The Brain Hack From The 60s That Still Works Today
Your brain works on a reward circuit.
- Stimulus.
- Behavior.
- Reward.
That's the cycle.
Example:
- You see the living room is dirty and kinda smelly.
- You spray Febreeze.
- It smells fantastic.
That's the whole cycle and its part of everything we do as humans. No matter what you want to do, you will need to face this cycle.In fact, super successful products like Febreeze, Listerine, and Coca-Cola have built-in rewards that increase consumption behavior from customers.This isn't new--it's called reinforcement and it was coined by B.F. Skinner and the other Behaviorist Psychologists in the 60s.
It works in business and it works in life.
If you want to build a habit, break a habit, stop dating the same type of person, start exercising more, finish that novel, improve test scores, increase sales, decrease staff turnover, quit smoking, eat healthily, or WHATEVER . . .You're going to need to understand this basic, fundamental human circuit for behavior and how people respond to it.If your employees feel crummy every time they talk to you, they are going to stop talking to you and leave.If your students feel empowered and capable every time they leave your class, they're going to show up and try hard.If your customers feel like they didn't get what they expected, they are not going to tell you (they'll tell their friends) and they are not going to come back.
2 Minute Action
What's a habit or behavior you want to start, stop, or otherwise change?Don't stop there.What's the stimulus, behavior, and reward?It's up to you to identify, test, and solve for this reward circuit. If you're serious about getting your results, you're going to need to figure out how to hack your own behavior and do what you need to do.
"A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying."- B.F. Skinner
The Real World Tradeoff Of Internet B.S.
I had always worked 60 hour weeks.But I wanted to do more, so I started working 80 hour weeks. It felt sexy and self-righteous to cut out weekends and social events.I was beating everyone.And that’s when I decided I wanted to push 100 hour weeks.
Let me explain something really important about this.
The difference between 60 and 80 is not the same as the difference between 80 and 100.At 60 hour weeks you’re sacrificing some social stuff, but there’s still time for a relaxing weekend.At 80 hour weeks, your weekends are gone so you’re sacrificing almost if not all of your social activity.
Here’s where it gets crazy.
At 100 hour weeks, you’re now forced to sacrifice really basic needs like exercise and sleep.You’re basically getting 5 hours of sleep each night and immediately beginning work when you get up.There are a lot of internet people who talk about hard work, long hours, and the sexiness of competing for who stayed at the office the longest.I’ve worked all of these styles and I can tell you that there is a huge trade off when you exceed 80 hour work weeks.Sacrificing all social events and interactions means you have no support network or way to vent, verbally process, or feel connected.Sacrificing exercise means your health risks go up and you don’t have recovery hormones making you feel positive and energized all day. Enter; the risk for a coffee, cigarette, or other stimulant addiction.Sacrificing sleep means your body can’t recover as it normally would from mental or physical exertion.All of a sudden, you’re making stupid mistakes that create more work.
But weren’t you working all this time to get ahead?
Now you’ve got a problem. More work and less capacity to finish it.The point is that there’s a tradeoff and you have to find your sweet spot.If you’re serious about living a productive life that helps others and improve our planet, you’re going to have to be responsible for your own sustainability.
This means finding out your limits and working backward to hit your stride.
Stop listening to the internet celebrity B.S. and start listening to (and measuring) yourself.No one else is going to tell you what’s optimal for you. You have to get out there and figure it out.
2 Minute Action
Take 2 minute to reflect on the amount of sleep you’ve gotten for the last week.Set a sleep goal (high or low, it doesn’t matter) for this week.Set a reinder for each morning to notice how you feel with that amount of sleep each day of this week.Reply here and let me know what results you get. There’s no right or wrong with this, I’m just curious what is working for you.
What You Can Do When There's Too Much To Do
There isn't enough time to do everything you want to do before you die.Let's face it.There just isn't.In fact, the same thing is true about your work.There just isn't enough time to do everything.
So let's crush a few thoughts, right now.
- "I have to do it."
- "It needs to get done."
- "No one else is going to do it."
These may be true, but a good question to ask yourself next is "what will happen if I don't get it all done?"
Does it really matter?
Understand that productivity and living a happy, healthy life isn't about doing more.It's just about output.Focus on the 20% of the things that will yield 80% of the results.Stop thinking that hard work is always the answer. It only turns results SOME of the time.If you were a youth with a paper route and you knew you could get paid $200 every week, it might seem like adding more paper routes would be the only way to make more money.But what if you found out that delivering mail pulled in $300 every week?Well, you just learned that not every hour you spend working is worth the same.
Of course, you've got to put in work, but not every hour worked is created equal.
Remember the character "Boxer" from Orwell's Animal Farm?He was a horse and every time he was faced with a problem, the solution was "I'll just work harder."Boxer ended up broken and worn out, causing him to be useless to the farmer.So the skill isn't to work harder, longer hours, or produce more widgets.The skill is determining what you SHOULDN'T be doing.The skill is determining all the things you're wasting your time doing because they aren't delivering amazing results.The skill is saying "no" to all of those things that aren't important.
2 Minute Action
Look at your to-do list today.Everything should fight for its life to stay on that list.Right now, kill one thing on that list. I'm not saying wait until tomorrow to do it.I really mean kill it. That's it. See ya later.Bye bye forever.Hard, right?Do it anyway.