The Cabrera Lab Podcast

#104: It’s Not Too Much Information—It’s Too Little Organization

In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle a problem nearly everyone feels but few can name: constant overwhelm in a world flooded with information. From social media and news to work demands and family pressures, it feels like there’s simply too much coming at us all the time. But the real problem isn’t information overload—it’s organization overload. The Cabreras explain why more information doesn’t make us smarter, more informed, or more grounded, and why burnout is often a signal that we’re failing to organize information into meaning. Drawing on decades of research, they show why mental models are built from information and structure, why modern systems teach memorization instead of organization, and how this leaves people vulnerable to manipulation, confirmation bias, and emotional reactivity. They also explore how industries intentionally disguise noise as signal, why phones turn from tools into masters, and how living a life of “tiny experiments” and “tiny peer reviews” can restore clarity in an age of misinformation. From parenting and education to leadership and daily life, this episode offers a powerful reframing: the future belongs to people who can organize information—not just consume it.

#103: Think It Through: When You Know What to Do—but Don’t Do It

Get 20% off any STSI course with code THINKING20 — start building your mental fitness today! In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University tackle one of the most frustrating human experiences: knowing exactly what you should do—and doing the opposite anyway. Is this a motivation problem, a discipline problem, or something deeper? Using systems thinking and real-world examples like smoking, exercising, speaking up in meetings, and setting boundaries, they reveal the real issue: your behavior is faithfully executing a mental model you haven’t fully seen yet. They explain why mental models can contain contradictory “should” and “should not” rules at the same time, how behavior and language act as road signs to what’s really driving you, and why judging yourself only strengthens the wrong feedback loop. Through practical walkthroughs and a powerful workplace example, they show how to unpack, test, and reorganize mental models so behavior changes naturally—without force or shame. If you’ve ever wondered why willpower isn’t working, this episode will help you see what’s actually going on and give you a clear, humane way forward.

#102: Mental Fitness Explained: Why Intelligence Is More Than IQ

Get 20% off any STSI course with code MOTIVATION20 — start building your mental fitness today! In this episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University unpack a new research paper on mental fitness and challenge nearly everything we think we know about intelligence, burnout, and mental health. Mental fitness, they explain, isn’t a trait, a feeling, or a mindset—it’s a complex adaptive system made up of four interdependent dimensions: cognitive, emotional, motivational, and physical. When any one of these dimensions is neglected, we accumulate hidden “debt” that eventually shuts down our ability to adapt, think clearly, and perform well—even if we’re highly intelligent by traditional measures. They explore why IQ fails to capture what we actually mean by “smart,” how burnout emerges from unbalanced systems rather than personal weakness, and why many modern systems—education, healthcare, therapy—are producing worse outcomes despite good intentions. Along the way, they connect mental fitness to systems thinking, metacognition, emotional intelligence, and real-world adaptability. This episode reframes intelligence as the ability to coordinate the whole person under real constraints—and makes the case that if we want healthier, smarter, more resilient humans, we need to stop optimizing parts and start understanding the system.

#101: Think It Through: The Negative Inner Voice That’s Holding You Back

Get 20% off any STSI course with code MENTALFITNESS20 — start building your mental fitness today! In this Think It Through episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University explore a struggle many people quietly live with every day: a negative inner voice that puts you down, limits your confidence, and distorts what you believe about yourself. They explain how this voice often isn’t truly “yours,” but something you’ve adopted over time—sometimes from school, authority figures, or traumatic experiences. Drawing on systems thinking, metacognition, and identity–other dynamics, they walk through a practical process of learning to notice the voice, distinguish it from your own, and gradually flip the relationship so it loses its power. Through personal stories, vivid metaphors, and concrete daily practices, this episode shows how small, consistent acts of awareness can weaken the voice that hurts you and strengthen the one that’s actually yours. It’s not about silencing thoughts overnight—it’s about radical incremental change that restores agency, clarity, and self-trust. If you’ve ever wondered why you talk to yourself the way you do—or how to finally stop believing everything that voice says—this episode will help you think it through.

#100: The Top 10 Systems Thinking Lessons from 100 Episodes

Get 20% off any STSI course with code 20FOR100 — start building your mental fitness today! In this special milestone episode, Drs. Derek and Laura Cabrera of Cornell University celebrate the 100th episode of the Cabrera Lab Podcast by doing something big: ranking the top 10 themes that have emerged across the entire show. From simple rules creating complex results to embracing both-and thinking, from culture as shared mental models to seeing webs of causality instead of root causes, they revisit the ideas that show up again and again—because they matter. These aren’t just abstract concepts; they’re practical mental models that shape how we parent, lead, learn, feel, and make decisions. They also unpack the biggest ideas behind the work itself: why thinking is a trainable and measurable skill, why systems thinking is a life skill, not just a work skill, why loving reality beats wishful thinking every time, and why mental models sit beneath everything we do. This episode is part reflection, part greatest-hits tour, and part invitation—an invitation to stop reacting at the surface and start seeing the structure underneath your life. If you’re new to the podcast, this is the perfect place to start. If you’ve been here from the beginning, it’s a powerful reminder of why this work matters.