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PODCAST

The OptimalWork Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes, co-founders of OptimalWork, The OptimalWork Podcast will help you learn to challenge yourself in each hour of work according to your highest ideals. We discuss all aspects of Dr. Majeres"s approach to work, which he developed in his private practice and teaches at Harvard Medical School, and show how it applies to everyday situations like professional work, study, sleep, and relationships. For personalized plans to help you put the ideas into practice,

education self-improvement

All Episodes

00:23:25

23. Patience and Thalamic Gating

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/09/07

#23: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the neurological phenomenon of thalamic gating: the way your brain selectively filters sensations based on what you act on. By changing your behavior — for example, your response to pain or fears — you can train your brain to simply stop noticing these triggers. The key conclusion is that being willing to suffer in the end reduces suffering. This episode presents the neuroscience to support this claim.

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00:23:27

22. Reframe out of Addiction

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/31

#22: This week we discuss the nature of addiction, that is, repeatedly giving into a craving in which the costs outweigh the benefits. Addiction comes in many varieties. One mild example discussed is frequently giving in to distractions in work. The pattern of how addictions form is generally the same, and they are likewise broken by following the three steps of the Golden Hour, reframing, mindfulness, and challenge.

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00:26:31

21. A Vital Approach to Depression

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/24

#21: A major new study in the American Journal of Psychiatry highlights three behavioral factors that substantially affect the likelihood of depression. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the study, as well as depression in general, and connect it to OptimalWork's approach.

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00:21:58

20. Train Your Attention with Silence

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/17

#20: The practice of mindfulness is becoming more and more popular, but it can be difficult to understand what it really is, and what effects it has. In this session, we discuss the practice of mindfulness, distinguishing different types of mindfulness, and explaining how certain practices can help you to work at your best, by training your attention through the deliberate effort to attain silence.

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00:22:39

19. Transform Your Brain with Exercise

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/10

#19: Exercise has a tremendous power to transform your brain. Surprisingly, exercise has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments for depression. In this video, we discuss why this is the case, and why exercise offers unique benefits for everyone, from shaping the way you approach challenges to the way your brain functions.

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00:20:21

18. Prepare Your Brain to Embrace Challenge

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/08/03

#18: Embracing challenges starts with your judgements about them. If you’re stuck seeing challenges as threats, you need reframing. Rather than avoiding challenges, or forcing yourself to get them over with, reframing means recognizing each challenge as an opportunity for growth or service, by placing it in its true context of your whole life. Reframing is not just a mental trick — it causes an identifiable change in your brain. Among other things, this episode covers why it’s important and how to

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00:21:10

17. The Secret of Motivation

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/27

#17: How motivated are you to tackle the challenges of the day? For many, motivation comes and goes, which means it’s not really under your control and, more importantly, it’s not really coming from you. You get motivated by things, rather than you motivating yourself to do what’s best. Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss what motivation really is, what the only true stable source of motivation is, and how to cultivate it so you can always feel motivated to give your best.

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00:20:11

16. Putting People over Projects

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/20

#16: In this episode, Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss motives and priorities. It's common to see outcomes — like getting into the best school, securing a well-paying job, etc. — as ends in themselves. This approach has major costs: if you don't achieve the outcome, you get frustrated and double down on your outcome-focus; if you do, it just leads to you raise the bar and pursue an "even better" outcome. The alternative is to treat outcomes as means, not ends in themselves. They are a way to

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00:21:53

15. Transform Anxiety by Working at Your Best

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/13

#15: In this episode Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the nature and cause of anxiety. Understanding how anxiety works and what it really is — which is quite simple — can help you transform your approach to it. Crucially, as Dr. Majeres explains, anxiety is not a disorder or something to be avoided. Anxiety can be transformed into your best performance by following three steps: reframing, mindfulness, and engaging the challenge. You can follow these three steps before a time of work, turning it

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00:26:49

14. Left & Right Brain, Part 2: Motives

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/06

#14: Last week, we discussed the left-brain/right-brain paradigm as it bears on work, and this week we are building off the discussion to address motives. Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist re-popularized this paradigm in his 2009 book The Master and His Emissary, grounding it in neuroscience and using it to explain aspects of psychology, society, and culture (in contrast to previous pseudo-scientific versions of the theory). The approach has profound implications for understanding what motivates your

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00:20:36

13. Left & Right Brain, Part 1: Work

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/07/03

#13: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes discuss the different roles of the two hemispheres of the brain ("left brain" and "right brain"). Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist re-popularized this paradigm in his 2009 book The Master and His Emissary, grounding it in neuroscience and using it to explain aspects of psychology, society, and culture (in contrast to previous pseudo-scientific versions of the theory). The approach has profound implications for understanding how to work at your best — with

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00:23:55

12. Why We Get Frustrated

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/06/22

#12: This week we used the feeling of frustration as our starting point. In the course of the discussion, we also talked about self-labeling (what we call "schemas"); the true nature of success and failure; and the benefits of focusing on process rather than outcome. This episode gets to the heart of OptimalWork's approach. Schemas are contrasted with ideals: schemas result from and lead to motives of fear, whereas ideals, especially service, offer motives of love. When we act independently of the

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00:29:25

11. OptimalWork and the Brain: The Default Mode Network

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/06/15

#11: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif discuss the default mode network, a network of brain regions that have profound implications for the way we work and live. The default mode is involved when you get distracted, but it can also be trained to help you focus better.

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00:23:05

10. How to Grow in Mastery

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/06/08

#10: Mastery is one of the central concepts of OptimalWork. It means doing work well, and is cultivated through the development and practice of strategies. The projects and templates tools on www.OptimalWork.com are meant to help you make good strategies, and refine them over time. Some of the questions we discussed in this video are: What is mastery? How can you grow in mastery? What's the role of mentoring and collaboration in growing in mastery? What's the relationship between strategies

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00:23:27

9. What is a Golden Hour?

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/06/02

#9: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes discuss the Golden Hour, the central method behind OptimalWork. A Golden Hour is like exercise for your work, when you deliberately practice working at your best by preparing for your work with three steps: reframing, mindfulness, and challenge. The Golden Hour can be practiced at www.optimalwork.com! Some of the questions we discussed are: What is a Golden Hour and how do you do one? Why did we develop the idea of the Golden Hour? What's its origin and

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00:29:46

8. How to Measure Your Growth

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/05/26

#8: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes discuss the Inventory, one of the primary tools of OptimalWork. The Inventory is a 24-item questionnaire, a unique measure of how much you're embracing challenge and growing right now. Some of the questions we discussed in this video are: What's wrong with the idea of temperament and personality tests? What is the Inventory and what's unique about it? How does it differ from other personality tests? How did the Inventory develop? What does my

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00:23:30

7. Bring Your Ideals to Life

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/05/18

#7: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif, OptimalWork co-founders, discuss how to "materialize your ideals," that is, how to bring them to life: into reality, into your actions. The key to this is the practice of order, intensity, and constancy: three ideals that you can perfect in each hour of work, and that ultimately shape your practice of any other ideal. An example we discuss in the video is kindness. How can you bring kindness to life? First order: think about how you're going to practice it, what

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00:23:33

6. Getting Traction from Distraction

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/05/11

#6: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif, OptimalWork co-founders, discuss how to get traction from distraction. Kevin explains our unique theory of distractions, and draws out the practical conclusions: how to prevent them, and, if they do come, how to find the opportunity for shaping yourself and practicing ideals. Some other topics that came up: What to do if you wake up before your alarm goes off. Good use of technology/phones

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00:27:16

5. Victory over Tiredness

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/05/04

#5: Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif, OptimalWork co-founders, discuss how to gain victory over tiredness - in the context of afternoon tiredness, naps, and missed sleep. The discussion was mainly inspired by the following questions: If every time I feel tired I jump on the treadmill will that amplify the feeling of tiredness because I am acting on it? Can you address the advisability of the short afternoon nap? How do we get back on trackof our sleeping schedule, once we hadleft it?

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00:14:26

(Special) 11 Reasons to Jump out of Bed the Moment...

The OptimalWork Podcast ·

2020/05/01

Dr. Kevin Majeres, co-founder of OptimalWork, gives the 11 best reasons to jump out of bed the moment your alarm first sounds. This practice is one of the keys to personal transformation and growth (along with a daily Golden Hour).

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