The Power of Habit | Jude Aburdan | TEDxSafirSchool

[Music] hi everyone my name is jude abordan i'm a fresh graduate from the faculty of medicine and surgery at istanbul medical university that makes me a general practitioner or a physician and today i want to share with you a personal story on how i got to where i am today back in high school i was always seeking to be the best at everything like literally starting from a young age i taught myself how to paint play guitar and i even successfully stole my sister's professional camera to learn photography additionally i excelled at being a nerd in all subjects except for arabic language my average dropped from 100 to 99 and god that drove me crazy told you excelled at being a nerd i participated in almost every school competition and was so popular and known for all of my achievements all of that combined with the support and ovation i got from those around me made me feel confident and powerful beyond belief like wow i'm actually good so what happened next i got to university accepted into the major of my dreams medicine do any of you want to become a doctor in the future do i see hands yes well i got into the measure of my dreams and i failed my first exam it was the very first exam in the first year of medical school it included basic knowledge regarding what we learned throughout the first semester it wasn't a matter of failing the entire year but it was the first hit of reality to experience failure first time in my life well for those who are a type a personality you'll know exactly how i felt by that time for your information type a personality individuals are ambitious highly self-conscious proactive and always concerned with time management in contrast to type b personality who are more patient less anxious and relaxed i am a type a personality never satisfied and always seeking to be more than good enough so experiencing failure for the first time in my life was tough especially that i experienced it away from my family and friends who could have played an important role in supporting me failing that exam absolutely shattered me into pieces i lost my confidence i started doubting myself and i even started to question whether or not i was good enough for medicine from a nerd in high school to a failing grade in the measure of my dreams that got me into severe depression at that time i did not realize the importance of failure i wasn't aware of the potential that it would add to my life and to my growth everything i had ever wanted i felt it was crumbled i hated feeling that way i had to change something deep down i knew that i could get back up try again since there would be other chances of scoring high on other exams all i needed was a method a certain recipe to have the power to try again well fast forward to after that exam and until i graduated from medicine i managed to become one of the top students in my faculty how i did it i obtained new habits so here's what i did i developed new study techniques i used colorful sticky notes to write high yield information and would stick them everywhere around my room i started drawing anatomical structures over my body to improve my photographic memory helped my colleagues by teaching them the subjects that they didn't understand i depended mainly on active recall technique which i highly recommend guys you do it by reading your lesson or watching a video about it and then you put it away and start taking notes on what you can recall or what you understood from it second i fixed my diet i started eating healthy made time to cook at home and prepare meal boxes on weekly basis third i learned yoga which is the exercise that heals the body mind and soul it's the type of exercise i needed to be able to manage the stress and pressure i was going through fourth i focused on my circle of friends by keeping those who motivated me to be and do better and by staying away from those who discouraged me and distracted me and made me feel bad fifth focus on disguise i paid more attention to the words i tell myself every day the thoughts i get before i go to sleep and the thoughts i get in the morning they all depended on what i tell myself every day your words matter so the next question is how did i maintain all of this i used the habit loop method which i learned from a book called the power of habit by charles duhigg the habit loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit it has the ability to override old habits by creating new impulses that are stimulated by new urges or behaviors it consists of three elements a cue a routine and a reward the cue for a habit is anything that triggers a habit cues most generally fall under the following categories a location a time of day or other people my queue was my desk after i finish my classes in university i go back home see my desk and start my routine the routine is the most obvious element of the habit loop since it's the behavior you wish to change or reinforce in my case the queue is my desk i start studying which is my routine and then i get to the reward which is my favorite part the reward is the reason our brains decide that the previous steps are worth remembering for the future it provides a positive reinforcement for the desired behavior making it more likely that you will produce this behavior again in the future it can be for example for me it was doing yoga with my coach eating something that i like or watching an episode of my favorite series friends you guys like it right so by the steps we just covered we create a behavioral pattern to activate certain centers in the brain whenever we perceive something and by that we develop the discipline to achieve anything well you can also overcome your bad habits such as smoking procrastination and even psychological disorders anger issues for example well give me a show of hands how many of you experience procrastination whenever attempting to study or work all of you almost well you can set an end to that by creating a habit loop make an alarm for yourself a signal whenever you find yourself procrastinating you automatically move to your routine and maybe have a guilt-free procrastination afterwards as a reward so let's practice this together what is the thing that you want to do every single day and excel at identify it think with me choose your queue whether it's a location specific time of day an object or a person pick your favorite reward whether it's a hangout with a friend or having chocolate on your break you want to make running easy create triggers to make it a habit right onto that loop of habits and see how everything becomes possible in an easier effortless way now i'm a physician a certified advanced life support provider i work in a clinic and i teach medical students while helping others with the english language soon i'll be launching my own medical uniform brand and of course my journey in medicine does not end here actually it has only just begun my next goal is to specialize in the united states and become a board-certified surgeon as charles duhigg says change might not be fast and it isn't always easy but with time and effort almost any habit can be reshaped what i want you to leave home with is motivation gets you started but habits are what keep you going this experience taught me that if we believe in our potential for change we have the power to overcome any obstacle that this life may throw our way thank you for listening [Music]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 1,317,719

Keywords: Achievement, Choice, English, Life, Life Development, TEDxTalks, [TEDxEID:50084]

Id: F8nPv7Alrw4

Length: 12min 33sec (753 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 12 2022