How Years Of Gaming Affects Your Brain
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the long-term effects of gaming on the brain, focusing on the imbalance between dopamine and serotonin that can lead to addictive behavior. It discusses how gaming can create a dopaminergic dependence while causing a serotonergic aversion, leading to feelings of inadequacy and lack of confidence. The video offers strategies to overcome these challenges, such as engaging in activities that promote serotonin production and learning to operationalize real-life tasks similar to video game quests to regain a sense of accomplishment and progress.
Takeaways
- đź Gaming can lead to a dopaminergic dependence and serotonergic aversion, affecting gamers' motivation and confidence in real life.
- đ Gamers might feel stuck due to an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin, which governs reward and well-being respectively.
- đȘ Overcoming the 'gamer' label involves engaging in activities that increase serotonin, leading to a sense of accomplishment and well-being.
- đïžââïž Examples of serotonergic activities include challenging tasks like free-diving, which aren't necessarily fun but provide a sense of achievement.
- đ§ Gaming can suppress negative emotions by shutting off blood flow to the amygdala, which governs fear, anxiety, and panic.
- đ The suppression of negative emotions can hinder learning from mistakes, leading to what the script refers to as an 'XP penalty' in real life.
- đ§ To counteract the XP penalty, gamers are advised to sit with their emotions without numbing them out, allowing emotional learning to occur.
- đ€ Gamers often struggle with operationalizing problems because games typically provide clear objectives and rules, unlike real life.
- đ A technique to overcome this is breaking down large, abstract goals into smaller, manageable tasks, similar to quest lines in games.
- đ The key to overcoming gaming-induced deficits is recognizing them as neurological effects rather than inherent personal traits.
Q & A
What is the main topic discussed in the video script?
-The main topic discussed in the video script is the impact of years or even decades of gaming on the brain.
How does gaming affect a gamer's social life according to the script?
-Gaming is suggested to make it harder for gamers to engage in social activities like playing sports or easily socializing, making them feel like they're living life on hard mode.
What is the role of dopamine in gaming as described in the script?
-Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is triggered by external fun or pleasurable activities like gaming, which leads to a release of dopamine and reinforces the gaming behavior.
What is the difference between dopamine and serotonin as it pertains to gaming?
-Dopamine is associated with reward and pleasure from external sources like gaming, while serotonin governs an internal sense of well-being and confidence. Gamers may have high dopamine activities but lack in serotonin, leading to a lack of confidence and well-being.
How does gaming affect a gamer's motivation and discipline according to the speaker?
-The speaker suggests that gamers may feel lazy and lack discipline not because they are inherently so, but because gaming affects their brain chemistry, creating a dopaminergic dependence and a serotonergic aversion.
What does the speaker suggest as a method to overcome the serotonergic aversion in gamers?
-The speaker suggests engaging in serotonergic activities that are challenging but not necessarily pleasurable, which help build confidence and a sense of accomplishment.
How does gaming impact a gamer's emotional responses according to the script?
-Gaming can suppress negative emotional circuitry, leading to a hyper-reactive amygdala and heightened experiences of fear, anxiety, panic, and dread.
What is the 'XP penalty' mentioned in the script, and how does it affect gamers?
-The 'XP penalty' refers to the impaired learning circuitry in gamers due to gaming's effect on their brains, making it harder for them to learn from their mistakes and progress in life.
How does the speaker recommend gamers deal with negative emotions?
-The speaker recommends that gamers sit with their negative emotions without numbing them out through gaming, allowing the brain to restore emotional activity and learn from those emotions.
What is operationalization and how does it relate to gamers' struggles?
-Operationalization is the process of breaking down abstract tasks into manageable steps. Gamers struggle with this because games typically provide clear objectives and rules, unlike real life.
What advice does the speaker give to gamers to overcome the challenges discussed in the script?
-The speaker advises gamers to engage in activities that increase serotonin, sit with their emotions to restore learning circuitry, and operationalize life's main quests into smaller, manageable tasks.
Outlines
đź Impact of Gaming on the Brain
The paragraph discusses the long-term effects of gaming on the brain, focusing on how gaming can lead to a lifestyle that seems more challenging compared to non-gamers. It highlights the dopamine release triggered by external stimuli like drugs and video games, which reinforces gaming behavior. The speaker also touches on their personal experience as a gamer and how gaming affected their life, even during their medical school and psychiatry training at Harvard. The main point is the imbalance between dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters responsible for pleasure and well-being, respectively, which can lead to a gamer's feeling of being stuck and lacking confidence in the real world.
đââïž Balancing Dopamine and Serotonin through Activities
This section explains the normal functioning of dopamine and serotonin in non-gamers through the example of white water rafting. It illustrates how challenging activities can lead to a sense of accomplishment and well-being, increasing serotonin levels. The speaker contrasts this with gamers' experiences, who often engage in dopamine-releasing activities without the subsequent serotonergic boost. The paragraph suggests that gamers need to engage in activities that are not necessarily pleasurable but lead to a sense of accomplishment to balance the neurotransmitter levels and overcome the aversion to serotonergic activities.
đ§ The Role of the Amygdala in Gaming and Negative Emotions
The paragraph delves into the role of the amygdala, the part of the brain that governs negative emotions, and how gaming can hyper-reactive it. It explains that low serotonin levels can make the amygdala more sensitive, leading to heightened feelings of fear, anxiety, and panic. The speaker discusses how gaming provides a temporary escape from these negative emotions, which can hinder learning from mistakes and life progress. The concept of an 'XP penalty' is introduced, suggesting that gamers may learn less effectively from negative experiences due to the suppressive effect of gaming on the amygdala.
đ§ââïž Facing Negative Emotions to Overcome Gaming's Effects
This section advises gamers on how to deal with negative emotions that arise from gaming. It suggests that instead of numbing these emotions with video games, gamers should sit with their emotions to allow the brain to restore emotional activity and learning. The speaker recommends exercises such as pacing or staring at a wall to tolerate negative emotions without resorting to gaming. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of negative emotions for driving important behaviors and learning from experiences.
đ Operationalizing Life's Main Quests Post-Gaming
The final paragraph addresses the issue of how gamers struggle with operationalizing abstract life tasks due to the structured nature of video games. It explains that gamers are used to having clear objectives and rules in games, unlike real life. To overcome this, the speaker suggests breaking down life's main quests into smaller, manageable tasks, similar to how video games are structured. The paragraph provides a method for gamers to leverage their cognitive skills to achieve life goals by creating a clear, step-by-step path, thus helping them progress in life without relying on the gaming framework.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄGaming
đĄDopamine
đĄSerotonin
đĄXP Penalty
đĄAmygdala
đĄReal World
đĄOperationalize
đĄSerotonergic Activities
đĄDopaminergic Dependence
đĄNegative Emotional Circuitry
đĄHippocampus
Highlights
Gaming can affect your brain and lead to a perceived 'hard mode' in life compared to non-gamers.
Gamers might feel life is passing them by as they prefer staying at home to play video games.
Babble, a language learning app, is recommended for its authenticity and scientific backing.
Gamers often feel inadequate compared to their peers who seem to accomplish more.
Gaming can lead to a dopaminergic dependence and a serotonergic aversion.
Dopamine is linked to reward and pleasure, often triggered by external stimuli like video games.
Serotonin governs internal well-being and confidence, which gamers often lack.
An imbalance of dopamine and serotonin can cause gamers to feel stuck and retreat from real-world activities.
Gamers may develop a sense of laziness and lack of discipline due to gaming's effects on the brain.
Non-gaming activities like white water rafting can lead to an increase in serotonin post-activity.
Gamers miss out on the serotonergic benefits that come from overcoming challenges in real life.
The amygdala, responsible for negative emotions, becomes hyperactive in low serotonin states.
Gaming can suppress negative emotions, which hinders learning from mistakes.
Negative emotions are crucial for learning and adapting behavior, but gaming can impair this process.
Gamers may struggle with progressing in life due to an 'XP penalty' caused by gaming.
Learning from negative experiences is essential for personal growth, which can be impeded by gaming.
Gamers can overcome their 'XP penalty' by sitting with their emotions and not numbing them out.
Video games provide a structured path with quests and rules, unlike real life, which can lead to operationalization deficits in gamers.
Gamers struggle with abstract tasks because games have always provided a clear path.
Breaking down life's main quests into smaller, manageable tasks can help gamers operationalize problems.
Gamers can reverse the neurological deficits caused by gaming through cognitive restructuring and emotional regulation.
Understanding the difference between dopamine and serotonin is crucial for overcoming gaming's impact on life.
Engaging in serotonin-inducing activities can help gamers build confidence and well-being.
Transcripts
today we're going to talk about what
years or even Decades of gaming does to
your brain
[Music]
if you're a gamer chances are you're
kind of living life on hard mode right
other people are able to do things like
have fun activities like playing
football or soccer or basketball they're
able to socialize a little bit more
easily they're able to focus on
academics and derive like reward and
pleasure but if you're a gamer you're
kind of like you don't want to do that
stuff right you'd rather just stay at
home and like play video games that's
kind of fun and it sort of feels like
life is passing you by hey y'all I want
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free being born with sort of the gamer
trait feels like a really bad debuff and
I know that I certainly felt that way
even when I was no longer a degenerate
gamer so after I got into med school and
even was like training to become a
psychiatrist at Harvard I would look
around at my colleagues and I would see
them like being able to do lots of stuff
and I could do a lot but I still spent a
lot of time 10 hours a week 20 hour
hours a week gaming and I thought to
myself what could I accomplish if I was
no longer a gamer what could I actually
accomplish if I wasn't lazy or if I
didn't procrastinate because that's what
Gamers sort of say right we sort of
think to ourselves like oh my God I'm
just lazy and other people are able to
find like intrinsic motivation but I
can't find intrinsic motivation and I
lack discipline and I don't care so much
about the external world and so you sort
of look at yourself and you wish that
you were different and so the cool thing
is that there are actually ways that you
can change that and the key thing here
is that it's actually you're not lazy
you're not born with a debuff it's
actually that games will affect your
brain in ways that we don't really
understand so the first thing we're
going to dive into is dopamine and
serotonin and we have to have a more
sophisticated understanding of these
neurotransmitters so dopamine is a
neurotransmitter that governs reward
pleasure and behavioral reinforcement
the the key thing about dopamine is it
tends to be triggered by things that are
external so if I use a drug for example
that is something that I'm ingesting it
comes from the outside and it triggers
this dopamine release video games will
trigger dopamine release and basically
anything external that is fun or
pleasurable will trigger a dopamine
release and anything that's fun or
pleasurable will also reinforce that
behavior so when we play a video game
and we have fun it triggers a dopamine
release which is why we're having fun
and then we reinforce the behavior so we
want to play again serotonin is a little
bit different what serotonin really
governs is an internal sense of
well-being and gives us things like
confidence so if we look at Gamers we
engage in activities that give us lots
of dopamine but don't actually give us
much or any serotonin at all and so
that's what creates this sort of picture
of like okay I'm capable of having fun
but I don't feel good I don't like feel
good in my own skin I don't feel con
confident I can't step away from the
game and so this balance or imbalance of
dopamine and serotonin is responsible
for why Gamers sort of feel stuck to the
screen and can't go out and sort of move
in the real world because moving in the
real world requires you to be confident
about yourself but if you're a gamer
chances are when you leave the safety of
your computer or your console in these
four walls you're filled with
uncertainty and a lack of confidence and
then you kind of retreat from that right
because that's painful and it's
difficult and it's confusing and you
kind of come back and then you kind of
think to yourself oh my God like why am
I so lazy why am I so pathetic and you
start to think all of these things the
weird thing about Gamers is that they
develop a dopaminergic dependence along
with a serotonergic aversion and what do
I mean by that so let's take a step back
and understand how these two
neurotransmitters normally function with
like a regular human being so when I was
like trying to become less generate I
started going white water rafting a lot
and I loved it so here's sort of the
sequence of white water rafting when you
first go rafting it's really really
challenging but it's full of like
adrenaline right because you're like
paddling really hard it's really Rocky
you're like flipping around and it's
like you're getting wet and it's cold
and it's like really awesome adrenaline
kind of experience and you're kind of
fighting for your life so it's highly
dopaminergic but the key thing is that
after you're done white water rafting
the next day you're completely destroyed
every muscle in your body is sore you're
kind of like you can't do a whole lot
but you feel amazing even though
technically your body is in pain you
sort of bask in the feeling of like I
faced the river and I survived and I
conquered it and you feel really really
good about yourself it's not pleasure
the next day you're not getting like
activated you're not laughing or
anything like that but you get this
sense of like well-being and contentment
and sort of like this other kind of
Triumph and we sort of look at other
other parts of life you know if you look
at sort of like studying for a test or
an exam you study really hard it's
really painful and originally you get
like this reward of hopefully getting an
A or a good grade but then there's this
period afterward maybe when you graduate
that you sort of bask in this
accomplishment and basking in that
accomplishment is what causes serotonin
to increase and so if we look at Gamers
they don't get to do that right because
I still remember when I was like
climbing the Warcraft 3 ladder and I
made it to spot 83 it was the highest I
was number 83 on the ladder in the
United States and I can't bask in that
accomplishment like I can't go to people
and like No One's Gonna have like a
graduation party of congrats Dr K you
made it to the top 100 of the latter
like each of those games felt really
good but I don't actually feel good
about myself afterward so what we see in
Gamers is that they have a dopaminergic
dependence I.E you have to do things
that are dopaminergic because you're
easily bored right and things are hard
and then those activity these that are
actually serotonergic are things that
you are aversive to so serotonergic
activities are things that can be
challenging but lead to a sense of
contentment not necessarily pleasure so
these are things that require a little
bit more investment can be difficult and
don't necessarily have a really good
reward at the end it's not like you get
a huge Prize or a rush of dopamine you
just sort of feel good about yourself
and if you're a gamer chances are there
are things that you could do that would
help you feel good about yourself you
think to yourself well if I did this I'd
feel better about myself but anytime you
try to actually go and do those things
it's really really hard and that's where
that serotonergic aversion actually
comes in because we're actually averse
to doing those kinds of activities and
so if you're a gamer in order to
overcome that serotonergic aversion we
need to start engaging in serotonergic
activities so these are activities that
are not pleasurable can be somewhat
difficult but help you feel good about
yourself or accomplished when you're
done now this is what's really tricky is
finding the right balance of this
because frequently these two these
activities are like really really hard
to do so you can't like go out and like
go to a party or go hiking with a group
of people or things like that so when I
was working with one particular gamer we
came up with a really good idea which is
this person was interested in free
diving they wanted to like dive without
scuba gear and so we kind of came up
with a five minute or 10 minute stretch
of walking where they would hold their
breath as long as they could not not
passing out or anything like that so
don't do anything dangerous but they
would start by holding their breath
while walking that's the only thing they
did so on the first day they could hold
their breath for 30 seconds and then on
the next day they can hold their breath
for 40 seconds and 50 seconds and over
the course of like two weeks three weeks
all they had to do was go for a five
minute walk a 10 minute walk and you can
do that and they were holding their
breath and over time they could hold
their breath for five minutes six
minutes seven minutes they would go for
half hour walks hour long walks where
they're holding their breath for eight
minutes nine minutes at a time right so
they're taking 10 15 20 breaths where
they're holding it and so this is a
great example of an activity that is
like kind of hard it's not something
that you can really brag about but as
you make progress you will feel good
about yourself so try to find something
that is challenging to do kind of
accessible to do you don't want to like
tack on too much but isn't actually fun
but makes you feel good about yourself
so you can do something as simple as go
for a walk and hold your breath the
second problem we're going to deal with
is how gaming interacts with your
negative emotions when we play video
games it actually suppresses our
negative emotional circuitry so anything
that is addictive one of the reasons it
becomes addictive is not just because of
dopamine it's not because of just the
pleasure it gives us but because of what
it takes away so we have this part of
the brain called the amygdala and the
amygdala is our survival center of the
brain but it's also the part of our
brain that governs our negative emotion
so it makes us feel fear anxiety panic
and things like that so the first thing
that's really interesting is that the
amygdala becomes hyper reactive when we
are in low serotonin States so the lower
our serotonin is the more hyperactive or
jittery our amygdala is and if we're
doing a lot of gaming where we're
getting dopamine without serotonin the
first thing we have to understand is
it's priming our amygdala to be
hypersensitive so Gamers will literally
experience fear or anxiety or Panic or
the sense of dread and uncertainty more
rapidly and more intensely than the
average person and this is why in
Psychiatry if we have people who have
panic attacks which oftentimes will
start in the amygdala the treatment that
we give them is actually serotonergic
medications ssris there's also evidence
that people who have been traumatized
and are hyper Vigilant and kind of
paranoid that serotonin can help them in
some ways too so this is what's really
tricky is we have this hyper react
active amygdala and why do we have a
hyper-reactive amygdala it may be
because of Serotonin but there's another
layer at play here so if I'm going
through life and I'm feeling fear if I'm
feeling anxious if I'm feeling dread
about the future my brain wants to make
those things go away and in the past we
would have to make those things go away
by fixing a problem right so if I'm like
feeling lonely and I existed as a human
being 5 000 years ago I couldn't
magically make that loneliness go away I
would have to engage with other people
to sort of like no longer feel lonely
now the problem is with video games we
can make that emotion of loneliness go
away we can make our anxiety go away we
can make our fear go away and you may
say to yourself but Dr K like that can
sort of be a good thing right there's
one crucial thing that happens when we
shut off our negative emotional
circuitry which is that we stop learning
so if you're a gamer chances are you're
going through life with an ex P penalty
so if you look around at the people in
your like General vicinity right they
seem to be making progress in life
people finish college they get jobs they
get married they have kids they get
promoted they go on vacation and for a
lot of Gamers we kind of get stuck right
we're sort of like in our 20s we're not
quite making as much progress we're
making some progress but everything
feels harder progressing through life
feels really difficult and it turns out
that video games are actually
responsible for this in the way that
they affect your brain and this comes
down to how video games impact your
ability to learn from your mistakes so
when I was in college like I would
procrastinate and play video games and
then like I'd have a test and then the
day before the test I'd sort of enter
this last minute Panic stage of studying
and I'd study study study and I'd pass
the test and then I'd be filled with
regret I'd be like man like if I could
could have started a day earlier or
three days earlier if I had started four
days earlier five days earlier I could
get an A and so I I should learn my
lesson at that point but I never did the
next test would roll around I'd wait
till the last minute I'd procrastinate
and I'd end up getting maybe a b maybe a
c and if I knew if I just worked a
little bit harder I could do so much
better and that's what the experience of
a lot of Gamers is like in life that
y'all work really hard for brief periods
of time and then you do okay but if it
weren't for this problem of gaming then
you would do so much better and so
what's going on in our brain and how can
we fix this it turns out that the reason
that Gamers progress more slowly is
because they actually have an XP penalty
and what do I mean from that it means
that they're learning circuitry is
actually impaired so our learning
circuitry or the learning part of our
brain is called our hippocampus which is
kind of seated right next to the
amygdala so the hippocampus is what
governs learning and memory and the key
thing about how our brains learn is the
most primary motivator for Learning and
changing behavior is actually negative
emotion so if you go to a restaurant
like five times and you like eating
there the food is delicious but the
sixth time you go if you get food
poisoning you're never going to go to
the restaurant again and so if we sort
of think about how did you learn that
lesson through pain and suffering I've
also worked with a ton of people who
have struggled with infidelity and
marriage and once that trust is broken
you can be married to someone for 10
years 15 years you can trust them a lot
but all it takes is one instance of
infidelity for you to learn your lesson
and in some cases this can be so
traumatic that people struggle to trust
for the rest of their lives so that's
really powerful learning going on and
it's governed by negative emotional
circuitry so what do video games do
video games shut off our negative
emotional circuitry so any addictive
substance does two things it brings
pleasure and it takes away pain and what
video games essentially do is shut off
blood flow to places like our amygdala
where we fear feel fear and panic and
anxiety and since we're are shutting off
our negative emotions every time we play
a video game which is why we play them
right because after you were done with
that test and you were like man I really
need to start studying earlier what did
you end up doing for the rest of the day
you gamed and the moment that you game
you shut off that negative emotional
circuitry and you hamper your learning
and start to develop that XP penalty so
what can we do about this essentially
the first place to start is to actually
be able to sit with negative emotions we
don't need to conquer them we don't need
to fix them we don't need to process
them they're going to do the work on
their own we just have to not numb them
out so what I strongly recommend to
Gamers who feel like you've got an XP
penalty if you're not just making
progress what you need to do is spend
some time sitting with your emotions
now Gamers May Wonder well how can I do
that there's one really simple exercise
you can do is if you've been bearing
your emotions for years because you
gained too much they're floating right
beneath the surface so all you need to
do is give them a neutral space so the
next time you're feeling negative
emotion don't reach for any kind of
advice or anything like that just sit
somewhere or Pace for like five to
fifteen minutes the other thing that you
can do is just stare at a wall so like
this is a practice that I've given
people it's been transformative and
revolutionary stare at a wall for 20
minutes up to an hour and what's going
to happen is as you stare at the wall
like you're gonna start by feeling bored
your mind is going to wander and then
you'll start to notice like negative
emotions come up frustration feeling
like I'm being inefficient I'm wasting
time I don't like this those are
actually all negative motions and all
you need to do you don't need to fix
them you just need to be able to feel
them and be able to tolerate them
because the moment that you're able to
tolerate them you don't have to retreat
into the video game if you don't retreat
into the video game the emotional
activity in the brain will be restored
if the emotional activity in the brain
is restored it will start working on
your negative emotional circuitry so I
want you all to think about why we have
emotions for a second we'll really
understand this point it's like 5 000
years ago if a human being experienced a
negative emotion like feeling lonely
what could they do to make that emotion
go away that negative emotion would
prompt them to engage with other human
beings in the same way that hunger
prompts me to eat that's negative right
makes me feel bad thirst prompts me to
drink loneliness prompts me to reach out
to other people that's why we have
negative emotions because they prompt us
towards the most important behaviors
nowadays we have a very serious problem
because when we play a video game we can
make the loneliness go away for a little
bit but it doesn't actually fix any of
our problems so we don't actually
progress or improve in our life at all
so we're taking away that negative
emotional energy leading ourselves to
literally not learn that XP penalty and
also not progress in life the third
thing that video games do that really
hamper our progress in life is they do
all of the operationalization for us now
I gotta explain what that means so when
you play a video game everything is laid
out there's a main quest there is a side
quest there's a mini map all the rules
are laid out you can open up like you
know the encyclopedia which gives you
the mechanics of the game everything is
laid out for you and for the stuff that
isn't laid out in the game there's a
thousand different websites or YouTube
tutorials or whatever that they can show
you where to stand and what to click and
optimizing DPS rotations all the rules
of Life are laid out in a video game and
what you should do from start to finish
someone is holding your hand real life
does not work like that so what I found
when I work with Gamers is they have a
very particular deficit which is that
they cannot operationalize prop problems
what that means is that Gamers can't
take an abstract task like become
financially independent and break it
down into pieces why can't they do that
it's because games have been doing this
crap for you for so long that literally
the circuits in your brain that do this
start to atrophy and wither so if your
brain doesn't use a particular
functionality it starts to wither this
is why we forget languages we forget
skills we forget stories anything that
we don't continually engage with and
lose just like any muscle in our body we
start to become deconditioned and so
what Gamers really struggle with is like
moving forward in life because they
don't know how to take these like big
things that you're supposed to be doing
like be happy well how do you do that I
don't know how to do that be financially
independent be successful find a
romantic relationship and it's like you
don't you're like where where's the
quest marker for that like I'm confused
like anytime I go to a party and I hang
out with people I don't see an excellent
animation point in someone that I'm
attracted to that I can walk up and then
I right click them and then I'm like
okay is my reputation high enough like
do I need to gift this thing to make
them like me and that's what [Â __Â ]
Gamers do right they're like how do I
like what's the rules to this game where
I can get this person to to do how do I
succeed how do I fulfill the quest
objectives and so what they end up doing
is they think like oh like I
procrastinate because they don't get
started but it's not like the reason
they don't get started is because they
procrastinate it's because the reason
they don't get started is because they
don't know how to get started because
for a decade there's been a computer
that's telling you exactly what to do
for like six hours a day and so your
brain is like I don't know how to do
that so what we really need to help
Gamers do and thankfully we can do stuff
about this so don't panic is take that
abstract task and we need to teach y'all
how to operationalize how to take this
Global main quest right because even if
you think about a video game a main
quest is really long but you don't even
think think about the end at the
beginning there's like there are
checkpoints like there's the first part
of the main quest and the second part in
the third part and the fourth part so we
need to use our cognitive skills to
break down the main quests of life into
little pieces there's a really simple
exercise to do that so anything that you
want to accomplish
anything just whatever it is can you do
it right now the answer is no okay so
this is what you're good at we're going
to leverage your strengths to overcome
your weaknesses take that task and split
it into two parts okay so let's say like
I want to become financially independent
so can I do that like right now the
second no so what am I going to do I'm
gonna break it into two parts okay what
does that mean that means retire and
before I retire I have to like get a job
so those are the two pieces can I retire
no can I get a job can I do that right
this second no so then okay what does it
take to get a job split that into two
pieces okay so like getting a job
requires like having a job like going to
a job for a while and then like applying
for a job or finding a job can you apply
for a job within the next five minutes
can you do that can you do it literally
right now if the answer is no break that
apart okay well why can't you apply for
a job what are the two pieces of
applying for a job that's going to an
interview and submitting an application
can you submit an application right this
second if the answer is no what is that
involved that involves a resume Do you
have a resume right now no I don't have
a resume what does that involve that
involves finding a template doing some
research making a list of your
activities unless you can do something
within five minutes and have that task
done I want you to break that apart into
two pieces and you keep on breaking it
apart and what you're gonna end up with
is a [Â __Â ] main quest quest line right
like that's what you're going to end up
with you're gonna end up with 50 000
tasks that are very very minute go talk
to this person in this Village and
deliver this thing and then you're gonna
get some XP and then they're gonna give
you the next thing and then you're gonna
go and you're gonna go hunt boars for
boar tails and you're gonna take those
bortells and you're gonna take them to
the Alchemist you got to do that for
your own life because your brain
literally does not know how to
automatically do that so if you've been
playing games for a very long time like
me and especially if you started early
in life it's gonna change or shape the
way that your brain evolves the way that
your brain evolves or the way that it
kind of grows up and develops is going
to lead leave you with certain deficits
now the biggest mistake that Gamers make
is that they assume that these deficits
are baked into the character they assume
that when I generated this character I
picked the lazy trait and so since I
picked the lazy trait I will be lazy for
the rest of my life I also picked the
procrastinator trait and I also picked
these traits and these are things that
are baked into your character but
they're not they're actually
Neuroscience deficits that gaming
induces and if we start to reverse those
Neuroscience deficits if we start to do
things like operationalize our problems
and go through a formal cognitive
process if we start doing things like
sitting with our emotions instead of
retreating the video games we will start
to learn better we'll remove that XP
penalty and the last and arguably most
important thing is really understanding
the difference between dopamine and
serotonin serotonin and how Gamers or
dopaminergically dependent and
serotonergically aversive and so what
we've really got to do is start to
engage in some of these activities that
will are serotonin inducing in nature
and so once we start to do those we will
develop a sense of well-being we will
develop a sense of confidence and as we
develop that well-being and confidence
moving out into the world is no longer
like overwhelming we're gonna cleanse
all those debuffs and then suddenly
we're playing the game of Life on an
even footing
foreign
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