Jason Smallwood 
Do Hard Things
🔥 Your comfort zone isn’t keeping you safe – it’s slowly killing your potential.
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Want more productivity content?
▶️Also watch:
1. Life Explained in 15 minutes – https://youtu.be/MGXwxwYMgfU
2. What actually matters in your 50s – https://youtu.be/jx0Z9nZJ73U
3. This is Why You Are Not Disciplined – https://youtu.be/aXw9647txUQ
TIMESTAMP
0:00 – Introduction
1:34 – Chapter 1: “Your Brain’s Ancient Programming”
3:13 – Chapter 2: “The Antifragile Advantage”
4:55 – Chapter 3: “The Micro-Discomfort Method”
6:31 – Chapter 4: “Reframing Resistance”
8:10 – Chapter 5: “The Progressive Overload Principle”
9:47 – Chapter 6: “Emotional Resilience Toolkit”
11:27 – Chapter 7: “The Compound Effect of Courage”
13:11 – Chapter 8: “Productive Failure Framework”
14:27 – Chapter 9: “Building Your Challenge Ritual”
15:48 – Chapter 10: “The Community Advantage”
💡📚 Below is a curated list of books and research papers that further explore some of the concepts discussed in this video. (some links are affiliate links, which help support my channel)
BOOKS
1/ Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
https://amzn.to/3IFOp8p
Defines systems that gain strength from volatility and stress rather than merely surviving it.
2/ Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
https://amzn.to/40xBFqw
Explores the growth mindset theory showing how beliefs about abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and challenge.
3/ Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
https://amzn.to/4kRNlM4
Describes the psychological state of flow where individuals are completely absorbed in challenging but achievable activities.
4/ Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
https://amzn.to/4o8ktC8
Examines how passion and perseverance toward long-term goals predict success more than talent alone.
5/ Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control by Albert Bandura
https://amzn.to/4m8dpna
Foundational work on self-efficacy theory explaining how beliefs in personal capability influence motivation and achievement.
6/ The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
https://amzn.to/4501dxH
Explores how deep practice and struggle physically rewire the brain for motor and emotional skill improvement.
7/ Emotional Agility by Susan David
https://amzn.to/451UUK4
Outlines how emotional flexibility—a skill echoed in the Emotional Resilience Toolkit chapter—helps people navigate tough emotions instead of avoiding them.
8/ Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke
https://amzn.to/3UsTRhm
Discusses how overindulgence in comfort and ease rewires the brain for weaker reward response and advocates for intentional discomfort.
9/ Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson
https://amzn.to/3TUuNj9
Provides psychological tools for developing inner resilience.
10/ Atomic Habits by James Clear
https://amzn.to/40UwukL
Focuses on habit formation as a system-based approach to sustainable growth.
RESEARCH PAPERS
1/ The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance by K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Romer
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/DeliberatePractice(PsychologicalReview).pdf
2/ Comfort zone orientation: Individual differences in the motivation to move beyond one’s comfort zone by Nona C. Kiknadze, Mark R. Leary
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111024
3/ Effect of stress inoculation training on the levels of stress, anxiety and depression by Fahimeh Kashani et al.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4462062/
4/ Hormesis Defined by Mark P. Mattson
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2248601/
5/ The Ability to Regulate Emotion is Associated with Greater Well-Being by Stéphane Côté et al.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4175372/
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