00:00 - 00:04
so dopamine is this chemical in our
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brains that we figured out how to hijack
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in the modern
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world things like our phones and social
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media fast food and alcohol all of these
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things Spike our dopamine and give us
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instant feelings of reward and pleasure
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but the big problem is that we are
00:19 - 00:23
increasingly becoming addicted to these
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factors that cause these huge surges of
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dopamine so now we find it really hard
00:25 - 00:29
to actually do more of what actually
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matters to us and so many people in the
00:29 - 00:33
modern world just struggling to take
00:31 - 00:34
action towards what they're seeking for
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they strugg they have dreams in their
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mind with their careers or yeah I really
00:36 - 00:39
want to be healthy and they get a little
00:37 - 00:43
bit motivated for a second and then it
00:39 - 00:44
crashes and Society really needs to
00:43 - 00:45
understand that operating and getting
00:44 - 00:47
this chemical into balance is what's
00:45 - 00:49
going to enable you to actually get
00:47 - 00:51
focused and stay consistently motivated
00:49 - 00:53
this is TJ power he's a neuroscientist
00:51 - 00:56
who runs the dose lab which specializes
00:53 - 00:57
in understanding the four main brain
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chemicals that influence our day-to-day
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lives that's dopamine oxytocin serotonin
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and endorphins we're going to be
01:02 - 01:05
exploring each one of these in this
01:03 - 01:06
four-part video series and there's going
01:05 - 01:08
to be actionable tips in each of them to
01:06 - 01:10
help you increase these brain chemicals
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in a healthy way to completely level up
01:10 - 01:12
your life fingers crossed so in this
01:11 - 01:15
video which is episode one of the
01:12 - 01:17
four-part series we are talking about
01:15 - 01:19
dopamine Let's Go part one the law of
01:17 - 01:20
dopamine so dopamine has lots of
01:19 - 01:23
different functions in our brain but in
01:20 - 01:25
our reward system dopamine is the major
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currency that motivates us to do stuff
01:25 - 01:29
as we evolved as Homo sapiens dopamine
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was the chemical that motivated us to do
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things that kept us alive which is very
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different to how we live today our brain
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spent 300,000 years developing them for
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an entirely different lifestyle a
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lifestyle where to wake up hunt for food
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build shelter connect with each other
01:41 - 01:44
fight one another that's what they're
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designed for and dopamine was this
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chemical that lived deep within us that
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enabled us to take action toward these
01:48 - 01:51
challenging things that would Keep Us
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Alive in our modern world we basically
01:51 - 01:55
figured out how to hack that feeling
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that hunting or connecting with people
01:55 - 02:00
or building shelter and we'd hack it
01:58 - 02:02
with things like porn and Tik Tok and
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cigarettes alcohol whatever it may be
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and then it goes on to create very big
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challenges within our dopamine system
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specifically with our dopamine baselines
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so dopamine is made inside nerve cells
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called neurons in our brain we start off
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with an amino acid called tyrosine which
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then gets converted into L Doopa L Doopa
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then becomes dopamine and this dopamine
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is stored in these vesicles which are at
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the end of our neurons so the dopamine
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is ready to be released at synapses
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which are basically the Junctions in
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between the neurons and our brain and
02:27 - 02:30
how they communicate with each other but
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the really cool thing about this whole
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manufacturing process is that we make
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dopamine when we do hard things and the
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harder the thing is the more dopamine we
02:40 - 02:45
make effectively the chemical evolv
02:43 - 02:47
within us to be earned so the whole way
02:45 - 02:49
in which it operates is that if we do
02:47 - 02:50
something that is effortful dopamine
02:49 - 02:52
will begin to generate in our brain and
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dopamine actually operates in little
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bubbles they're called vesicles and any
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kind of activity that requires hard work
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will literally manufacture these
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vesicles in the brain so so if the first
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thing you do in the morning after waking
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up is go on your phone and scroll
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through Instagram or Tik Tok then your
03:04 - 03:07
stores of dopamine are going to get used
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up and you won't feel motivated to do
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anything with the rest of your day it's
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like bursting all of these bubbles
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whereas if you start your day for
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example by doing something like exercise
03:13 - 03:17
or making your bed or going outside then
03:16 - 03:19
you'll build up your reserves of
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dopamine instead of depleting them and
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you'll have so much more motivation to
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work towards the stuff you actually want
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to achieve and this is basically the law
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of dopamine the law of dopamine is to
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take action when you wake every day and
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what I mean by that is as soon as you
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open your eyes in the morning the most
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important thing you can do is get moving
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effectively doine is literally involved
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in movement there's actually this really
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big phenomena on Tik Tok at the moment
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called rotting which is where people
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literally can't get out of their bed and
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particularly teenage girls call it
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rotting where they like cannot move they
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can't get out their bed to do anything
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and the reason that's happened is
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because dopamine is so low from The Tick
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to and the sugar and so on that they
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can't take action at all if you wake up
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in the morning and you just immed medely
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get the system moving even if it feels
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horrible actually the more horrible it
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is the more dopamine you're going to
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generate cuz it operates in terms of
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that pain pleasure type balance and if
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you start adopting that kind of
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principle take action when you wake
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every day it just means dopamine is on a
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very good path from the moment you begin
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now there are two really good questions
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you can ask yourself to find out if
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something is good for your dopamine or
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not number one how quickly does the
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thing give you pleasure so things that
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are naturally pleasurable are going to
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slowly increase your dopamine levels and
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you won't have this massive crash
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afterwards but if something gives you a
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massive hit of dopamine straight away
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and that feeling of instant
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gratification then it's unlikely to be a
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healthy way to increase your dopamine
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because it'll just come crashing back
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down again and you won't feel great if
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you suddenly get super high Tik Tok
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Spike of dopamine you then put the Tik
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Tok down and you're suddenly like I feel
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like you're apathetic you can't
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take action towards anything and it's
04:51 - 04:54
because your brain is just so confused
04:52 - 04:56
by the unnatural Spike that it crashes
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out effectively and then question number
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two is is this going to benefit me or
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someone else in the future if the answer
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is yes then this is healthy dopamine
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things like cooking dinner instead of
05:03 - 05:06
eating out going for a walk with a
05:05 - 05:07
friend or smashing the like button for
05:06 - 05:09
the YouTube algorithm but if the answer
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is no then is generally not a good
05:09 - 05:12
healthy way to increase your dopamine
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levels and this might include things
05:12 - 05:16
like scrolling on Tik Tok for hours or
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smoking or vaping or drinking alcohol
05:16 - 05:18
I'm not saying that you're only ever
05:17 - 05:20
allowed to do things that contribute to
05:18 - 05:21
personal development in some sort of way
05:20 - 05:23
but if we're interested in how to take
05:21 - 05:25
back control of RA dopamine if you'll
05:23 - 05:26
finding yourself struggling to focus
05:25 - 05:27
getting distracted all the time then
05:26 - 05:29
it's worth appreciating the role that
05:27 - 05:30
dopamine plays in this whole system and
05:29 - 05:32
maybe like nudging your balance away
05:30 - 05:34
from instant gratification things that
05:32 - 05:35
just let you experience joy and reward
05:34 - 05:36
in the present moment more towards
05:35 - 05:38
slower things that actually can help
05:36 - 05:39
improve your life in the long term if
05:38 - 05:40
you want I'm not telling you how to live
05:39 - 05:42
your life these are just some
05:40 - 05:43
suggestions feel free to take them or
05:42 - 05:45
not by the way singing with a group of
05:43 - 05:47
people or doing exercise with a group of
05:45 - 05:48
people or working with a group of people
05:47 - 05:50
makes whatever you're doing feel much
05:48 - 05:51
better and that is where the sponsor of
05:50 - 05:53
this video comes in which is actually me
05:51 - 05:55
because this video is sponsored by our
05:53 - 05:56
own product productivity lab if you're
05:55 - 05:57
the sort of person who works from home a
05:56 - 05:59
lot maybe in your day job or maybe on
05:57 - 06:00
your side hustle or your book project or
05:59 - 06:02
your Memoir or your YouTube channel or
06:00 - 06:04
whatever and you find yourself sitting
06:02 - 06:07
at the computer and then not actually
06:04 - 06:08
doing the thing that you intended to do
06:07 - 06:10
then productivity lab is going to be
06:08 - 06:11
absolutely perfect for you essentially
06:10 - 06:13
productivity lab is an online platform
06:11 - 06:15
and community of entrepreneurs and
06:13 - 06:16
creators and professionals and we all
06:15 - 06:18
get together and we work together
06:16 - 06:20
through Focus Labs we do reflective
06:18 - 06:22
workshops each week where you reflect on
06:20 - 06:23
how your week has gone and set goals and
06:22 - 06:25
plan your next week so it's sort of
06:23 - 06:26
serves as an accountability mechanism
06:25 - 06:28
and I like to think of it as like
06:26 - 06:30
CrossFit or pelaton for productivity
06:28 - 06:32
you're joining a zoom co-working session
06:30 - 06:33
with other people I join these for 3
06:32 - 06:35
hours each morning because I just get
06:33 - 06:36
way more work done when I'm in a focus
06:35 - 06:38
lab session knowing that other people
06:36 - 06:39
around me on screen virtually are also
06:38 - 06:41
doing their work and doing this stuff
06:39 - 06:42
every day pretty much doubles my
06:41 - 06:43
productivity and we've had so many
06:42 - 06:46
success stories from students in
06:43 - 06:47
productivity lab who've said things like
06:46 - 06:49
hey you know I've been procrastinating
06:47 - 06:51
on starting my YouTube channel for ages
06:49 - 06:52
and then I joined Focus lab sessions and
06:51 - 06:54
now I've actually done it or things like
06:52 - 06:55
you know I've spent 5 years planning to
06:54 - 06:57
make this new IOS app that I've been
06:55 - 06:58
planning to make and then I never
06:57 - 07:00
actually did it but then I joined a few
06:58 - 07:01
Focus lab sessions and now I've built my
07:00 - 07:02
minimum viable product and so students
07:01 - 07:04
in productivity lab are getting a lot of
07:02 - 07:06
good results there's a link down below
07:04 - 07:07
you can check out productivity.com and
07:06 - 07:09
you can see if it's a sort of thing that
07:07 - 07:10
might be right for you and who knows
07:09 - 07:11
maybe I will see you in one of our
07:10 - 07:13
co-working sessions or in one of our
07:11 - 07:14
reflection workshops or in one of our
07:13 - 07:16
planning sessions or in one of our book
07:14 - 07:18
clubs or maybe in one of our in-person
07:16 - 07:20
meetups as well part two four ways to
07:18 - 07:22
control dopamine okay so now let's look
07:20 - 07:24
at four actionable ways that we can take
07:22 - 07:25
back control of the dopamine in our
07:24 - 07:27
brains what I love about these tips from
07:25 - 07:29
TJ is that anyone can start putting them
07:27 - 07:30
into practice as pretty much as soon as
07:29 - 07:33
you finish watching this video action
07:30 - 07:35
number one phone fasting yeah so with
07:33 - 07:36
dopamine the first thing to understand
07:35 - 07:38
the most effective thing we've seen in
07:36 - 07:39
all of our research and training is this
07:38 - 07:41
concept we developed called phone
07:39 - 07:43
fasting which is just having agreed
07:41 - 07:46
times with yourself where you will Fast
07:43 - 07:47
quote unquote from your phone the most
07:46 - 07:49
important time in your whole life to
07:47 - 07:51
fast from your phone is when you wake up
07:49 - 07:52
in the morning your brain wakes up it's
07:51 - 07:54
seeking for dopamine it's seeking to
07:52 - 07:56
attack the day if it goes straight into
07:54 - 07:58
the phone you're really setting yourself
07:56 - 07:59
on a much more difficult Journey so if
07:58 - 08:01
you for example unlock your phone as
07:59 - 08:03
soon as you wake up then probably the
08:01 - 08:04
best thing to do is to put your phone on
08:03 - 08:06
charge somewhere outside of your room
08:04 - 08:08
and use something else as an alarm clock
08:06 - 08:09
and then you might want to do these
08:08 - 08:10
three things straight away when you wake
08:09 - 08:12
up number one go and brush your teeth I
08:10 - 08:13
hope you're doing that every day anyway
08:12 - 08:14
so you might as well do it first thing
08:13 - 08:16
when you wake up number two Splash your
08:14 - 08:18
face with cold water that helps you wake
08:16 - 08:20
up and three make your bed and all of
08:18 - 08:22
this is aligned with the law of dopamine
08:20 - 08:23
because we are physically taking action
08:22 - 08:25
and you're immediately increasing these
08:23 - 08:27
stores of dopamine in our brain instead
08:25 - 08:29
of immediately depleting them ideally we
08:27 - 08:30
want to be phone fasting for at least 15
08:29 - 08:32
minutes every single morning and then
08:30 - 08:34
ideally in the evenings we would have 60
08:32 - 08:35
Minutes of time before bed where we're
08:34 - 08:37
not on our phones I struggle to do this
08:35 - 08:38
which is why I have an app called opal
08:37 - 08:40
they are not affiliated with me in the
08:38 - 08:41
slightest I wish they were I wish I
08:40 - 08:43
owned the app or invented the app or
08:41 - 08:44
something but Opel is a great app that
08:43 - 08:46
I've been using for several months now
08:44 - 08:48
and it essentially blocks social media
08:46 - 08:50
apps from 10: p.m. to 9:00 a.m. then
08:48 - 08:52
it's like if I'm on my phone I just read
08:50 - 08:53
on my Kindle and then I go to bed easy
08:52 - 08:55
it's just massively improved my Quality
08:53 - 08:57
of Life by not being physically able to
08:55 - 08:58
access these offending apps at nighttime
08:57 - 08:59
now something else I find really
08:58 - 09:01
interesting about dopamine is that we we
08:59 - 09:03
build up our stores of dopamine when
09:01 - 09:04
we're bored but we normally don't let
09:03 - 09:06
ourselves experience boredom because
09:04 - 09:07
we're always reaching for our phones or
09:06 - 09:09
whatever device we happen to have on our
09:07 - 09:11
present actually in a state of boredom
09:09 - 09:12
your brain will be generating dopamine
09:11 - 09:13
it goes into this like restorative state
09:12 - 09:14
where it's sitting there thinking oh
09:13 - 09:16
I've got a break right now so it's going
09:14 - 09:18
to build some dopamine if you conly just
09:16 - 09:19
crash your dopamine during your moments
09:18 - 09:22
of boredom it's not great for the brain
09:19 - 09:24
chemical and this is why TJ recommends
09:22 - 09:26
that we try and do a 2hour phone fast on
09:24 - 09:28
Saturdays and on Sundays and to try our
09:26 - 09:29
best to embrace this feeling of boredom
09:28 - 09:31
instead of always running away from for
09:29 - 09:33
me the way I apply this is when I go on
09:31 - 09:34
walks I try and avoid having my phone
09:33 - 09:36
where I'm listening to Audi books or
09:34 - 09:38
podcasts or music or whatever and I keep
09:36 - 09:39
my phone with me my airpods with me just
09:38 - 09:41
in case and like a little pocket
09:39 - 09:43
notebook type thing uh and a pen and so
09:41 - 09:45
if I chill in a cafe or a coffee shop or
09:43 - 09:46
something or a park bench I can do some
09:45 - 09:48
little pen and paper journaling and I I
09:46 - 09:50
like to think that that helps increase
09:48 - 09:53
overall my dopamine levels over time
09:50 - 09:54
action number two find your flow okay so
09:53 - 09:57
I'm going to quote psychologist Mii
09:54 - 09:59
chick sent mihi here our most rewarding
09:57 - 10:01
activities are not natural they demand
09:59 - 10:03
demand and effort that initially one is
10:01 - 10:05
reluctant to make but once the
10:03 - 10:07
interaction starts to provide feedback
10:05 - 10:09
to the person's skills it usually begins
10:07 - 10:11
to be intrinsically enjoyable now here
10:09 - 10:12
chick s meh high is describing the flow
10:11 - 10:14
state which is something that he came up
10:12 - 10:16
with in the 1970s so when we're in our
10:14 - 10:18
Flow State we are hyperfocused on that
10:16 - 10:20
one thing that we're trying to do and in
10:18 - 10:21
general to get into this Flow State
10:20 - 10:23
there needs to be a match between our
10:21 - 10:25
skill levels at doing the thing and how
10:23 - 10:26
challenging the thing actually is so if
10:25 - 10:27
something's too easy then you're likely
10:26 - 10:29
to feel bored rather than being in the
10:27 - 10:30
Flow State but if something is too
10:29 - 10:31
different difficult that you might feel
10:30 - 10:33
anxious and stressed and so if you want
10:31 - 10:34
to get into this Flow State we want to
10:33 - 10:36
be trying to find that balance between
10:34 - 10:38
Challenge and skill level and sometimes
10:36 - 10:40
even artificially adding in a challenge
10:38 - 10:42
if we feel like something is too easy or
10:40 - 10:44
trying our best to reduce our anxiety
10:42 - 10:45
and stress associated with something if
10:44 - 10:46
we're putting too much pressure and
10:45 - 10:48
importance on the thing now what's
10:46 - 10:49
really cool is that researchers have
10:48 - 10:51
done studies where they scan people's
10:49 - 10:53
brains to see which areas are the most
10:51 - 10:54
active when they're in a flow State and
10:53 - 10:56
these studies tell us that our reward
10:54 - 10:58
system and dopamine pathways are heavily
10:56 - 11:01
involved when we enter this Flow State
10:58 - 11:03
experience it builds dopamine in crazy
11:01 - 11:04
crazy amounts because our brain's like
11:03 - 11:05
wow they obviously need me right now you
11:04 - 11:07
want to think of this dopamine chemical
11:05 - 11:09
as your friend and when you're trying to
11:07 - 11:10
engage in something that's challenging
11:09 - 11:12
it's like oh he needs support he needs
11:10 - 11:13
support help him Focus so we know that
11:12 - 11:15
flow is really common in athletes and
11:13 - 11:17
artists and scientists because their
11:15 - 11:19
work is highly skilled and challenging
11:17 - 11:20
but we can all experience flow in the
11:19 - 11:22
more mundane things in our everyday life
11:20 - 11:24
like cooking and studying and cleaning
11:22 - 11:25
if we find ourselves in these optimal
11:24 - 11:28
conditions and on average it takes about
11:25 - 11:30
15 minutes to get into a flow state so
11:28 - 11:31
recognize that the first 15 minutes of
11:30 - 11:32
doing something that might seem a bit
11:31 - 11:33
boring are always going to be the
11:32 - 11:35
hardest because that's when your
11:33 - 11:36
dopamine will be at its lowest a good
11:35 - 11:38
example is something like cleaning a
11:36 - 11:40
bathroom because that's a particularly
11:38 - 11:41
annoying task in our home what you'll
11:40 - 11:43
find is the first 5 minutes pretty
11:41 - 11:45
annoying and gradually you begin to
11:43 - 11:47
what's called gain momentum effectively
11:45 - 11:48
after 10 minutes you might start getting
11:47 - 11:50
more and more into it and then what can
11:48 - 11:51
happen is the opposite can occur rather
11:50 - 11:53
than thing you can't really bothered to
11:51 - 11:55
do this you actually get more into it
11:53 - 11:56
than you even expected to and that's
11:55 - 11:58
because you're effectively entering
11:56 - 12:00
cleaning Flow State I find this to be a
11:58 - 12:01
really useful insight like the starting
12:00 - 12:03
bit of anything that you're trying to do
12:01 - 12:04
is always the hardest it's like
12:03 - 12:06
procrastination is generally a
12:04 - 12:07
difficulty in getting started with a
12:06 - 12:09
thing rather than in doing the thing
12:07 - 12:11
when I'm filming for example this is
12:09 - 12:14
like my my job these days to film these
12:11 - 12:15
freaking videos and the first hour I
12:14 - 12:17
always spend just like uh
12:15 - 12:18
procrastinating looking at the scripts
12:17 - 12:19
and thinking oh it's not good enough and
12:18 - 12:20
thinking oh it's not going to get any
12:19 - 12:22
views thinking why does anyone care
12:20 - 12:25
think why I why am I even qualified to
12:22 - 12:27
talk about this one and then when I hit
12:25 - 12:29
record and just start filming I you know
12:27 - 12:30
slly the dopamine builds up over time it
12:29 - 12:32
becomes kind of fun I start like having
12:30 - 12:34
a bit of fun with it I start feeling a
12:32 - 12:35
bit more animated and like right now I'm
12:34 - 12:37
enjoying filming this video it's a fun
12:35 - 12:39
thing to do I recognized this was Al
12:37 - 12:41
also the case when I was in med school
12:39 - 12:42
it was really hard starting to study for
12:41 - 12:44
the exam but then once I got into the
12:42 - 12:45
flow of it I had my study with me music
12:44 - 12:47
playing in the background with Pirates
12:45 - 12:48
of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings
12:47 - 12:50
and Harry Potter and the whole bang it
12:48 - 12:52
starts to become fun so if you struggle
12:50 - 12:53
with starting stuff recognize that is
12:52 - 12:56
completely normal your dopamine levels
12:53 - 12:57
are low and over time they will increase
12:56 - 12:59
all right let's move on to action number
12:57 - 13:01
three which is cold water immersion and
12:59 - 13:03
this has actually been shown to cause a
13:01 - 13:04
somewhat similar increase in dopamine as
13:03 - 13:06
cocaine but the key difference
13:04 - 13:08
apparently is that cocaine spikes a
13:06 - 13:09
dopamine very quickly in about 9 minutes
13:08 - 13:11
but then it quickly falls down
13:09 - 13:13
afterwards but going into cold water
13:11 - 13:16
increases a dopamine more gradually over
13:13 - 13:18
a 2hour period a brilliant psychologist
13:16 - 13:20
back in 1998 called ceramic discovered
13:18 - 13:22
for the first time that cold water
13:20 - 13:26
emerging can raise our dopamine levels
13:22 - 13:28
by 250% 2.5 times and when you get into
13:26 - 13:30
this cold water immersion conversation
13:28 - 13:32
it's really important to understand this
13:30 - 13:34
concept called the pain pleasure balance
13:32 - 13:35
this pain pleasure balance comes from a
13:34 - 13:37
really interesting Theory published in
13:35 - 13:39
1980 by a behavioral psychologist
13:37 - 13:41
Richard Solomon called the opponent
13:39 - 13:43
process theory of acquired motivation
13:41 - 13:45
this basically says that Pleasure and
13:43 - 13:47
Pain are opposite emotional states and
13:45 - 13:48
we need to keep them balanced on either
13:47 - 13:49
side of a seesaw so when you eat your
13:48 - 13:51
favorite food for example and it makes
13:49 - 13:53
you feel great the Seesaw tips towards
13:51 - 13:55
the pleasure side but then afterwards an
13:53 - 13:57
opposite emotional reaction kicks in
13:55 - 13:59
like guilt if you're like me and you ate
13:57 - 14:01
a whole mango sticky rice with ice cream
13:59 - 14:02
today and that guilt tips the Seesaw
14:01 - 14:05
back into more of a neutral position in
14:02 - 14:06
theory now Dr Anna lmy is a psychiatrist
14:05 - 14:08
at Stanford University School of
14:06 - 14:10
Medicine and she talks about this in her
14:08 - 14:12
book called dopamine Nation finding
14:10 - 14:14
balance in the age of indulgence she
14:12 - 14:15
writes I tend to imagine this
14:14 - 14:17
self-regulating system as little
14:15 - 14:19
gremlins hopping on the pain side of the
14:17 - 14:21
balance to counteract the weight on the
14:19 - 14:23
pleasure side the Gremlins represent the
14:21 - 14:26
work of homeostasis the tendency of any
14:23 - 14:27
living system to maintain a physiologic
14:26 - 14:29
equilibrium and things actually get
14:27 - 14:31
really interesting because as Dr writes
14:29 - 14:33
with repeated exposure to the same or
14:31 - 14:35
similar pleasure stimulus the initial
14:33 - 14:37
deviation to the side of pleasure gets
14:35 - 14:39
weaker and shorter and the after
14:37 - 14:41
response to the side of pain gets
14:39 - 14:43
stronger and longer a process scientists
14:41 - 14:46
call neuro adaptation that is with
14:43 - 14:47
repetition our Gremlins get bigger
14:46 - 14:50
faster and more numerous and we need
14:47 - 14:51
more of our drug of choice to get the
14:50 - 14:53
same effect and obviously this drug
14:51 - 14:55
could be anything that we find addictive
14:53 - 14:56
like fast food or alcohol or Tik Tok or
14:55 - 14:58
whatever but then the opposite happens
14:56 - 15:00
when we experience pain first like going
14:58 - 15:02
into to cold water as TJ suggests we do
15:00 - 15:04
to increase our dopamine at first it's
15:02 - 15:05
really hard and uncomfortable to stay in
15:04 - 15:07
cold water like having a cold shower or
15:05 - 15:08
doing an ice plunge or whatever but then
15:07 - 15:11
in response to the pain our body
15:08 - 15:12
activates reward Pathways so the Seesaw
15:11 - 15:14
tips back into balance towards the
15:12 - 15:16
pleasure side and the more you do this
15:14 - 15:18
the less intense the initial pain will
15:16 - 15:20
be but those feelings of pleasure will
15:18 - 15:21
happen much sooner afterwards and might
15:20 - 15:23
even be more intense the most
15:21 - 15:25
sustainable way to do this is just to
15:23 - 15:27
every single time you have a shower have
15:25 - 15:29
30 seconds of cold at the end and that
15:27 - 15:31
will provide a good natural increase in
15:29 - 15:34
this dopamine chemical to create a rise
15:31 - 15:35
in motivation and your capacity to focus
15:34 - 15:38
and then the final action action number
15:35 - 15:39
four is what TJ calls my Pursuit and
15:38 - 15:41
this comes back to the importance of a
15:39 - 15:42
human always having a very clear
15:41 - 15:45
Mountain that they're climbing in their
15:42 - 15:48
life and this was huge for me I actually
15:45 - 15:49
was someone that struggled a lot with
15:48 - 15:51
all of the different addictive behaviors
15:49 - 15:53
our modern world has to offer and I had
15:51 - 15:55
to go through the CL the clarification
15:53 - 15:57
of what am I going to chase instead of
15:55 - 15:59
all that quick dopamine and this is
15:57 - 16:01
where the whole idea of my Pursuit came
15:59 - 16:03
from that if you are someone that is
16:01 - 16:05
addicted to all these different things
16:03 - 16:06
really the only way to get off of them
16:05 - 16:08
is to have something else that you're
16:06 - 16:10
chasing that you're willing to sacrifice
16:08 - 16:13
for if you are doing stuff without a
16:10 - 16:15
clear Mission or purpose or goal in mind
16:13 - 16:16
eventually you're just your brain just
16:15 - 16:17
going to sabotage itself because the
16:16 - 16:19
brain is very good at recognizing when
16:17 - 16:21
we are doing something that feels
16:19 - 16:22
fundamentally pointless whereas if
16:21 - 16:23
you're working towards something you
16:22 - 16:25
know if you're building something or
16:23 - 16:26
like supporting your family or like
16:25 - 16:28
whatever the goal is that you're trying
16:26 - 16:30
to go for if you have that goal firmly
16:28 - 16:32
in your mind it means that all of the
16:30 - 16:34
stuff you have to do to get there it
16:32 - 16:36
feels very directed and it's it becomes
16:34 - 16:37
quite like fun to do the thing when you
16:36 - 16:39
know that you're working towards a
16:37 - 16:40
particular goal now a question I often
16:39 - 16:42
get asked is well okay but how do I
16:40 - 16:43
figure out what my purpose is what my
16:42 - 16:44
mission is what my primary Pursuit is
16:43 - 16:46
this is a whole thing I have a whole
16:44 - 16:48
threp playlist about this that talks
16:46 - 16:49
about how to figure out what you truly
16:48 - 16:51
value how to sort of connect it with
16:49 - 16:52
your own life experiences how to turn
16:51 - 16:53
that into goals that'll be linked up
16:52 - 16:55
there or down there or something so you
16:53 - 16:57
can check it out but TJ's solution to
16:55 - 16:59
this which I agree with is to start
16:57 - 17:01
spending at least 60 minutes in nature
16:59 - 17:03
every day without your phone without
17:01 - 17:04
music and without a podcast now at first
17:03 - 17:06
you'll probably feel bored and
17:04 - 17:08
frustrated but once you push past those
17:06 - 17:10
uncomfortable emotions it becomes a lot
17:08 - 17:12
easier to answer that question of what
17:10 - 17:14
is my primary Pursuit what do I really
17:12 - 17:15
care about pursuing in my case I
17:14 - 17:17
personally feel most creative when I'm
17:15 - 17:19
going out and about on walks in Regent
17:17 - 17:21
Park in London or something or if I'm
17:19 - 17:22
just walking to a local coffee shop and
17:21 - 17:23
just sitting there alone with my
17:22 - 17:25
thoughts and the more you ask yourself
17:23 - 17:26
this question the better you'll get at
17:25 - 17:28
working out what your goals are and
17:26 - 17:29
figuring out the plans and systems youve
17:28 - 17:30
got to put in place ways to achieve them
17:29 - 17:33
this is the whole philosophy called the
17:30 - 17:35
productivity GPS GPS stands for goal
17:33 - 17:36
plan and system this is like a
17:35 - 17:37
productivity method that I've been
17:36 - 17:38
cooking up over the last couple of years
17:37 - 17:40
if you're interested in finding out more
17:38 - 17:41
this is something I teach as part of my
17:40 - 17:43
productivity lab linked down below but
17:41 - 17:44
I'm planning to make more videos about
17:43 - 17:45
it here on this YouTube channel as well
17:44 - 17:47
if you enjoyed this video then you'll
17:45 - 17:49
probably like the others in the series
17:47 - 17:50
that are about oxytocin serotonin and
17:49 - 17:52
endorphins and those will be in this
17:50 - 17:53
playlist when those videos come out
17:52 - 17:54
thank you so much for watching and I'll
17:53 - 17:57
see you hopefully in the next video
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