Praise for this book
Recommended Preface

letter.
You have been completely fooled by your brain.
Habenula, the red pill no one noticed
Brain Science: Taking Back Control of Your Life
People who see things through to the end use their brains differently.

Part 1.
How the Give-Up Brain Is Made

Chapter 1.
The mirage of performance-based pay
Characteristics of people who collapse greatly after a single failure
How Achievement Is Poisonous to Our Brains
Who are you doing this for?
Face the inconvenient truth

Chapter 2.
The switch in my head that breaks my will
How My 'Give Up Button', the Habenula, Works
Havenula, the jewel thief who steals motives in the middle of the night
You are never weak
How Performance Obsession Activates the Habenula Switch
Manage how your brain experiences failure.

Chapter 3.
The world is desperately waiting for you to give up.
The exponential growth of the diet industry
When your failures become money
Stop obsessing over dopamine
How long will we remain in an ineffective system?

Part 2.
Turn off the 'motivational breaker' Habenula.

Chapter 4.
Stop thinking, “I can’t do it anyway.”
Three Principles of Failure
Eight Types of People Who Invoke Failure
The thought of failure leads to failure.

Chapter 5.
The art of eradicating three-day habits
The brain's habit algorithm
The 'habit loop' created by cue-routine-reward
The best solution to change old habits
Shock waves to the brain: 'significant emotional events'
How Trauma Changes the Brain
Rethinking ongoing change

Part 3.
Designing a brain system that can see things through to the end

Chapter 6.
What Makes Someone Who Takes Control of Their Life Different?
Repetitive thinking and self-efficacy
Rigid brain, flexible brain
Building Resilience to Failure

Chapter 7.
Brainstorming strategies that get you to the end
Exploration, breaking through helplessness
Pretend to make it until you make it.
Four predictable outcomes when attempting change
Brainstorming to build a brain that can see things through to the end
The power of repetition to strengthen the motivation system

Chapter 8.
You are stronger than you think
An era where repetition is more necessary than ever
An escape from social helplessness
“We are all connected”
Practice, reframe, repeat
All preparations are complete

Acknowledgements
main

“Why do I always give up so easily?”
Uncovering the secrets of the habenula, the brain's motivational blocker that controls us.

When the New Year comes, we always make resolutions.
You decide to start a diet, plan an exercise routine, or start a new study, but you never stick to it for more than a few days.
The three-day resolution is now tiresome, and you start to blame yourself, thinking, “I guess I have a weak will,” and become so helpless that you can’t even try anything new.
But Kyra Bobinet, who has been studying behavior change and habit formation for over 30 years, is confident.
The cause of this vicious cycle is not a matter of will, but an illusion created by our brain.

A tiny region just 5 millimeters in size, the habenula, located above the posterior thalamus of the brain, acts as a powerful switch that controls human behavior.
When you are running towards a goal and the signal of 'failure' is detected, the habenula is activated, suppressing the secretion of dopamine and pouring cold water on your burning motivation.
For example, let's say you were on a diet and ate 1,300 calories, slightly more than your goal of 1,200 calories.
Even though you only ate a little more than your goal, the moment you realize it, you're caught up in the thought, "Oh, I failed again!" This negative perception immediately activates your habenula, causing you to stop your behavior.

In fact, the habenula is an organ that evolved for survival, and has functioned as a kind of 'warning device' to detect danger and prevent humans from repeating reckless behavior.
But in modern society, this elaborate system has become the main culprit that frustrates us every time.
The more we try to manage our goals and achievements specifically, the more small failures we inevitably experience. Each time, the habenula switch is turned on, forcing us to give up.
Especially in an era where countless motivational programs, diet apps, and habit-building coaching services have become industries, we're losing the will and initiative to fuel our own passion for life.

“The thought of failure is what leads to real failure.”
Build your immunity to failure and manage how your brain experiences frustration!

This book names chronic lethargy and repetitive frustration as "failure disease" and systematically analyzes its types.
Self-critical voices like “I already tried, but it didn’t work,” “I’ll never be as good as that person,” “I should have started a long time ago, but it’s too late now,” and “If it’s not perfect, it’s better not to even start” are typical symptoms of failure disorder.
The author delves into how these repetitive negative thinking patterns become entrenched and reinforced in the brain, and offers specific behavioral strategies to neutralize them.

For example, when you find yourself thinking, “What can I possibly do if I can’t even succeed at something this small?” instead of beating yourself up, try changing the question.
"Where, when, and what broke me down?" The only way to overcome failure is to explore the root cause—whether it was a particularly vulnerable morning, an unexpected stressor, or a friend's invitation—and design a suitable alternative.
This flexible mindset of identifying problems, changing conditions, and modifying behavior creates the power to put Habenula to sleep and continue repetition.

The most important thing is not to accept the trial and error that occurs during the process of forming a habit as failure.
Habits create 'neural highways' in the brain through repetition.
The longer a behavior is repeated, the smoother and more solid this path becomes.
So when we're tired or stressed, we easily fall back into old habits.
The problem is that the brain mistakes this natural process for a 'failure signal' and activates the habenula.
The power to sustain change doesn't depend on a single perfect success, but on how quickly you can readjust and bounce back when you fail.
The power to slightly modify your actions each time you fail, try again, and repeat is the first step toward becoming a 'brain that perseveres'.

"How to change a brain that gives up into a brain that perseveres."
The Art of Motivational Design to Reclaim Control of Your Life

What sets people apart from others who persevere even when life doesn't go according to plan? They don't judge each attempt by the binary of success or failure.
Rather, we use small failures as ‘learning materials’ to continuously improve our behavior.
This gives the habenula less room to operate, makes it less fearful of trying new things, and allows you to maintain habits 'on an ongoing basis'.


A person who sees things through to the end is not someone who never fails.
They just don't think, "I'm the problem."
If you haven't been able to exercise in the morning, go for a walk in the evening, and if it's a habit that's hard to maintain alone, try it with a friend.
By acknowledging that “this approach might not work for me right now,” you can see failure as an opportunity to change direction, not a signal to stop.
Drawing on research in brain science and behavioral change, the author developed an innovative eight-step progression-iteration system called ITERATES to help anyone apply this flexible attitude to their lives.


This system is a tool that makes it easy to resume action even when plans fall apart.
These include gaining motivation through inspiration, diversifying the concept of time, entering an environment that supports habits, reducing tasks to easy and simple ones, adding interest, forming solidarity with people who share the same goal, being flexible in expectations, and tricking the brain with swaps.
By using these eight methods, you can change course and keep going even if your plans go awry before the habenula whispers, "Stop it now."


The driving force for change is now yours.
Build a brain system that can see through Habenula's tricks and see them through to the end, and move forward step by step.
I can confidently say that failure will no longer be able to stop us.