How to Eliminate Distractions by Dr. Ravi Sharma

Brief Summary

This video discusses a method to achieve clarity and consistency in life by forming habits and managing distractions. It introduces the "CLEAR" mnemonic, which includes Clarify the Question, Limit the Exposure, Engage in Alternatives, and Analyze the Reward. The video emphasizes that focus is a practiced habit, not a natural trait, and provides practical steps to reinforce progress and maintain consistency.

  • Focus is a practiced habit, not a natural trait.
  • The "CLEAR" mnemonic helps in managing distractions and forming positive habits.
  • Analyzing the reward of avoiding distractions is crucial for maintaining focus.

Introduction

The video starts with the presenter talking about a student's question on how to achieve clarity and consistency in life. The presenter admits that he initially struggled to answer the question, which prompted him to think deeply about the topic. The core of the question revolves around how to stay consistent in pursuing goals, as motivation often fades over time.

The Question That Needed Clarity

The student's question was about how the presenter has maintained consistency over the years. The presenter reflects on the need for a system of habit formation to achieve consistency. Winning or achieving in life is a habit that requires setting up a positive feedback loop. This loop isn't accidental but comes from years of practice.

Habit of Having a Focus

Distraction is a natural state, while focus is a self-generated habit. Many people feel bad about not being focused or consistent, but it's important to recognise that focus is a practiced skill. The presenter introduces a method to form the habit of having focus by establishing a positive feedback loop.

Step 1: C - Clarify the Question

The first step in forming a habit is to clarify the question or the trigger that causes distraction. This involves being aware and accepting that something is a distraction. For example, if someone is distracted by thoughts of a past relationship, they need to acknowledge and pen down that this is a distraction.

Step 2: L - Limit the Exposure

The second step is to limit exposure to the identified trigger. For instance, if a past relationship is a distraction, one should avoid contact with the ex-partner and eliminate reminders like old photos or specific music. This step involves removing everything from the environment that leads to the distraction.

Step 3: E - Engage in Alternatives

The third step involves engaging in an alternative habit that consumes time and is equally valuable. For students, this could be focusing on exam preparation. The idea is to replace the distracting activity with a productive one.

Step 4: A - Analyze the Reward

The most crucial part is analyzing the reward of not engaging in the distracting behavior. The presenter explains that success in life depends on the balance between the prefrontal cortex (executive function) and the singulate gyrus (emotional drive). Instead of dwelling on the problem, one should focus on the benefits of avoiding the distraction. For example, a smoker should focus on the benefits of quitting smoking rather than constantly thinking about the urge to smoke.

Final Steps: Reinforce the Progress

The final step is to reinforce the progress made. This involves acknowledging and reinforcing personal achievements. The cycle then repeats, helping to maintain focus and manage distractions. For every distraction, the CLEAR cycle should be followed: identify the clue, limit exposure, engage in an alternative activity, analyze the reward of not doing it, and reinforce the progress.

Conclusion and End Motivation

The presenter concludes by emphasizing that the CLEAR technique is a scientifically proven method used in psychoanalysis and CBT sessions. It involves consistently practicing the cycle to eliminate distractions and improve commitment and focus. The technique can be applied to various distractions, including past exam results or personal problems. The presenter hopes that this technique will be life-transforming for the viewers, helping them achieve clarity and consistency in their lives.

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Transcript

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0:00 my topic today uh for is actually dedicated to one of the student who was trying to ask a question which I could not answer and it needed a lot of clarity and I had to sit back and think about the right answer because honestly speaking I have not replied back to that person on telegram because I couldn't answer the right thing was that person was asking so that student question of that student was specific to me K sir life me so how do you get clarity in life okay what you want to do how you

0:46 want to do and how to be consistent right how to be consistent like there are people who for some reason like on the day one of any class which starts or any program which starts all of us tend to be very motivated right so we are going to do it but this motivation eventually fades it fades as the day passes as the days come as weeks come finally exam comes they're ups and down so people are not consistent so motivation dies off but somehow that person asked me that considering that person had sent me my CV from the aim site so that person

1:32 asked me that how over years you were consistent in everything you did so probably it came reflexly to me and I didn't have the right answer how to be consistent at that time so after thinking a lot I realized that to be consistent first of all you need to have a system of habit formation right habit form system so winning is a habit winning or achieving in life is a habit it is like addiction that addiction cycle is not set up for most people they are not able to get into that Loop which keeps them

2:17 that positive feedback that one after the other one after the other thing keeps happening to them and it is not an accident it is practice it is actually practice for years it will not come to you naturally naturally we are not born to achieve or win anything in life right so naturally the natural tendency of body is like entropy it is like molecules going hayre it is distraction is a law of nature distraction is law of nature focus is not the true law of nature focus is self-generated had on the basics of thermodynamics that is what every molecule on this planet is capable of it distraction it's random

3:02 motion it's lack of focus so a lot of people say that I do not have Focus I am not consistent so that's your natural self your body is not trained in that way that it should be focused but what is the US USP of people who remain focused and consistent over years so how do they form that habit of remaining so it's a habit it's practice it will not come to you naturally okay so first of all a lot of people should stop feeling bad about that if they're not focused they're not consistent if someone else is around you it means it's a practiced habit okay it is not natural so when you go into randomness of

3:48 thoughts or you get distracted that is you being natural okay if someone is focused that is not natural it is practiced it's unnatural so today we'll teach you how to form that habit of having a focus okay so in that the first thing is you have to establish a positive feedback loop so how do you establish that positive feedback loop that image is gone so so that image which was here was an image of a crystal all of you must have heard a term called as crystal clear crystal clear so when that terminology crystal clear actually is based on the concept of

4:34 habit formation and actually it's a pneumonic some preparation time you read a lot of pneumonics so I'll add one more to your repository CA is actually a pneumonic for anything which you fall into practice or addiction the first part is C which is CL ify the que the first thing is you have to clarify the queue the trigger which you want to either form or avoid that has to be clarified in your mind that is awareness so let us suppose if some of you is in a habit of getting distracted

5:19 by let us suppose your past relationship sub easy now uniformal thousands and lacks of students of last 10 years most common distraction your ex common apart from that obviously there can be social media or there can be something else so that's the so first thing is clarifying the Quee the first thing is you need to be aware and you need to accept that that is a distraction you have to clarify it you have to pen in out yes this is the thing which distracts me and you have to be fully consciously aware that that's the

6:05 distraction then comes clear I told you the pneumonic then is L then is limit the exposure the first was clarify the Q the second is limit the exposure so first of all giving a very best example don't be friends with your ex okay doesn't work that way okay the second thing is don't talk to people people who remind you of that so you limit the exposure okay you don't talk to things you don't keep those old memories with you it is not going to let you move on so I am so it it to seems to get diverted from how to study to relationship but I think so you guys will relate more to it

6:51 because this pneumonic clear is applied to any and everything in life everything in life so the first thing which you want to change any bad habit which you want to change the first thing is you clarify the queue the second is you limit the exposure you eliminate everything from your environment and situation which is going to take you towards that que old photos a particular type of music be gift whatever so you limit the exposure then is e which is engage in an alternative engage in an alternative alternative

7:38 relationship so what I mean is that you have to engage in an alternative habit which consumes your time which can be very well in your case exam alternative and equally precious as of now engage in an alternative so next comes a a is analyze the reward so analyzing the reward is the most crucial part so actually anything which we want to do in life is actually the fight between two parts neur Anatomy neurosurgery but everyone has

8:23 heard of prefontal Cortex okay single gyus up life ke problems is actually based on the fight between these two things your prefrontal cortex and your single gyus acting at the same time people who do very well in life have a very good executive function have a very good prefrontal control people who are very emotionally vant have a lot of singulate over activity so what you have to do is you have to consistently analyze the reward you don't consistently analyze the problem the basic mistake which people do is let us suppose if you're reminded of your ex

9:10 which is your trigger you think talking about it helps no you don't have to talk about the problem you have to convince and talk to yourself as well as others that what is the reward of not being with that person no I'm sounding very cruel but yes it works so analyzing the reward is the most important thing and you don't have to consistently talk about the problem you have to talk about the reward of not having that problem so it is just like if you want a smoker to quit smoking you have to he needs to talk about why quitting

9:56 smoking is beneficial okay he doesn't need to say again and again I want to quit smoking I want to quit smoking or I don't want to avoid sugar or I want to avoid this particular person no that doesn't work the more you will talk about that thing the more thing that thing will happen Okay so you talk about what are the benefits of quitting smoking what are the benefits of not talking to that person what is the benefit of that person getting eliminated from your life or from this planet [Laughter] so that happens so you analyze the reward and last thing is you reinforce

10:41 the progress reinforcing whatever you have achieved personally till now is very important and then you repeat this cycle again that is how anyone excels in life and achieves Focus for every distraction so Focus FOC focus it is not going to work like this you are not going to get Focus to get Focus you need to remove distractions for each distraction this clear cycle has to follow you identify the clue you limit the exposure of that you engage in an alternative activity you analyze the

11:27 reward of not doing it and then you reinforce the progress and the loop starts again and this is a scientifically proven method okay this is nothing which I have cooked up and this is not my pneumonic this is scientifically proven concept of psycho analysis and a lot of people like you do CBT sessions you teach them this clear cycle one after the other the other and on daily basis they have to practice this clear cycle to eliminate their distraction or whatever addiction they have and that improves their commitment or Focus so whatever distraction you have it might be as trious last exam result that could be a distraction you don't

12:13 need to have a bad relationship okay as so this is very very important you might have the ghost of your Christmas Past as your distraction a personal problem at home okay so you need to write this clear cycle for each problem you have and reinforce it on a daily basis this is the Practical solution to the problem it might appear very tedious but this is the only scientific way apart from that if anyone else will counsel you talk to you listen to 20 videos it going to go all Fizz it is not going to work so this is what works in practice so all of you so

13:00 if so this Crystal this is the manifestation of that once you put a crystal it becomes the environment which is behind becomes clear okay so this is the concept which is used in psychoanalysis that if someone is not able to identify the whole picture you make that person look through a crystal and make him understand that if you'll focus on this clear technique the environment which is blur around you will start start becoming clear okay so I hope I have answered the query if some of you might have and please try and follow this if it works even for one of you I'll be very happy so it's a good technique this is what I have done in my life

13:47 consistently I have removed what was distracting me got a better control over prefrontal cortex got less emotional with every passing year in my life even on the worst situation got more emotionally controlled life becomes easier goals become clear things becomes achievable and life and your 24 hours increase to 30 hours Technic talk it's

14:35 Tech okay so I will talk technical only because I believe that for some of you this will work and it will be life transforming it is not about just this exam it will transform your life for next 20 years and then you can thank me in your speech than [Applause] [Music]

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