- It was in my darkest hours of depression
that I had immense hatred for myself.
I hated myself for not being able
to do the things that I loved.
I hated myself for barely being able
to work due to mental exhaustion.
And I hated myself because
I felt like a fraud.
For 15 years I've taught
and written three books
on self-help and yet everything
that I taught had failed.
It didn't matter how healthy I ate,
which doctor I saw, how
much I worked out or read,
I'd only ever get a quick boost
in motivation before it ran out.
And worst, I lost the thing
that mattered the most
which was my sense of self.
I asked, why does self-help work
for some, but not for others?
Why do some make transformational changes
while others are left to fight alone?
And why don't we take those suffering
from depression and anxiety seriously?
I mean, if someone's arm's broken,
we get why they're in pain.
But if someone's depressed,
we assume they're weak.
We misdiagnose excuses, procrastination,
depression as causes not symptoms.
And we assume as the result
of a negative attitude alone.
After doing all of my research,
we couldn't have been more wrong.
The truth is, just because
we can't see the cause
of the pain, doesn't mean
the pain doesn't exist.
All of the self-help work I've studied
over the years has perpetuated this myth
that if someone's depressed,
anxious, or unmotivated,
they just need to think positively.
That's crucial, yes, don't get me wrong,
but to succeed in life our psychology
and our biology need to work in tandem.
There's two sides of the same coin.
One side doesn't exist without the other.
But when we look at peak performance,
we only ever look at one side of the coin,
their psychology and their mindset,
and not the other, the
underlying biochemistry
that supports and fuels their
peak performing psychology.
And the hustle-until-you-die culture
expects us to do whatever it takes.
The problem, we can't continue
to pay a high psychological
price day after day
without paying a high biological one
and expect us still to
perform at the same level.
To make sure that people get the help
that they need, we must take a deeper look
and ask ourselves, what
happens when someone
is unknowingly exposed to
nutritional deficiencies,
hormonal changes,
toxins, digestive issues,
side effects from medications,
or even inflammation.
Well, this body of research tells us
they'll become unmotivated, depressed,
and are fatigued because these triggers
mimic psychological disorders
that we misdiagnose as a poor attitude.
We always, always default back
to our biochemical standpoint.
And if that's geared
towards being mentally
and physically exhausted, the truth is,
no matter how much you try
and think your way out of it,
you'll always land right back
where you began until
the triggers are removed.
But first, you gotta work
out what those triggers are.
You can medicate with self-help
all your life like I did.
You may get better momentarily,
but the question is, will you get well?
We've been led to believe
that to be come motivated
we need to be inspired
and think positively.
There are studies that have shown
that chronic inflammation
removes motivation
by reducing dopamine in the brain.
Chronic inflammation is
caused by chronic stress.
And in a survey of 20,000, we uncovered
that only 6% of people
are true peak performers.
Only 6% of people have the
mental clarity, energy,
and cognitive abilities to process
psychological work
successfully so it sticks.
The rest are suffering
from brain fog, fatigue,
negative looping
thoughts, procrastination,
and self-doubt that
makes it near impossible
for the psychological work to stick
and for it to work for them.
Imagine trying to motivate yourself
when you're having
intense mental exhaustion.
Imagine trying to push through
with willpower when you're always tired.
And imagine trying to convince yourself
that you're okay when every step you take
is like walking through mud.
It's like trying to
start a car without gas.
It doesn't matter how much
you try and turn that key.
It's not gonna budge and nothing
will change until you refuel it.
Our environment has changed,
but our thinking hasn't.
It's time for a paradigm shift
that's decades in the making.
The truth is, going after your goals
is like driving up to an intersection.
To reach them, you need to turn right.
But if you're exposed
to toxins, inflammation,
digestive issues, food sensitivities,
or side effects from medication,
your primal brain will turn
on self-preservation mode
where it has to prioritize vital
bodily functions over your goals.
It's gonna force you to
turn left every single time
to rest and recover because
you only have enough energy
in your tank to fight
against the bloatware
in the background that's
been draining you.
And that's not enough to go
after your goals at the same time.
In this state, you're gonna find yourself
torn between who you are
and who you wanna become.
And until you remove these triggers,
your primal mind will keep forcing you
to rest and recover because
it doesn't have the energy
to spare to make that critical right turn,
the turn that you need
to make to have a sense
of never ending energy,
clarity, drive, and purpose.
You'll feel like two different people
constantly fighting against yourself.
And this fight will only cause you
to become even more emotionally
and physically exhausted, just like I was.
And that's why I'm tired.
I'm tired of those that claim that there's
only one solution to this
multi-faceted problem.
I'm tired of people getting told
to toughen up when they really need
help locating the root of their rut.
And I'm tired of others telling
them to quit making excuses.
I get it.
I grew up on a cattle farm.
I grew up in that culture.
But if your only tool is a hammer,
then everything looks like a nail.
It's time to find a better way
and travel down a path
that's based on neuroscience,
psychology, and biohacking,
so no stone gets left unturned
and no person gets left behind.
Which is why, after
suffering from debilitating
mental fatigue, depression,
and anxiety myself,
with the little energy that I had,
I went on this insane 90-day mission
to biohack my way back to health
to uncover what's really holding us back
based on science and not theory.
And best of all, I finally
answered the question
of why self-help works for
some, but not for others.
And it's time people learned what it is
so we can end the internal
torment that people go through.
People don't have to suffer like I did
and it's my mission that they don't.
(soft music)
