How to quickly get out of a rut — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00so pretend you're this guy and you were
- 0:01really productive earlier the month in
- 0:04fact you are kind of killing it you're
- 0:05reading lots of books hitting the gym
- 0:07consistently and actually getting your
- 0:09work in on time but then something
- 0:11happened maybe you woke up on the wrong
- 0:13side of the bed
- 0:13maybe an invisible demon ghost violated
- 0:16you in your sleep whatever the case may
- 0:17be everything seems just a bit harder to
- 0:20do you're tired you've lost all the
- 0:22motivation you had to keep being awesome
- 0:24and you can't even remember why you were
- 0:26being productive in the first place and
- 0:28that mental clarity that you seem to be
- 0:30the beneficiary of just yesterday seems
- 0:32to have ran away in the night and
- 0:34unfortunately this lack of motivation
- 0:36starts to seep into the other areas of
- 0:38your life the thought dawns on you to go
- 0:41to the gym and you're too lazy to do it
- 0:43so you skip the gym that day one day
- 0:45turns into two days two days turns into
- 0:47a week you're also starting to buy more
- 0:49junk food watch more TV play more video
- 0:52games and not only are you not doing the
- 0:54things you know you should be doing but
- 0:56you don't even want to you can't even
- 0:58remember why you were being productive
- 1:00in the first place why are we still here
- 1:02for a lot of people these long periods
- 1:04of success followed by long periods of
- 1:07self-destruction and failure seem to be
- 1:10a common pattern and while this issue is
- 1:12a deep psychological issue that I'll
- 1:14dive into in a later video I wanted to
- 1:17give you guys a more practical guide as
- 1:19to how I get myself out of these type of
- 1:22pseudo depressive ruts and start being
- 1:24productive again now before we dive into
- 1:26these really powerful strategies I just
- 1:28want to preface the video with a couple
- 1:30things number one is that this video is
- 1:32not meant to be a replacement for going
- 1:35to therapy if you actually have clinical
- 1:37depression I'm not a doctor I'm just a
- 1:39dude and I talk about what works for me
- 1:42second of all even though this video is
- 1:44about how to get out of a rut
- 1:45efficiently or quickly that's all
- 1:48relative you're usually not going to get
- 1:50out of a rut overnight okay so strategy
- 1:52number one is to utilize the dosomething
- 1:55principle this principle is the catalyst
- 1:57for action if you don't have the
- 1:59motivation to do something you need
- 2:01something that'll spark some sort of
- 2:04action something to get the momentum
- 2:06going something to get the ball rolling
- 2:07and to do something principle is a means
- 2:10to take action
- 2:11when you don't have the motivation to do
- 2:13anything so most people think that in
- 2:15order to take action on anything you
- 2:18need to be motivated to do that and
- 2:19motivation comes when you're inspired by
- 2:21something so for instance say you're
- 2:23browsing reddit or something and you
- 2:25come across a Matt D Avella video and by
- 2:28the end he says something that strikes a
- 2:30chord with you and you're inspired to
- 2:32take action that inspiration served as
- 2:34the adequate motivation to take action
- 2:37on your goals but the dosomething
- 2:39principle dictates that inspiration
- 2:42motivation action is not a linear
- 2:44sequence it's an endless loop and you
- 2:47can start wherever you want to start so
- 2:49it's far more efficient to start with
- 2:52action and let that action become the
- 2:54inspiration and the motivation necessary
- 2:56to take further action so you may be
- 2:58thinking thanks genius if I'm
- 3:00unmotivated to do something then I
- 3:02should just do something that's really
- 3:04helpful but you actually take action
- 3:06without motivation all the time do you
- 3:08need some sort of huge inspirational
- 3:10epiphany to take a shower no it's just
- 3:12something you do these monotonous
- 3:14actions are the very actions you should
- 3:17be using as momentum to take further
- 3:19action if you're just sitting there
- 3:22waiting for inspiration to strike you go
- 3:24brush your teeth brushing your teeth is
- 3:26a little constructive action that will
- 3:28give you momentum into taking further
- 3:30action if you have to write a giant
- 3:32essay don't think to yourself oh I have
- 3:34to go and write my giant four thousand
- 3:36word essay just say I'm gonna open up
- 3:38the word doc write whatever comes to my
- 3:41mind for one minute and that's it that's
- 3:42all I have to do but once you start
- 3:44writing you will tend to want to write
- 3:46more because you've convinced yourself
- 3:47to get there that is in essence to do
- 3:50something principled now strategy number
- 3:52two seems counterintuitive to what I
- 3:54just said and that is to reward yourself
- 3:56for small wins now if you follow this
- 3:59channel at all I am NOT a pat yourself
- 4:01on the back and everyone gets an award
- 4:03kind of guy so if you're in the same
- 4:05boat you might cringe at the thought of
- 4:07rewarding yourself for taking a shower
- 4:09or something like that because you know
- 4:11you're capable of so much more but the
- 4:13need to reward yourself for small wins
- 4:15especially if you're in a vulnerable
- 4:17situation is a psychological necessity
- 4:20and it has everything to do with the
- 4:22fact that you have basically two
- 4:24a brain and I'm not talking about right
- 4:25and left I'm talking more about the more
- 4:27primal part of your brain which is
- 4:29closer to the stem which is responsible
- 4:31for motivation and emotion and stuff
- 4:34like that and you're more logical
- 4:36abstract moralistic part of your brain
- 4:38which is present more in the prefrontal
- 4:40cortex so if your prefrontal cortex
- 4:43knows to use the do something principle
- 4:46in order to convince but here a primal
- 4:48side of your brain to take action on
- 4:49something it's important that you're not
- 4:51to iron-fisted with this because it's a
- 4:53negotiation with yourself don't be a
- 4:55slave driver to the primal side of your
- 4:58brain or your primal side of your brain
- 4:59won't feel listened to it'll lash out
- 5:02and it won't want to do anything that
- 5:03your logical side of your brain wants it
- 5:05to do so you almost need to use your
- 5:06higher judgment to provide compassionate
- 5:09guidance to the primal part of your
- 5:12brain and very gradually win it over if
- 5:14you're too lazy to pretty much do
- 5:16anything other than sit around all day
- 5:18and you use the do something principle
- 5:20to convince your primal side of your
- 5:21brain to brush your teeth take a shower
- 5:23get some nice clothes on and clean your
- 5:26kitchen and you start to get really
- 5:27tired and agitated after this take a
- 5:30break
- 5:30it may sound suspect and your logical
- 5:33side of your brain knows that you should
- 5:34be doing a lot more than that just take
- 5:36it easy reward yourself for doing
- 5:38something constructive for once after
- 5:40days of binging dopamine and just relax
- 5:42and have a good time so you might be
- 5:44thinking how the heck am I supposed to
- 5:45get out of a rut if I don't ride this
- 5:47momentum out into the sunset
- 5:49that's what tip number three is all
- 5:51about so strategy number three is all
- 5:53about progressive overload it's very
- 5:56similar to the philosophy of lifting
- 5:58weights and getting stronger
- 5:59instead of yo-yoing between taking crazy
- 6:02amounts of action and then your primal
- 6:04brain lashing out and going into long
- 6:06periods of self-destruction you should
- 6:07be massaging yourself into organically
- 6:10growing a lifestyle that you gradually
- 6:13get used to that's more and more
- 6:14productive and you do more and more
- 6:16every day while rewarding yourself for
- 6:18the small wins and comparing yourself to
- 6:20who you were yesterday rather than who
- 6:22someone else is today so for instance if
- 6:25you develop a game plan over the course
- 6:27of seven days to get out of a riot
- 6:28that's a lot more realistic than just
- 6:30trying to be productive all of a sudden
- 6:32so say day one you
- 6:34can't really do much other than go on
- 6:36the internet for long periods of time on
- 6:38this day if you convince yourself to
- 6:40take pretty much any sort of
- 6:41constructive action that should be
- 6:43sufficient for the day day one should
- 6:45just be about gradually taking a little
- 6:47bit more action and being happy with
- 6:49that and the next day remind yourself
- 6:51that that wasn't so bad and actually
- 6:52felt pretty good to take action and try
- 6:54to do a little bit more and if you do
- 6:55this day after day then gradually and
- 6:58organically both sides of your brain
- 7:00will be in agreeance and you'll very
- 7:02comfortably start to rise from the ashes
- 7:04like a phoenix and become the person
- 7:07that you were earlier in that month I
- 7:09can't stress how important this is
- 7:10managing expectations being patient with
- 7:13yourself and letting your higher
- 7:15faculties be very communicative with the
- 7:17more primal and emotional sides of your
- 7:19brain this synergy between both sides of
- 7:21your brain is integral for maintaining
- 7:23long-term success and you can eventually
- 7:26be very reliably and sustainably living
- 7:29the kind of life that you've always
- 7:30wanted to be living I want to give a
- 7:32huge shout out to Skillshare for
- 7:34sponsoring this video for those of you
- 7:35who don't know Skillshare is an online
- 7:38learning platform which has thousands of
- 7:40classes covering dozens of
- 7:42entrepreneurial productivity and
- 7:44artistic topics it's also extremely
- 7:46affordable with an annual membership it
- 7:48comes in at less than $10 a month I just
- 7:51finished watching my friend Thomas
- 7:53Frank's productivity master class on
- 7:55Skillshare taking Thomas Frank's
- 7:57productivity master class helped me
- 7:59realize that one of the most important
- 8:01ways I can stay in that sustained
- 8:03productivity lifestyle is to reduce the
- 8:05amount of friction there is to actually
- 8:07being productive a lot of this can be
- 8:09achieved by creating a reliable
- 8:11streamlined productivity system that
- 8:14helps you get things done without the
- 8:15headache because Skillshare is
- 8:17sponsoring this video they're offering
- 8:19you guys the better ideas viewers a
- 8:21two-month free trial which means for two
- 8:24months absolutely free you get unlimited
- 8:26access to every single class on
- 8:28Skillshare so right now you can check
- 8:30out Thomas Frank's productivity course
- 8:32for free using the link in the
- 8:34description and while you're at it you
- 8:35might as well check out all the other
- 8:36classes on there as well
- 8:37thanks again Skillshare for sponsoring
- 8:39this video if you like this video make
- 8:41sure to hit like because when you like
- 8:43it the algorithm blesses me with shoving
- 8:45this video in front of
- 8:46people's faces helping them out this
- 8:48will be especially helpful if somebody's
- 8:50in a rut and because you liked this
- 8:52video it ended up in their subscription
- 8:54and this video was able to help them
- 8:56climb out of the rut I'd love to hear
- 8:57your guys's thoughts on how you climb
- 8:59out of ruts everyone has their own
- 9:01little strategies that helps them get
- 9:03momentum back into their life so I'd
- 9:04love to hear your thoughts on it if
- 9:06you're lurking here consider subscribing
- 9:07and hitting the bell icons so you don't
- 9:10miss videos like these in the future
- 9:12tons of amazing stuff happening on the
- 9:14channel you're probably noticing that
- 9:15there's more sponsor videos this allows
- 9:17me to put more effort into the videos
- 9:19because I spend less and less almost no
- 9:21time now doing freelance videography so
- 9:24I can rededicate that time to making
- 9:26amazing content for you guys but yeah
- 9:29that's all for today thank you for
- 9:31watching and we'll catch you in the next
- 9:32video
- 9:33[Music]
About this transcript
This page contains the full transcript of How to quickly get out of a rut by Better Ideas, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 1,930 words across 282 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.
What you can do with it
Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.
Free YouTube transcript tool
YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.