The Science of Setting & Achieving Goals

In this episode, I discuss the science of setting, assessing, and pursuing goals. I explain the neural (brain) circuits that underlie goal setting and pursuit. Then I describe nine science-supported tools anyone can apply toward their goals. I explain when and how to use goal visualization, when to use multitasking and how to use specific rewards to improve the likelihood of reaching your goals. I also explain why envisioning failures and their consequences are effective and how to set goals of the appropriate level of challenge. I also explain how the molecule dopamine is used to gauge our progress toward milestones and long-term overarching goals and how to leverage dopamine for goal pursuit. Finally, I explain a unique tool called 'space-time bridging' that can be used to support all aspects of goal setting, assessment, and pursuit. This episode ought to be useful for anyone seeking to improve their performance in work, school, exercise, athletics, or personal development.

#HubermanLab #Goals #Neuroscience

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 The Neuroscience of Goals
00:01:56 Tool 1: Learn Fast(er) by the 85% Rule
00:06:04 LMNT, Athletic Greens, ROKA
00:13:55 Brain Circuits for Setting & Pursuing Goals
00:21:52 Determining the Value of Goals
00:24:33 Psychology of Goal Setting: Assessing Value, Action Steps
00:30:29 Peripersonal Space vs. Extrapersonal Space
00:35:39 Visually Focusing on a Goal Line Improves Performance
00:43:50 How Vision Improves Performance: Blood Pressure
00:51:55 Tool 2: Use Focal Vision to Initiate Goal Pursuit
00:54:40 Tool 3: Use Aged Self-Images to Self-Motivate
00:59:33 Tool 4: Visualization of Goals is Only Helpful at the Start
01:02:05 Tool 5: Visualizing Failure is the Best Ongoing Motivator
01:07:26 Tool 6: Make Goals Moderately Lofty
01:13:05 Tool 7: Avoid Goal Distraction; Focus on 1-2 Major Goals Per Year
01:15:57 Tool 8: Ensure Specificity of Goals, Weekly Assessment
01:19:57 Dopamine, Motivation & Pleasure in Seeking Goals
01:22:43 Dopamine Reward Prediction Error, Controlling Dopamine
01:34:26 How Dopamine Influences Vision & Vice Versa
01:38:10 Interim Summary of Goal-Pursuit Steps
01:39:50 Tool 9: Space-Time Bridging
01:49:59 Summary
01:51:50 Subscribe, Sponsors, Patreon, Supplements: Thorne, Instagram, Twitter, Newsletter

Please note that The Huberman Lab Podcast is distinct from Dr. Huberman's teaching and research roles at Stanford University School of Medicine. The information provided in this show is not medical advice, nor should it be taken or applied as a replacement for medical advice. The Huberman Lab Podcast, its employees, guests and affiliates assume no liability for the application of the information discussed.

[AmitMishra-qsru]

In the era of 15 sec tik tok and reals we are watching 2 hr non stop neuroscience and psychology hats of to you 👑

[lionhead]

- failing 15% of time = optimal for learning
- much of goal directed behavior is to avoid things which cause fear
- four areas which effect goals - 1. anxiety fear - 2. action and inaction - 3. planning and thinking 4. emotionality (where we sit at emotionality right now and where we think we will be upon accomplishing goal)
- two primary components of goals: 1. value information - understanding if something is worth pursuing and which actions to take and 2. which actions not to take given the value of a goal
- one neurotransmitter which governs goals, assessment, and setting value of pursuits = dopamine
- 3 things for goal pursuit - 1. goal setting 2. assessment 3. goal execution.
- tool 1for goal accomplishment - understand difference between peripersonal space (all space within inside of body and immediate environment) and extrapersonal space (everything beyond the confines of your reach / internal and immediate environment)
- moving towards any goal means setting thinking towards extrapersonal
- human beings have to make evaluations if they are on the right track
- multitasking is good but has to be placed at a specific time within goal seeking behavior to be effective
- most people can hold attention for about 3 minutes at a time
- when we multitask, there is an increase in adrenaline. doing multitasking prior to goal directed behavior is useful because it gets us into action.
- don't want to multitask during goal pursuit behavior
- visual focus, and contracting visual window to a fine point can increase clarity of goal seeking and chance you will pursue your goals
- looking at narrow piece of visual world and forcing self to hold that point increases cognitive ability and focus
- when we focus on an external point, we focus on the extrapersonal space. we are placing vision on a point outside external body, thus putting body into goal pursuing mode
- looking at a specific visual point decreases perception of effort and increases efficiency
- visual focus on one location puts body into state of readiness which promotes pursuit of goal
- understand mental frame and attention are always positioned towards peripersonal or extrapersonal space.
- keep in mind the goal you want to pursue, then focus vision on one point outside of peripersonal space. hold vision from 30-60 seconds. this puts brain in mode of action. then move into particular actions which lead towards accomplishment of goal
- visualization - is it effective? visualization of the end goal is effective in getting the goal process started, however not good for maintaining the goal
- over time the visual of the end goal becomes a poor thing to rely on in maintaining the goal
- visualizing failure is the optimal way towards accomplishing the goal. thinking about all the ways one could fail en route to said goal
- near doubling in probability of reaching a goal if focusing routinely on foreshadowing failure - - thinking about the way things could fail if you did this or that or didn't take this action
- option a : think about how great you will feel at end point (good at start)
- option b : think about what's gonna happen if you don't do this? (good for maintaining progress)
- foreshadowing failure is best way to reach goals. think about how bad its going to be if you fail. how disappointing in yourself you will feel if you don't do it, how negatively it will impact you, how much you will regret not doing it, etc.
- the more specific you can get in writing and visualizing how bad its going to be if you don't do it, the greater chance you will attain your goal (note: this made me laugh)
- the brain is much better at moving away from fearful things than towards things we want
- visualize in a positive away at beginning of goal, then focus on avoiding failure, and be very clear on what those failures would look like and feel like
- what kind of goal does it need to be? inspirational and exciting. when people set goals, if goal is too easy it doesn't recruit enough of nervous system to make pursuit of said goal likely. if a goal is too far away/hard, it produces a similar outcome.
- when goals are moderate/moderately hard, just out of immediate abilities, or one felt that would take a lot of effort but is in range, then there was near doubling in likelihood of engaging in pursuit of said goal.
- limit your options - pursuing too many goals at once can be counterproductive. set 1-3 major goals.
- people orientate their attention towards what is in front of us. visual sparseness helps focus on our goals. try and create physical surroundings in alignment with said goals/eliminate distractions.
- there needs to be a concrete plan. a specific set of action steps that get right down to what success would look like.
- goals need to have extremely specific and detailed information about action steps in pursuit of goal, and we need to constantly be updating those action steps so that have a higher probability of meeting those action steps
- how often should one assess progress? weekly is a good starting place for addressing performance. based on performance, update action steps for upcoming week
dopamine is the molecule of motivation.
- how to optimize dopamine for pursuit of goals?
- dopamine - reward prediction error: dopamine released in greatest amount when something happens that is positive and novel. if we anticipate something positive we receive a lesser amount of dopamine in the anticipation than if it was novel. biggest increases in dopamine = positive and unexpected. lesser dopamine = positive expected things happen. predict something good = increase in dopamine, however if predicted thing doesn't occur, there is large drop in dopamine (dissapointment)
- being forced to do something is unhealthy
- our subjective understanding of why we are doing something is fundamentally important towards accomplishment
- pick a interval to assess progress and if you have been making progress, then you reward yourself. the reward is all mental. example: saying "yes I am on the right track" at interval (this provides dopamine)
- do this at an interval which you can maintain consistently. daily or weekly. consistency is key
- predict and visualize failure, but do not think of ourselves as failing. think and act in a way attune with success and reward yourself from successful actions.

- cold showers are good for long lasting dopamine
- visual focus increases motivation, readiness, and willingness. when visual focus defuses, we become relaxed and comfortable in personal space, and are less likely to pursue goals
- plan concretely. concrete set of actions to follow
- focus on particular points to remove distractors and get body ready for forward motion towards goals
- "space time bridging" - using visual system to focus on peripersonal space then gradually stepping into extrapersonal space then back into peripersonal
- tool for accomplishing goals: go somewhere indoor or outdoor but ideally where you can view a horizon. close your eyes and focus as much as your attention and visual attention on inner landscape. breathing, heartrate. imagine your inner landscape, eliminate perception of outer world. focus on everything within your body. 100% internal. do this for 3 deep breaths. then open your eyes, and focus your visual attention to an area on the surface of your body. try to focus on internal state and a little bit of external. 90% internal 10% external. do this for 3 deep breaths. then focus attention towards 10-15 feet away. 90% external and 10% internal for 3 deep breaths. then move visual attention towards horizon or as far off as you can see. 100% attention towards external location for 3 deep breaths. then try and expand vision and cognition to a much broader sphere. dilate field of view so you can see as much as possible of external surroundings for 3 breaths. then return immediately to internal landscape for 3 breaths and once again entirely focus on internal landscape. repeat this process 2-3 times
- this practice teaches us to orientate to different locations in space, therefore different locations in time, which is the fundamental essence of goals

thank you dr. hubmerman!!! would love to see a podcast on the law of attraction and how to optimize thought/emotions towards accomplishment of goals
god bless!

[ayusharyan]

Basic terminology :
1. Amygdala is associated with fear.
2. Goals are directed to escape from financial loss, embarrassment etc.
3. Go and no go circuits which initiates action. Basal ganglia
4. Cortex. Lateral prefrontal for hinking under different time scale and orbital frontal cortex for relating where we are what we want to be.
5. anxiety and fear, emotionality, planning and thinking and action and inaction.

What's a goal?
1. Value information. Whether or not something is really important to pursue at this moment. Placing a value.
2. Action. Which actions to take and which actions not to take.
3. A goal should be achievable, believable, rewarding and the person should be committed to it.
4. It has to be a big goal, concrete description, action oriented, inspirational, time bound, realistic.

How you act?
1. Peripersonal space : you and your surroundings and consuming those things governed by oxytocin and serotonin.
2. Extrapersonal space : everything beyond your reach at that location. Lead the thinking by dopamine.
3. You need to move back and forth between them.

Attention and focus :
1. A person can hold attention for 3 minutes at a time. Doing multitasking releases adrenaline and doing it before the goal oriented task initiates action.
2. Contracting your visual window to a very fine point can increase the clarity of goal seeking and the likelihood.
3. If you see yourself wondering around, focus on a tiny little dot or a line for 60 seconds.
4. Looking at the goal line clearly can decrease the time by 25% and effort by 20% because it makes you alert and ready.
5. You don't only need to think about the goal but should have a desire to act upon.
6. Hence, you like to compete because there is a clear goal, deadline, improvisation, value to it.

How to start working?
1. Now hold your attention to a confined area for 30 to 60 seconds. It activates the action mode.
2. Or you can start multitasking around the things you need to do.

Foreshadow failure :
1. Visualizing your goal is effective if you do it properly and harmful if you do it incorrectly.
2. Visualizing the larger goal like being the richest person can lead you to action but, you will losse focus in pursuit. And overtime is becomes worthless.
3. The much better way is visualizing failure in all the way they can to double your probability of succeeding. ✅
4. But don't think that you actually are failing because it is counterproductive.
5. Visualise the negative health outcomes, disappointment and everything bad it can be if you fail. This associates value to your goal.
6. The brain and body is much better than moving away from your fear than it is to get towards the things you want.

Goal setting :
1. When the goal is just outside of your immediate reach then your chance of doing it doubles. Set moderate goals.
2. Limit your options and don't get distracted by other goals. ✅
3. Having a concrete plan of specific action steps makes the goal 100x more achievable.
4. Weekly assessment of your progress is good to improve the quality of work.
5. The biggest increase in dopamine is when you get positive and unanticipated novel reward. Don't predict something good will happen.
6. Our understanding of why we are doing something is fundamentally important for the effects we are going to have.
7. You need to reward yourself by showing that you are accomplishing your weekly goals clearly.
8. Cold shower increase the amount of dopamine in your body by 2.5x

Recap :
1. Set goals that are challenging but possible.
2. Plan concretely.
3. Foreshadow failure but don't accept it.
4. Focus on particular visual points.

Space time bridging :
1. Close your eyes and focus on your inner landscape like breathing, surface of your skin etc by imagining and eliminate outside elements.
2. Now open your eyes and focus on some areas of the surface of your body like palm for 90% attention internal and 10% external.
3. Now move 90% of your attention to an external object.
4. Then move your 100% attention to a distant horizon.
5. Then broaden your visual focus so that you can see as much as you can.
6. Now focus 100% on your internal landscape again.
7. Repeat the process for 2 to 3 minutes. Once a day to map the time difference.
8. Do it for 3 slow breaths.

[motomow]

I'm a recovering meth addict...3 months Sober today! Thank You Doctor Huberman for giving me the tools necessary to get my "Happy" back. Your videos on addiction and dopamine have delivered the skills I desperately sought to remain an inspiration to those I deeply care for who still suffer from addiction and who WERE too scared to take the initial steps necessary to a longer, healthier and happier future. Seeing how much happier I am and how fast my life is blossoming at 44-after doing Meth Since I was 15-is blowing minds and helping people I know who had given up rethink they're potential. Your Amazing and I want to thank you for changing peoples lives in such a noble, infectious way. Sir you are a blessing! Thank you for saving my life!

[beto]

This podcast is like having the instructions manual for life.

[veganyogi]

Last 12 minutes of this podcast is an ancient yoga practice called yoga Nidra. Where in we set or mentally repeat our goals(Sankalpa) and look into our inner landscape, then become aware of the immediate surrounding, and keep switching between the two.
Thank you so much for this beautiful talk.

[archieprovan]

What a saint this man, he's doing an incredible service in a time when we need people like him most (western culture at least). Dr. Huberman I am highly appreciative of your impressive work in providing information that most would take out a large loan just to attend. Thank you internet and if you're reading this I wish you well in your journey!

[nabieladrian]

Still can't believe you literally gave it all free.
Thank you!

[MMyL]

I get such a HUGE boost of dopamine every time I see a new video of the Huberman lab podcast 🤩

[TaylorsOdyssey]

Andrew, I just wanted to say that your podcast has truly changed my life. I have struggled my whole life with mental health and undiagnosed adhd and a slew of other things. I've felt broken for so long, like I'll never be able to achieve my goals or be successful. Listening to your podcast, learning about neuroscience, understanding how the brain works and learning how to work WITH it and change it... this has given me so much hope for my future. Knowing that I really do have the power to change my life by changing my brain (neuroplasticity is SO exciting!!) is so motivating. It's not an easy journey, but I will reach my true potential if I just stay the course. Thank you for being a true teacher and mentor. You are helping so many people, and we are so grateful. <3

[wanted]

For a year now since this podcast started, I have to listen to this on my morning commute to work and it’s still informative and practical. This basically free college diploma material handed to us on Youtube. Thanks Dr. Huberman, cheers!🧉

[ingeholmes]

Andrew Hubermann is the gift that is inexhaustible !
I love listening to him daily.

Andrew, at 86 I could be your grandmother
and you are keeping me physically, emotionally and mentally remarkably fit.
This and Dr. David Sinclair - I am covered 🤗

[marvinbecker]

I can't believe it has been 55 Episodes already, and I have watched every single one.

[Ajay]

If I was 16, I would have studied hard and would have done everything to be in your class to learn from you. You are a great teacher. Being an engineer, I’m fascinated to learn more science about my own body, brain, hormones and emotion in your podcast with all the valuable tools to help me in my day to day life. I wish you were my professor. Keep up the good work. We need more teachers like you..

[PracticalHealthNow]

I wish every single professor in leading labs across the US and the globe had such podcasts. That will be real zero-cost learning and fast propagation of scientific knowledge! Thank you, professor Huberman, for showing the way!

[sharooz]

Dr. HUBERMAN is the gem of a teacher. Great teachings!

[calebushee]

Recently discovered your channel, as a young man I recommend this to all my peers. Thank you Dr. Huberman!

[simpleman]

Andrew, your videos, no exaggeration here, are single-handily helping me finally get my life together (or at least I'm less far away from that).
Thank you so very much!

[evereverse]

I am an art student who has no medical education history at all, I ve just found myself being quite interested about it. I have been watching every episode since the beginning and I had absolutely no troubles keeping up or processing the knowledge efficiently. It is a beautiful and inspiring thing what you do, and even above all the informative tools and datas, it also effected my daily perception on life tremendously. Thank your for all your efforts and works Dr. Huberman.

[illssolution]

WOW! I've been the rat who was forced to run on the wheel all my life - until today. I think of ALL the work Dr. Huberman puts into these programs; preparation, presentation with his OH SO effective instruction style and manner, and post-production. Expressing my gratitude does not seem to be enough until I read the comments below. Now I understand his WHY behind his work. Looking forward to making 2022 my best year yet in the company of many others who have also viewed this program.