How To Trick Your Brain Into Enjoying Studying - Jordan Peterson
Summary
TLDRThe transcript emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals to combat distractions and maintain motivation. It suggests breaking down long-term goals into actionable steps and scheduling them to ensure consistency. It also highlights the value of incorporating enjoyable activities into one's routine to create a balanced and motivating schedule, using the example of a client who struggled with energy due to poor diet.
Takeaways
- 🧘♂️ The importance of conscious intent in studying is highlighted, noting that distractions are common but should not deter from the goal of learning.
- 🔍 The need to identify what one is avoiding and why, suggesting that understanding this can help in overcoming procrastination and distractions.
- 🎯 Emphasizing the necessity of setting clear and specific goals to provide direction and motivation for action.
- 🤔 Discussing the avoidance of goal setting due to fear of failure, and how this can lead to continuous failure without awareness.
- 💡 The suggestion that having a valued goal can energize and motivate, making the process of working towards it more enjoyable and less of a chore.
- 🌟 The advice to define a long-term ideal that is personally meaningful, which can help in setting and pursuing smaller, actionable goals.
- 📝 The strategy of breaking down larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks that can be scheduled and tracked.
- 📆 The recommendation to use a scheduler or calendar to organize tasks and establish a routine, making it easier to stay on track.
- 🕒 The idea of starting with simple scheduling tasks, such as setting times for waking up, eating, and going to bed, to build a habit of following a schedule.
- 🎉 Encouraging the scheduling of enjoyable activities as well as work tasks, to ensure a balanced routine and to prevent the schedule from feeling like a punishment.
- 🍎 A real-life example of how neglecting basic needs, such as proper nutrition, can lead to a lack of energy and focus, underscoring the importance of self-care in achieving goals.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the transcript regarding studying?
-The main issue discussed is the struggle with distractions and fantasies during study time, and the need to address the underlying reasons for avoidance of study.
What is the first step suggested to address the problem of avoiding study?
-The first step is to specify your goals clearly, as it helps in understanding what you are aiming to achieve and why it is worthwhile.
Why is it important to have a valued goal when studying?
-A valued goal provides positive motivation and makes the micro processes associated with achieving that goal more exciting and engaging.
What does the transcript suggest about the relationship between goal value and daily motivation?
-The more valuable the goal, the more likely one is to feel excited and ready to undertake the necessary steps towards achieving it.
How should one decompose their long-term goals into actionable steps?
-One should break down their goals into smaller, manageable tasks that can be scheduled and are highly likely to be undertaken.
What is the purpose of breaking down study tasks into smaller increments?
-Breaking tasks into smaller increments makes them more achievable and less daunting, increasing the likelihood of actually performing them.
Why is it suggested to negotiate with oneself and make steps smaller if they are not being taken?
-Negotiating with oneself and making steps smaller helps in finding the largest step one is willing to take towards the goal, making the task more manageable.
What role does a schedule play in the process of achieving goals according to the transcript?
-A schedule helps in organizing tasks and allocating time for both work and leisure activities, making it a tool for achieving what one wants rather than a constraint.
How can one use a scheduling tool like Google Calendar to aid in goal achievement?
-One can start by scheduling daily activities such as waking up, going to bed, and eating times, and then gradually add small study tasks and leisure activities to create a balanced routine.
What is the significance of including both work and leisure activities in a schedule?
-Including both work and leisure activities ensures a balanced routine, allowing for necessary breaks and enjoyment, which can prevent burnout and maintain motivation.
Why might someone feel like they are forcing themselves to do leisure activities when scheduling them?
-Scheduling leisure activities can feel like forcing because it requires intentional planning and allocation of time, but it is actually about allowing oneself the time to enjoy these activities as part of a balanced life.
What does the example of the client who was starving and watching the same movie repeatedly illustrate about the importance of self-care?
-The example illustrates that neglecting basic needs like proper nutrition can lead to a lack of energy and motivation, emphasizing the importance of self-care in achieving goals.
Outlines
📚 Overcoming Distractions in Studying
The paragraph discusses the common issue of distractions during study time and emphasizes the importance of setting clear goals to overcome them. It suggests that understanding the value of the task at hand can motivate individuals to focus and avoid procrastination. The speaker advises specifying long-term ideals and breaking them down into actionable steps, making them manageable and increasing the likelihood of commitment. The paragraph also touches on the idea of using a schedule to organize tasks and incorporate enjoyable activities to maintain balance and motivation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Conscious Intent
💡Distractions
💡Avoidance
💡Goal Specification
💡Failure
💡Valued Goal
💡Actionable Steps
💡Incremental Progress
💡Negotiation with Self
💡Scheduling
💡External Jailer
💡Diet Modification
Highlights
Confronting distractions and fantasies during study requires conscious intent and recognizing what you're trying to avoid.
The importance of doing something is rooted in the belief that it's worthwhile, which stems from setting specific goals.
Specifying goals is crucial to avoid vagueness and to know when you fail, which is often avoided due to the pain of failure.
Having a valued goal provides positive motivation and excitement about the day, making it easier to start working towards it.
Setting a long-term ideal as a unique individual helps in defining goals that make your efforts feel worthwhile.
Breaking down goals into actionable steps and scheduling them is a practical way to work towards achieving them.
Incremental steps are necessary to ensure that tasks are undertaken, starting with the smallest possible action.
Negotiating with oneself to find the largest step towards the goal that one is willing to take is key to making progress.
Familiarizing oneself with a scheduler or calendar is the first step in organizing and planning tasks.
Starting with simple tasks like setting wake-up and sleep times in a schedule can lead to a sense of accomplishment.
Scheduling enjoyable activities ensures that you allow yourself time for leisure and socialization, not just work.
A schedule should serve as a means to get what you want, rather than an external enforcer of punishment for deviation.
The story of a client who was starving herself and the importance of modifying diet for better energy and productivity.
The realization that eating properly can significantly impact one's energy levels and ability to work effectively.
The necessity of taking the smallest possible steps if larger tasks seem overwhelming, to ensure progress is made.
The psychological aspect of goal setting and how it influences motivation and the ability to undertake tasks.
The practical application of goal setting in daily life, including the use of calendars and incremental task completion.
Transcripts
if you're sitting down to study for
example your conscious intent is to
study but you know perfectly well that
all sorts of distraction fantasies are
going to enter the theater of your
imagination nonstop and annoyingly and
and then you might think well what is it
in you that's trying to avoid because
after all you took the damn course and
you told yourself to sit down why don't
you listen cuz doing nothing is easy you
just sit there and you don't do anything
that's real easy the question is why
would you ever do anything and the
answer to that has to be because you've
determined by some means means that it's
worthwhile okay number one specify your
damn goals cuz how are you going to hit
something if you don't know what it is
that isn't going to happen and often
people won't specify their goals too
because they don't like to specify
conditions for failure so if you keep
yourself all vague and foggy which is
real easy cuz that's just a matter of
not doing as well then you don't know
when you fail and people might say well
I really don't want to know when I fail
because that's painful so I'll I'll keep
myself blind about when I fail that's
fine except you'll fail all the time
then you just won't know it until You'
failed so badly that you're done okay
well what's the implication of that
better have a valued goal because
otherwise you can't get any positive
motivation working out and so the more
valuable the goal in principle the more
the micro processes associated with that
goal start to take on a positive charge
and so what that means is well you get
up in the morning and you're excited
about the day you're ready to go and so
as far as I can tell what you do is you
specify your long-term ideal you do that
in some some sense as a unique
individual you want you want to specify
goals that make you say oh if that could
happen as a consequence of my efforts it
would clearly be worthwhile once you set
up that that goal structure let's say
then you have to figure out how to
decompose what you want into actionable
steps right and those would be the sorts
of things that you could put in schedule
and then you need to break those steps
down into small enough increments that
you're highly likely to undertake them
so for example maybe you have to do a
report on a given topic for school maybe
you could go to the library one day and
just check out the library that might be
enough and then maybe you could go to
the library and take out a book and then
maybe you could open the book and look
through it those would be on different
days and then maybe you could sit down
and read the first page of the book and
if you can't do that then the first
paragraph you know you have to negotiate
with yourself and figure out what the
largest step you would take towards your
goal is that you would take and if you
don't do it then you make the step
smaller and smaller until you find
something that you would do the next
thing you need to do potentially is to
familiarize yourself with a schedu or
like Google Calendar so the first thing
to do is open it and then maybe to
figure out how to put in a task and then
a repeating task and might be a pretty
simple one to begin with like well why
don't you list waking up and specify a
time or going to bed and specifying a
time put in the schedule when you eat
and those are things you do every day
and so that's something you're pretty
likely to do and so that's a success for
you and then well then you can start by
putting in something small maybe you
need to read whatever it doesn't matter
what it is hopefully it's something you
want to do put it in the schle schedule
and you could start by scheduling the
things that you would like to do so you
could imagine well I like going out to
movies I like going to the mall I like
hanging around with my friends I like
watching TV well then schedule those
things so then you think well that means
I'm forcing myself to do them it's not
that it's that now you're you're
allowing yourself time to do them right
so the schedule becomes a means of you
getting what you want instead of an
external Jailer who punishes you every
time you deviate from requirement and
eat something in the morning I had one
client who was literally starving very
smart girl she there's very little that
she liked she kind of tried to subsist
on like half a cup of rice a day she
came to me and said I have no energy I
come home all I want to do is watch the
same movie over and over what like is
that weird and I thought well it depends
on how hard you work you know it's
little weird but whatever so I did an
analysis of her diet it's like you're
starving eat something you'll feel
better so modified her diet she had some
it's like yeah you got to eat
[Music]
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