Successful
How To Fix Your Life And Get Back On Track When You've Lost Your Way | Jordan Peterson
[MUSIC PLAYING] - Hi, I'm Dalvet Quince. One way to help manage type 2 diabetes is to regularly exercise. My exercise program can help get you into a routine that works for you. Keep in mind, managing blood sugar also takes the right. - Diet. Hi, I'm celebrity chef Franklin Becker. Ever since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I've adapted my cooking style without sacrificing flavor. If you want to learn more tips about diet-- - And exercise. - Visit mytype2transformation.com. [MUSIC PLAYING] - An official message from Medicare. - A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save, too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year or a married couple who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. - Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [MUSIC PLAYING] - The thing that sustains people through life really is the lifting of a worthwhile burden. It's something like that. And it's part because we're social animals, right? It's like we're evolved to be useful to the people around us because they're much more likely to let us live if we're like that. - Yeah. - So-- and it's been very fun talking to, especially talking to young men about this. It's like, well, now it's the other thing, too, is I think the world is full of darkness, let's say. And we could say each of us have a little bit of light. And if we release that light, if we let it shine properly, Christ, it's too cliche to go on with in some sense. But the world is a lesser place if you do not reveal from within yourself what you have to reveal. And the fact that the world is a lesser place actually turns out not to be trivial. Like if you want everything you could be, more people will die, more people will suffer, more evil will be unconstrained, more tyranny will reign, more chaos will remain chaotic and dangerous, all of that. - Do you mean this by the sense of like the old proverb of the wings of a butterfly fluttering become a hurricane? - It's something similar to that, but it can even be more local. It's like your family is more messed up than it could be if you were less messed up than you are. So if you just got your act together like 10% more, your family would be 1% better. It's like, well, do it. - And that would ripple off into people that they interact with. - Yes, and it ripples fast. That's the other thing that's so cool is that like people think, well, there's seven billion of us. And each of us is just this separate dust mold like floating in the cosmos. And what the hell difference does it make what you do anyways? It's like, that is not how we're connected. It's like, you're the center of a network and you know, well, you know way more people than this, but let's say typically, you're gonna know 1,000 people in your life, well enough to have an impact on them. Okay, and each of those 1,000 people is gonna know 1,000 people. So you're one step from a million and two steps from a billion. And we are networked technically. That's how human interactions work. And so when you do something that you shouldn't do, it's worse than you think. And when you do something that you should do, it's better than you think. And so you think, well, this is why I've been telling people, we'll clean up your room. It's like, well, your room is actually networked too. It's not that easy to clean up your room, to set it. So you want your room to be set up so that when you walk in there, it tells you to be better than you generally are. It's organized, it's got direction, everything's in its place. You try to do that in a chaotic household. You know, I've watched people do this 'cause I have students do these sorts of things as assignments. I'd say, look, pick a small moral goal, clean up your room, and just write down what happens as a consequence. So maybe these are students in a chaotic household. The whole place is a bloody mess. No one's taking any responsibility for anything. And so they decide they're gonna start to clean up their room. And then the people in the household notice. Well, the first thing they do is get pissed off. It's like, who do you think you are? Like, you think you're better than us? Like, why do you think this is worthwhile? Who died and made you God? All of that. So just by trying to organize this little part of their life, they immediately run into the people whose actions they're casting in a dim light by trying to improve themselves to some degree. They might have to have like a thorough war in their household to be allowed to do something as simple as keep the room orderly. They find out very rapidly that A, that's way more difficult than it sounds. And B, that the consequences of it are far more far reaching than people think. So that's quite fun. No, 'cause maybe part of it is that like everything around you is full of potential. Everything. Maybe more potential than you could ever possibly utilize. And so maybe all you have is this little rat hole of a room in some run down place in the world. It's like, fix it up. There's more there than you think. See what happens if you fix it up. And you'll fix yourself up simultaneously 'cause you have to be disciplined in order to fix up the room. And then you have a fixed up room and you'll be a more fixed up person. It's like, you think that nothing will happen as a consequence of that? It's like all hell will break loose as a consequence of that. It's really worth trying. - It is worth trying. And it's a concept that seems alien to people. But if you think about it, it makes sense. - Well, people don't take what they have right in front of them seriously enough. It's like the wasting time thing. They don't do the arithmetic. You know, and they also don't understand, they devalue what they have right in front of them. The point is your best strategic position is how my institution and how can I rectify that. That's what you've got. And the thing is you are insufficient and you could rectify it. Both of those are within your grasp. If you aim low enough. One of the things-- - Why do you see that? - That's another thing you keep saying, aim low enough. Have a low enough bar. Why do you mean that? - Well, let's say you've got a kid and you want the kid to improve. You don't set them a bar that's so high that it's impossible for them to attain it. You take a look at the kid and you think, okay, this kid's got this range of skill. Here's a challenge we can throw at him or her that exceeds their current level of skill but gives them a reasonable probability of success. And so, like I'm saying, it tongue-in-cheek to some degree. No, it's like, but I'm doing it as an aid to humility. It's like, well, I don't know how to start improving my life. Someone might say that. And I would say, well, you're not aiming low enough. There's something you could do that you are regarding as trivial. That you could do, that you would do, that would result in an actual improvement. But it's not a big enough improvement for you so you won't lower yourself enough to take the opportunity. - Incremental steps. - Yes, and so-- - This is also what is achieved through exercise. It's one of the most important-- - Well, what do you do when you go and lift weights? You don't go, like if you haven't bench pressed before, you don't put 400 pounds on the damn bar and drop the bar through your skull. But there's a humility in determining what it is that the wretched creature that you are can actually manage, aim low. And I don't mean don't aim. And I don't mean don't aim up. But you have to accept the fact that you can set yourself a goal that you can attain. And there's not gonna be much glory in it to begin with. Because if you're not in very good shape, the goal that you could attain tomorrow isn't very glorious. But it's a hell of a lot better than nothing, and it beats the hell out of bitterness, and it's way better than blaming someone else. It's way less dangerous. And you could do it. And what's cool about it? There's a statement in the New Testament. It's called the Matthew Principle. And economists use it to describe how the economy and the world works. To those who have everything more will be given. From those who have nothing, everything will be taken. It's like what's very pessimistic in some sense, because it means that as you start to fail, you fail more and more rapidly. But it also means that as you start to succeed, you succeed more and more rapidly. And so you take an incremental step and, well, now you can lift 55 pounds instead of 52.5 pounds. You think, well, what the hell is that? It's like it's one step on a very long journey. And it starts to compound on you. So a small step today means put you in a position to take a slightly bigger step the next day, and then that puts you in a position to take a slightly bigger step the next day. You do that for two or three years, man. You're starting to stride. (gentle music) - An official message from Medicare. - A new law is helping me save more money on prescription drug costs. You may be able to save too. With Medicare's extra help program, my premium is zero and my out-of-pocket costs are low. Who should apply? Single people making less than $23,000 a year, or married couples who make less than $31,000 a year. Even if you don't think you qualify, it pays to find out. - Go to ssa.gov/extrahelp paid for by the US Department of Health and Human Services.