Tools for Setting & Achieving Goals | Dr. Emily Balcetis

**Andrew Huberman** (0:00)
Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, my guest is Dr. Emily Balcetis. Dr. Balcetis is a professor of psychology at New York University. Her laboratory studies motivation, goal setting, and tools for successful goal completion. I learned about Dr. Balcetis' work some years ago because I'm a vision scientist. That is, I study the visual system. And I heard about this incredible psychologist at New York University who was studying how vision, that is how we visualize problems, can predict whether or not we will successfully overcome challenges and how we strategize in order to set and meet goals. And in 2020, I learned of Dr. Balcetis' book, which was written for the general public, entitled Clear, Close or Better, How Successful People See the World. And I read both the hard copy of the book and listened to the audio book. And I absolutely loved the material. As you'll learn directly from Dr. Balcetis today, how people visualize a problem, that is whether or not they think of a goal or a problem as residing at the top of a very steep hill or on the top of a shallower hill or whether or not they visualize a goal or a problem as far off in the distance or closer to them in the distance, visually, in their mind, strongly dictates whether or not they will arrive at the challenge of meeting a goal or overcoming a problem with more energy or less energy. Indeed, it dictates whether or not they can push to immediate milestones or whether or not they will think they have to overcome the entire task all at once. Basically, Dr. Balcetis' work has discovered that how we visualize a problem or a goal in our mind has everything to do with how we lean into that goal, whether or not we think of it as overwhelming or tractable, whether or not we think that we can overcome that goal and then it will lead to yet more possible rewards and goals or whether or not we feel that we're going to arrive at the finish line and then just be overwhelmed with fatigue. In other words, how you visualize things in your mind. And when I say visualize, I mean literally how you visualize them as a visual problem or a visual goal has everything to do with whether or not you will be able to meet those goals and whether or not they will lead to still greater goals that you will be able to achieve. Today's episode is an especially important one, I believe, because you're going to learn about quality peer-reviewed science from the expert in this field of goal setting, motivation and pursuit. And you're also going to learn an immense number of practical tools that you can apply toward your educational goals, your career goals, relationship goals, goals of any sort. By the end of today's episode, you will be better equipped to set and achieve your goals. Dr. Balcetis also shares with us her own experiences of how to set, visualize and achieve goals. And she does that within the context of her role as a parent, as somebody navigating relationships of various kinds and a demanding career. So again, I think that you'll find the information today to be both extremely academically grounded in terms of research, extremely practical and realistic in terms of how you might apply it in your own life. Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast. Our first sponsor is Element. Element is an electrolyte drink with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means plenty of salt, magnesium and potassium, the so-called electrolytes and no sugar. Now, salt, magnesium and potassium are critical to the function of all the cells in your body, in particular to the function of your nerve cells, also called neurons. In fact, in order for your neurons to function properly, all three electrolytes need to be present in the proper ratios. And we now know that even slight reductions in electrolyte concentrations or dehydration of the body can lead to deficits in cognitive and physical performance. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio of 1,000 milligrams, that's one gram of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium and 60 milligrams of magnesium. I typically drink Element first thing in the morning when I wake up in order to hydrate my body and make sure I have enough electrolytes. And while I do any kind of physical training and after physical training as well, especially if I've been sweating a lot, if you'd like to try Element, you can go to Drink Element. That's lmnt.com/huberman to claim a free Element sample pack with your purchase. Again, that's Drink Element lmnt.com/huberman. Today's episode is also brought to us by Thesis. Thesis makes what are called Neutropics, which means smart drugs. Now, to be honest, I am not a fan of the term Neutropics. I don't believe in smart drugs in the sense that I don't believe that there's any one substance or collection of substances that can make us smarter. I do believe, based on science, however, that there are particular neural circuits and brain functions that allow us to be more focused, more alert, access creativity, be more motivated, et cetera. That's just the way that the brain works, different neural circuits for different brain states. Thesis understands this. And as far as I know, they're the first Neutropics company to create targeted Neutropics for specific outcomes. I've been using Thesis for more than six months now, and I can confidently say that their Neutropics have been a total game changer. My go-to formula is the clarity formula, or sometimes I'll use their energy formula before training. To get your own personalized Neutropics starter kit, go online to takethesis.com/huberman, take a three-minute quiz, and Thesis will send you four different formulas to try in your first month. That's takethesis.com/huberman, and use the code Huberman at checkout for 10% off your first order. And now for my discussion with Dr. Emily Balcetis. Well, thanks for being here.