us to achieve that goal so we have the post-it fallacy and we have the myth of accountability fallacy within the context of goal Pursuit i of course am not saying that accountability is bad to the contrary accountability is a great thing both to ourselves and to others it's something that we should all cultivate Throughout life i'm merely talking about the myth of accountability in the context of goal pursuit and i'm actually being more specific than that i'm saying don't tell people that You're going to go out and achieve something prior to initiating action toward that goal because in fact the positive feedback that we get will diminish the probability that we will Continually pursue that goal in a way that allows us to achieve it so you could interpret the information i just gave you as (Time 0:27:47)
The Effective 12-Week Cycle for Goal Pursuit
Summary:
A 12-week cycle, also known as a quarterly cycle, is an effective timeframe for pursuing a goal.
It is important to define the number of hours per week, hours per day, and specific days dedicated to working on the goal within this cycle. This structure is effective for achieving various types of goals, and it is recommended to write down these details with a pen or pencil to enhance commitment and effectiveness.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
So a 12 week cycle or roughly a three month cycle sometimes called the quarterly cycle of goal pursuit toward your particular goal I think is a good macro time to focus on and then within That 12 week cycle to define very clearly how many hours each week end each day and on which days you will pursue that goal okay so it's 12 week cycle to pursue your goal that goal might be Achieved by the end of that 12 weeks or even prior it might not be but you said a 12 week cycle or quarterly cycle or if you prefer to think about it a three month cycle and then you define how Many hours per week you are going to spend pursuing that goal and then you define how many hours per day you are going to spend pursuing that goal and then you define which days of the week You are going to pursue that particular goal I think those three numbers the 12 week quarterly aka three month cycle the number of hours per week and the number of hours per day and particular Days that you are going to spend working on a goal is going to be effective for 90% if not more of different types of goals out there and as with defining the specific goal itself I highly Recommend that you write this down with a pen or pencil there's just oh so much data to support the (Time 0:35:50)
How to Find Motivation and Overcome Failure
Summary:
When lacking motivation to pursue positive goals, spending time visualizing the feeling of failure can be beneficial.
This exercise is not about self-flagellation but aims to make individuals aware of the consequences of not succeeding. Contrary to popular belief, imagining positive outcomes does not trigger the same neurochemical responses as actually experiencing them.
By understanding the potential feelings of failure, individuals can drive themselves to stay motivated and work towards their goals.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Friend get some encouragement no the scientific literature tells us that when we are not motivated and it is a goal that we actually want to pursue and of course here i'm talking about Adaptive goal pursuit meaning things that are going to enrich your mental health physical health etc not things that are going to be detrimental to us well then if you're not feeling Motivated you want to spend one to three perhaps five minutes meditating concentrating on what it's going to feel like to fail and the fact that you are not succeeding but indeed that You are failing and i know this sounds like rather harsh advice that this protocol sounds like kind of a self-flagellating protocol it's not intended to be self-flagellation in fact It should not be self-flagellation but rather what you want to do when you are not motivated is to think about failure and what that failure at the end of 12 weeks will feel like and the Reason for that is that the data tell us that when we visualize positive outcomes yes it deploys certain neurochemicals in our brain and body that make us feel good although frankly If you've heard that imagining something creates the same neurochemical and neural circuit states in the brain as actually experiencing that thing that is simply not true that's A myth we've talked about this in previous episodes that's simply not true but if you are having a hard (Time 0:47:52)
Maintaining focus: How I locked away my phone to stay productive
Summary:
The speaker shares an extreme measure taken to avoid distractions from the phone during goal pursuit by handing it over to a student until 5 p.m, with a penalty for asking for it early.
This strategy created an incentive system that helped the speaker stay focused without needing to pay the penalty. Additionally, the speaker mentions the importance of understanding dopamine reward pathways for maintaining motivation while pursuing goals.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Your phone ideally you'll turn it over you'll turn it off you'll get rid of it you'll put it in the next room if you're like me you'll sometimes lock it in the car i think the most extreme That i've ever gone to ensure that i didn't engage with my phone during goal pursuit was during the early days of having my laboratory and i was writing multiple grants in parallel which Is an immense amount of work i would walk into the laboratory in the morning and i would hand a student postdoc my phone and i'd say don't give this back to me until five p.m and if i ask for It back if i even ask for it once everyone in the lab gets five hundred dollars there were quite a few people in my lab and so it's a significant cost to that and i must tell you there were numerous Times throughout the day when i impulsively just thought okay i would need my phone at damn it i don't want to have to do it and i also wanted to demonstrate to them that i could create an Incentive system whereby i could basically scruff myself into getting the work done and indeed much to their dismay i never once had to pay them out although when we got the grants and Indeed even when we didn't get the grants i did take them all to dinner now another key protocol for maintaining motivation while pursuing your goals stems from our understanding of The dopamine reward and motivation pathways topics for which i have done multiple indeed three podcast episodes previously and we can provide a link to all three of those as well as The toolkit that we've published and that's available to you at zero cost on our (Time 1:07:33)
Incorporating Random Intermittent Reinforcement for Ongoing Motivation
Summary:
Incorporating random intermittent reinforcement in goal pursuit and achievement can enhance ongoing motivation.
By randomly rewarding oneself and randomly not rewarding oneself for successful completion of milestones, whether within a bout of effort or across bouts of effort, individuals can maintain motivation. Rather than only rewarding oneself upon goal accomplishment, incorporating a system similar to the one used in casinos can help in sustaining motivation over time.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
Is also true that if you were to only reward yourself when you accomplish your goal or perhaps more commonly if you look at the accomplishment of your goal as the only reward in the whole Process of goal pursuit and achievement that is going to undermine your probability of success as well rather the best way to incorporate the mechanics of the dopamine system such That you can achieve not just immediate motivation but ongoing motivation is to incorporate what is referred to as random intermittent reinforcement which is what the casinos use To keep people playing and it simply means randomly reward yourself and randomly don't reward yourself for successful completion of milestones those milestones could be within A bout of effort or it could be a cross bouts of effort so let's say you set out at the beginning on your piece of paper to basically let's say run or practice at some cognitive endeavor four Hours total per week and you're going to do that Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday should you reward yourself at the end of each session should you reward yourself at the end of Each week the answer is it depends and it should depend in a random intermittent way so the simplest way to do this is whenever you complete a milestone could be at the end of a (Time 1:10:46)
