How To Force Your Brain To Crave Doing Hard Things

This hidden brain switch unlocks unlimited motivation.

ABOUT ME

Rían Doris is the Co-Founder & CEO of Flow Research Collective, the world’s leading peak performance research and training institute focused on decoding the neuroscience of flow states and helping leaders and their teams unlock flow states consistently. Clients include Accenture, Audi, Facebook, Bain & the US Airforce.

Along with being listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 Rian's thought leadership has been featured in Fast Company, PBS and Big Think and he hosts Flow Research Collective Radio, an iTunes top 10 science podcast.

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Rian holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) from Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Neuroscience at King's College, London and an MBA. Rian is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Birmingham—focusing on how flow states affect perceived meaning in life.
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Prior to co-founding Flow Research Collective with Steven Kotler, Rian worked with NYT Bestselling Author Keith Ferazzi, and 12X NYT Bestselling Author Dr. Dan Siegel, distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

[riandoris]

Rían here. Thanks for watching. Ever feel like you're not living up to your full potential? Like there should be more—more focus, more drive, more achievement? Turns out, there's a specific type of motivation that unlocks all of that...and science shows it's far more powerful than the usual suspects like money, praise, or fame.

With the science-backed techniques in this PDF, you can use this type of motivation to complete a month’s worth of work in less than a day.

[AnRodz]

"You listen to the song to enjoy the song, not to finish listening to it." I love it.

[Bunny_rapper_forever]

The fact that nobody talks about the book whispers of manifestation on borlest speaks volumes about how people are stuck in a trance

[Ajith-Kumar-c]

Me trying to force my brain to watch this video

[relicofgold]

5 intrinsic motivators that keep you motivated, keep you in the flow state:
1) Curiosity: The insatiable urge to learn, a book you cannot put down.
2) Purpose. You make sacrifices because the work is something you care about/passionate about.
3) Mastery: Pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement, the musician who practices after the concert.
4) Autotelicity: The Love of the work you do it just because you love it even if you did not get paid.
5) Autonomy: The feel of being in control of the when, how, and what of your work.
To sum up: 
You need to be in control of a passionate objective in which you want to become supremely accomplished.

[NeilLangford]

Dropped out of my PhD 10 years ago and joined industry. Your success story is inspiring me to start my own research lab. I don't know how I'll make it work but I'm super excited!

[ElieLabeca]

There's so much value distilled and compressed in these 25 minutes of content, that it's evident a lot of work and effort has been put into it. So thank you for making this available.

[lucasa]

One idea: when I see videos like this they always talk about what people that achieved success had in common, but this can be miss leading, making a study about all the people that failed is as much as important

[Handsonnelly]

Finally, a video where how my brain is operating is totally explained. I knew there was more to what I was going through, rather than just being labeled just can’t follow through.

[xdfkgyr]

You are probably the only YouTube channel that made me watch all of your previous videos because every video you do is meaningful. Now I never skip a video because you are the best source of information about productivity there is on YouTube.

[DaltonKevinM]

I have ADHD. I do not have to force my brain to do hard things. I have to force it to do easy things.

[kngkeyo]

I’ve found this channel just yesterday and already watched 4 videos and I love it!

It’s such a profound wisdom packaged in easy to digest form and presented really well. No fluff, no bs. And it comes from a guy who’s into personal development for years upon years and you speak directly to my problems. Sometimes I feel like I have all this potential and I just can’t work. You give me hope to get unstuck in life. Thank you

[jacynthakamor]

I love “YouTube University” but this is one of the best videos I’ve seen. Excellent, inspiring, needed as I launch my new biz and working harder than ever. I feel affirmed that my purpose and desire for mastery are high. My curiosity and autonomy fluctuate as I have to learn things I don’t always want to and do often feel under pressure. Autotelicity feels lowest but definitely present at times. Sometimes sheer willpower and discipline + remembering extrinsic motivators are needed to start, then the momentum increases in these intrinsic motivators to keep going.

[elixirlove]

Rian, you are an absolute Godsend! Thank you so much for creating this.

It’s exactly what I needed to understand. I’m highly purpose driven, but felt stuck in soul-draining jobs which affected my mental health and wellbeing for nearly a decade, so when I say this video really helped me get through my stuck state, it really has.

I’m so grateful you shared this with us. Really interested in this and will look into it further. Thank you once again!

[davidskues]

Finally video with some usable, understandable, practical information in it on how and what I can do something about in my thinking, perceptions and actions to both kick things off and keep them driving! Thank you Rian. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. I am definitely going to put this information into practice starting today!

[dmitrysamoilov]

Feel Lucky. You're alive. The universe could stop existing at any moment, but you're still here. Once you feel lucky, it's easier to "do" things, although, you're not really "doing things" at that point. You're just experiencing what's it's like to be lucky. The luckier you feel, the free-er you are to "do" the things that you suggest to yourself... and, as a result, the more you accomplish.

[stijnnoorman]

Love this Rian! Purpose is extremely powerful. It took me years to find mine and I attribute my addiction to cheap dopamine to this. When you constantly desenstize your brain with these instant gratification activities, it becomes harder to pick up on the things in your daily life that you actually love to do. Learning to control myself has recovered my brain's reward system and this made me find my purpose. Like you explained in the video, this truly unlocks unlimited motivation. It seems to others like I'm working all day but it feels to me like I'm playing all day.

[maurykermit]

This is literally the best video I have watched on flow so far, and I've watched A LOT.

[Makayla-Emerson]

That's insane! Everything you are saying I experienced in my dreams. And now I am stumbling on the facts and putting together the meaning of things I did not know but subconciously. Vivid dreams are indeed a window, a realm into the human soul. Specially recurring vivid dreams.

[justabout]

Hands down, best video I've seen all year. So many give the advice of having intrinsic motivation, but no one ever entails what that means or how to get there. I really appreciate what you've shared, and you have a way with words, amazing articulation and vocabulary.