(2026-02-10) Joyner Your Brain Isn't Broken, I Can Prove It

Mark Joyner: Your brain isn't broken (I can prove it) Sarah sat across from me at the coffee shop, looking defeated. "I think there's something wrong with my brain. I can't focus on anything anymore."

She'd been trying to work on her business plan for three weeks.

OK... tell me about that Netflix series you told me about last week."

Her eyes lit up.

"Oh my God, it was incredible! I binged the whole thing in two days.

You don't have a focus problem. You have a conditions problem.

The series had:

• A clear path forward (watch the next episode)
• Immediate feedback (you see what happens)
• Low ambiguity (you know exactly what to do: press play)
• Compelling stakes (you care about the outcome)

Sarah’s business plan had:

• A vague starting point (where do I even begin?)
• Delayed feedback (won't know if it's good for months)
• High ambiguity (am I doing this right?)
• Abstract stakes (future Sarah might benefit, but present Sarah is just confused)

Her brain was doing exactly what it's designed to do: avoid uncertain, ambiguous situations and gravitate toward clear, compelling ones.

you don’t have a “focus problem.”
The problem is that you're trying to focus on something that hasn't been set up to BE focusable yet.

When you engineer the right conditions—when you break down ambiguity, create clear next steps, and connect actions to outcomes that matter to you—focus isn't something you have to force.

This is what we’ve built right into Simpleology.

Follow-up:

How to Gain Clarity from Ambiguous Goals

“What's one thing you've been avoiding that might just be too ambiguous to approach?”
One person replied:
“I don’t know if I’ve been avoiding it, but it definitely is ambiguous. [And that’s] building a coaching business and putting systems in place [so] it scales automatically.”

the question here is really about gaining clarity. And to do that, within the context of the question above, we’d have to work backwards to determine the exact steps that are needed to build a coaching business that scales automatically.

Start with the end in mind (working backwards). Who are you serving and what problem are you solving for them? What does each coaching session look like? How much are they paying for this type of coaching? Where can you find these people? Why will they want to work with you instead of someone else?

If you tell yourself that you need to “build a coaching business,” that’s way too broad and ambiguous. The task is too overwhelming, so you’ll avoid it in favor of easier things. But if you break it down into small, easy-to-complete steps, you’ll get instant clarity.

your tasks look something like this:

• Write down the problem I solve for coaching clients.
• Create three packages for three different levels of coaching.
• Build an avatar of my ideal coaching client who will benefit from my coaching.
• Determine how to reach my ideal coaching clients (LinkedIn? Google? Facebook? YouTube?)

Simpleology has a Backward Planner to help you break down big tasks into little ones. You can find it by clicking on “Major Focus” in the lefthand navigation bar.