Dr Yannick van Hierden
Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) – Relax Your Mind in 10 Minutes
updated
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
2026: Just getting started
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
👉 Watch this next to achieve in one morning what most do all day (without burning out): youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
2026: Just getting started
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
Look at this plant.
Insects got inside.
Ate the leaves from within.
Destroyed everything.
Your phone works the same way.
Apps sneak in.
Notifications multiply.
Your focus dies slowly.
Most people try to "manage" it.
They move apps to folders.
Promise themselves "just 5 minutes."
Think they can control it.
That's like negotiating with termites eating your house.
It doesn't work.
Here's what works:
Step 1: Prune. Delete the apps. Remove notifications. Cut out what's infected.
Step 2: Protect. Add friction. Grayscale. Blockers. Make distractions impossible to reach.
You don't need more willpower.
You need fewer parasites.
Your best ideas don't come while scrolling.
They come when nothing can interrupt you.
P.S. I'm running a free workshop Wednesday at 7pm AEST on how to design your entire 2026 around this principle.
One priority. Protected focus. Zero distractions.
Sign up here: https://www.impaktr.com.au/2026-performance-blueprint
watch this...
What I learned after coaching 100+ high-performers:
Everyone's obsessing over their 2026 vision.
Meanwhile, they're scrolling at 11 PM.
Skipping the hard workout.
Saying "I'll start Monday."
The brutal truth?
Your 2026 is being built right now.
Not on January 1st.
Right this second.
Here's the thing about discipline:
- It doesn't start with a grand plan
- It starts with spitting out the Doritos
- It starts with ONE push-up
- It starts with hanging until you can do ONE pull-up
- It starts TODAY, not January 1st
The math is simple:
- Hanging for 10 seconds today
- Becomes 30 seconds next week
- Becomes your first full pull-up next month
- Becomes sets of 5 mid 2026
- Becomes a completely different life next year
Why?
Because discipline compounds.
Every small win builds momentum.
Every uncomfortable choice builds freedom.
(And yes, that's my 3-year-old demonstrating all this - she inspires me so much)
The simple truth:
Your future freedom costs less than a night out and one uncomfortable choice today.
That's it.
That's the whole secret.
Now go spit out those Doritos.
Happy New Year!
Credit: Jocko Willink, Steven Bartlett
And I couldn't stop smiling.
Because for the first time in years, my brain went completely quiet.
No overthinking.
No replaying conversations.
No mental noise.
Just: don't get submitted.
Turns out I'd been chasing the wrong kind of fitness.
The gym builds your body.
But it doesn't train your mind to shut up.
At least not the way Jiu Jitsu does.
Most of us work out to look better or feel stronger.
But the real ROI? Finding one thing that forces total presence.
Where your phone doesn't exist. Where tomorrow's problems can't reach you.
That's not exercise. That's a mental reset.
And most people never build one into their week.
Find your version. Doesn't have to be Jiu Jitsu.
(Although learning 47 ways to get choked is strangely therapeutic.)
Just needs to demand your full attention.
I'm curious, what's your version of this?
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
It wasn't me. It was my kitchen.
And my bedroom. And my phone.
All designed to kill my habits.
I'd buy protein powder, then walk past a pantry full of chips.
I'd plan to meditate, then grab my phone "just to set a timer."
I was trying to run uphill while my environment shoved me backwards.
Here's what changed:
I stopped relying on motivation.
Started removing decisions.
The healthy snacks went to eye level.
The junk went into a box on the highest shelf.
Phone went into a drawer in another room.
Alarm clock went across the bedroom.
I didn't become more disciplined.
I became less interrupted.
Your brain doesn't care about your goals.
It cares about what's easy.
And right now, the wrong things are easier than the right things.
That's not a character flaw.
That's physics.
Friction predicts behaviour.
And you control the friction.
Delete Instagram for 7 days.
Put your book on your pillow.
Hide your TV remote in a drawer.
Buy vegetables you actually like eating.
Plug your phone charger in the kitchen tonight.
One piece of friction removed compounds faster than you think.
Your future self won't need willpower if your current self builds the right setup.
Follow me for more behavioural science that actually works in real life.
It's not your workout.
It's what happens after you leave the gym.
I stopped drinking 8 years ago.
Cut out most processed food.
Same training volume.
Different recovery.
The shift wasn't just physical.
I get sick less.
Sleep deeper.
Wake up sharper.
But the real change?
Mental clarity.
I feel good.
Consistently good.
Not perfect.
Not superhuman.
Just... good.
Most people try to add more:
→ More supplements
→ More recovery tools
→ More biohacks
But your body can't recover if it's still processing junk.
Your brain can't think clearly if it's clearing alcohol.
Subtraction beats addition.
Start with what you remove, not what you add.
If you want the exact system I use to feel consistently good, DM me "recovery" and I'll walk you through it.
Wild how it worked.
I thought really hard about it.
Visualised the taste.
Set my intention.
Then I walked to the kitchen, chopped the fruit, threw it in the blender and hit blend.
The universe really came through.
Manifestation gets a bad rap because people skip the second half.
The part where you actually do something.
Dream it.
Feel it.
Then build it.
Agree?
Subscribe for science for people who actually want results.
If your body can't support it.
Your body is the base.
Everything else sits on top.
When the base cracks, everything wobbles.
Poor sleep.
No movement.
Constant tension.
You try to fix it with mindset hacks.
More discipline.
Better routines.
Positive thinking (haha).
It doesn't work.
Because you're trying to stabilise the middle while the bottom is broken.
That's why some days feel impossible.
Your thinking is slow.
Small problems feel huge.
You snap at nothing.
It's not you losing it.
It's your biology not cooperating.
Here's the truth:
→ Physical capacity sets emotional control
→ Emotional control sets mental clarity
→ Mental clarity enables spiritual capacity
The meaning you want? The peace you need?
They live at the top.
But you can't reach them when your body is fighting you.
You can't think past a body problem.
Stop stacking practices on a broken foundation.
Move.
Eat.
Breathe.
Sleep.
Fix the base. Everything else follows.
Subscribe for more science-backed performance tools.
Then my teacher gave me three beats that changed everything.
Suddenly, I could play with anyone.
No panic. No guessing.
Just listen, lock in, play.
That's when it hit me:
This is how high performers work too.
Most people wake up and wing it.
Different morning every day.
Meetings all over the place.
Reactive email checking.
Then the day ends and nothing important got done.
Drummers don't wing it.
They follow a beat.
High performers don't either.
When you improvise everything, your brain works too hard.
What to do first?
When to check email?
How long to focus?
Which meeting needs prep?
That's exhausting.
But when you have one repeatable rhythm?
→ Same morning = no decisions
→ Same focus time = automatic deep work
→ Same email system = no stress
You stop thinking.
You start doing.
The difference between exhausted and unstoppable?
A rhythm you can repeat.
You're just digitally hijacked.
There's a reason your brain feels fried by 2pm.
Why you can't think straight anymore.
Why simple tasks feel impossible.
It's not burnout.
It's not aging.
It's Attention Deficit Trait — ADT.
And here's what nobody tells you:
Your cortisol spikes every time a notification hits.
Your dopamine crashes between each scroll.
Your prefrontal cortex — the part that plans, decides, creates — gets starved of energy.
→ That's not productivity.
→ That's survival mode disguised as working.
The founders & executives I coach used to think they just needed better discipline.
Turns out?
They needed better boundaries.
Because you can't out-willpower an algorithm designed by 500 engineers whose job is to break your focus.
Reclaim your attention before someone else monetises it.
Keep people entertained, and they won't notice what they're losing.
Bread and circuses. Gladiators. Chariot races. Free food.
As long as the show kept running, the people stayed quiet.
Fast forward to today.
You don't need a Colosseum when Netflix auto-plays the next episode.
You don't need chariot races when TikTok queues the next video before you even decide to scroll.
The circus didn't disappear. It moved into your pocket.
And here's the part that stings: you open it willingly. A hundred times a day.
You're not losing focus because you're weak.
You're fighting entertainment designed by billion-dollar companies who studied exactly how to trap your attention.
Consuming feels like doing something. But it produces nothing.
Every era has its circus.
The only question is whether you waste your life watching it—or use your life building something that matters.
Choose what gets your attention. Or the algorithm will choose for you.
Follow me for more on reclaiming focus and building what actually matters.
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
And your New Year's resolutions are asking it to go cold turkey.
That's why you quit mid-January.
Every year, same story.
Big goals January 1st.
Hard work January 2nd.
Ghost mode January 15th.
You blame discipline.
I blame dopamine.
Here's what's actually happening:
Your brain runs on one simple loop:
Do thing → get reward → repeat thing.
That's it.
But you work out January 2nd and promise your brain abs in 6 months.
Your brain can't compute 6 months.
It can barely compute 6 days.
This isn't a willpower problem.
It's a wiring problem.
The gap between action and reward has to be minutes, not months.
Or the habit dies.
So I stopped chasing future wins.
I started hunting present ones.
After deep work: I realise 90 minutes passed and I didn't check anything once.
After skipping my phone: My head feels clear instead of foggy.
After my workout: My body feels alive and energised.
These aren't someday rewards.
They're right-now neurochemical hits my brain can register.
And once it registers them?
It craves them.
You're not weak.
You're just using the wrong timeline.
Here's what makes zero sense:
Waiting until January 1st to start.
You could lose 3kg by Christmas.
You could reclaim 7 hours a week by New Year's.
You could get 21 reps of your new habit in so by January 1st it's already automatic.
Why wait for a magical date when you could be 3 weeks ahead?
And you're scrolling through half of them.
If you live to 90, that's about 4,700 weeks total.
A third already gone if you're 30.
Of what's left:
• Sleep takes another third.
• Work takes another third.
• That tiny sliver remaining? That's your actual life.
Now here's the killer:
The average person spends 4.5 hours daily on their phone.
That wipes out half of what's left.
Most people don't run out of time.
They waste the only part they actually control.
By age 80, the average person has spent 12 years staring at a screen.
Not building anything.
Not connecting deeply.
Not even resting properly.
Just... scrolling.
You're not weak.
You're fighting billion-dollar teams who A/B test precisely how to break your focus.
Every notification, every infinite scroll, every autoplay is designed to keep you in a loop.
And it's costing you more than time.
It's costing you the life you could have built with the weeks you have left.
Most people know this.
But knowing doesn't change behaviour.
Systems do.
I'm running a free Peak Performance Workshop where I'll show you the exact framework that helps founders and executives reclaim their attention and their time.
No willpower required. Just environmental design that makes focus inevitable.
Link here: https://www.impaktr.com.au/peak-performance-reset
You're a pigeon in a box.
In 1940, B.F. Skinner taught pigeons to peck buttons for random rewards.
Seeds dropped.
Sometimes.
Not always.
The pigeons went crazy.
Pecking nonstop.
Obsessed.
That's you right now.
Instagram.
LinkedIn.
TikTok.
Random likes.
Scattered notifications.
Unpredictable dopamine hits.
You're not weak.
You're conditioned by billion-dollar teams who studied Skinner's work and turned it into an app.
They A/B test the exact intervals that break your brain.
You think you're choosing to check.
You're not.
You're pecking.
Delete the apps.
Add friction.
Break the pattern.
Your best work doesn't happen while waiting for hearts.
You're just surrounded by things designed to break you.
I used to think the founders I work with lacked discipline.
They'd commit to deep work.
Then check Slack "just once."
Then lose two hours.
Here's what I got wrong: I was treating it like a character flaw.
The real issue? Their surroundings were designed to win.
The phone on the desk beats willpower every time.
Not because they're weak.
Because proximity is stronger than intention.
Think about your day.
The apps you can't stop checking?
On your home screen.
The snacks you can't resist?
In plain sight.
The distractions that pull you away?
Within arm's reach.
Your brain doesn't choose discipline over convenience.
It chooses whatever's easier in that moment.
So the breakthrough isn't building more self-control.
It's removing the need for it.
Move your phone to another room.
Delete the apps that steal your focus.
Install ad/news feed blockers on your desktop.
Friction is your friend.
The soldiers who came home from Vietnam didn't develop superhuman discipline.
They walked into homes without heroin.
Neighborhoods without dealers.
Lives without triggers.
Same people.
Different design.
Different outcome.
Your job isn't to resist temptation.
Your job is to never see it.
Agree?
They're setting goals for someone they're not yet.
This pattern repeats in 9 out of 10 people I work with.
Smart people.
Big goals.
Perfect plans.
They give up in 72 hours.
Here's why:
You're not matching the behavior to your actual ability.
You want to post daily → but you've never done it.
You plan 6am workouts → you wake up at 8am now.
You want to eat healthy → but you can't cook.
The gap between who you are and what you're asking yourself to do is too big.
Motivation can't bridge that gap.
You need scaffolding first.
Here's the fix:
Match the habit to where you actually are right now.
Never posted before? Write one post. Not seven.
Exhausted by 2pm? Send 5 quality DMs. Not 50 emails.
Don't know ads yet? Boost a post. Don't build a funnel.
Do the small thing until it's easy.
Then add more.
Most people try to leap.
Winners build stairs.
Start ridiculously small.
Then scale what works.
Right or not?
Subscribe for more science-backed habit insights for peak performance.
Your workspace is.
I ran an experiment last Tuesday.
Phone on desk = checked 14 times in 90 minutes.
Phone in drawer = zero checks.
Same brain.
Same work.
Different room.
That's not a discipline problem.
That's a design problem.
Your environment doesn't support your goals.
It actively fights them.
Cookie jar on counter = you eat cookies.
Running shoes in closet = you skip runs.
Phone by bed = you lose your morning.
High performers aren't more disciplined than you.
They just stopped fighting physics.
They rigged the room instead.
Phone in another room = can't check what's not there.
Notifications turned off = no buzzes pulling you away.
Delete the app = friction kills the urge before it starts.
Willpower drains by 3 PM.
Environment works 24/7.
Stop resisting temptation.
Remove it entirely.
Add friction to what you don't want.
Remove friction from what you do.
The right choice should be the only choice.
👉 Watch this next to achieve in one morning what most do all day (without burning out): youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
So I sprinted up a mountain ready to fight them.
My wife gifted me those sunglasses.
When I came back from the waterfall and they were gone, I lost it.
Started running. Full speed up these stairs.
Within minutes my lungs were burning. Heart pounding in my throat. Thought I was going to drop dead.
But my brain didn't care.
It wanted those sunglasses back. So I kept running.
Ten minutes of pure insanity I didn't think was possible.
Then I caught them. Got my sunglasses back.
And realised why most founders are exhausted:
You don't have a discipline problem.
You have a "this doesn't actually matter to me" problem.
Most founders are sprinting toward things they don't care about.
→ Meetings that drain you
→ Calls you dread
→ Goals that sound good but feel flat
→ Busy work disguised as progress
Then you wonder why you're burned out by Wednesday.
Your brain saves the full-speed energy for things that actually matter.
The problem? You've filled your calendar with things that don't.
Look at your schedule right now.
Would you sprint for what's on there?
If not, delete it.
Stop grinding toward goals that don't move you.
___
P.S. Tomorrow, I'm running a live workshop on how to align your calendar with what actually matters...
So you can reclaim 7-15 hours weekly and finish work with energy left over.
No more sprinting toward things you don't care about.
Link here: https://www.impaktr.com.au/peak-performance-reset
Neither does Elon Musk. Here's why.
Your to-do list isn't helping you prioritise...
It's helping you procrastinate with permission.
Here's what's actually happening:
You write down 25 things.
Feel productive.
Then spend your day on the ones that feel good,
not the ones that matter.
Inbox cleared? ✓
Files organized? ✓
That scary sales call? Still sitting there.
The problem isn't willpower. It's physics.
You can't fit 8 hours of work into 4 hours of time.
But a list lets you pretend you can.
So you keep adding.
Keep delaying.
Keep wondering why it never happens.
Time blocking forces a different question:
"If I only have 4 hours today, what deserves them?"
Your to-do list isn't a productivity tool.
It's a guilt generator with a checkbox.
Gates and Musk aren't superhuman. They just can't lie to themselves about what they chose to skip.
The real question isn't "what should I do today?"
It's "what am I choosing NOT to do by doing everything else?"
Subscribe for more ways to protect your focus and get the real work done.
Same mistake that's killing your productivity right now.
I kept throwing stuff in.
Frozen fruit.
Protein mix.
Handful of nuts.
Just one more thing.
The blender could handle it... until it couldn't.
That's exactly what you're doing with your workload.
Another meeting.
Another project.
Another yes because you're capable of handling it.
The issue isn't that you can't do the work.
It's that you keep piling it on without taking anything off.
And here's what breaks first:
→ Not your calendar (that's already full)
→ Not your to-do list (that's been too long for months)
→ Your ability to do work that actually matters
Strategic thinking gets pushed to "later."
Deep work happens at 11 PM when you're fried.
High-value projects stall because you're drowning in low-value tasks.
You're not weak.
You're overloaded.
Most people try to fix this by working harder.
Earlier mornings.
Tighter schedules.
Better discipline.
Wrong move.
The fix is subtraction, not optimisation.
Cut what doesn't move the needle.
Delegate what someone else can own.
Protect the work only you should be doing.
Strong machines break when you ignore capacity limits.
So do strong founders.
Want to achieve more in less time, without burning out in the process?
I'm running a workshop showing you exactly how.
Learn more here: https://www.impaktr.com.au/peak-performance-reset
And that's why most people fail.
They focus on the outcome they want.
Not the person they need to become.
Here's the difference:
Outcome thinking:
"I want to quit smoking"
"I want to lose weight"
"I want to be more productive"
You're chasing something outside yourself.
Every day is a fight.
Every craving is a test of willpower.
Identity thinking:
"I don't smoke"
"I'm someone who takes care of my body"
"I protect my attention"
You're not fighting anymore.
You're just being who you are.
The research backs this up:
When your behavior conflicts with your identity, your identity wins.
Every single time.
Because your brain won't let you act against who you believe you are.
That's why smokers who quit without shifting identity relapse quickly.
That's why dieters gain the weight back.
That's why productivity systems fail.
You can't outwork a weak identity.
So stop asking "What do I need to do?"
Start asking "Who do I need to be?"
Then become that person today.
The habits follow automatically.
Shift your identity. Watch your life reorganize around it.
Three hours later, you haven't touched your real work.
Everyone will tell you to "be more disciplined."
That's garbage advice.
The problem isn't discipline.
You have a decision problem.
"Just five minutes on email."
"Just one message."
"Just a quick call."
You're making these micro-decisions 47 times a day.
Each one drains you.
Dr. Gloria Mark's research showed it takes 23 minutes to recover from one interruption.
That "quick email check" just cost you half an hour of deep work.
Here's what actually works:
Stop choosing.
Decide your path once in the morning.
Then make every detour physically harder to take.
Delete email/Teams/Slack etc. from your phone.
Turn off notifications.
Close your email tab.
Not because you lack willpower.
Because your brain can't fight optionality all day and still have energy for real work.
The detour isn't the enemy.
Having the option to detour 47 times is.
Remove the fork in the road.
And it's costing you deals.
Most founders think multitasking is a skill.
It's not. It's a leak.
Here's what neuroscience shows: incomplete tasks don't just sit in the background...
They actively drain your working memory.
That email you started?
Still consuming mental bandwidth.
The proposal at 80%?
Taking up space in your prefrontal cortex.
The decision you're avoiding?
Running a background process slowing everything else.
This is why you feel exhausted after a "light" day.
Your brain's been juggling open loops while trying to close deals.
The solution isn't superhuman discipline.
It's ruthless completion.
Before high-stakes work, your only job is closing loops.
Five minutes to finish what's started.
Two minutes to write down what's next.
Zero new inputs until the money work is done.
Revenue work requires your full brain.
Not the 60% that's left after checking Slack.
Close loops.
Protect focus.
Win deals.
They trick you into feeling busy while your business goes nowhere.
Most founders write down 20 tasks with no hierarchy. No time boundaries. No energy management.
So you spend your morning knocking out emails and admin work.
By lunch, you've checked off seven things and feel productive.
But none of them moved revenue. None built your business.
You optimized for completion, not impact.
The system I teach clients answers three questions before anything touches the calendar:
1. Does this generate revenue or save significant time?
2. Am I the only one who can do this?
3. What am I saying no to if I choose to do this?
That last one changes everything.
Because when you say yes to another meeting, you're saying no to your workout.
When you say yes to inbox zero, you're saying no to strategic work.
When you say yes to everything, you're saying no to the things that actually matter.
Your business needs you sharp.
Your family needs you present.
Your health needs protection.
Build your schedule around impact, not busyness.
This system takes 90 minutes to learn and saves you 10+ hours every week.
I'm teaching it live in my next workshop.
Comment LUNCH for details.
If you're new to my channel, my name is Dr Yannick van Hierden. I'm a PhD behavioural scientist coaching founders & execs to master their mind and perform like the top 1%.
Here's my unfiltered timeline:
2008–2013: Smoked & drank daily
2013: Felt lost & unfulfilled
2014: Quit smoking
2015: Discovered the gym
2016: Overcome smartphone addiction
2017: Moved to Australia
2017: Started meditating, found the real enemy: my mind
2017: Quit alcohol
2018: Graduated MSc in top 1% at Griffith University
2018: Meditation unlocked who I was meant to be
2018: Life made sense, I was finally happy
2018: Started a PhD in behavioural science
2019: Started a coaching company
2021: Got married (in Australia)
2021: Welcomed our daughter
2022: Got married (in The Netherlands)
2022: Started BJJ
2023: Earned my PhD
2024: Welcomed our son
2024: Won double gold in a BJJ comp
2024: Got a blue belt in BJJ
2025: Reached 100+ clients coached
The truth?
Willpower is a myth.
Real change happens when you replace what destroys you with what builds you.
That's exactly what I teach high-performers now.
Want the blueprint? Watch this video: youtu.be/P1bylWWDjps
Then adapted it for someone who doesn't wear slippers.
He kneels to grab his slippers.
While he's down there, he prays.
I put my alarm on the floor across the room.
When I walk over to turn it off, I kneel down too.
Starting on my knees reminds me I'm not in control.
Honestly? That's a relief.
Most people I work with start their day reactive...
Phone in hand before feet hit the floor.
The first 60 seconds set the tone for everything.
Reach for your phone → you start from scarcity.
Start with gratitude → you lead from clarity.
You can't control your day.
But you can control how you enter it.
Yes or no?
It's someone else's list for you.
I interviewed 700+ people during my PhD research.
9 out of 10 had zero clarity on what mattered most to them.
So they woke up, grabbed their phone, and let other people's priorities become their own.
Here's the pattern I kept seeing:
No clarity = reactive living.
You're not building toward something.
You're just putting out fires.
The loudest notification wins.
The angriest email gets answered first.
Another "urgent" meeting hijacks your day.
→ Urgency always beats importance when you don't know the difference.
The shift that changes everything:
Define what matters before you open your laptop.
One thing.
Maybe three.
Not 20.
What are the outcomes that actually move your life forward?
Then design your day around protecting time for those.
Everything else?
Batched.
Delegated.
Or ignored.
Bottom line:
Clarity isn't a luxury.
It's the difference between building a life and borrowing someone else's.
Without it, your calendar is just a suggestion box for everyone but you.
Define your priorities or spend your life executing everyone else's.
Agree?
Subscribe for more science-based strategies on peak performance without burnout.
Everyone told me to use it.
Work 25 minutes.
Break 5 minutes.
The world's most popular productivity hack.
Here's what actually happened:
→ I'd finally enter 'the zone' around minute 15
→ The timer screamed at me to stop at minute 25
→ My flow state got ripped apart
→ Next session: Spent 15 minutes trying to get back in
Every. Single. Day.
I thought something was wrong with me.
Turns out, I was fighting biology.
Science shows it takes 15-20 min. to enter flow state.
Then the Pomodoro timer kills it.
Right when your brain finally starts working.
Then I learned about ultradian cycles.
Your brain works in 90-minute cycles.
It's how your body controls energy and focus all day.
Fighting against these cycles?
That's why Pomodoro felt wrong.
I started working WITH my biology instead of against it.
90-minute blocks. No interruptions. No forced breaks.
Night and day difference.
In those 90 minutes, I could:
→ Actually solve complex problems
→ Write complete sections
→ Build entire systems
Not just scratch the surface.
Here's what I learned:
Deep thinking needs time to warm up.
The first 15 minutes? You're just starting.
The magic happens in minutes 20-80.
That's where breakthrough thinking lives.
Pomodoro works great for admin tasks.
But for deep work? It's like running a marathon in 100-meter sprints.
Now I protect my 90-minute blocks like gold.
Phone off. Door closed. Calendar blocked.
My output doubled. My stress halved.
If deep work feels impossible, try this:
Block 90 minutes tomorrow. One task. No interruptions.
See what your brain can actually do when you let it run.
I need 90 minutes to protect my flow. Maybe you need 60. Maybe 120.
Stop copying what worked for someone else.
What's your experience? Short bursts or long blocks?
___
P.S. Working in 90-minute cycles is just the start.
My Energy & Focus Scorecard™ reveals the other hidden drains on your time and energy.
You'll get a personal report showing how to achieve in 3 days what most do in 5.
Take it here (in 2 min 47 sec): https://lnkd.in/gvG_FUQP
That voice saying "just one drink."
Not you.
The urge to check your phone during focused work?
Not you.
The excuse to skip what you committed to?
Not you.
Ancient Vedic philosophy explains this with an analogy:
You are the passenger in a chariot.
Your intelligence is the driver.
Your mind is the steering wheel.
Your senses are the horses...
Pulling you in different directions.
Most people let the horses run wild.
They smell food and want it right away.
They see others drinking and think they should too.
They hear their phone and must check it now.
But you can choose to control the steering wheel.
When your mind says "everyone's drinking, join them"
that's just a suggestion.
When it says "just one more won't hurt"
you can see the pattern.
Your mind wants what feels good right now.
You intelligence thinks about what's good for later.
This isn't about fighting your feelings.
It's about knowing you have a choice.
Understanding where thoughts come from.
Deciding what helps you.
You don't have to follow every thought you have.
You're the one in control.
Right or not?
I'm really curious, what's one thought you've learned to ignore that used to control you?
And it taught me the real reason most people never reach their potential.
Here's what actually stops high performers:
Not lack of skill.
Not bad timing.
Not the competition.
It's the 48 hours before the big moment.
The night before you launch.
Right before the board meeting.
Before that difficult conversation.
Your body knows something's up.
Stomach drops.
Sleep's gone.
Voice kicks in: "You're not ready."
I used to think that was intuition.
Turns out it's just fear pretending to be smart.
This pattern hits everyone:
Raising your prices? Voice says they'll leave.
Chasing bigger clients? Voice says you're not qualified.
Launching something new? Voice says you'll look stupid.
So you hesitate.
Water it down.
Play it safe.
Then call it "being strategic."
Here's what flipped everything:
I stopped asking "Am I better than them?"
Started asking "Am I stronger than yesterday?"
Not stronger than competitors.
More resilient than last month's you.
Calmer than last quarter's you.
Everyone successful has heard that voice.
They just stopped believing it.
Stop letting your mind defeat you before reality even gets a shot.
The voice in your head isn't protecting you from failure. It's guaranteeing it.
Agree?
Follow Dr Yannick van Hierden for more insights to master your mind and performance.
Then I watched too many people trade their health for wealth, only to spend that wealth buying back their health.
Here's the pattern I kept seeing:
Business owner grinds for 10-15 years.
Skips the gym.
Eats at the desk.
Sleeps 5 hours.
Never takes a real holiday.
Builds a solid business.
Then spends the next decade dealing with back pain, weight gain, burnout, and wondering why they feel like crap despite "making it."
The math doesn't work.
You can't outrun biology.
Your body keeps the score.
Every skipped workout compounds.
Every stress meal adds up.
Every "I'll rest after this launch" promise?
Your nervous system remembers.
And here's what nobody tells you:
You don't have to wait 20 years to live the life you want.
You can build a successful biz AND have energy for your kids.
You can grow revenue AND sleep 7 hours.
You can be productive AND take real holidays.
The question isn't "when can I finally live?"
It's "what's stopping me from designing that life right now?"
Not someday.
Not after the next milestone.
Not when you retire.
Now.
Don't spend decades chasing what you could build today.
The hard stuff that actually matters?
There's a reason you can't start it.
I learned this from an ice bath.
I took cold showers for seven years.
No problem.
Then I tried an ice bath.
60 seconds in, everything in me screamed to get out.
The instructors had to pull me out.
A few months later, I tried again.
This time I stayed for two minutes.
Something weird happened.
The panic stopped.
My body relaxed.
I felt totally calm.
Here's what I realized:
The same thing happens when you sit down to do hard work.
You open that document.
Start that project.
Begin that task you've been avoiding.
Then your brain panics:
"Check your email first."
"This can wait until tomorrow."
"Let me just look at Slack real quick."
That's not laziness.
That's your brain doing its job - trying to protect you from discomfort.
But here's the truth scientists found:
The first 2 minutes are always the hardest.
Your brain fights you. Everything feels impossible.
But if you stay for just 2-5 minutes?
Your mind settles.
The resistance fades.
Focus kicks in.
That's when your best work happens.
Most people never get there.
They switch tasks at 90 seconds.
Check their phone.
Grab coffee.
Then wonder why they can't get important work done.
The ice bath taught me this:
The work you're avoiding isn't as hard as it feels. Your brain just needs 2 minutes to stop fighting you.
Next time you feel that urge to switch tasks, try this:
Stay for 2 more minutes. Just 2.
Let your brain calm down.
That's where breakthrough happens.
They think it's just positive thinking.
They think it means never feeling stressed.
They think it's something you're born with.
It's none of those things.
Real resilience is simple:
It's bouncing back when life knocks you down.
AND bouncing forward, stronger than before.
Like a rubber band that stretches but doesn't snap.
Life will stretch you.
Resilience means you don't break.
At a keynote, I showed change leaders how to build this.
Here are the 6 principles that won over skeptics:
1. Expect tough times
→ Hard things will happen, be ready
→ If you see the punch coming, you can dodge it
→ Don't get surprised
2. Don't follow every thought or feeling
→ Your brain lies to you all the time
→ Thoughts and emotions are signals, not orders.
→ You decide how to act
3. Focus on what you can control
→ Stop wasting energy on things you can't change
→ Let go of everything else
→ This one thing changes your life
4. Resilience is built before crisis hits
→ Practice small hard things every day
→ Try cold showers, yoga, or anything uncomfortable
→ When real trouble hits, you're ready
5. Your 'why' makes the 'how' possible
→ A big reason keeps you going
→ Viktor Frankl survived Nazi camps cuz he had purpose
→ Know why you're doing this
6. Resilience is built together
→ Find people who want the same things
→ Go fast alone, go far together
→ Help each other, we all need it
The cost of ignoring resilience?
50 million years of lost productivity (WHO, 2022).
The cost of building it?
A few minutes of intentional practice every day.
The diagnosis?
Everyone else's mind living in mine.
Most high performers I work with think they have focus problems.
They don't.
They have input addiction.
You've trained your brain to be reactive 24/7.
Constant input from other minds has become your baseline.
Every notification.
Every request.
Every problem.
So when that input stops?
Your brain panics.
It craves stimulation.
Even painful stimulation feels better than nothing.
That's the real cost of always being "on."
You lose the ability to think...
Here's what changes when you reclaim freedom from other people's minds:
• You finally think about what's important (not urgent).
• You solve the hard problems only you can solve.
• You create instead of consume.
• Your clearest decisions show up without force.
I've watched executives unlock breakthrough thinking they couldn't access for months—not by working harder, but by protecting 30 minutes from everyone else's input.
Not meditation apps.
Not productivity hacks.
Just complete freedom from other minds.
The problem you can't solve right now?
You probably already know the answer.
But you can't hear it through the noise.
Your brain needs space to process what it already knows.
Protect 30 minutes every morning.
Zero input from other minds.
In your car.
On a walk.
Journaling.
Doesn't matter where.
Just notice what surfaces when everyone else shuts up.
Your intelligence wants what's best for you later.
Here's what nobody tells you:
You are not your thoughts.
Your mind is a tool.
A very loud, demanding tool.
But it's not you.
The problem:
Most people are servants to their mind.
Mind says: "Check your phone."
→ They check.
Mind says: "Eat that."
→ They eat.
Mind says: "Stay comfortable."
→ They stay.
They think they're deciding.
Their mind is deciding for them.
In Sanskrit, there's a word: buddhi.
Your higher intelligence.
The part that steps back and observes your mind.'
The part that says: "I see what my mind wants. I'm choosing something else."
This is the shift:
Mind = servant pretending to be master
You = the actual master
Mind screams: "This feels urgent!"
Intelligence asks: "Is this important?"
Mind demands: "I need this now."
Intelligence decides: "This can wait."
The ones who burn out?
Servants to their mind.
The ones who sustain?
Masters of their mind.
That split second between what the mind wants and what you choose?
That's buddhi.
That's where your power lives.
Every time you pause between impulse and action, you're training it.
Most people never make this shift.
They spend their life thinking they ARE their mind.
The highest performers?
Let their mind speak.
But their intelligence decides.
Next time your mind screams, pause.
Notice: "That's my mind talking."
Then ask: "What does my intelligence say?"
Stop being the servant.
Become the master.
I built a quick scorecard that spots them all.
Takes ±167 seconds, shows you exactly where your energy's leaking. Grab it here: energyfocus.scoreapp.com
If you’re working harder than ever but can’t point to what actually moved forward, this video is for you.
I’ll show you how to achieve by lunch what most do all day using a 3-step peak performance system built from behavioral science and $500K of research.
Inside, you’ll discover:
✅ Why most founders are stuck in the “golden cage” — looks like success, feels like prison.
✅ The 3 Systems of Intelligence that let you compress your week, reclaim time, and finish with energy left in the tank.
✅ The daily structure that protects your focus, energy, and calm — without relying on willpower.
This isn’t about hacks or hustle. It’s about installing the right operating system so your business and brain work for you, not against you.
00:00 Intro — Why Working Harder Isn’t the Answer
00:00:39 The Trap of the Golden Cage
00:01:00 Proof: 90 Hours Reclaimed in 30 Days
00:02:10 The 3 Systems That Compress Your Week
00:02:25 Focus Intelligence — Control Time and Attention
00:05:20 Behavioral Intelligence — Build Habits That Stick
00:08:45 Emotional Intelligence — Stay Calm Under Pressure
00:10:30 The Framework That Makes Change Last
00:12:00 Real Results from High Performers
00:14:50 How Meditation, Exercise, and Systems Rebuild Control
00:15:13 The Peak Performance Assessment — Step-by-Step
00:15:34 Review Your Results and Close the Gap
Book a Peak Performance Reset Call: calendly.com/impaktr/peak-performance-consult
It always wins.
Behavioral science proves it:
43% of what you do happens on autopilot.
Same place.
Same cues.
Same behavior.
You don't check your phone because you lack discipline.
You check it because it's designed to be checked.
Notifications.
Bright colors.
Red badges.
All engineered to hijack your attention.
But here's what most people miss:
You can engineer it back.
Environmental design isn't about fighting temptation.
It's about removing the fight entirely.
Make desired behavior easy.
Make undesired behavior hard.
That's the entire system.
Here's the critical part most get wrong:
Screen time limits don't work.
You just hit "ignore" and keep scrolling.
I know because I tried it for years.
The solution that actually works?
Give someone else your password.
My wife holds mine.
When I hit my limit, I'm too embarrassed to ask unless it's critical.
That's the friction that saves me.
You can't override what you don't control.
Here's the full system I use:
Phone:
→ Grayscale mode (ugly on purpose)
→ Partner holds screen time password
→ No social apps on my phone (only desktop)
Workspace:
→ Email tab closed while working on projects
→ News feed eradicator to block social media feeds
→ Noise cancelling headphones to block distractions
Default settings:
→ Most notifications off
→ Communication in batches only
→ Airplane mode/Do Not Disturb mornings
The result?
I don't rely on willpower to focus.
My environment does the work for me.
Good behavior becomes the path of least resistance.
Bad behavior requires effort I won't give.
Most people try to change themselves.
Smart people change their surroundings.
Your brain follows what's easy.
Make the right things easy.
Design your attention or lose it by default.
Want to see where your environment’s helping (or hijacking) your focus?
Take the Energy & Focus Scorecard.
It’s a quick test (2.47 min) that shows exactly where your time and energy are leaking—and gives you a personalised plan to fix it.
Most people find one small shift that saves them 5–10 hours a week.
Try it here → energyfocus.scoreapp.com
Your phone’s addicted to you.
I spent hundreds of hours studying addiction.
Still can't put my phone down.
App companies turned your brain into a slot machine.
Notification = lever pull.
Scroll = coin drop.
Like = jackpot.
And you can't stop pulling.
Every tap triggers the same circuit that kept your ancestors alive.
Except now it's hijacked by engineers with PhDs in hooking you.
Your brain can't tell the difference between:
→ Finding food to survive
→ Seeing a red dot on your screen
Both flood you with dopamine.
Here's what nobody tells you:
You're not weak.
You're fighting billion-dollar teams who test exactly how to break you.
They measure your scroll speed.
They know when you're about to quit.
They stop you right before you do.
This isn't a fair fight.
You won't win with willpower.
So don't fight fair.
I see business owners do this every day:
Open Instagram to reply to a customer.
47 minutes later they're watching reels.
Check LinkedIn to engage with their network.
An hour gone scrolling other people's content.
They call it "research" or "staying active."
Meanwhile:
→ The strategy doc sits unfinished
→ The team waits for decisions
→ The big opportunity slips by
Here's what actually works:
Delete social apps from your phone completely.
Need to post? Desktop only.
Install News Feed Eradicator so the scroll disappears.
You do what you came to do.
Then you leave.
Your best thinking doesn't happen while scrolling.
It happens in the silence between distractions.
Delete the apps.
Add friction.
Protect your attention.
Agree?
___
P.S. Want to get your time back, without working later?
I built a tool that shows business owners exactly where their time’s leaking.
It’s a 7-minute diagnostic (powered by GPT) that breaks down how you spend your time across:
→ Deep work vs distractions
→ Meetings and team comms
→ Task prioritisation
→ Mental recovery
Then it gives you a plan (what to cut, automate, or fix)
so you can win back hours without burning out.
Most people save 5–10 hours a week just by making 2 or 3 small changes.
Want to try it? Grab it here: https://www.impaktr.com.au/ai-focus-gpt
Those 20 minutes taught me a year of perfect practice never could.
I competed after just 4 months of training.
Most people thought I was crazy.
But here's what nobody tells you about waiting:
The longer you prepare, the more you practice in perfect conditions.
You drill the same moves until they're flawless.
You build confidence in a world that doesn't exist.
Then competition day arrives.
Everything you perfected? Gone.
Your body freezes.
Your technique disappears.
Reality doesn't follow your script.
The same thing happens in business.
You refine your website for traffic that isn't coming.
You perfect your pitch to investors who aren't there.
You build features for customers you haven't met.
Everything works in your head.
Then you launch and reality hits different.
The real cost of over-preparation:
• You build false confidence, not real skill.
• You master a game nobody's playing.
• Competitors launch at 60% and learn what works.
• Six months later? They're on version 3.0.
• You're launching version 1.0.
The truth:
Early testing gives you reality instead of guesses.
Most successful founders launched at 60%.
The ones waiting for 100%?
Still waiting...
My advice?
Stop rehearsing.
Start competing.
Not a metaphor.
Actual electric shocks.
That's what a University of Virginia study found.
Here's why:
We've trained our brains to be reactive 24/7.
Constant input from others has become our baseline.
Every notification.
Every request.
Every problem.
So when that input stops?
Our brains panic.
They crave stimulation.
Even painful stimulation feels better than nothing.
That's the real cost of always being "on."
You lose the ability to think without external input.
Here's what most high performers miss:
Your mind needs time without input from other people.
Not just sitting with your thoughts.
Time to:
→ Think about what's important (not urgent)
→ Solve the hard problems only you can solve
→ Write that strategy that moves your business forward
→ Plan what matters for your family's future
→ Create instead of consume
I've been doing this for 8 years.
60 minutes every morning.
Zero input.
No phone.
No emails.
No one else's problems.
Just me and my meditation practice.
It changed everything.
Now my whole family protects this time.
My wife takes her quiet time.
My 3-year-old has her timer and goes to her room.
No screens.
No parents.
Just her.
She loves it now. She needs it.
Because whether you're 3 or 33:
Your clearest thinking doesn't happen when you're reactive.
It happens when you protect time from everyone else's input.
Try this today: 15 minutes of zero input.
No scrolling.
No responding.
No consuming.
Just you and what actually matters.
Your business will thank you.
Your family will thank you.
Follow me for more on mastering your mind, focus and behaviour.
Then I realised: you can't outrun your own mind.
Everyone talks about quitting bad habits.
Stop drinking.
Stop scrolling.
Stop wasting time.
But nobody tells you what happens next:
You're left alone with your thoughts.
And for most people? That's worse than the habit itself.
Your mind will scream:
"I'm bored."
"I need something."
"Just one won't hurt."
Here's what changed everything for me:
That voice isn't you.
It's just noise from an untrained mind.
Most people never realize this.
They think they ARE their thoughts.
So when the craving shows up, they obey it.
But once you see the difference between:
→ The voice making demands
→ And you, the one hearing it
Everything shifts.
You're not trying to silence your mind.
You're learning it doesn't get to decide.
I spent a decade figuring this out.
Ten years ago, my thoughts controlled me.
Now I control them.
That's the whole game.
00:00 Intro — How distraction kills your focus
00:00:47 The real cost of lost attention
00:01:45 Why focus is a systems problem, not a willpower issue
00:02:09 The Focus Triangle: Clarity, Calendar, Environment
00:02:37 Step 1 — Clarity: knowing what truly moves the needle
00:04:30 Step 2 — Calendar: protecting your time like a CEO
00:07:10 Step 3 — Environment: designing focus into your day
00:10:17 Bonus — The 90-minute focus cycle explained
00:12:21 How to apply this system for 10+ hours of deep work weekly
00:12:52 The AI tool that finds your biggest time leaks


