How to Control Your Impulses So You Don't Ruin Your Life

Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University, Dr. Andrew Huberman, gives some practical tips on how you can control your impulses. Why do people throw away everything they worked for in a moment? How can you train your brain to be more disciplined? What are the "Go" and "No-Go" responses?

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Like the mentor you’ve always dreamed of having, The Knowledge Project shares timely yet timeless lessons for work and life. Past guests include Naval Ravikant, Daniel Kahneman, Jim Collins, Angela Duckworth, Seth Godin, Melanie Mitchell, & Esther Perel.

[adnanazmi.]

- It's important to take action without overthinking it.
- Most of our problems come from not controlling our impulses.
- Our brain has circuits that control our actions and thoughts, some that make us act and some that stop us from acting.
- We can train the circuits that stop us from acting by doing small things that stop us from reacting impulsively.
- We don't train the circuits that stop us from acting enough because we're too focused on doing things.
- As adults, we often have unstructured time and too much distraction from things like phones.
- Focusing for 90 minutes and resisting the urge to do something else can help us train the circuits that stop us from acting impulsively.
- Learning to sit still and resist the urge to move is a powerful skill.

[The_Sickest_M]

This is a huge part of why day trading is so difficult. When you talk about veering away from a plan at the gym, there’s almost zero consequence for doing that. When you veer off your trading plan, there can be massive, instant consequences. Immediate feedback and punishment for doing so. So important to be in control of yourself.

[ThrowDaLobHun]

i’m a professional bettor and my impulses to revenge bet have been my downfall. I must overcome this

[chaithrashrihari]

I am going to practice this excellent advice (Thanks Dr. Andrew) ! Its indeed going to get me to stay focussed.

[Famousechoppa]

This really helped me with my life like 100 much love goes to u thanks u 😊❤

[nicholaskohuch]

More examples of no go avtions would be really helpful

[explainous]

Someone is watching this video and getting ideas about writing a 300-page self-help book out of this.

[amberchaba]

I’m going to try this! I think it should help a lot. In a sense, saying no to yourself is like being a parent to yourself. Like no you can’t go on your phone all day. I think this is a great technique

[Iwasaloserbeforethis]

Me. Bawling my eyes out. In the Middle of my fight because of me and my impulsive actions.

[dad-msmz]

.I had impulsive behaviour to Text my crush repeatedly.. which was making me perceived as a desperate guy. But Contextualising this issue makes me aware and now I have weapon to counter it... Atleast I know my enemy now...❤
Great helpful Video

[SpadeSchumacher]

What are some more examples of No-Go responses?

[Ironfrenzy]

That's actually huge for my ADHD.

[darwinmolina]

thanks for this little things to improve my impulses ! I need to be better

[billomaticles]

very Zen like immersion. Dr has resilient self rewards system; nice exemplar!

[grantfreeman]

Thank you so much, it's already ruined my life. Maybe I can turn this into something now

[Manima]

How do we determine what is a go and a no go function? Do we merely follow our intuition? For example, let's say our dopamine circuits reinforce reflexive cognitively stimulating behaviours through training, such as reading. Are our no-go functions implicitly "shallow", such as social media scrolling, eating junk food, etc? Or, are they reflexive behaviours which could be those aforementioned shallow behaviours or just reflexive ones which could also be implicily "deep", like reading, or learning a new language?

[Kampfrattex]

Thing is when I do a no go action I feel like I’m suppressing myself… and treating myself badly cause I’m denying me something.

[iyasalqasem]

Interesting practices which he says he is trying to do. But can he talk to their efficacy, or are they just experiments he's trying out?

[novamanzana]

"so you don't ruin your life" is crazy😂😂

[katayna_girl]

Wait- are the no-goes things you want to do or don’t?