#162 How to become hyper focused and indistractable with Nir Eyal

“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.” Paulo Coelho

In this week's episode of The Unconventionalists podcast, I sit down with Nir Eyal, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of "Hooked" and "Indistractable”, investor, consultant and public speaker to find out the number one reason why people don’t achieve their goals and what we can do to become hyper focused and indistractable.

It’s a powerful conversation that I hope will be as much of a game changer to you as it was to me.

Nir’s book “Indistractable”is one of my favourite books I read in 2021 and I just knew I had to get him on the podcast to better understand what truly drives us to do what we do.

As you will hear in our conversation, it turns out that 90% of the problem with distraction has nothing to do with technology or external factors, it has everything to do with our internal triggers.

Plato, the Greek philosopher was complaining about distraction 2,500 years ago! That’s why Nir believes that conventional advice towards becoming less distracted is silly. Instead of focusing on trying to get rid of our smart phones we must first learn how to manage our internal triggers that drive our behaviour.

That’s right, most distractions begin from within. Nir argues that it’s our desire to escape discomfort, or as he calls them internal triggers, be it boredom, loneliness, fatigue, uncertainty, stress or anxiety, this is why we’re looking for escape.

Whether it’s too much news, too much booze or too much Facebook we’re going to look for distraction if we don’t know how to deal with those integral triggers.

“The only way to handle distraction is to learn how to handle pain.” Nir Eyal

My favourite takeaway was that time management is actually pain management and that self-compassion may be the most underrated hack to productivity. Who knew that trying to stop the urge to do something was the very reason why we end up doing the very thing we don’t want to do (I know, very meta!).

This is a juicy conversation you won’t want to miss as we also dive deeper into Nir’s process to write binge-worthy books that people can’t stop talking about.

As always I can’t wait to hear what you got out of today’s conversation, so please get in touch and let me know!

Be true, be brave, be kind and let it rip.

Mark

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IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN

  • How to have indistractable relationships

  • The number one reason why people don’t achieve their goals (this will blow your mind)

  • Why technology may not be the problem to our inability to focus

  • Why good writing is good thinking

  • How a 1,000 article in The Times shaped the rest of Nir’s life

  • The difference between behaviours vs habits

  • Why involving your readers in the process is a really good idea (i.e. create a contributor programme)

  • The unconventional path that took Nir from a serial entrepreneur to a professional writer

  • Understanding the root cause vs the proxy cause of our behaviour (and why it matters)

  • How to identify internal triggers vs external triggers

  • Why telling yourself not to do something is actually reinforcing the negative behaviour you’re trying to avoid

  • Why “The 10-Minute Rule” may change your life

  • The truth about habits than nobody is telling you

  • Why meditation isn’t a habit

  • How to differentiate the voice of doubt (i.e. impostor syndrome) with the voice of reason (healthy self-awareness)

  • Why Jazz is a great metaphor for creativity 

  • The importance of doing your homework to create binge-worthy content

  • How to identify your core triggers driving you to engage in negative behaviour

  • And why self-compassion is the ultimate productivity hack


SHOWNOTES:


SPONSORS

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