0:00:03.895,0:00:07.266
So today, I'm going to talk[br]about how our mindsets matter

0:00:07.266,0:00:10.806
in virtually every facet of our lives.

0:00:10.806,0:00:15.536
But I want to begin by telling a story[br]about a group of researchers in Italy.

0:00:16.516,0:00:18.987
Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti and his colleagues

0:00:18.987,0:00:23.557
studied a group of patients[br]undergoing thoracic surgery.

0:00:23.557,0:00:26.387
What you should know[br]about thoracic surgery

0:00:26.387,0:00:29.668
is that it's a very invasive procedure.

0:00:29.668,0:00:34.938
Patients are put under anesthesia[br]while the surgeons make major incisions

0:00:34.938,0:00:38.479
into the muscles of the sides and the back

0:00:38.479,0:00:42.848
in order to gain access[br]to their hearts and to their lungs.

0:00:44.459,0:00:49.140
Now, about an hour[br]after the anesthesia fades away,

0:00:49.140,0:00:51.590
the pain starts to set in.

0:00:51.590,0:00:55.780
Fortunately, patients are given[br]strong doses of morphine sulfate,

0:00:55.780,0:00:57.721
a powerful painkiller.

0:00:59.031,0:01:02.331
This is routine treatment[br]for thoracic surgery,

0:01:02.331,0:01:06.971
but Dr. Benedetti and his colleagues[br]made a few subtle tweaks:

0:01:07.762,0:01:11.362
half of the patients[br]were given the dose of morphine

0:01:11.362,0:01:14.262
by a doctor at their bedside;

0:01:14.262,0:01:18.861
the other half was given[br]the exact same dose of morphine,

0:01:18.861,0:01:23.912
but it was administered into their IV[br]by a pre-programmed pump.

0:01:25.993,0:01:30.453
You would think that both[br]of these groups of patients

0:01:30.453,0:01:33.184
would experience the same relief,

0:01:33.184,0:01:35.493
but this was not the case.

0:01:35.493,0:01:39.254
The group that received[br]the morphine by the doctor

0:01:39.254,0:01:43.865
reported significant reductions[br]in their pain levels.

0:01:46.525,0:01:47.736
The other group -

0:01:47.736,0:01:50.466
the group who received[br]the same exact amount of morphine

0:01:50.466,0:01:52.156
but wasn't aware of it -

0:01:52.156,0:01:55.546
they didn't seem[br]to experience the same benefit.

0:01:56.786,0:01:59.517
So Dr. Benedetti and his colleagues[br]didn't stop there.

0:01:59.517,0:02:01.196
They used the same procedure

0:02:01.196,0:02:03.796
to test the effectiveness[br]of other treatments -

0:02:03.796,0:02:05.397
treatments for anxiety,

0:02:05.397,0:02:09.857
treatments for Parkinson's disease,[br]treatments for hypertension.

0:02:09.857,0:02:13.468
What they found[br]was remarkable and consistent.

0:02:13.468,0:02:15.798
When the patients[br]were aware of the treatment

0:02:15.798,0:02:18.718
and expected to receive the benefit,

0:02:18.718,0:02:21.529
the treatment was highly effective.

0:02:22.889,0:02:24.399
But when they weren't,

0:02:24.399,0:02:30.060
that same drug, that same pill,[br]and that same procedure was blunted,

0:02:30.060,0:02:33.510
and in some cases[br]not even effective at all.

0:02:35.640,0:02:37.091
So I read about these studies[br]

0:02:37.091,0:02:39.401
when I was a student[br]at Harvard University,

0:02:39.401,0:02:44.781
and at the time, I was heavily immersed[br]into the literature on the placebo effect.

0:02:44.781,0:02:45.911
And the more I read,

0:02:45.911,0:02:50.022
the more I started thinking[br]about the true nature of placebos.

0:02:50.022,0:02:53.512
So what is the placebo effect really?

0:02:54.962,0:02:57.852
Well, most people[br]discount the placebo effect

0:02:57.852,0:03:03.623
as just some magical response[br]to some fake pill or some faux procedure,

0:03:03.623,0:03:06.923
but that's not what the placebo effect is.

0:03:06.923,0:03:09.993
The placebo effect[br]is not about the faux pill,

0:03:09.993,0:03:12.604
or the sugar pill, or the fake procedure.

0:03:12.604,0:03:15.294
What the placebo effect really is,

0:03:15.294,0:03:19.704
is a powerful, robust[br]and consistent demonstration

0:03:19.704,0:03:21.775
of the ability of our mindsets -

0:03:21.775,0:03:25.055
in this case, the expectation to heal,

0:03:25.055,0:03:28.306
to recruit healing properties in the body.

0:03:29.516,0:03:31.696
So what is a mindset?

0:03:31.696,0:03:35.556
A mindset is quite literally[br]a setting of the mind,

0:03:36.426,0:03:40.617
it's a lens or a frame of mind[br]through which we view the world,

0:03:40.617,0:03:45.477
we simplify the infinite number[br]of potential interpretations

0:03:45.477,0:03:47.147
at any given moment.

0:03:47.977,0:03:52.218
Now, the ability to simplify[br]our world through our mindsets

0:03:52.218,0:03:54.557
is a natural part of being human.

0:03:54.557,0:03:56.528
But what I want to suggest to you today

0:03:56.528,0:03:59.429
is that these mindsets[br]are not inconsequential,

0:03:59.429,0:04:01.829
and instead, they play a dramatic role

0:04:01.829,0:04:04.419
in determining our health[br]and our well-being.

0:04:07.139,0:04:08.579
So while I was at Harvard,

0:04:08.579,0:04:11.370
I had the opportunity to work[br]with Professor Ellen Langer.

0:04:11.370,0:04:13.810
She is a professor of psychology

0:04:13.810,0:04:17.979
and when she heard that I was also[br]a division one athlete, laughed at me.

0:04:18.880,0:04:22.271
She said, "You know,[br]exercise is just a placebo, right?"

0:04:23.141,0:04:24.151
(Laughter)

0:04:24.151,0:04:26.611
Now, I was kind of offended[br]because at the time

0:04:26.611,0:04:31.982
I had been spending up to four hours a day[br]training my body to be in optimal shape.

0:04:32.952,0:04:35.262
But she did get me thinking about mindsets

0:04:35.262,0:04:38.562
and how they might matter[br]outside of medical laws.

0:04:40.011,0:04:43.613
Was I getting fitter and stronger

0:04:43.613,0:04:47.863
because of the time and the energy[br]that I was putting into my training?

0:04:47.863,0:04:52.254
Or was I getting fitter and stronger[br]because I believed that I would?

0:04:53.293,0:04:54.744
What about the other extreme?

0:04:54.744,0:04:57.734
What if people were getting[br]an extraordinary amount of exercise

0:04:57.734,0:04:59.484
but weren't aware of it,

0:04:59.484,0:05:02.184
would they not receive the same benefit?

0:05:03.384,0:05:04.895
We decided to test this,

0:05:04.895,0:05:08.585
and to test this we found a really[br]unique group of women -

0:05:08.585,0:05:11.235
a group of 84 hotel housekeepers

0:05:11.235,0:05:14.496
working in seven[br]different hotels across the US.

0:05:15.676,0:05:19.416
These women[br]are on their feet all day long.

0:05:19.416,0:05:21.365
They're using a variety of muscles,

0:05:21.365,0:05:24.326
and they're burning[br]an extraordinary amount of calories,

0:05:24.326,0:05:25.777
just doing their job.

0:05:26.697,0:05:27.997
But what's interesting

0:05:27.997,0:05:31.567
is that these women don't seem[br]to view their work in this light.

0:05:31.567,0:05:35.388
We asked them; we said,[br]"Do you exercise regularly?"

0:05:35.388,0:05:37.658
And two-thirds said "No."

0:05:37.658,0:05:38.808
(Laughter)

0:05:38.808,0:05:43.009
So we said, "Okay. Well,[br]so, on a scale of zero to ten,

0:05:43.009,0:05:45.059
how much exercise you get?"

0:05:45.059,0:05:49.579
And a third of them said,[br]"Zero. I get no exercise at all."

0:05:50.409,0:05:55.490
So we wondered what would happen[br]if we could change their mindset.

0:05:56.660,0:05:59.600
So we took these women,[br]we split them into two groups.

0:06:00.460,0:06:02.410
We measured them on a variety of things,

0:06:02.410,0:06:06.311
including their weight,[br]their blood pressure, their body fat,

0:06:06.311,0:06:08.521
their satisfaction with their job.

0:06:09.381,0:06:10.761
And then we took half of them

0:06:10.761,0:06:13.872
and we gave them[br]a simple 15-minute presentation.

0:06:13.872,0:06:15.642
We gave them this poster and we said,

0:06:15.642,0:06:18.452
"Your work is good exercise.

0:06:18.452,0:06:21.572
It satisfies the Surgeon[br]General's requirements,

0:06:21.572,0:06:24.342
which are quite simply[br]to accumulate about 30 minutes

0:06:24.342,0:06:26.242
of moderate physical activity.

0:06:27.443,0:06:29.642
You should expect[br]to receive those benefits.

0:06:30.721,0:06:32.424
15 minutes.

0:06:32.424,0:06:35.634
We came back four weeks later[br]and we measured them again.

0:06:35.634,0:06:36.983
Not surprisingly,

0:06:36.983,0:06:40.984
the groups that didn't receive[br]this information didn't change,

0:06:42.144,0:06:44.915
but those that did looked different.

0:06:44.915,0:06:46.675
They dropped weight,

0:06:46.675,0:06:50.245
they had a significant reduction[br]in systolic blood pressure,

0:06:51.155,0:06:53.434
they dropped body fat,

0:06:53.434,0:06:56.686
and they were reported[br]liking their job more.

0:06:56.686,0:06:58.966
(Laughter)

0:06:58.966,0:07:01.285
So what does this tell us?

0:07:01.285,0:07:03.856
To me, it was fascinating

0:07:04.687,0:07:09.076
that just as a result[br]of a simple 15-minute presentation,

0:07:09.076,0:07:10.886
the whole game changed,

0:07:11.657,0:07:17.258
producing a cascade of effects[br]on both their health and their well-being.

0:07:18.308,0:07:21.508
Presumably without even changing behavior.

0:07:24.148,0:07:26.308
Now some of you might be thinking,

0:07:26.308,0:07:28.789
"How do you know they didn't[br]change their behavior,

0:07:28.789,0:07:31.379
because that must have been[br]what produced the effects?

0:07:31.379,0:07:33.829
We know they didn't work any more,

0:07:33.829,0:07:36.100
and the room attendants[br]themselves assured us

0:07:36.100,0:07:38.630
that they didn't join[br]the sports club down the street.

0:07:39.650,0:07:41.440
But of course, we can't know for sure

0:07:41.440,0:07:43.670
if they weren't putting[br]a little more oomph

0:07:43.670,0:07:46.080
into making their beds.

0:07:46.080,0:07:49.041
So this question really plagued me.

0:07:49.041,0:07:54.871
Is there a direct, immediate connection[br]between our mindsets and our bodies?

0:07:56.452,0:07:57.482
So to test this,

0:07:57.482,0:07:59.542
I worked with my colleagues at Yale,

0:07:59.542,0:08:02.432
Kelly Brownell, Will Corbin[br]and Peter Salovey,

0:08:02.432,0:08:05.652
and we did so by making[br]a big batch of milkshakes.

0:08:06.773,0:08:08.753
So we made this big batch of milkshakes,

0:08:08.753,0:08:12.607
and then we invited people[br]to come to our lab to try the milkshakes,

0:08:12.607,0:08:15.513
and in exchange[br]we would give them 75 dollars.

0:08:16.593,0:08:18.503
Sounds great, right?

0:08:18.503,0:08:21.674
The less appealing aspect of the agreement

0:08:21.674,0:08:25.874
was that while they[br]were drinking the shakes,

0:08:25.874,0:08:27.644
we had them hooked up to an IV

0:08:27.644,0:08:30.035
so we could get their blood samples.

0:08:31.135,0:08:33.315
We are out to measure ghrelin.

0:08:33.315,0:08:35.835
Ghrelin is a peptide secreted in the gut,

0:08:36.765,0:08:40.126
the medical experts[br]call this the hunger hormone.

0:08:40.135,0:08:42.286
So when we haven't eaten in a while,

0:08:42.286,0:08:44.636
our ghrelin levels start to rise,

0:08:44.636,0:08:47.556
signaling to the brain,[br]"It's time to seek out food,"

0:08:48.597,0:08:54.346
and slowing our metabolism,[br]just in case we don't find that food.

0:08:54.346,0:08:55.487
Now say we go out,

0:08:55.487,0:09:00.458
we find and we devour a milkshake,[br]a hamburger, some french fries,

0:09:00.458,0:09:04.108
our ghrelin levels drop,[br]signaling to our brain,

0:09:05.208,0:09:09.158
"Time to stop eating,"[br]and revving up the metabolism

0:09:09.158,0:09:12.189
so we can burn the food[br]that was just consumed.

0:09:13.639,0:09:18.029
So the participants came in,[br]we hooked them up to an IV,

0:09:18.029,0:09:22.880
and then we gave them[br]a milkshake, Sensi-Shake.

0:09:22.880,0:09:28.240
This is zero percent fat,[br]140 calories, zero added sugar,

0:09:29.170,0:09:31.831
this is guilt free satisfaction.

0:09:32.811,0:09:34.151
So they drank their shake,

0:09:34.151,0:09:37.051
and in response[br]their ghrelin levels dropped

0:09:37.831,0:09:39.777
but only very slightly,

0:09:39.777,0:09:43.382
signaling to the brain[br]that some food had been consumed

0:09:43.382,0:09:44.982
but not a whole lot.

0:09:45.892,0:09:48.262
So a week later,[br]they came back to our lab,

0:09:48.262,0:09:52.213
we hooked them up to an IV again,[br]and we gave them this shake.

0:09:53.703,0:09:55.833
(Laughter)

0:09:56.822,0:10:03.494
620 calories, 30 grams of fat,[br]56 grams of sugar:

0:10:03.494,0:10:06.784
now this, this is decadence you deserve.

0:10:06.784,0:10:08.274
(Laughter)

0:10:08.274,0:10:11.964
And in response to this shake,[br]their ghrelin levels dropped again,

0:10:11.964,0:10:14.785
but this time[br]at a significantly steeper rate,

0:10:14.785,0:10:18.815
about three times more[br]than the shake they had before.

0:10:18.815,0:10:22.045
Now, this would make good sense[br]to any metabolic nutritionist

0:10:22.045,0:10:25.356
who understands[br]that the drop in ghrelin is proportional

0:10:25.356,0:10:27.326
to the amounts of calories consumed.

0:10:28.406,0:10:29.866
But there was a catch:

0:10:31.146,0:10:32.256
in this study,

0:10:32.256,0:10:37.227
even though the participants thought[br]they had consumed the sensible shake,

0:10:37.227,0:10:39.517
and the indulgent shake,

0:10:39.517,0:10:44.677
in reality, we gave them[br]the exact same shake at both time points.

0:10:47.477,0:10:49.608
So what does this tell us?

0:10:49.878,0:10:53.938
Just as in the case[br]when the same amount of morphine

0:10:54.258,0:10:59.196
produced more or less of an effect[br]depending on our awareness,

0:10:59.886,0:11:03.376
and just as in the case[br]when the same amount of exercise

0:11:03.376,0:11:08.237
produced more or less of a benefit[br]depending on how it was construed,

0:11:09.077,0:11:12.737
here again our mindsets proved to matter.

0:11:12.737,0:11:17.637
In this case suggesting it might not be[br]just calories in and calories out,

0:11:17.637,0:11:23.347
or the precise makeup of fats,[br]nutrients, but what we believe,

0:11:24.807,0:11:29.370
what we expect, what we think[br]about the foods we eat

0:11:29.370,0:11:32.220
that determines our body's response.

0:11:34.199,0:11:35.559
So in light of this,

0:11:35.559,0:11:39.129
it behooves us to consider our own lives:

0:11:39.129,0:11:41.260
what are our mindsets?[br]

0:11:42.480,0:11:45.740
And how might we begin[br]to shift them, to alter them,

0:11:45.740,0:11:48.480
to have them be more beneficial?

0:11:49.810,0:11:52.581
So take the stress, for example.

0:11:52.581,0:11:55.441
What's your mindset about stress?

0:11:56.761,0:11:58.342
If you're like most people,

0:11:58.342,0:12:03.822
you have the mindset[br]that stress is bad: bad stress.

0:12:03.822,0:12:07.502
Now, this is not surprising[br]considering that everywhere we look

0:12:07.502,0:12:12.253
there's warnings, labels[br]yelling at us, reminding us

0:12:12.253,0:12:15.233
about the negative effects of stress.

0:12:16.743,0:12:19.004
But the truth of stress[br]is not so clear-cut,

0:12:19.004,0:12:22.164
and in fact, there's a robust[br]and growing body of research

0:12:22.164,0:12:25.104
showing that stress[br]can have positive effects,

0:12:25.104,0:12:29.875
enhancing effects on our health,[br]our well-being and our performance.

0:12:29.875,0:12:35.474
Now I'm not here to try to persuade you[br]that the effects of stress are enhancing,

0:12:35.474,0:12:39.165
but rather to point[br]out that the truth of stress

0:12:39.165,0:12:41.436
is like most things in life,

0:12:41.436,0:12:44.136
and that is, it is uncertain.

0:12:44.136,0:12:46.656
And therefore to raise the question:

0:12:46.656,0:12:51.936
do our mindsets about stress[br]determine our response?

0:12:53.747,0:12:54.967
So to test this question,

0:12:54.967,0:12:57.527
I worked with Shawn Achor[br]and Peter Salovey,

0:12:58.497,0:13:02.788
and we worked[br]with a group of 300 employees.

0:13:02.788,0:13:06.158
This was after 2008 financial collapse,

0:13:07.268,0:13:10.678
and we decided - they were stressed,

0:13:10.678,0:13:13.259
they had just heard[br]that ten percent of their workforce

0:13:13.259,0:13:14.879
was going to be laid off,

0:13:14.879,0:13:16.938
and they were overworked.

0:13:16.938,0:13:19.549
We decided to see[br]if we could change their mindset.

0:13:19.549,0:13:24.110
And we did so by having them[br]watch simple video clips.

0:13:24.110,0:13:28.450
So I'm going to show them[br]to you here simultaneously,

0:13:28.450,0:13:31.520
but half of the participants[br]saw the one on the left,

0:13:31.520,0:13:33.680
half saw the one on the right.

0:13:33.680,0:13:35.641
(Video starts)

0:13:35.641,0:13:38.321
["Stress is debilitating"][br]vs ["Stress is enhancing"]

0:14:54.689,0:14:56.199
(Video ends)

0:14:56.199,0:14:58.467
So you get the point, yes?

0:15:00.439,0:15:01.710
So here we are ...

0:15:03.930,0:15:05.110
in the dark.

0:15:05.110,0:15:07.238
(Laughter)

0:15:09.049,0:15:10.249
So here we are -

0:15:10.249,0:15:14.710
they're watching facts,[br]research, anecdotes,

0:15:15.250,0:15:21.009
all true, but oriented[br]towards one view or the other.

0:15:22.270,0:15:24.221
What we found was interesting:

0:15:24.221,0:15:28.452
those who watched[br]these simple three-minute video clips

0:15:28.452,0:15:31.111
before the bell rang,[br]before their job began,

0:15:32.211,0:15:36.401
over the course of the next few weeks[br]reported fewer negative health symptoms,

0:15:36.401,0:15:41.172
fewer backaches,[br]less muscle tension, less insomnia.

0:15:41.172,0:15:47.533
And they also reported a higher level[br]of engagement and performance at work.

0:15:50.263,0:15:53.333
So at this point[br]I've presented four studies -

0:15:53.333,0:15:59.313
four studies that demonstrate[br]the power of mindsets in medicine,

0:15:59.313,0:16:04.314
in exercise, in diet, and in stress.

0:16:05.304,0:16:08.386
There are many other[br]very talented scholars

0:16:08.386,0:16:11.466
tackling this phenomenon as we speak.

0:16:12.166,0:16:14.526
Carol Dweck's research demonstrates us

0:16:14.526,0:16:18.526
that if we can shift our mindset[br]about intelligence and talent

0:16:18.526,0:16:20.246
as something that's fixed[br]

0:16:21.246,0:16:24.126
to something that's changeable over time,

0:16:24.126,0:16:28.277
it can dramatically alter our academic[br]and professional success.

0:16:29.487,0:16:32.767
Yale epidemiologist[br]Becca Levy's research shows us

0:16:32.767,0:16:35.089
that if we can change[br]our mindsets about aging,

0:16:36.409,0:16:40.358
from viewing aging as an inevitable[br]process of deterioration

0:16:41.568,0:16:45.578
to a process of gaining wisdom,[br]gaining growth,

0:16:45.578,0:16:49.328
not only shapes the course[br]of how we grow old

0:16:49.328,0:16:51.549
but even extends longevity.

0:16:53.109,0:16:55.549
Ted Kaptchuk and his group[br]at Harvard's program

0:16:55.549,0:16:59.480
for placebo studies[br]is doing cutting-edge work

0:16:59.480,0:17:02.680
understanding[br]how we can begin to harness

0:17:02.680,0:17:06.760
and ethically utilize the placebo effect[br]in clinical practice.

0:17:08.271,0:17:13.472
So though the context is different,[br]the message is the same.

0:17:14.191,0:17:15.721
Our mindsets matter.

0:17:19.672,0:17:20.981
Don't get me wrong,

0:17:21.761,0:17:25.792
I'm not saying[br]that medicine doesn't work,

0:17:25.792,0:17:28.232
or that there are no benefits of exercise,

0:17:28.232,0:17:31.543
and that what we eat[br]doesn't matter; it does.

0:17:32.334,0:17:35.863
But the psychological[br]and physiological effect

0:17:35.863,0:17:39.024
of anything in our lives

0:17:39.024,0:17:42.584
can and is influenced by our mindset.

0:17:43.943,0:17:46.234
So is the power of mindset limitless?

0:17:46.865,0:17:47.944
Probably not,

0:17:48.593,0:17:50.595
but what I hope I've done for you today

0:17:50.595,0:17:55.175
is inspire you to reconsider[br]where those limits really are.

0:17:56.144,0:17:57.925
Because the true task ahead

0:17:57.925,0:18:00.746
is to begin reclaiming[br]this power for ourselves,

0:18:02.316,0:18:05.416
to acknowledge the power of mindset

0:18:05.416,0:18:07.376
and know that just like this,

0:18:07.376,0:18:09.016
(Snaps her fingers)

0:18:09.016,0:18:10.646
in just the blink of an eye,

0:18:10.646,0:18:14.688
we can change the game[br]of any facet of our life

0:18:14.688,0:18:18.187
quite simply by changing our mindset.

0:18:18.187,0:18:19.198
Thank you.

0:18:19.198,0:18:20.819
(Applause)