John Assaraf: Innercise – Your Brain’s Inner Power
SANDRA SEDGBEER: Tell us about the science behind motivation. Why don’t we do the things that we know are good for us and how can we find the motivation to start and then stick with them.
JOHN ASSARAF: The definition I like to use for the word motivation is a motive for action, and there’s a lot of research that shows that if you don’t have a big reason why then you won’t. Let’s say somebody said, “If you don’t lose and keep off 20 lbs for a year, I’m going to take the person you love the most, and you’re not going ever to see them again,” You’d have a motive for consistent action, right? Barring any health issues, if you had to release 20 lbs and keep it off, you would do it. If somebody said to you, “If you don’t double your income in the next twelve months, we’re going to take away your favorite pet or the person you most love in the world forever! Would you ask people for help? Would you get whatever book you needed to help you overcome whatever obstacles you had? Would you learn whatever skill you needed to double your income within the next twelve months if you absolutely, unequivocally had to? For 99.9% of people that I meet the answer is “Of course I would.” And then I say,” So then you can, can’t you? So, let’s come up with a reason why you must that will motivate you.” We come up with a motivation and a goal, and a way to develop the habit to create a new pattern of thinking. Feeling, and being, now we’re giving the brain a goal, and the emotional juice of why, and when we set the habits and the strategies and tactics, the blueprint for doing it, we take action, we now have a trifecta of how the brain works, that will activate the motor circuits of the brain.
If we want to take it a step further, we get ourselves an accountability partner to keep us accountable to do what we say we’re going to do. Like the orchestra analogy, we’re now engaging a variety of different members of the brain. We’re using the neo-cortex to choose who we want; we’re using the limbic system to get emotionally rounded, we’re using the motor cortex to start taking some action, and when we learn the science of creating and reinforcing habits, we start changing our habitual ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It’s all just a process, and when people follow the process, it becomes easier. Of course, change requires some effort, some tenacity, resolve, and commitment, but the reward of who you become, of how you will feel, of achieving those goals, is so worthwhile.
SANDRA SEDGBEER: You’ve said that every human being is an addict. What are we addicted to?
JOHN ASSARAF: If you think about the brain, we become addicted to thought patterns. We become addicted to emotional patterns. We become addicted to behavioral patterns. We become addicted to people. We become addicted to certain foods, certain times of eating, certain expectations, a certain way that people will treat us, a certain way we treat people. We become addicted to constructive and destructive things. Why? Because the nature of our brain is to become addicted to creating patterns and our brains don’t give a hoot whether they’re positive patterns, negative patterns, empowering patterns, inspiring patterns, or expiring patterns. We become addicted to patterns, and the brain uses all of its energy to run these automatic subconscious patterns without thought. When you were a child, a toddler, you had to learn a pattern of how to brush your teeth, how to put on clothes, how to eat, how to learn the alphabet and words and sentences, all of which takes zero effort now because these patterns all run on autopilot, part of the automatic self.
So, why not use our brain to release and let go of any disempowering patterns in our brain and create and reinforce new patterns? Why not create new patterns by making a list of the things that are constructive and inspiring us and motivating us, and a list of the things that are destructive or demotivating us and preventing us from achieving our goals? That’s what’s possible.
SANDRA SEDGBEER: In your experience, how long does it take to create real change?
JOHN ASSARAF: The latest science out of the University of London says that on average a pattern, depending on how long you’ve had that habit, takes between 66 and 365 days to change. In our program, we’ve found it takes between 65 and 100 days to create a new pattern that goes from conscious effort to subconscious automaticity, which means it’s going to run itself, and then you reinforce it through different Innercises and behaviors.
SANDRA SEDGBEER: You have been addicted to alcohol and sugar, and In Innercise you share a story of how you were afraid to go to Las Vegas with a friend because you knew you were going to be confronted with some wonderful desserts that you didn’t think you would be able to resist. So, you prepared yourself ahead of time, using some of your Innercise processes and principles, one of which was making the change too small to fail. Can you expand on that one?
JOHN ASSARAF: Absolutely. Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to exercise, but you hate it I did this with my 86-year-old mother when she started to lose her mobility, and she wouldn’t walk or do anything. I call it reducing it to the ridiculous. So, I started by getting her to move just her fingers – squeeze in and then let go, five times left and five times right hand. “That’s all you have to do,” I said. So, for seven days, while I was visiting her in Montreal, that’s what we did – five times left hand, five times right hand, once only. That was easy for her. Then after seven days, I told her caregiver to do it twice. And then she did it three times. That was two years ago. Now not only does she do her legs, lifting them up and putting them down, her arms with her fingers and shoulders, and a few other exercises for upper body, she’s also walking up and down the hall ten times a day with her walker. She was almost immobile two years ago, but by reducing it to the ridiculous we developed a habit – and the thing about habits that I teach is that when you’re starting, the habit is more important than the intensity. So, reduce it to 30 seconds, reduce it to 10 seconds, reduce it to one thing, reduce it to one minute and do that consistently for one day, five days, ten days, 20 days, and then add more time or intensity. So, when you practice, you reinforce it. Practice the right things; you reinforce the right things; practice the wrong things, you reinforce the wrong things. So you can do that with something you want to start or something you want to stop. So, if you want to stop being an addict to your phone, stop for 15 minutes. If that’s too long, stop for five minutes. If that’s too long, stop for 1 minute, but then do it every hour. If you can’t do it every hour, do it once a day. If you can’t do it every day, do it once a week. Either way, whatever it is you want to reinforce, you will develop a pattern for.
Learn more about John Assaraf and Innercise
You can watch three of Brainathon Trainings with John Assaraf and other world-renowned brain and success experts at www.innercisebook.com/brainathon. To discover which beliefs, habits, and obstacles are holding you back, visit www.myneurogym.com/innercise and complete a free assessment. Get $200-$300 worth of free brain-training audios at www.ignitemybrain.com, www.excitemybrain.com when you buy Innercise on Amazon for $10.
