How to motivate yourself to change your behavior | Tali Sharot | TEDxCambridge

What does make us change our actions? Tali Sharot reveals three ingredients to doing what's good for yourself.

Dr. Tali Sharot is a neuroscientist at University College London and the director of the Affective Brain Lab. She is a faculty member of the department of Experimental Psychology, a Wellcome Trust Fellow, and currently a visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on how emotion, motivation, and social factors influence our expectations, decisions, and memories.

[juliab]

i even had to motivate myself to watch this

[stormeyes]

All of these 2020 comments taught me that we are all coming here for self help. Proud of you all

[graceannneri]

1. Social incentives
2. Immediate reward
3. Progress monitoring

[lillybellep]

I used to hate doing dishes. I always did them by myself growing up because my 2 siblings one older one younger would start a fight with me and I would fall into their trap by telling them to leave and I would do it by myself which is what they ultimately wanted. Somehow I would be blamed for causing the fights. So if they were gone I couldn't be blamed.
Fast forward after marriage having to to dishes myself I began to leave them, as my mother did. But one day it changed. I was making a pot of tea. While waiting for the water to boil I was going to leave the kitchen and watch tv. But I would not know when the water was boiling. So I washed the dishes while waiting. It took about the same time to finish the dishes as it took to heat the water and brew the tea. I realized the chore was not as bad as it seemed and I got my reward of a hot cup of tea I enjoyed more knowing I had all ready done the chore I dreaded. I got into doing this everyday. Now
I dont have to have the tea any more to do the dishes I enjoy doing them knowing how short a time it takes and I do them after every meal. I can enjoy going into the kitchen more because it is neat and clean. I must have had a lot of negative things associated with dishwashing. Thanks to cup of tea, no more.

[Raghadhav]

"Fear induces inactoin while the thril of a gain induces action" well said!

[kaitlincullis]

I play a little mind game that I learned from “Your Success Method by Michael Kennedy” …so whenever I feel that I’m gonna procrastinate on a task or feeling that my motivation is off, I start playing this “game” in my mind that reframes the whole task and makes it a whole lot easier for me to work on the task instead of letting my mind say “I’ll do it later”, its not the same as visualisations which is less powerful IMO

[germandimplez]

13:42 “Highlight the progress. Not the decline.” Scientifically proven fact. How many of us focus on the negative? Thx for the life lesson ❤️

[student]

I'm in university and I keep telling myself "if I procrastinate, I won't get good grades, I might fail, and I won't get an internship, I won't get a good job". I've been saying things like that since I was 10 or 11. And I still procrastinate a lot.
This video changed my perspective. I should instead be telling myself "I WILL get good grades, I just need to procrastinate less. An internship and good job is ahead of me, if I make the choice of not succumbing to temporary pleasures and focus instead."

[mindsvoices]

I know why social media is very addictive for us. Because it gives us the immediate reward by the time we post something (‘likes’ notification) which we don’t easily get in a real social interaction. That’s why some people look superior in social media but lack of confidence in their real life. By listening to this talk, I definitely agree that we need to focus more on the progress of what we/other people do, instead of the results. Because we cannot please people to give us the reward, so we have to value our progressing work as the reward.

[diegomartinez]

Notes:
-Science shows that warning has little influence on behavior; it's effective but limited.
-People tend to change their beliefs towards a more desirable option (in all ages)
-Kids, teenagers, and elderly people are less likely to learn from warnings
Three principles that drive the behavior and mind
1-Social incentive: we are motivated through the positive actions of others.
2-Immediate reward: reward your good behavior.
3-Progress monitoring: We are motivated by seeing progress.
-Highlight the process, not the decline
-Giving people a sense of control is a motivator

[sadturn]

Less than a minute in “ so let’s say your trying to stop yourself from snacking”
*freezes midbite in my ice cream bar*

[designer-garb]

That's how I raised my daughter with encouragement instead of punishment, worked out pretty great.

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures bristling with prejudice and motivated by pride and vanity.”
― Dale Carnegie

[rvesyts]

My comment will probably get lost but whoever reads this.. You got this! Whatever you are going through will get better hang in there ️

[olaflieser]

It works!
Here in Germany it has become usual for a town to place a speed radar at the town entrance, and a monitor telling people "you are travelling at ... speed" with a "thankyou" and a smile if you comply with the speed limit - or a "please slow down" if traveling too fast. No police, no citation. But it really works, people want to comply if they have that positive feedback. Positive feedback rather than the abstract warning of dire consequences.
Just like the nurses with the machine feedback they get regarding cleaning their hands as they enter a patient's room, which the presenter describes.
It works with me and one can watch drivers respond to this!

[Aeonized]

If people knew this, raising children, teaching students, motivating coworkers, then we'd have a better world.

[hsetiono]

How to motivate yourself to change your behaviour:

1. Social incentives (aka Social proof)
2. Immediate rewards (aka Instant gratification)
3. Progress monitoring (aka Show them the benefits)

[elpanchitoruso]

“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.”

[atlovordnassela]

I just love the way how she, with evidence, goes through science to practical life. Amazing!. Thank you so much!

[ginag.]

As a teacher of students with behavioral problems I reward them all the time. And they behave for the most part, produce results, are motivated and most importantly learn!! I've done it for 19 years and when people tell me I'm good at what I do, I know it's because kids are engaged and motivated to get their rewards, so they participate in classroom work.