EP 045 Fire Your Brain Before It Fires Your Dreams: Master Productivity Habits to Overcome Overthinking

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,963
What if I told you that overthinking?

2
00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:06,654
You know that constant metal chatter you
trust to guide most of your decisions.

3
00:00:06,709 --> 00:00:10,663
What if I told you that is actually
the biggest saboteur of your success?

4
00:00:10,718 --> 00:00:14,863
What if your brain, the organ you
rely on for everything is out there

5
00:00:14,863 --> 00:00:18,000
running outdated software that's
keeping you stuck, keeping you

6
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:22,118
stressed, and keeping you spinning
your wheels through endless rumination?

7
00:00:22,172 --> 00:00:26,863
And what if 99.5% of the people out
there are walking around completely?

8
00:00:27,272 --> 00:00:32,372
Are that their mental operating system
is working against them every single day.

9
00:00:32,590 --> 00:00:33,218
Are you one of them?

10
00:00:34,359 --> 00:00:35,022
Your success?

11
00:00:35,168 --> 00:00:36,695
DNA podcast, your success?

12
00:00:37,036 --> 00:00:39,136
Is in your DNA, what is up?

13
00:00:39,136 --> 00:00:39,545
What is up?

14
00:00:39,545 --> 00:00:40,363
What the hell is up?

15
00:00:40,363 --> 00:00:44,072
My fellow success seekers, welcome back
to another episode of Your success,

16
00:00:44,072 --> 00:00:47,754
DNA, the podcast for my aspiring
entrepreneurs, nine to five biscuit.

17
00:00:47,809 --> 00:00:51,900
Heck, for all those folks out there that
are looking for mindset shifts and habit

18
00:00:51,900 --> 00:00:55,172
upgrades, and maybe even a little dose
of rebellion, all designed to help you

19
00:00:55,172 --> 00:00:57,572
break free of convention and build a life.

20
00:00:57,795 --> 00:01:02,213
Aligned with your version of success, and
if you know someone who dreams of getting

21
00:01:02,213 --> 00:01:05,486
better always makes time for a little
self-help and personal development, go

22
00:01:05,486 --> 00:01:07,040
ahead and forward this episode to them.

23
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,040
Can you, okay, so we're gonna be
talking about why your brain is

24
00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,968
sabotaging your success and how
you can fire it as your life coach.

25
00:01:13,968 --> 00:01:16,531
Yeah, that little hidden
mental malware that's.

26
00:01:17,059 --> 00:01:20,222
Costing you a little bit of
everything you want in life.

27
00:01:20,413 --> 00:01:23,250
So here are the three things I wanna
make sure you come away with today.

28
00:01:23,250 --> 00:01:27,122
One, I'm gonna reveal the shocking
research from Yale and Stanford

29
00:01:27,340 --> 00:01:30,695
that show how your brain's
overthinking patterns are literally.

30
00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:34,845
Capping your creative potential
while convincing you it's

31
00:01:34,845 --> 00:01:36,127
helping you at the same times.

32
00:01:36,127 --> 00:01:36,290
Right?

33
00:01:36,427 --> 00:01:36,890
Stick around.

34
00:01:37,027 --> 00:01:37,218
Okay.

35
00:01:37,218 --> 00:01:40,954
You'll discover why the very mental
process you think makes you thorough and

36
00:01:40,954 --> 00:01:45,622
responsible is actually the most expensive
and the least productive pattern to.

37
00:01:45,863 --> 00:01:47,199
You will ever engage in.

38
00:01:47,199 --> 00:01:51,181
Second, we're going to expose the
cruel evolutionary joke that's

39
00:01:51,181 --> 00:01:53,090
been played on your nervous system.

40
00:01:53,090 --> 00:01:56,827
Your amygdala and prefrontal cortex
are doing exactly what they've

41
00:01:56,827 --> 00:02:00,863
evolved to do, but they're doing in
the world it was never designed for.

42
00:02:01,136 --> 00:02:05,390
I'm gonna show you why your ancient
survival software is sabotaging your

43
00:02:05,418 --> 00:02:10,572
modern day success and keeping you trapped
in rumination loops that solve nothing.

44
00:02:11,090 --> 00:02:13,136
Third, which is a jam
packed one, isn't it?

45
00:02:13,354 --> 00:02:16,654
We're gonna learn the exact
framework that neuroscientists use

46
00:02:16,790 --> 00:02:18,700
to reprogram their mental malware.

47
00:02:19,027 --> 00:02:20,254
This isn't meditation.

48
00:02:20,254 --> 00:02:21,863
It's not mindfulness bandaids.

49
00:02:21,863 --> 00:02:22,272
Oh no.

50
00:02:22,327 --> 00:02:25,027
We may get woo woo around here,
but this is not one of those times.

51
00:02:25,027 --> 00:02:26,472
This is how to literally.

52
00:02:26,645 --> 00:02:31,118
Fire your brain as your life coach and
take back control of your mental operating

53
00:02:31,118 --> 00:02:36,872
system through proven rumination focused
cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.

54
00:02:37,063 --> 00:02:38,809
Man, that was a mouthful.

55
00:02:38,813 --> 00:02:39,331
Okay, so.

56
00:02:40,172 --> 00:02:43,281
Here's the truth, and once
again, I think it's gonna sting

57
00:02:43,281 --> 00:02:44,781
like a good slap in the face.

58
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,200
Your brain, my friends.

59
00:02:46,309 --> 00:02:46,472
Yeah.

60
00:02:46,472 --> 00:02:50,100
It's not your friend when it comes
to success and striving for it.

61
00:02:50,481 --> 00:02:53,590
I know that might sound a little
harsh, but hey, you didn't come

62
00:02:53,590 --> 00:02:56,045
here to get your ego stroke, right?

63
00:02:56,100 --> 00:02:57,790
That's 'cause you know,
that's not how I roll.

64
00:02:57,790 --> 00:02:57,981
Right?

65
00:02:58,172 --> 00:03:01,990
So we've been taught to trust our
thoughts, to think things through,

66
00:03:02,154 --> 00:03:04,418
to be analytical and to be careful.

67
00:03:04,590 --> 00:03:08,136
What if I told you that your brain
is running on software that's

68
00:03:08,136 --> 00:03:10,972
about 200,000 years out of date?

69
00:03:11,109 --> 00:03:15,227
And what if the very overthinking
processes that you think is making

70
00:03:15,227 --> 00:03:19,099
you smarter is actually making you
weaker, making you less creative?

71
00:03:19,481 --> 00:03:22,590
Leaving you even more
paralyzed than before.

72
00:03:22,945 --> 00:03:23,790
Lemme tell you about Jen.

73
00:03:24,036 --> 00:03:26,872
Jen was a, a brilliant marketing
director that I worked with.

74
00:03:26,899 --> 00:03:29,299
She had everything going for her.

75
00:03:29,436 --> 00:03:33,418
She had a great husband, the MBA
from a top school, six figure salary,

76
00:03:33,527 --> 00:03:37,345
the respect of her peers, amazing
family, kids, the whole nine yards.

77
00:03:37,481 --> 00:03:39,499
But she came to me completely burned out.

78
00:03:39,886 --> 00:03:43,840
And frustrated, Tracy, you said
I spend more time overthinking

79
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,131
my work than actually doing it.

80
00:03:46,513 --> 00:03:50,686
I will analyze a simple email for, I
don't know, 20 minutes before sending it.

81
00:03:50,850 --> 00:03:55,704
I'll replay conversations from weeks ago
wondering if maybe I said something wrong.

82
00:03:55,949 --> 00:04:00,068
I have a presentation that I'm doing
next week, and I've already imagined

83
00:04:00,068 --> 00:04:03,068
like 47 different ways it could go wrong.

84
00:04:03,572 --> 00:04:04,718
Does this sound familiar to anybody?

85
00:04:04,772 --> 00:04:07,718
I can hear some of you in my
magic headphones here nodding yes.

86
00:04:07,718 --> 00:04:09,000
Your brains are rattling around.

87
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:09,681
I don't mind Rattler.

88
00:04:09,681 --> 00:04:10,527
Anyway, you get me.

89
00:04:10,581 --> 00:04:14,645
Jen's brain had convinced her that
all that mental activity that she

90
00:04:14,645 --> 00:04:16,390
was doing was being productive.

91
00:04:16,609 --> 00:04:21,518
That overthinking was thoroughness,
that analyzing every possible outcome

92
00:04:21,572 --> 00:04:23,454
was just responsible planning.

93
00:04:23,950 --> 00:04:25,313
Here's what it really was.

94
00:04:25,313 --> 00:04:28,068
Here's what was really
happening inside her head.

95
00:04:28,177 --> 00:04:32,350
Her ancient brain designed to keep
her alive on the African Savannah

96
00:04:32,350 --> 00:04:36,359
or the plains of the wild, wild West
was treating every modern challenge

97
00:04:36,577 --> 00:04:38,513
like a life or death situation.

98
00:04:38,731 --> 00:04:40,804
Her amygdala was triggering.

99
00:04:41,113 --> 00:04:45,722
That fight or flight response for
just about every single email or

100
00:04:45,722 --> 00:04:47,059
project that she was working on.

101
00:04:47,168 --> 00:04:51,531
Every presentation became a predator
to escape through rumination.

102
00:04:51,531 --> 00:04:56,577
So really, if you think about it, based
on that, her brain was doing a really good

103
00:04:56,577 --> 00:04:59,004
job and it was doing it perfectly, but.

104
00:04:59,263 --> 00:05:00,736
What's the real problem here, Tracy?

105
00:05:00,872 --> 00:05:01,281
Okay.

106
00:05:01,554 --> 00:05:05,181
The problem, well, it's doing
the right job, but it's doing

107
00:05:05,181 --> 00:05:06,545
it in the wrong century.

108
00:05:06,627 --> 00:05:09,900
When I showed Jen the research I was
that I'm about to share with you,

109
00:05:10,090 --> 00:05:12,763
everything kind of clicked with it
was like, oh, you can almost see

110
00:05:12,763 --> 00:05:14,290
the light bulb go off over her head.

111
00:05:14,481 --> 00:05:18,086
She realized she wasn't broken,
she wasn't weak, and she

112
00:05:18,086 --> 00:05:20,099
certainly was not inadequate.

113
00:05:20,318 --> 00:05:20,509
Nope.

114
00:05:20,731 --> 00:05:23,704
She was just running
outdated mental software.

115
00:05:23,813 --> 00:05:27,059
Yeah, her brain just needed a
firmware update, you might say.

116
00:05:27,250 --> 00:05:27,549
So.

117
00:05:28,050 --> 00:05:31,595
Here's what the science reveals
about your Brain's sabotage system.

118
00:05:31,595 --> 00:05:35,304
Let's start with the Cornell Food
Decision Research that was done.

119
00:05:35,631 --> 00:05:42,177
Dr. Brian Wansink's, Cornell Research
revealed that we make about 226 decisions

120
00:05:42,313 --> 00:05:44,086
about food alone every single day.

121
00:05:44,513 --> 00:05:47,159
Most of this happens unconsciously,
but here's the kicker.

122
00:05:47,404 --> 00:05:50,840
When you add overthinking to
any decision process, you're

123
00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:52,259
not improving those choices.

124
00:05:52,450 --> 00:05:52,831
No.

125
00:05:52,913 --> 00:05:57,140
Instead, you are creating what
psychologists call decision paralysis.

126
00:05:57,168 --> 00:05:58,859
Forget paralysis by analysis.

127
00:05:58,859 --> 00:06:00,686
Now you're just got decision paralysis.

128
00:06:00,768 --> 00:06:03,549
Do, oh my God, Stanford
Research prove this.

129
00:06:04,477 --> 00:06:08,377
I scans, they hooked people up to
a brain imaging machine and had

130
00:06:08,377 --> 00:06:12,740
them draw while they were thinking
about increasingly complex problems.

131
00:06:12,904 --> 00:06:16,968
The result, the harder that they
had to think about that problem, the

132
00:06:16,968 --> 00:06:18,686
less creative their artwork became.

133
00:06:19,354 --> 00:06:22,299
So let's simplify that for
my overthinkers out there.

134
00:06:22,381 --> 00:06:25,845
Overthinking literally caps
your creative potential by

135
00:06:25,927 --> 00:06:28,109
overwhelming your prefrontal cortex.

136
00:06:28,163 --> 00:06:31,818
Yeah, all those creative juices
just get siphoned off and flushed

137
00:06:31,818 --> 00:06:33,918
down the drain by your overthinking.

138
00:06:34,218 --> 00:06:37,054
Now this leads to the
cortisol sabotage cycle.

139
00:06:37,054 --> 00:06:40,081
When you overthink, your
body produces cortisol.

140
00:06:40,249 --> 00:06:42,349
That my friends is a stress hormone.

141
00:06:42,404 --> 00:06:47,640
This chronic rumination essentially
hijacks your default mode network.

142
00:06:47,722 --> 00:06:51,104
That my friends, in case you don't
know, is your brain system that is

143
00:06:51,104 --> 00:06:55,031
responsible for creative insight
and your problem solving skills.

144
00:06:55,222 --> 00:06:56,749
Hold on, stick with me here.

145
00:06:56,940 --> 00:06:57,868
It gets worse.

146
00:06:57,949 --> 00:07:02,177
Excessive cortisol will actually
impair your hippocampus.

147
00:07:02,259 --> 00:07:05,259
And I'm not talking about the big
creature out there at the zoo.

148
00:07:05,286 --> 00:07:05,450
No.

149
00:07:05,450 --> 00:07:06,159
You know what I'm talking about.

150
00:07:06,268 --> 00:07:09,840
This is the part of your brain that
is responsible for forming memories

151
00:07:09,922 --> 00:07:12,159
and regulating your emotions.

152
00:07:12,213 --> 00:07:13,849
Some of you're a little
unregulated out there.

153
00:07:13,904 --> 00:07:14,586
Uh, I've been there.

154
00:07:14,586 --> 00:07:16,550
So let's wrap all this together.

155
00:07:16,686 --> 00:07:21,840
Overthinking makes you worse at the
very cognitive functions that you need

156
00:07:22,031 --> 00:07:26,450
in order to solve the damn problems you
wanna solve effectively and efficiently.

157
00:07:26,586 --> 00:07:26,995
So.

158
00:07:27,249 --> 00:07:29,595
Let's talk about the
response styles theory.

159
00:07:29,731 --> 00:07:31,886
There are two types of mental sabotage.

160
00:07:32,022 --> 00:07:34,172
Yale professor, Dr. Susan Nolan.

161
00:07:34,963 --> 00:07:37,718
Sima developed the response styles theory.

162
00:07:37,718 --> 00:07:42,327
Her theory identified two types of
mental sabotage that your brain uses.

163
00:07:42,463 --> 00:07:43,609
My brain and your brain.

164
00:07:43,854 --> 00:07:46,063
They are rumination and worry.

165
00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,536
First, let's talk about rumination.

166
00:07:47,809 --> 00:07:52,254
This is your brain replaying past events
like a broken record, like a broken

167
00:07:52,254 --> 00:07:55,827
record, like a broken record, right
back and over and over and over again.

168
00:07:55,827 --> 00:07:56,481
We, for those of us.

169
00:07:56,772 --> 00:07:59,745
Growing up in, in my era, we used to
have vinyl records and you'd get that

170
00:07:59,745 --> 00:08:03,509
scratch on there and you'd hear the
same thing over and over and over again.

171
00:08:03,509 --> 00:08:06,318
It's like trying to solve problems
that have already happened.

172
00:08:06,536 --> 00:08:09,945
This, my friends, is past
focused, repetitive thinking.

173
00:08:10,722 --> 00:08:10,995
Then.

174
00:08:11,268 --> 00:08:12,877
Then comes number two, worry.

175
00:08:13,340 --> 00:08:17,704
This is when your brain
catastrophizes about future scenarios.

176
00:08:17,786 --> 00:08:22,095
Yeah, it's out there and it's creating
the worst possible case scenarios in your

177
00:08:22,095 --> 00:08:27,086
mind and displaying them in full living
color and all sensory surround sound in

178
00:08:27,086 --> 00:08:31,804
your mind's eye, most of which we know
and eventually experience never occur.

179
00:08:31,940 --> 00:08:32,813
This is.

180
00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,113
Future focused, repetitive thinking.

181
00:08:35,386 --> 00:08:39,177
Both of these are your nervous systems
attempt to gain control through what

182
00:08:39,177 --> 00:08:41,549
psychologists call metacognition.

183
00:08:41,740 --> 00:08:41,986
Right.

184
00:08:42,231 --> 00:08:43,404
We're not talking about the company here.

185
00:08:43,486 --> 00:08:45,204
You're talking about your
brain, your own software.

186
00:08:45,313 --> 00:08:45,531
Yeah.

187
00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,613
Basically this is use
thinking about thinking.

188
00:08:49,009 --> 00:08:53,236
Today in modern life, you are
presented with far more uncertainty

189
00:08:53,536 --> 00:08:57,681
than our brain, I think was really
designed to handle all at one time.

190
00:08:57,736 --> 00:08:58,663
Uncertainty about this.

191
00:08:58,663 --> 00:08:59,918
Uncertainty about that, right?

192
00:09:00,027 --> 00:09:02,372
And then you got people out
there pushing uncertainty at you.

193
00:09:02,372 --> 00:09:04,254
But that's a whole nother podcast.

194
00:09:04,499 --> 00:09:07,472
This leads to the ironic process trap.

195
00:09:08,072 --> 00:09:11,727
Because this here is where
things I think really get cruel.

196
00:09:11,918 --> 00:09:16,009
The harder you try to stop
overthinking, the more you overthink.

197
00:09:16,063 --> 00:09:17,263
Let that sink in for a second.

198
00:09:17,263 --> 00:09:17,536
Yeah.

199
00:09:17,645 --> 00:09:20,945
This is called the ironic process
theory discovered by Daniel Wegner.

200
00:09:21,163 --> 00:09:25,363
So you spin out telling yourself to
not think about the pink elephant.

201
00:09:26,068 --> 00:09:30,104
All that really does is, yeah, it makes
you think about the pink elephants.

202
00:09:30,213 --> 00:09:30,431
Yeah.

203
00:09:30,595 --> 00:09:34,686
This is why most advice about
overthinking completely falls flat

204
00:09:34,686 --> 00:09:39,022
on its face because they essentially
tell you just stop thinking so much.

205
00:09:39,377 --> 00:09:43,277
That's like telling someone to just
stop thinking about being hungry.

206
00:09:43,531 --> 00:09:47,622
It doesn't work because it fights
against how your brain actually operates.

207
00:09:47,813 --> 00:09:48,195
Damn.

208
00:09:48,249 --> 00:09:49,449
Now I'm, I'm a little hungry.

209
00:09:49,504 --> 00:09:52,504
Anyway, so let's get
to the firing process.

210
00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,177
I mentioned earlier how
to demote your brain.

211
00:09:55,259 --> 00:09:58,395
There is a theory that I heard of
while I worked in corporate America

212
00:09:58,504 --> 00:10:02,377
that people are being promoted to
their level of incompetence, right?

213
00:10:02,377 --> 00:10:03,168
You get promoted.

214
00:10:03,522 --> 00:10:04,204
You do a good job.

215
00:10:04,204 --> 00:10:06,168
You get promoted, you do a
good job, you get promoted.

216
00:10:06,495 --> 00:10:07,422
You don't do a good job.

217
00:10:07,422 --> 00:10:10,340
You start getting promoted because
you're incompetent at this current level.

218
00:10:11,540 --> 00:10:14,022
Your success, DNA podcast, your success.

219
00:10:14,086 --> 00:10:15,290
Is in your DNA.

220
00:10:15,804 --> 00:10:21,122
So in a way, your brain has reached its
level of incompetence until we train it

221
00:10:21,422 --> 00:10:23,359
or demote it to an appropriate position.

222
00:10:23,550 --> 00:10:27,831
So instead of fighting your brain, you
need to change its job description.

223
00:10:27,940 --> 00:10:30,831
And here's the framework
based on rumination focused

224
00:10:30,859 --> 00:10:32,631
cognitive behavioral therapy.

225
00:10:32,740 --> 00:10:35,004
Like I said, that's a mouthful
and it actually works.

226
00:10:35,113 --> 00:10:37,486
It's five simple steps, step one.

227
00:10:37,718 --> 00:10:39,804
First, you gotta recognize
the sabotage you.

228
00:10:39,809 --> 00:10:42,000
You gotta step back and go,
oh, there's shit going on here.

229
00:10:42,245 --> 00:10:46,090
When you catch yourself in this
overthinking loop, don't fight it.

230
00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,154
Simply observe it and say, my
brain is doing its old job.

231
00:10:50,154 --> 00:10:52,663
Again, this creates a little bit
of distance between you and your

232
00:10:52,663 --> 00:10:56,563
thoughts through that metacognitive
awareness I just told you about.

233
00:10:56,754 --> 00:10:59,331
Step two, you're gonna
shift from abstract.

234
00:10:59,918 --> 00:11:00,790
Concrete.

235
00:11:01,172 --> 00:11:05,127
Edward Watkins at the University of
Exeter discovered that rumination

236
00:11:05,127 --> 00:11:08,236
happens when you are in abstract mode.

237
00:11:08,263 --> 00:11:10,009
Instead of asking, why me?

238
00:11:10,199 --> 00:11:12,463
Uh, or what does this mean?

239
00:11:12,627 --> 00:11:17,372
Stop and ask, what specifically
can I do about this right now?

240
00:11:17,372 --> 00:11:19,090
So you go from abstract to concrete.

241
00:11:19,145 --> 00:11:20,290
Here, here's a quick example.

242
00:11:20,372 --> 00:11:21,300
Abstract thinking.

243
00:11:21,518 --> 00:11:22,772
Why did this happen to me?

244
00:11:22,827 --> 00:11:23,072
Yeah.

245
00:11:23,072 --> 00:11:26,018
We've all asked that one
concrete thinking, what one

246
00:11:26,018 --> 00:11:28,090
small action can I take today?

247
00:11:28,227 --> 00:11:33,300
Both of these get you completely
different answers and stir up

248
00:11:33,409 --> 00:11:34,636
completely different emotions.

249
00:11:34,636 --> 00:11:34,936
Right.

250
00:11:35,099 --> 00:11:35,372
Okay.

251
00:11:35,727 --> 00:11:37,172
So that moves you to step three.

252
00:11:37,495 --> 00:11:38,295
Schedule your.

253
00:11:38,963 --> 00:11:42,836
Give your brain a specific time
to do its overthinking job.

254
00:11:42,836 --> 00:11:47,281
Say 10 minutes, you're gonna give
it at 7:00 PM Or for some of you,

255
00:11:47,527 --> 00:11:48,999
you might wanna say, you know what?

256
00:11:48,999 --> 00:11:52,627
I need to let my over brain thinking
happen right now, but I'm only

257
00:11:52,627 --> 00:11:54,209
gonna let it do it for 10 minutes.

258
00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:58,027
When the anxious thoughts arise during
the day, tell your brain thank you.

259
00:11:58,190 --> 00:11:59,090
Thank you for the input.

260
00:11:59,227 --> 00:12:00,427
We'll discuss that later.

261
00:12:00,668 --> 00:12:04,104
At seven, or for those of you who
have to do it now, let's discuss

262
00:12:04,104 --> 00:12:05,959
this for 10 minutes and that's it.

263
00:12:06,286 --> 00:12:07,240
Then we have to move on.

264
00:12:07,295 --> 00:12:12,259
This breaks that compulsive nature of
rumination at that time that you set.

265
00:12:12,286 --> 00:12:15,231
Sit with your overthinking
and just let it roll out.

266
00:12:15,477 --> 00:12:19,759
Perhaps even let it roll out on a journal
channel, all that energy through your

267
00:12:19,759 --> 00:12:22,022
hand, into a pen, onto a piece of paper.

268
00:12:22,022 --> 00:12:23,849
There may be some patterns
that are worth noticing.

269
00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:24,722
Step four.

270
00:12:25,059 --> 00:12:27,840
Let's do the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

271
00:12:28,004 --> 00:12:28,904
Reset, right?

272
00:12:29,150 --> 00:12:29,886
Lean into me here.

273
00:12:30,077 --> 00:12:32,040
Whatever you're doing, I want you to
pay a little bit more attention to me.

274
00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,440
If you're driving, obviously pay
enough attention to the road too.

275
00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,486
Not to danger yourself, but
this is an important one.

276
00:12:36,886 --> 00:12:40,404
When you feel your mind starting
to race or in the middle of racing,

277
00:12:40,622 --> 00:12:43,213
immediately engage all of your senses.

278
00:12:43,377 --> 00:12:45,913
What you wanna do is you're
gonna wanna pay attention to five

279
00:12:45,913 --> 00:12:47,277
things that you see around you.

280
00:12:47,550 --> 00:12:50,713
Four things that you can touch
around you, three things that

281
00:12:50,713 --> 00:12:52,486
you can hear at this very moment.

282
00:12:52,786 --> 00:12:55,131
Two things that you can
smell and one thing.

283
00:12:55,536 --> 00:12:58,427
That you can taste, but
you wanna do one at a time.

284
00:12:58,509 --> 00:13:03,554
What this does is this focuses your
brain to engage with present moment data.

285
00:13:03,745 --> 00:13:07,318
Instead of all the abstract scenarios that
may be whizzing around into your brain,

286
00:13:07,536 --> 00:13:12,309
effectively redirecting your pre-frontal
cortex back into the here and now.

287
00:13:12,445 --> 00:13:17,627
At minimum, it pauses that potential
spin out that you were about to take.

288
00:13:17,736 --> 00:13:17,981
Yeah.

289
00:13:18,090 --> 00:13:18,418
Okay.

290
00:13:18,581 --> 00:13:19,727
And that brings you to step five.

291
00:13:20,209 --> 00:13:21,518
Replace the soundtrack.

292
00:13:21,599 --> 00:13:25,990
Your brain runs on mental soundtracks,
maybe even video soundtracks, but for

293
00:13:25,990 --> 00:13:27,763
some of us it's mental soundtracks.

294
00:13:27,763 --> 00:13:31,036
Instead of just retiring those
negative ones and leaving a

295
00:13:31,036 --> 00:13:34,609
vacuum for a new negative one
to step in and take its place.

296
00:13:34,609 --> 00:13:34,854
Nope.

297
00:13:34,990 --> 00:13:38,100
What you going on do is
totally replace them instead.

298
00:13:38,345 --> 00:13:42,927
So I always mess things up is a mental
soundtrack that you need to replace

299
00:13:42,927 --> 00:13:44,645
with something like I'm learning.

300
00:13:44,999 --> 00:13:47,645
Improving from each experience.

301
00:13:47,727 --> 00:13:51,599
Okay, so before we go a little deeper,
I want you to know that everything

302
00:13:51,599 --> 00:13:55,227
I'm sharing today, the research, the
frameworks, the mindset shifts, this is

303
00:13:55,227 --> 00:13:59,536
exactly the kind of content I dive into
every week in the Unleash Your Success.

304
00:13:59,536 --> 00:14:04,854
DNA newsletter is designed for people like
you who refuse to accept the default life.

305
00:14:05,222 --> 00:14:06,449
They think a little differently.

306
00:14:06,504 --> 00:14:10,759
Those who want mindset shifts and
habit upgrades and doses of rebellion

307
00:14:11,031 --> 00:14:14,359
to help you break free from convention
so that you can build a life designed

308
00:14:14,359 --> 00:14:16,077
with your version of success.

309
00:14:16,077 --> 00:14:17,522
Not everyone else is out there.

310
00:14:17,822 --> 00:14:18,749
You wanna be you.

311
00:14:18,749 --> 00:14:22,650
If you're tired of your brain running
the show and, and you are ready to take

312
00:14:22,650 --> 00:14:27,040
back control, go ahead and head on over
to your success d.com and subscribe.

313
00:14:27,068 --> 00:14:31,459
Each issue delivers the kind of truth
telling, status quo challenging insights.

314
00:14:31,613 --> 00:14:35,322
That help you rewire your
brain from the inside out.

315
00:14:35,513 --> 00:14:36,168
Okay, go ahead.

316
00:14:36,331 --> 00:14:38,295
Your success d.com get started.

317
00:14:38,295 --> 00:14:42,059
You'll see the little sign up there on
the side, but let's get back to why this

318
00:14:42,140 --> 00:14:44,349
really matters on an even bigger scale.

319
00:14:44,904 --> 00:14:49,895
I think we're living through what I'm
going to call the overthinking epidemic.

320
00:14:50,031 --> 00:14:53,713
I might have to do a future episode
on the emotional overload epidemic

321
00:14:53,713 --> 00:14:56,550
that's going on, but let's talk
about the overthinking epidemic.

322
00:14:56,550 --> 00:15:02,004
The research shows that 73% of
people age 25 to 35 are chronic.

323
00:15:02,250 --> 00:15:07,677
Overthinkers compared to folks in
my age range, you know, 65 to 75.

324
00:15:07,949 --> 00:15:09,613
I'm not quite there yet, but you feel me?

325
00:15:09,804 --> 00:15:12,531
We're only overthinking
things 20% of the time.

326
00:15:12,777 --> 00:15:13,349
Think about that.

327
00:15:13,704 --> 00:15:18,095
People that are in their most productive,
most creative, and most ambitious

328
00:15:18,095 --> 00:15:23,577
years are almost the most mentally
paralyzed by their own rumination.

329
00:15:23,799 --> 00:15:28,300
Meanwhile, older generations like myself,
we've learned through experience that

330
00:15:28,300 --> 00:15:30,618
most worries never really materialized.

331
00:15:30,809 --> 00:15:33,590
And most rumination,
it doesn't change shit.

332
00:15:33,863 --> 00:15:37,163
So effectively we're kind
of free, at least 80% free.

333
00:15:37,272 --> 00:15:37,490
Okay?

334
00:15:37,490 --> 00:15:38,745
The other 20% we still do it.

335
00:15:39,018 --> 00:15:40,927
This is a generational crisis.

336
00:15:41,154 --> 00:15:45,709
All about mental energy being wasted
on problems that really don't exist.

337
00:15:45,736 --> 00:15:49,745
Meanwhile, real world once in
a lifetime, opportunities are

338
00:15:49,745 --> 00:15:52,254
slipping right past folks unnoticed.

339
00:15:52,499 --> 00:15:58,036
The cruel irony is that we torture
ourselves nearly to mental exhaustion

340
00:15:58,281 --> 00:16:01,854
with imaginary problems, while the
real issues and the real opportunities

341
00:16:01,854 --> 00:16:03,981
around us simply go unsolved.

342
00:16:04,245 --> 00:16:09,918
Or untapped your brain has has evolved
to keep you safe and to keep you alive.

343
00:16:10,109 --> 00:16:13,981
Its default mode is not
always set correctly.

344
00:16:14,090 --> 00:16:18,018
All the little option buttons aren't set
to the right point to make you successful.

345
00:16:18,072 --> 00:16:22,927
That my friends is because
survival and success require two

346
00:16:22,927 --> 00:16:24,836
completely mental operating systems.

347
00:16:25,027 --> 00:16:26,631
When you understand this, you stop.

348
00:16:27,159 --> 00:16:32,122
Taking your thoughts so seriously and
start treating them like suggestions.

349
00:16:32,286 --> 00:16:35,750
You know, like the ones you get from
the overprotective friend who means,

350
00:16:35,750 --> 00:16:39,677
well when you tell them about this new
opportunity, but doesn't quite understand

351
00:16:39,677 --> 00:16:42,077
the modern world you currently live in.

352
00:16:42,295 --> 00:16:46,659
The bigger paradigm shift here is moving
from being a victim of your thoughts

353
00:16:46,740 --> 00:16:51,568
to being the CEO of your mental office
experience, because you need to remember.

354
00:16:51,809 --> 00:16:54,918
Your brain works for you,
not the other way around.

355
00:16:55,136 --> 00:16:57,972
So that said, here's your
risk of wisdom for this week.

356
00:16:58,163 --> 00:17:00,127
Your brain is an employee.

357
00:17:00,181 --> 00:17:01,899
It is not your boss.

358
00:17:02,090 --> 00:17:07,000
For far too long, you've been letting an
outdated mental operating system run your

359
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:12,290
life just like you wouldn't be letting a
1990s computer run your business today.

360
00:17:12,622 --> 00:17:16,522
You don't wanna let some stone Age
or even wild, wild West software

361
00:17:16,740 --> 00:17:19,195
run your success of your life today.

362
00:17:19,495 --> 00:17:22,631
So your specific action for
this week, every time you catch

363
00:17:22,631 --> 00:17:26,395
yourself overthinking, say out
loud, thanks brain, I got this.

364
00:17:26,504 --> 00:17:30,813
And then ask yourself one concrete
question, what one small action

365
00:17:30,813 --> 00:17:32,777
can I take right this very minute?

366
00:17:33,077 --> 00:17:34,904
Don't try and stop your thoughts, right?

367
00:17:35,068 --> 00:17:35,613
That's okay.

368
00:17:35,836 --> 00:17:38,672
You want your brain to keep giving you
good ideas, you just need to channel it.

369
00:17:38,945 --> 00:17:40,772
Don't fight the mental chatter.

370
00:17:40,963 --> 00:17:41,972
Simply acknowledge it.

371
00:17:42,136 --> 00:17:45,899
Thank you for trying to help
and redirect that energy towards

372
00:17:46,009 --> 00:17:47,754
action that you can take.

373
00:17:47,918 --> 00:17:50,563
Remember, the goal isn't to stop thinking.

374
00:17:50,563 --> 00:17:51,218
No, no, no.

375
00:17:51,409 --> 00:17:54,763
It is to start choosing which
thoughts deserve your attention.

376
00:17:55,454 --> 00:17:59,818
Which ones deserve to be politely
ignored, or maybe even directed

377
00:17:59,818 --> 00:18:01,372
to sit over in the corner?

378
00:18:01,531 --> 00:18:02,027
I, I know.

379
00:18:02,027 --> 00:18:02,463
I know.

380
00:18:02,627 --> 00:18:05,245
No one puts baby in the corner,
but you get me on this one.

381
00:18:05,245 --> 00:18:05,436
Right?

382
00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:06,036
Okay, good.

383
00:18:06,418 --> 00:18:09,968
Listen, 89.5% of people
struggle with overthinking.

384
00:18:10,663 --> 00:18:13,745
You don't have to be trapped
by or in that statistic.

385
00:18:13,936 --> 00:18:17,618
You now understand that
your brain, it's not broken.

386
00:18:17,781 --> 00:18:21,709
It's just running the wrong software for
the life that you are trying to build.

387
00:18:21,927 --> 00:18:26,154
And you have the tools to fire
your brain as a life coach and hire

388
00:18:26,154 --> 00:18:27,981
it back as a helpful consultant.

389
00:18:28,227 --> 00:18:30,709
You know the difference,
routine, productive analysis

390
00:18:30,845 --> 00:18:32,563
and paralytic overthinking.

391
00:18:32,809 --> 00:18:35,972
You understand your thoughts or
suggestions and that they are not.

392
00:18:36,050 --> 00:18:37,413
Commands for your life.

393
00:18:37,631 --> 00:18:38,750
The research is clear.

394
00:18:38,913 --> 00:18:44,177
Rumination isn't making you more prepared,
nor is it making you more responsible.

395
00:18:44,422 --> 00:18:48,895
Instead, it's stealing your creativity,
robbing your decisiveness, and

396
00:18:48,895 --> 00:18:52,927
crippling your ability to enjoy
your life that you're working so

397
00:18:52,927 --> 00:18:55,145
damn hard to build your future self.

398
00:18:55,786 --> 00:18:57,995
Counting on you to make this shift today.

399
00:18:58,186 --> 00:19:02,795
It's counting you to stop letting fear
disguised as productivity, run the damn

400
00:19:02,795 --> 00:19:07,650
show, and it's waiting on you to take back
control of your mental operating system

401
00:19:07,922 --> 00:19:11,713
and start using that damn incredible
brain of yours for what it was meant

402
00:19:11,713 --> 00:19:17,222
to do, to create, to solve, and to
build the life that you actually want.

403
00:19:17,386 --> 00:19:20,004
And with that, I'm gonna leave
you as I always do, think

404
00:19:20,004 --> 00:19:21,345
successfully and take action.

405
00:19:23,018 --> 00:19:26,759
Your success, DNA podcast,
your success is in your DNA.