How I studied everyday for a year [as a lazy student]

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of positive reinforcement in learning and behavior modification. It uses the analogy of training a cat to illustrate how immediate rewards can effectively shape behavior. The speaker shares personal experiences and strategies for creating an 'action-reward cycle' to enhance motivation and consistency in studying. The key takeaway is that frequent, small wins are more effective than infrequent, large rewards in sustaining behavior and achieving long-term goals.

Takeaways

• 📚 The speaker emphasizes that their success was not due to routine, habit, discipline, or motivation, but rather understanding the fundamentals of behavior.
• 🐱 Positive reinforcement, like rewarding a cat for sitting, is a key concept for learning and behavior modification.
• ⏰ Timing is crucial in reinforcement; rewards should be given immediately after the desired behavior to ensure learning.
• 🔁 The speaker suggests creating an 'action-reward cycle' to improve learning by closing the gap between action and reward.
• 📈 Small, frequent rewards are more effective than large, infrequent ones for reinforcing behavior.
• 📉 The speaker shares their personal strategy of daily practice and immediate self-assessment to see incremental progress.
• 🏆 Winners find multiple ways to win, creating a series of small victories that lead to long-term success.
• 🌱 Early positive reinforcement can lead to habits that persist even without continuous rewards.
• 🔥 Passion is described as an action-reward cycle where the action itself provides the reward, eliminating the need for external reinforcement.
• 🎯 The speaker advises focusing on each study session as a win, rather than only focusing on the end goal, to maintain motivation and see progress.
• 📅 Consistency is key; studying a little every day is more effective than sporadic, intense study sessions.

Q & A

What was the speaker's approach to studying during their last year of secondary school?

The speaker decided to 'lock in' and studied every day for the entire year, which ultimately led to achieving a perfect score.

What does the speaker consider the key to effective learning, according to the script?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating an 'action-reward cycle' where the gap between performing an action and receiving a reward is minimized.

How does the speaker use the example of training a cat to explain positive reinforcement?

The speaker illustrates positive reinforcement by giving the cat a treat immediately after it performs the desired action, such as sitting down, to reinforce the behavior.

Why does the speaker argue that waiting too long to reward a behavior can be ineffective?

Waiting too long to reward a behavior can lead to confusion about what is being rewarded, and the subject may not associate the reward with the correct action.

What is the problem the speaker identifies with the traditional school system's approach to positive reinforcement?

The traditional school system often provides positive reinforcement too infrequently, with the main reward (grades) coming only at the end of the year, which is not conducive to consistent motivation and learning.

What two factors are important for creating an effective action-reward cycle, as mentioned in the script?

The two important factors are frequency and amount. Frequency refers to how often the reward is given, and amount refers to the size of the reward.

How did the speaker apply the concept of an action-reward cycle to their own study routine?

The speaker would do a practice paper each day, mark it, and compare the score to the previous day's to see improvement, thus creating a daily reward for their efforts.

What does the speaker mean by 'finding more ways to win'?

The speaker suggests setting multiple smaller goals along the way to a larger goal to provide more frequent positive reinforcement, which helps maintain motivation and a sense of progress.

How does the speaker relate the concept of positive reinforcement to the idea of passion?

Passion is described as an action-reward cycle where the action and reward are the same thing, providing immediate satisfaction and thus not requiring external reinforcement.

What advice does the speaker give for studying every day?

The speaker advises viewing each study session as a win by focusing on small improvements and incremental progress, rather than solely on the final exam or grade.

What does the speaker suggest as a strategy to ensure consistent behavior change, using the example of training a dog?

The speaker suggests rewarding the behavior immediately and consistently at first, then gradually reducing the frequency of rewards until the behavior is learned and performed without the need for external reinforcement.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Power of Positive Reinforcement

The speaker shares their experience of not studying hard during most of secondary school but realizing the importance of effort in the final year. They emphasize that achieving a perfect score wasn't due to discipline or motivation alone but understanding the fundamentals of behavior. The speaker introduces the concept of positive reinforcement using their cat as an example, explaining how rewarding an action immediately after it occurs teaches behavior effectively. They point out the common mistake of delayed reinforcement in studying, which leads to a lack of immediate gratification and can cause people to give up. The speaker suggests creating an 'action-reward cycle' to close the gap between effort and reward, which is crucial for faster learning.

05:00

🔄 The Importance of Frequency and Amount in Reinforcement

This paragraph delves deeper into the concept of positive reinforcement, discussing the significance of frequency and amount of rewards. The speaker argues that winners achieve success by creating more opportunities for positive reinforcement. They share their personal strategy of studying by setting daily goals and immediately rewarding themselves with the satisfaction of improvement, which is more effective than waiting for a distant reward like a report card. The speaker also touches on how some individuals, especially children, receive early positive reinforcement that allows them to continue a behavior without immediate rewards, and how passion can be seen as an action-reward cycle where the action itself is rewarding.

10:03

🏆 Finding Wins in Daily Life

The final paragraph focuses on the mindset of finding wins in everyday activities to create a positive feedback loop. The speaker encourages looking back on past achievements to recognize more wins than initially perceived. They suggest lowering barriers to success and finding more ways to win, which can lead to a mindset where every small victory is celebrated. The speaker also mentions their free community for Q&A calls and posts, inviting viewers to join and continue the discussion on finding more ways to win in life.

Keywords

💡Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a psychological concept where a behavior is increased by providing a reward or something of value following the behavior. In the video, the speaker uses the example of training a cat to sit by rewarding it with food immediately after it performs the desired action. This concept is central to the video's theme of creating an 'action-reward cycle' to enhance learning and motivation.

💡Action-Reward Cycle

The action-reward cycle is a behavioral model where an action performed by an individual is immediately followed by a reward, which then reinforces the behavior. The video emphasizes the importance of closing the gap between action and reward to facilitate learning and motivation. The speaker illustrates this by discussing how they applied this cycle to their study habits, seeing each practice paper and its marked score as a reward for their study action.

💡Discipline

Discipline, as used in the video, refers to the self-control and training required to follow a specific pattern of behavior or to achieve a particular goal. The speaker contrasts discipline with positive reinforcement, suggesting that discipline alone is not enough to ensure consistent action; instead, the immediate reward following an action is more effective in reinforcing behavior.

💡Habit

A habit is a routine behavior that has become automatic. The video suggests that habits can be formed through consistent positive reinforcement. The speaker implies that once a behavior is reinforced enough times, it can become habitual, and the individual will continue to perform the action without needing external rewards.

💡Motivation

Motivation in the video is discussed as a factor that drives action, but it is not the primary focus. Instead, the speaker argues that motivation comes from the positive reinforcement received after performing an action. The speaker's personal experience of studying every day for a year was driven by the immediate satisfaction of seeing incremental improvements in their practice papers.

💡Fundamentals of Behavior

The fundamentals of behavior refer to the basic principles that govern how actions are learned and repeated. The video analyzes these fundamentals to explain how positive reinforcement can be used to shape behavior effectively. The speaker uses the concept of positive reinforcement to demonstrate how behaviors can be learned and maintained.

💡Winners

In the context of the video, 'winners' are individuals who successfully achieve their goals. The speaker suggests that winners are those who find multiple ways to win, or receive positive reinforcement, along their journey towards a larger goal. This approach is contrasted with those who only focus on a single, distant goal and may become discouraged without immediate positive reinforcement.

💡Passion

Passion, as discussed in the video, is defined as an intense interest or enjoyment in an activity, which naturally provides its own reward. The speaker explains that when action and reward are the same thing, as with passion, external reinforcement is not necessary because the individual is already intrinsically motivated.

💡Study Habits

Study habits are routines or practices that individuals adopt to learn or study effectively. The video uses the speaker's own study habits as an example of how to create an effective action-reward cycle. By marking their own practice papers and comparing scores daily, the speaker was able to see immediate rewards for their study actions, which reinforced their study habits.

💡Incremental Improvement

Incremental improvement refers to the gradual and steady enhancement of skills or performance. The video emphasizes the importance of recognizing and rewarding these small improvements as a way to maintain motivation and reinforce positive behavior. The speaker shares their experience of seeing each slight increase in their practice paper scores as a win.

💡Mindset Shift

A mindset shift is a change in one's perspective or approach to a situation. In the video, the speaker discusses how they shifted their mindset to see each study session as a win, rather than only focusing on the end-of-year report card. This mindset shift allowed them to find more ways to win and stay motivated throughout their study journey.

Highlights

The importance of positive reinforcement in learning and behavior modification.

The concept that discipline, motivation, and habits are not the sole keys to success.

The significance of immediate reinforcement for effective learning.

The analogy of training a cat to illustrate positive reinforcement.

The problem with delayed reinforcement in traditional schooling systems.

The need for an 'action-reward cycle' to enhance learning efficiency.

How winners create multiple opportunities for positive reinforcement.

The strategy of viewing each study session as a win to maintain motivation.

The idea that passion can be a form of immediate action-reward cycle.

The impact of early positive reinforcement on long-term behavior.

The concept that discipline and habits are not prerequisites for success.

The suggestion to find internal satisfaction in each study session.

The advice to look for small wins in daily activities to foster a winning mindset.

The importance of seeing progress in the short term to maintain long-term goals.

How to train oneself or others effectively using the principles of positive reinforcement.

The idea that passion is an action-reward cycle where the reward is immediate.

The strategy of shifting mindset to see each study session as a win rather than focusing solely on the end goal.

The concept of lowering the barrier to find more ways to win.

Transcripts

so for most of my secondary school life

I did not study I did not work hard but

in my last year when my gcss were coming

up I was like okay got to lock in and I

studied every day for that whole year

and ended up getting my perfect score

and I can tell you it's not routine it's

not habit it's not discipline it's not

motivation those things are fine and

that's what most people talk about but

in today we're going to analyze the

fundamentals of behavior and I actually

have a special guest for this video she

is an expert in Behavior a perfect

example my cat and for my test subject

you'll be

using now imagine if I wanted to get my

cat to sit down like Kendrick Lamar

right what would I do well I probably

tell her to sit down give some sort of

signal then if she's sat I would

reinforce the behavior by giving her

some food this is positive reinforcement

and it's one of the most important words

that you'll learn from this video but

here's the thing that we don't really

think about imagine I told her to sit

down she sat down and then I wait 5

minutes I wait 10 minutes before I give

her the treat would she learn anything

now she doesn't know why I'm rewarding

her it's not clear and she doesn't learn

or she might just learn the wrong thing

within those 5 minutes she could have

gone take a I would have reinforced

her taking a not reinforce her

taking a Sit bars and so this seems

obvious but if you look at the way you

study and the way most people study it's

exactly like this you study no

reinforcement you study no reinforcement

no reinforcement no reinforcement and

then you wonder why at some point you

give up and this is the problem that

I've always had with school the positive

reinforcement is too far away think

about it you have to to do an action

like study every day so 365 days of

action and then the one reward you get

is the report card at the end of the

year so the ratio is messed up it's 365

actions but only one reward if my cat

sits down 10 times I have to reward her

10 times it has to be equivalent and so

what I'm about to say is really

important winners win because they just

find more ways to win they find more

ways to get that positive reinforcement

Loop going and so here's how you can do

it for

yourself and so even if you do a quiz

and next week the teacher gives it back

to you one week is still too far apart

the thing is if you have to work and do

an action for 6 months and then you get

one little bit of positive reinforcement

at the end that's not how we learn

imagine if my cat sat down and I waited

6 months to give her the treat she would

have learned anything at all so we need

to create this thing which I will refer

to as the action reward cycle so it kind

of looks like this Loop you do an action

you get a reward which Spurs you on to

do the action again you get more reward

again and again and again and the key is

if you have action and reward you must

close the gap between them that's how we

learn faster and so there are two

important factors the frequency and the

amount that you reward frequency means

how often reward meaning the cat is out

10 times you give him 10 treats that's

frequent rewards amount is how big the

rewards are so my cat could sit down 10

times and I only give her a reward on

the 10th one so only once but I give her

a hella big reward I give her whole

salmon she could still learn

right but which one would you bet works

better probably the small frequent ones

right so that's what I did to train

myself so what I did is that every day

I'll would do a practice paper and then

I'll mark the practice paper and after I

marked it I could see the score and so I

could compare it with yesterday's score

so for example today I got a 66 tomorrow

I get a 67 that's positive reinforcement

and you can see a slight increase so I

test and check and test and check and I

have like all the papers in like a file

or in a book and I write the grade at

the top so you imagine this is the paper

right I write a grade at the top so I

can flip through and see the grades

increase almost like a flip book so I'm

going to illustrate this to you visually

so let's I hop on my laptop I'll draw

some stuff for you hello welcome to

white bulb with love so here's how you

can visualize it with a timeline imagine

this this is how most people look they

have one goal which is the report card

with the straight A and they're here and

they want to get from point A to point B

and maybe they have one checkpoint in

the middle which is like the midye exam

right but most of the time it's just one

goal one win no positive reinforcement

ain't nobody got time for that but this

how the winners look like they find many

ways to win in between so they reinforce

the behavior math practice paper

improved by 2% I studied 30 minutes more

today than yesterday I finished that

group project that was really annoying

done my first 10 study sessions when the

double digits now yet scope improved my

essay writing by 10% slept at the same

time for over 2 weeks now finally

locking in 50 practice papers done for

let's say over like 8 months and the

same thing goes with YouTube If I said

hey bro get 200k subs right now it would

be such a daunting task because you

would have to go very long without

seeing any positive reinforcement and

90% of people will quit but this is how

I saw it on my journey it's more like

this every single 10,000 subscribers was

a win and of course it should be right

10,000 people is a lot of people every

video they uploaded was also a win and

so I just found more ways to win winners

win cuz they find more ways to win

that's whiteb with W back to the normal

video the best way to actually stick to

something for the long term is to see

progress in front of your eyes we only

get discouraged when we don't see

results when we feel like we're wasting

our time here when nothing is changing

nothing is moving we've been living the

same week for like 4 weeks 5 weeks 2

months so the question if we're even

doing the right thing for most of my

life it was no reinforcement no no no no

no and then I got the reinforcement of

the good grades and that was okay but

for a lot of people like children who

are raised right it was actually flipped

and so they got positive reinforcement

to begin with and this is a very

important concept if you can get a big

positive reinforcement in the beginning

you can go super long without any so for

example some kids their parents were

really supportive when they got a good

grade that's why they turn into these

students that it seems like school is

made for them they're easy right for me

it's not key point after a while if you

have big enough positive reinforcement

you can actually stop positively

reinforcing and you'll still continue do

the habit for a prolong period of time

for example how the first 100 times that

you tell the dog to sit you have to give

the dog a treat give the dog a bone but

at some point like with most dog owners

you just say sit and the dog sits even

if you don't reward it it just just

learns The Habit the same thing here and

a little side note I have here which I

find quite interesting is this is why

you don't need discipline or habits when

it comes to your passion because what I

Define passion is is action and reward

in the same thing so you know how I said

the action reward cycle right you do an

action and then you get reward and the

closer is the better the more you will

do the action what I see passion is is

when they're exactly the same the moment

you do the action you get the reward in

that moment for example right now as I'm

recording this video it's an action but

I also get reward right now because I

like doing it right I like explaining

stuff and especially like writing so

writing the video is actually more fun

than recording but I like both processes

and so you don't need to love school to

do well at it you just need to know this

process of action and reward and

replicate it for example there are

thousands of students every year that do

really well in school I see so many

students so stressed for the O levels a

levels psle even and guess what do you

think they're doing it because they love

school so much they're willing to do

anything they're willing to put up for

it no they're doing it because they've

been rewarded in the past for doing the

same action or they've been punished in

the past for not doing the action so

most of those students probably don't

even know about like habits routine they

haven't read those books haven't watched

these like self-improvement videos but

they don't need to CU they've been

taught positive

reinforcement unintentionally and so I

made this whole video because of this

comment that I'll put out on screen

right now and I also made a community

post about it so I'm just going to read

it really quick how do I study every day

well look at the things that you

naturally do every day and copy that I'm

not talking about brushing your teeth or

breathing or walking I mean the things

you naturally do every day that others

probably don't for me that's writing and

the reason I do it every day is because

I find internal satisfaction with every

word I'm typing even right now if I was

writing a book instead of looking to the

end of the year for the full book I

would find every page as a fun challenge

so maybe instead of looking at the end

of the year for your grades if you want

to study every day look at each study

session and see it as a win because if

you look at the things you do every day

and you never struggle to do whether

it's an instrument art or sport you find

it fun because you learn to see those

small incremental increases in skill you

find those small improvements exciting

you get positive reinforcement from that

positive feedback loop you see those 1%

improvements as you level up same way in

a video game you don't constantly worry

about beating the whole game to just

focus on the current level so instead of

obsessing over the final grade if you

focus on the current study session and

once it's done you see it as a win you

get to the final boss more prepared

winners just find more ways to win and

so assume that you weren't you and you

needed to train a person or you train an

animal to do an activity how would you

guarantee that they learn this Behavior

well number one I would reward them

instantly when they do it right number

two I would not reward them if they

don't do the thing or even punish them

and then number three I would increase

slowly until they learn the behavior so

the first time I would reward them very

quickly very quick very quickly very

quickly but after 6 months I reward them

less reward them less again reward them

less again until at some point I can

just stop rewarding the dog I can say

sit and the dog will still sit and

that's when I know they're fully trained

so the way that I studied every day for

a year was I saw each study session as a

win it was a mindset shift not like a

real like physical reward I didn't you

know eat sweets or something like a lot

of people say that like oh you do the

Pomo technique 25 minutes of work then

those 5 minutes you can go play a video

game so you can positively reinforce

yourself bro if I went to play a video

game I would just not work again for the

rest of the day I would just continue

playing and when I say I studyed every

day I don't mean 12 hours every day I

just mean every single day I did some

sort of studying some days were 30

minutes some days were 2 hours maybe

closer to exam time you would be like 3

4 hours but I did it every day without

fail and so I think it's more of the

internal satisfaction which is like

going back to the drawing that I showed

you it's same Journey same goal one

person has one win one person has 100

wins so instead of seeing the win as the

straight A on your report card

which will take a year to get to anyway

see the win as the 1 or 2% increase in

your practice paper so with this mindset

look over the past week of her life the

past month of her life in the moment it

doesn't seem like there's many wins but

if you look back now look at the wins

that you did get they're probably a lot

more than you actually thought now go

get

more lower your barrier find more ways

to win and I guarantee you you will

start winning more take action

[Music]

I just realized that like half the

screen in this video was just white

because of how like the exposure from

the Sun but it's just I just move just

move this way you know just pretend it

never happened there we go but yeah if

you like this video you can join my free

community I do a Q&A call every week or

once every two weeks where I just hop on

and you can talk to me I can also just

make posts the community is really big

now like I think we're closing in on

10,000 members soon so Bo know if you

want you can join completely free first

link in the description it's the one

that just free and uh yeah find more

ways to win