John Assaraf explains how to stay motivated by finding your big why, the goal with the deepest personal meaning to you. He connects this to brain areas that assign neurological value to ideas, and recommends meditation and self-reflection to activate that circuit. Deepening your intrinsic reasons for a goal brings calm, clarity, and sustained motivation.
Chapters
Hey, this is John, and I want to talk with you a little bit about motivation and keeping the motivation part of your brain activated so that you take action every single day. And here's a question for you. Which big idea or goal do you think your brain's going to respond to the most? And the answer is this, the one that has the deepest meaning, purpose and value to you. So the the deepest meaning, purpose and value to you. And I call this your big why. And it's shaped by the newest evolutionary structures in your brain. And just for technical reasons, it's called your insula and the anterior cingulate part of your brain. Now, these different parts of your brain are really something that place a neurological value on every idea that you have. And the more important the idea feels to you, whether it's personally, morally, or socially, the more your brain will be motivated to turn that idea or goal or dream into a reality. And things like meditation, self reflection, and mindfulness stimulate this specific circuit in your brain. And the more you discover and find your big why and really fill it with more purpose and meaning of why you want to achieve your goal, what you will do is you will become more calm, more clear, you'll make less mistakes. And most importantly, when you have a big why, you'll have the motivation, the motive for action to take the necessary steps to move you from idea or emotion to focusing on the goals and dreams you have. So have a goal, but then work at a deeper level of finding the intrinsic social, moral, or personal reason why you must achieve that goal.
