What’s the Minimum Effort for Maximum Results?

You do not need to do everything to succeed as a student. Success comes from finding your minimum effective dose.. the smallest consistent action that creates meaningful progress. By focusing on what really matters, you can study smarter, avoid overwhelm, and build momentum without burning out.

In this video you will learn how to establish your minimum effective dose, why it works better than trying to do it all, and how this simple shift can lead to higher grades, more confidence, and a more sustainable premed journey.

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💪 Locking in that bulletproof mindset.

⏰ Cutting the nonsense and getting productive.

🧠 Studying smarter, not harder.

🩺 Streamlining your path to med school.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Being Specific About Study Habits
• 0:29 Establishing Your Baseline
• 1:15 Minimum Effective Dose Approach
• 2:48 Setting Achievable Goals
• 3:31 Episode Closing and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We cannot be vague. Oh yeah, I've been studying all day, professor. I've been doing all this stuff. I've been doing all the things I can do. I've been all. Let's get specific. So write down your baseline. Let's figure out where we're at. And there's no shame in this, guys.

Speaker 1: 0:12

As someone who was the worst student in the world, it was hard for a second to admit that I sucked. But by getting clear on my baseline, it me to then recognize and realize and accept the fact that I could not be the A student today Because I'm an F student. Today is the day, guys. You're going to take your future into your own hands. You're going to dominate. You're going to be successful. No excuses, just dominate. I can't go from F to A today. I have to be realistic, but without acknowledging the fact that I'm an F student. I had the unrealistic expectation that if I just worked hard enough today, I'd get the gosh darn A right. And the consequence of that is that bam, oh, my gosh, like, how can I? It was devastating right. It's literally the impossible task. So get that baseline so we know how we're growing, where we're going from.

Speaker 1: 1:07

Once we measure our baseline and we establish that baseline, let's figure out what things we can do to just be more effective. Not everything we could do. Yes, I'm going to study more. I'm going to remember more. I'm going to take these notes. I'm going to do this. Let's find a minimum effective dose. Maybe it means let's just study 60 minutes, completely focused 60 minutes, commit to it. Hey, you know what, if I'm studying for the MCAT, instead of saying I'm going to do as many blocks as possible, can I just say I'm going to do three MCAT blocks this week, just three. I'm going to go passages. Then I'm going to do a super, super thorough review where I get down to the nitty gritty and I'm learning from this. I'm taking high yield notes, I'm organized, all those kind of things. Hey, you know what, instead of saying I'm going to learn all this stuff this week, I'm going to beat it. I'm just going to show up to freaking lecture prepared, having pre-read. I'm going to attend that lecture and be present in that lecture, and we'll talk about you lecture people later. I'm going to attend this lecture and then, after that lecture, I'm not going to rush off to my next thing. I'm not going to throw those notes at the bottom of my backpack. I'm going to take a second and I'm going to go back through that lecture and say wait a minute, what did I take away from this? What am I still confused about that? I could get some clarity on from the professor right now or at office hours later. What do I need to work on? So we're going to look at small changes we can make that we think will have big impacts on our life and on our outcomes.

Speaker 1: 2:28

This med, the minimum effective dose you're looking at it as something that's winnable. Too often the goal is too big. It seems impossible. So what do we do? We pull away and we quit on ourselves. So what we want to do is create a realistic goal that we can set, feel like we can achieve and then actually achieve so we can create momentum rolling. So it's a minimum effective dose.

Speaker 1: 2:50

Like medication, right, I do anesthesia and there's all kinds of fancy terms for pharmacology and medications or whatever. But as an anesthesiologist, I don't want to give my patient too much more medication than they need, because the more medication I give, the more unwanted side effects I get. So what do I want to do? I want to give the minimum effective dose to get the outcome I want. Yes, so, once you create this, if you're looking at it, don't confuse the picture. Write your med in one sentence, and if you can't write it in one sentence, it's too complicated, and if it's not doable on a bad day, then shrink it. You have to be able to do this even when you're off. So that's our second thing, right. We're going to establish a real, effective dose.

Speaker 1: 3:30

That's it for another episode of the Pre-Med Productivity Podcast. Show your love by smashing the like button and commenting in the box below. Today is the day, guys. No more excuses, no more complaining. You're going to take your future into your own hands. You're going to dominate. You're going to be successful. I challenge you. What are you going to do today to make your life better? Get to my website, premedproductivitycom. Grab a free ebook, sign up for a free webinar and, if you're really ready to transform, enroll in one of my life changing courses or coaching programs. You have greatness inside you. Let me show you how to unlock it so you can dominate and make your dreams a reality. No excuses, just dominate.