Why You Forget 80% of What You Read | Josiah Igono | Athlete CEO #63
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Episode Summary
Our daily life can often look like trying to drink from the firehose with billions of pieces of information available at our fingertips, notifications from multiple devices, and the ability to join millions of conversations around the world via social media.
We live in a world that rewards speed – how quick we think, react, and position ourselves, but thinking about more things – trying to speed up – can often lead instead to slowing down
Despite today’s reality seeming like a dream just 20-30 years ago, we can often find ourselves bogged down by this information, and there’s a reason for that: Hick’s Law.
This concept solidifies the idea of “analysis paralysis” and is the focus of today’s conversation between Erik and Josiah. They define Hick’s Law, how it impacts your performance, and what you can do to counteract it.
Episode Highlights
(1:09) What is Hick’s Law and why does it matter for performance?
(4:03) “You don’t go to Target to buy something; you go to Target so they can tell you what to buy.” Josiah Igono
(4:56) Why you can’t go through the mental checklist of your biomechanics when you need to perform in the moment as an athlete.
(5:49) Implicit vs Explicit Memory
(7:42) What is your priority?
(8:48) Eugene Fama’s 3 factors that the highest outperforming companies share
Stay Connected
AWM Capital: IG | LinkedIn | Facebook | AWMCap.com
Erik Averill: LinkedIn | Instagram
All Things Performance: Podcast | Courses
Josiah Igono: LinkedIn | Twitter
+ Read the Transcript
Erik Averill (00:11):
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Athlete CEO podcast. I'm your host, Erik Averill, co-founder of AWM Capital, where we partner with our clients to unlock the full potential of their wealth for maximum impact. And one of the things that we believe to the core of AWM is you yourself is the biggest asset that you have and the greatest driver of your net worth. And so this podcast is completely dedicated to bringing you the knowledge, the skills, and access to world-class experts to help you unlock the full potential of your human capital. And a true gift is that Josiah Igono over here, my good friend, our resident peak performance coach has been so gracious over the last year to help us deconstruct what we know as performance. And so Jo, welcome back to the podcast.
Josiah Igono (01:07):
Thanks for having me, man. Thank you.
Erik Averill (01:09):
I am excited about this conversation because as somebody who is an avid, avid reader... Well, Josiah just reminded me I've probably already forgot 80% of it. One of the things that I am not familiar with is something called Hick's law. And so I promise you, we're not getting into some esoteric, weird conversation. So what is Hick's law and why does it matter for performance?
Josiah Igono (01:38):
Oh, man. Great setup right there, baby. Let's go. So, Hick's law states that the more things that we think about the slower that we react. And in this world that we live in, it rewards speed, right? The speed of thought, it rewards how fast we react, how fast that we think, how fast that we can position ourselves. The world rewards speed. So, Hick's law states that the more things I think about the slower that I react.
Erik Averill (02:10):
Well, it's good that we don't live in an age where we have just information flying at us on a daily basis from all devices and all people, right? So, I mean, I guess the natural inclination based off of that is saying, the more information we consume, probably the slower we're making decisions here in length lies the issue.
Josiah Igono (02:30):
Yeah. I mean, we have so many options. I mean, thank you to Amazon, thank you to Nike ID. You know what I'm saying? They just mess it up for everybody. I mean, there so many options. I mean, it's actually more efficient and better and more form fit to shop online than it is to go into the store these days, because we have so many options, you know what I'm saying?
Erik Averill (02:50):
Yeah. No, I think back to Bezos with Amazon, I was reading on a thing from a design standpoint. It was just too many clicks. It was like three clicks was too many to buy anything. So I had no idea what one of the copyrights that they had was one-click shopping. It makes complete sense, but I mean, this guy revolutionized our word of speed, right? When it comes to consumption. And so we were talking offline about masterclass, right? This incredible gift that we think we've got access to the best experts in the world so we just keep consuming, consuming, consuming. But now I'm also adding to the list of all the things that I think I need to do, and it paralyzes me a lot of times. I don't actually ever make decisions or I'm so exhausted. Is this what we're talking about?
Josiah Igono (03:41):
I mean, yeah. That has a lot to do with this concept. This construct is law, right? We have so many options. Sometimes we just go online and Amazon tells us what we need to buy, right? You go to the store, for those of you who shop at Target or Tarjay depending on where you're from, you know what I'm saying?
Erik Averill (04:00):
Scottsdale?
Josiah Igono (04:03):
It's like, you don't go to target to buy something, you go to target so they can tell you what to buy. You know what I'm saying? So it's one of those things where, yeah we have so many options. You go to cheesecake factory. I love cheesecake factory. And so the owners and the restaurateurs of cheesecakes back, please forgive me. But dude, when you open their menu, it has a table of contents, dude.
Erik Averill (04:23):
Overwhelming.
Josiah Igono (04:24):
You know what I'm saying? And so you end up like, "All right, the waiter's coming back." "So have we decided we were going to order today?" "No, hold on. I'm on page two." You know what I mean? It's like, man, there's so many options and it paralyzes you. And so as an athlete, if you're an athlete listening to this as well, the same thing happens to us in critical situations. When you have a clear mind, when you can make decisions and you say, "You know what, click, click, boom. This is the one." Right? You can perform at a higher level. Hick's law states that the more things that we think about the slower that we react.
Erik Averill (04:56):
So playing this out very practical for an athlete, is this tied to why you can't be going through the checklist of your biomechanics when you need to perform in the moment?
Josiah Igono (05:08):
100%. 100%. I've seen that paralyze so many players in the recent years with the advent of analytics and all these stats that we don't even know how to pronounce them. You know what I mean? They have all these stats and it's like, you know what? Every sport has simple elements in it. And when you start to overanalyze these things, you get into what we call explicit memory, right? You have implicit memory and you have explicit memory. People do use the term muscle memory. Well, more technically it should be either implicit memory or explicit memory. And the easiest way I would do this is if I were to say, "Hey, E, do you know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Yes. You'd say yes, right?
Erik Averill (05:53):
Yes.
Josiah Igono (05:53):
I'd give you the peanut butter and jelly sandwich and you would make it. Its implicit memory, it's implied. I can do it. I can ride a bike. I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But when we start getting into what you just referred to. "Okay, I got to take out the peanut butter. I got to turn it counterclockwise. I have to take out a knife in my right or left hand, dip it about two, three centimeters." You know what I mean?
Erik Averill (06:15):
Yeah.
Josiah Igono (06:15):
That gets into explicit memory and you start becoming mechanical.
Erik Averill (06:22):
Right.
Josiah Igono (06:22):
That is exactly what happens to athletes. Exactly what happens to business professionals in critical situations when they have so many things on their mind, and you're trying to categorically move through things with all these options that they don't even need.
Erik Averill (06:38):
Yeah. So, that last point, "That they don't need", is really interesting. I was going to ask you, one of the things I've experienced in my own life or working with just world-class performers in general, the ones that I see not get paralyzed by this, they have very clear understanding of what makes them excellent and what produces outsize returns, let's call it to use our financial language. And they don't get distracted with a bunch of fluff.
Josiah Igono (07:10):
No.
Erik Averill (07:11):
It's very much like, "I know this leads to my out performance and I'm laser focused on this." And they almost have blinders on, right?
Josiah Igono (07:19):
Yeah.
Erik Averill (07:20):
You almost look at them and go, "But wait a second, they don't have all the latest and greatest, and they're not doing all this stuff." And, I think of a very specific pitcher in baseball that people are mystified by, but I always say, "You know what he does really good? His craft." And so I just love to hear your thought on how do you fight against this?
Josiah Igono (07:42):
You make things simple. That's what you do. I think it was you that actually gave me a book several years ago by George McKeown, called Essentialism, right? This word priority. Priority is the first and prior thing. It's not priorities. "Hey, what are your priorities?" And you hear people say, "Oh, well, it's to do this, family first. And then this, and then my profession, and then I want to be a charitable giver and..." No, no, no. What is your priority? What is your first and prior thing? You have to understand what number one is and then everything else plays off of that. You have to make it simple. I'll give you a couple of examples. Dude, if you ever get a chance, guys, go watch the Karate Kid movies, especially one and two.
Erik Averill (08:21):
So good.
Josiah Igono (08:22): I'm serious. I'm serious. Go watch Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi is one of the best examples of this beauty and simplicity. Only few things are necessary.
Erik Averill (08:37):
Right.
Josiah Igono (08:37):
And when you look at that very word of elite, elite is the choice. It is the crème de la crème. And elite people, it's another code word for people who do few things very well.
Erik Averill (08:48):
Yeah. And there are so many relatable things that I've learned, I guess, across expertise. I think in the financial world, what we've learned when it comes to investing in the public stock market is, more information isn't better, right? More, Eugene Fama is this famous Nobel Laureate who won the Nobel prize for coming up with the three factor model. And what it essentially says is that companies that outperform the rest in the world share these three factors. They're usually small companies, they're value companies, and they have this profitability overlay. Adding more factors and then there's been all this research, what's the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 25th factor? And what he said is, those factors are actually not producing any out performance, it's still only those three. So you can pour billions of dollars into research of more information, it's not always better.
Erik Averill (09:45):
I was reading a book the other day on modern medicine. Washing hands is still considered one of the biggest advancements in medicine to keep, I think it was the midwives, from spreading disease amongst newborns. It doesn't have to be complex. It's the simplicity. Going back though is like, this ties into so many things of other areas of performance. You have to have so much conviction that the simplicity is what you need to say no to all of the noise. What would you say to that?
Josiah Igono (10:26):
Yeah. No, it's so true. You have to kill the noise. You have to do few things very well. As you were speaking, as a former strength coach, when you start looking at the primary lifts, right? Everybody wants big guns. You know what I'm saying? Big chassis, [inaudible 00:10:43], you know what I mean?. Everybody wants that. But when you break it down, the big primary lifts that target our posterior chain are what gives us the biggest return on investment, right? Your squats, your dead lifts, all your hamstring, your posterior chain work, your back work, that's what gives you the biggest bang for your buck. You want to run faster? You want to jump higher? You want to just be stronger and have more power? Guess what? It's only a few lifts that are going to give you that. What happens is, those three, four lifts actually help to improve and augment everything else in your body. Right? So it's few. It's doing few things very well.
Erik Averill (11:31):
Yeah. I think that's incredibly helpful. Hopefully it is for you guys as the audience. I know for me, it is. And I would challenge every one of the listeners on this is, what are the few things? When you think about what you're trying to excel at, what you're trying to be the best in the world at, can you articulate with clarity what produces that out performance? And if you can answer that, that's what the simplicity of your game plan needs to be. And so head over to athletesceo.com, we'll make sure that we access all of the resources that Jo said in the show notes. And until next time, stay humble, stay hungry, and always be a pro.