The Science of Setting & Achieving Goals

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2022

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) The Neuroscience of Goals (00:01:56) Tool 1: Learn Fast(er) by the 85% Rule (00:06:04) Sponsors (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, Supplements, Instagram, Twitter, Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:09.1	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.3	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we're talking all about goals and the science of goal setting and achieving your goals.
0:20.4	There's a tremendous amount of information on the internet and in books and so forth about how to set goals and
0:26.2	assess your progress towards goals and update your goals and so forth. In fact, there are so many programs out there
0:33.4	that include so many different acronyms that it can be a little bit overwhelming.
0:37.4	Today's conversation about goals is going to be quite a bit different. Indeed, we are going to talk about setting goals.
0:43.4	We are also going to talk about how to assess progress towards goals and we are going to talk about goal execution.
0:51.0	However, we're going to do all of this in the context of neuroscience.
0:55.1	Because it turns out that there are not hundreds or dozens or even several
1:02.0	neural circuits in your brain that control goal setting and movement toward your goals.
1:06.6	There is one and while it includes many different brain areas that one circuit is the same circuit that's responsible for
1:14.4	pursuing all goals and it relates to some very basic neurochemical mechanisms that are understood.
1:20.0	So while there's a wealth of information out there about goals and goal setting and goal achievement and so forth,
1:25.6	there's comparatively little information that's been available to the public about the neuroscience of goal setting and goal achievement.
1:32.6	So that's what we're going to focus on today. I promise that we're going to get into the neuroscience.
1:37.5	We're going to touch on a little bit of the psychology and how the neuroscience relates to what's known in the psychology literature.
1:43.3	And we are going to establish several in fact four specific protocols that you can use for goal setting, goal assessment and goal execution in an ongoing basis
1:53.5	regardless of what your personal goals happen to be.
1:56.1	Before we dive into our conversation about goals and goal setting and goal achievement,
2:00.0	I'd like to highlight some recent scientific findings that I think are going to be interesting and actionable for many of you out there.
2:06.4	In earlier podcasts, we talked about neuroplasticity, which is the brain's ability to change in response to experience.
	...

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