No.1 Neuroscientist: The Problems With Goals (& What To Do Instead)

No.1 Neuroscientist: The Problems With Goals (& What To Do Instead)

From scale with soul by AJ

December 16, 2025 · 1h 13m

About this episode

Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff discusses the problems with traditional goal-setting and offers alternative approaches.

No.1 Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff shares the theory behind her book Tiny Experiments, which includes the problems with goals as we know them today. She is an entrepreneur, whose first startup failed after she left her comfortable job at Google, but now has a thriving content business, Ness Labs, alongside her research as a neuroscientist at Kings College London.We dove into a range of topics including... 📖 Episode Chapters 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - The 3 Problems With Goals 08:06 - Why You Should Use Metacognition 13:47 - How To Escape The Prison Of Over-Thinking 20:35 - Cognitive Scripts: The Sequel, The Crowdpleaser & The Epic 32:51 - Where Are We Drunk On The Illusion Of Certainty? 39:43 - How To Lead Through Change 43:13 - How 1 Tiny Experiment Can Change Your Life 50:30 - End Of Year Routine 54:56 - The Paradox Of Persistence 57:50 - How To Get Out Of A Mental Hole 01:11:21 - How Can We Support Anne-Laure If you enjoyed this episode you'll probably love; One Of Europe's Largest EdTech Exits - Busuu $436m | Bernhard Niesner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRA3nboz9V0&t=1558s WeWork Cofounder Breaks His 5-Year Silence (Exclusive)…

People in this episode

Host: AJ

Guest: Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Topics covered

  • neuroscience
  • goals
  • metacognition
  • entrepreneurship
  • cognitive scripts
  • mental health

Keywords

  • neuroscience
  • goals
  • metacognition
  • cognitive scripts
  • entrepreneurship
  • mental health
  • Tiny Experiments

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ness Labs, Google

Places: Kings College London

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