Neuroscientist: "This Simple Skill Will Keep You Motivated" | Andrew Huberman
Summary
TLDRThe transcript emphasizes the importance of focusing on the effort rather than the end reward to access the full benefits of dopamine, which is our brain's pleasure chemical. It discusses the negative effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation and introduces the concept of a growth mindset, where the process of striving and learning becomes the goal. The speaker suggests that by associating effort with an internal reward system, we can increase our efficiency and enjoyment in activities, even those that are physically challenging or uncomfortable.
Takeaways
- 🎯 Focusing solely on the end reward can undermine the enjoyment and value of the effort put into the process.
- 💪 The ability to derive pleasure from effort is a powerful aspect of dopamine, which is accessible to everyone.
- 🌟 Intrinsic motivation, or doing something for the joy of it, should be prioritized over extrinsic rewards.
- 📚 The Stanford 'Marshmallow Test' showed that children who were no longer offered rewards lost interest in an activity they previously enjoyed.
- 🔄 Cultivating a growth mindset involves embracing the effort and challenge as the reward itself.
- 🧠 Dopamine release from effort can increase energy, focus, and overall performance.
- 🚫 Avoid spiking dopamine levels before or after effort; instead, learn to derive dopamine from the effort itself.
- 🤸♂️ Repeatedly associating effort with pleasure can make it a reflexive response for various types of challenges.
- 🛑 Be mindful of the pain and discomfort during effort, but remind yourself that it's by choice and for the love of the activity.
- 🏆 Recognizing the effort as the reward can lead to better long-term outcomes and sustained motivation.
- 🧠 Understanding and leveraging the neural mechanisms of dopamine release can enhance personal development and achievement.
Q & A
What is the main message about effort and rewards discussed in the transcript?
-The main message is that focusing solely on external rewards like trophies or grades can undermine the pleasure derived from the effort itself. Instead, cultivating a growth mindset and finding pleasure in the effort can lead to better performance and personal development.
What does the transcript suggest about the role of dopamine in effort and rewards?
-The transcript suggests that dopamine plays a powerful role in our biology. It can be accessed from the effort we put into activities, which can increase our energy, focus, and overall enjoyment. However, if dopamine is spiked before or after the effort, it can prevent the natural dopamine release that comes from the effort itself.
What is the 'growth mindset' as mentioned in the transcript?
-The 'growth mindset' is a concept developed by Carol Dweck, which emphasizes the belief that one's abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. It involves striving to be better and seeing the effort as the end goal, rather than just the outcome or reward.
How does the Stanford experiment with children drawing relate to intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement?
-The Stanford experiment showed that when children were given external rewards (like gold stars) for an activity they intrinsically enjoyed, they became less likely to engage in the activity for its own sake once the rewards stopped. This illustrates the difference between intrinsic motivation (doing something because you enjoy it) and extrinsic reinforcement (doing something for a reward).
What is the effect of focusing only on end goals, according to the transcript?
-Focusing only on end goals can make the process of working towards those goals less enjoyable, more challenging, and less efficient. It can also make future efforts more difficult, as individuals may require more external stimuli to motivate themselves.
How can one cultivate a growth mindset?
-One can cultivate a growth mindset by learning to find pleasure in the effort itself, even when it's challenging or uncomfortable. This involves telling oneself that the effort is pleasurable and choosing to engage in it because of the inherent satisfaction it brings, rather than for an external reward.
What does the transcript suggest about the relationship between effort and dopamine release?
-The transcript suggests that effort can naturally lead to dopamine release, which can increase energy, focus, and the ability to experience pleasure. However, this dopamine release is contingent on not artificially spiking dopamine levels before or after the effort.
Who is David Goggins and why is he mentioned in the transcript?
-David Goggins is a former Navy SEAL who has become well-known for sharing his process of turning effort into pleasure. He is mentioned as an example of someone who has successfully cultivated a growth mindset and is able to access the pleasure from effort, as discussed in the transcript.
What advice does the transcript give for dealing with the discomfort of effort?
-The transcript advises that when facing the discomfort of effort, one should acknowledge the pain but also recognize that it is by choice and because of a love for the activity. This mindset can help evoke dopamine release and make the effort feel more pleasurable over time.
What can interfere with dopamine release from effort?
-Artificially spiking dopamine levels before engaging in effort or after the effort can interfere with the natural dopamine release that comes from the effort itself. This can prevent the development of a growth mindset and the enjoyment of the process.
How can one maintain the ability to reward themselves through effort?
-One can maintain this ability by not relying on external rewards and instead focusing on the internal satisfaction derived from the effort. This involves a mindset shift towards valuing the process and the inherent challenges, and recognizing that these are the sources of true reward.
Outlines
🏆 The Power of Effort Over External Rewards
This paragraph discusses the importance of focusing on the effort rather than the external rewards such as trophies, grades, or wins. It explains that the ability to derive pleasure from the effort itself is a key aspect of dopamine, which is accessible to everyone. The paragraph highlights a classic Stanford experiment where children lost interest in drawing when the external reward (gold star) was removed, illustrating the concept of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. It emphasizes the growth mindset, which involves embracing the effort as the end goal and finding pleasure in the process, leading to better performance and the ability to sustain hard work in the future.
💪 Cultivating Dopamine Through Effort
The second paragraph delves into the process of cultivating a growth mindset by learning to associate dopamine release with effort rather than external rewards. It suggests that during moments of intense friction or challenge, one should remind themselves that the pain will lead to increased dopamine release later, thus increasing their baseline dopamine levels. The paragraph advises embracing the effort by choice and finding pleasure in it, using the example of David Goggins, a former Navy SEAL known for his ability to turn effort into pleasure. It warns against spiking dopamine before or after effort and instead encourages learning to spike dopamine from the effort itself.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Effort
💡Dopamine
💡Growth Mindset
💡Intrinsic Reinforcement
💡Extrinsic Reinforcement
💡Friction
💡Reward
💡Baseline
💡David Goggins
💡End Goal
💡Cognitive Interpretation
Highlights
The importance of focusing on the effort rather than the reward to access the pleasure from hard work.
Dopamine's powerful role in enhancing the pleasure derived from effort.
The negative impact of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.
The classic Stanford experiment on nursery school children and drawing to illustrate the effect of rewards on intrinsic enjoyment.
The concept of intrinsic versus extrinsic reinforcement and its impact on the pleasure associated with an activity.
The growth mindset theory developed by Carol Dweck at Stanford, emphasizing effort as the end goal.
How individuals with a growth mindset perform better by focusing on the effort itself.
The neural mechanism of cultivating a growth mindset involves learning to access rewards from effort.
The challenge of associating effort with an internally generated reward system despite physical pain or discomfort.
The need to reframe effort as pleasurable to evoke dopamine release and enhance performance.
The detrimental effects of focusing solely on end goals, making the process less enjoyable and less likely to be repeated.
The strategy of telling oneself that effort is pleasurable, even in pain, to access dopamine release.
The importance of choosing effort and framing it as an enjoyable activity to increase dopamine baseline.
The contrast between thinking about end rewards and finding pleasure in the effort itself.
David Goggins as an example of someone who has successfully turned effort into reward.
The advice against spiking dopamine before engaging in effort, which can interfere with the natural dopamine release from effort.
Learning to spike dopamine from the effort itself, rather than relying on external rewards.
Transcripts
so you can tell yourself the effort part
is the good part I know it's painful I
know this doesn't feel good but I'm
focused on this I'm going to start to
access the reward when we focus only on
the trophy only on the grade only on the
win you undermine that entire process
the ability to access this pleasure from
effort is without question the most
powerful aspect of dopamine and the
beautiful thing is it's accessible to
all of us
hard work is hard generally most people
don't like working hard some people do
but most people work hard in order to
achieve some end goal end goals are
terrific and rewards are terrific
whether or not they are monetary social
or any kind however working hard at
something for sake of a reward that
comes afterward
can make the hard work much more
challenging and make us much less likely
to lean into hard work in the future
there's a classic experiment done
actually at Stanford many years ago in
which children in Nursery School and
kindergarten
Drew pictures and they drew pictures
because they like to draw
the researchers took kids that liked to
draw
and they started giving them a reward
for drawing the reward generally was a
gold star or something that a young
child would find rewarding
then they stopped giving them the gold
star
and what they found is the children had
a much lower tendency
to draw on their own no reward now
remember this was an activity that prior
to receiving a reward the children
intrinsically enjoyed and selected to do
no one was telling them to draw
what this relates to is so-called
intrinsic versus extrinsic reinforcement
when we receive rewards even if we give
ourselves rewards for something
we tend to associate less pleasure with
the actual activity itself that evoked
the reward if you get a peak in dopamine
from a reward it's going to lower your
Baseline and the cognitive
interpretation
is that you didn't really do the
activity because you enjoyed the
activity you did it for the reward now
this is the antithesis of growth mindset
my colleague at Stanford Carol direct as
many of you know has come up with this
incredible
Theory and principle and actually goes
beyond theory in principle called growth
mindset which is this striving to be
better to be in this mindset of I'm not
there yet but striving itself is
the end goal and that of course delivers
you to tremendous performances been
observed over and over and over again
that people that have growth mindset end
up performing very well because they're
focused on the effort itself and all of
us can cultivate growth mindset the
neural mechanism of cultivating growth
mindset involves learning to access the
rewards from effort and doing
and that's hard to do
because you have to tell yourself okay
this effort is great this effort is
pleasureful even though you might
actually be in a state of physical pain
from the exercise or I can recall this
from college just feeling like I wanted
to get up from my desk but forcing
myself to study forcing myself enforcing
myself what you find over time is that
you can evoke dopamine release from the
friction and the challenge that you
happen to be in
you completely eliminate the ability to
generate those circuits and the
rewarding process of being able to
reward friction while in effort if you
are focused only on the goal that comes
at the end so if you say oh I'm going to
do this very hard thing and I'm going to
push and push and push and push for that
end goal that comes later
not only do you enjoy the process of
what you're doing less you actually make
it more painful while you're engaging in
it you make yourself less efficient at
it because if you were able to access
dopamine while in effort dopamine has
all these incredible properties of
increasing the amount of energy in our
body and in our mind our ability to
focus but also you are undermining your
ability to lean back into that activity
the next time the next time you need
twice as much coffee and three times as
much loud music and four times as much
energy drink and the social connection
just to get out the door in order to do
the run or to study so
what's more beneficial is to attach the
feeling of friction and effort to an
internally generated reward system
you're not just pursuing the things that
are innately pleasureful so you can tell
yourself
the effort part is the good part I know
it's painful I know this doesn't feel
good but I'm focused on this I'm going
to start to access the reward you will
find the rewards meaning the dopamine
release inside of effort if you repeat
this over and over again and what's
beautiful about it is that it starts to
become reflexive for all types of effort
when we focus only on the trophy only on
the grade only on the win as the reward
you undermine that entire process
so how do you do this
you do this in those moments of the most
intense friction you tell yourself this
is very painful and because it's painful
it will evoke an increase in dopamine
release later meaning it will increase
my Baseline in dopamine
but you also have to tell yourself that
in that moment
you are doing it by choice and you're
doing it because
you love it and I know that sounds like
lying to yourself and in some ways it is
lying to yourself but it's lying to
yourself in the context of a truth which
is
that you want it to feel better you want
it to feel even pleasureful now this is
very far and away different from
thinking about the reward that comes at
the end the hot fudge Sunday for after
you cross the finish line and you can
replace hot fudge Sunday with whatever
reward happens to to be appealing to you
we Revere people who are capable of
doing what I'm describing
David Goggins comes to mind as a really
good example many of you are probably
familiar with David Goggins former Navy
SEAL who essentially has made a
post-military career career out of
explaining and sharing his process of
turning the effort into the reward the
ability to access this pleasure from
effort is without question the most
powerful aspect of dopamine in our
biology of dopamine and the beautiful
thing is it's accessible to all of us
but just to highlight the things that
can interfere with and prevent you from
getting dopamine release
from effort itself
don't Spike dopamine prior to engaging
in effort
and don't Spike dopamine after engaging
in effort learn to spike your dopamine
from effort itself
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
Overcome External Rewards to Achieve Your Goals | Andrew Huberman
Why Your Brain Loves Hard Work (And How to Make It Work for You)
NEUROSCIENTIST explains How to do Nofap | Andrew Huberman
Amor consciente: libertad emocional en pareja ❤️ Enric Corbera
多巴胺的真正作用是什麼?大多數人都理解錯了.. ► 聽聽史丹佛大學教授怎麽說 - Dr. Andrew Huberman 安德魯.胡伯曼博士(中英字幕)
Happy Brain Chemicals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)