1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,080 Welcome to the Science of Cell, where you improve your life from the inside out. 2 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:20,000 Today is March 15, 2024, and we're delving into the concept of cultivating a beginner's 3 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:21,160 mind. 4 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:26,280 This is from the book The Art of Practice by Peter Hollins. 5 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:32,560 The book's available, of course, on Amazon and the audiobook on Amazon, iTunes and Audible. 6 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:37,400 Check out the author's website at bit.ly slash Peter Hollins. 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:46,240 Thanks for joining us today, and let's get right to it. 8 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:52,240 You've got a roadmap to developing mastery, a structure for how you learn and develop. 9 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,880 Now let's look at the best attitude and state of mind you can adopt to make your use 10 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,840 of that map the best it can be. 11 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:08,320 The once there was a famous Zen monk who was known to be an expert of the Buddhist text, 12 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:09,600 the Diamond Sutra. 13 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:15,400 In fact, he was the only one in his region to even own a copy of this rare and expensive 14 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:21,040 book, and he carried it with him everywhere he went. 15 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:26,760 People from far and wide could come to consult with this wise man and benefit from his knowledge 16 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:30,160 about this important Buddhist text. 17 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:36,840 He was so good at dispensing wisdom from this book that soon ordinary people in his region 18 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,880 came to understand its contents too. 19 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,680 One day the monk approached a woman in the market who was selling tea and cake. 20 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,440 The monk was hungry and wanted some, but had no money to pay, so he told her, 21 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:57,480 I'm carrying with me a book of incredible value and power, the Diamond Sutra. 22 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:04,640 If you give me some of your tea and cake, I'll show this treasure of perfect knowledge. 23 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:10,840 In fact, the woman was no stranger to the teachings in the Diamond Sutra, and made a 24 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:12,960 counter-suggestion to the monk. 25 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:20,160 She said, wise monk, if you only answer me a simple question, I'll give you as much 26 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,360 tea and cake as you want. 27 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,320 The hungry monk agreed. 28 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:31,600 The woman asked her question, what do you eat cakes with? 29 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:38,120 With the mind of the past, the mind of the present, or the mind of the future? 30 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,760 The monk thought about this for a while. 31 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:42,600 He couldn't answer. 32 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:46,640 He brought out his Diamond Sutra and consulted it. 33 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:51,840 In fact, he ended up reading it for some time, and soon it was late, and the woman had to 34 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,040 pack up her tea and cake stall for the day. 35 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:00,160 Turns out you're not so wise after all, she said to the monk. 36 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,520 But what is the answer? 37 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,160 He said as he watched her pack up and leave. 38 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:13,160 The answer is that you eat cakes with your mouth, she said, and left him hungry. 39 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,840 The moral of this story is clear. 40 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:22,400 Sometimes we can know so much that our minds are closed to knowing anything else, including 41 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,560 something new and something true. 42 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:34,160 The paradox of expertise is that when we know, or just think we know, we are immediately 43 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:39,760 in a smaller, more closed and more limited frame of mind. 44 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,240 The monk had great knowledge, but of one thing. 45 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:48,640 Everything he encountered was passed through that lens. 46 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:55,040 Being an expert at the Diamond Sutra made him feel as though he already had the answer. 47 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,560 The clever woman guessed this and challenged him. 48 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:03,640 Her question was just a nonsense question, but it did reveal that the monk, in all his 49 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,280 wisdom, was unable to see the obvious. 50 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:10,440 It really is a paradox. 51 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:18,120 To learn, we approach the unknown with humility, curiosity, and a certain emptiness. 52 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:27,160 Thus we learn, but once we have learned, our minds close as we become more sure, less inquisitive, 53 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,280 and even arrogant. 54 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,760 Thus we fail to learn. 55 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:38,040 This is why it's often the case that lauded experts sometimes fail to truly comprehend 56 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,560 paradigm shifting changes in their field. 57 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,280 They're not paying attention. 58 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:50,280 Instead, some young and inexpert beginner comes in and sees something new, solves the 59 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:56,120 problem, or identifies the secret that was there all along. 60 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:03,040 The expert is good at many things, but he's not good at being simple, being obvious, and 61 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,240 most importantly at saying, I don't know. 62 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:11,320 The great Krishnamurti once said of a beginner's mind, 63 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:17,320 There's no movement of learning when there is the acquisition of knowledge. 64 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,640 The two are incompatible. 65 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,680 They are contradictory. 66 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,440 The movement of learning implies a state in which the mind has no previous experience 67 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,080 stored up as knowledge. 68 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:35,800 The mind that is learning is an innocent mind, whereas the mind that is merely acquiring 69 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:41,600 knowledge is old, stagnant, corrupted by the past. 70 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,080 An innocent mind perceives instantly. 71 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:53,560 It's learning all the time without accumulating, and such a mind alone is mature. 72 00:05:53,560 --> 00:06:00,960 The term beginner's mind, or shoshin, originates from Japanese Zen Buddhism and refers to 73 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:07,160 the idea that as we become more knowledgeable about a subject, we may become close-minded 74 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,200 and limit our ability to learn further. 75 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:18,360 Shrenryu Shizuki's book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, first popularized this concept in the 76 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:24,600 West, saying, In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts 77 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,120 there are few. 78 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:33,600 Some years back, geneticists were transfixed with the idea of sequencing the human genome. 79 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,000 The field had been asking some powerful questions for years. 80 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,160 Most genes tell us about how disease develops. 81 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:48,680 At the time, Bill Clinton called the human genome project the most important, most wondrous 82 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:55,120 map ever produced by humankind, an achievement somewhat on par with putting a man on the 83 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:56,840 moon. 84 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:03,160 This book of life was much hyped, and when it was complete, it was assumed it would revolutionize 85 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:11,680 the medical field and change humankind's relationship with disease and mortality forevermore. 86 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,680 That didn't happen. 87 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:20,840 The project cost almost $3 billion, and ultimately revealed that the human genome had about the 88 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:29,960 same number of genes as a fruit fly or mouse, and three times less than an onion. 89 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,120 Why was the project such a disappointment? 90 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:38,480 The answers are complicated, but one aspect is that genetic experts were seeing a range 91 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:45,760 of questions using a very narrow set of assumptions and prior knowledge, their version of the 92 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,160 diamond sutra, so to speak. 93 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:58,200 As knowledgeable educated experts, they had begun to ask, What gene causes XYZ disease? 94 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,840 And had stopped asking the question they asked when they were beginners, what causes disease 95 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,880 anyway? 96 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:11,760 Everyone knows that people are more complex than onions, some of them anyway, and so they 97 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:18,520 were forced to conclude that there was a lot that their book of life didn't cover. 98 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:24,560 The project wasn't a failure, but it did highlight certain assumptions, the kind of assumptions 99 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,360 that only very educated people held. 100 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:35,120 Today, biologists are beginning to concede that the development of disease is complex 101 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:41,680 and down to many interacting variables, genetics being just one of them. 102 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:48,720 Of course, any woman selling cake in a market could have told them that in the first place. 103 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,560 Embracing a beginner's mind involves more than just being open-minded. 104 00:08:53,560 --> 00:09:01,320 It's a total stance of receptivity, curiosity, ambiguity, even playfulness. 105 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:08,320 It's having a fundamental respect for reality as it is, before and outside of what you have 106 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,080 already decided about it. 107 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:17,160 It is a recognition that, paradoxically, knowledge comes from the willingness to embrace total 108 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:26,040 ignorance, or that too much knowing can actually make a person profoundly unwise. 109 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:31,080 Developing a beginner's mind means letting go of preconceived notions and expectations 110 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:38,960 about outcomes, which reduces the risk of stress and disappointment as a nice side effect. 111 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:46,360 This is akin to meditation, where one approaches each session with openness, avoiding expectations 112 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:48,920 and judgments. 113 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:54,920 Everything that has come before is set aside, in order for the present moment, as it is, 114 00:09:54,920 --> 00:10:02,680 to be encountered in an innocent way, new, raw, and fundamentally unknown. 115 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:09,000 Observing thoughts without comment or judgment and simply letting them go is a central aspect 116 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,520 of this practice. 117 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:17,280 The principles of a beginner's mind extend beyond meditation into daily life. 118 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:24,840 By being open, receptive, and curious, we can tap into deeper creativity, flexibility, 119 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:29,520 and resilience to face challenges more effectively. 120 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:37,840 It's about being new in each moment and allowing that moment to be free of whatever came before. 121 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,440 It's the place where learning becomes inevitable. 122 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:48,360 Here's how a beginner's mind can help you in your practice. 123 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,160 Don't assume. 124 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:57,240 Sometimes you grasp an idea or concept on an intellectual level, and so you content yourself 125 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,080 with the feeling that you know it. 126 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,600 But do you really? 127 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,820 Often we feel as though we have full comprehension of some skill or piece of knowledge, where 128 00:11:07,820 --> 00:11:13,060 as in reality, we are just familiar with it. 129 00:11:13,060 --> 00:11:19,100 To really test if you've actually learned something, try to explain the idea or concept 130 00:11:19,100 --> 00:11:22,500 to someone else out loud. 131 00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:28,940 This will immediately show you where you're making assumptions and taking mental shortcuts. 132 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:34,260 Have you ever read a book, thought you understood it, and then when someone asked you what it 133 00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:39,460 was about, you drew a blank and couldn't really say? 134 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:44,540 It's only human to be a little overconfident in your knowledge, especially if it was hard 135 00:11:44,540 --> 00:11:50,060 one, but beware that this can lead to closed-mindedness. 136 00:11:50,060 --> 00:11:56,620 When you try to explain something to someone else, you'll reveal any conceptual or logical 137 00:11:56,620 --> 00:11:59,780 gaps you might have overlooked. 138 00:11:59,780 --> 00:12:06,860 This is especially true if what you know is more akin to an argument or philosophical 139 00:12:06,860 --> 00:12:07,860 position. 140 00:12:07,860 --> 00:12:12,940 It's only when you test drive the argument in real conversation that you can see whether 141 00:12:12,940 --> 00:12:15,940 it holds its own or not. 142 00:12:15,940 --> 00:12:23,340 Get into the habit of asking what you don't know and what you're not thinking of. 143 00:12:23,340 --> 00:12:27,180 Seek out counter-evidence. 144 00:12:27,180 --> 00:12:32,860 As you gather more and more knowledge, you can inadvertently set up a kind of confirmation 145 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:38,820 bias for yourself, and a filter bubble where you only permit yourself to encounter material 146 00:12:38,820 --> 00:12:43,220 that agrees with what you already know. 147 00:12:43,220 --> 00:12:48,940 This is why old and established companies can sometimes perform so poorly against relative 148 00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:51,340 newcomers to the industry. 149 00:12:51,340 --> 00:12:57,100 They were so busy doing what they'd always done, they weren't paying attention to what 150 00:12:57,100 --> 00:12:59,540 they weren't doing. 151 00:12:59,540 --> 00:13:01,940 Their competitors were, however. 152 00:13:01,940 --> 00:13:07,940 Again, it's only human to want to seek out knowledge that is consistent with what we 153 00:13:07,940 --> 00:13:09,940 already know. 154 00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:18,300 From the moment we're born, we erect frameworks of meaning onto which we graft every new experience. 155 00:13:18,300 --> 00:13:24,540 And that means that even when we see something new, we are already in the process of determining 156 00:13:24,700 --> 00:13:29,420 how it might be just like something we've seen before. 157 00:13:29,420 --> 00:13:35,340 It's the old, when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 158 00:13:35,340 --> 00:13:41,300 When you have a certain framework of knowledge and understanding, you mysteriously seem to 159 00:13:41,300 --> 00:13:48,860 encounter problems and situations that perfectly fit that framework. 160 00:13:48,860 --> 00:13:54,260 Assume that confirmation bias will happen by default, unless you consciously choose 161 00:13:54,260 --> 00:13:57,700 to be aware and challenge it. 162 00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:03,660 One excellent way of doing that is to deliberately seek out information that doesn't correspond 163 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:08,380 to your existing frameworks or confirm your existing conclusions. 164 00:14:08,380 --> 00:14:15,300 You don't need to wait for someone to argue with you, argue with yourself. 165 00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:20,780 Assume the other side has a good point and argue on their behalf. 166 00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:26,660 When you go online to search for information, search for it as someone who has the opposite 167 00:14:26,660 --> 00:14:34,300 of your beliefs or knowledge-based would, then engage with it with as much intellectual 168 00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:38,140 honesty and integrity as you can. 169 00:14:38,140 --> 00:14:45,820 You may find you were totally right, but chances are you'll learn something new. 170 00:14:45,820 --> 00:14:49,420 Reframe knowledge and skill as something malleable. 171 00:14:49,420 --> 00:14:53,420 Here's our old friend again, the growth mindset. 172 00:14:53,420 --> 00:14:58,460 The best attitude is where you understand that intelligence and knowledge are not special 173 00:14:58,460 --> 00:15:05,820 gifts conferred on a lucky few at birth, but rather something you can actively, purposely 174 00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:08,220 grow. 175 00:15:08,220 --> 00:15:13,220 Intelligence and knowledge can be accrued and potentially lost. 176 00:15:13,220 --> 00:15:19,780 What this means is that one day, when you learn something valuable or bank a skill, 177 00:15:19,780 --> 00:15:21,700 you are not finished. 178 00:15:21,700 --> 00:15:26,780 You cannot sit down and say that from here on out, you know and understand, and that's 179 00:15:26,780 --> 00:15:28,180 that. 180 00:15:28,180 --> 00:15:35,340 If you do so, you shut yourself off from the true source of growth and learning. 181 00:15:35,340 --> 00:15:40,380 In the same vein, don't look at eminent and accomplished experts and assume that they 182 00:15:40,380 --> 00:15:46,460 are wise and superior and all-knowing while you are not and never can be. 183 00:15:46,460 --> 00:15:55,660 True, there is such a thing as talent in this world, but it matters less than you think. 184 00:15:55,660 --> 00:15:58,660 Invite awe. 185 00:15:58,660 --> 00:16:03,180 Little children know nothing, and the world is beautiful for them. 186 00:16:03,180 --> 00:16:05,900 They are astonished by everything. 187 00:16:05,900 --> 00:16:12,740 Any event is a source of wonder and amazement for them, and any path of exploration is taken 188 00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:15,940 to be as worthy as any other. 189 00:16:15,940 --> 00:16:20,620 They are playful, curious, and unassuming. 190 00:16:20,620 --> 00:16:26,380 They do not grab hold of knowledge and understanding as something they own. 191 00:16:26,380 --> 00:16:33,020 They are simply awash in the wonder of being alive in this incredible universe, and their 192 00:16:33,100 --> 00:16:39,540 joy is what's in the front of their mind, not their pride or vanity at having figured 193 00:16:39,540 --> 00:16:41,780 something out. 194 00:16:41,780 --> 00:16:48,260 There's a reason the old professor archetype is usually someone who is jaded and cynical. 195 00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:55,940 This dry, tired person has seen it all and is singularly unimpressed. 196 00:16:55,940 --> 00:17:03,580 They show them a beautiful flower and they say, ah, yes, campanula rotundifolia, very 197 00:17:03,580 --> 00:17:05,740 common. 198 00:17:05,740 --> 00:17:13,660 Instead, cultivate awe, which is a kind of respectful humility in the face of the grandeur 199 00:17:13,660 --> 00:17:15,700 of nature. 200 00:17:15,700 --> 00:17:22,660 Seek out and immerse yourself in wonder and not in the smugness that comes with believing 201 00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:28,300 you've found some conceptual container to keep that wonder in. 202 00:17:28,300 --> 00:17:34,620 Gaze up at the night sky, listen to stirring music that makes language look about a thousand 203 00:17:34,620 --> 00:17:38,900 times too small, or simply play. 204 00:17:38,900 --> 00:17:41,820 There are so many things to learn. 205 00:17:41,820 --> 00:17:46,980 Don't allow most of them to be hidden from you because you were convinced you'd already 206 00:17:46,980 --> 00:17:51,060 mastered the curriculum. 207 00:17:51,060 --> 00:17:56,780 Play from versus toward motivation. 208 00:17:56,780 --> 00:18:01,660 Naturally you reach a point at which playing peters out and you're no longer, shall we 209 00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:06,020 say, in awe of your daily practice session. 210 00:18:06,020 --> 00:18:11,700 Frankly, you're facing a session that proves to be a bit of a grind. 211 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:13,700 What now? 212 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:18,140 Beginner's mind is great, but it's not enough on its own. 213 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:23,380 You also need, drumroll, motivation. 214 00:18:23,380 --> 00:18:28,460 But motivation is one of those words most of us use without really understanding what 215 00:18:28,460 --> 00:18:31,060 we're talking about. 216 00:18:31,060 --> 00:18:37,540 People say, follow your passion, but they also say, just do it. 217 00:18:37,540 --> 00:18:40,420 Which is the right way? 218 00:18:40,420 --> 00:18:47,860 There are two main types of motivation, away from motivation and toward motivation. 219 00:18:47,860 --> 00:18:55,100 Away from motivation involves avoiding something undesirable, while toward motivation revolves 220 00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:58,300 around striving toward a goal. 221 00:18:58,300 --> 00:19:04,620 Both types can be beneficial, but an imbalance can lead to issues. 222 00:19:04,620 --> 00:19:08,180 There are a few questions emerging here. 223 00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:12,860 Is one style more appropriate to the particular task you're doing? 224 00:19:12,860 --> 00:19:17,140 Is one style preferable to you personally? 225 00:19:17,140 --> 00:19:23,100 Is one style more fitting for the stage of development you're at? 226 00:19:23,100 --> 00:19:29,580 We are all different, and we're all motivated by different things and in different ways. 227 00:19:29,580 --> 00:19:35,300 Your motivation style reflects your own character and personality, but also your unique goals 228 00:19:35,300 --> 00:19:37,580 and priorities. 229 00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:44,180 Even then, what motivates you in one sphere or stage of life may no longer motivate you 230 00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:50,060 as you change and develop, or the context changes. 231 00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:52,060 Consider this example. 232 00:19:52,060 --> 00:19:57,300 Jenny is morbidly obese, and doctors have warned her that she won't be able to undergo 233 00:19:57,300 --> 00:20:04,700 the life-saving operation she needs unless she loses drastic amounts of weight. 234 00:20:04,700 --> 00:20:09,740 Without the operation, her chances of survival are slim. 235 00:20:09,740 --> 00:20:13,020 That's one hell of a motivation. 236 00:20:13,020 --> 00:20:18,980 Jenny is experiencing very stark away-from motivation. 237 00:20:18,980 --> 00:20:24,300 Losing weight will allow her to get away from the very real threat of dying. 238 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:30,900 So because her life depended on it, literally, Jenny lost the weight, she got the operation, 239 00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:33,420 her life continued. 240 00:20:33,420 --> 00:20:36,620 Then she started piling weight back on again. 241 00:20:36,620 --> 00:20:41,180 Somehow losing weight now is harder than it was before. 242 00:20:41,180 --> 00:20:43,580 Her motivation has changed. 243 00:20:43,580 --> 00:20:50,980 Her mean mother says to her, come on, you don't want to end up back there again, do you? 244 00:20:50,980 --> 00:20:56,540 But somehow this focus on the negative just doesn't motivate Jenny any more. 245 00:20:56,540 --> 00:21:01,260 In fact, it stresses and depresses her. 246 00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:05,540 One day Jenny bumps into an old friend at the local swimming pool. 247 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:11,980 Her friend has been on a massive fitness kick and now looks like a million bucks. 248 00:21:11,980 --> 00:21:14,940 Jenny can't deny it, she's jealous. 249 00:21:14,940 --> 00:21:21,220 All at once she finds herself with a new goal, I want to look that good. 250 00:21:21,220 --> 00:21:28,060 The very next day she signs up at a gym, something she never thought she would do. 251 00:21:28,060 --> 00:21:35,060 Now this is not to say that either of Jenny's motivations are good or bad, rather what works 252 00:21:35,060 --> 00:21:38,260 is liable to change over time. 253 00:21:38,260 --> 00:21:45,420 If we want to be effective, we have to notice what works for us and why. 254 00:21:45,420 --> 00:21:53,820 Toward motivation focuses on positive aspirations, like looking smoke and hot in a bikini. 255 00:21:53,820 --> 00:21:59,260 It would be a mistake to think that this is a better form of motivation, however. 256 00:21:59,260 --> 00:22:01,100 It's not. 257 00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:07,380 Whether you avoid something you don't want or move toward something you do is irrelevant, 258 00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:14,140 if ultimately you're motivating yourself in the way you want to be motivated. 259 00:22:14,140 --> 00:22:19,380 Humans are generally more motivated to move away from negative outcomes than toward positive 260 00:22:19,380 --> 00:22:20,660 ones. 261 00:22:20,660 --> 00:22:27,260 This fear of loss often leads to conservative decision making and a preference for maintaining 262 00:22:27,260 --> 00:22:32,020 the status quo rather than taking risks to advance. 263 00:22:32,020 --> 00:22:38,660 There's nothing really wrong with acting to avoid an unwanted future outcome, and it's 264 00:22:38,660 --> 00:22:44,220 an appropriate motivation when it comes to something like using contraception or taking 265 00:22:44,220 --> 00:22:46,100 out travel insurance. 266 00:22:46,100 --> 00:22:52,500 Plus, before they learn to regulate themselves and act with enough foresight in the future, 267 00:22:52,500 --> 00:22:58,380 the only way their parents can get them to do something is to use this kind of motivation. 268 00:22:58,380 --> 00:23:05,460 However, the only thing this type of motivation can do for you is help you avoid that outcome. 269 00:23:05,460 --> 00:23:06,940 That's it. 270 00:23:06,940 --> 00:23:12,260 In saying what you don't want, you are no closer to identifying or moving toward what 271 00:23:12,260 --> 00:23:15,260 you do want. 272 00:23:15,260 --> 00:23:20,420 Jenny was motivated to lose enough weight so she could get her operation, but no more 273 00:23:20,420 --> 00:23:22,100 than that. 274 00:23:22,100 --> 00:23:26,860 The doctors didn't tell her she needed to be a fitness model, only that she needed to 275 00:23:26,860 --> 00:23:32,020 drop enough weight so that the surgery wouldn't be too risky. 276 00:23:32,020 --> 00:23:34,700 That's the problem with this kind of motivation. 277 00:23:34,700 --> 00:23:39,520 It will motivate you only just enough to avoid the bad thing. 278 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,180 It cannot make you excellent. 279 00:23:43,180 --> 00:23:48,860 Running away from something works, but it fundamentally contradicts the way that natural 280 00:23:48,860 --> 00:23:51,900 talents practice. 281 00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:57,260 Blue practice effectively and achieve a degree of excellence are seldom motivated by their 282 00:23:57,260 --> 00:23:59,980 desire to escape something. 283 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:05,900 Rather, they have a keen vision of what they're moving toward, and they focus on developing 284 00:24:05,900 --> 00:24:10,180 skills that push them beyond their current abilities. 285 00:24:10,180 --> 00:24:17,380 Their actions are aspirational, hopeful, and future-oriented. 286 00:24:17,380 --> 00:24:23,500 Use a bunch of weight or you'll die, lends itself well to away from motivation. 287 00:24:23,500 --> 00:24:27,740 But it's not the kind of thing that will help you become a concert pianist, pass the 288 00:24:27,740 --> 00:24:32,220 bar exam, or become an accomplished trapeze artist. 289 00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:37,340 For that, you need a vision. 290 00:24:37,340 --> 00:24:40,540 Make your goals positive. 291 00:24:40,540 --> 00:24:46,700 Not positive in content, but grammatically positive, i.e. 292 00:24:47,140 --> 00:24:51,300 State what you don't want, state what you do want. 293 00:24:51,300 --> 00:24:56,340 What are you building, striving for, wanting? 294 00:24:56,340 --> 00:25:03,420 When setting great goals, use positive toward wording instead of negative away from wording. 295 00:25:03,420 --> 00:25:10,860 For example, instead of saying your goal is to not mess up my speech, reframe it to deliver 296 00:25:10,860 --> 00:25:13,980 my speech with confidence. 297 00:25:13,980 --> 00:25:19,420 Those your goals may naturally be more focused on specific problems you have in life. 298 00:25:19,420 --> 00:25:25,540 But even still, try not to focus on the problem and how much you don't like it, but on the 299 00:25:25,540 --> 00:25:30,380 alternative situation you're trying to create. 300 00:25:30,380 --> 00:25:32,660 Mix it up. 301 00:25:32,660 --> 00:25:36,580 Use both forms of motivation in how you achieve your goal. 302 00:25:36,580 --> 00:25:39,980 A little stick, a little carrot. 303 00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:46,180 Away from motivation can serve as an initial catalyst for action, initiating the journey 304 00:25:46,180 --> 00:25:51,900 toward the goal, however, to maintain momentum and prevent stagnation. 305 00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:55,900 A strong toward motivation may come in handy. 306 00:25:55,900 --> 00:26:02,340 Likewise, you might use a future positive orientation to identify the long-range goals 307 00:26:02,340 --> 00:26:07,860 you want, but use more away from motivation in the day to day. 308 00:26:07,860 --> 00:26:13,740 For example, you ultimately want to pass the bar exam because you have ambitions for 309 00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:19,580 your career and the work you want to do in the world, but day to day you might work through 310 00:26:19,580 --> 00:26:24,580 your to-do list with nothing more to motivate you than the fact that your partner will hassle 311 00:26:24,580 --> 00:26:30,140 you if you don't, or you'll feel guilty if you procrastinate. 312 00:26:30,140 --> 00:26:35,580 There may be one or two course modules you hate, and even though they're not really 313 00:26:35,580 --> 00:26:41,260 necessary, you have no choice but to do them, they're part of your broader goal, but the 314 00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:49,180 real reason you do them is basically because that broader goal is essentially held hostage. 315 00:26:49,180 --> 00:26:56,580 Pass these boring modules, or else you'll jeopardize the thing you really care about. 316 00:26:56,580 --> 00:26:58,340 Another example? 317 00:26:58,340 --> 00:27:03,460 You may be genuinely motivated to build a new business, but that doesn't mean you really 318 00:27:03,460 --> 00:27:08,820 care about, say, setting up your taxes or hiring an accountant. 319 00:27:08,820 --> 00:27:17,140 You'll do it, but to be honest, your motivation is mostly wanting to avoid getting in trouble. 320 00:27:17,140 --> 00:27:20,380 Set interim goals. 321 00:27:20,380 --> 00:27:26,100 Break down your main goal into smaller, manageable interim goals. 322 00:27:26,100 --> 00:27:32,180 Each step toward the goal provides a sense of accomplishment and positive reinforcement. 323 00:27:32,180 --> 00:27:38,700 Building interim goals helps maintain motivation and prevents becoming overwhelmed by the larger 324 00:27:38,700 --> 00:27:41,260 end goal. 325 00:27:41,260 --> 00:27:46,900 To really make the concept of interim goals work for you, however, you have to think of 326 00:27:46,900 --> 00:27:51,220 each mini-goal in terms of motivation. 327 00:27:51,220 --> 00:27:56,220 Deliberately pause after each advance you make and do two things. 328 00:27:56,220 --> 00:28:03,460 One, zoom out and check to see how far you've come, where you are now on your map, and whether 329 00:28:03,460 --> 00:28:06,300 you need to make any adjustments. 330 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:09,340 Two, celebrate. 331 00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:16,260 Really notice that you have moved one notch further to what you want, or even one notch 332 00:28:16,260 --> 00:28:21,620 further away from what you don't want, and let that sink in. 333 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:24,540 Sometimes the idea of baby steps can feel intimidating. 334 00:28:25,500 --> 00:28:31,060 It's hard enough having one goal now, you're asking me to have twelve? 335 00:28:31,060 --> 00:28:38,580 One important part of using interim goals, however, is to cut down on overwhelm and bootstrap 336 00:28:38,580 --> 00:28:44,060 your motivation onto a goal that's a little closer and easier to see. 337 00:28:44,060 --> 00:28:50,180 Use broad vision to map out a path, then put your head down and tackle those tasks one 338 00:28:50,180 --> 00:28:52,460 at a time. 339 00:28:52,460 --> 00:28:57,420 When you're doing a task, all you have to do is think about that task. 340 00:28:57,420 --> 00:28:59,460 That's all, nothing else. 341 00:28:59,460 --> 00:29:06,580 You don't have to think about the next task in line, or the one after that, just this one. 342 00:29:06,580 --> 00:29:13,420 When you've completed it, pause to check where you are, adjust if necessary, celebrate, then 343 00:29:13,420 --> 00:29:16,540 dive back in and do the next task. 344 00:29:16,540 --> 00:29:19,420 This way you'll get the best of both. 345 00:29:19,420 --> 00:29:25,900 A big picture vision to keep you going, but also a small enough vision to stop you from 346 00:29:25,900 --> 00:29:27,380 getting overwhelmed. 347 00:29:34,020 --> 00:29:37,700 And that's all for today on The Science of Self. 348 00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:44,140 Remember, a beginner's mind allows you to approach challenges and experiences with a 349 00:29:44,140 --> 00:29:46,340 fresh curiosity. 350 00:29:46,340 --> 00:29:48,100 Thanks for joining us today. 351 00:29:48,100 --> 00:29:52,580 If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review and share it with a friend who might also 352 00:29:52,580 --> 00:29:55,740 benefit from cultivating a beginner's mind. 353 00:29:55,740 --> 00:29:57,180 We'll see you next Friday.