Dr. Adam Grant: How to Unlock Your Potential, Motivation & Unique Abilities

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Adam Grant, Ph.D., a professor of organizational psychology at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an expert in the science and practical steps for increasing motivation, maximizing and reaching our potential, and understanding how individuals and groups can best flourish. He is also an avid public educator, having written five bestselling books, delivered several top-ranking TED Talks and is the host of two psychology podcasts. We discuss how to overcome procrastination, how to increase intrinsic motivation (even for dreaded tasks), identify blind spots and rethink our assumptions, and how we can build a persistent growth mindset. We also explain tools to improve creativity and discuss the surprising relationship between creativity and procrastination. We then explore how to effectively solicit useful feedback and grow from constructive criticism and how you can improve your level of focus and attention using science-supported methods. We also discuss mental tools to get out of negative thought spirals, how to nurture potential in yourself or others, and the dark side of perfectionism. The discussion delivers more than a dozen science-supported protocols that are readily applicable to anyone seeking to live a more productive, fulfilling, and creative life. For show notes, including referenced articles and additional resources, please visit hubermanlab.com. Use Ask Huberman Lab, our new AI-powered platform, for a summary, clips, and insights from this episode. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman Momentous: https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Adam Grant (00:01:53) Sponsors: LMNT & Waking Up (00:05:56) Procrastination & Emotion; Curiosity (00:14:06) Creativity & Procrastination; Motivation (00:20:48) Intrinsic Motivation & Curiosity (00:27:59) Tool: Tasks & Sense of Purpose (00:29:34) Sponsor: AG1 (00:32:34) Extrinsic Rewards, Choice; Social Media (00:42:24) Tool: “Quiet Time” Protocol, Chronotypes (00:49:20) Tool: Creativity: Mornings, Movement, Stillness (00:58:14) Tools: Ideas & Filtering, Feedback & Opinions, Advice (01:07:15) Tool: Constructive Criticism, “Second Score”; Verbs (01:14:40) Tool: Growth Mindsets, Scaffolding; Job Innovation (01:21:50) Tools: Task Sequencing & Intrinsic Motivation; Tapering & Frame of Reference (01:30:03) Tools: Momentum, Confidence & Domains; Negative Thought Spirals (01:36:16) Tool: Phone & “To Don’t” List; Writing Ideas (01:39:54) Tool: Bias Blindspot, Reflected Best-Self Portrait (01:45:36) Helping Others, Synthesizing Information (01:50:24) Modes of Thinking, Blind Spots & Assumptions (01:56:10) Thinking Like a Scientist: Hypothesis-Testing & Discourse, Social Media (02:05:150 Tool: Authenticity, Sincerity & Etiquette, “Snapshot” & Online Presence (02:12:49) Realizing Potential: Motivation, Opportunity & Process (02:21:53) Skills to Realize Potential, Perfectionism (02:27:52) Tool: Early Success & Performance Cycle, “Failure Budget” (02:31:56) Future Projects, Complex Issues & Challenging Ideas (02:40:10) Artistic Hobbies, Magicians (02:45:55) Science Communication, Interest & Self-Relevance (02:52:16) Languishing, Descriptive Language & Emotions (03:00:09) Tool: Nurture Potential in Children, “Coach Effect” (03:10:16) Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer

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Huberman Lab discusses neuroscience — how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.  Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states such as fear and courage. He also works on neural regeneration and directs a clinical trial to promote visual restoration in diseases that cause blindness. Huberman is also actively involved in developing tools now in use by the elite military in the U.S. and Canada, athletes, and technology industries to optimize performance in high stress environments, enhance neural plasticity, mitigate stress and optimize sleep.   Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals including Nature, Science and Cell and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover and other top media outlets.  In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 5 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.