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#1 Neurosurgeon: How to Manifest Anything You Want & Unlock the Unlimited Power of Your Mind — Transcript

by Mel Robbins · 11,844 words · 1,714 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00with manifestation or that terminology
0:02there's a lot of woowoo and pseudo
0:04science actually the ability to manifest
0:06is fundamentally based in Neuroscience
0:09there is no woowoo there's no magic
0:11there's no law of attraction what people
0:13don't appreciate is you can't wait for
0:16somebody to magically take care of
0:18everything the reality is you have the
0:21power within yourself to change your
0:23circumstance so many people in our
0:25society they think somehow if you get
0:28this stuff that's going to fill the void
0:31all of us have and of course it doesn't
0:33you're manifesting all the time what
0:36people don't realize though is that many
0:38of the decisions they make in their
0:40lives the relationships the jobs they
0:43have are actually based on the baggage
0:45that they carry and that is The
0:48Narrative of their story when you start
0:52there anything is possible what you just
0:54said
0:56fundamentally addresses the issue of how
1:00people create a prison for themselves by
1:02this negative selft talk every time they
1:04make a negative statement it's as if
1:05they're laying down a brick and the
1:07walls get higher and it gets darker yet
1:10all of us have the key in our pocket to
1:12let yourself out of the prison that you
1:14created so many people make judgments
1:17about
1:18[Music]
1:20people and they don't
1:23recognize the path or the the problems
1:26or the adversities they faced in those
1:29situations ations you know you think
1:31there's no
1:34hope
1:37but hey it's your friend Mel I am so
1:40excited that you're here it's always
1:41such an honor to spend time with you and
1:43to be together if you're brand new
1:45welcome to the Mel Robins podcast family
1:48thank you for choosing to listen to this
1:49podcast and for hitting play on this
1:53particular episode because it tells me
1:55that you're the type of person that sees
1:57bigger possibilities for yourself and
1:59you're interested in learning how you
2:01can use neuroscience and the science of
2:03manifestation to help you achieve it I
2:05love that I want to know all about that
2:06too which is why I am beyond thrilled to
2:09introduce you to someone who is truly
2:12extraordinary Dr Jim Dodie is here from
2:15California he's in our Boston Studios he
2:18is a Stanford neurosurgeon he's a
2:20world-renowned neuroscientist and New
2:22York Times best-selling author a
2:24philanthropist he's the founder and
2:26director of the Stanford center for
2:27compassion altruism research and educ a
2:30he has done so much more than just that
2:34but to name a few he's a military
2:36veteran he has founded massive medical
2:39device companies he's one of the world's
2:41leading experts in minimally invasive
2:44spinal surgery and he was the former
2:46chairman of the dolly Lama foundation
2:49and he is here to teach you the science
2:50of manifesting and visualization why it
2:53works and how to do it properly
2:57according to the science you you and I
3:00are going to leave this conversation
3:02knowing exactly how to leverage Dr
3:05Dodd's extraordinary research and wisdom
3:08so please help me welcome Dr Jim Dodie
3:11to the Mel Robbins podcast it is a
3:13pleasure and a joy to be with you I am
3:15so thrilled that you are here and I
3:18cannot wait for this conversation so
3:21where I want to start is can you speak
3:25directly to the person that's listening
3:26to us and tell them how their life might
3:30be different if they take to heart
3:32absolutely everything that you are about
3:34to teach and share with us
3:37today of course and I think the
3:40challenge for so many of us is that we
3:42believe the negative selft talk we have
3:46and as a result we create limited
3:48beliefs that then limit our
3:49possibilities and we believe this
3:51ongoing narrative and the reality is we
3:55have more power within ourselves
3:59and it's understanding that
4:03you control this there is no outside
4:06force and as you know in my book uh uh
4:09it says the universe doesn't give a [ __ ]
4:11about you because there is nothing out
4:13there and I don't mean this in a
4:15negative way but I mean you can't wait
4:18for somebody to magically take care of
4:21everything the reality is you have the
4:24power within yourself to change your
4:26circumstance and it's just believing it
4:30and listen I will tell you as you know I
4:32grew up in a challenging background my
4:34father was an alcoholic my mother had
4:36had a stroke when I was a child she was
4:38partially paralyzed chronically
4:40depressed attempted suicide we were
4:42evicted we were on public
4:44assistance and in those situations you
4:47know you think there's no
4:50hope but as I found and uh from my first
4:55book into the magic shop I walked into a
4:57magic shop and met a woman
5:01who looked at me as a human
5:08being and what I mean by that is so many
5:11people make judgments about
5:16people and they don't
5:19recognize the path or the the problems
5:23or the adversities they
5:25faced
5:28and everybody deserves to be listened
5:31to so this woman in this magic shop she
5:35was a radiant being she had a smile a
5:38presence that made you feel safe and
5:41this is a key psychological safety to
5:43downregulate your stress response and
5:46she made me feel okay she didn't look
5:48down on me and I was 12 as a 12-year-old
5:51she looked at me as an equal eye to eye
5:55and uh that interaction with her changed
5:57the trajectory of my life because it
6:00changed how I saw the world you've
6:03written about your past you've written
6:06about this interaction with this woman
6:08in the magic shop and
6:10still it brings so much
6:14emotion up in
6:17you how
6:20come
6:26uh one I'm appreciative
6:31two I mean uh having somebody take the
6:36time to look at you see
6:40you uh
6:42appreciate what you are and uh taking
6:46that interest it's very meaningful and I
6:51try never to take that for granted and
6:54even in I hope every
6:57interaction you understand that
7:00that uh a lot of people are suffering
7:03they're carrying baggage from their past
7:05and that baggage is limiting them and
7:07often times
7:10just listening to somebody can
7:13profoundly change their lives because
7:15that's what people want to be heard and
7:18sometimes it's just hello sometimes it's
7:19just a hug so I always tell people never
7:23forget your own ability to change
7:25somebody's life and also to recognize
7:28that often times how somebody is
7:29interacting with you has nothing to do
7:32with what's going on it has to do with
7:34the baggage they're carrying and so give
7:37people a benefit of a doubt and so you
7:41know if you grow up in a background like
7:43mine typically they're two path one is
7:46the path you become an alcoholic drug
7:48abuser have mental health issues the
7:51other is you overe Excel right
7:54overachieve then the path of the
7:56overachiever gets bifurcated there's a
7:59one group who say nobody helped me I did
8:03this all myself uh I'm not going to help
8:06anybody
8:07else then you have the other group which
8:10I probably typified maybe
8:12excessively uh
8:15where uh I understand the pain people go
8:19through uh and very
8:24deeply so uh I'm very attuned to that
8:30um I personally cry all the time for the
8:33same reason and I don't think I've ever
8:36heard anybody
8:38explain
8:41um why I feel so driven to do what I do
8:45so thank you for that that was a real
8:47gift to me to hear somebody explain why
8:51tears come up all the time and why I end
8:54this podcast every single time by
8:58telling the person who's listen
8:59listening that I love them because I
9:01know for most people they actually don't
9:04hear it said by anybody else no and
9:08which is a very sad statement
9:11because um and we can talk about this
9:14but so many people live in a fear mode
9:17all the time and of course it has all
9:20sorts of dilus effects and being in a
9:25love mode or a heart-c centered mode is
9:28very difficult especially if you have
9:30all sorts of challenges that distract
9:32you from who you really are and I think
9:35the gift you give people and hopefully I
9:37try to give people is a sense of hope
9:40and
9:41possibilities I want to go back to the
9:45moment in the magic shop that truly
9:48shaped you forever and changed the
9:50trajectory of your life and so the
9:54person who's listening can really
9:56perhaps see themselves or someone they
9:57love in the story could you explain as a
10:0112-year-old you're walking into this
10:03magic shop first just kind of how you
10:05felt emotionally at that point in your
10:08life going through all of the heartache
10:12and the hardship that you did that so
10:14many people do and how this
10:17interaction with an adult woman who you
10:21had never met who just interacted with
10:25you how that actually changed
10:29well um what would happen in my
10:32situation at home was Whenever there was
10:34fighting or uh uh challenging events I
10:37would get on my bike and ride as far and
10:40as fast away as I could and I rode a
10:43great distance far from my house and
10:45ended up at a strip mall and I'd had an
10:47interest in magic for a while I used to
10:50have a a plastic thumb that I would do
10:52tricks
10:54with my son has one of those yes yes and
10:57uh I lost it and so I was looking for a
10:59plastic thumb but anyway I saw the magic
11:02shop and I went in and what was
11:04interesting was this woman was there and
11:06who was in her m50s probably and I I
11:09still remember her vividly because she
11:11was wearing a blue and white Mumu
11:13remember these outfits because she was a
11:15larger lady and she had this flowing
11:17gray hair and she had these glasses that
11:19were at the tip of her nose and she had
11:21a chain on them and she was reading this
11:23paper backbook you you sound like you're
11:25describing the potions professor and
11:27Harry Potter and she may have actually
11:30uh but uh uh anyway uh she looked up
11:33from her classes and I started quering
11:35her about magic and she said I'm just
11:37here babysitting in the shop because uh
11:40this is my son store and he's doing an
11:41errand but this led to her and I having
11:44a conversation and after about 20
11:47minutes she said to me she said I really
11:48like you she said I think I can help you
11:52I'm here for another six weeks if you
11:54show up every day I think you could
11:56learn a lot and I had no clue what she
11:59meant and this was before mindfulness or
12:02uh neuroplasticity were in the sort of
12:05common lexicon and I did show up every
12:08day now I have to tell you it wasn't
12:09because I had any insight or
12:10self-awareness I was a poor 12-year-old
12:13in despair with a feeling of
12:16hopelessness but I did show up and the
12:18reason I showed up was one I had
12:20absolutely nothing else to do to
12:23two uh two she was giving me chocolate
12:25chip cookies so those were the two
12:27drivers of uh my interaction with her
12:30but to sort of understand what happened
12:33is she apparently had some exposure to
12:35Eastern uh meditation practices and she
12:39taught me if you will what is now called
12:42a mindfulness practice and what I never
12:45realized was that as a child I was in a
12:48war zone all the time a constant trauma
12:51because you never know what's going to
12:52happen it's chaos there's always
12:55unexpected things you can't rely on
12:57anyone or any
12:59person and as a result your muscles are
13:02always tight you're always looking
13:04around you can't focus and of course to
13:06learn you have to be able to attend if
13:09you can't be present it's not possible
13:12to learn so she recognized this and she
13:14initially taught me a u relaxation
13:18technique and then she taught me the
13:21ability to focus or
13:24attend and then probably the most
13:26critical thing was she taught me that
13:28the negative dialogue that was going on
13:30in my head was not truth and often times
13:33when we tell ourselves we're not good
13:35enough we're not worthy we don't deserve
13:37love we think there's some truth in that
13:40yeah but we have as humans a negativity
13:43bias where negative statements have a
13:45tendency to stick with us and this leads
13:48oftentimes to rumination and once you
13:50tell yourself it is not possible I
13:53cannot that becomes truth yeah and so we
13:57create our own Limited belief system and
14:01so she taught me a technique
14:03to respond with positive
14:06self-affirmation but also to not respond
14:09to those negative feelings uh and just
14:11let them drift by but also to constantly
14:14encourage positivity within yourself and
14:18this led me to look at the world in a
14:20different way and the reason I say that
14:21is if you're hypercritical with yourself
14:24you're hypercritical in your the lens
14:26through which you see the world and
14:28you're very judgmental
14:30and what I tell people is
14:33once I understood what was going on in
14:37my own head it made me look at the world
14:39through a different lens one of
14:41kindness compassion and it also
14:45dissipated the anger that I had towards
14:48my
14:49parents because what happens
14:51is of course they're supposed to be the
14:54caregivers but if they don't have the
14:56tools to take care of their own pain
14:58they can't help you
15:01so that realization was very important
15:04as the realization that people carry
15:07baggage and uh their reactions often
15:11time have nothing to do with you and so
15:14having a much more thoughtful gentle
15:16Kinder way to interact with people uh I
15:20think is extraordinarily powerful you
15:23went on to become a
15:25neurosurgeon how and when did you start
15:28m manifesting and can you talk about the
15:32kind of overlap and connection between
15:35being a
15:37neurosurgeon and the interest in the
15:41functioning and wiring of the Mind
15:45itself well the other thing uh I didn't
15:49mention was that at the end of this if
15:51you will mindfulness type
15:52practice um we had a discussion and the
15:56discussion was about how to manifest or
15:59visualization so she taught you how to
16:01manifest and visualize at the age of 12
16:03yes
16:04wow so she asked me to make a list of 10
16:07things that I wanted now I have to tell
16:10you this is through the lens of a
16:1112-year-old who's poor so uh in typical
16:15fashion I said I wanted uh To Be A
16:18Millionaire which in 1968 was a lot of
16:22money it seemed like uh I wanted to have
16:24a mansion I wanted to be a doctor and it
16:27wasn't so much listen I was always kind
16:30and thoughtful but I want to be a doctor
16:32so people looked at me and said you're
16:36okay uh I wanted a Porsche I wanted a
16:40Rolex watch and all of these external uh
16:44um material things that so many people
16:47in our society think they
16:50need they think somehow if you get this
16:53stuff that's going to fill the void all
16:56of us have and of course it doesn't
16:59and uh but Society is oriented
17:02unfortunately toward seeking external
17:05affirmation with the belief that if you
17:07fulfill the societal Narrative of
17:09success which is money power position
17:12that will then translate into happiness
17:14and of course this is a story that's
17:16been told over and over and over again
17:18and it does not and I'm sure you know
17:21many many extraordinarily quote unquote
17:22successful people who are absolutely
17:24miserable well you know one thing I want
17:26to highlight as you're listening to Dr
17:31DOD and I just am so blown away
17:36by um your gift of explaining things and
17:40how connected you are to why this is
17:42important to you and it's important to I
17:45think everybody to understand what
17:46you're trying to teach
17:48us is
17:50that I think a lot of us
17:53know that chasing the external stuff is
17:58what what Society has been prioritizing
18:02but you're going a layer
18:04deeper which is it's not just about the
18:07belief that you think those things will
18:09make you happy it's that your lived
18:12experience when you feel
18:15invisible is that people that have those
18:18things are
18:19seen and that is an explanation that
18:22cuts at a way deeper psychological
18:26driver than happiness and that
18:29experience of feeling like you don't
18:32matter you're not seen you uh are not
18:36treated with a level of dignity and care
18:40that every human being deserves I
18:43haven't heard anybody truly connect the
18:45dots between the obsession with chasing
18:48status and surface level items and
18:52actually not
18:53happiness but the
18:56fundamental need that we human beings
19:01have for
19:02connection and the sense that somebody
19:05actually cares about you and you think
19:08that that's going to happen because of
19:10the S shiny stuff that you acquire and
19:13you're here to say that actually it
19:17doesn't it doesn't uh at all and I think
19:21uh that's a challenge for so many people
19:23because uh they've been sold this
19:25narrative and it's a narrative of
19:27unhappiness and it's a narrative of fear
19:30and I was saying earlier when you chase
19:32lanks like that that's because of your
19:34own insecurity and as a result that
19:37activates your sympathetic nervous
19:39system which of course is the flight
19:41fight or freeze response and when that
19:43happens actually that has a very
19:45negative effect on how your brain
19:47functions but also your peripheral
19:49physiology and can lead to a lot of very
19:52significant uh diseases and uh decrease
19:56your life uh expect
19:59versus if you shift that narrative if
20:02you will to the love mode and what I
20:03mean by that is all of us have the
20:06ability to actually a shift from
20:10engagement of our sympathetic nervous
20:11system which is part of our autonomic
20:14nervous system which arises in the brain
20:16stem and is distributed throughout all
20:18the organs in your body but especially
20:19your heart to the parasympathetic
20:22nervous system which is really how we
20:24evolve to live uh as a species uh it's
20:28not that we were stressed every second
20:31we were stressed periodically and that
20:33stress mode was meant to
20:35activate in the face of threat and
20:38respond and either you survived or
20:40didn't survive but then you immediately
20:41went back to engagement of your
20:43parasympathetic nervous system if you
20:45survived that is the system we were
20:47designed to live in that is the system
20:50in which you care which you're rewarded
20:53for caring where you have the release of
20:55oxytocin and these other
20:56neurotransmitters that activate your
20:58pleasure and reward centers when you
21:00care for another especially your
21:02Offspring but also within uh the context
21:05of our common humanity and that is the
21:08mode you want to be in especially if you
21:10want to manifest because that is when
21:13your cognitive brain networks your
21:15peripheral physiology work at their best
21:17and that is from the love mode if you
21:20will I want to see if I can translate
21:23back because those were a lot of big
21:25words I realize that you are a
21:28neurosurgeon and you teach these
21:31Concepts all over the world but I want
21:33you and I to put our arm around the
21:35person that's listening and I want to
21:37see if I can't shorthand all this
21:40science so you keep using the word fear
21:44mode and heart mode which I love you
21:48also just beautifully explained if I'm
21:51hearing you correctly that there are
21:54two uh modes to our nervous system
21:58sympathetic sympathetic rest calm and
22:01love fight ORF flight and that as we
22:06listen is it okay if every time you say
22:10fear
22:11mode we just go okay he's talking about
22:16the sympathetic figh ORF flight nervous
22:18system that a lot of us live in that
22:21shuts you off to possibility connection
22:24potential and love versus the heart mode
22:28which which is your parasympathetic
22:31nervous system and it is where the
22:35connection and
22:37manifestation and fulfillment and the
22:40potential of your life exists is that a
22:44way to think about this no no that's uh
22:46the perfect way to think about it and uh
22:49when you're in that mode everything
22:51changes for the positive the heart mode
22:53yes and the possibilities of having your
22:56intention manifest are greatest when you
22:59were in that mode okay got it so I want
23:03to be in heart mode how did this amazing
23:07woman in the magic shop teach you to
23:09manifest when you were 12 well I have to
23:13tell you and I don't want to mislead
23:16people uh I thought it was a lot of
23:20[ __ ]
23:22initially uh and the reason is is
23:24because of course I had never been
23:26exposed to anything like that I mean
23:28being able to sit and and relax your
23:31muscles with intention being able to
23:34breathe a certain way to calm your
23:37nervous system down were completely new
23:39to me uh so it took a little while for
23:42me to understand that but once I did
23:44understand it I realized how powerful it
23:46was because I didn't constantly have
23:49this negative selft talk going on and
23:51this fear constantly and so uh as you
23:56know uh these types of mindfulness
23:58practice which are very commonly
24:00discussed today and have changed
24:02millions of lives uh are readily
24:05available to everyone and fundamentally
24:07what she taught me was this type of a
24:10technique a relaxation technique a focus
24:13technique and uh dealing with the
24:16negative selft talk looking at the world
24:19through a lens of compassion and we
24:21talked about visualization for you to
24:23maximally visualize that means you have
24:27to be relaxed you have to have calm you
24:29have to not look at what I want and this
24:33is the difference for a lot of people
24:35because they have a vision of what they
24:38want but not what they need as an
24:40example we're talking about possessions
24:43I want a Porsche I want a Rolex which
24:45was what I did um and they think that if
24:49I just get that I'll be
24:52okay and the problem is that it won't
24:55make you okay and when you're sitting
24:58there self focus saying if I just have
25:00that I need this versus as an example
25:03saying I want to be a doctor now it's
25:07not I want to be a doctor so everybody
25:09looks at me and says how great I am
25:11which is what I did it's I want to be a
25:13doctor because I want to help people
25:15those are completely two different
25:17narratives one is I want to be of
25:20service that is how we were designed as
25:22human beings not I want for me and when
25:26you change how you look at the world
25:28with when you change what you want you
25:30realize one a lot of what you think you
25:33want is worthless versus what is
25:36powerful what gives a person purpose and
25:39meaning which of course activates every
25:43aspect of your physiology both brain and
25:45peripheral physiology to work at their
25:47best is being of service being connected
25:50caring for others and we know through
25:51the work of Bob Butner and the blue
25:53zones or the work of Robert waldinger
25:56and the 85-year-old harv
25:58study when you care for others when you
26:01look through that lens everything in
26:03your life improves and that is the place
26:06where you also have the ability to
26:08maximize the possibilities for your
26:11intention to manifest you said that
26:14human beings are wired for
26:18service as a
26:20neurosurgeon as a person that you know
26:23you're you're here in Boston to go teach
26:25about compassion you were the chairman
26:28the dama Foundation yes so how are we
26:32wired for service as human beings well
26:36if you look at our Evolution as a
26:38species unlike other species one we have
26:41a small litter
26:42size that's a very clinical way I think
26:45if I were your wife and you said that
26:47I'd smack you Dr Dodie a small litter
26:50size well my wife has smacked me
26:52multiple times believe me and uh our
26:55Offspring do not run off into the jungle
26:58or or the forest they have to be cared
27:00for for well over a decade and why would
27:04you expend the time the resources the
27:06energy to care for your Offspring unless
27:09you were
27:10rewarded the way you're rewarded when
27:12you care for your Offspring is the
27:15release of different neurotransmitters
27:17such as oxytocin or the love hormone and
27:20when those are released your pleasure
27:24and reward centers are activated your
27:26physiology works at its test and you
27:29look at the world through the lens of
27:30love and caring because you want your
27:32Offspring to survive as we evolved as a
27:35species and you're probably aware of
27:38that there's something called Dumars
27:40number uh so up to 150 people which was
27:44typically the size of a tribe again it
27:46was important because you were in a
27:48hostile environment that you cared for
27:49the other or the group would not survive
27:52so these are very deep seated genetic
27:56imperatives uh that are with that allow
27:58our species to survive we are not meant
28:01to live chronically uh in the
28:04sympathetic nervous system we are meant
28:07as a species to live in our
28:10parasympathetic nervous system where we
28:12have openness generosity caring love the
28:16problem is the nature of how capitalist
28:18Society has been developed uh actually
28:22for many many people activates their
28:25sympathetic nervous system chronically
28:26and they get distracted from their
28:28purpose our purpose is to love one
28:31another I love that and I love that
28:34you've simplified it to you're either in
28:37fear mode and heart mode and that you
28:41are hardwired for heart mode your
28:43purpose is to love yourself to love
28:45other people to be in that mode can
28:49you explain what manifesting is how do
28:54you think about it or describe and teach
28:56it to people around the world
28:58so as you know with manifestation or
29:01that terminology there's a lot of woowoo
29:04and
29:05pseudoscience and a lot of people take
29:07it advantage of that and uh it turns
29:10unfortunately into a a money-making
29:12opportunity for some people the reality
29:15is though that actually the ability to
29:18manifest is fundamentally based in
29:20Neuroscience there is no woow woo
29:22there's no magic there's no law of
29:24attraction based on the history of it
29:26back in the first and second Cent the
29:28hermetics came up with this idea and
29:31it's been propagated through different
29:33Prosperity gospels and all sorts of
29:35other things as if if you have positive
29:38energy and you put that energy out in
29:40the world you will be able to manifest
29:43the Porche the Ferrari the mansion and
29:47uh but if it doesn't happen it's your
29:48fault because you didn't care enough or
29:50you didn't do it the right way or just
29:52buy another book and I'll tell you the
29:54real way to do it
29:56uh but fun fundamentally it's based on
29:58neuroscience and what I mean by that is
30:02the way in which you manifest and I'll
30:04Define manifestation is the ability to
30:07take an intention and embed it into your
30:12subconscious in a manner such that it
30:15has the greatest likelihood to occur or
30:18to
30:19manifest and what I mean by that is what
30:22people don't appreciate is every second
30:24we have about 6 to 10 million bits of
30:27information coming to us from our
30:29sensory organs that's what makes us who
30:31we are that creates our reality but on a
30:34conscious level we can only deal with 50
30:36to 100 because 99.9% go to maintain our
30:41bodily function that 50 to 100 though
30:44you have control over 50 to 100 bits of
30:48information bits of information so how
30:51do you deal with that well you take the
30:53tools and what I mean by that is the
30:56tools to EMB add something into your
30:59subconscious okay the best way to do
31:01that and I'm sure you've heard the term
31:03what fires together wires together but
31:06can you explain that for the person
31:08listening what does that mean so if you
31:10create habits this results in the
31:12creation of neurop Pathways and if the
31:15mere repetition of those habits actually
31:18lays down the circuitry that then gets
31:22embedded and then actually makes things
31:24happen and I'll explain it as
31:26follows when when you were able to use
31:30all of your sensory organs or abilities
31:33to embed that intention and do it
31:36repeatedly that is when you're creating
31:38these neural Pathways as an example if
31:41you have an intention you take a pencil
31:45you write it down you're actually doing
31:47something physical
31:49tactile then you read it
31:52silently then you read it
31:54aloud then you visualize that
31:58and you do that over and over and over
32:00again what that will do is then embed
32:03that into your subconscious and then
32:06these different cognitive brain networks
32:08get activated now can we unpack that
32:10just a minute sure because everyone that
32:13listens to this loves to make sure that
32:16they just got the instructions from you
32:19Dr Dodie because I'm like hanging on
32:21every word and so there were a couple
32:24steps to that because you had the
32:27physical pencil you had the act of
32:29writing you had this moment where if
32:32you're watching on YouTube you saw it
32:34but if you're listening let me describe
32:35it he he sat back in his chair he put
32:37his hands kind of in prayer at his chest
32:39closed his eyes and he started talking
32:41about repeating the thought is that the
32:44chain of events and that you do to
32:47encode it in your mind yes absolutely so
32:50we so what is we walk us through it one
32:52more time yes so again what you want to
32:55do is to use all of your sensory organs
32:58as much as possible to embed that
33:01intention so by writing it down by
33:03reading it aloud by visualizing it that
33:07creates the process where this gets
33:09embedded and into your
33:11subconscious and what happens is once
33:13you get this
33:15embedded it activates different parts of
33:18your brain and without getting too
33:20technical one is something called the
33:22default mode network is that the same
33:24thing as the reticular activating system
33:27no okay but they're related okay so the
33:30default mode Network yes so this is what
33:34happens when your mind wonderers uh or
33:37you're
33:38daydreaming and it's
33:40self-referential because it's internally
33:42focused but it's where you create The
33:45Narrative of who you are or what you
33:47want so if you have negative selft talk
33:50if you ruminate if you are like I'm
33:53never good enough uh nothing works out
33:55for me things like that don't happen to
33:57person like me I can never get it right
34:00that is in the default netor absolutely
34:03and that gets really activated and
34:05results in rumination for some people
34:07can I ask you another question because
34:09one of the things that you said at the
34:11very very beginning is you painted this
34:16gorgeous picture of the ability to
34:20Leverage The remarkable power of your
34:23brain to help you get what you truly
34:28desire in life to help you live in heart
34:31mode and you said it's
34:33just about believing
34:35it and part of the reason why we have
34:39trouble believing it is because of the
34:42default mode Network and all of these
34:45stories you've repeated over and over
34:48and over again is that is that fair to
34:50say no that's exactly uh correct and can
34:53we can reprogram or we can lay down a
34:56new track oh absolutely and it's
34:58available uh 247 and it doesn't matter
35:01what's happened to you before you know
35:03so many people get fixated well I don't
35:04deserve this because of we all deserve
35:10it so once this gets embedded and you
35:14create The Narrative of who you want to
35:15be or how you see yourself what you're
35:18doing is you're creating
35:20salience okay what's that word mean it
35:22means making it important okay once
35:26something is important
35:28this activates what we call our task
35:31positive Network and the task positive
35:34network has three parts it has the
35:37salience network it has the attention
35:40Network and then it has the executive
35:42control
35:43Network and once something is Salient
35:48what you're basically saying is this
35:49deserves my
35:52attention and by doing it in a very
35:54specific
35:56way then that that becomes important to
35:59you that gets embedded into your
36:01subconscious as something to pay
36:02attention to once that is defined as
36:05something important to you then that
36:08activates your attention Network so that
36:11then you cognitively focus your
36:13attention on whatever that intention is
36:18okay once those are activated and uh I
36:22use the analogy in the book it's as if
36:24you've have a file cabinet and you put
36:27this file into the file cabinet that
36:30says important stuff and once that is
36:33there then the attention network is
36:35activated which is as an example a blood
36:37hound that is says okay now there's
36:40something there I need to track this
36:42down and figure out what's going on here
36:44then you activate the blood hound and
36:46then that gets released and then once
36:49that attention is focused then it starts
36:54looking around through all the
36:55possibilities in your environment
36:58and as soon as it identifies one then
37:00your executive control network is
37:02activated which in some ways is the
37:04thing that chases down what is in your
37:07subconscious and uh uh this is how it
37:10works there is no magic here this is
37:13fundamentally basic neuroscience and
37:16it's something that we all have the
37:17ability to master by just doing these
37:21techniques whereby you are able to embed
37:24your intention you do it over and over
37:27and it's not as if one and done and what
37:29I mean by that is some people wake up
37:31and this is like a New Year's resolution
37:33I'm going to do this January first and
37:36then January 1 comes and you already
37:37fail the first day you have to not have
37:41excessive expectations at first what I
37:43mean by that is these are based on habit
37:46what happens with habit you start small
37:49you don't sit there and say I'm going to
37:50lose a 100 pounds in the next month you
37:53say I'm going to try to modify my diet
37:56where I'm not drinking sod that's the
37:58first little one and each of these
38:00little winds strengthens you to actually
38:04then do the big thing ultimately so you
38:07don't start by running a marathon on day
38:09one you start by getting up out of bed
38:11and walking around the block I really
38:14appreciate you especially as a
38:18neuroscientist walking us through all
38:20those four parts of the brain and
38:22validating that based on the science
38:25this is the mechanism through which you
38:28can activate the ability to reprogram
38:31your mind when we talk about forming new
38:34habits through repetition I think most
38:37of
38:38us understand that if you want to let's
38:43just take the example of stop drinking
38:46soda there is a specific physical action
38:50that I have to do every day whether I
38:53like it or not and the consistency of
38:56not drinking soda or probably better yet
38:59just focusing on drinking water or a non
39:02soda
39:03beverage that repetition I get it I know
39:06what I need to do where I see people
39:09trip up is that when it comes to
39:11negative selft talk it is so embedded in
39:15the subconscious you've been thinking
39:17this way for so long and because it's
39:21there in the back of your mind unlike
39:24learning to drink more water or learning
39:27to
39:27go for a walk every day it's not a
39:30physical thing that you kind of see
39:34outside yourself this is actually
39:37programming deep within and so could you
39:41help me and the person listening
39:45understand let's say that you have for
39:48your entire life had this narrative in
39:50your mind we like I'm not good
39:52enough how do I use these four parts of
39:56the brain and the technique you just
39:59described step by step to program a
40:03completely different way of talking to
40:06myself in my default mode Network and
40:09pick whatever because you have you you
40:12are the expert teaching people around
40:15the world this technique so pick
40:18whatever you believe is the most common
40:21default negative selft talker belief and
40:24then if you could walk us step by step
40:27that what am I doing Dr Dodie every day
40:31well I I think the first thing people
40:32need to recognize
40:34is the burden we carry as a human being
40:37is negative selft talk it is not going
40:39to go 100% away that's just the way it
40:42is in fact uh I was you know I speak
40:45about these things and I have I say to
40:47people how many of you have negative
40:48selft talk and usually 90% of people
40:51raise their head and I say the other 10%
40:52are lying and and I don't care in theory
40:56I mean obvious viously you uh have
41:00examined these areas I have examined
41:01these areas I still have negative selft
41:03talk the key is though in the face of
41:07the negative selft talk you're
41:11okay and understand what it is and not
41:16let it overpower you where you sit there
41:18and go oh God I'm horrible I'm and you
41:19just ruminate over this recognize for
41:22what it is and let it sit there you
41:24don't have to do anything with it and
41:26this is the fundament practice of
41:28mindfulness meditation but the aspect
41:31which I think is different and actually
41:33what we teach at Stanford is to have
41:35compassion for self and this is when you
41:38give yourself these positive
41:39affirmations and you say you're worthy
41:41you're good enough you deserve and a lot
41:44of the negative selft talk comes from
41:46where it comes from the baggage that we
41:48carry from our
41:50childhoods and this is what a lot of
41:52people don't
41:54appreciate you're manifesting all the
41:56time what people don't realize though is
41:59that many of the decisions they make in
42:01their lives the relationships the jobs
42:04they have the decisions they make are
42:07actually based on the baggage that they
42:09carry and that is The Narrative of their
42:12story and so one of the first things I
42:14think you have to do is to sit back and
42:18whether it's with a therapist or just
42:20self-reflection where you're writing
42:21things down and trying to understand how
42:23you become you to have some awareness
42:27what created this and once you have that
42:31Insight then that allows you to not be
42:34as affected or to believe it but
42:37understand that it's the nature of how
42:40humans are wired and it's okay that's
42:44not going to change and in some ways
42:46it's like also accepting your Shadow
42:48Self right all of us have a part of us
42:51that we're ashamed of we're embarrassed
42:53about we've done actions that are
42:55horrible sometimes and you can't push
42:58your Shadow away you have to accept it
43:00and integrate it into who you are and
43:03the same is true of this so once you're
43:05able to do that that lessens the power
43:08of that inner critic so let me see if I
43:11can just again translate this because
43:13you've got a really big brain you
43:16operate on brains and you are friends
43:20with the biggest spiritual leaders of
43:23our time and you teach
43:27compassion manifestation visualization
43:30all of this and I'm I just want to make
43:33sure that I do my job and that as you're
43:37listening that you truly are able to
43:40take all of this extraordinary wisdom
43:42and the gift of Dr Dodie and apply it
43:45and so I heard you say that if you were
43:49to take out a piece of paper and you
43:52were to just start journaling around
43:55what did my childhood make me believe
43:57believe about myself that that first
44:00step of seeing that in writing helps you
44:03separate from it and see it for what it
44:06is which is it is a story just like a
44:08story in a book that is something you've
44:12been telling yourself over and over and
44:15just separating yourself from it is the
44:19first step the thing I'm curious about
44:23though is how I start to learn a new
44:27story because for example if we if we
44:29were to bring in a
44:31flute right and and and would you be
44:35able to play a flute if I handed it to
44:37you of course not yeah me either but if
44:39I practiced it for a year I could
44:43probably learn it and so I'm assuming
44:46that there's a technique even once I
44:49separate and go oh my childhood taught
44:52me to think X about myself what is the
44:56technique for for how you use the
44:59science of manifestation and
45:01visualization to start to write a new
45:04story about yourself no I think that's
45:06an excellent question and in fact the
45:08first step is understanding what you've
45:10already been manifesting which is the
45:12negative yes and you've been manifesting
45:15it because you've repeated it in your
45:18subconscious and you've interacted with
45:20those thoughts all day long since your
45:23childhood and that is a form of
45:25manifestation it proves works because
45:27You' just repeated it over and over and
45:29over well I'm sure you've met people who
45:30go gosh I'm going through my third
45:32divorce and it's like I married the same
45:33person every time and you're like yes
45:35you did yeah because you manifested it
45:37because you think the same way over and
45:39over and over again so we do have the
45:41power to change that narrative okay and
45:44then the next thing is which we
45:45discussed a little bit is understanding
45:47the difference between what you want or
45:50think you want and what you need but Dr
45:52Dodie I don't want to think about what I
45:54need I want to think about what I want
45:56you know what I mean like but I want the
45:58but I want that thing but I want this
45:59but I want that but I want the other
46:01thing well you know it's funny you say
46:02that because people say gez Jim you know
46:04you you sort of lambas this idea about
46:07materialism listen I don't at all I like
46:10material things I drive a Porsche I live
46:13in a very nice house see you manifested
46:15all of this that is true but the
46:17difference though is one they're
46:21wonderful to have they're not necessary
46:26what I mean by that that is if all of
46:28these things were taken away from me it
46:30has no impact on who I see myself as I
46:34am not using them for external
46:36validation I'm using them because I
46:39enjoy them and those are different
46:41things people who chase after stuff the
46:44eye part who need external affirmation
46:47that is their identity and that causes
46:49suffering because they never get what
46:51they want versus if you look through the
46:54love or the heart mode and focused on a
46:59image of you helping other people you
47:02get all of these other things they're
47:03available to you if you want them but
47:06the way the greatest way to manifest is
47:09to have yourself centered to be in a
47:11calm mode to look through the S lens of
47:14how can I be helpful and then that gives
47:17you all the other stuff if you so desire
47:20but focusing solely on that doesn't get
47:22that you're not living a life of purpose
47:24and meaning you're chasing PL
47:27and avoiding pain and while that can
47:31sort of cause some people to say I'm
47:33happy if you actually look at the most
47:35of these people may be happy on one
47:37level but that happiness is transitory
47:39and shallow versus if you chase purpose
47:42and meaning that is deep and long
47:45lasting um you just said something that
47:49I want to make sure I take out my magic
47:52highlighter and I call attention to
47:57that if you were to remove all of the
48:00material stuff do you
48:03actually still feel good about who you
48:07are absolutely and having those things
48:12to enjoy them is one thing but needing
48:15those things to Define your worth is a
48:19completely separate issue that based on
48:22Research you're saying leads to
48:25unhappiness and and since we're talking
48:29about material items though can you
48:32explain how the science of visualization
48:35or man are visualization and
48:37manifestation the same things yes okay
48:39so how does the science of
48:42manifestation help you achieve goals or
48:45help you get material things if that's
48:49something that you would like to have in
48:51your life well let me give you an
48:52example I mean when I was 12 I had a
48:54list of all material things m and I got
48:57every one of them what was on the list I
48:59become a neurosurgeon a professor at
49:02Stanford uh I have all this material
49:04success I'm a successful entrepreneur I
49:08have millions and millions of dollars
49:10I'm uh I have a a home overlooking the
49:14bay in Newport Beach I have a villa in
49:16Florence I have uh we're all starting to
49:19hate you right now go yes uh uh and you
49:21know I was single at the time and I was
49:23dating all these attractive women and
49:25all my friends said God your life is so
49:27great man look at you yet I was never
49:31more
49:32miserable in my entire life because I
49:35kept expecting okay I'm going to climb
49:37this mountain and then I'm G to feel
49:38good about myself then I'm G to climb
49:40the next Mountain I'm GNA feel good
49:41about myself and I never felt good about
49:42myself none of that stuff made me feel
49:45good about myself and in fact I I don't
49:48you know I lost 80 million dollars
49:51during the dot crash and as a result uh
49:55of course that gets your attention
49:56because I was $3 million in debt and I
49:58had a $15 million loan and as a result I
50:01had I went through a period of steep
50:03self-reflection because I I wanted to
50:06understand what mistake had I made in
50:08this process because I had done
50:10everything I thought and it was because
50:14I was focused on look at me I did this
50:17make me feel good about myself and
50:19that's what I was chasing and it didn't
50:21help me and so here I am having to deal
50:24with this massive loss I'm selling all
50:26of this you know I had a Ferrari a
50:28Porsche a Range Rover BMW a Mercedes uh
50:32I had a several million doll house
50:34overlooking the bay I had to sell all of
50:37this stuff and it was interesting uh
50:40during that situation I had to deal with
50:42my banker of course who wanted his money
50:44and I had to deal with my lawyers
50:46because I had set up a variety of
50:47different trusts but I had set up a
50:50charitable
50:52trust and had put stock into it and on
50:56honestly it was probably a tax avoidance
50:58thing it wasn't because Jim doie was
51:00super nice
51:02right uh so uh I was dealing with my
51:05lawyer and he said look Chim I have some
51:07good news for you we actually never
51:09completed the paperwork for that trust
51:11so you don't have to give any of that
51:12stock away you can just keep it and I
51:15went through this period of of deep
51:17reflection about this and uh
51:21uh at the end of the day I told him to
51:24go ahead and give the stock
51:27was it Google no no but it was $30
51:31million uh but what that $30 million did
51:34was it changed everything I set up
51:36health clinics around the world I set up
51:38programs for adolescen who affected by
51:40Aids HIV I set programs for the disabled
51:43I funded research I set up endowed
51:47chairs and in some ways though it was an
51:50interesting trajectory because I went
51:52truly from Rags to Riches literally to
51:55rags again in
51:57terms
51:59of the spiritual mhm okay what I was
52:05doing was not soothing my
52:07soul and so when I gave everything away
52:12being in the face of $3 million in the
52:15whole that is when everything
52:18changed this is where I started the
52:21center at Stanford that studies
52:23compassion I met his Holiness the Dal
52:26Lama I developed these relationships
52:28with all of these spiritual religious
52:30leaders which has been incredibly
52:32incredibly impactful in my life and so
52:35it's a different Rags to Riches right
52:39there are so many aspects of that story
52:41I want to unpack because I have been in
52:45a I've been in many moments of my life
52:48where I had
52:50nothing and
52:54was on the verge of losing everything
52:57that I cared about but if I had heard
53:01somebody talking about Porsches and this
53:03and that and the other thing and then
53:05you lose it all and then you have a
53:07spiritual waking I would still as I'm
53:10listening go that's nice for you but I
53:14am having trouble putting groceries on
53:15the table and I still would love a
53:17Porsche and I
53:20know because I know some of your
53:23background how
53:26important it is for you to awaken
53:29something inside of people about the
53:32deeper meaning of life and the way to
53:34use
53:36manifestation and visualization and the
53:38science of all this in a way to truly
53:42unlock your
53:44potential and how would you have
53:47somebody who's listening who is really
53:50struggling and never has achieved that
53:53moment of riches that is surface level
53:56truly grasp the power of what is
53:59available to them to use these
54:03tools of separating from your past story
54:08and identifying what you want to believe
54:10about yourself and then writing it and
54:13believing it and repeating it and trying
54:17to open up your heart and live in this
54:19heart mode what is available to you if
54:24we lean in and trust you
54:28even when you're really struggling and
54:30it seems like money is the solution no
54:33no you're absolutely right and uh I
54:35don't want to give anybody the
54:36impression that look my worst day I was
54:39a neurosurgeon making uh more than 99.9%
54:43of people so even though uh I lost all
54:47this money and was in the hole I
54:49certainly had the ability uh to uh
54:53recover and most people don't have that
54:56so I certainly want to acknowledge that
54:58and I'm not saying that my story is
55:01everyone's story listen I started uh
55:04from very very humble beginnings but the
55:08fundamental aspect of the story is it
55:11doesn't matter where you're at it's
55:13matters what you
55:15believe and when you have this negative
55:18selft talk and you create these limited
55:21belief systems that is the prison you're
55:24creating for yourself and and the first
55:27step though is to understand that yes
55:31circumstances can be very horrible yes
55:34circumstances can uh result in you not
55:36even being able to feed your family and
55:38I truly acknowledge that because I know
55:41what it's like to be
55:50hungry
55:53but regardless
55:56you have
55:58possibilities when you're able to
56:00interrupt that negative belief system
56:03when you're able to look through the
56:05lens of possibilities because when you
56:09are negative when you say it's not
56:11possible the world is against me
56:13everybody hates me fundamentally you're
56:16changing your
56:18physiology and as you probably know uh
56:22we have oscillation or vibrations that
56:25come from our bodies and one of the
56:27greatest ones is from your heart if you
56:30have this negative selft talk if you
56:33create this
56:34negativity that goes out I mean the the
56:38bioelectrical energy that comes from
56:40your heart extends three to five uh feet
56:43outside your body and I'm sure you've
56:45experienced you were mentioning
56:47something early gosh when you walked in
56:48you made me feel good that is a gift all
56:51of us have to give people and I'm sure
56:53you've met people who as soon as you
56:54meet them go I do not like that
56:56person all of us have the ability to
56:59become the former not the latter it's
57:02change it's how you look at the world
57:05and when you change how you look at the
57:07world from that one of negativity
57:10because you know your situation is
57:12difficult to look at there are amazing
57:14possibilities here because what I tell
57:16people when I changed how I looked at
57:18the world the world changed how it
57:20looked at me because people reached out
57:23to me because I was open to it I was
57:26appreciative I was thankful I didn't sit
57:29there and say the world hates me
57:30nobody's going to do anything that
57:32energy changes when you change how you
57:35look at the world
57:36and the energy you're talking about is
57:39the ability to move yourself from a fear
57:41mode absolutely into a heart mode and
57:44there's also a lot of research and
57:46science that you write about and how
57:50being in that heart mode where you're
57:52coming from a place of service where you
57:54are actively manifesting and visualizing
57:58positive beliefs about yourself I am
58:00good I am worthy I am loved what are the
58:05things that you say that help you drop
58:07into heart mode and this may sound
58:10strange but fundamentally the world we
58:12create is one we create it is a delusion
58:15that we have created for ourselves and
58:18that delusion can either be one of the
58:20world hates me everybody hates me the
58:22world is against me versus saying wow
58:25look at the sunshine I am here look at
58:28all these amazing people around me look
58:30at the possibilities and I'm not saying
58:33this out of some uh Trope that is not
58:36true it is true when you change how you
58:39look at yourself now if you want to
58:41manifest there's several techniques and
58:44can you walk us through a couple sure
58:46one of the first things you have to do
58:47though is find a place a calm place
58:51where you can shift from being in the
58:53fear mode to the heart mode where you're
58:55not distracted where it's not noisy
58:57where you're not taking caffeinated
58:59beverages or using mind alterate
59:01substances where you can simply be
59:03present and then you can begin a
59:05breathing exercise the very nature of
59:07that breathing exercise and this is a
59:09mindfulness practice Get You Into the
59:11Heart mode and then you start seeing the
59:13world through a different lens and then
59:15you start as an example talking about
59:18what have I already manifested and you
59:20sit there with that and you love
59:23yourself in the sense of saying yes that
59:25happened but number one and this is
59:28oftentimes the case with children they
59:30look at say it's my fault it's not your
59:33fault you're okay and you're also okay
59:37no matter what's happened in the past
59:39you know all of us deserve a second
59:41chance and sometimes a third
59:44chance there most people uh are loving
59:49kind people inside and they have been
59:52battered by the forces often times that
59:54make them think that's not the case of
59:56that they don't deserve love everybody
59:58deserves love everybody deserves dignity
1:00:01and so when you can sit in that quiet
1:00:03space and reflect on this and then think
1:00:06about what it is you truly want what
1:00:08would make you happy most people if they
1:00:11actually sit there and do it they
1:00:12realize the false Narrative of getting
1:00:15the Porsche or the Ferrari if they sit
1:00:18there and think about it what do they
1:00:19really want they want security for their
1:00:21family they want food on the table they
1:00:23want shelter and if you look through
1:00:25that list that is what am I doing to be
1:00:28of service to help my family and my
1:00:32environment which will ultimately help
1:00:34me and so going through those
1:00:37exercises understanding the power that
1:00:40you have and also uh there's another
1:00:43aspect which is related to attachment
1:00:46one of the biggest things that causes
1:00:50suffering is attachment and
1:00:52craving and it's wonderful to have goals
1:00:56it's wonderful to utilize these
1:00:58techniques to manifest but there's
1:01:00certain caveats to that one is sometimes
1:01:04things don't manifest and it's not
1:01:06necessarily because you did anything
1:01:08wrong or uh the gods are looking down at
1:01:11you badly uh sometimes your subconscious
1:01:14may even know that it's not good for you
1:01:17and it doesn't allow that to happen the
1:01:20other is
1:01:22that uh things don't happen always
1:01:24exactly as we VIs visualized they may
1:01:26approximate it but often times they're
1:01:29not exactly and I have things I've been
1:01:32trying to manifest for 10 or 15 years
1:01:35and I firmly believe they will manifest
1:01:39but you have to be patient you have to
1:01:40do the work you have to do the
1:01:42exercises and uh uh all of that is okay
1:01:46because I'm not attached to the outcome
1:01:49and that is a critical thing yes do I
1:01:51want it to happen absolutely should it
1:01:54happen absolutely will it happen maybe
1:01:57maybe not and it's more likely that it
1:02:00will yes because you are training your
1:02:03mind using these techniques and putting
1:02:07yourself in a heart mode to make it
1:02:09happen you you wrote in your book your
1:02:11brain can't tell the difference between
1:02:13what is real and vividly imagined by
1:02:15focusing on the feeling of success you
1:02:17train your brain to expect it absolutely
1:02:19and when you activate your subconscious
1:02:21and I'm sure you probably experienced
1:02:22this if you're at a party and it's very
1:02:24noisy somebody says your name you
1:02:27immediately turn even in the dent of all
1:02:29this noise you are attuned to your name
1:02:32because it's deeply embedded in you the
1:02:35same is true and this is the nature of
1:02:37synchronicities and coincidences because
1:02:40your subconscious is always searching
1:02:43for what is Salient I want
1:02:46to expand on the power of learning how
1:02:51to be in the heart mode and what you
1:02:52just brought to the table this
1:02:54dispositional optimism
1:02:56and the belief that things can get
1:02:59better the hope and the optimism that
1:03:02things will turn out and feeling
1:03:05grateful for that because when you're in
1:03:08the heart mode you've talked a lot about
1:03:10how we are naturally wired to be in that
1:03:13mode calm connected open to service
1:03:17openhearted can you explain how positive
1:03:21emotions the emotions that you feel when
1:03:24you're in the heart mode like Gra
1:03:25attitude compassion love how do those
1:03:29emotions communicate to your brain and
1:03:34accelerate or make it stronger that what
1:03:38you're thinking about when you're in
1:03:40heart mode actually wires in a very
1:03:44strong way based on the emotions of
1:03:46heart mode you just said it oh I did how
1:03:50do how do positive em how do positive
1:03:52emotions like gratitude and compassion
1:03:54and love
1:03:56um create the ability to manifest or
1:04:00like rewire your mind as we said or
1:04:04discussed earlier these types of
1:04:06positive belief systems make your
1:04:09physiology work its best both your brain
1:04:11and your peripheral physiology when all
1:04:13your cognitive brain networks function
1:04:14at their best that is the greatest
1:04:16likelihood for you to manifest uh your
1:04:19intention there's a lot of work that has
1:04:21been done on gratitude showing that
1:04:24simply sitting down down and writing
1:04:26three things you're grateful for changes
1:04:29everything it changes how you view the
1:04:31world how you look not from the lens of
1:04:33what I don't have but how grateful you
1:04:37are as an example um half of the world's
1:04:40population lives on less than $2.50 a
1:04:42day I am extraordinarily blessed and so
1:04:47I no matter how bad it is and uh again
1:04:51and I'm not saying that I'm horribly
1:04:53suffering but that being said I still
1:04:56have ups and downs and have had
1:04:58situations which are incredibly
1:05:00demoralizing but at the end of the day I
1:05:02sit back and I have gratitude even in
1:05:05the face of these horrible things that
1:05:08were not as I planned or nor wanted
1:05:11happen and you just have to understand
1:05:14that regardless of all of them you're
1:05:17very fortunate as a renowned
1:05:20neuroscientist and neurosurgeon what
1:05:22does your daily manifestation routine
1:05:25look like can you walk us through
1:05:28it sure now you have to understand I've
1:05:31been meditating for well over 50 years
1:05:34so in some ways that becomes the Habit
1:05:37right it is your mindset it is how you
1:05:40look at the world it is how you walk in
1:05:42the world and hopefully it's through the
1:05:44love mode although not always and I will
1:05:47assure you my wife will get mad at me
1:05:49and she'll say they call you Mr
1:05:51compassion but you're an [ __ ] uh so
1:05:56it's good to know you're human yes I am
1:05:58very human so let me start with the
1:06:00morning first every morning I wake up
1:06:02and I sit at the side of the bed and I
1:06:04do a breathing exercise and the Very
1:06:06nature of that breathing exercise shifts
1:06:08me into the parasympathetic nervous
1:06:10system and what is the breathing
1:06:11exercise it's just slowly breathing in
1:06:14through the nose holding it for four
1:06:16seconds slowly letting it out and I do
1:06:18this for a minute or two you can sit you
1:06:20can lay down uh there's nothing that is
1:06:23prescriptive and this is where people
1:06:24get lost about mind fulness practices
1:06:26they somehow think you have to sit like
1:06:28a Buddha and do this and they get all
1:06:30anxious about it there's no reason to be
1:06:32anxious at all it's just to find a place
1:06:35where you feel comfortable and then I go
1:06:37through this breathing exercise of
1:06:39slowly breathing in for four to six
1:06:41seconds holding it for four to six
1:06:43seconds slowly letting it out through
1:06:45the mouth and then that shifts me into
1:06:48the parasympathetic nervous system or
1:06:50strengthens where I'm already at and
1:06:53then I think of the joy and awe of being
1:06:56in this
1:06:57world and I just sit with that for a
1:06:59minute or two and then literally I just
1:07:02go through that
1:07:04alphabet and uh uh and that centers me
1:07:08uh for the day and if I'm centered
1:07:11looking through that lens then that
1:07:14actually creates the environment for me
1:07:17to manifest because I am in the right
1:07:19mindset I'm calm I'm thoughtful I'm
1:07:22thinking about others I'm not
1:07:24self-focused and the Very nature of that
1:07:27allows me to manifest now I was going to
1:07:30mention in the evening all of us have
1:07:32goals all of us have intentions and you
1:07:35can prioritize them from ones that are
1:07:37mildly important moderately important
1:07:40incredibly important and in the time
1:07:41frames and uh and then you focus on them
1:07:45and what I will do is I will again write
1:07:47them down whatever the top three are and
1:07:50then I'll go through the exact same
1:07:52exercise I mentioned which is to write
1:07:54them down to repeat it silently to
1:07:58repeat it aloud to see it happening and
1:08:01uh and over and over and over again all
1:08:04of those things strengthen the power and
1:08:07put you in the right mindset to have the
1:08:10greatest likelihood of you manifesting
1:08:13your
1:08:13intention thank you for describing that
1:08:17how
1:08:18does
1:08:20the uh Habit that you just said active
1:08:25your brain's ability to help you act on
1:08:29those goals well I think used a key term
1:08:31which is authentic what makes somebody
1:08:34authentic uh when they let their mask
1:08:38down when they're able to show their's
1:08:40emot their own emotions and how they
1:08:42feel about things and the Very nature of
1:08:45that puts you in the right mental state
1:08:48where you don't feel you have to hide
1:08:50yourself where you don't feel that you
1:08:52have to put on a show for everybody
1:08:54about how success uccessful you are and
1:08:57we're ju you're just feeling comfortable
1:08:59with who you are and accept yourself and
1:09:01the hardest hardest part for so many
1:09:04people is accepting themselves as they
1:09:07are not be lost in how they want to be
1:09:11or lost in what could have been and this
1:09:13is also a thing that distracts you from
1:09:16the energy you have to change things
1:09:19because if you spend 80% of your time on
1:09:21the past and a future that hasn't
1:09:23happened lamenting then you can never be
1:09:27present to actually make things happen
1:09:28and this is the key you have to be
1:09:30present you have to be authentic you
1:09:32have to understand your past and you
1:09:35have to understand that when you want
1:09:38something to manifest yes it is a future
1:09:40intention but it's not something to get
1:09:43lost in it's something simply to sit
1:09:45with instead of be pathologically
1:09:48focused on as an example I'm sure you've
1:09:51seen people who have sacrificed
1:09:53everything to get to the top of the
1:09:54mountain well they've sacrificed
1:09:57everything to get to the top of the
1:09:58mountain to stand there by themselves
1:10:00well what was the purpose of that our
1:10:03purpose in life is connection it's not
1:10:06to so be focused that you don't have any
1:10:09connections and you're walking alone
1:10:11it's to connect with people I mean many
1:10:15many of the aspects of what we're
1:10:16talking about are the journey with
1:10:19others not necessarily standing by
1:10:22yourself you've given me a huge epiphany
1:10:27because I've always thought about the
1:10:29science of
1:10:31manifesting
1:10:33as something that is tied to what's
1:10:38going to happen and in listening to you
1:10:41I had this huge Epiphany where I thought
1:10:43oh wait a
1:10:45minute it's all about this daily
1:10:49practice of sitting in the
1:10:53present and dropping into the heart mode
1:10:57and the starting line is acceptance of
1:11:01self compassion and gratitude and love
1:11:04towards self and getting yourself at
1:11:08this almost like daily reset present
1:11:12moment and from there I can decide what
1:11:17I want to believe I can decide when I
1:11:21align with the wiring of my body and my
1:11:24soul I can decide what I want to believe
1:11:27I can decide what's important to me and
1:11:30practicing these tools both of dropping
1:11:33into heart mode of being present with
1:11:37self of tapping into this wiring for
1:11:40service and compassion and love when you
1:11:45start there and now you're repeating the
1:11:49things that you want and why you want
1:11:53these things from your heart and
1:11:55anything is possible well and basically
1:11:58you've just unlocked the key to the
1:12:00prison that most people have created for
1:12:03themselves what do you mean by that well
1:12:06uh uh what you just said
1:12:09fundamentally addresses the issue of how
1:12:12people create a prison for themselves by
1:12:14this negative selft talk every time they
1:12:16make a negative statement it's as if
1:12:18they're laying down a
1:12:19brick to build a prison and the walls
1:12:22get higher and it gets darker
1:12:25yet all of us have the key in our
1:12:28pocket which you just described to let
1:12:31yourself out of the prison that you
1:12:33created and I think this recognition is
1:12:36what's really really critically
1:12:38important and it's not woo woo it's not
1:12:41looking to the universe to save you it's
1:12:44understanding your own self
1:12:46agency and not believing that there's
1:12:49something out there now that being said
1:12:52and as you know I the first sense of the
1:12:53book says the universe doesn't give a
1:12:55[ __ ] about you but at the end of the
1:12:57book my statement is you are the
1:13:02universe and that is your
1:13:05gift what are your parting words Dr
1:13:09Dodie
1:13:14well often times uh as we've talked
1:13:18about uh you know people look through
1:13:20the lens of
1:13:22negativity and uh and the real ity is
1:13:26and you discussed it
1:13:28also everyone wants to be
1:13:32seen everyone wants to be
1:13:36loved
1:13:39and what I would say to everyone
1:13:43listening is regardless of your
1:13:45circumstance regardless of your
1:13:48situation each of us has the ability to
1:13:51improve the life of at least one person
1:13:54every day
1:13:57and whether it's a hug whether it's
1:13:58saying hello whether it's sharing a meal
1:14:01whatever it
1:14:02is when you can actually look through
1:14:05the world through that lens how can I
1:14:08help at least one person every day that
1:14:11is a habit that put you in the mindset
1:14:15to not only be of service and to help
1:14:17others but it also helps you and it
1:14:19helps you because it then gives you the
1:14:21power actually to see the world through
1:14:24the different lens and then be able to
1:14:27manifest whatever your intention is and
1:14:30that is the power of our humanity and it
1:14:34all relates fundamentally to connecting
1:14:37with another with an open
1:14:39heart well Dr Dodie um thank
1:14:46you I I I don't even know what to say I
1:14:50just feel kind of blown wide open by the
1:14:53experience of getting to be together
1:14:55with you that's kind of you thank you I
1:14:58appreciate it well I appreciate
1:15:00everything that you shared and all the
1:15:02work that you're doing and thank you for
1:15:05being here thank you and I want to thank
1:15:08you for being here with me and Dr Dodie
1:15:12and listening all the way to the end I
1:15:14am sure that your heart is wide open and
1:15:17I wanted to be certain that I told you
1:15:20in case nobody else does that I love you
1:15:22I believe in you I believe in your
1:15:24ability to create a better life and I am
1:15:27so excited about everything that you
1:15:30just learned and I cannot wait to hear
1:15:35how you put this to use in your own life
1:15:39all right I'll see you in the next
1:15:40episode and I want to thank you for
1:15:42being here with me on YouTube making it
1:15:44all the way to the end of the episode
1:15:46didn't you freaking love that oh my gosh
1:15:49I loved it I'm so thrilled you got to
1:15:51experience it since you made it this far
1:15:53click here right there And subscribe to
1:15:55this channel because it lets us know
1:15:57that you're enjoying this content thank
1:15:59you thank you thank you for supporting
1:16:01me in that way and if you loved this
1:16:03episode and how could you not the next
1:16:06episode that you should watch is this
1:16:08one this one features Harvard
1:16:10psychiatrist Dr Robert waldinger in fact
1:16:14Dr Dodie mentioned him during the video
1:16:16that you just watched waldinger is going
1:16:19to share the secret to what makes a good
1:16:21life based on the lessons from an 85
1:16:24yearlong study at Harvard on happiness
1:16:26I'll see you in that episode

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