Intro
In this episode of the Hidden Brain podcast, titled “You 2.0: How to Break Out of a Rut,” psychologist Adam Alter explores the science behind getting unstuck and finding motivation. Through various experiments and real-life examples, Alter provides insights and strategies to overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
Main Takeaways
Breaking Out of a Rut
- Many of us feel stuck in our daily routines and wonder if we’re making any progress.
- Psychologist Adam Alter studies the science of how to get unstuck.
- Even successful people like George R.R. Martin can experience writer’s block for years.
- An experiment with mice by psychologist Clark Hull offers insights into how to get unstuck.
- The experiment showed that introducing new stimuli can help break out of a rut.
- Mice move faster towards a goal as it comes into view, known as the goal gradient effect.
- The effect applies to physical and mental activities, slowing down in the middle and speeding up towards the end.
Creating Sub-Goals for Progress
- The goal gradient effect can be seen in paying off credit card debt and donating to charities.
- There is a slowdown in progress when there are fewer landmarks to mark progress.
- Long projects can be compared to a sailor’s journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
- The middle part of the journey can be demotivating due to the lack of feedback about progress.
- Shrink the middle part of the journey by creating sub-goals to give feedback that suggests progress.
- Atomize the goal by turning it into its basic elements and taking it one step at a time.
- Apply the same insight to writing by breaking the project into chapters and setting smaller goals within each chapter.
Overcoming Perfectionism and All-or-Nothing Thinking
- Perfectionism can be paralyzing and signal failure unless producing perfection.
- Pouring out bad material can be liberating and lead to more quantity.
- Trying to come up with bad ideas can help identify good ones.
- Goal-pursuit is often understood in moral terms, leading to all-or-nothing thinking.
- Completionism and moral elements are tied to finishing goals.
- Round numbers can create artificial goals that we fetishize.
Overcoming Stuckness and Pluralistic Ignorance
- We tend to focus on our own struggles and imagine others have it easy, causing us to become stuck.
- Stuckness is often hidden from view, making us feel lonely and isolated.
- Social media success stories can cloud our impression of our own lives and the lives of others.
- Pluralistic ignorance is a psychological phenomenon where we believe we are the only ones having certain thoughts or experiences, and it often happens when the thing we’re talking about is hidden from view.
- To combat pluralistic ignorance, it’s important to resist the impulse to withdraw into yourself and actually try and reach out to others.
Embracing Change and Overcoming Plateaus
- Progress towards our goals involves following a straight line, but in reality, a long journey is rarely a linear path.
- Winners are not people who never lose but people who can tolerate losing long enough for things to break their way.
- Artists who are successful are also prolific; quality and quantity are strongly related.
- Our own minds can become our worst enemies and cause us to become stuck.
- Our minds can play an important role in finding breakthroughs when facing challenging problems.
- The plateau effect can occur in various areas, such as learning to play an instrument or exercising.
- Doing the same thing repeatedly can lead to decreased responsiveness and improvement.
- Changing things and introducing new challenges can lead to greater improvement and breakthroughs.
Adopting New Perspectives and Taking Action
- Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the number of options before us, and reducing our own options can be a worthwhile strategy to simplify complex situations.
- Introducing change and reframing problems as challenges can be effective in getting yourself unstuck.
- Stereotype threat is the idea that if you belong to a particular group that is negatively stereotyped, it can make it harder for you to perform well.
- Action above all: taking action can reveal what you want to do.
- The New York Times spelling bee puzzle can be improved by shuffling the letters.
- Running a marathon can help in finding direction and purpose in life, even if it seems unrelated to the problem at hand.
- Having a big goal can act as an orienting point and give a sense of momentum.
- Moments of feeling stuck can be resolved by adopting a profound change of perspective in other areas of life.
Summary
Breaking Out of a Rut
Psychologist Adam Alter explores how to break out of a rut by introducing new stimuli and leveraging the goal gradient effect, where progress speeds up as the goal comes into view.
Creating Sub-Goals for Progress
Breaking long projects into sub-goals and setting smaller goals within each chapter helps provide feedback and a sense of progress, combating the demotivating middle part of the journey.
Overcoming Perfectionism and All-or-Nothing Thinking
Perfectionism can be paralyzing, but pouring out bad material and embracing the process can lead to more quantity and better ideas. Overcoming all-or-nothing thinking and completionism is crucial for progress.
Overcoming Stuckness and Pluralistic Ignorance
Feeling stuck is often hidden from view, leading to loneliness and isolation. Resisting the impulse to withdraw and reaching out to others helps combat pluralistic ignorance and gain perspective.
Embracing Change and Overcoming Plateaus
Embracing change and tolerating setbacks are essential for progress. Overcoming plateaus involves introducing new challenges and avoiding repetitive routines.
Adopting New Perspectives and Taking Action
Reducing options, reframing problems, and taking action can lead to breakthroughs. Overcoming stereotype threat and embracing action reveal what we truly want to do.
Conclusion
Getting unstuck and breaking out of a rut requires introducing new stimuli, setting sub-goals, embracing imperfection, reaching out to others, embracing change, adopting new perspectives, and taking action. By understanding the science behind motivation and progress, we can overcome obstacles and achieve our goals.
