The Mel Robbins PodcastUnlock Your Brain’s Hidden Power: 6 Tools to Boost Focus, Confidence, and Creativity
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
125 min read · 25,431 words- 0:00 – 3:55
Introduction
- MRMel Robbins
(instrumental music plays) It's so easy to get buried alive by your to-do list and to feel like you're just on autopilot and you're barely surviving. That you forget that there is an evolutionary design inside of you that you can tap into.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Today, I'm gonna share tools that have literally lit up my life and allowed me to get on a path to attune to the rhythms of life.
- MRMel Robbins
Ooh, I want that. (instrumental music plays) I wanna make sure anybody that feels stuck understands that there's these four short steps-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
... that you can go through, and that there is another way. And so step one is what?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Noticing your inner desire for possibility.
- MRMel Robbins
Fabulous. What's the second step?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Is to take stock of what's working and what's holding you back.
- MRMel Robbins
Mm. And step three then, once you've taken stock is?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
To notice other possibilities and other ways of thinking.
- MRMel Robbins
And then you said the fourth step was?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Taking- (clock ticks)
- MRMel Robbins
Hey, it's your friend Mel. I am so fired up today. Can you tell that I'm fired up today? Well, before I tell you why I'm fired up, let me just first welcome you to the Mel Robbins Podcast. It is always such an honor to spend time with you, to be together. I also wanna say if you're brand new, welcome to the Mel Robbins Podcast family. Because you're listening to this episode, I know you're the type of person who values your time and you're also interested in learning about ways that you can improve your life. Well, today, holy smokes, we're gonna do that, because you and I are gonna spend some time learning from the incredibly inspiring Dr. Jeff Karp. Now, you may not have heard of him because he's so busy revolutionizing science, but trust me, after today, you'll know exactly what he's all about, and what he's about is innovation, creativity, and possibility. Dr. Jeff Karp is a medical genius who teaches at MIT, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's, and his groundbreaking innovations are transforming the future of healthcare. He is driven by a passion to improve patients' lives. His team has invented technologies that have led to the formation of 13 different companies. These inventions include tissue glue that can seal holes inside a beating heart, targeted therapies for... I can't even say that word, so I'm not going to, but Crohn's disease I can, and brain disorders. He's way smarter than me, so I don't have to say these words because he's gonna help me with them. Cancer-fighting immunother- I can't even say that word either. This is gonna be a hell of a conversation, but Dr. Jeff Karp has a huge, huge, huge heart. He also has 170 peer-reviewed studies that have been cited 35,000 times, and he holds over 100 patents for his inventions. And one thing I wanna say right up front, this is not an episode about all the scientific breakthroughs that he's had in his lab. Like, I think that stuff is really cool and you're gonna learn a little bit about it. This is really an episode about how Dr. Karp had this life-changing epiphany, and how he took the same things he was learning in his lab about innovation and creativity and tapping into whole new possibilities and discovered these simple tools that he's used in his life that ignited a whole new possibility for him in his marriage, with his kids, in his day-to-day life. And here's the cool part. These same tools that created more connection and presence actually made him more successful and productive at work too. And so today, Dr. Karp has stepped out of the lab and into your life in a really big way to teach you what he calls these simple life ignition tools. So please help me welcome Dr. Jeff Karp to the Mel Robbins Podcast.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much.
- MRMel Robbins
And I'm very impressed that you actually hopped on a bike and rode over from your lab just acro- Are you across the river?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah, I am. I'm at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and I'm still wearing my bike shoes.
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- 3:55 – 7:50
The tools you need to unlock your potential and transform your life
- MRMel Robbins
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
Well, I'd love to start by having you speak directly to the person who is listening, and tell them what they might expect to have change about their life if they truly take to heart everything that you're about to share with and teach us today.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah. Thank you for that question, and thank you for tuning in to this. Um, I, uh... Oh my goodness. Wow. It, uh... Uh, th- there are tools I'm gonna share today that have literally transformed my life. They've transformed so many moments that have taken me from being in a rut, from hitting a plateau, from being disconnected from my family and friends, um, from, uh, being on a path where I just feel like I'm trapped in a cage and life is out of control. And today, I'm gonna share tools that have literally lit up my life and allowed me to get on a path of intentionality, infuse creativity into every day, um, to help me lead with curiosity, to connect deeply with the people that I love and care about, and to attune to the rhythms of life and, and connect deeply with nature.
- MRMel Robbins
I want that. Can you put that in a powder that I can put in my drink? I, uh, I'm really excited that you're here, and one of the reasons why is that, Dr. Karp, you run one of the most successful and accredited research labs in the entire world. I mean, your lab is looking at everything from cancer research to heart tissue repair, and you've taken everything that you've learned as a researcher and a scientist and all of this experience on the cutting edge of medical innovation, and you've applied it to your life, and you've come up with these things that you call life ignition tools that absolutely anyone can use to tap into their potential, to improve their life, to be happier. I'm so excited to learn about these simple tools. But before we jump into the life ignition tools, could you just tell the person listening a little bit more about the kind of work that your lab does and what you're excited about?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Absolutely. Uh, so my lab is literally focused on the process of medical problem-solving. It's an ever-evolving process, it's highly iterative, and the major focus is how can we make academic discoveries and move them as quickly as possible to patients? And we do this, like, just how we approach problems, how we infuse fresh energy, how we disrupt, um, linear thinking and single sort of possibilities that we might find ourselves within, and this has allowed us to create all sorts of technologies that are in clinical trials and have actually made it to patients. For example, uh, we developed a nasal spray in the lab that we demonstrated could, um, neutralize, uh, like 99.99% COVID-19, H1N1, influenza A and B, um, and, uh, um, a form of pneumonia, uh, and, um... So that's, like, one example. We developed a needle that can stop in between the layers of the eye to deliver gene therapy to the back of the eye. It's really difficult to get drugs to the back of the eye, like, for macular degeneration, and that's on route to a clinical trial. Um, we've developed, uh, um, therapies to annihilate cancer, um, therapies for osteoarthritis, um, so... a- and it's really like a playground, if you will. Um, people from all over the world, people with tons of different experiences, um, and backgrounds and expertise, uh, but we really have a North Star for every project, which is to help patients
- 7:50 – 13:22
World-renowned scientist and innovators’ secret to unlocking creativity
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
as quickly as we can.
- MRMel Robbins
You know, Dr. Karp, you're one of the most innovative minds and award-winning researchers alive today, and I'm just curious if you can talk a little bit more about how you run your life and how you run your lab, and the role of creativity and how you use creativity in sparking innovation in your lab. I mean, how do you get people to tap into the full potential of their own brain power when they're doing research for you?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah, creativity, uh, is, I think... I think creativity is one of these life forces. It's something that, um, we can tap into. It's something that we are all born with. It's something that is flattened by our society and, uh, th- perhaps through the education system, depending on, you know, where we were educated and, and the circumstances, um, but I think, you know, with this sort of algorithmic lifestyle that we all lead, um... For example, I think if you, if you look at, um... Ah, so many thoughts in my mind, I'm like, "Whoa." (laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I'm like, yeah, 'cause creativity, it's, it's, like, to me, it's just so exciting because we, we all have this ability to, to tap into creativity, and when we do, we surprise ourselves. Like, we, w- like, it's literally, like, this thing that just lights us up when we tap into it.
- MRMel Robbins
Yep.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And, and I think that it's magnetic. There's gravity to it. When somebody is being creative, it just attracts other people.
- MRMel Robbins
Yeah.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Like, everyone wants to, like, "Oh, what are you doing?" Like, "Oh, that's so interesting, how'd you think of that?" Like, something magical about creativity, and so for my laboratory, you know, it's like it's one thing to try to make academic discoveries. It's another to then take those discoveries and turn them into products that can help patients, so, like, the level of difficulty just escalates.
- MRMel Robbins
Yeah.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And so I've spent a lot of time sort of, um, trying to figure out and ex- actually experiment in my laboratory with processes to maximize creativity. So one of the things that I've noticed is that the lab composition is critical for creativity.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And so I've tried intentionally, on purpose, to limit the overlap in expertise. Most laboratories, you have the same kind of expert- everyone in the lab has the same expertise. What I've noticed is that if we minimize the overlap, that we can really leverage the power of thinking differently and that spar- the sparks of creativity just start flying. Like, in the lab, we've had chemists, we have material scientists, we have biologists, immunologists, but we've also had a gastrointestinal surgeon, a cardiac surgeon. We've had a dentist in the lab. It's constantly changing, and I think when you start interacting with people who think differently, who have different skills, we've had people from 30 different countries in the lab, and when you're from a different country, you have a different education system, so y- you think differently, you have different wiring, you have different experiences, and to me, that's how you start to generate the sparks of creativity. And something else that I experimented with in my lab which actually was, like, transformational, was I set up, uh, and I hadn't seen this before, but I- I just was like, "Oh, we- I need to somehow figure out how to get things more creative and people to connect and..." you know? And so I thought, "Okay, presentation competitions." So I came up with this idea that-
- MRMel Robbins
You're giving me anxiety about work.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
I'm like, "If I were to do presentation competitions-"
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah, yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
"...here, people would quit."
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Okay, but-
- MRMel Robbins
But so you have-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Okay.
- MRMel Robbins
...like, presentation competitions at work-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yes.
- MRMel Robbins
...in this, like, world-ren academic research lab.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yes, and you-
- MRMel Robbins
Uh-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Th- and then there's, there's some guideposts. So you, you, you can't present on your research. You have to present on something that is one of your passions or one of your interests-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
...or something you're curious about. And-
- MRMel Robbins
I love that.
- 13:22 – 15:42
Feeling stuck? This is the key to unlocking your hidden potential
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
and it's just been- it's been unbelievable.
- MRMel Robbins
I love this. And you know what I love? Is I'm listening to you, I'm jealous. Now I want to be there. I want to feel that expansion and that connection and that creativity, and that brings us to the subject of your book, Lit, which is filled with all of these simple, proven, what you call life ignition tools that we can use with ourselves to unlock, in an instant, that kind of possibility, and to spark ideas and tap into our brain and shift where we're at, and what exactly is a life ignition tool?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
A life ignition tool is a strategy, a way to tap into something that you don't see in this very moment, something that could illuminate not just this moment, but your entire life.
- MRMel Robbins
Ooh. It's like there's all this hidden potential, and these life ignition tools (snaps fingers) unlock it.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
They unlock it, and everybody has access to it. These tools allow you to access your evolutionary inheritance.
- MRMel Robbins
What is my evolutionary inheritance?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Your evolutionary inheritance is the biology that- that- that you have that's working for you. It's- it's the ability to sense the world, the ability to make decisions, the ability to evolve and to learn and to be inspired and to sense awe and to tap into creativity. It's- it's- it's what we all have access to, and when we tap into it, not only does it light up our lives, it lights up the lives of everybody around us.
- MRMel Robbins
You know what's so exciting about this conversation? Is that it's so easy to get buried alive by your to-do list-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
... and to get drawn into social media and to feel like you're just on autopilot and you're barely surviving and overwhelmed with worry and the things that you need to do, that you forget that there is an evolutionary design inside of you that you can tap into your own creativity, what you just said, and these are the tools that help us cut through modern life and unlock that for ourselves.
- 15:42 – 21:00
This reframe transforms how you approach a daily routine
- MRMel Robbins
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Exactly.
- MRMel Robbins
Oh my God, let's dive in. What is the first life ignition tool that you want to share with us today?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
You know, um, one of the tools that I'm like, "Ah!" Is do new, because every moment there's limitless possibilities and we don't see those possibilities because of a lot of different reasons. It- I think one of the major reasons is that, you know, when we're younger, everything is new to us. You know, we- w- first time crawling, first time walking, every grade is a completely different experience, every sport, everything's completely new. But as we get older, we lead these algorithmic lifestyles. We wake up at the same time, we have the same breakfast, we go to work at the same time, we scroll social media at the same time, we go to the same sites, we interact with the same people, you know, same friend group, and so there's not that much new in our lives. When you start to infuse new in your life, and, you know, we do have this fear, we have this hesitation to do new, but when you start to do it, it just illuminates everything.
- MRMel Robbins
I love that. I love that. So it's almost as if these tools that you're teaching us, these life, you know, ignition tools, right?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
Unlock greater possibility. They interrupt the patterns that you've gotten used to as an adult in your life, and they tap into something different. How do you use the tool "do new, do different" in your life? Give me an example.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
There's so many ways that I use this. (laughs) Um, you know, one example, actually just something I've been practicing recently-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... um, just to intercept, uh, rumination and to, um, to just shift my mind, is I visualize, right? And this is just one of many possibilities.
- MRMel Robbins
Great.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
This isn't the-
- MRMel Robbins
But we're gonna do new, people.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah. (laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
We're not gonna- we're not gonna, like, worry about everything that's happening, we're not gonna run on that negative loop, so when that happens, we're gonna use this tool from Dr. Karp, we're gonna do new, do different, and you can do it with Think Better. What do you do?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Can I just-
- MRMel Robbins
Yes.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Can I- I brought something here.
- MRMel Robbins
Uh-oh. What do you got? Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
This is a prop, okay? So-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay, so he's passed me... What- these glasses are like these-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
... the glasses you put on when you go to the IMAX movie or 3D movie.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah. Okay, put them on and take a look.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
This is something that you can- is really simple to do new, and again, it's like a mind- to shift your mind-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... to change your frame.
- MRMel Robbins
So I'm putting on glasses that-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And look around.
- 21:00 – 25:31
The science-backed reason for taking a 5-minute pause
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And, you know, as kids, kids can look up and see animals, but we can do that too as adults, and I like to do that because, again, it's a way of getting out of my mind. It's getting ... That's ... I ... You know, we always hear, like, "Get into the moment. Be authentic." It's like, well, what's the process for doing that? And-
- MRMel Robbins
I agree.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Right? It's like, how do we ... What- what are the steps to get there? And to me, to get into the moment, if we stop walking and look up at the clouds and we start thinking about the clouds, we're totally in the moment.
- MRMel Robbins
It's true. It's a way to access all these principles. It reminds me of one of the, uh, life ignition tools you wrote about in the book called Press Pause.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
Laying on the ground and looking at the clouds is an example of pressing pause, and then you see the world in a different place. But what is the power of the pause, and how do you use this in your busy, busy, busy life?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yes. Um, pause is so important, um, pressing pause, and it's- it's really ... We- we need a tool to slow down. We need a tool to tap into intuitive cues. We need a tool to allow our brains to sync up, to process information and experiences. And so I noticed, I was doing these back to back to back meetings all day long. I get to the end of the day, felt like I'd done maybe two marathons of work. That felt great, but there was something missing. I- I ... Like I ... There was something, I couldn't put my- my finger on it, and being someone who's, like, constantly tinkering with everything, I started to experiment with, "Okay, what if I take a break in between my meetings?"
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Just like five minutes, 10 minutes, and not a social media break or an email break or a texting break, but a true break where I do nothing or I just go for a walk, and I started experimenting with it, and what I noticed was transformational. I would basically start thinking about some- something someone had told me, like, a few weeks before, a few months before, and it would connect to what the person I just met with said, and I'd be like, "Whoa, we should get together and meet, because this could turn into something completely new." I wouldn't have had that thought had I didn't ... Uh, you know, if I didn't press pause. And so it's like we have so much information coming at us from every meeting we have, and a lot of it's in our subconscious mind. We need to take time for these thoughts to swirl around our mind, to process them, and to kind of place them, and I found that, like, my best thinking happens when I do that-
- MRMel Robbins
Hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... when I'm actually pausing. And, um, there's a, um, a neuroscientist that I spoke to, actually interviewed for the book, um, and a musician, um, Molly Gerbrian is her name, and, um, just amazing things that she said. So she said, actually, um, it's in the pauses is when mind turns into matter. So when we're learning, it's actually n- ... Our brains aren't rewiring in the moments that, like, you know, so much of just, you know, engaging. It's actually when we pause, that's when the circuitry is really changing and the remodeling is occurring, you know, like during sleep, for example. And she said, actually, a lot of people, if they're practicing a skill-... that a lot of people will do is they'll, if they have one hour, they'll just practice for the whole hour. And she said, "No, no, no. That's not... The neuroscience shows that's not the best way to do it." She said, "The best way to do it is practice for 15 or 20 minutes, take a 5 or 10-minute break, and then approach it again." And this engages something called the startle effect. And so the startle effect is where the next time that you approach something, you clue into, your attention is focused on what you forgot, right? So let's say you try to build a skill, you, you know, you learn something in 20 minutes, then you go back, you realize what you've forgotten now, 'cause now you're applying it again. That hyper-focuses your brain on what you forgot and helps you to imprint whatever you're learning.
- MRMel Robbins
Wow.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And so by doing that over and over, that's how we start to rewire our brains and develop skills.
- MRMel Robbins
You know, I've never thought about it that way. I love how you take your scientific mind, and it's clear you have a huge heart, and you've combined it into something simple that
- 25:31 – 32:33
Fall in love with repetition: why practice is the ultimate game-changer
- MRMel Robbins
anyone can use. Immediately thinking about my kids and guitar. And having them, you know, when they're practicing, sitting up there toiling away for an hour versus trying to work on a piece, taking a five-minute break, and then coming back to it-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
... or anything-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
... that you wanna master. And so one of the ways you can apply the pause is by simply taking a five-minute break between meetings and not actually working, or going for a quick walk, or laying on the ground and looking at the clouds, or taking a quick break, uh, as you're trying to learn a new skill. Y- or shutting yourself up in the middle of a conversation and not inserting yourself.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
Like, that there is this need to slow ourselves down. Why is it so hard to bring ourselves to practice new skills or habits?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I think it's difficult to practice new skills because of the way that we practice.
- MRMel Robbins
Hm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I think that, yeah, I think that, um... And that's why one of the tools is actually fall in love with practice, because what I have found, right, and through some of the people that I've spoke to and interviewed for the book, is that practice can become monotonous really fast. It can become boring. But there are, just like with everything, there's limitless possibilities in the way that we can practice. And so, um, I interviewed the five-times US memory champion, Nelson Dellis, for the book, and I specifically asked him, "Nelson, how..." Like, it- it- at some point, it's gotta get boring, right? Like, if you're just practicing the same thing over and over and over again. And I said, "What do you do?" And he said, "Well, sometimes when I get to that state," he said, "instead of..." Like, he would memorize like a 52 deck of cards in, I-d- I forget how many, like, 20 seconds or whatever it is-
- MRMel Robbins
Oh, my gosh.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... or 30 seconds.
- MRMel Robbins
In the sa- in that order?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Like, in a random order. Someone hands him-
- MRMel Robbins
Wow.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... the deck. In 30 seconds, he can memorize, like, the whole thing. And so I said, "What do you do?" And-
- MRMel Robbins
But was he born with that skill, or did he-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
No.
- MRMel Robbins
... actually teach himself that?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
He wasn't. His, um, he had someone in his family, I think it was his grandmother who, um, got Alzheimer's, and he never thought he had a good memory, and he was concerned that that would be his fate, and he turned-
- MRMel Robbins
Wow.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... to memory games and learning how to, yeah, build his memory. And so he told me that, um, what he does is he will insert a few extra cards in the deck. So he'll change it up. And he said that presents a new challenge to him that activates his mind, and it makes it more engaging. And so th- you could kinda think about, you know, what are all the things. And sometimes, it may be that you're pr- Like, when I was younger and I was, you know, I, I was always the last chosen for sports, sports at school, right? Actually, it was me and this other kid. (laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs) You're hilarious, Dr. Cope.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And, and, uh, and, um, and so, you know, I really wanted to get better at basketball, and I would go and I would throw the ball and, you know, just nothing, nothing. Just plateau, like wa- like just anger and whatever. And luckily, there's somebody actually who I recently connected with, which is pr- pretty interesting, but someone who, um, saw me doing this and came up and said, "Here, I'll show you." You know, "I'll show you how to do it." And he said, "We're just gonna focus on the layup. That's it." Um, and I was probably, you know, maybe like 11 years old, 10, 11, something like that. And he would just stand with me and I w- he would say, "Okay, shoot it there. Here's the angle. Here's how to do your hand." And over time, I got better at it.
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Like, I was almost getting it every single time. And to me, that was shifting from the possibility of me just standing there trying to do it on my own to having someone supportive there with me, showing me how to do it. And so it was just, I was engaging in another possibility. It's finding the process that works for you. And when you start... You know, I almost think of it as like a knob. Like, it's like click, click, click, click-
- MRMel Robbins
Right.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... there it is, now I'm improving. And we need to be able to tune in to those incremental im- improvements and, and, and incremental progress in order for us to continue to advance. And to me, it's like falling in love with practice is the key to persistence. It's how we become persistent in anything in our life. If we can find ways to infuse joy into practicing, then we can keep at it for longer and we can be persistent. And we all know that, you know, persistence is so important for progress.
- MRMel Robbins
It makes me think about the fact that it took me a long time with my brain and ADHD and dyslexia to do that click, click, click, cl- oh, this is it. And I do think we get into these patterns of believing that there's only one way to do something, or the way that you've always done it is the way that you should always do it-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- 32:33 – 42:15
Why is failure your best tool for success?
- MRMel Robbins
You have another tool, focus beyond failure. Why is failure so essential, Dr. Karp, to unlocking your full potential?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Whoo, I, uh, wow, I've experienced so many setbacks and, you know, just nothing has ever come e- easy to me. And I would say, you know, the way I would describe it really is that, let's say I ended up, talking about my experiences, just all of my experiences (laughs) in life really-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay, well, give us a big failure.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... and the fail- okay.
- MRMel Robbins
Like, you have a big failure.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Oh, I have a lot of big failures. Okay, so for example, um, I applied to medical school, got rejected from all three schools that I applied to. I, um, you know, I s- I had so many failures. I was the kid in high school who got up to do a Walkman sing and got booed off the stage, right? I'm that kid.
- MRMel Robbins
Wow.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Um, I tried out for, to be on student council multiple times, and I didn't get on, although I actually did get on in my final year of high school from pattern recognition. I figured some things out. But, uh, yeah, I almost visualize, it's like I'm in a boat, I'm trying to get to the end of the stream, right? And I am bumping into every single rock along the way, every overhanging branch. And as I sort of go, you know, kind of un- untangling myself, I will look, you know, I'll look down, I'll look at the rock and I'll be like, "Oh, hmm, that's interesting." I'll see a path on the side of the, the river and I'll say, "Oh, I wonder where that leads." I'll get out of the boat, I'll start walking down, and then I'll be, "Wait a moment, I am m- I'm supposed to be going down the river." And so I get back in, I bump into, like, every single rock. I mean, that's sort of, like, my experience with everything. And so, um, one of the massive failures that I had, um, is with TEDMED. I was invited, actually Jay Walker, the CEO of Priceline, um, was the CEO of, of, of TEDMED, and he gave me a call and he said, "Hey, I would like to invite you to give a talk on your bio-inspiration work, well, how you turn to nature for inspiration, you know, over to, to develop medical technologies." I initially said no because I was so frightened. Um, I had not memorized anything since, um, public school, and I, um, but then I thought about it and I was like, "Okay, I will never be asked again to, to speak on this stage." And I went and I said yes.
- MRMel Robbins
And by the way, just for you listening, this is, like, part of the TED Conference franchise. This is, like, academic superhero. This is the stage where all your peers are staring down at you. This is global re- so this isn't, like, come to the school basement and give a chat.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
This is an invitation to stand before everybody in the medical research community globally and just boom, go.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Go.
- MRMel Robbins
And what happened?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
So what happened was I practiced like crazy. I rented out the Kresge Auditorium at MIT, which is the biggest auditorium. I presented to four people, my family, (laughs) who were there. Um, I presented in front of so many different people. And, um, I knew that talk inside and out. It was, like, 15 minutes purely memorized. I had slides, I had animations, I had to get the timing right, I had to make it look like I didn't memorize it, you know? Like, there was all these sort of stages. And I was ready to go, and I get to TEDMED, it was at the Kennedy Center in DC, and, um, and they pr- I practice my talk and they suggest some changes, and I'm like, "Oh my God, I can't change it now, it's tomorrow." So I try to figure out how am I gonna... 'cause I've memorized it. Then we go on stage beforehand, there, there's sort of, like, walkthrough, and they say, "By the way, the clicker only goes forward. It doesn't go back. If you go too fast and hit it, you know, you have to yell-"
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... "to the A-V person, 'Can you go back?'" Is, and I'm like, "There's no way I'm doing that." And they said, "Sometimes people freeze in the middle of their talk." They said, "The two reactions that we've seen is one, they run off the stage." They said, "Don't run off the stage if that happens." The second reaction we've seen is people will actually start crying. They said, "Don't do that either." They-
- MRMel Robbins
And the third reaction is when-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
... you dump in your drawers-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Right.
- MRMel Robbins
... and have to throw out your pants. (laughs) So.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I'm sure that's happened at some point. So I mean, uh, so, uh, and then they said, "Just stand there and smile." And so, I am like, you know, I'm ready to go. I'm like, I get a pack of Halls in my hand. I'm eating 'em all right before I go up. I get up on stage. I am, I have it so well memorized that I can think about other things. It's five high-definition cameras on me being live-streamed throughout the world. It's filled at this Kennedy Center in DC, the president of my institution's in the audience, and I get to the middle of my talk and I think to myself, "I missed a line. I, there was a line that I forgot to say." And my mind couldn't get unhooked from that, and I stopped in the middle of it.
- MRMel Robbins
Wow.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... for 15 seconds, I said nothing. Now, 15 seconds is a very long time to pause e- on this type of a stage and any stage.
- MRMel Robbins
Can you just put us in that moment?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
What was happening for you?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Well, I ... My ... I was so nervous. I, you know, had this, like, visceral reaction, where it was like this negativity came within me. I'm trying to think, "Okay, I can't run off the stage. I can't start crying. They want me to smile." The swear words are going through my head. I'm holding the clicker, trying to, like, use it like a lightning rod of energy, and you can see me, like, going like this with it.
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Like, I'm smiling.
- 42:15 – 45:29
Mel’s incredible advice for turning panic into confidence
- MRMel Robbins
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
And can I give you some advice about speaking?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah, please.
- MRMel Robbins
Because I think what the people said to you was horrible advice.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
So number one, it's always important to understand that the audience has no idea what you're about to say or what you're supposed to say.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
And so if you can remind yourself that they have no idea what I'm supposed to say so I'm not supposed to get it right-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
... I'm supposed to actually get through it and try to enjoy myself. And if you're having a good time with it, then they're gonna have a good time with you.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
Second thing I want you to understand is that there is a tremendous amount of research about what happens when another person sees somebody else screwing up, whether they're tripping up the stairs, or they freeze for a minute, or they slide. Like, I've had so many moments where I've literally been in front of 10,000 people and the clicker stops working.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Oh.
- MRMel Robbins
And you've got a stadium in your hands. And the amazing thing about those moments is that...If you can get to the point where you're like, "I just forgot what I was supposed to say. Guess I better hit the next slide. Uh, guess it wasn't that important." Click. You know?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs) Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
People root for you. We like and cheer for people when we see their vulnerability.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
And if you can give yourself that grace... And here's the final thing. Always before you walk on stage, you will always forever feel nervous, no matter how prepared you are because you're about to be in the spotlight, and that activates the alarm system in your nervous system 'cause you're gonna go into hyper pay-attention mode.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
Instead of going, "Oh, my God. I'm so nervous," and chomping on the halls and pacing back and forth and res- re- like, reiterating, reiterating, reiterating-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
(laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
... literally say to yourself, "I'm so excited to get out there and share this."
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
"I'm so excited" because that simple reframe, they have actually studied this at one of the institutions you're involved with, Harvard Medi- School- School.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
Is that simple reframe gets your brain to tell your nervous system, "We're not nervous here. We're actually in a state of excitement." And that helps you from having your nervous system hijack your prefrontal cortex, which means you can access the preparation.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
So true.
- MRMel Robbins
But in that moment when you freeze, try to make a joke. "I just forgot what I was gonna say," and you'll be shocked at what happens.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah, Rudy Tanzi, um, is a neuroscientist who spoke about some elements of what you just s- what you just said in the book, and he said that, um, he- he- he said before he goes to give a talk, he says to himself, "I am here to serve."
- 45:29 – 49:09
Dr. Karp broke free from autopilot with his groundbreaking “Flip the Switch” hack
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
- MRMel Robbins
You know, every single day we get questions from people around the world who feel like they're just kinda stuck, they're on autopilot, just goin' through the motions. Do you have a life ignition tool that you can use if you find yourself living in autopilot?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Absolutely. (laughs) Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
Great.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Okay. One of the tools that you can use, um, in this situation is called flip the switch.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And it's all about, um, recognizing patterns that don't match up. Uh, the c-
- MRMel Robbins
Can you give me an example? Like, like, where would you use flip the switch in your life?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Okay. So here's- here's an example of flip the switch.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Um, my ADHD, uh, really created a lot of struggles for me early on, my learning differences, and, um, in the seventh grade, I was actually identified as having learning differences and ADHD, and I got-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... some accommodations, and that was really a pivotal moment for me. But what happened was is that my ADHD was still really problematic and troublesome for me, my learning differences, and it just presented daily challenges. And so I really needed... Everything took me two or three times longer than everybody else. Um, I would constantly be staying after school, I'd go on out in- in on weekends to meet with teachers, the ones that would be available, all through high school, like, you know, whenever I could. I just... It was always like a, it- it was like I was trudging through, um, I don't even know what, but i- it was just slow, slow, slow progress in everything. And so I needed to find ways to become more efficient, and so I started to just focus my attention on efficiency. And I was just so, um, so focused on becoming more efficient that over time, I started to become more efficient, I started to be able to do more, I started to be able to focus my attention at will. I started to be able to navigate the world in ways that I had never navigated before, to be able to- to learn and to- to, um, succeed in my classes, and- and, you know, I started to thrive. And what happened was I got so addicted to the dopamine hits from my work because now I was just able to just do almost, like, two marathons worth of work in a day, and when COVID hit, um, th- everything came crashing down in my living room. Um, I had realized that I was completely outta touch. I would be going to birthday parties, I would be going to... I'd be going to birthday parties and I would be trying to network with other parents who were there versus focusing on the purpose of the birthday party, which was to connect with my children and, and, and I would be at soccer practices and I would be trying to get my 10,000 steps. I'd be walking around-
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... the soccer field-
- MRMel Robbins
You sound pretty intense.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... over and over and over again to get my 10,000 steps. I'd be going for walks with my dogs, and I would have Netflix on the phone and I'd watch an episode of Game of Thrones-
- MRMel Robbins
What?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... as I took them for a walk around the neighborhood.
- MRMel Robbins
You're that guy?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I'm that guy. I'm that... I- I was that guy. I was that guy. And, and it was all because I had been so focused on just... that I would... just s- so addicted to the dopamine that I was getting from my work because I became very efficient. I was able to do way more than I had ever done before, but that was actually taking me off track.
- MRMel Robbins
Got it.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And I...... COVID was this unintentional pause where everything came crashing down, literally in my living room, and I was like, "Okay,
- 49:09 – 56:43
The 4-step process for breaking your routine
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I need to change." And that's where I engaged Flip the Switch.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Which is a four-step process.
- MRMel Robbins
What is that?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
So, the first step is to notice your inner desire for possibility. So it's this idea that, you know, in that moment, I knew that there was another way of living, another way of being. There was something I- I- I, there was something I could do that I wasn't doing, and I felt disconnected. So I really was in touch with other possibilities that I needed to discover. The second step is to take stock of what's working and what's holding you back.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And I had developed these incredible efficiencies in my lab, in my work. Things were going extremely well. But at home, it was a completely different scenario. It's like I looked up, and all of a sudden, my son was quarterback of the high school football team. It was, you know, my kids were teenagers, all these years had passed, and I- I- I- I felt there was something deep that was missing. There was something more that- that- that I- I- I needed to engage. There was, I- I needed to figure this out.
- MRMel Robbins
You.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I needed to figure myself out.
- MRMel Robbins
You were missing.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I needed to turn inward. And- and so that is what, uh, that wa- was what- what was holding me back. And the third step was to consider other possibilities, other ways of thinking. And at the time, my wife, um, was engaged in- in sorta seeking out these answers to some spiritual questions that she had, and she was speaking to some spiritual leaders in the community, and, um, and I was like, you know, it took me a while to kind of look around and I was like, "Oh my God, she's having these conversations. These are the conversations that I need to be having at this moment." So, I iden- I identified, th- th- this was the third step, the other possibilities were right in front of me. And the fourth step is to take a deliberate step forward.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And so I asked my wife to introduce me to these spiritual people that she was engaging, and she did, and I started to meet with them. And, um, I started practicing meditation. And it- it- it, I tried it before and it didn't really work, like apps and all these things, but I- I sort of was connected to transcendental meditation-
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... which is this one-word mantra that you say over and over in your mind, and what I started to notice as I practiced it, and I di- I practiced it for two or three months. That's all, actually, I needed. And what I noticed was that these thoughts would come into my mind. There would usually be an emotion associated with the thought, and I'd be in the middle of meditation and I'd be like, "Oh my God, I didn't write that email," and I'd be-
- MRMel Robbins
(laughs)
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... jumping out of the meditation.
- MRMel Robbins
You need a seatbelt in your own meditation.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
So I needed a seatbelt, yeah. (laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
Or a notepad to jot it down.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
But one of the amazing things that I recognized is that as that was happening, I noticed that if I didn't jump out of the meditation, if I could hold myself there, that that thought and the emotion would actually subside.
- MRMel Robbins
Mm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
It would leave my mind.
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And all of a sudden, that- that became this- this light bulb moment for me because what I noticed was when I was in conversation with my wife, with my children, I started to notice the energy of the conversation. I started to notice that if, let's say, you know, my kids are teenagers and if they're speaking and all of a sudden I wanna say something, I wanna interject, the energy shifts from them to me and they stop speaking. And now, it's on me, but that's not my intention. My intention is for them to find their voice, for- for- for- for- for me to s- be supportive of them, and not for me to take over or for the attention to be on me. And so the meditation helped me develop tools for navigating conversations with people, with everybody, and now I'm very, um, you know, in my mind during conversations, it's wired in, I notice the energy of the conversation and- and- and I feel like the ADHD brain, um, because it's bouncing around, and- and- and people with ADHD often forget what they're gonna say and it- it, that can be painful, and so you wanna just jump out and say it. And through this process, I've been able to sort of, um, keep myself present so that I'm not jumping out and interjecting. And whenever I do that, I- I feel like, it's almost like this box appears in my mind and it's like a little check bo- ch- check mark because it feels like a win. And- and when I do that, when I pause and think about that any time I've had just these moments of intentionality in my day, and I just pause in that moment and sort of check, you know, put a little check, um, it feels amazing, and it sort of fuels more intentionality.
- MRMel Robbins
So I would love to, on the Flip the Switch, you said four... 'Cause I wanna make sure anybody that feels stuck understands that there's these four short steps-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Yeah.
- MRMel Robbins
... that you can go through, and that there is another way, that there's always another way to do life. And so I'm assuming that in any area of your life where you're bumping up against friction-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
... whether you feel like you're on autopilot or you're sick of where your health and your state of kind of being in shape or not is, if you're tired of your drinking habit, if you feel friction in your relationship, you're saying there is a life ignition tool you should tap called Flip the Switch.
- 56:43 – 1:01:23
Overthinking and overwhelmed? “Pinch Your Brain” with this genius hack to take back control
- MRMel Robbins
way. And one of my favorite ones, 'cause it's something I had never heard before is this concept of pinch your brain. What is it? How do you use it? Why do I need it? What is pinching your brain, Dr. Karp?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Pinching your brain is using your intention to focus your attention, um, to think or redirect your thinking throughout your day in meaningful ways.
- MRMel Robbins
So how do you u-, like how would you use this in your day-to-day life? How do you use it now?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Okay, I'll give you an example. I brought, I brought two pens, one for-
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... for you. (laughs)
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
There you go. Sorry.
- MRMel Robbins
And, and if you're listening-
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Just throwing it at you there.
- MRMel Robbins
... I'm holding a pen that has a red end, and you're holding a pen that has a blue end.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
That's right.
- MRMel Robbins
And I'm assuming this is intentional.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Well, (laughs) maybe. We'll see. Um, so, so the way that we can practice pinch your brain, right?
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Is to take something in your environment-
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... and focus your attention on it and notice the nuances, right?
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And so this is something you can do anywhere in your life. You can do it inside, outside, any room. And so if I say to you, "Okay, hold this pen in your hand," like typically, we just grab the pen, we write with it, and we put it back down. We don't think about it-
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... 'cause our thoughts are moving all over the place. And so at this moment, we could say what we're going to do is pinch our brain just by focusing on the nuances of the pen. So let's look at the pen together and say, "Okay, what are the different colors? What are the different textures? How is the light reflecting off the pen? How is, is there any writing on it? What does it say?" Turn the pen around, start to look at it. And what we're actually doing here is we're using our intention to focus our attention. We're squeezing out the other thoughts, and we're focusing on the pen. Now, this seems really simple and you're like, "Okay, you know, I'm just, you know, how is that helpful?" But what I found is that if you do this, if you make a practice of it, and you can do it outside as you're going for a walk, you can look at the texture of the bark on the trees, you can look at the clouds, you can loo-, there's so many things to look at. When you start to notice the nuances, you start to also, not only focusing your attention, you're connecting with what you're looking at, and there's this energy exchange that happens.
- MRMel Robbins
You just said a whole lot there, so I wanna make sure that I unpack this, which is the strategy and tactic of pinching your brain. I would imagine you can tap into this anytime you feel overwhelmed, anytime you feel stressed out, anytime you're doomscrolling, anytime you feel caught in that devastating cycle of ruminating, right, over and over on negative thoughts. He's saying find any object in your environment, and as you're listening to us, you can look around, it could be a coffee mug, it could be a cloud, it could be, like, anything really, and by pinching your brain, he's saying you can squeeze out any of the worries or rumination or overwhelm that you feel by just focusing on the details of an object that is within sight. And what happens, like what is the benefit? I can see the immediate benefit is you take control of your mind.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Mm-hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
But what have you found over time if you make this a practice, when you catch yourself feeling overwhelmed, that you use this pinch your brain tool?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
So every time that you do this, it's like a bicep curl for your attention.
- MRMel Robbins
Okay.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And-
- MRMel Robbins
So is this really good for somebody like me and you with ADHD?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Very good. Yeah, yeah.
- 1:01:23 – 1:10:49
The only takeaway you need after listening to this episode
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
that are most meaningful to us.
- MRMel Robbins
As we sit here, Dr. Karp, and have this conversation, I'm always thinking that there's one human being that...... truly needed all of the things that you're talking about today. And because you've shared so openly about all of the things that you have struggled with from second grade forward, and I keep thinking about our son who had dyslexia and ADHD and wasn't diagnosed until later and had to repeat grades and how lonely he felt, and, uh, you know, I just ... You have gone on to run one of the most acclaimed academic scientific research labs in the entire planet.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm.
- MRMel Robbins
You're involved in over 30,000 studies that have been, you know, where your lab has been cited. Would you talk directly to a kid that might be listening with their parent about what's possible? You know, if you could talk to you as an eight, nine, ten-year-old, what you wished you knew back then?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm. Absolutely, I love that. (laughs) Um, well, to me, I would first start by saying that, um, one of the key things that really happened to me that was, um, critical along my path is that I was a C and D student early on. I was nearly failing out, um, you know, 'cause nothing, nothing was working. And I was thinking about this earlier today, (laughs) and I was kinda getting emotional about it because, you know, I don't like to think about that time too much because it was really difficult for me. I ... All the labels I was getting, lazy, um, you know, they'd ... They asked me at one point, "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" And I said, "I wanna be a doctor," and they said, "You better set your sights lower because you just don't have what it takes to do that." Um, they said, "You're never gonna amount to much." And, um, and that really took a toll. And the one thing, the one thing that kept me going during that time is the support that I had from my parents, and in particular, my mom. Um, there were these speech competitions at the school that started, I think, in the fourth or fifth grade, and my mom wrote the speeches for me, and she helped me memorize, and I had never memorized anything before, and, and I was really ... I had a lot of anxiety. I had, you know, I felt lost, but she said, "Okay, let's start with one word."
- MRMel Robbins
Mmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
"Let's move to two words." But as soon ... I was, I had a sentence memorized, and then I had two sentences memorized, and then I had three and four, and I could tap into the fact that things were changeable, that I could actually memorize something I didn't think I could. And then she would coach me on how to say it, how to, how to give the, the speech, and what happened was incredible because I started to win competitions. I started to be the kid to beat. And I think that every kid, every person needs to have that one thing where they can tap into the fact that things are changeable.
- MRMel Robbins
Mmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
That one thing where they can gain that incremental confidence and tap, tap into it, feel it in a very visceral way-
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... because when you do that, you can apply it to all the other areas in your life.
- MRMel Robbins
Mmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And, and, and, and that truly is what allowed me to keep going and to then start to develop these tools which eventually I applied fr- from surviving to thriving.
- MRMel Robbins
Is that what you wish somebody would have told you, that things are changeable? Like, 'cause I find your story fascinating, and I know that there are, there's somebody listening that feels that exact way about their son or daughter, and you have an extraordinary amount of resilience, and just like, "I'm plowing ahead. There's a rock. I'm going here, I'm going here, I'm going here." And what is it that you wanna say to some kid that is in that space right now that doesn't feel like things are changing?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
Hmm. Well, I would start by saying the following. I believe in you. I will always believe in you. No matter what labels you get, no matter who has shamed you before, no matter what terrible things have happened to you, no matter what kind of self-shame you induce on yourself, there is a way out. There are infinite possibilities. The possibility you're living right now is not the one that defines you. You can break out of it and you just need some tools and strategies. You need, just need to experiment a little bit in your life just to see beyond that possibility, and I am here to help you. I am ... will always be here for you, and I am excited for what the future holds.
- MRMel Robbins
Beautiful.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
And no matter what, I want you to know that there is at least one thing that you are good at that you can tap into and develop and it will inspire the world.
- MRMel Robbins
That is so beautiful. Dr. Karp, what are your parting words?
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
I just have so much excitement for, for life and for what life holds for everybody, and, and I, I think that it's like, you know, I have experienced so many setbacks, so many challenges, so many times when I said, uh, I've heard, "It can't be done. You can't do this. You're not good enough." I, I've experienced so many moments where I, I feel disconnected from the people around me, where, um, I don't feel innovative anymore. I don't feel creative. I, I, I don't feel like I can, uh, get myself out of this situation where I'm in a dark place, where I, I just don't know what the future holds, that I'm caught behind fear, behind hesitation, and I think that there ... what I've learned, uh-In the process of my life and in writing this book, and in listening to your podcast, and, you know, all the tools and the reframes is that we need tools, we need rituals, we need practices, we need each other-
- MRMel Robbins
Mm-hmm.
- JKDr. Jeff Karp
... we need diversity, we need to be seeing things from different angles and different frames of references. And this has a way of showing us new possibilities, other possibilities, so that we don't end up trapped in this linear way that our minds gravitate to towards this- this single possibility that we find ourselves trapped within. And this, I think it just ignites this, it illuminates us when we have tools and when we can actually do these reframes, and so I'm just really excited for everyone out there, I'm excited for you to- to experience LIT and to, a- and I'm- I'm excited to- to hear, um, what resonates and I'd love to hear your stories.
- MRMel Robbins
Well, Dr. Jeff Karp, thank you for opening up so much possibility and also doing it in a way where you have given us so many simple tools that we can put to use immediately. And just like Dr. Karp said, I can't wait to hear what you do with everything he just taught us and shared with you, and I can't wait to see what happens in your life and the people that you care about and their life when you share this episode with them. And in case no one else tells you, I wanted to be sure to tell you that I love you and I believe in you, and I believe in your ability to create a better life, and there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that everything that Dr. Karp has shared with you today will help you do that. There is so much more possibility, so many amazing things that you are capable of achieving and experiencing in your life, and every one of the things that he gave you is a simple way to look at things differently and unlock your potential. We're gonna help you take that next step. All righty, I'll see you in the next episode. And I wanna make sure to also say thank you, thank you, thank you for watching all the way th- to the end. Didn't you love Dr. Karp? I mean, I just have, like, a huge brain crush. Just hanging around him makes me feel like my brain is bigger and so is my heart, and so I love, love, love this. I love spending time with you. One other thing I wanna ask you, it is my goal to make sure that 50% of the people that watch the YouTube channel are subscribers. Why? Because it shows me that you really love the work that we're putting out, it's making a difference for you, so if you could hit the subscribe, that's gonna help me close the gap. We are 8% away from reaching that goal if 50% of the people that watch are subscribers. All right, good. You don't get what you don't ask for, so I'm asking you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me, and I now know what you're thinking, "All right, Mel, this is great, I've subscribed, but what do you want me to do next? Where should I go next? What's the next best video?" It's right here. If you love Dr. Karp, you're gonna love this next episode, and I'll be waiting for you in it.
Episode duration: 1:10:49
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