Coding is wild.
One day I feel like an idiot because something doesn't work right then the next day I feel like a genius for fixing the very bugs that caused it to not work right in the first place.
It's a rollercoaster of emotions.
The secret to winning is learning how to lose:
"The people who have never had a story of failure or trauma or difficulty, they're the most terrified and they are actually the most vulnerable."
"In a lot of ways, the secret to winning is learning how to lose. It's learning how to bounce back from a loss and figuring out how to show up again the next time despite that."
"By the time I got to my senior season, I said, I don't care. I would rather be out there. If we're going to lose, put it on my shoulders. I can handle it."
"What matters is not that you keep winning, but that you keep reaching. And eventually if you reach enough, something's going to work out for you."
"You have to be able to know how to lose. You have to be able to know how to come back from a loss."
@JamesClear on @hubermanlab
Protocol for instant motivation & alertness:
"When we move the large muscles of our body, the adrenals release adrenaline."
"Adrenaline doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier. So how does it increase our level of alertness in the brain?"
"Adrenaline binds to receptors on the vagus nerve itself. The vagus nerve in turn releases glutamate in the nucleus tractus solitaris."
"The locus coeruleus dumps a bunch of norepinephrine into the brain and increases your levels of alertness."
"If you're not feeling motivated to exercise, movement of the body that includes especially the legs and trunk muscles stimulates this pathway in a domino effect that makes the desire to move much more likely."
@hubermanlab
Understand link between dopamine & motivation:
"Dopamine is not just at the finish line. It's part of the neural circuitry algorithm that's driving us forward or causing us to pause."
"Those prediction errors are perfect signals for deciding how motivated you should be."
"Your nervous system keeps pushing you forward. That's what you're working for. You're working for this push forward drive."
"It lets you update and learn, and it codes for the kind of motivation you should have."
"Parkinson's is sort of like a flat value function. You can't really see differential value in things as you look around the world."
Dr. Read Montague & @hubermanlab
"I think the risks of loneliness far outweigh the risks of alcohol."
"95% of people are able to integrate alcohol and drugs into their life without serious consequences."
"What I ask people is to look back on their younger days and say what is the most important thing in your life? Relationships, friendships, finding someone to mate with. Did alcohol play a role?"
"What it does is lower inhibitions. The majority of people are good people. When they have a little bit of alcohol, they're more likely to hug you and say how much they appreciate the friendship."
"I worry that there's so many barriers now that young people just aren't connecting."
@profgalloway on @hubermanlab
"The best way to study and learn is to access components of your memory systems that offset forgetting."
"Rather than think about studying to learn and retain information, think about studying to offset the natural process of forgetting."
"Testing is not just a way of evaluating what knowledge you've acquired. It also turns out to be the best tool for offsetting forgetting of any kind."
"Preferred learning styles pretty much all melt away when you look at the research."
"Recognizing the errors in your information retention is another critical and very useful way to retain more information."
@hubermanlab
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control.
Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.
Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less.
The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.
Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre.
The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming.
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is, too.
Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason.
Having an unusually large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel.
If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit home runs while everyone else is aiming for base hits.
There is just less competition for bigger goals.
A surefire way to make a bad situation worse is to continue replaying it in your mind.
The damage is done. The only thing that matters now is making the best choice given your current position.
Next play mentality.
Major cheat code for life: Leave people better than you found them. A kind word. A thoughtful question. A small encouragement. A little more belief than they had before. You never know which sentence becomes the one someone carries for years.
There is no greater illusion than thinking the accomplishment of some goal will change your life. What will change your life is the person you become in the process of going for it.