Our most primitive cravings and habits come down to three words: Trigger, Behavior, Reward. But our brains can trick us into creating bad habits and driving is to be addicted to technology, love, thinking, and unhealthy food and beverages.  To break the cycle, Dr. Jud Brewer believes that curiosity is our ultimate superpower.  He has his MD and PhD and is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center.  He is also an associate professor in psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University, as well as a research affiliate at MIT. He is the founder of the digital therapeutics platform, MindSciences, and author of the book, “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love—why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits.  It was one of my favorite books I read in 2019.  Dr. Jud is also a fellow mountain biker.

As an addiction psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for treating addictions, Dr. Jud has developed and tested mindfulness programs for habit change, including both in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating and anxiety  You can get the apps at DrJud.com. (Craving to Quit, Eat Right Now, Unwinding Anxiety).

I'm a big fan of his work and was really excited to have the chance to sit down and talk with him. His TED Talk on breaking bad habits has over 14 million views. 

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• why it's so hard to break bad habits
• does willpower exist?
• reward-based learning
• overcoming procrastination
• how to use curiosity to beat addictions
• is there such a thing as an addictive personality?
• why you should single-task
• difference between happiness and excitement
• letting go vs muscling your way through things
•  

 

Listen Now

 

Watch his TED Talk   Resources

• DrJud.com
• Get his book "The Craving Mind"
• His Mindfulness-based app programs: Craving to Quit, Eat Right No

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.