How to Become More Mentally Efficient & Conscientious

Summary

In this insightful discussion, the speaker delves into the concept of conscientiousness, exploring ways to enhance this personality trait. They introduce the five-factor model of personality, highlighting conscientiousness as a key factor affecting discipline and impulse control. The speaker proposes a unique theory that altruism and prioritizing others can strengthen conscientiousness, as it cultivates self-restraint and focus. By sharing anecdotes and personal experiences, they encourage the audience to practice altruism to not only improve their own conscientiousness but also to potentially enhance their overall life quality.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Conscientiousness is a personality trait that involves the ability to focus on tasks for extended periods and governs impulse control.
• 🌏 Eastern and Western personality models differ, but the Five Factor Model in the West identifies conscientiousness as one of the key personality factors.
• 🎯 High conscientiousness is associated with being disciplined, organized, and having good follow-through, whereas low conscientiousness can lead to impulsiveness and difficulty in task completion.
• 🤔 The speaker has been exploring ways to improve conscientiousness through research and personal experimentation over the past year.
• 🌱 The act of helping others and being altruistic can be a tool to train and improve one's conscientiousness by setting aside personal impulses for the benefit of others.
• 🔄 The concept of karma, which suggests that doing good for others improves one's life, may be linked to the improvement of conscientiousness through altruistic behavior.
• 🧐 Altruistic sociopaths, who are not necessarily empathetic but choose to do good for others, demonstrate how conscientiousness can be developed independent of empathy.
• 🚀 The speaker's personal experience and coaching clients' anecdotes suggest that prioritizing others can lead to increased conscientiousness and improved life outcomes.
• 🌱 Small acts of altruism can incrementally strengthen one's ability to set aside personal desires, leading to increased conscientiousness over time.
• 💡 The speaker encourages the audience to test the hypothesis of improving conscientiousness through altruism and observe the changes in their mindset and behavior.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is about improving conscientiousness and how it can be achieved through being thoughtful and helpful towards others.

What are the five factors of personality according to the five factor model mentioned in the script?

The five factors of personality according to the five factor model are extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.

How does the speaker define conscientiousness in the context of the script?

In the script, conscientiousness is defined as the ability to focus on a task for extended periods of time and governs things like impulse control. People with high conscientiousness are disciplined, organized, and good at following through.

What is the connection between helping others and improving one's conscientiousness as discussed in the script?

The script suggests that helping others requires setting aside one's own impulses and desires, which in turn trains the mind to have better impulse control and focus, thus improving conscientiousness.

What is the role of neuroticism in the personality model discussed in the script?

Neuroticism in the personality model is the tendency to worry and experience negative emotions. It is described as an adaptive trait that can motivate individuals to work hard and achieve goals due to their concern for consequences.

How does the speaker relate the concept of karma to the improvement of conscientiousness?

The speaker relates the concept of karma to the improvement of conscientiousness by suggesting that doing good deeds for others trains the mind to be more restrained and less impulsive, which aligns with the theory of karma where good actions improve one's life.

What is the 'altruistic sociopath' mentioned in the script and how does it relate to conscientiousness?

The 'altruistic sociopath' mentioned in the script refers to individuals who perform good deeds for others not necessarily out of empathy but through a cognitive decision-making process. This behavior helps them develop higher levels of conscientiousness by setting aside personal desires for the benefit of others.

How does the speaker suggest one can test the theory of improving conscientiousness through altruism?

The speaker suggests that one can test the theory by putting other people first in their daily actions and noticing the mental shift that occurs when setting aside personal impulses for the sake of others. Over time, this practice should lead to an increase in conscientiousness.

What is the significance of the speaker's mention of their own sociopathy and how it affects their work?

The speaker mentions their own sociopathy to illustrate how they can maintain a professional boundary that allows them to be effective in their work without being overwhelmed by the emotional states of others. This trait is also linked to their ability to be altruistic without being driven by empathy.

How does the speaker use their understanding of conscientiousness to motivate themselves in their work?

The speaker uses their understanding of conscientiousness to motivate themselves by focusing on the potential impact they can have on their audience, which helps them overcome their natural inclination towards impulsiveness and lack of follow-through.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Introduction to Conscientiousness

The speaker begins by expressing their curiosity about conscientiousness, a personality trait they were asked about a year ago. They admit not having an immediate answer, which led them on a journey of research, reading papers on personality assessment and delving into texts on yoga. The speaker's aim is to understand how to improve conscientiousness. They introduce the concept by comparing it with Eastern and Western perspectives on personality traits, mentioning systems like Ayurveda and the Five Factor Model, which includes extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.

05:02

🎯 Conscientiousness and Implications

This paragraph delves deeper into conscientiousness, defining it as the ability to focus and the tendency to be disciplined and organized. The speaker contrasts high and low conscientiousness, noting how the latter can lead to impulsiveness and difficulties with follow-through. They discuss societal rewards for high conscientiousness and the gaming community's interest in this trait. The speaker then poses a question: can one improve their conscientiousness, and shares their personal journey in finding an answer.

10:03

🤔 The Cognitive Struggle of Conscientiousness

The speaker explores the internal struggle between impulses and conscientious actions, using the example of choosing between playing a game and studying. They explain how individuals with high conscientiousness are better at impulse control and choosing actions that align with long-term goals over immediate desires. The key insight here is that improving conscientiousness might involve training oneself to set aside personal desires in favor of actions that are beneficial in the long run.

15:04

🌟 The Power of Altruism in Boosting Conscientiousness

In this segment, the speaker suggests that being thoughtful and caring towards others can actually boost one's conscientiousness. They argue that by helping others, one trains the mind to restrain impulses and prioritize actions that benefit others over oneself. The speaker uses the concept of the 'altruistic sociopath' to illustrate individuals who perform good deeds not out of empathy but as a cognitive choice, which can effectively enhance conscientiousness.

20:05

🔄 The Cycle of Karma and Conscientiousness

The speaker connects the Eastern concept of karma with the Western understanding of conscientiousness. They propose that doing good deeds for others not only helps them but also trains the individual's mind to be more disciplined and less impulsive. This, in turn, leads to an improvement in one's own life, as the trained mind becomes better at focusing, organizing, and following through on tasks. The speaker reflects on how this ancient concept of karma aligns with modern psychological insights.

25:07

🚀 Practical Applications and Conclusion

In the final paragraph, the speaker encourages the audience to test the theory of improving conscientiousness by being altruistic. They share personal anecdotes and client experiences where putting others first led to positive changes in their lives. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the practicality of this approach, suggesting that even if it doesn't directly improve one's conscientiousness, the act of helping others makes the world a better place.

Keywords

💡Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness refers to the personality trait of being diligent, responsible, and disciplined. In the video, it is central to the discussion as the speaker explores ways to improve this trait. The speaker mentions that conscientious individuals are better at focusing on tasks for extended periods and have better impulse control. The video suggests that by being thoughtful and helpful to others, one can train their mind to be more conscientious, which in turn can lead to personal improvement and success in various aspects of life.

💡Five Factor Model

The Five Factor Model, also known as the Big Five personality traits, is a psychological theory that describes human personality in terms of five broad dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The video uses this model as a framework to discuss conscientiousness specifically, explaining how it clusters with other traits to form different personality types. The speaker uses this model to anchor the conversation about how to enhance conscientiousness among individuals.

💡Impulsivity

Impulsivity is the tendency to act suddenly without thought or consideration of the consequences. In the context of the video, it is presented as a characteristic of individuals with low conscientiousness. The speaker contrasts impulsive behavior with the disciplined and organized behavior of those with high conscientiousness, using it to illustrate the challenges faced by people looking to improve their conscientiousness.

💡Altruism

Altruism is the selfless concern for the well-being of others. The video suggests that engaging in altruistic behavior can be a tool for improving conscientiousness. By doing things for others, individuals must set aside their own impulses and desires, which in turn trains the mind to be less impulsive and more disciplined. The speaker uses the concept of altruism to propose a method for enhancing conscientiousness through acts of kindness and selflessness.

💡Karma

Karma, originating from Eastern religions, is the concept that one's actions in this life will affect one's future life, either in this world or an afterlife. The video draws a parallel between the ancient concept of karma and the modern understanding of conscientiousness. The speaker suggests that doing good deeds for others, as advocated by karma, can improve one's conscientiousness, thereby improving one's life, which aligns with the Eastern belief in the cyclical nature of cause and effect.

💡Vata

Vata is a term from Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of medicine, which classifies individuals into different 'doshas' or mind-body types. Vata types are described as being like the wind, changing direction easily and being prone to boredom and quick shifts in interest. The video uses the concept of Vata to illustrate how Eastern systems classify personality types, contrasting it with the Western Five Factor Model.

💡Sociopathy

Sociopathy, also known as Antisocial Personality Disorder, is a personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and disregard for the rights of others. The video introduces the concept of 'altruistic sociopaths' who, despite lacking empathy, choose to act in a kind and helpful manner towards others. This is used to illustrate that one can be conscientious and altruistic without necessarily being driven by empathy, but rather by a conscious decision to prioritize others.

💡Extraversion

Extraversion is one of the five factors in the Five Factor Model, describing individuals who are outgoing, sociable, and seek interaction with others. The video contrasts extraversion with introversion, explaining how people with high extraversion tend to draw energy from social interactions, which is relevant to understanding how different personality traits can influence one's approach to life and self-improvement.

💡Neuroticism

Neuroticism is a personality trait characterized by a tendency to experience negative emotions and a lack of emotional stability. In the video, the speaker discusses how neuroticism, while often seen as a negative trait, can be adaptive in certain contexts, such as driving medical students to study hard due to their worry about performance. This trait is used to show how different personality factors can influence one's conscientiousness and overall success.

💡Dharma

Dharma, a concept in Eastern philosophy, refers to the moral and ethical duties that a person is expected to fulfill. The video briefly touches on the idea of finding one's dharma as part of the self-improvement process. By aligning with one's dharma, the speaker suggests that individuals can find purpose and motivation, which can contribute to enhancing conscientiousness and personal growth.

Highlights

The speaker discusses the concept of conscientiousness and the difficulty in improving it.

Conscientiousness is defined as the ability to focus on a task for extended periods and impulse control.

The Five Factor Model of personality includes extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism.

High conscientiousness is associated with discipline, organization, and follow-through.

The gaming community's interest in conscientiousness is highlighted.

The speaker shares personal anecdotes and theories on improving conscientiousness.

Eastern and Western perspectives on personality traits are compared.

The speaker explores the idea that low conscientiousness can be improved through selfless acts.

Altruism is suggested as a tool to train the mind to set aside personal impulses.

The concept of karma and its relation to conscientiousness is discussed.

The speaker hypothesizes that doing good for others can improve one's own conscientiousness.

The idea that helping others can lead to personal improvement is supported by both Eastern and Western theories.

The speaker shares success stories of individuals who have improved their conscientiousness through altruism.

The importance of self-reflection when helping others to recognize the training of impulse control is emphasized.

The speaker invites the audience to test the theory of improving conscientiousness through altruism.

The potential benefits of improved conscientiousness, such as better job performance and personal growth, are outlined.

The speaker concludes by encouraging the audience to prioritize others and observe the positive changes in their own lives.

Transcripts

and so today i wanted to talk to you

guys a little bit about

conscientiousness

and so um i know this is kind of weird

but like i got this question a year ago

like literally like

a year ago or maybe even over a year ago

and um i i know this sounds bizarre but

i actually did not have an answer so

people

kept on asking me like how do i improve

my conscientiousness

so i've been working on it for like a

year and trying to figure out like

reading papers on on personality

assessment you know like reading

some of these old texts on yoga um

and things like that so in trying to

figure out like okay how can we improve

conscientiousness is there a way to do

it

so came up with a couple of theories and

then tried to test them out with a

couple of people over the last

few years what does it mean i know we'll

we'll um

uh we'll get into i'll explain what all

that is and so then tested it with a few

people and it turns out that it actually

does kind of work

at least anecdotally so that's what i

want to kind of talk to you guys about

today

so this is going to be we're going to

use um you know like

i'm going to draw a little bit so let's

kind of dive in

okay so the first thing to understand is

that

um so when we look at different kinds of

different people

we have different personalities or

different kind of cognitive traits or

styles

and in the east we look at systems like

ayurveda or traditional chinese medicine

which will use elements

to describe what kind of person someone

is um so they'll say that like for

example

a vata person is like a wind type and so

their mind is like the wind so it

it blows hard in one direction and then

like changes direction easily

so vatas are people who get bored who's

easily pick things up very quickly

they can be very passionate about things

for like 15 minutes and then it kind of

like

you know isn't stable isn't consistent

so that's where the eastern system

in the western system there's one really

good uh

validated model of personality and that

is the five

factor model and so the five factor

model basically

studied people's personalities and what

they found using a technique called

factor analysis

is that personality tends to cluster in

five different

groups okay so these groups are

extraversion

openness agreeableness conscientiousness

and neuroticism

and so what do these five factors mean

so extroversion

is like how extroverted or introverted

you are

um so people who have high extraversion

like tend to get

relaxed with other people they draw

energy from other people

people who have low extroversion prefer

to be like by themselves

um it doesn't necessarily have anything

to do with how many friends you make or

how charismatic you are it's just sort

of

you know what you prefer so openness is

like is a tendency to like

openness new experiences so you tend to

be like open-minded

as opposed to like a little bit more

traditional

agreeableness is like how likely you are

to get along with other people and like

kind of

be malleable or flexible with your

thinking

it doesn't mean that you're nice or mean

it just means that like you kind of

you know are pretty like open mind uh

you're willing to sort of

change your views to accommodate others

um

and then we get to conscientiousness so

this is kind of a big thing in the

gaming community because people who like

so this is a cool thing about the gaming

community is that a lot of people

nowadays who like read the internet

are actually like amateur psychologists

which i think is fantastic so you guys

you know do

a lot of research you guys read a lot of

stuff on the internet you watch

educational videos and then one of the

things that comes up is this trait of

conscientiousness so conscientiousness

is your ability to sort of

focus on a task for extended periods of

time

um it also governs things like impulse

control so people with low

conscientiousness tend to be impulsive

and have trouble with follow-through

whereas people with high

conscientiousness tend to be um

you know like disciplined organized and

will follow through

and so um one of the interesting things

is that like people tend to think that

certain

attributes of uh you know certain

attributes are better than others

so generally speaking a lot of like the

gaming community feels like they have

low conscientiousness and therefore they

like

lost the lottery right so if you're kind

of born or nurtured in

in a way where your personality forms

with high conscientiousness

you're actually okay doing things like

delaying gratification working hard

working towards a goal and following

through and then there's

us who's like well we don't we're not

good at that i'm kind of lazy i'm

undisciplined

and so people ask me the question is we

were you know talking about the five

factors like how do i

increase my conscientiousness so that's

when what today's lecture is going to be

about

and the last uh attribute is actually

neuroticism which is your tendency to

worry so people may think that

neuroticism which is like

your tendency to like suffer up here is

a bad thing

and it certainly causes suffering but

there are a lot of things that show that

neuroticism is actually an adaptive

trait

so people with super low neuroticism are

what i think of as like the classic

pothead

like sit around all day do nothing like

not really worry about anything like

they don't get worried about stuff

they're just super chill

and so as a result they don't get

motivated to do things because

you know they don't really care about

the consequences

and um so for example doctors or

actually medical students

is a better way to put it tests very

high in neuroticism and hit very high in

conscientiousness

and the reason for that is because like

they were the kids that were worried

about getting a b

on a test when they were in college

which pushed them to study like on

friday nights

instead of going to parties and they're

also kind of hard working so like

that combination of traits is what sort

of allows people to like

be successful medical students or get

into medical school

so it's not like high neuroticism is

better than low neuroticism and oddly

enough it's not like

low conscientiousness is better than

high conscientiousness

but in our society we tend to select

or reward people who have high

conscientiousness

so that gets to the crux of today's

lecture which is that if i have low

conscientiousness

am i sol am i screwed

or is there something that i can do to

boost conscientiousness

and so people basically think if i have

low conscientiousness like

you know i drew the short straw in life

what can i do about it

so it took me a little while um

but it actually turns out that you can

improve conscientiousness

or at least i think so and here's the

best way that i've been able to kind of

figure out how

okay so let's start by thinking about

what actually happens in the mindset of

someone who has low conscientiousness

okay

so um when we're thinking about like

conscientiousness like

oh sorry yes let's think about low

versus high conscientiousness

so let's say that like it's a wednesday

afternoon and i'm done with my classes

and i've got two choices

i can play apex legends or

i can study for my like test next

tuesday

right and so in the mind of someone who

has high conscientiousness it's a little

bit easier

for them to study instead of like play a

game and

um if we think about it like i have two

impulses right so like one

impulse is like what i want to do and

one impulse

is like what i don't want to do we're

not going to say it's good for me or not

good for me because the first thing to

understand is like

the impulses are what's what i want to

do and what i don't want to do

and so you kind of get distracted um and

you end up going towards ipex legends

right so if you have high

conscientiousness you choose the thing

that you don't want to do

you have low conscientiousness you

basically give in to the thing that you

want to do

so you have this impulse to play a video

game and you give in to it

so if we kind of think about it is there

any way to train ourselves

to do what we don't

or not not do what we don't want to do

is there any way to train ourselves

to avoid doing the thing that we want to

do

and there's kind of a a subtle answer

what we really mean by that is

is there anything that i can do that

will

set myself and what i want aside

because that's basically what we're

doing right so if i want to play a video

game that's like prioritizing me

and like can we set that thinking aside

in favor of something else

how do we train our minds to set aside

what we want

in favor of like what's good for us and

so the subtle thing there

is that it's not necessarily a choice

between what's

good for me and what i want it's just

the key act if you look at the cognitive

act it's actually setting aside what you

want which is the important thing it's

the impulse control

which is the important thing and so

conscientiousness is associated with

with higher degrees of impulse control

and so the funny thing is that the

answer is actually right in the word

okay so if we think about

conscientiousness what do we when we

think about a person who's conscientious

what does that mean right so if we think

about like what are the different term

what are the different ways in which we

use that term to describe people

so the first okay so people say

aware conscious so it's not necessarily

conscious

right so it's it's like they think about

people who are like hard-working

but when when she think when we also

think about we think about people who

are caring like so if we think about a

person who's like very conscientious

that person is like

thoughtful about other people and so the

funny thing

there's a really simple way to do to

boost conscientiousness which is just to

be

thoughtful for other people or to i know

it sounds kind of weird but like to just

be a nice person

to be a good person to try to put other

people first to be selfless

and so this is really subtle because if

you think about it like when i do

something for someone else like let's

say i've got like

a pizza right and i've got like this a

whole pizza to myself

and if i think about it i'm sort of like

okay well let me think about what i can

do for someone else

i can eat the whole pizza myself or i

can share the pizza with someone else

and in that moment i have an impulse

let's say it's eat the pizza all by

myself

and what i'm doing when i when i care

about other people in a very like

thoughtful and deliberate way

is i'm setting aside my own impulses so

i want you guys to think

about helping other people and how

helping other people

almost certainly comes at a cost to

yourself

right you have to give something up in

order to help someone else

so if you share something that you have

you know you lose half of it if i

have a friend who's sick and i make them

like you know chicken noodle soup or

whatever like

lentil stew whatever and i like bring it

over there i lose like an hour two of my

time i can't play video games during

that time

i have to go and do something for

someone else i essentially expend

effort at a cost to myself for the

benefit of another person

and i know it sounds kind of weird but

if you really look at what happens in

the mind of someone who helps another

person

there's a really really key common

element

which is the avoidance or restraining

your impulse to benefit yourself

right so if i do anything that's nice

for someone else it has to come at a

cost to me

and that's actually a really wonderful

thing because that is what allows us

to train conscientiousness okay

so let's kind of think about that so

then like the tricky thing about the

personality models

is that um you know people also look at

things like empathy right

and so they say oh isn't helping other

people

empathy isn't that what makes you an

empathic human being and the short

answer is

not really and this is why it's a subtle

there's a lot of nuance here

so empathy is the capacity to feel

what someone else is feeling and so

people who are naturally

empathic naturally like or more helpful

towards other people

that's not what we're talking about

right so what i'm actually talking about

the best example of what i'm talking

about

is the altruistic sociopath so i don't

know if you guys know this but

sociopathy is another like personality

kind of scale it doesn't really fit into

the five factor model or

it maps onto the five factor model in

its own way it's sort of like low

agreeableness maybe a certain amount of

conscientiousness

but the altruistic sociopath is actually

like what we're going to look at to

understand this

so i don't know if you guys know this

but there are a lot of people who are

like really really good people who are

not

empathic they just choose to be good

people

so i've worked with some of these people

and a lot of times like the problem with

sociopaths is that

the ones that get like so if you look at

incarceration rates and stuff like that

sociopathy is like higher in a prison

population but the tricky thing there

there's there's some

evidence that suggests that like the

sociopaths who wind up in prison

are the ones that like get caught and

aren't actually very good at it

um and so they actually may have like a

lower iq so so you it is possible to

have these like altruistic sociopaths

and i

see these a lot so i work with a lot of

c-suite executives and these people test

very highly on the sociopathy scale

i myself test highly on the sociopathy

scale psychiatrists actually routinely

test highly on the sociopathy scale

surgeons test highly on the sociopathy

scale

it's kind of strange right so if you

think about what what is it that

why are psychiatrists high on the

sociopathy scale it's because in a sense

we have

like a very protective or low level of

empathy and what i mean by that is that

like

when i'm sitting with someone with

depression i can't let that person's

depression

like wash over and affect me i actually

need a barrier or it helps

if like i can look at their depression

like clinically without feeling

sad like with them and then feeling like

helpless with them

so instead of feeling feeling that

empathic helplessness it's actually

protective for me to like

be insulated from that and so if you

look at an altruistic sociopath what you

see is someone who

does a lot of things for other people

but

also doesn't do it because of empathy

so they do it sort of cognitively right

so what they do is like eat

up here what they say is like they wake

up in the morning and they're like okay

what can i do

oh this will be like something i can do

for someone else and like that's a good

thing

it's not based on a feeling it's sort of

based on a cognitive process

of choosing to set someone else

above you okay and so this is the key

thing about boosting conscientiousness

is people look at it and they say like

okay

it's hard for me to train myself to like

not watch youtube and study ahead

instead i completely agree that's really

hard it's like fighting an uphill battle

the trick is to use altruism

is your tool like that's going to be

essentially like the weights that you

practice with

right so what i want you guys to

understand is that if your conscientious

is low

conscientiousness is low do stuff for

other people

very simply right so in that process

what you're gonna have to do is set

aside

parts of yourself in favor of other

people and by doing that what you're

gonna train

in your mind is the capacity to set

aside what you want

and so and the cool thing is if you look

at the gaming population like

this is actually something that's really

awesome about us is that we actually

are really good at helping other people

like you guys can get off your ass if it

involves like doing something

substantive for someone else so if we

look at that motivational hump

that you need to get over to train your

conscientiousness

once you throw someone else into the

picture it actually becomes a lot easier

so just to kind of summarize you can

absolutely

train conscientiousness and the way that

you do it is by being

a conscientious human being which is to

be like

nice towards other people and to try to

do things for them

and the really fascinating thing about

this discovery is that this is not like

a new idea right so

if you really think about it like in the

eastern or karmic religions they talk

about karma

or karma and what they say is like what

goes around comes around right so they

sort of say that

if you do good things for other people

like your life will be improved

and that's really weird right so like if

you want to assume there's some sort of

like

cosmic principle or god or someone who's

like

you know using omnipotence to benefit

people that they deem to be good

that system sort of makes sense but we

don't really have any

evidence of any of that so let's just

scrap all that sort of religious stuff

let's try to understand is there like an

actual worldly observation

that supports this theory of karma which

is that like if you do

good by other people your life will be

improved and the funny thing is that

this revelation about conscientiousness

is like the perfect

link that explains that because what the

theory of karma essentially discovered

like thousands of years ago

was that when i do things for other

people i am in training my

conscientiousness

and by doing things for other people i'm

training my mind to be

more restrained i'm training my mind to

not be a victim to my own desires

i'm training my mind to be less

impulsive

i am being the controller of my mind

instead of the mind being the controller

of me

and what they realize is that the people

who consistently do things for other

people

will i don't know if they put these two

pieces together but they made the

observation that people who consistently

do things for other people

their lives start to improve and the

reason for that is really simple it's

because as you train your

conscientiousness

like you're able to study more easily

you're able to like

work harder and clean and be like have

better discipline and better follow

and then naturally as a consequence of

that happening then people like start

doing better in their jobs they start

doing better in their families they

start

like they start being more respected

like there are a lot of positive things

that come out of that

and so it's it's really kind of

fascinating because like the last thing

that i just

kind of want to say is that it's

interesting that karma is like so you

specific

and what i mean by that is like how on

earth in a cosmic

level does me like helping a lady with

her groceries

improve my life like that doesn't make

any sense

right there's no like cosmic energy that

is going to like wrap around and get to

me like we don't have any evidence of

that so if we look at it

how does the theory of karma work it the

only way the theory of karma

can work is actually through you because

you're the only common element

like if i help an old lady over here and

then my life gets better over here

what's the dot that connects

these two things it's you and so the

medium

of action for karma must be the

individual

and once we realize that then we realize

oh [ __ ] like that makes perfect sense

right because

now if we look at the the medium of like

how we improve our lives through helping

others it has to be through us

there has to be a change within our

brain or body but let's assume brain

because that's usually what

you know is responsible for stuff so

there had you know there has to be a

change in your brain

that connects helping an old lady with

her groceries with like improving your

life

and i think that missing link is

literally this this piece of

conscientiousness

so it's really fascinating because you

know if we look at like how to improve

your life

we've got this like theory that's

thousands of years old

which has sort of survived the test of

time right so if you think if you look

at it

like there's a darwinian effect for

concepts

in human history so the concepts that

tend to be like more reliable and

successful will be the ones that get

propagated through time

and the concepts that are like not

reliable

won't get propagated through time right

so if you look at religions for example

like horus and zeus aren't like

any better than like you know whatever

god

was around like you know in other

cultures so there's like

there's a sense that religions will be

born and die because

those particular like figures won't

don't add anything it's some of these

core concepts from religion which will

actually last through time

so the theory of karma has been saying

this for thousands of years and what i

think is super cool

is that now that we understand

personality analysis we see this

interesting link

that okay so the conscientiousness and

doing things for other people and

improving your own life

actually is like kind of explained

through our current understanding

of like validated science around

personality

so at the end of the day how do you

improve your life

how do you improve your

conscientiousness how do you become a

hard

worker when you can't restrain your

impulses and you can't do it for

yourself

you recruit a certain amount of altruism

you recruit doing it for someone else

and when you do it for someone else

literally what you have to do is set

aside what you want or things that

benefit you

are giving in to your impulses for the

sake of another human being

and the more you do that you train your

muscle that sets aside your impulses

and the more you train your muscle to

set aside your impulses

the more conscientious you will become

the more conscientious you become

the more you will be able to study and

like work

and read instead of playing video games

or watching youtube

or netflix or whatever and that's really

like it's that simple so i've been

you know i put this theory together like

about six seven months ago

and i've been piloting it with a couple

of the clients that i work with and it

actually seems to be working pretty well

that when people start to put themselves

like second instead of putting

themselves first

in their interpersonal relationships

they start to like do things like

there's one person i was working with

that

has a degree and hasn't had a job in

eight years so they like finished their

degree and they like never got a job

and you know for a little while they

were just working on repairing their

interpersonal relationships and like now

they have a job using their degree for

the first time

and it's like it's night and day for

them so here's what i'd say

you know hopefully this works but this

is where you guys have to try it out

right

so like this is where i can propose to

you guys i mean

i'm not the speaker of truth this is

just the hypothesis that i've come up

with which i feel pretty confident about

because i think it's sort of supported

by like eastern theory and western

science

it's sort of anecdotally tested in like

half a dozen of people

and based on my own explorations of mine

and frankly

the healthy gamers so i'm also a great

example of this where i have low

conscientiousness

right so like i suck at this stuff i

have a vata mind

and so if you think about it what is it

that keeps me motivated is like thinking

about you guys

so like over the last week i've written

31 000 words of like maybe a non-fiction

book and like what motivates me to do

that

instead of playing video games it's the

idea that like oh my god

like i may die in like a year or two

years or five years or 10 years

and it would be a real pity if i spent

all my time learning this stuff

and like some random accident happened

and like i didn't

you know like it's weird like i was like

thinking about that and like i only have

a limited amount of time on this earth

so i better

get busy because i won't be around

forever right and i don't mean that to

be like

you know i don't want people to get sad

and stuff i mean it's like it's really

like a cognitive sort of thing

this is where thankfully the sociopathy

within me is it's nice because i can sit

with that thought like without

getting overwhelmed it's just like a

real practicality right

but it's actually thinking about you

guys that motivates me to work like it's

it's thinking about you guys and trying

to help other human beings

that restrains my conscientiousness

which is like pretty low because i'm a

supervisor person

right i'm bad at follow through and all

that kind of good stuff too

and so it kind of works so i encourage

you guys to test it out

right so like try it out for yourselves

and see what happens if you start

putting other people first

and if you do put other people first

like notice what's happening in your

mind when you do that

notice that every time you put someone

else first you have to put yourself

second

and that putting yourself second is

setting aside that impulse

and so every time you do that you're

getting a little bit stronger you're

gaining a little bit of xp

you're leveling up just a tiny well

you're not leveling up because that's

like you know incremental

but you know you're getting xp and then

like what you'll do is you'll notice a

level up

at some point right like you'll notice

that like oh wow i'm actually able to

like clean my room now because

it's weird i wasn't able to do that

that's a level up i'm actually able to

put together my resume i'm actually able

to apply for the job i'm actually able

to

learn this extra thing that i've always

wanted to learn like if you're a

programmer and you like we're like oh

i'd really like to learn this and you

never get around to it

so try and put other people first and if

it doesn't work as a diablo the divine

has a great question

if it doesn't work shocking in the

meantime with your failure you have made

the world a better place

oh [ __ ]

sucks um if you guys want to work

through some of this stuff right so we

teach these concepts the whole reason

that we have a coaching program

is so that like you can work with a

coach to actually like problem solve

your particular issues

and um kind of work through those things

like with someone and then like it tends

to be pretty effective

so coaching is a great way to sort of

explore

like testing and improving your

conscientiousness overcoming laziness

um figuring out like how to implement

changes in your life and things like

that

they'll also help you find a little bit

about your dharma and all that kind of

good stuff

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okay

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uh