Why You're Poor, Fat & Stupid

Your mindset, specifically the way you think about problems in life, is keeping you poor, fat, and stupid, and will continue to do so for the rest of your life, unless of course, you do something about it. Let me explain. Back in the 1960s, an American psychologist  called Martin Seligman and his colleagues, conducted a now famous research.

It involved 3 groups of dogs. The first group were put in a cage and  later released. This was the control group.

The second group were also put in  a cage, but while they were there, they would randomly receive small electric shocks. By pushing their noses on a nearby panel, the dogs were able to turn the shocks off. They quickly learned that their actions mattered, and would successfully stop the shocks whenever they happened.

The third group were put in a cage and  received the same shocks as the second group, but for this group, the nearby panel didn't work. No matter what actions the dogs in this  group took, nothing would stop the shocks. It was actually the second groups' panel that  controlled the shocks of the third group.

But of course the third group couldn't have known that, and to them it appeared that the  shocks would start and stop randomly. So this group quickly learned  that their actions didn't matter. Now, once the three groups of  dogs went through that experience, it was time for the second part of the experiment.

The researchers placed the three groups of dogs  on a grid that was divided into two parts by a small barrier, just a few inches high. The area of the grid where the dogs were placed was electric so they started receiving small shocks again. But all the dogs could escape the electricity,  simply by jumping over the small barrier to the other non-electric compartment.

The first and the second group learned this within seconds, and thus successfully  escaped the shocks by jumping over. But the third group, the group that had previously  learned that nothing they did would stop the shocks, took no action. Most of them just  laid down and didn't bother trying to escape.

They believed that nothing  that they did would help. Even with the escape route readily  available, the dogs didn't take it. The researchers actually had to drag the dogs from the third group back and forth between the compartments.

And this had to be done multiple times before the dogs finally understood that their actions worked and mattered. What we see here is an example  of learned helplessness. The dogs' previous negative experience,  where they didn't have control, led them to believe that they didn't have  control over anything that happened to them.

Similar experiments were later done on humans too, and learned helplessness  was observed there as well. Perhaps you might've experienced  this in your own life. Maybe you wanted to achieve something like; finding a romantic partner, getting an athletic body, making more  money, or receiving better grades, and you might've tried really, really  hard, but you didn't manage to succeed.

And because of the setbacks and failures you  experienced, you gave up on trying altogether. But the worst of all is that you ended up with  a belief that you were simply not good enough. "I'm just a bad student.

" "I'm not good with money. " "I'm unlovable. " "I'm just not an athletic person.

" These are some of the stories  we might tell ourselves. However, if we're not careful they can  quickly become part of our identity. If you believe you're bad at math, then you're  already expecting to get bad grades there, so you put in less effort to study, and then when  you do get those bad grades, it reinforces your identity and your belief that you're bad at math.

And you subconsciously begin to resist taking actions that don't align with what you believe your identity to be. But this is nothing more than a  downward spiral of learned helplessness. You've become just like that puppy  that's continuously being shocked, because you believe that you have  no control over the situation.

However, it should be noted that not everyone is impacted by negative experiences the same way. In both animal and human experiments, roughly 1 of out 3 subjects weren't  affected by learned helplessness. Which poses two questions;  Why?

And, can it be replicated? Let's take a look at two individuals  and see how they deal with setbacks. Bob and Lily were both  employed at a big corporation.

Suddenly, half of the workforce  was fired without an explanation. Unfortunately, Bob and Lily were among them. While both of them felt defeated and depressed for a while, they experienced this setback very differently.

Bob's whole world fell apart. He believed this setback was permanent. He was never going to find work again.

Lily acknowledged this as a setback, but she knew it was just temporary and that she would eventually bounce back and get another job. Even though Bob only experienced a setback  in one area of his life, which was work, he now believed he was a failure,  worthless and talentless at everything. Lily knew that wasn't the case for her.

While  she might've had a setback in her work life, she knew that she still shined  in other areas of her life. Bob believed that the only reason he got fired  was that he just wasn't good enough at his job, and only blamed himself for it. Other options didn't even cross his mind.

Lily acknowledged that she might  not have been the best at her job, as she was relatively new, but she believed  she was still good enough for her skills to be valuable and that the company just  didn't need her services right now. You can see how Bob and Lily  differentiated in their explanatory styles. Firstly, one believed that  this failure was permanent, while the other believed it was temporary.

Secondly, one believed that the failure was  universal and that he's bad at everything, while the other believed it was specific to that  area, and that she's still good in other areas. Thirdly, one internalized the problem  and blamed himself for his failure, while the other externalized it and attributed  it to the current labour market conditions. Same event, different story.

Where most succumb to helplessness, some people tell themselves a  more favourable version of events. And you can learn to do that as well. But make no mistake, both Bob and Lily  felt depressed and helpless in the moment.

Failure makes everyone at least momentarily  helpless, as it's like a punch in the stomach. It hurts, but for some people the hurt goes  away relatively quickly, while some remain helpless for days, perhaps even months or  years, even after a relatively small setback. This is why the way you explain bad  events or setbacks to yourself is actually really important, especially  if you're on a path to excellence.

Someone who has big goals and wants to  achieve greatness will encounter a lot of failure and other obstacles on their path. But while failure can leave us helpless, it is also necessary for us to grow,  improve and eventually succeed. So it's time to start reframing  events in a way that benefits us, and allows us to keep  persisting and taking action.

First of all, you need to be able to  recognize these thought patterns in yourself. Your habitual way of explaining  these setbacks or bad events was learned in childhood and adolescence. And by the time you reach adulthood, these thoughts have become very quick and  automatic, so they go unnoticed and unchallenged.

Journaling can be of big help here. Just grab a pen and paper, try to find some of your negative beliefs  about yourself and write them down. "I'm an angry person.

" "I'm bad in social situations. " "I suck at everything. " And so and and so forth.

Then, you need to challenge your beliefs a little. Ever heard the phrase: "Repeat a lie often  enough and eventually it becomes the truth? " When you have repeated these stories in your head  for years, it's easy to accept them as facts, and your mind will find ways to support them.

Even if they aren't necessarily true. So show yourself some contrary evidence. Yes, you might've fumbled in social situations many times, but what were some  situations, where that wasn't the case?

And can you somehow replicate those circumstances? We often forget about the times when we were the  opposite of what we believe our identities to be. Take a note of those times, and soon you might  realize that you're not as helpless as you think.

And lastly, you need to reframe your automatic thoughts and make slightly  more favorable explanations. For example, if you get rejected by someone  you like, your brain might tell you: "I'm unlovable. " "I'm never going to find anybody.

" Women (or men) hate me. " These are the exact same thought patterns  that Bob had, and you need to dispute them. "It was just this particular  person who rejected me.

" "I can be loved. " "There's someone out there for me. " Now make no mistake, this isn't about  making excuses or avoiding responsibility.

Rather, it's about creating a better story  for yourself so you don't become helpless and you can actually move forward from your previous  experiences, instead of ruminating in self-defeat. And just telling yourself or believing  that you have that control, can have a huge positive impact on your overall life, and  it has even been proven to work many times. When a class of African-American and  Latino students were failing and falling behind in school, a group of researchers  decided to make a small intervention.

They taught the students about  fixed and growth mindsets. When someone has a fixed mindset they believe  that their traits are fixed and can't be changed. People with this mindset run away from  challenges, because if their traits are fixed, failure just confirms that they're no good.

But someone who has a growth mindset believes that they can improve their basic qualities and  skills through effort, hard work and perseverance. They welcome challenges, because they know  that through them, they can make more progress. Additionally, those students were taught  that the brain can form new neural pathways, plus that it can change and  grow when learning new things.

And sure enough, those students started  improving and reversing the trend. A different group of students, who acted as a  control group, continued to have regular classes, where they weren't taught about the two mindsets. This group kept on falling behind.

So as you can see, simply believing  that you can change and improve, can make a huge difference  in the way you approach life. At first those students identified as bad  students, and that's because they were. But they also believed that they couldn't  do much about it, which was a problem.

However, when the intervention was  made and it was explained to them that they could become better if they put  in the effort, they began to do just that. They started taking the necessary  steps towards improvement, like paying attention in class, taking good notes, and learning how to study efficiently. All of which made them better students.

And slowly but surely, they started  to identify as good students, which reinforced their actions even more. It became a positive feedback loop. Our beliefs reinforce our behaviors,  and our behaviors reinforce our beliefs.

It's a two way street. But you have to take that first step and  actually take action that helps reinforce that positive belief and identity. Your actions don't have to be drastic, but rather something you can do consistently.

It's better to take small steps and do it daily, rather than do something drastic once a  month, and neglect it every other day. Consistency is what reinforces  your identity the most. Eventually, those small actions  become bigger actions anyway.

So if you want to make lasting changes, start with something you know you can  do every day to kickstart the loop. As we close out this video, I  just want to say that your past experiences don't have to dictate your future. Yes, setbacks suck, but they aren't permanent and they don't have to keep you helpless forever.

You have the power to change, grow, and improve. You just have to realize that your mindset  and actions can make a huge difference, and a better life might be only one barrier away. Don't think you can't do it. 

Because you know you can. Thanks for watching till the end. If you enjoyed this video make sure to hit that  like button, as it helps the channel a lot.

Anyways, I hope you learned something new  today, and I made you better than yesterday.