- I think one of the most common problems that people have
is not that they don't know what to do to dramatically
move their life forward in a substantial way.
You know exactly what you need to do right now.
There's probably something that you've been avoiding
like the plague,
but the problem is not that you don't know what that is.
The problem is that you just can't bring yourself to do it.
And that's the common theme every single day is
that when you sit down to do this thing,
you feel a feeling and it almost seems unfair
how potent this feeling of resistance is
because it's usually only present when you think
about doing things that are genuinely good for you.
So it's like, what's the deal with that?
Why does it seem like life is set up that way?
Wouldn't it be better
if you just actually enjoyed doing difficult things?
Wouldn't it be better
if you actually had the motivation to be creative
or to write a paper or to do your taxes?
You probably want nothing more
than to be someone who genuinely enjoys
and looks forward to doing the things that are good for you,
doing the things that empower you.
Recently I've been thinking.
There is one strategy that I have
that works every single time.
It always makes me do the thing that I need to do.
It's not very flattering. It's not very sexy.
We don't want to believe that this is the answer.
And I feel like there's so much
self-improvement advice out there that
kind of ignores this fundamental, not even tactic,
it's almost a fact of life.
And when we ignore this fact,
we'll try to do little tips and tricks like, oh,
set a timer for five minutes
and just really try, try really hard to do the work,
or try to think more positive thoughts about your work.
But all those strategies,
they're kind of throw away strategies.
Yeah, they might work here or there,
but they get old really quick.
This strategy is nuclear.
So if you need to do one particular thing,
then if you do this, you will do it.
You will have no choice.
The solution is boredom.
Ironically that's also the problem.
The solution and the problem are the same thing.
You don't wanna do that work
because it's so boring to your brain,
you want to gouge your eyes out.
All of these distractions that you have around
sound so much more entertaining than doing that thing.
So you always have a backdoor.
Why in hell would you write an essay
when you could be checking Instagram?
When you could be watching YouTube videos like this one?
But the key realization is
that your brain doesn't see objective entertainment values.
It's always relative.
A good analogy for this is when you're spending all day
outside in the sun, it's a super bright day,
and then you walk into a dim room or a store,
that indoor space feels super dark.
You're like, I can't see anything. What is this?
And then you see that weird
fake sun in your periphery that starts to fade.
Everything looks weird and purplely.
And in a very similar way,
if you've been asleep for a couple hours
and you have to get up and go to the bathroom,
you turn the lights on and it's just blinding.
It's not that that bathroom is any more bright
than it was before you went to bed
when you were brushing your teeth,
it's just that your brain interprets things using contrasts.
It uses comparison.
So the key is to utterly delete the back doors.
The key is to strip away every single option,
to sit in a blank room with nothing in it,
no phone, nothing.
Eliminate your ability to do anything other
than the thing that you need to do and you will do it.
And now you might be thinking, oh, it's not that simple.
I can just do nothing.
Well, you actually won't do nothing.
And there's studies to prove it.
There is a really weird study published in Science in 2014.
That was a mouthful, it's not.
What am I, a freaking Neanderthal?
That's not a mouthful.
That was really hard to say.
So in this study,
they got a bunch of undergraduate students
to sit in a empty room by themselves
with absolutely nothing to do
and be alone with their own thoughts.
But they had one other option.
And that was to electrocute themselves with a shocky button.
And it turns out 67% of the men and 25% of the women
decided that electrocution was better than boredom.
And some of the students
electrocuted themselves multiple times.
Even the ones that didn't electrocute themselves
either strongly considered it or at least lamented as
to how miserable the quiet time was and how boring it was.
You might have heard about this study before,
but I think it's a great example
as to how much human beings dislike being bored.
And so the reason why solitary confinement is considered one
of the least humane forms of torture imaginable.
There's this ancient torture method where they
basically just throw somebody down a hole under the castle
and forget about them for their entire lives.
Number 15, the oubliette.
The last thing you'd want after stealing a cup
of buckwheat is to end up in one of these mother (bleep).
That sounds terrible because it's so boring.
If you were put in an empty room with nothing to do
except one thing,
unless that thing is like chop off your hand,
you're probably gonna do that thing.
And while you're doing that thing,
that thing will feel so much more entertaining
than doing nothing.
So you have to ask yourself,
what are you constructing your life around?
How are you structuring things?
Are the things that you're supposed to do entertaining
in comparison to the things that you use as distractions?
Because the larger the disparity,
the more agonizing that thing will be.
And you'll find very quickly that if you delete distractions
as an option, it works right away.
It's insane.
This isn't like some dopamine detox
that you gotta do over weeks and months and years,
although that will help you get used to finding
the entertainment value in difficult things.
This is something that works right away
because your brain needs to to survive.
It hates feeling bored.
So it will make whatever your only option is
as entertaining as it needs to.
I even have personal evidence for this.
One of the most productive, social,
and energetic times in my entire life
is when I was living in a little 900 square foot
basement suite in the middle of suburbia
with absolutely nothing to do except edit videos.
So here's Alex looking in the pantry for stuff to eat.
These guys cooked us
our only good meal that we've had in several days.
And basically this whole video is basically just
to show off what we have going on in our fridge right now.
(roommates laughing)
Ketchup, a little bit of milk, some Korean honey.
Three pickles, salsa, and water.
I was absolutely broke.
And to edit these videos that I had to do
for my very few corporate freelance videography clients.
I was sitting on an upside down laundry hamper
because I couldn't afford an office chair,
but this was deeply motivating to me.
Although I did live with my friend, Alex,
he was hardly ever around so I had these long periods
of loneliness,
but that sting of loneliness made me social.
It made me make plans.
It made me seek opportunities.
My lack of money made me seek money.
And most importantly,
the lack of things to do in there,
the lack of distractions that I surrounded myself with,
made me extremely bored,
bored enough that editing videos and being highly creative
and doing what I love actually felt entertaining as well.
So there's a perfect example
of my environmental conditioning
helping facilitate a mindset
of creativity and attitude of productivity.
It's because I had very few other options.
So in summary,
if you have something you need to do right now,
then eliminate all your back doors, turn off your phone,
remove your gaming PC from your room,
remove your Xbox.
Auto hide the toolbar
so when you're thinking of the next word to write,
you don't look at Safari and automatically click on it.
And in living life this way
and treating productivity this way,
it's not that you're going to live a less entertaining life.
In fact, you might find it far more entertaining
and fulfilling and empowering than you ever knew possible.
And if you're looking for an excellent way
to have more stamina throughout the day
so that when you are actually doing the things
that you need to do, you can do it for longer,
then it will probably help to feel good,
mentally and physically,
using today's video sponsor, Athletic Greens.
You guys already know that AG1
is by far my favorite supplement on the planet.
It is an integral part of my morning routine
and it makes me feel so good throughout the day,
I almost can't believe it.
AG1 supports your energy, focus,
gut health, immunity, mental clarity,
without the need to take multiple products or pills.
And I think the reason I feel so good while I'm taking it
is because there's almost no competing with the amount
of vitamins and nutrients in just one scoop of this stuff.
And the fact that it's sourced from real food,
real superfoods condensed down into a bioavailable form
means that your body can actually use it.
It absorbs it really well.
So you're not just urinating it out.
So if you guys are interested in joining me in participating
in this very simple health optimization habit
that I've been doing for around two years now,
then use my link in the description below
and you'll also get a year's supply
of their vitamin D3 and K2 complex,
which I also have every single morning,
as well as five AG1 travel packs with your first purchase.
So take advantage of that link below.
Optimize your health, feel fantastic.
And as usual, have a great time.
If you liked this video,
then if you actually hit the like button,
that's a huge help
because the video will rank better,
shoving my bald head into other people's homepages,
helping them out, which also helps me out.
So it is a win-win for everybody involved.
If you've seen my face a couple of times
and you like my videos,
consider subscribing and hitting up the Instagram.
Sometimes I post some memey silly shit on there.
And it's just fun.
Other than that, though,
thank you so much for watching
and we'll catch you in the next video.
(gentle music)