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<v Speaker 1>So ninety eight percent.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that is a that's a big number.

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<v Speaker 1>It's massive, And we're talking about ninety eight percent of

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<v Speaker 1>corporate leaders who are basically, you know, setting these huge,

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<v Speaker 1>super ambitious goals and then just kind of closing their

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<v Speaker 1>eyes and crossing their fingers, which.

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<v Speaker 2>Is terrifying when you think about the scale of these companies.

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<v Speaker 1>Right absolutely, like that is the actual data we're unpacking today.

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<v Speaker 1>Just two percent, only two percent of leaders are actually

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<v Speaker 1>confident that their organization can you achieve the strategic goals

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<v Speaker 1>they've set, which means the other ninety eight percent are

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<v Speaker 1>just well, they're operating on this mix of hope, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>some fleeting motivation, and a whole lot of scattered effort.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm just kind of throwing things at.

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<v Speaker 1>The wall exactly. So today for you listening, we are

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<v Speaker 1>looking at why the very concept of like setting a

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<v Speaker 1>goal might actually be the exact reason you, or maybe

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<v Speaker 1>your team or your entire company is failing to achieve it.

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<v Speaker 2>It's wild because it completely updends you know, how we're

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<v Speaker 2>conditioned to think about success right from day one, exactly,

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<v Speaker 2>from a really young age, whether you're in academics or

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<v Speaker 2>playing sports or starting a business. The directive is literally

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<v Speaker 2>always the same. Set a goal, visualize the finish.

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<v Speaker 1>Line, keep your eyes on the prize, right, yeah, exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>We are so obsessed with destinations, but I mean a

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<v Speaker 2>destination is really just a set of coordinates on a map.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, that's a great way to put it.

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<v Speaker 2>And so what we're going to do today is we're

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<v Speaker 2>going to scientifically and practically examine the actual vehicles that

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<v Speaker 2>get you there, because well, knowing where north is really

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't matter at all. If your engine is totally broken,

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<v Speaker 2>you're just sitting in a broken car.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, And that is the mission of our deep

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<v Speaker 1>dive into the source material today. We're going to totally

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<v Speaker 1>deconstruct this mythology around goal.

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<v Speaker 2>Setting, and we're going to replace it.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, exactly, replace it with the underlying science, the behavioral

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<v Speaker 1>psychology and the real concrete frameworks of building systems and

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<v Speaker 1>this thing researchers call implementation intentions, which is fascinating stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it really is. Okay, let's unpack this because our stack

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<v Speaker 1>of sources today is just phenomenal.

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<v Speaker 2>We have a lot to get through, we do.

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<v Speaker 1>So we are pulling insights on habit formation from James Clear.

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<v Speaker 1>We've got startup operating frameworks and execution data from Wave.

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<v Speaker 2>Which is where that scary two percent stat.

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<v Speaker 1>Comes from, right right. And then we've got personal productivity

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<v Speaker 1>architecture from Zenith as well as fancy plants Co. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>plus some really sharp business strategy from Brad Polo's. And

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<v Speaker 1>then to kind of anchor this whole thing in rigorous science,

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<v Speaker 1>we are diving into this super dense but absolutely fascinating

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<v Speaker 1>academic study on the psychology of gold.

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<v Speaker 2>Pursuit, the Munich Study, Yes, by.

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<v Speaker 1>Researchers Peter Golwitzer and Veronica brand Setter.

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<v Speaker 2>It is such a remarkable collection of sources because well,

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<v Speaker 2>it bridges this massive gap, you know house, so well,

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<v Speaker 2>we're spanning this macro level philosophy of how we orient

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<v Speaker 2>our ambitions, right, but then we're going all the way

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<v Speaker 2>down to the micro level neurological triggers of how human

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<v Speaker 2>beings actually initiate an action. On a random Tuesday afternoon.

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<v Speaker 1>They're tired and just want to scroll on their.

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<v Speaker 2>Phone exactly when you're distracted and exhausted. So we're going

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<v Speaker 2>to dissect why all those past goals you've set have

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<v Speaker 2>fallen apart. And I really suspect we're going to alleviate

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of personal guilt for you listening today.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh I hope.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, by showing that this goal first mindset isn't

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<v Speaker 2>just hard, it's actually structurally and logically flawed.

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<v Speaker 1>Fructually flawed. Okay, let's start right there. Yeah, because James

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<v Speaker 1>clear points out this massive, glaring logical error in how

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<v Speaker 1>we view successful people, and it all hinges on this

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<v Speaker 1>cognitive blind spot called survivorship bias.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, survivorship bias. It's this mental heuristic that basically skews

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<v Speaker 2>our entire perception of reality.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, break that down for us.

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<v Speaker 2>So when we look at any competitive arena, we tend

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<v Speaker 2>to focus exclusively on the survivors, the ones who made

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<v Speaker 2>it to the top.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, the winners.

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<v Speaker 2>Right. We look at the Olympians standing on the podium

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<v Speaker 2>with the gold medal, or you know, the candidate who

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<v Speaker 2>just landed that highly coveted VP position at some massive

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<v Speaker 2>tech firm.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and we see them, we hear them in interviews

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<v Speaker 1>talking about their drive and their.

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<v Speaker 2>Vision exactly, and we mistakenly assume that their ambitious goal

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<v Speaker 2>is the thing that caused their success.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, but wait, hold on, I have to push back

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<v Speaker 1>here a little. If survivorship bias means the goal isn't

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<v Speaker 1>the differentiator, how do you explain all those athletes or

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<v Speaker 1>CEOs who swear that visualizing the goal is exactly what

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<v Speaker 1>got them through the pain?

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<v Speaker 2>Right they all say that, Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you saying having that vision is entirely useless? Because

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<v Speaker 1>you know, you hear these postgame interviews where an athlete says, like,

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<v Speaker 1>I visualized this gold medal every single morning since I

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<v Speaker 1>was eight years old. It clearly did something for them, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, sure it plays a role in sustaining their general direction,

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<v Speaker 2>but it is not the differentiating causal factor for their victory. Wait,

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<v Speaker 2>what do you mean, because we're completely ignoring the nominator

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<v Speaker 2>of the equation, We're totally overlooking the thousands of other

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<v Speaker 2>people who have the exact same objective, who visualized it

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<v Speaker 2>just as hard, but who didn't succeed. Oh wow, right,

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<v Speaker 2>I mean every single sprinter on that Olympic track wanted

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<v Speaker 2>to win the gold metal, right.

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<v Speaker 1>They didn't train their whole lives to come and forth.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly, And every single candidate who survived to the final

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<v Speaker 2>round of interviews for that VP job desperately wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>get it. The winners and the losers have the exact

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<v Speaker 2>same goals.

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<v Speaker 1>That is such a wild realization.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so logically, if both the winner and the loser

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<v Speaker 2>share the exact same variable, which is the goal, then

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<v Speaker 2>the goal cannot possibly be the mechanism that differentiates them.

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<v Speaker 1>Ah. I see, So the goal is a constant, it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a variable exactly. If everyone in the race has

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<v Speaker 1>the goal of winning, the goal is just like the

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<v Speaker 1>price of admission. It doesn't tell you who was actually

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<v Speaker 1>going to cross the finish line first.

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<v Speaker 2>Precisely, to find the real differentiator, you have to look

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<v Speaker 2>at what they do, not what they want. And James

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<v Speaker 2>clear illustrates this brilliantly with the story of the British

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<v Speaker 2>cycling team.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh I love this, Sorry, it's so good.

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<v Speaker 2>So for the better part of a century, British cyclists

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<v Speaker 2>were literally the laughing stock of the professional cycling world.

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<v Speaker 1>Like historically terrible.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Their performance was so poor that apparently some top

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<v Speaker 2>bicycle manufacturers supposedly refused to sell them gear. Wait really

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<v Speaker 2>why because they feared it would hurt their brand image

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<v Speaker 2>if the British team was seen riding their bikes.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh man, that is brutal.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Now, presumably British cycling always had the goal of

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<v Speaker 2>winning the Tour de France. They wanted to win it

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<v Speaker 2>every single year, just like every other team.

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<v Speaker 1>Right.

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<v Speaker 2>They didn't have a goal of losing exactly. The goal

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<v Speaker 2>was always there, just sitting there totally inert.

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<v Speaker 1>So what changed, because I mean, if you fall cycling,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, they eventually went on this absolute tear dominating

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<v Speaker 1>the Olympics and the Tour de France.

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<v Speaker 2>What changed was the system. When Dave Brailsford took over

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<v Speaker 2>as performance director. He didn't just walk in and yell

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<v Speaker 2>at them to want the goal more right.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't make them do more visualizationizes.

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<v Speaker 2>No, he introduced this system of marginal gains. They systematically

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<v Speaker 2>broke down every tiny thing that goes into riding a

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<v Speaker 2>bike and they look for one percent improvements in those

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<v Speaker 2>highly specific, controllable inputs.

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<v Speaker 1>Like what kind of inputs? Give us some examples.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, it's crazy stuff. They redesigned the ergonomics of the

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<v Speaker 2>bike seats for better comfort over long hours. They rubbed

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<v Speaker 2>rubbing alcohol on the tires for better grip.

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<v Speaker 1>Wow, alcohol on the tires.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and they had riders wear these electrically heated overshorts

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<v Speaker 2>to maintain optimal muscle temperature while they were just waiting

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<v Speaker 2>to race.

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<v Speaker 1>That is so specific, right.

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<v Speaker 2>They even figured out which massage jels led to the

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<v Speaker 2>fastest muscle recovery. They even brought their own custom mattresses

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<v Speaker 2>and pillows to the hotels to ensure perfect sleep hygiene

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<v Speaker 2>on the road.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so they are micromanaging every single detail of the

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<v Speaker 1>execution exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>The overarching goal of winning never changed. What changed was

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<v Speaker 2>the relentless, microscopic executution of a daily certum.

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<v Speaker 1>They shifted their focus completely from the scoreboard to the

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<v Speaker 1>actual mechanics of the play on the field. Yes, and

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<v Speaker 1>when you only focus on the scoreboard right the goal,

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<v Speaker 1>you run into this second huge problem which Clear talks about,

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<v Speaker 1>this illusion of momentary change. Well, Clear uses an analogy

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<v Speaker 1>about cleaning a messy room. But I want to elevate

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<v Speaker 1>that to something that our listeners probably deal with literally

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<v Speaker 1>every day. The overflowing email inbox.

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<v Speaker 2>A very painful, very perfect parallel.

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<v Speaker 1>So you have a thousand unread emails. It's causing you

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<v Speaker 1>immense anxiety every time you open your laptop. So you

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<v Speaker 1>set a goal. I am going to reach inbox zero

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<v Speaker 1>this weekend.

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<v Speaker 2>We've all been there, we have.

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<v Speaker 1>So you wait for Sunday afternoon. You drink three cups

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<v Speaker 1>of espresso, You get this massive burst of motivation, and

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<v Speaker 1>you spend four hours mercilessly deleting and archiving and replying,

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<v Speaker 1>and boom, you hit inbox zero. You achieved your goal.

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<v Speaker 1>You have a pristine inbox.

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<v Speaker 2>But what happens on Monday morning?

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<v Speaker 1>Right on Monday morning, you go back to work. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you haven't changed the actual underlying workflows that caused

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<v Speaker 1>the pilot in.

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<v Speaker 2>The first place, which nobody ever does.

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<v Speaker 1>Never if you are still subscribed to fifty newsletters you

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<v Speaker 1>never read, If you still don't have a triarge system

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<v Speaker 1>for client requests, if you'd let your team c see

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<v Speaker 1>you on every single minor update, what happens.

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<v Speaker 2>It just fills right back up.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, by Thursday, you have four hundred new unread emails.

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<v Speaker 1>You're right back where you started, basically just hoping for

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<v Speaker 1>another caffeine fueled burst of motivation to save you next weekend.

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<v Speaker 2>Because you treated a symptom, but you completely ignored the disease.

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<v Speaker 1>Exactly, you treated the output without addressing the input.

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<v Speaker 2>Achieving a goal only changes your reality for a fleeting

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<v Speaker 2>moment in time. And that is the highly counterintuitive truth

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<v Speaker 2>about human behavior and honestly organizational design.

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<v Speaker 1>We instinctively think we need to change our results.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, but the results are rarely the actual problem. The

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<v Speaker 2>results are merely lagging indicators of your systems.

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<v Speaker 1>Lagging indicators are like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, if you fix the inputs, like the rules for

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<v Speaker 2>how emails are routed, or the daily habit of unsubscribing

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<v Speaker 2>from junk or creating a designated ten minute block for

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<v Speaker 2>rapid replies, the outputs will literally fix themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>But instead of fixing the system, we just keep chasing

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<v Speaker 1>that momentary high of hitting a goal. We become addicted

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<v Speaker 1>to the milestone itself, which is dangerous it is, and

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<v Speaker 1>that leads directly into what fancy plans Co and James

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<v Speaker 1>clear both described as the happiness trap.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, the psychological toll of a goal first mindset exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>The implicit assumption behind any goal is basically, once I

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<v Speaker 1>reach this milestone, then I will finally be happy, or

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<v Speaker 1>you know, once I get this startup funded that I

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<v Speaker 1>can finally relax.

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<v Speaker 2>It creates this debilitating either or conflict in your life.

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<v Speaker 2>Either you achieve your exact goal on the exact timeline

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<v Speaker 2>you set, and you are a success. Or you fail

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<v Speaker 2>and you are a total disappointment.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so binary.

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<v Speaker 2>It is you mentally box yourself into this incredibly narrow, rigid,

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<v Speaker 2>and fragile version of happiness. You are continually deferring your

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<v Speaker 2>satisfaction to some future state that honestly may or may

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<v Speaker 2>not arrive exacts as you pictured it.

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<v Speaker 1>And the folks at the Fancy Plans Co highlight how

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<v Speaker 1>this makes goal setting actively disheartening. Like, think about a

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge worker trying to scale a side business. They set

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<v Speaker 1>a goal, I want it ten thousand dollars in monthly

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<v Speaker 1>recurring revenue by December.

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<v Speaker 2>Very common goal, right.

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<v Speaker 1>So December rolls around and they are at six thousand dollars. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>by any objective measure of entrepreneurship, building a side hustle

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<v Speaker 1>to six thousand dollars a month is an incredible feat.

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<v Speaker 2>That's amazing.

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<v Speaker 1>It is you've proven product market fit, you've built an audience.

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<v Speaker 1>But because they set a rigid, binary goal of ten thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>missing that totally arbitrary number makes them feel like an

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<v Speaker 1>absolute failure.

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<v Speaker 2>Right. They feel defeated.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, their motivation crashes, and they might actually abandon the

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<v Speaker 1>project entirely blinding themselves to the massive progress they actually made.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just fundamentally irrational to restrict your satisfaction to one

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<v Speaker 2>highly specific future scenario, especially when there are virtually infinite

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<v Speaker 2>paths to success and fulfillment. And furthermore, even if you

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<v Speaker 2>do hit the exact goal, you run into the final

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<v Speaker 2>flaw of the goal first mindset, which is the yo

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<v Speaker 2>yo effect.

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<v Speaker 1>Yo yo effects.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, goals are by their very nature at odds with

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<v Speaker 2>continuous long term progress.

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<v Speaker 1>The classic example here is the marathon runner, right yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>But we see this in business all the time, like

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<v Speaker 1>with major product line. Absolutely, a team works incredibly hard

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<v Speaker 1>for six months. They are pulling late nights, their communication

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<v Speaker 1>is perfect, they are aggressively tracking bugs. They launch the product,

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<v Speaker 1>they hit the release gate, and then the post launch

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<v Speaker 1>hangover hits.

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<v Speaker 2>Exactly the day after the launch. The urgency completely evaporates.

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<v Speaker 2>The daily stand up meetings feel pointless, code quality starts

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<v Speaker 2>to slip.

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<v Speaker 1>Because the milestone is no longer there to pull them forward.

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<v Speaker 2>Right when all of your organizational or personal energy is

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<v Speaker 2>focused on a singular outcome, what mechanism remains to push

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<v Speaker 2>you forward after you achieve it, nothing exactly. This is

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<v Speaker 2>why so many people and companies revert to their old,

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<v Speaker 2>inefficient habits immediately after accomplishing a major goal. The purpose

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<v Speaker 2>of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose

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<v Speaker 2>of building systems is to continue playing in the game.

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<v Speaker 1>True long term thinking is actually goalless thinking.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, it's about a cycle of endless refinement.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, I have to jump in here with a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of skepticism. Again, go for it because I hear goalless

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<v Speaker 1>thinking and I worry we are throwing the baby out

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<v Speaker 1>with the bathwater here. If I don't have a goal,

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<v Speaker 1>how do I evaluate my system? Right? Like, if I

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<v Speaker 1>am just running a highly efficient system, couldn't I be

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<v Speaker 1>running a highly efficient system that is taking my company

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<v Speaker 1>straight over a cliff? Don't we need goals to at

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<v Speaker 1>least point the ship in the right direction?

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<v Speaker 2>Okay? That is a critical distinction. And no, we are

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<v Speaker 2>not suggesting you abandon strategy entirely. Goals are not useless.

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<v Speaker 2>They are just misused, misused Okay, Goals are absolutely essential

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<v Speaker 2>for setting your direction and for planning your initial trajectory.

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<v Speaker 2>You need to know that you want to travel north

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<v Speaker 2>but goals are terrible mechanisms for actually making the progress.

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<v Speaker 2>Got it to use an analogy. The goal is the compass.

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<v Speaker 2>It tells you you're heading. The system is the engine.

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<v Speaker 2>It provides the torque.

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<v Speaker 1>The compass and the engine.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, you can sit in a car and stare at

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<v Speaker 2>a compass all day long, but without an engine, you

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<v Speaker 2>aren't moving an inch.

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<v Speaker 1>The goal is the compass, the system is the engine.

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<v Speaker 1>I really like that, So let's look at the engine.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's transition into how we actually build this machinery. What

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<v Speaker 1>exactly is a system in this context? And what happens

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<v Speaker 1>when an organization or a person stops relying on the

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<v Speaker 1>compass and starts relying on the engine.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, to define it operationally, a system is a repeatable,

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<v Speaker 2>structured process that makes success predictable. Okay, it's a set

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<v Speaker 2>of rules and workflows that turn your abstract intention into

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<v Speaker 2>concrete execution. Where a goal tells you what you want

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<v Speaker 2>to happen, a system tells you precisely what to do

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<v Speaker 2>in any given scenario.

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<v Speaker 1>And the difference between the two is just blazingly obvious

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<v Speaker 1>when you look at that corporate execution data provided by

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<v Speaker 1>wave Right.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's go back to that terrifying statistic you mentioned at

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<v Speaker 2>the top of the deep dive, Wave found that only

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<v Speaker 2>two percent of leaders are confident their organization can achieve

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<v Speaker 2>its strategic.

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<v Speaker 1>Goals, which is mind blowing.

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<v Speaker 2>And the reason for this massive crisis of confidence. Sixty

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<v Speaker 2>seven percent of strategies fail due to poor execution, not

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<v Speaker 2>poor planning.

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<v Speaker 1>What sixty seven percent?

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<v Speaker 2>That sixty seven percent ferryer rate perfectly encapsulates the compass

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<v Speaker 2>versus engine problem. The planning phase, the goal setting, the

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<v Speaker 2>off site retreats, the vision boards. That part is fine.

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<v Speaker 2>Human beings are remarkably good at coming up with a

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<v Speaker 2>compelling vision of the future.

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<v Speaker 1>We love a good vision board.

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<v Speaker 2>We do. But the execution phase, the engine, that is

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<v Speaker 2>where nearly seven out of ten organizations completely fall apart.

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<v Speaker 1>And Wave actually describes what chaos looks like inside a

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<v Speaker 1>startup that has massive goals, no systems, and it is

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<v Speaker 1>not pretty.

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<v Speaker 2>No, it's brutal.

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<v Speaker 1>You have teams that set these aggressive quarterly revenue targets,

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<v Speaker 1>but they don't define the daily workflows required to reach them.

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<v Speaker 1>So what happens task stall Because cross functional ownership is

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<v Speaker 1>completely ambiguous, Priorities shift constantly because there's no systemic anchor

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<v Speaker 1>to filter out distractions.

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<v Speaker 2>Every new idea becomes the most important idea exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>Communication breaks down into endless slack pings. Meetings become these reactive,

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<v Speaker 1>high stress vending sessions instead of rhythmic, productive reviews of

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<v Speaker 1>the workflow.

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<v Speaker 2>It is what Wave describes as hard work becoming scattered work.

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<v Speaker 2>And the tragedy here is that the employees are not lazy.

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<v Speaker 1>No, they're working so hard.

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<v Speaker 2>They are often working sixty hour weeks. They are exhausted,

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<v Speaker 2>they are burning out. The company is generating a massive

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<v Speaker 2>amount of kinetic energy, but it's not moving forward. It's

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<v Speaker 2>just spinning its tires in the mud, just burning fuel,

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<v Speaker 2>exactly because people are relying on their individual memory or

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<v Speaker 2>their raw cognitive load, or they're fleeting motivation to figure

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<v Speaker 2>out what to do next, instead of relying on a

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<v Speaker 2>structured workflow that dictates the next step.

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<v Speaker 1>And Brad Pulo's the business strategist we pulled from for this.

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<v Speaker 1>He makes this brilliant observation about how the market actually

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<v Speaker 1>views your internal goals versus your external systems. He says

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<v Speaker 1>that customers do not pay for your goals.

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<v Speaker 2>That is a very sobering reality check for any business owner.

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<v Speaker 1>It really is. Think about it. When you hire a

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<v Speaker 1>B to B sauce company, you do not care that

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<v Speaker 1>their internal Q three goal is to achieve ninety nine

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<v Speaker 1>point nine percent up time.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, I don't care all.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't care what their CEO's vision board looks like.

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<v Speaker 1>You only care that they have a built in robust

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<v Speaker 1>engineering system, complete with server redundancies, load balancers, automated failovers,

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<v Speaker 1>and on call developer rotations. You just want to ensure

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<v Speaker 1>that your software doesn't crash exactly. You're paying for the cold,

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<v Speaker 1>hard predictability of their system. You are not paying for

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<v Speaker 1>the warmth of their ambitions.

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<v Speaker 2>Customers buy the output of the engine, not the direction

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<v Speaker 2>of the compass. And Polos uses a fantastic sports exam

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<v Speaker 2>to illustrate how systems actually neutralize sheer raw talent.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, this is such a great case study in systems theory.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. He points to the recent NHL Stanley Cup Finals,

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<v Speaker 2>where the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so, if you don't follow hockey, here's the basic setup.

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<v Speaker 1>The Edmonton Oilers had the absolute superstars of the league.

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<v Speaker 1>They had Connor McDavid, who was universally considered this generational,

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<v Speaker 1>once in a lifetime talent. The guy is incredible, he

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<v Speaker 1>really is, and they had Leandre saidel these guys absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>dominate the scoring charts. They can do things with a

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<v Speaker 1>puck that literally break the laws of physics.

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<v Speaker 2>They possess the ultimate individual capability. If you are just

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<v Speaker 2>looking at rale talent and the stated goal of winning

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<v Speaker 2>Edmonton looks totally unstoppable.

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<v Speaker 1>Unstoppable. Now look at the Florida Panthers. They didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>that level of individual superstar power. If you look at

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<v Speaker 1>the regular season scoring, their top two players ranked twenty

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<v Speaker 1>fifth and forty first in the entire league.

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<v Speaker 2>Not exactly the guys you expect to outscore McDavid, not

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<v Speaker 2>at all.

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<v Speaker 1>The Panthers didn't try to win by hoping their guys

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly got a burst of superhuman motivation and outskated the Oilers.

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<v Speaker 1>They won because they adhered to a relentless discipline system.

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<v Speaker 2>It was a masterclass in systemic execution. The Panthers executed

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<v Speaker 2>a highly specific style of play, incredibly quick transitions, suffocating,

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<v Speaker 2>aggressive for checking, and constant layered pressure on the puck.

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00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:29.319
<v Speaker 2>And that takes discipline right The system required total buy in.

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<v Speaker 2>It meant that every player had to know exactly where

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<v Speaker 2>they were supposed to be on the ice at any

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<v Speaker 2>given second. They didn't rely on one player to carry

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<v Speaker 2>the team. They relied on the predictability and the mathematical

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00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:41.920
<v Speaker 2>advantage of their systemic structure.

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<v Speaker 1>And what happened. The system neutralized the opposing superstars. The

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<v Speaker 1>Panthers engine simply outground the oiler's individual brilliance.

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<v Speaker 2>It's amazing to watch.

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<v Speaker 1>It really makes me think about how we approach our

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<v Speaker 1>own personal energy. Relying on motivation to achieve a goal

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<v Speaker 1>is like relying on a sugar rush to run a marathon.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh that's a good analogy.

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<v Speaker 1>Think about it. The sugar rush, the motivation. It feels

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<v Speaker 1>amazing for about twenty minutes. You run fast, you feel invincible,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you're pancreas spikes your insulin, you crash, and

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<v Speaker 1>you are left shivering and exhausted on the side of

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<v Speaker 1>the road at mile three.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you've hit a wall.

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<v Speaker 1>A system, on the other hand, is like eating a

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<v Speaker 1>balanced complex carbohydrate diet every single day. It's not glamorous.

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<v Speaker 1>It doesn't give you a crazy euphoric high, but it

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<v Speaker 1>provides the consistent baseline metabolic energy, you need to actually

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<v Speaker 1>cross the finish line at mile twenty six.

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<v Speaker 2>The metabolic energy analogy is highly accurate because motivation is

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<v Speaker 2>fundamentally in emotion, and emotions are, by evolutionary design transient.

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<v Speaker 1>They come and go right.

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<v Speaker 2>They are meant to fluctuate based on environmental stimuli. You

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<v Speaker 2>cannot build a durable foundation for a company, or a

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<v Speaker 2>career or your life on something as mathematically volatile as

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<v Speaker 2>how you feel on a Thursday morning when it's raining

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<v Speaker 2>and your alarm goes off at six am, Which brings

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00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:57.400
<v Speaker 2>us to.

432
00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:00.640
<v Speaker 1>The quote that James Clear popularized. I think it is

433
00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.720
<v Speaker 1>the perfect thesis statement for this first half of the

434
00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:06.400
<v Speaker 1>deep dive. You do not rise to the level of

435
00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.240
<v Speaker 1>your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

436
00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:12.799
<v Speaker 2>Let's unpack the mechanics of that phrase. When the motivation

437
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.240
<v Speaker 2>inevitably fades, when the sugar rush wears off, when the

438
00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:19.839
<v Speaker 2>sheer cognitive load of the day depletes your willpower, you

439
00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.160
<v Speaker 2>do not magically elevate to achieve your grand ambitions.

440
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:24.759
<v Speaker 1>We wish we did, but we don't.

441
00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:27.960
<v Speaker 2>Your brain looks for the path of least resistance and

442
00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:30.480
<v Speaker 2>whatever baseline system you have in place, whether it's a

443
00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.920
<v Speaker 2>highly optimized workflow or just a chaotic habit of scrolling

444
00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:36.960
<v Speaker 2>social media, that is exactly where you will land.

445
00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:40.160
<v Speaker 1>You fall to the level of your systems. It is intimidating,

446
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:43.119
<v Speaker 1>but it's also incredibly liberating, you know how so because

447
00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:45.559
<v Speaker 1>it means the problem isn't your character, it's just your machinery.

448
00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:49.119
<v Speaker 2>That's a great point. It removes the moral judgment exactly.

449
00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:52.000
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so we've established that goals are the compass and

450
00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:54.599
<v Speaker 1>systems are the engine. We know we need an engine.

451
00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:58.480
<v Speaker 1>But here is the massive problem that I guarantee every

452
00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:00.000
<v Speaker 1>listener is thinking about right now.

453
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.160
<v Speaker 2>I can guess what it is.

454
00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.880
<v Speaker 1>How do we actually wire our brains to turn the

455
00:22:03.960 --> 00:22:06.759
<v Speaker 1>key in the ignition when I'm exhausted, when I have

456
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.319
<v Speaker 1>decision fatigue? How do I actually force myself to execute

457
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:11.200
<v Speaker 1>the system?

458
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.839
<v Speaker 2>And this brings us to section three of our sources

459
00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.119
<v Speaker 2>and perhaps the most important psychological concept we will discuss today.

460
00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.400
<v Speaker 2>We are looking at a foundational academic paper from nineteen

461
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.960
<v Speaker 2>ninety seven authored by Peter Golwitzer and Veronica Brandstutter from

462
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.519
<v Speaker 2>the Institute of Psychology at the University of Munich.

463
00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.279
<v Speaker 1>This study is dense, it is rigorous, and it addresses

464
00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.400
<v Speaker 1>the exact behavioral gap we are talking about. In psychology,

465
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.759
<v Speaker 1>they call it the intention behavior gap. It's the chasm

466
00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:40.160
<v Speaker 1>between intending to do something and actually initiating the physical

467
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.759
<v Speaker 1>action to do it. And Golwitz's research hinges on the

468
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:48.799
<v Speaker 1>distinction between a goal intention and an implementation intention. Walk

469
00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:50.920
<v Speaker 1>us through the neuroscience of this. What is the difference?

470
00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.079
<v Speaker 2>Okay, So, a goal intention is the default way humans

471
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.200
<v Speaker 2>state their desires. It takes the format of I intend

472
00:22:57.240 --> 00:23:00.160
<v Speaker 2>to achieve x. For example, I intend to write a book,

473
00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:03.119
<v Speaker 2>or I intend to launch this marketing campaign, or I

474
00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:08.319
<v Speaker 2>intend to eat healthier. It specifies a desired end state. Now,

475
00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:11.599
<v Speaker 2>when you form that goal, your prefrontal cortex engages and

476
00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:14.640
<v Speaker 2>you feel a genuine sense of commitment. You truly mean it.

477
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.440
<v Speaker 1>But, as we all know, palm meaning, it just isn't

478
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:20.279
<v Speaker 1>enough because setting the goal is easy in the vacuum,

479
00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.000
<v Speaker 1>but then you have to actually do it in the

480
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:26.519
<v Speaker 1>real world, where you hit all the implementational friction. You know, distractions,

481
00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:29.759
<v Speaker 1>flack messages, getting tired. We're simply not knowing exactly when

482
00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:30.640
<v Speaker 1>or where.

483
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.279
<v Speaker 2>To start precisely. Every time you have to decide should

484
00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.960
<v Speaker 2>I work on the marketing campaign Right now, you are

485
00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.920
<v Speaker 2>burning cognitive fuel. You are using conscious, effortful decision.

486
00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:41.720
<v Speaker 1>Making, which is exhausting.

487
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.160
<v Speaker 2>It is over the course of a day. This leads

488
00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.200
<v Speaker 2>to decision fatigue. Your willpower literally depletes. So Gallwitzzer introduced

489
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.920
<v Speaker 2>this massive psychological upgrade, the implementation intention. This shifts the

490
00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:55.319
<v Speaker 2>internal script from I intend to achieve X to I

491
00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:58.519
<v Speaker 2>intend to perform goal directed behavior why when I encounter

492
00:23:58.680 --> 00:23:59.319
<v Speaker 2>situation Z.

493
00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:02.279
<v Speaker 1>So it's an if then statement, When I encounter situation Z,

494
00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:03.359
<v Speaker 1>I will do behavior.

495
00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:09.079
<v Speaker 2>Why exactly? You are anticipating a specific future situation, a

496
00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.279
<v Speaker 2>specific environmental queue, and you are mentally linking it to

497
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.079
<v Speaker 2>a highly specific behavior.

498
00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:14.960
<v Speaker 1>Give me an example.

499
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.359
<v Speaker 2>So instead of the vague goal intention, I will write

500
00:24:18.359 --> 00:24:21.720
<v Speaker 2>my book, and implementation intention is when I sit down

501
00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:24.759
<v Speaker 2>at the kitchen table on Saturday morning, right after I

502
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.519
<v Speaker 2>pour my coffee, I will open my laptop and write

503
00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:28.599
<v Speaker 2>five hundred words.

504
00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:31.599
<v Speaker 1>Now, on the surface, that sounds almost too simple. It

505
00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:35.000
<v Speaker 1>sounds like a minor phrasing tweak. But the data from

506
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.440
<v Speaker 1>the ISMZ study on how much this actually impacts human

507
00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.400
<v Speaker 1>behavior is just mind blowing.

508
00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:42.240
<v Speaker 2>It really is let's walk through.

509
00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:44.680
<v Speaker 1>The methodology of the three different experiments they ran in

510
00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:48.400
<v Speaker 1>this paper, because they proved this concept in highly diverse scenarios.

511
00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.960
<v Speaker 1>Study one was the Christmas break study.

512
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.599
<v Speaker 2>Yes, and the timing of this study was very deliberate.

513
00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:56.920
<v Speaker 2>The researchers contacted university students right before they left for

514
00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.440
<v Speaker 2>their Christmas holidays.

515
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:00.799
<v Speaker 1>Which is the worst time to get anything done exactly.

516
00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.799
<v Speaker 2>The Christmas break is notoriously one of the hardest times

517
00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:06.759
<v Speaker 2>to get academic work done. It is a high friction

518
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:12.079
<v Speaker 2>environment full of family obligations, unstructured time, erratic sleep schedules,

519
00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.119
<v Speaker 2>and constant distractions. The cognitive load is very high, a

520
00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:17.359
<v Speaker 2>perfect testing ground.

521
00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.240
<v Speaker 1>So they asked the students to name two personal projects

522
00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:23.279
<v Speaker 1>they intended to complete during the break, one project that

523
00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:25.599
<v Speaker 1>the student considered easy to implement and one that they

524
00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:26.480
<v Speaker 1>considered difficult.

525
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.400
<v Speaker 2>Right, a difficult goal might be writing a massive term

526
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:33.200
<v Speaker 2>paper or analyzing a complex data set. An easy goal

527
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:38.519
<v Speaker 2>might be simply purchasing a specific textbook or getting a haircut. Okay, Then, crucially,

528
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.039
<v Speaker 2>they asked the students to specify if they had formed

529
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.200
<v Speaker 2>an implementation intention for these goals. Did they have a

530
00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.559
<v Speaker 2>specific when and where planned out or just a vague

531
00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.759
<v Speaker 2>intention to do it sometime during the break.

532
00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:52.839
<v Speaker 1>So four weeks later, the break is over and the

533
00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.000
<v Speaker 1>researchers follow up to see who actually completed their projects,

534
00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.079
<v Speaker 1>and the divergence in the data for the difficult goals

535
00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:00.000
<v Speaker 1>is staggering.

536
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:00.839
<v Speaker 2>It's incredible.

537
00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:04.079
<v Speaker 1>For the students who just had a normal goal intentionally,

538
00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:06.440
<v Speaker 1>I really need to write this term paper over the break,

539
00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:10.880
<v Speaker 1>without an implementation intention, the completion rate was a dismal

540
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.720
<v Speaker 1>twenty two percent, barely one in five actually got it done.

541
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:17.920
<v Speaker 2>But look the experimental group. For the students who formed

542
00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:21.079
<v Speaker 2>an implementation intention, who specified I will work on this

543
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:23.799
<v Speaker 2>paper in my childhood bedroom at my desk on Tuesday,

544
00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:27.920
<v Speaker 2>immediately after dinner, the success rate jumped to sixty two percent.

545
00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:30.920
<v Speaker 1>They nearly triple their success rate just by attaching the

546
00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.200
<v Speaker 1>behavior to a specific time and location. Yes, but there

547
00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:38.480
<v Speaker 1>is a fascinating wrinkle in study one. Forming an implementation

548
00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:42.519
<v Speaker 1>intention did absolutely nothing to improve the success rate of

549
00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:46.279
<v Speaker 1>the easy goals. Why didn't that help them, by the textbook.

550
00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:49.000
<v Speaker 2>Well, because easy goals do not require a significant expenditure

551
00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:53.680
<v Speaker 2>of willpower or cognitive load, they are often already habitualized

552
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:56.359
<v Speaker 2>or the friction to initiate them is incredibly low.

553
00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:57.680
<v Speaker 1>Oh that makes sense, right.

554
00:26:58.119 --> 00:27:00.279
<v Speaker 2>If your goal is just to buy a text book,

555
00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:04.759
<v Speaker 2>you don't need a complex neurological trigger to bypass decision fatigue.

556
00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:06.640
<v Speaker 2>You just swing by the bookstore when you have a

557
00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:11.119
<v Speaker 2>free hour. Implementation intentions reveal their true power when the

558
00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:16.599
<v Speaker 2>goal is difficult, complex, emotionally taxing, and highly prone to procrastination.

559
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:20.759
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so study one was correlational. They observed what students

560
00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:23.759
<v Speaker 1>were already doing. But for Study two, they wanted to

561
00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:26.720
<v Speaker 1>prove this experimentally. They wanted to force people to use

562
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:30.000
<v Speaker 1>the technique, and to do this they gave the participants

563
00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:33.680
<v Speaker 1>a genuinely awful task let's talk about the Christmas Eve Report.

564
00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:37.079
<v Speaker 2>To guarantee a low baseline rate of accomplishment, they needed

565
00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:39.519
<v Speaker 2>a task that no one would naturally want to do,

566
00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:44.119
<v Speaker 2>so they assigned volunteers this novel, demanding and frankly annoying task.

567
00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:47.720
<v Speaker 2>They had to write a vivid, two page, detailed report

568
00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:49.400
<v Speaker 2>about how they spent Christmas Eve.

569
00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:51.400
<v Speaker 1>Which doesn't sound too bad until you're the catch.

570
00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:53.519
<v Speaker 2>Right. Here was the catch. They had to write it

571
00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.279
<v Speaker 2>during the Christmas holidays, specifically in the two days right

572
00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:00.559
<v Speaker 2>after Christmas Eve and mail it back to the researchers immediately, which.

573
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:02.880
<v Speaker 1>Is literally the last thing anyone wants to do on

574
00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:06.039
<v Speaker 1>Christmas Day or Boxing Day. You eat leftovers in sleep,

575
00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:08.720
<v Speaker 1>not write a two page essay. For some researchers in.

576
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:12.759
<v Speaker 2>Munich, exactly nobody wants to do that. Now, they split

577
00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:16.279
<v Speaker 2>the participants. Half the participants were just given the assignment,

578
00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:19.880
<v Speaker 2>they agreed to the goal intention. The other half, the

579
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.920
<v Speaker 2>experimental group, were explicitly instructed to form an implementation intention.

580
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:28.119
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so they forced them to do it right.

581
00:28:28.279 --> 00:28:30.720
<v Speaker 2>They were forced to pick a specific time and place,

582
00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:34.400
<v Speaker 2>for instance, right after breakfast on the twenty sixth, sitting

583
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.000
<v Speaker 2>at my father's desk in the study, and they were

584
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:41.160
<v Speaker 2>asked to silently visualize that specific opportunity and commit to

585
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:43.480
<v Speaker 2>it by saying to themselves, I intend to write the

586
00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:45.400
<v Speaker 2>report in that exact situation.

587
00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:49.240
<v Speaker 1>They had to literally program the trigger into their prefrontal cortex,

588
00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:53.119
<v Speaker 1>and the researchers measured success by checking the postmarks on

589
00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:55.319
<v Speaker 1>the envelopes to see not only if they did it,

590
00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:56.240
<v Speaker 1>but when they did it.

591
00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:57.119
<v Speaker 2>The results are great.

592
00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:59.640
<v Speaker 1>The control group, the ones who just had the goal

593
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.519
<v Speaker 1>at a thirty two percent completion rate. All of them

594
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:06.279
<v Speaker 1>just blew it off entirely. But the implementation intention group

595
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:09.079
<v Speaker 1>a seventy one percent completion rate.

596
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:12.319
<v Speaker 2>More than double the completion rate on a highly aversive task.

597
00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:14.680
<v Speaker 1>And it wasn't just that more of them did it,

598
00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:18.039
<v Speaker 1>it's the speed at which they executed. The control group

599
00:29:18.039 --> 00:29:21.839
<v Speaker 1>that actually managed to do it procrastinated heavily. They mailed

600
00:29:21.880 --> 00:29:25.160
<v Speaker 1>it on average around seven point seven days later. They

601
00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:26.079
<v Speaker 1>dragged their feet.

602
00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.759
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they waited as long as.

603
00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:30.839
<v Speaker 1>Possible, exactly the implementation group mailed it in two point

604
00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:35.279
<v Speaker 1>three days. They executed almost immediately when their environmental trigger.

605
00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:38.000
<v Speaker 2>Happened, which perfectly sets up the transition to study three.

606
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:41.359
<v Speaker 2>The final and perhaps most intriguing experiment in this paper.

607
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.279
<v Speaker 2>Studies one and two proved that implementation intentions work for

608
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:49.240
<v Speaker 2>getting complex tasks done over a period of days or weeks.

609
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:53.039
<v Speaker 2>But the researchers wanted to know does this mental programming

610
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:57.519
<v Speaker 2>work in a split second, highly dynamic emotional environment where

611
00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:59.599
<v Speaker 2>opportunities to act are totally fleeting.

612
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.039
<v Speaker 1>And this is the xenophobia video study, and the methodology

613
00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:06.880
<v Speaker 1>here is intense. They brought male university students into a

614
00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:10.480
<v Speaker 1>lab and showed them a video of a confederate an

615
00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:14.480
<v Speaker 1>actor pretending to be a student who starts making highly controversial,

616
00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.640
<v Speaker 1>racist and xenophobic remarks.

617
00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:18.279
<v Speaker 2>It's a very stressful scenario.

618
00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:21.119
<v Speaker 1>It is. The participants were told their goal was to

619
00:30:21.160 --> 00:30:24.720
<v Speaker 1>take a convincing counterposition against this actor. They had to

620
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:27.240
<v Speaker 1>stop the video at the exact right moment and record

621
00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:28.799
<v Speaker 1>a persuasive counter argument.

622
00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.440
<v Speaker 2>It is a brilliant simulation of a real world argument.

623
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:36.440
<v Speaker 2>It's fast paced, it's emotionally charged, and finding the exact

624
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.640
<v Speaker 2>right conversational pause to interject and make a strong articulate

625
00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:42.640
<v Speaker 2>point is incredibly difficult.

626
00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:45.400
<v Speaker 1>Most people hesitate, they think of the perfect comeback five

627
00:30:45.400 --> 00:30:46.079
<v Speaker 1>minutes too late.

628
00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:46.960
<v Speaker 2>We've all been there.

629
00:30:47.240 --> 00:30:50.400
<v Speaker 1>So the researchers lected participants watch the video once all

630
00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:53.000
<v Speaker 1>the way through and had them press a button to

631
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:56.039
<v Speaker 1>mark the specific points in the video that they felt

632
00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:59.799
<v Speaker 1>were good strategic opportunities to counter argue. Then they split.

633
00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:03.480
<v Speaker 1>The one group was told to form a strict implementation intention.

634
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.359
<v Speaker 1>They had to mentally commit saying when this specific point

635
00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:09.920
<v Speaker 1>in the video happens again, I will press the button

636
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:13.799
<v Speaker 1>and speak up. The control group just marked the points

637
00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:16.440
<v Speaker 1>but didn't form the specific if then intention.

638
00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:20.440
<v Speaker 2>Then the researchers played a final, slightly modified version of

639
00:31:20.440 --> 00:31:23.039
<v Speaker 2>the video to see how fast they would react, and

640
00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:26.319
<v Speaker 2>they measured their reaction times down to the millisecond.

641
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:27.559
<v Speaker 1>And what did they find?

642
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:30.920
<v Speaker 2>The results were totally conclusive. The participants who had formed

643
00:31:30.920 --> 00:31:34.799
<v Speaker 2>the implementation intentions hit the button to interject significantly faster

644
00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:38.480
<v Speaker 2>than the control group. They seize the fleeting opportunities almost

645
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:41.000
<v Speaker 2>immediately the hesitation was gone.

646
00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:44.400
<v Speaker 1>But and this is a massive flashing warning light for

647
00:31:44.400 --> 00:31:46.880
<v Speaker 1>anyone listening who wants to use this technique, there is

648
00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:50.039
<v Speaker 1>a huge caveat to study three regarding the actual quality

649
00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:50.759
<v Speaker 1>of their arguments.

650
00:31:50.839 --> 00:31:54.039
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yes, and this is crucial for understanding the limitations

651
00:31:54.039 --> 00:31:57.720
<v Speaker 2>of psychological triggers. The researchers didn't just measure reaction time.

652
00:31:57.960 --> 00:32:02.279
<v Speaker 2>They had independent raiders judge the quality, logic, and persuasiveness

653
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.279
<v Speaker 2>of the counter arguments the students made.

654
00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:05.079
<v Speaker 1>And what happened.

655
00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:10.200
<v Speaker 2>They found something deeply revealing. The implementation intentions only produced

656
00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:14.519
<v Speaker 2>higher quality arguments if the participant was already highly interested

657
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:19.079
<v Speaker 2>in and knowledgeable about the topic of xenophobia and politics.

658
00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:20.240
<v Speaker 1>In Germany, and if they weren't.

659
00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:24.119
<v Speaker 2>If the participant had low interest, meaning they lacked the

660
00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.680
<v Speaker 2>background knowledge, the vocabulary, and the rhetorical skills to argue

661
00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:33.200
<v Speaker 2>the topic effectively. The implementation intention actually made their arguments worse.

662
00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:37.000
<v Speaker 1>It made them worse. Yeah, that is wild. They acted faster,

663
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.799
<v Speaker 1>but they sounded more foolish. Why does that happen?

664
00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:43.880
<v Speaker 2>Because you have to understand what an implementation intention actually is.

665
00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:46.839
<v Speaker 2>It is just a trigger. It is a neurological mechanism

666
00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:50.599
<v Speaker 2>to bypass hesitation and initiate an action. If you already

667
00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:54.759
<v Speaker 2>possess the relevant skills, knowledge, and framework, linking that skill

668
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:58.440
<v Speaker 2>to a rapid trigger is highly effective. You strike while

669
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.880
<v Speaker 2>the iron is hot. If if you do not possess

670
00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:04.240
<v Speaker 2>the underlying skills, you are basically forcing yourself to blindly

671
00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.200
<v Speaker 2>jump off a cliff into a situation you aren't prepared for. Oh,

672
00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:10.359
<v Speaker 2>I see, you initiate the action automatically, but then your

673
00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:12.759
<v Speaker 2>brain freezes because you don't know what to do next.

674
00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:18.680
<v Speaker 2>The execution requires the skill. The intention merely pulls the trigger.

675
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:23.119
<v Speaker 1>That makes perfect sense. If I set an implementation intention

676
00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:25.000
<v Speaker 1>that says, when I sat at the piano, I will

677
00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:29.160
<v Speaker 1>play a Mozart concerto, that trigger is entirely useless if

678
00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:30.839
<v Speaker 1>I don't know how to play the piano. It just

679
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:33.319
<v Speaker 1>forces me to sit there staring at the keys faster.

680
00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:36.440
<v Speaker 2>Exactly. You cannot bypass the need for competence.

681
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:38.920
<v Speaker 1>Okay, I want to push back on the core philosophy

682
00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:41.119
<v Speaker 1>of this whole concept, because I'm listening to this and

683
00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:43.920
<v Speaker 1>I understand the data. Picking a time and place doubles

684
00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:46.799
<v Speaker 1>or triples your success rate. But why aren't we doing

685
00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:49.720
<v Speaker 1>this naturally all the time? Is this just a fancy

686
00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:52.440
<v Speaker 1>academic version of faking it till you make it? Are

687
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:54.119
<v Speaker 1>we just tricking ourselves with wordplay.

688
00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:56.359
<v Speaker 2>It is not trickery at all, and it is the

689
00:33:56.440 --> 00:33:59.960
<v Speaker 2>exact opposite of faking it. It requires a fundamental pair

690
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:03.279
<v Speaker 2>mararadigm shift in how you view your own agency. The

691
00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:05.759
<v Speaker 2>underlying mechanism here, and this is why it feels so

692
00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:08.920
<v Speaker 2>strange at first, is that you're actively delegating control of

693
00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:10.280
<v Speaker 2>your behavior to your environment.

694
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:13.800
<v Speaker 1>Delegating control to the environment. Break that down for me.

695
00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:17.599
<v Speaker 2>When you operate on goal intentions alone, you are relying

696
00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.119
<v Speaker 2>entirely on internal conscious control. Your prefrontal cortex has to

697
00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:25.920
<v Speaker 2>constantly scan the environment, evaluate your energy levels, and make

698
00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.199
<v Speaker 2>an effortfull decision should I do this now?

699
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:30.199
<v Speaker 1>Which burns willpower exactly.

700
00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:36.039
<v Speaker 2>That requires immense willpower. But by utilizing implementation intentions, by

701
00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:39.519
<v Speaker 2>linking the behavior to a specific situational cue like sitting

702
00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:42.320
<v Speaker 2>at a specific desk or a certain time on the clog,

703
00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:45.840
<v Speaker 2>or a specific action like pouring coffee, you bypass that

704
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:48.639
<v Speaker 2>conscious decision making process entirely.

705
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:50.559
<v Speaker 1>I think of it like setting up trip wires in

706
00:34:50.599 --> 00:34:51.000
<v Speaker 1>your house.

707
00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:51.840
<v Speaker 2>Well that's interesting.

708
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.639
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. If you want the lights to turn on when

709
00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:56.320
<v Speaker 1>you walk into a dark room, you have two choices.

710
00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:59.360
<v Speaker 1>You can rely on your memory and your willpower to

711
00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.239
<v Speaker 1>physically you reach out and flip the switch every single time.

712
00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.639
<v Speaker 1>That's a goal intentionine, right. Or you can install a

713
00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:09.079
<v Speaker 1>motion sensor. You delegate the trigger to the environment. The

714
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:12.559
<v Speaker 1>motion sensor the tripwire detects your presence and turns the

715
00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:15.159
<v Speaker 1>lights on automatically. You don't have to choose to do it.

716
00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:17.199
<v Speaker 1>The environment does the heavy lifting for you.

717
00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:21.599
<v Speaker 2>That is a brilliant metaphor. An implementation intention is literally

718
00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:25.519
<v Speaker 2>a neurological motion sensor. It operates exactly like a habit.

719
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:28.840
<v Speaker 2>You program the trigger into your basil ganglia, so when

720
00:35:28.840 --> 00:35:34.320
<v Speaker 2>the environment presents the queue, the action initiates automatically, effortlessly.

721
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:36.000
<v Speaker 1>You don't have to think about it exactly.

722
00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:39.639
<v Speaker 2>You are no longer fighting yourself. You are allowing the

723
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:41.880
<v Speaker 2>environment to pull the behavior out of you.

724
00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:46.079
<v Speaker 1>Okay, this is the turning point. We've unpacked the psychology.

725
00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:48.800
<v Speaker 1>We know that goals are just the compass. We know

726
00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:51.639
<v Speaker 1>we need an engine a system, and we know that

727
00:35:51.760 --> 00:35:54.280
<v Speaker 1>to start that engine without burning out our wheel power,

728
00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:57.679
<v Speaker 1>we need to wire our environment with these psychological trip wires. Yes,

729
00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:02.079
<v Speaker 1>now let's get incredibly brutally practiced. How do you, the listener,

730
00:36:02.360 --> 00:36:06.119
<v Speaker 1>actually build the scaffolding for this system from scratch? And

731
00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:09.199
<v Speaker 1>for this we are looking at the highly structured productivity

732
00:36:09.239 --> 00:36:10.679
<v Speaker 1>framework provided by xanath.

733
00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:14.400
<v Speaker 2>Xeni starts their philosophy with a very bold, somewhat controversial

734
00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:17.920
<v Speaker 2>claim which honestly aligns perfectly with everything we discussed so

735
00:36:18.000 --> 00:36:21.519
<v Speaker 2>far regarding personal friction. Well, it'stein they argue that borrowed

736
00:36:21.559 --> 00:36:22.880
<v Speaker 2>systems inevitably fail.

737
00:36:23.159 --> 00:36:24.119
<v Speaker 1>Borrowed systems.

738
00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:27.519
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we live in a world with a billion dollar

739
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:32.760
<v Speaker 2>industry selling generic planners, expensive apps, and complex productivity methodologies.

740
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:36.000
<v Speaker 2>People buy them, they use them obsessively for sixty days,

741
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:37.599
<v Speaker 2>and then they completely abandon them.

742
00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:40.360
<v Speaker 1>I am personally attacked by this. I have an actual

743
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:44.159
<v Speaker 1>graveyard of expensive leather bound planners in my desk drawer

744
00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:47.679
<v Speaker 1>to prove this exact point. It's embarrassing we all do.

745
00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:50.639
<v Speaker 2>And Zena's point is that the failure isn't your lack

746
00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:54.000
<v Speaker 2>of discipline or character. The failure is that these rigid

747
00:36:54.039 --> 00:36:57.599
<v Speaker 2>systems were optimized for a generic user who does not exist.

748
00:36:57.719 --> 00:36:59.440
<v Speaker 1>Give me an example of a borrowed system.

749
00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:03.400
<v Speaker 2>For instance, take David Allen's famous Getting Things Done or

750
00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:04.840
<v Speaker 2>GTD methodology.

751
00:37:04.920 --> 00:37:05.920
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, that's a classic.

752
00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:09.559
<v Speaker 2>It is a brilliant seminal work of productivity, but it

753
00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:12.599
<v Speaker 2>was designed for a nineteen eighties corporate executive who had

754
00:37:12.639 --> 00:37:16.079
<v Speaker 2>a physical inbox on their desk, a dedicated secretary, and

755
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:17.440
<v Speaker 2>literal filing cabinets.

756
00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:18.440
<v Speaker 1>Oh wow, that's true.

757
00:37:18.679 --> 00:37:21.880
<v Speaker 2>Or take the Eisenhower matrix. It's mathematically sound, but it

758
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:25.039
<v Speaker 2>assumes you have a perfectly clear hierarchy of tasks and

759
00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:27.320
<v Speaker 2>complete autonomy over your schedule.

760
00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:32.119
<v Speaker 1>Which nobody in a modern matrix slack driven organization actually has.

761
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:35.960
<v Speaker 1>You're constantly getting bombarded with other people's emergencies exactly.

762
00:37:36.239 --> 00:37:40.079
<v Speaker 2>A system must be adapted to fit your specific cognitive style,

763
00:37:40.360 --> 00:37:43.559
<v Speaker 2>your daily energy curve, and the actual complexity of your life.

764
00:37:43.679 --> 00:37:47.400
<v Speaker 2>It cannot be rigid. However, Zenith argues that regardless of

765
00:37:47.440 --> 00:37:50.519
<v Speaker 2>the esthetic tool you use, whether you build your system

766
00:37:50.519 --> 00:37:54.000
<v Speaker 2>in a complex app like Notion, or you use simple

767
00:37:54.039 --> 00:37:56.920
<v Speaker 2>Apple notes, or you just use a physical, blank.

768
00:37:56.719 --> 00:37:58.079
<v Speaker 1>Notebook, the tool doesn't matter.

769
00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:03.519
<v Speaker 2>Right, every functional productivity architecture must possess five non negotiable components.

770
00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:06.599
<v Speaker 2>If you are missing even one of these five stages,

771
00:38:06.920 --> 00:38:08.559
<v Speaker 2>the entire engine seizes up.

772
00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:10.639
<v Speaker 1>Let's walk through these five steps, because this is the

773
00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:13.840
<v Speaker 1>actual blueprint for the engine we've been promising. Step one

774
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:14.480
<v Speaker 1>is capture.

775
00:38:14.679 --> 00:38:17.800
<v Speaker 2>Capture is the absolute bedrock of the system. The rule

776
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:22.840
<v Speaker 2>is brutally simple. You need one single, frictionless inbox. Everything

777
00:38:22.880 --> 00:38:25.920
<v Speaker 2>goes there immediately, like what kind of things A passing thought,

778
00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:28.760
<v Speaker 2>a project task, an article you want to read, a

779
00:38:28.800 --> 00:38:32.639
<v Speaker 2>grocery item, a random idea for a novel. Everything. The

780
00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:36.119
<v Speaker 2>fatal enemy of the capture phase is fragmentation. You know,

781
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:37.480
<v Speaker 2>having multiple inboxes.

782
00:38:37.559 --> 00:38:40.159
<v Speaker 1>Oh, this is where most people live. They have work

783
00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:43.400
<v Speaker 1>tasks saved in slack messages, personal to do is in

784
00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:47.480
<v Speaker 1>their phone's reminder app, sudden ideas scribbled on physical sticky notes,

785
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:51.280
<v Speaker 1>and meeting notes in a random Google doc. It's a mess, and.

786
00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:54.519
<v Speaker 2>That fragmentation triggers the psychological phenomenon known as the z

787
00:38:54.679 --> 00:38:55.519
<v Speaker 2>Garnic effect.

788
00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:57.079
<v Speaker 1>The z Garnic effect, what is that?

789
00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:00.920
<v Speaker 2>Russian psychologist Bluemas Zeygarnic noted that the human brain remembers

790
00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:05.599
<v Speaker 2>uncompleted or interrupted tasks significantly better than completed ones. If

791
00:39:05.639 --> 00:39:08.840
<v Speaker 2>your brain knows that there are uncompleted tasks scattered across

792
00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:11.960
<v Speaker 2>five different apps and three different notebooks, it will refuse

793
00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:12.679
<v Speaker 2>to let them go.

794
00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:14.480
<v Speaker 1>Oh, so that's why we wake up in a panic

795
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:16.039
<v Speaker 1>at three am remembering.

796
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:18.559
<v Speaker 2>An email exactly. It will constantly pin your conscious mind,

797
00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.760
<v Speaker 2>causing a background hum of anxiety. You never trust that

798
00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.159
<v Speaker 2>you have a complete picture of your responsibilities.

799
00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:27.000
<v Speaker 1>That makes so much sense. The anxiety isn't from having

800
00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:29.880
<v Speaker 1>too much to do. The anxiety is from the subconscious

801
00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:33.679
<v Speaker 1>fear that you're forgetting something critical. Precisely so Step one

802
00:39:34.199 --> 00:39:39.280
<v Speaker 1>one inbox a single digital or physical location. Everything gets

803
00:39:39.320 --> 00:39:43.239
<v Speaker 1>dumped there, instantly clearing the cognitive load. But you can't

804
00:39:43.239 --> 00:39:46.159
<v Speaker 1>just leave a massive pile of random thoughts in an inbox,

805
00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:48.760
<v Speaker 1>which brings us to step two. Clarify.

806
00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:53.159
<v Speaker 2>Clarification is the bottleneck where most amateur systems fail. People

807
00:39:53.159 --> 00:39:55.960
<v Speaker 2>look at their capture inbox, they see a vague, hastily

808
00:39:56.000 --> 00:40:00.000
<v Speaker 2>written note that just says mom's birthday or Q three budget.

809
00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:01.079
<v Speaker 1>Terrifying to look at.

810
00:40:01.159 --> 00:40:03.320
<v Speaker 2>They feel overwhelmed by the ambiguity of the note. They

811
00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:04.840
<v Speaker 2>don't know what to do with it, so they close

812
00:40:04.920 --> 00:40:08.679
<v Speaker 2>the app and go watch Netflix. Zenith recommends a dedicated

813
00:40:09.119 --> 00:40:12.880
<v Speaker 2>daily ten minute block specifically to convert raw captured notes

814
00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:16.119
<v Speaker 2>into actual executable actions, and there.

815
00:40:16.079 --> 00:40:18.440
<v Speaker 1>Is a very specific methodology to how you clarify.

816
00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:18.639
<v Speaker 2>Right.

817
00:40:18.679 --> 00:40:20.280
<v Speaker 1>You ask a series of filtering questions.

818
00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:22.800
<v Speaker 2>Yes, you look at the raw note and ask, first,

819
00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:25.559
<v Speaker 2>is this actionable? If it's just a random thought or

820
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:27.880
<v Speaker 2>an article and it's not actionable, you either delete it

821
00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:28.719
<v Speaker 2>or move it to a.

822
00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:30.360
<v Speaker 1>Reference folder, get it out of the way.

823
00:40:30.559 --> 00:40:33.639
<v Speaker 2>Right. If it is actionable, you must ask the most

824
00:40:33.719 --> 00:40:37.960
<v Speaker 2>critical question in productivity, what is the very next physical

825
00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:40.039
<v Speaker 2>action required to move this forward?

826
00:40:40.280 --> 00:40:42.599
<v Speaker 1>This is a game changer. Let's use an example, because

827
00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:46.199
<v Speaker 1>a note that says finalized proposal is not a physical action.

828
00:40:46.840 --> 00:40:49.039
<v Speaker 1>That is an outcome, that is a project.

829
00:40:49.239 --> 00:40:54.360
<v Speaker 2>Exactly finalized proposal is a goal intention. It's completely ambiguous.

830
00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:57.760
<v Speaker 2>It requires you to expend cognitive energy figuring out what

831
00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.440
<v Speaker 2>to do every single time you look got it.

832
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.039
<v Speaker 1>On your list and you just procrastinate.

833
00:41:02.199 --> 00:41:06.400
<v Speaker 2>Yes, a clarified physical action is rate three hundred words

834
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:09.440
<v Speaker 2>of the pricing section in the Google doc or draft

835
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:12.639
<v Speaker 2>an email to Sarah asking for the Q two revenue.

836
00:41:12.239 --> 00:41:14.360
<v Speaker 1>Numbers that is unambiguous exactly.

837
00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:17.400
<v Speaker 2>It requires zero decision making to execute. Also, during this

838
00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:20.039
<v Speaker 2>clarified block, you apply the two minute rule. If the

839
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.719
<v Speaker 2>clarified action takes less than two minutes to complete, you

840
00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:24.840
<v Speaker 2>do not schedule it. You just do it right then

841
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:25.880
<v Speaker 2>and there to clear it out.

842
00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:29.280
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so we've captured everything into one inbox. We've clarified

843
00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:33.800
<v Speaker 1>those raw notes into unambiguous physical Next steps Step three

844
00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:38.800
<v Speaker 1>is organize, and Zenith emphasizes keeping this structurally simple. Do

845
00:41:38.920 --> 00:41:41.199
<v Speaker 1>not overcomplicate your folders and tags.

846
00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:46.239
<v Speaker 2>Complexity creates friction, and friction destroys systems. They recommend keeping

847
00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.360
<v Speaker 2>your organization to just four distinct levels. Level one areas

848
00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:55.239
<v Speaker 2>of responsibility. These are broad, ongoing categories of your life

849
00:41:55.239 --> 00:41:58.639
<v Speaker 2>that you maintain, like health, finances or team management.

850
00:41:58.760 --> 00:41:59.079
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

851
00:41:59.280 --> 00:42:03.519
<v Speaker 2>Level two projects these are outcomes that require multiple physical

852
00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:06.400
<v Speaker 2>actions to complete, like launch website or run marathon.

853
00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:06.800
<v Speaker 1>Got it.

854
00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:11.159
<v Speaker 2>Level three tasks These are the individual clarified physical actions

855
00:42:11.159 --> 00:42:15.000
<v Speaker 2>we just talked about and level four reference materials, PDFs

856
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:17.400
<v Speaker 2>and notes you need to keep but don't require any action.

857
00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:19.159
<v Speaker 1>So just four buckets that is it.

858
00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:22.639
<v Speaker 2>Do not add twenty nested folders and color coded priority tags.

859
00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:24.199
<v Speaker 2>It is a massive waste of time.

860
00:42:24.360 --> 00:42:27.400
<v Speaker 1>Keep the pipes clean, which leads to step four, which

861
00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:30.480
<v Speaker 1>Zenus refers to as the glue that holds the entire

862
00:42:30.559 --> 00:42:32.280
<v Speaker 1>architecture together. The review.

863
00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:35.519
<v Speaker 2>A system without a rigid review cycle is a system

864
00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:39.719
<v Speaker 2>that is actively dying. Why is that Well, without review,

865
00:42:39.840 --> 00:42:45.280
<v Speaker 2>your lists slowly accumulate stale, outdated information. You complete tasks

866
00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:48.840
<v Speaker 2>but forget to check them off. Projects shift priorities, but

867
00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:52.159
<v Speaker 2>the system doesn't reflect it. Eventually, you look at your list,

868
00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:55.199
<v Speaker 2>you realize they don't reflect reality, and you just stop

869
00:42:55.320 --> 00:42:56.199
<v Speaker 2>trusting the system.

870
00:42:56.440 --> 00:42:58.920
<v Speaker 1>So what is the cadence here? How often are we reviewing?

871
00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:02.159
<v Speaker 2>You need a brief five to ten minute daily review,

872
00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:04.480
<v Speaker 2>usually at the end of the day, to simply figure

873
00:43:04.519 --> 00:43:08.039
<v Speaker 2>out what your implementation intensions are for tomorrow? What are

874
00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:11.239
<v Speaker 2>the trip wires? Okay, but the true anchor is the

875
00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:14.559
<v Speaker 2>thirty minute weekly review, usually on a Friday afternoon or

876
00:43:14.559 --> 00:43:17.239
<v Speaker 2>a Sunday evening, you sit down, You review all your

877
00:43:17.239 --> 00:43:19.760
<v Speaker 2>open projects. You clear out the junk, you update the

878
00:43:19.800 --> 00:43:22.239
<v Speaker 2>reality of your lists. If you skip the weekly review

879
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:24.239
<v Speaker 2>for a month, your system becomes a graveyard.

880
00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:26.840
<v Speaker 1>The weekly review is the maintenance on the engine. If

881
00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:29.800
<v Speaker 1>you don't change the oil, the engine seizes. And finally,

882
00:43:30.599 --> 00:43:35.840
<v Speaker 1>step five execute. This is the actual doing of the work.

883
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:39.079
<v Speaker 1>And this is the magic of the system, because you

884
00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:42.199
<v Speaker 1>have captured all your open loops, because you clarify them

885
00:43:42.199 --> 00:43:45.679
<v Speaker 1>into physical actions, because you organize them simply, and because

886
00:43:45.719 --> 00:43:48.800
<v Speaker 1>you review them to ensure they are relevant. When you

887
00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:50.960
<v Speaker 1>finally sit down at your desk on Tuesday morning for

888
00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:52.960
<v Speaker 1>a focused block, you aren't guessing.

889
00:43:53.119 --> 00:43:55.320
<v Speaker 2>You are not feeling anxious, you are not relying on

890
00:43:55.360 --> 00:43:58.519
<v Speaker 2>a sudden burst of motivation. You are simply looking at

891
00:43:58.519 --> 00:44:02.320
<v Speaker 2>a trusted list of low friction, physical actions, and you

892
00:44:02.360 --> 00:44:05.199
<v Speaker 2>are executing them. The system has done the heavy lifting

893
00:44:05.239 --> 00:44:06.280
<v Speaker 2>of thinking for you.

894
00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:10.159
<v Speaker 1>No, this all sounds mathematically perfect. Logically, I'm completely on board.

895
00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:12.000
<v Speaker 1>I want to act as the voice of the overwhelmed

896
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:16.039
<v Speaker 1>listener for a second. Let's introduce reality into this pristine system,

897
00:44:16.360 --> 00:44:19.039
<v Speaker 1>because you know, life happens. Oh absolutely, Let's say I

898
00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:21.840
<v Speaker 1>built this perfect data system. I'm feeling great, but then

899
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:24.519
<v Speaker 1>I get a terrible flu for a week. At the

900
00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:28.079
<v Speaker 1>exact same time, my boss dumps a massive emergency project

901
00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:30.320
<v Speaker 1>on my desk and my water heater explodes at home.

902
00:44:31.039 --> 00:44:35.000
<v Speaker 1>I am in survival mode. Suddenly, I haven't looked at

903
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:38.519
<v Speaker 1>my perfect little system in fourteen days. The inbox has

904
00:44:38.559 --> 00:44:43.639
<v Speaker 1>three hundred unclarified items, the projects are outdated. It's a complete,

905
00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:46.960
<v Speaker 1>anxiety inducing mess. Do I just throw the whole thing

906
00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:49.800
<v Speaker 1>into trash, declare myself a failure, and go back to

907
00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:50.920
<v Speaker 1>writing on sticky notes.

908
00:44:51.039 --> 00:44:53.880
<v Speaker 2>It is the single most common point of failure for

909
00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:56.599
<v Speaker 2>anyone trying to build a system, and it is exactly

910
00:44:56.760 --> 00:44:59.760
<v Speaker 2>why the all or nothing goal mindset is so destructive.

911
00:45:00.519 --> 00:45:04.800
<v Speaker 2>Zenith anticipates this exact scenario. Oh they do, Yes, they

912
00:45:04.840 --> 00:45:08.000
<v Speaker 2>have a specific procedure for it called the recovery protocol.

913
00:45:08.360 --> 00:45:10.880
<v Speaker 1>The recovery protocol. I love the sound of that.

914
00:45:11.400 --> 00:45:14.639
<v Speaker 2>The fundamental rule of the recovery protocol is this, when

915
00:45:14.639 --> 00:45:16.519
<v Speaker 2>the system breaks down, and it will break down during

916
00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:19.119
<v Speaker 2>high stress periods. That is a feature of life, not

917
00:45:19.199 --> 00:45:22.280
<v Speaker 2>a bug. Do not try to reconstruct everything perfectly.

918
00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:23.559
<v Speaker 1>You'll try to fix it all at once.

919
00:45:23.679 --> 00:45:26.280
<v Speaker 2>Right, Do not sit down and spend four hours trying

920
00:45:26.280 --> 00:45:29.000
<v Speaker 2>to update every single project and reference folder to make

921
00:45:29.000 --> 00:45:32.079
<v Speaker 2>it pristine again. You will burn out and abandon it entirely.

922
00:45:32.239 --> 00:45:34.519
<v Speaker 1>So what is the alternative? How do you resuscitate a

923
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:35.199
<v Speaker 1>dead system?

924
00:45:35.519 --> 00:45:39.639
<v Speaker 2>You execute three simple, highly contained steps to re establish

925
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:43.199
<v Speaker 2>your anchors. First, you do a full mind sweep. You

926
00:45:43.239 --> 00:45:45.599
<v Speaker 2>completely ignore the backlog for a moment. You grab a

927
00:45:45.599 --> 00:45:48.559
<v Speaker 2>blank piece of paper and you just write down every

928
00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:51.039
<v Speaker 2>single thing that is currently screaming in your head, just

929
00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:54.440
<v Speaker 2>to brain them exactly. Get it out of your prefrontal

930
00:45:54.440 --> 00:45:58.239
<v Speaker 2>cortex and back into the capturre in box. Second, you

931
00:45:58.360 --> 00:46:02.920
<v Speaker 2>run one single clarification session on that new immediate list.

932
00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:06.519
<v Speaker 2>Find the next physical actions just for the fires burning.

933
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:08.320
<v Speaker 1>Right now, okay, deal with the emergencies. Yes.

934
00:46:08.559 --> 00:46:12.039
<v Speaker 2>And Third, you execute one abbreviated weekly review. You just

935
00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:13.039
<v Speaker 2>look at the horizon.

936
00:46:13.159 --> 00:46:15.880
<v Speaker 1>So you just ignore the giant backlog of mess in

937
00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:16.400
<v Speaker 1>the system.

938
00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:18.880
<v Speaker 2>You just leave it there temporarily. Yes, you don't worry

939
00:46:18.920 --> 00:46:23.239
<v Speaker 2>about the backlog right now. By re establishing those three anchors, capture, clarify,

940
00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:27.119
<v Speaker 2>review on your immediate reality, the system will naturally organically

941
00:46:27.159 --> 00:46:29.639
<v Speaker 2>rebuild itself around you. Over the next two weeks. Oh,

942
00:46:29.719 --> 00:46:32.400
<v Speaker 2>I see, the backlog will slowly get processed or deleted.

943
00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:33.760
<v Speaker 2>You just reset the anchors.

944
00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:37.239
<v Speaker 1>Just reset the anchors. I love that it completely removes

945
00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:40.079
<v Speaker 1>the guilt of falling off the wagon. It acknowledges that

946
00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:42.480
<v Speaker 1>the engine will sometimes stall, and it gives you the

947
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:45.559
<v Speaker 1>exact constructions on how to jumpstart it without needing a

948
00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:46.519
<v Speaker 1>complete rebuild.

949
00:46:46.599 --> 00:46:47.559
<v Speaker 2>It's very forgiving.

950
00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:51.559
<v Speaker 1>It is okay. We have covered massive ground today. We

951
00:46:51.639 --> 00:46:57.159
<v Speaker 1>have essentially dismantled the entire way our culture thinks about

952
00:46:57.199 --> 00:46:58.400
<v Speaker 1>achievement and ambition.

953
00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:02.000
<v Speaker 2>We really have reversed from the abstract philosophy of goal

954
00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:05.880
<v Speaker 2>orientation down to the neurological psychology of action, and finally

955
00:47:05.920 --> 00:47:08.719
<v Speaker 2>into the daily mechanical practice of productivity.

956
00:47:08.920 --> 00:47:11.880
<v Speaker 1>Let's summarize this journey for everyone listening. We started by

957
00:47:11.960 --> 00:47:16.360
<v Speaker 1>learning that goals, while necessary for direction, are fundamentally flawed

958
00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:19.639
<v Speaker 1>if they are your primary tool for execution. They suffer

959
00:47:19.639 --> 00:47:22.719
<v Speaker 1>from a survivorship bias, tricking us into thinking the goal

960
00:47:22.840 --> 00:47:26.119
<v Speaker 1>was the differentiator. They trap your happiness in a rigid,

961
00:47:26.280 --> 00:47:29.679
<v Speaker 1>deferred future, and they create a yo yo effect where

962
00:47:29.800 --> 00:47:31.840
<v Speaker 1>progress skanks the moment the goal is reached.

963
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:34.239
<v Speaker 2>The compass versus the engine exactly.

964
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:37.800
<v Speaker 1>We learned that goals we're is the compass, but systems,

965
00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:42.199
<v Speaker 1>the repeatable, microscopic processes you run daily, are the actual

966
00:47:42.239 --> 00:47:43.239
<v Speaker 1>engine of progress.

967
00:47:43.280 --> 00:47:45.800
<v Speaker 2>And then we got into the psychology, right, We dove

968
00:47:45.840 --> 00:47:48.840
<v Speaker 2>into the psychology of how to reliably start that engine.

969
00:47:48.920 --> 00:47:52.039
<v Speaker 1>We looked at Golwitzer's research and saw how relying on

970
00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:56.599
<v Speaker 1>goal intentions drains our wheel power and causes decision fatigue.

971
00:47:57.079 --> 00:48:01.480
<v Speaker 1>But by using implementation intentions, by literally programming your brain

972
00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:04.320
<v Speaker 1>with an if then statement to act when it encounters

973
00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:07.800
<v Speaker 1>a specific environmental trigger like a motion sensor for your habits,

974
00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:10.760
<v Speaker 1>you can double or triple your success rates, especially on

975
00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:12.320
<v Speaker 1>complex aversive.

976
00:48:11.880 --> 00:48:14.599
<v Speaker 2>Tasks, which is such a powerful tool, it really is.

977
00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:18.519
<v Speaker 1>And finally we took those psychological principles and outline Xen's

978
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:22.119
<v Speaker 1>five step architecture to build a personalized system. Capture to

979
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:25.519
<v Speaker 1>clear the Zygarnic effect, clarify to define the physical action,

980
00:48:25.920 --> 00:48:29.679
<v Speaker 1>Organize to reduce friction, review to maintain trust, and execute

981
00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:32.559
<v Speaker 1>to actually do the work, complete with the recovery protocol

982
00:48:32.599 --> 00:48:33.599
<v Speaker 1>for when reality hits.

983
00:48:33.760 --> 00:48:34.679
<v Speaker 2>That's the blueprint.

984
00:48:34.960 --> 00:48:37.480
<v Speaker 1>So, after all this theory, after all of the science,

985
00:48:37.719 --> 00:48:39.159
<v Speaker 1>what does this actually mean for you.

986
00:48:39.480 --> 00:48:42.679
<v Speaker 2>Well, if we synthesize all of this, from James Clear's

987
00:48:42.679 --> 00:48:47.239
<v Speaker 2>observations on the British cyclists to the Florida panthers systemic dominance,

988
00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:51.559
<v Speaker 2>all the way down to Golwitzer's psychological triggers, it leads

989
00:48:51.599 --> 00:48:55.239
<v Speaker 2>us to a fascinating, almost provocative conclusion about human nature.

990
00:48:55.280 --> 00:48:55.960
<v Speaker 1>I'm ready for it.

991
00:48:56.280 --> 00:48:58.760
<v Speaker 2>If we know that our brains can be programmed to

992
00:48:58.920 --> 00:49:03.440
<v Speaker 2>automatically trigger behaviors based on environmental cues like walking past

993
00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:07.000
<v Speaker 2>a specific desk or checking the time right after breakfast,

994
00:49:07.559 --> 00:49:10.960
<v Speaker 2>then the ultimate secret to success isn't about increasing our.

995
00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:13.719
<v Speaker 1>Willpower, because willpower is finite exactly.

996
00:49:13.840 --> 00:49:16.920
<v Speaker 2>Willpower is a finite resource. It is a battery that

997
00:49:17.000 --> 00:49:20.880
<v Speaker 2>eventually runs out. The real secret is about designing our

998
00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:24.119
<v Speaker 2>physical and digital environments so that doing the right thing

999
00:49:24.159 --> 00:49:27.840
<v Speaker 2>becomes our default automatic response. Yeah, you have to ask yourself.

1000
00:49:27.880 --> 00:49:31.159
<v Speaker 2>Are you constantly fighting your environment every single day to

1001
00:49:31.199 --> 00:49:33.920
<v Speaker 2>reach your goals or have you designed a system where

1002
00:49:34.239 --> 00:49:36.760
<v Speaker 2>your environment is actually doing the heavy lifting for you.

1003
00:49:37.000 --> 00:49:39.679
<v Speaker 1>Are you fighting the environment or have you wired the

1004
00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:42.679
<v Speaker 1>trip wires so the environment works for you? That is

1005
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:45.400
<v Speaker 1>the question to take into your week. Take a hard

1006
00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:48.239
<v Speaker 1>look at your engine and stop obsessing over the compass.

1007
00:49:49.199 --> 00:49:50.920
<v Speaker 1>Thank you so much for joining us on this deep

1008
00:49:51.000 --> 00:49:53.599
<v Speaker 1>dive into the source material. We hope this gives you

1009
00:49:53.719 --> 00:49:56.079
<v Speaker 1>the permission you need to stop staring at the scoreboard,

1010
00:49:56.639 --> 00:49:59.079
<v Speaker 1>let go of the guilt of past abandoned goals, and

1011
00:49:59.119 --> 00:50:02.840
<v Speaker 1>start focusing on the quiet, predictable beauty of your daily systems.

1012
00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:04.000
<v Speaker 1>We'll see you next time.