Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Behavioral Design Expert: The Hidden Belief Blocking Your Growth | Nir Eyal | E149
10 Mar 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
People, when they believe, they can't do it. I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too fat, I'm too thin, I'm too rich, I'm too poor.
Chapter 2: What childhood experiences influenced Nir Eyal's beliefs about weight loss?
These are all limiting beliefs. When you believe that limiting belief, you begin to look for the evidence to make it true. So you literally see the reality that you are looking for.
Our next guest is Nira Yad. He's a former Stanford lecturer who devoted most of his life to the intersection of business behavior and the brain.
Chapter 3: Why do traditional methods like affirmations and vision boards fail?
We used to think you're born hopeful, you learn helplessness. No, no, no.
Chapter 4: How do beliefs shape our perception of reality?
You're born helpless, you have to learn hope.
So how do you teach people hope?
you change your beliefs. Positive beliefs about aging at age 30 can increase your lifespan by seven and a half years. So quitting isn't wrong. Quitting too soon is wrong.
Chapter 5: What is the relationship between belief and success or failure?
So how do you know when it's time to quit? It's a good time to quit when it meets three conditions. First,
Welcome to The Leap Academy with Ilana Golan's show. I'm so glad you're here. In The Leap Academy podcast, I get to speak to the biggest leaders of our time about their career, how they got where they are today, the challenges, the failures, and countless lessons. So lean in. This episode is going to be amazing.
I'm on a mission to help millions reinvent their career and leap into their full potential.
Chapter 6: How can one determine when to persist or quit in their endeavors?
land their dream roles, fast track to leadership, jump to entrepreneurship, or build portfolio careers. This is what we do in our Leap Academy programs for individuals and teams. And with this podcast, we can give this career blueprint for free to tens of millions.
So please help my mission by sharing this with every single person you know, because this show has the power to change countless of lives. Deal? Okay, so let's dive in. Okay, so here is a story for you. The year is 2015, and I go with a tech startup that I just founded back in the days to a Stanford pitch competition.
Chapter 7: What is the difference between a skills gap and a belief gap in leadership?
I win, and I receive a book. It's called Hooked by Nira Eyal.
Chapter 8: What four questions can help rewire limiting beliefs?
By the way, I have it here. If you're on YouTube, I'm showing it here. And I never heard of the book before. I didn't hear of Nir prior. But the more I read the book, the more I learn about Nir, the more I need to meet this guy. So I have enough chutzpah to write to him on LinkedIn. And I go to a talk he was giving in San Francisco. By the way,
proximity and getting in the room is critical, folks. So if you're hearing this, do that. And he was gracious enough to meet me after that. And I've since been following him when he launched his second book, Indistractable. We're going to talk about that too. And now he's coming out with a book, Beyond Belief.
And I can't wait to drill deeper because in Leap Academy, belief is a huge reason for people to stay stuck in their career or a fraction of who they could be. So let's dive in. So great to have you, Nir.
Thank you, Ilana. Great to be here. And thank you for such a kind introduction. I appreciate it. It's very kind of you. I definitely am blushing.
You are amazing. And thank you for always being there and letting other people rise because that's what leaders do. And I want to take you back in time because I think from time to time, you allude a little bit to your childhood and how that formed the NIR that we see today. Who is near and what are some memories that formed your perception of the world today?
Probably the most memorable thing about my childhood. I had a great childhood. I had no complaints. The only thing that was difficult for me was that I was very overweight. I was clinically obese, not just overweight, but actually obese. I remember my mom taking me to the doctor
Which I have to stop for a second because if you see him on YouTube right now, like something doesn't gel. Okay, now continue this story. I'll show you pictures.
It's the truth. But yeah, I had, you know, I went to fat camp. I had the whole nine yards. You know, I remember my mom taking me to the doctor. The doctor saying, this is the green zone on the chart. Here's the red zone. That's overweight. Here's you. You're all the way in this orange zone. You're definitely obese. And that was a real challenge for me.
I grew up in Central Florida and we had a community pool in the condominium complex. We had one pool for everybody to jump into and I would be the kid who never took off his shirt because I didn't want anybody to see my belly rolls and my man breasts. And so I would go into the pool even with my shirt on because I didn't want anybody to see it. And it was a big challenge for me.
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