WEBVTT - Brain Expert: 6 Habits to Boost Focus & Concentration By 48 Percent (Hack Your Dopamine!) with TJ Power 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.160 Don't mean it's a chemical that the human being so 0:00:02.320 --> 0:00:05.080 deeply desired and we've now been given very quick ways 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:07.240 to access it. Are you wanting a life where you're 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:09.960 in the pursuit of pleasure and just like momentarily feeling 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.160 good or do you want like a really happy, fulfilling 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.040 experience a life. 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:15.240 He's a neuroscientist and author TJ. 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.400 Power. Pornography is like this secret addiction, and that's why 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.800 I think it's being massively underestimated. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.200 You have habits and systems to increase concentration and deep 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:29.200 focus by forty eight percent. Yeah, what are they? 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:33.280 The number one health and wellness podcast. 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:39.960 Jay Shedy J Sheddy Only Sheet. Everyone, Welcome back to 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.680 On Purpose, the number one health podcast in the world. 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.879 Thanks to each and every one of you that come 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.680 back every week to listen, learn and grow. Today's guest 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:50.559 is someone that I've been really excited to speak to. 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:51.600 His name's TJ. 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:52.080 Power. 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:56.480 He's a neuroscientist and author dedicated to understanding how modern 0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:01.040 lifestyle habits shape brain chemistry and emotional well being in 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.680 the digital age. His upcoming book, The Dose Effect is 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:10.720 out very soon and focuses on how we can optimize dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:16.039 and endorphins through practical, everyday changes. TJ's research highlights the 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:20.160 impact of social media, nature, and technology on mental health, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.560 and through his work, he empowers individuals to take control 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.959 of their minds and lead healthier, more balanced lives. If 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.720 you don't already follow TJ across social media, you're going 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.080 to want to follow him right now and straight after 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.520 this conversation. Please welcome to On Purpose Tjpower. TJ is 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:37.119 great to have you. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:38.720 Here, BADJ, thanks for having me. 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.000 This is surreal for me, and I'll explain why to 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.400 the audience. Because eleven years ago I met your dad. Yeah, 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.880 and Thomas Power became a mentor of mine. When I 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.920 just left the monastery, I had started working at Accentia. 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:55.840 Your dad had been brought in as an external consultant 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:59.960 to help the company with different aspects of its digital strategy. 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.920 You we became good friends. He became a mentor, he 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.760 became a coach, and I'd always say to him, how 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:08.440 can I repay you? What can I do for you? 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.800 Because he did so much for me, helped me build 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.160 my mindset when it came to work and life and 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.280 business there's so much influence that your dad's had on 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:19.079 me in a very deep way. And he'd always say 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.239 to me, I'll coach you, and one day you'll coach 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.679 my kids. And now I feel bad because I can't 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:27.800 take any credit for your career success, and so I 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.320 actually didn't live up to my end of the bargain. 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:35.280 He was absolutely wonderful to me and watching you rise. Honestly, 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:36.200 and by the way, I just want to put it 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:38.359 out they can't take any credit for anything you've done. 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.839 The incredible rise that you've had and the content you're 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.920 making is so powerful. It's having such an impact. And 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.160 I'm having you on the show because I'm a fan 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:50.040 and knowing your dad's a bonus, but I think the 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.160 work that you're doing is phenomenal. So congrats, Bud, and 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.480 I'm so excited to have you here after having so 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:58.720 many dinners and lunches over the years and watching you grow. 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:00.840 But the work's so impactful. Thanks for turning up. 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:02.160 Thanks for having me man. 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.320 You've inspired me so much over this last decade when 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.480 I became fascinated by this world of mental health and 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:10.919 helping people thrive. You're like that person that I turn 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.320 to on the internet. So it's a magical moment for 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:13.960 me to be here. 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.160 Now, Oh thanks man, But yeah, let's dive into the 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.840 work because there's so many exciting things to discuss. The 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.919 first thing I want to ask you is you've got 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:27.079 this phrase dose, and dose means so much more than 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.120 what we think the word means, and it's based on 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:35.080 this idea of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and doorphins. I think 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:37.640 we know very little about these chemicals. We kind of 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.440 hear these as buzzwords and trend words, and I think 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.400 what you've done is really demystified them and unpack them 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.640 for us in a really simple way. Can you walk 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:49.040 us through what each of these do for us and 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:51.720 how we interact with them on a daily basis one 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:52.400 hundred percent. 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:54.640 I think with these chemicals, you see them talked about 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:56.960 a lot on the internet now, and you see them 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.560 all called kind of feel good and happy hormones, which 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.120 there is truth in that. But the fascinating thing about 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:05.160 really understanding dose is each of these chemicals have a 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.920 very specific function, and when you begin to understand the 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.280 symptoms of being low or high in them, you then 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.760 begin to understand your brain and body much better and 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.080 you start responding to the different challenges that the modern 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:17.479 world brings us in a much better way. If you 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.599 were to look at dopamine, primary function of dopamine would 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.159 be motivation, and it also has a secondary function of 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:25.839 our attention span. If you find yourself in a situation 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.200 where you feel like low and deflated and flat and 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.880 you can't get yourself to take action and do things, 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.039 it's a very clear sign that dopamine is low and 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:36.400 you need something to boost dopamine. You have oxytocin, the 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.359 connection and the love hormone. If you felt lonely and 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:43.360 a little bit unconfident and disconnected, we'd be guided towards oxytocin. 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.839 Serotonin has a massive impact on our mood and energy, 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.839 so if you're tired or a bit sad, serotonin would 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.400 be beautiful. And then endorphins have this incredible function of 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.839 destressing our brain. In our modern world, the cord sole 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.200 hormone has become the big stress hormone, which is really 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:02.080 accurate dress hormone, but in dolphins, as we'll go on 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:05.080 to explore, also play a vital role in calming our 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:06.960 brain when it's experienced extreme stress. 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:09.760 It's fascinating to me because I don't think we understand 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:13.840 how our daily habits affect these chemicals. So walk us 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:16.479 through what's actually happening in our brain when we're doom 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:17.960 scrolling on social media. 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.040 Effectively, this all comes down to this concept called phasic 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:25.160 and tonic dopamine release. This psychologist called Drea really popularized 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:27.920 this back in twenty and eleven. And what you basically 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.320 see is when we interact with social media, you get 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.839 a rapid rise in dopamine, which is why when you 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.119 open the social media app you immediately feel extremely good. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.039 Just to put that into context, the whole of dose 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.960 is built upon something called the evolutionary mismatch hypothesis. This 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.839 was created by Gluckman, and it's basically this idea that 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.120 our brain spent three hundred thousand years evolving out in nature, 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.120 developing these chemicals to help us survive and thrive in 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:55.479 that kind of environment, hunting and making fire and building 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:59.240 shelter and looking after one another. And with dopamine specifically, 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:01.880 the only way we were capable of accessing it was 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.720 through hard, challenging activities. We had to effectively earn the 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.240 increase in dopamine, and we might have experienced that like 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.760 once or twice a day, like the fire finally lit 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.479 or we successfully caught some food or whatever it may be. 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.920 In the modern world, this social media example, you experienced 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.080 that same level of dopamine increase, but you experience it 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.600 instantaneously within a few seconds because it rises so fast. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.400 It then causes this really significant crash in dope me 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:28.800 because your brain tries to get back to balance. And 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:31.599 so many of us struggle today with this idea of 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:33.320 just taking action on what we want to do. Like 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:34.880 we're sitting there and we think, yeah, I need to 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:36.000 do that bit of work, or yeah I need to 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:37.560 go and cook myself a healthy meal, or yeah I 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:39.280 need to go and do some exercise, but we can't 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.520 be bothered and we just like procrastinate it. And that's 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:44.839 heavily connected to this overstimulation through social media. 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:46.520 It's fascinating to hear that we used to have to 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:50.120 earn dopamine. Yeah, how quickly does it diminish? And what 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:51.360 does that crash look like. 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.240 It would be experienced within our behavior. 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.560 There's actually this big topic you get see, you get 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:02.320 seen talked about on TikTok called paralysis, and they also 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.880 have this phrase called rotting on TikTok where people literally 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:07.400 can't move, they can't get themselves to move don't mean 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.520 right at the core of its function, even impacts our 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:12.960 motivation to physically move our body. And if you're in 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.200 that state where you just can't get yourself to do anything, 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.080 and loads of us experience this like it's a Saturday morning. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:19.480 We think, oh, I don't have work today, so I'm 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.480 going to scroll my phone way more and we sit 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.760 there and we get into this doom scrolling cycle of 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.240 feeling that elevation in dopamin, this rapid increase of dopamine, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.560 and then we eventually find ourselves saying to our mind, 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:31.840 like our instinctive mind comes on and says put the 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:33.760 phone down, like go do something else, and then you 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:34.560 don't really want to. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:35.520 And then even if you do. 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:37.240 Put it down, you just can't get yourself to do anything. 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.720 So it's that symptom of paralysis, not being able to 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:40.160 get going. 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:42.640 Yeah, so what do we do? I believe it all. 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.840 Starts with how the beginning of your day begins. And 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.800 it's really important to understand this. Throughout sleep, there's regenerative 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.320 processes taking place that are creating elevations in dopamine as 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.840 part of that restoration. And you can imagine this. All 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.240 of our work is built upon this hunter gather idea 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:00.360 of a human being far before our world, in this 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.560 modern world we live in, had to wake up and 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.360 do hard things. It was so important to our survival. 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:07.240 When we woke up, we'd have a nice amount of 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:11.240 dopamine and we'd immediately take action and do challenging stuff. Nowadays, 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.320 the opposite of that occurs. We wake up, we've got 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:15.920 this abundance of dopamine sitting there, and then it's straight 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.160 to the phone. And I understand, like, this is hard 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.600 to break. My whole work in this space comes from 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.680 my own addictions to these things. Like I got a 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.120 iPhone when I was like eleven years old, So to me, 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.880 my whole life has been sitting on an iPhone basically, 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.440 and I spent ten to fifteen years waking up going 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.320 straight into the phone. And fundamentally, if you develop the 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.080 discipline to have a thirty minute window before you go 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:37.600 into the phone, and we can talk through what the 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.320 steps in there would include to resist it, that's going 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:42.640 to then set that discipline within your life to I 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.040 have the capacity to resist it, and then once you 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.800 start training this discipline in your capacity to resist it 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:49.720 in other times in your day will grow as well. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:51.520 The fact that you've been using a phone since you're 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.120 eleven years old kind of puts into perspective because I 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:56.960 got my first phone when I was fourteen, but it 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:58.480 was one of those phones where you still had to 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:00.360 like key in a ring tone. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.640 Yeah, you had to earn the do. 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.839 I used to sit there for like thirty minutes keying 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:07.520 in a ring tone so that I could have my 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:10.920 favorite song be my ringtone. 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.199 For sure, and I had like a few songs on that. 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.040 You didn't have loads of novelty, loads of different staff. 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:18.480 Yeah, that's so fascinating, this idea of earning something. And 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.680 I feel like when you wake up in the morning, 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.480 it's almost like we want life to be easier and simpler, 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:26.959 and everything in our lives has become so instant, whether 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.080 it's food, coffee, anything, like right, we're looking for something 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:34.200 that's quick. How do we train ourselves to be like, oh, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:36.360 I should earn something, Like how do you even make 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:40.320 that mindset shift of actually earning something's good versus having 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:41.760 it be ready made for me. 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.360 I think right at the core of that, it comes 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.680 down to, are you wanting a life where you're in 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.560 the pursuit of pleasure and just like momentarily feeling good 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.040 or do you want like a really happy, fulfilling experience 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.640 a life. And I struggled a lot with various addictions. 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.240 I struggled a lot with alcoholism, and I have discussed 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:02.000 social media, pornography, all these very dopemina activities. And ultimately, 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:04.240 if you really spend some time with your mind, I 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.560 think you have to spend prolonged period of times in 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.720 nature chatting to yourself about your lifestyle. And if you 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.880 start really considering, like, is this current lifestyle I have 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.040 where I work a bit and then I get my 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:16.760 pleasure from my phone, and then I do another activity 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:18.360 and then I get my pleasure from my phone. Is 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.360 that ultimately creating a life that you're really loving or 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.520 is it just creating momentary experiences of pleasure? And I 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:26.920 think when you begin having those conversations with yourself and 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.439 observing more closely how you feel. And this is why 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.720 I really like people to understand the symptoms of whether 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.000 you're lower high in these chemicals, because then people start 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.160 thinking like, Okay, this is why I'm feeling that way, 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:37.480 and then they tie it to the phone and then 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:39.840 they're like, okay, I need to start phone fasting, which 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:42.200 is what we call it, these prolonged breaks from it. 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.559 So I think it's that mindset shift around pleasure versus happiness. 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:47.560 What's the longest you've ever done a phone for us? 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.439 I did three years ago. 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.760 I did seven days no phone whatsoever, no phone seven days. 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.079 I actually wouldn't recommend that as a solution. It's really 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.200 interesting because I've been really niching into this world of 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.640 the phone connect. I think fundamentally, when you look at 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.480 mental health, there has been a lot of quick dopaminergic 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.439 activities for the last hundred years, be that alcohol or 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.200 cigarettes or sugary food or whatever it may be. But 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.640 mental health has shifted rapidly since the iPhone became a thing. 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.840 And then if you look at since COVID, when we 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.160 start really scrolling the short videos, mental health has declined 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.600 even further. And I think the big reason that's the 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.439 case is because we can more frequently engage with dopamin 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:27.240 via the phone than the dopamine we used to get 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.680 from those other sources. You might eat sugar three times 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:31.360 a day, you might drink once a day, you might 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.960 watch pornography once a day social media. Like with the 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.679 DO Lab where we do our research, we see people 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:38.280 opening their phone about one hundred and forty to one 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:40.679 hundred and fifty times a day. So it's that frequency 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.480 of increase which is challenging, which brings us to that 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.480 phone fasting idea. Now, I tried seven days off. I 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:50.160 tried three days off. The difficulty is because we're operating 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.120 in such a rapid society with the amount of information 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:55.360 coming at us on our email and what's happened with 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:58.400 our jobs. I think big breaks from it can actually 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:00.520 be very stressful when you turn the phone back on. 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:02.959 And what we've seen in our research is if people 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.480 commit to short, frequent breaks where they know the morning 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.720 is a frequent break, they'll always do. They have a 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.120 sixty minute phone fast in the evening, they have a 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:12.920 prolonged one in the middle of the day. If they 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.320 have these frequent breaks rather than long breaks, that actually 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.640 seems to be more effective. Definitely for me as well. 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.920 I could agree with you more. I've done those phone 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.400 fast as well. For a while, and there are times 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:24.520 in my year where I think that that can be important. 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.079 But overall, I fully agree with you that I think 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.520 if you're going oscling between these extremes, you just keep 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:33.520 kind of pinging back and forth, and so you go 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:36.000 from being really addicted to doing the phone fast and 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.320 going back to being really addicted, and that can get 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.520 really exhausting and really really tiring. And so what has 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.320 been your best set of tips that you've found for 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.480 someone who doesn't want to look at their phone first 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:49.760 thing in the morning or to not turn to that 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.280 because you said the morning is so important. What do 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.640 we do? Because I feel like that's the first thing. 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:56.440 You know, eighty percent of us to look at our 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.000 phones first thing in the morning lasting at night. We 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:00.720 look at it before we look at our partners and 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.240 our kids after we look at them at night. Our 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:05.560 phone gets more FaceTime than the people we love, Like 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:07.800 that is our life. What do we do? 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.800 We have these four underlying laws for each of the 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:14.840 chemicals dopmine, oxitose, and serotonin, and dolphins. The underlying law 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:16.800 from all of the research we looked into, Like in 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:18.760 this book, there's like two hundred and fifty studies we 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.360 explored around these topics. Fundamentally, the law that we found 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.480 to be most appropriate with dopamine is take action as 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.480 soon as you wake every day, and that fundamentally means 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.960 you wake, you don't snooze your alarm. As painful as 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.920 it is, but simply beating that challenge of oh I 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:35.680 could just lie in bed and stay in this comfort 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.160 and doing something that's difficult is beginning that dope mean increase. 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.880 We then get people to if they really struggle with snoozing, 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.200 to literally when the alarm goes off, just sit at 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:45.959 the side of the bed and just get themselves out 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.840 of the prone position effectively and sit there. We then 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.160 get them to go straight to the bathroom if you can. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.760 You then start brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:57.200 an annoying slow activity. Again, you're earning dopemine. Like if 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.360 you do it for twenty seconds, you always know that, oh, 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:00.800 I feel a bit guilt for the fact I just 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.079 did twenty seconds. You do the two minutes you think, yes, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.319 task and play. So you go to the bathroom and 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.400 brush your teeth, You splash cold water on your face, 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:09.640 and you come back and you make your bed. There's 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.559 this brilliant psychologist called Walton that looked at the relationship 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.319 between dopamine and effort, and it's very clear that if 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.720 you utilize effort right at the beginning of your day, 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.800 your dop means starting on that nice slow curve, motivation 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.560 then builds and then your capacity to further resist the 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.480 phone and maybe get outside for a walk or do 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.480 some exercise, or get to your desk or make your 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:30.160 kids breakfast. It's going to come from an easier place 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:32.600 than the wake up, spike, dove, mean and crash and 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:34.040 then try and get going from there. 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.360 Yeah, that's great advice. So I think one thing that 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:39.680 helped me out for a while was I have a 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.520 few instrumentals or music that I like, and I'll have 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:45.960 that on my phone. So I'll wake up and I'll 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:47.600 put this song on because I know I have the 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.640 urge to pick up my phone and I'll press plate 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.800 and then the phone's with me while I'm brushing my teeth. 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.120 But I'm not now scrolling because I'm now listening to something. 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:58.400 And I know people do it with podcasts, people do 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:01.520 it with audio meditation, whatever it may be. For me, 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.560 it's it's music. That reminds me of being back in 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.640 the monastery. And so I'll play that and it's just 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.480 like the soundtrack to My Morning Nice And it may 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:13.240 have birds chirpping, it may have nature sounds, it may 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:16.200 have a bit of water like it's these and for me, 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.760 that allows me to feel like there's something distracted. Is 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:21.840 that bad? Is that good? Like? What's your take on that? 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:22.800 Be honest with me. 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.400 It's interesting and there is so much nuance with how 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.480 the beginning of the day starts, and we get these 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.840 questions all the time in our training and things like that. Fundamentally, 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.160 the appslue gold standard would be you don't see a 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:35.120 phone for thirty years. 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:35.640 Okay. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:39.120 However, there are scenarios where definitely a phone is not 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.360 disadvantageous to these chemicals. So if you think about listening 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.360 to music as long as you're not rapidly tapping through 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.320 it and just listening to a song, that's okay. If 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:48.080 you woke up and it's part of your routines, go 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.760 straight into a meditation utilizing a meditation app. 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:52.200 Again, that's a good use of your time. 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:54.720 I know many people like, because of the brainwave state, 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.960 to go straight into meditation when they wake. 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:58.720 This is the where it gets interesting. 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.000 You really want to make sure that the phone doesn't 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:02.440 charge directly by your head. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:03.840 That's like a gold standard rule. 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:06.720 It can't be charging there because our willpower goes up 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.360 and down depending actually on our dopmein levels and different 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:12.240 areas of our brain being activated. Willpower in the morning 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.280 is going to be slightly lower if the phone is there. 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.240 It's irresistible. I always have this like when I come away, 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:19.360 for example, we're here at the moment, I don't have 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.040 my alarm, so then my phone has to become my alarm. 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:23.680 And suddenly it's like where is the phone going to be? 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:25.960 And I have to make sure that it charges the 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:27.680 other side of the room so it still wakes me. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.000 But I don't have that moment. I might just quickly 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:32.720 check with that in mind. When you do check, if 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.240 there's a whole stream of notifications, again, it's going to 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.440 create this anticipatory rise in dopemin. Then you're going in. 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:40.400 You're not going to be able to resist it. So 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:42.720 you need to really be on airplane mode when you're 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:44.760 going to sleep, so you wake up and there's nothing there. 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.800 You then have these really nuanced components of if you 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:49.680 want to go into meditation app, like I have these 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.040 things that I want to do, I would open the phone, 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.760 click the app, then on aeroplane it so you haven't 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:57.200 seen a notification, do your meditation, come back out, go 0:16:57.280 --> 0:16:59.880 away from the phone. But fundamentally, we've trained like fifty 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.360 people in dose. It is so clear that if people 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.480 have thirty minutes when they wait without going on their phone, 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.159 it creates a radical shift in their experience of life. 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.639 Yeah. I remember when I first trained myself, I had 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.960 to have to lock my phone in my car outside 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.320 because it was just so addictive. And I found, especially 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.880 in moments of high anxiety and high tension, like whether 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.040 there's something in the news cycle, whether there's you know, 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.439 just everything that we get sucked into. I found that 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:28.879 having my phone out of the room is like a must, 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.520 because I found like how hard it is to get 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.640 good quality sleep when your phone's right there and you're 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.840 either on it at night or you're on it first 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:41.320 thing in the morning, and you're getting sucked into the 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:43.880