TEDxVictoria - Dr. Sean Richardson - Mental Toughness: Think Differently about your World

Summary

The speaker discusses the medical system's tendency to over-treat, fueling a demand for instant gratification in healthcare. They explore the psychological discomfort of inaction, rooted in our fight-or-flight response, and contrast it with the benefits of patience and delayed gratification. Drawing on research, they advocate for a growth mindset over a fixed one, emphasizing the importance of effort and persistence over innate ability. The talk concludes with a call to embrace failure and develop mental toughness to achieve success.

Takeaways

• 📰 The speaker was inspired by an article in the 'globan mail' about the medical system's tendency to over-treat, fueling a demand for instant gratification in healthcare.
• 🏥 The concept of 'doing nothing' in medicine is revisited, suggesting that sometimes, less intervention can be more beneficial, echoing the ancient wisdom of 'do nothing' as a form of remedy.
• 🧠 Our brains are hardwired to seek instant gratification and action in response to perceived threats, a trait rooted in the limbic system and the fight-or-flight response.
• 🧠 The neocortex, a more evolved part of the brain, offers the ability to override instinctual reactions, allowing for more thoughtful decision-making.
• 🏋️‍♀️ The speaker, a PhD in performance psychology, emphasizes the importance of working with emotions and not against them, suggesting that acknowledging feelings can lead to better decision-making.
• 🏅 The idea of 'mental toughness' is introduced, linking the ability to delay gratification and accept failure as key components of high performance and success.
• 🎯 The speaker discusses the importance of focusing on actions rather than outcomes, suggesting that this mindset can lead to improved performance and success.
• 🧩 Research on 'delay of gratification' is highlighted, showing that the ability to delay immediate rewards is a strong predictor of future success.
• 🌱 The 'growth mindset' is presented as a key to success, contrasting with a 'fixed mindset', and suggesting that effort and persistence are more important than innate ability.
• 🌟 The potential of mental toughness and the right mindsets to transform individual lives, families, economies, and possibly even world peace is explored as a powerful conclusion.

Q & A

What was the main topic of the article the speaker read in the Starbucks?

The main topic of the article was the medical system's tendency to provide overtreatment, unnecessary tests, and prescriptions for minor ailments to satisfy the demand for instant gratification when people are sick.

What does the term 'overtreatment' refer to in the context of the script?

Overtreatment refers to the practice of providing excessive medical treatment, tests, or prescriptions that may not be necessary, often driven by the desire to make patients feel that something is being done to address their health concerns.

How does the speaker relate the concept of 'doing nothing' to the medical field?

The speaker relates 'doing nothing' to the medical field by discussing the practice of withholding unnecessary treatments and interventions, which can sometimes be more beneficial than potentially harmful actions when doctors are uncertain or when the interventions could do more harm than good.

What historical figure is mentioned in the script in relation to the practice of 'doing nothing'?

Hippocrates is mentioned as the historical figure who preempted the idea of 'doing nothing' as a good remedy, suggesting that sometimes inaction can be beneficial.

How does the speaker connect the human brain's response to threats with the demand for instant gratification?

The speaker connects the human brain's response to threats with the demand for instant gratification by explaining that the fight or flight response, which releases adrenaline in response to perceived threats, can lead to a strong anxiety and a compulsion to relieve that anxiety, which is often sought through instant gratification.

What is the significance of the 'neocortex' in the context of the script?

The neocortex is significant because it represents an evolutionary upgrade in the human brain that allows for adaptation and change, enabling individuals to override the more primitive limbic system when it is not serving its purpose, such as in the case of unnecessary fight or flight responses.

What advice does the speaker give for dealing with strong emotions?

The speaker advises to work with feelings, not against them, by validating emotions as they serve a purpose for survival. It's important to listen to strong emotions with discernment and decide whether the response is about survival or willpower, then take action accordingly.

How does the speaker link the concept of delay of gratification to success in life?

The speaker links delay of gratification to success by stating that the ability to delay gratification is a better predictor of success in life than intelligence or other factors. It involves not getting hung up on immediate results and prioritizing long-term goals over short-term desires.

What is the 'growth mindset' as described in the script?

The 'growth mindset' is a belief that success comes from effort and that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. It contrasts with a fixed mindset, which assumes that success is based on inherent, unchangeable abilities.

How does the speaker suggest using mental toughness in the context of high performance?

The speaker suggests using mental toughness to accept failure and to persist in the face of challenges. It involves making difficult decisions, acting on them, and evolving rapidly to achieve high performance.

What are the three key mindsets the speaker shares as strategies for dealing with life's challenges?

The three key mindsets shared by the speaker are: 1) Work with your feelings, not against them, 2) Keep your eye on the big picture, and 3) Fail going 100%, which means being okay with failure as long as you do everything you can to succeed.

Outlines

00:00

🌱 The Paradox of Inaction in Healthcare

The speaker begins by sharing a personal anecdote of reading an article at Starbucks about overtreatment in the medical field. The article suggests that the healthcare system often provides unnecessary treatments to satisfy patients' demands for instant relief, even when no effective intervention exists. The speaker discusses the psychological discomfort of inaction, especially when health is at stake, and how our brains are hardwired to respond to threats quickly. The talk touches on the historical advice of doing nothing when it's beneficial, contrasting it with our modern, action-oriented mindset.

05:02

🏋️‍♂️ Mental Toughness and Accepting Failure

The speaker transitions to discussing mental toughness, particularly in the context of high-performance individuals like athletes and businesspeople. They argue that accepting failure is a critical strategy for success, as it allows individuals to learn and grow without being hindered by the fear of not achieving immediate results. The speaker references Michael Jordan's perspective on failure as a stepping stone to success. The talk also introduces the concept of delayed gratification, suggesting that the ability to delay immediate rewards is a strong predictor of success, even more so than intelligence or other factors.

10:04

🧠 Growth Mindset Over Fixed Mindset

The speaker delves into the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is characterized by the belief that effort leads to success and that failure is an opportunity for growth. In contrast, a fixed mindset views success as a result of unchangeable traits and sees failure as a sign to quit. The speaker cites research by Carol Dweck, which shows that children with a growth mindset are more likely to persist in the face of challenges. The talk emphasizes the importance of mental toughness in adopting a growth mindset and the potential for this mindset to lead to personal and societal improvements.

15:07

🌟 Embracing Mental Toughness for a Resilient Life

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker summarizes the key mindsets discussed: working with emotions, focusing on the bigger picture, and fully accepting failure. They emphasize the importance of mental toughness, suggesting that it can empower individuals to navigate life's challenges effectively. The speaker ends with a call to action, encouraging the audience to develop mental toughness to harness their potential and face life's obstacles with resilience.

Keywords

💡Overtreatment

Overtreatment refers to the excessive use of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that are not medically necessary. In the video, the speaker discusses how the medical system sometimes fuels the demand for instant gratification by providing overtreatment, which can lead to unnecessary tests and prescriptions for minor ailments. This concept is used to highlight the importance of understanding when action may not be the best course and when 'doing nothing' might be a more appropriate response.

💡Instant Gratification

Instant gratification is the desire to fulfill an impulse or desire immediately, often without considering the consequences. The speaker uses this term to critique the societal and medical tendencies to always seek immediate solutions or actions, even when they might not be beneficial. It's contrasted with the idea of patience and the practice of 'doing nothing' when it's more beneficial.

💡Hippocrates

Hippocrates was a Greek physician who is considered the father of Western medicine. The speaker references Hippocrates to emphasize the long-standing wisdom that 'doing nothing' can sometimes be a good remedy. This historical reference is used to lend credibility to the concept that inaction can be a form of treatment in certain medical contexts.

💡Fight or Flight

The fight or flight response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. In the video, the speaker explains how this response is hardwired into our brains and can lead to anxiety and a compulsion to act when faced with perceived threats, even when such action is not necessary or beneficial.

💡Neocortext

The neocortex is the part of the cerebral cortex that is involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, and language. The speaker suggests that the neocortex can override the more primitive 'fight or flight' responses of the limbic system, allowing for more reasoned and less impulsive decision-making.

💡Mental Toughness

Mental toughness is the ability to cope with stress, adversity, and pressure while remaining focused and motivated. The speaker connects this concept to the idea of accepting failure and delaying gratification, suggesting that mental toughness is necessary to make the tough decisions and act in ways that align with long-term goals rather than immediate desires.

💡Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is a concept in psychology that embraces the belief that skills and intelligence can be developed through effort and persistence. The speaker contrasts this with a fixed mindset, arguing that adopting a growth mindset can lead to greater success and resilience in the face of failure. This mindset is presented as a tool for high performance and personal development.

💡Delay of Gratification

Delay of gratification is the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward. The speaker cites research showing that children who can delay gratification tend to have greater success later in life. This concept is used to argue for the importance of focusing on long-term goals over short-term rewards.

💡Fixed Mindset

A fixed mindset is the belief that one's abilities and intelligence are set in stone and cannot be changed. The speaker discusses how this mindset can lead to a fear of failure and a reluctance to take on challenges. It is presented as an obstacle to personal growth and success, in contrast to the empowering perspective of a growth mindset.

💡Emotional Validation

Emotional validation is the process of acknowledging and accepting someone's emotions as valid and real. The speaker suggests that working with one's feelings rather than against them is a key aspect of mental toughness and personal growth. This involves recognizing the value of emotions as signals and using them to inform decision-making.

💡Acceptance of Failure

Acceptance of failure refers to the ability to cope with and learn from unsuccessful outcomes without letting them undermine one's self-esteem or motivation. The speaker uses examples from sports and business to illustrate how accepting failure can be a path to success, as it allows individuals to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

Highlights

The medical system fuels our demand for instant gratification with overtreatment.

The feeling of needing to do something when sick can be overwhelming.

The dilemma of whether to proceed with medical interventions that may cause more harm than good.

The practice of doing nothing and being patient is advocated by some physicians to combat the demand for instant gratification.

Hippocrates' 2500-year-old advice to do nothing is relevant to modern medicine.

The human brain is hardwired to respond quickly to threats, which can lead to unnecessary actions.

Uncertainty and inaction are counter to our neural instincts.

The fight or flight response is useful in life-or-death situations but less so in everyday life.

Anxiety can be a hindrance to performance, especially in public speaking.

The neocortex can override the limbic system, providing an upgrade to our brain's response to threats.

Advice on using the neocortex to work with feelings and validate emotions.

Accepting failure is a key strategy for success, as demonstrated by Michael Jordan's career.

The importance of focusing on actions rather than results for effective performance.

Research shows that the ability to delay gratification is a strong predictor of success in life.

A growth mindset, believing that effort creates success, is more beneficial than a fixed mindset.

Mental toughness is necessary to change mindsets and master emotions for high performance.

The potential societal benefits of learning to delay gratification and accept failure.

Encouraging a growth mindset and mental toughness can lead to personal and societal improvements.

Transcripts

[Applause]

good

morning on Tuesday uh last Tuesday I was

sitting at Starbucks and I was drinking

a soy decaf non-fat vegan

latte yeah I know it's a recent diet

change um I was procrastinating from

doing some important work and in a

headline in the globan mail it caught my

attention it said wait do nothing and it

was an article about how the medical

system and it it fuels our incessant

demand for instant gratification when

we're sick with what it terms overt

treatment unnecessary tests and

prescriptions for minor ailments all to

create a sense that at least something

is being

done you know that feeling when you've

had the flu and you're bogged down and

you the the demand to do something can

be almost overwhelming it's like an a

drug addict going through withdrawal and

you know just anything to get some

relief how many people have had a nasty

flu in in the last year yeah maybe

there's been something worse or maybe

someone you care about is facing a

deadly

disease um my father-in-law is is dying

of

cancer and uh you know isn't there

anything that you would do just

something to to to to make a change and

quickly but what if there is an

intervention what is if there isn't a

prescription that can make a difference

what if the doctors don't know the

answer or what if the answer they have

could do more harm than

good do you still go ahead with it

despite the negative

consequences you know according to the

article there's a growing number of

Physicians and academics who are

advocating the practice of nothing being

patient trying to understand more before

taking action in a way it's kind of

refusing to fuel that demand for instant

gratification hypocrates he preempted

this 2500 years ago when he said to do

nothing sometimes is a good

remedy however being a PhD in

performance psychology I can tell you

that doing nothing your brain is not

going to like it uncertainty isn't going

to make it comfortable especially where

survival and health are

concerned you see at a neural level

uncertainty and inaction are counter

instinctual we are hardwired to work out

and and respond to threats to our

survival as quickly as possible that

hard wiring is in the lyic system in our

brain it's it's a home to the

hypothalmic pituitary adrenal access

which releases adrenaline and nor

adrenaline in response to a perceived

threat It prepares you for violent

physical action most of us know this as

fight ORF flight uh the toned down

version of fight ORF flight is uh is a

strong anxiety coupled with a compulsion

to relieve the

anxiety and

um you know that's a demand for instant

gratification remove the fear

now you know fight ORF flight is

actually pretty useful if I'm standing

on a road and a a car is hurling towards

me at 100 miles an

hour fight or flight violent muscular

action good very

good now don't get me wrong you know in

the game of life and death failure is

not an option um do whatever you can to

survive right now cuz in the next moment

once you're still alive you can figure

out how to deal with the effects of your

chosen course of action but the thing is

an average day in North America how many

of us face a real threat to survival for

which you really need fight ORF flight

aside from you know your annual get

together with the

in-laws you know most of the time we

only face threats to our ego you know

did you just say that I'm

stupid know how many people have been up

on a stage like this how helpful is uh

is anxiety to public speaking

[Music]

it begs the question do we have the most

evolved piece of neurot technology to

really deal with the challenges of the

modern world we live in I believe that

now we live in a world where we have

outpaced the evolution of our brain of a

significant part of our brain the the

the the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal

axis is is flawed if not dysfunctional

in facing and making decisions in most

of modernized

Life fortunately nature or God or

whatever you believe in

has provided us with an upgrade it's the

neocortex and it has the the capability

to adapt and change to override the

limic system when that's not serving its

user so how can you use your Neo

cortex my advice is make a choice and

it's to work with your feelings not

against them validate your emotions

they're there for a

reason sometimes you need to survive

instant gratification is good when

you're dying in Starvation

but this is not this is about not being

a slave to feelings like like a a bad

investor to a short-term Market change

listen to the strong emotions with

discernment and decide is this about

survival or about willpower and take

action accordingly all right so what

does all this stuff about delay of

gratification have to do with what I

usually talk about with his mental

toughness and high performance I work

with professional athletes and and

business people I've just explained that

to the brain to the survival brain

failure is not an option yet what I've

observed in my work is that accepting

failure being okay with not getting the

result you want right now is one of the

best best success strategies it's very

challenging and it's going to take some

mental toughness to respond

effectively to paraphrase one of my

favorite athlete statements of all time

Michael Jordan

said in my career I've missed over 9,000

shots I've lost almost 300 games 26

times I've been trusted to take the

game-winning shot and I've missed I

failed over and over and over again in

my life and that's why I succeed I can

accept failure I just can't accept not

trying do you know how tough that is to

do accept failure think about it for a

moment how good are you at accepting

failure you know how's that going in

your business you know losing profits on

your sports team how about those

Canucks

oops don't put that one online you're

family conflict your health and fitness

you know the thing about failur is when

you get ruled by it you you tighten up

you play it safe and you make decisions

that limit you and keep you small and

stop you from growing I worked with a

professional Australian football team

for five years our first year it was a

win at all costs got to achieve the

result win or else kind of attitude and

the problem is in that first season we

were losing most of the time halfway

through the season however we changed

our Focus from results to actions we

said it's not about whether we win or

lose it's just what we do right let's do

it 100% with real effort it worked in

2007 we were almost last on the ladder

in 2009 we went on to become the best

defensive team in the history of the

sport lost only two games all season but

how can you how can you create that

effective response to failure

fortunately science has published some

really great research that helps us to

apply what Michael Jordan figured out

intuitively so first let's look at the

delay of gratification the capacity

delay gratification is one of the best

predictors of success in life they do

this great research with kids where they

bring a kid into the lab and they show

him a bowl with his favorite candy in it

and they say you know we're going to

leave and you can eat the candy if you

want to when we leave but if you don't

we're going to come back and give you a

much bigger bowl of candy and then they

walk out of the room and they stand and

look through the two-way mirror they

flick on the camera they flick on the

the stopwatch they wait to see how long

it takes the kid to

crack it turns out that the kids who can

delay the longest they go on to have the

most success in high school that

capacity to delay gratification is a

better predictor of success in life than

intelligence than hour spent studying

the School attendance record why well

it's twofold first of all they don't get

hung up on a result if they fail a test

persist because they see the bigger goal

and then second of all well when it's

school work versus play prioritize

school work instant gratification put it

aside we have to learn to tunee out to

the compulsion instant gratification

it's way way easier delay of

gratification is tough mentally tough so

my suggestion for this one is keep your

eye on the big

picture it's hard to do because when

there's no immediate reward for your

patience your hard work your effort you

have to be satisfied for a long time

just with knowing that your effort on

its own is something to celebrate you

know if you're a leader of people get

them to focus on their actions not on

their results you know I'm not saying

that that results don't matter they do

they do to me I love winning I love

sport but you can be results driven and

action

focused all right so it's great to

understand the concept of delay of

gratification but you might find you

can't just flick a switch because

something's already been programmed into

the system it's the implicit belief that

your capabilities are more or less fixed

from birth you know have you ever

thought I wish I had I was Stronger I

was smarter I was faster I was more

patient I had different

genetics when you're in that mindset you

know that your capability is

predetermined and limited your survival

brain is going to say if I don't think

I'm going to succeed I'm not going to

put any effort

in not very successful the good news is

that Carol d a professor from Stanford a

lot of people have heard of the these

days has demonstrated over the last 500

500 years she's been around for a while

for 25 years that success in persisting

the face in of failure is less about

natural ability and more about a can do

attitude she called it a growth mindset

which is the belief that effort is what

creates success that results are a

measure of current competency which is

really a changeable behavioral thing and

that failure is really an opportunity to

grow and that's in contrast to what she

calls fixed mindset the belief that

success is a a result of stable traits

and results themselves are unchangeable

you know and and and they they show a

measure of you know immutable ability

and that failure is likely an indicator

to give up and her research also started

with kids she uh she she gives kids

puzzles uh four puzzles three of them

unsolvable and then lets them get

frustrated for a

while you kind of get the feeling that

psychology research and cruelty to

children go hand and half anyway so the

kids get frustrated then you give them a

break and then you you come back and you

say you can play again with some puzzles

choose from the previous four the kids

who believe that the previous results

were determined by effort they actually

go on and or and choose one of the

unsolved puzzles to keep going with it

the kids who believe that their previous

results were determined by ability

choose the one that they had already

solved sort of helpless kind of

complacent perhaps you know need to feed

a fragile ego so if you believe that

effort is the key you're going to see

failure as a challenge if you believe

that ability is the key you're going to

give up when you fail my way

interpreting the growth mindset for high

performance is to say fail going 100% be

okay with failure as long as you do

everything you can to

succeed do you get excited by this stuff

I do I do

because it puts me in the driver's seat

I get to choose I can get

better you don't need to

though you could learn to master your

emotion

you could change your mindset if you

want to but it's not easy and this is

where mental toughness comes in and it's

you know you're going to have to evolve

rapidly you're going to have to make the

decisions that are harder to make and

act on

them it's all pause for a

moment what would be possible if humans

could learn to delay gratification

effectively to accept failure with

Equanimity at the same time is seeing

themselves and others as people with

extraordinary

potential a Brilliance within just

waiting to be activated by effort and

persistence could this not build

healthier families if children could

grow up understanding not judging their

emotional

lives if they were encouraged by their

loved ones to to you know accept the

compulsive feelings are totally normal

they don't have to satisfy that need for

instant gratification

if they learned that the personal

characteristics and focused on those

ones that that they were in control of

like the quality of their effort and the

persistence

mindset they might just grow

up with an unshakable

confidence simply in who they

are not what

happens no matter what happens around

them might not this help ward off future

recession you know if the big Bankers

Hunker after that immediate

gratification of massive bonuses from

handing out you know multitudes of of

high-risk mortgages to equally impulsive

investors what if they were able to see

the impact of their

actions you know and see that they could

still have succeeded maybe more slowly

but with a sustainable future with a

growth mindset and a little bit more

self-esteem we may have averted the

subprime mortgage crisis might this not

be the secret to World

Peace if oppressed people could see

beyond their current limic demands for

the removal of pain and

suffering past the insecurities born out

of difficult

lives so they fostered genuine

self-worth you know amidst their

traumatic worlds maybe the psychopathic

dictators would not be so effective at

manipulating them

with the fears and the promise of pain

relief from going to war against equally

fearful

people am I stretching this a

bit I hope

so so I've shared three key mindsets and

I will close with them work with your

feelings not against

them keep your eye on the big

picture and fail going 100%

and most of all get tough because mental

toughness will give you power in the

face of anything that life throws at you

thank you