After This Conversation Your Life Will Get Better | Mark Rober & Mel Robbins

In this engaging conversation between Mark Rober, a celebrated engineer, YouTuber, and science educator, and Mel Robbins, the focus centers on embracing failure, fostering creativity, cultivating curiosity, and living authentically. Mark shares personal stories from his unique career journey, insights into failure as a positive force, the power of storytelling, and his passion for education and supporting teachers. The discussion also touches on happiness, gratitude, parenting, and overcoming life's challenges through mindset shifts and practical frameworks.

Embracing Failure and The Super Mario Effect

Mark begins by reframing failure not as a setback, but as an essential and exciting part of growth. He introduces the concept he calls the "Super Mario effect," which likens life's challenges to a video game where setbacks, like falling into pits, are inevitable but serve as learning opportunities rather than reasons to quit. Failure is not a sign of personal inadequacy but a crucial feedback mechanism guiding one toward success. This mindset enables resilience and continuous improvement. Mark emphasizes that many people overestimate the negative impact of failure while underestimating their ability to recover from it. He stresses the importance of exposure therapy—starting small by failing in safe environments—to build confidence and normalize the experience.

Mark Rober's Unique Path and Why He Creates

Mark shares his background as a mechanical engineer with degrees from college, detailing his decade at NASA working on the Curiosity rover and five years at Apple's special projects group, including work on the Apple car. Despite these prestigious roles, Mark started creating YouTube videos at 31, initially inspired by simple, clever ideas such as an optical illusion Halloween costume. Over 15 years, he has produced one video per month, focusing on science, experimentation, and problem-solving. His channel now boasts over 70 million subscribers, a testament to how deeply his work resonates with all ages because it evokes strong emotions like laughter, excitement, and amazement. Mark explains that emotional engagement is key to making content memorable and shareable, a lesson that applies broadly to communication and influence.

The Power of Storytelling and Emotional Connection

Mark and Mel discuss storytelling as an essential tool for making ideas and messages resonate. Facts alone rarely persuade; emotional connection is what moves people to action. Mark encourages empathy, urging people to understand what will matter emotionally to their audience—be it a boss, colleague, partner, or child. He highlights that storytelling activates innate human instincts shaped by thousands of years of oral tradition, making the listener feel seen and engaged. Even for shy or reluctant communicators, cultivating storytelling is a skill anyone can develop by focusing on relatable emotion and crafting narratives that invite others to remark and share.

"Hiding the Vegetables": Teaching Science Through Spectacle

Mark explains his signature teaching method of "hiding the vegetables"—embedding educational content within entertaining and spectacular experiments. A striking example is his creation of the first-ever 15-ton jello pool, which captured viewers' attention with its visual appeal before cleverly teaching chemistry and the scientific method behind it. This approach ensures that curiosity is piqued first, drawing viewers into deeper scientific concepts. Mark reveals an exciting upcoming project: a free, comprehensive science curriculum for grades 3 to 8 that combines engaging videos, demos, and resources, all aligned with national education standards and featuring familiar YouTubers. This initiative aims to support often underappreciated teachers and inspire the next generation of problem solvers.

The Role of Teachers and Personal Inspiration

Mark shares a heartfelt tribute to his own teachers and especially his late mother, who profoundly influenced his life despite limited formal education. He stresses the immeasurable impact teachers have as "seed planters" for the future, advocating increased respect and support for the profession. Mark's passion for education extends beyond his videos; he aspires to have an enduring influence on young minds, feeling that supporting teachers is his most meaningful life work. This deeply personal motivation drives his commitment to making science accessible and exciting on a massive scale.

The Secret to Success: Focusing on the Next Step

One profound insight Mark offers is the importance of focusing on the immediate step rather than being overwhelmed by the big picture or external metrics like views or subscribers. He likens life to crossing a river by hopping from rock to rock—assessing and choosing the best option at each moment—and trusting that new opportunities will continuously emerge. This mindset, combined with passion and a desire to impact others, creates sustained fulfillment and progress without burnout. Mark credits this approach with keeping him energized and excited after 15 years on YouTube.

Framing Failure as a Learning Tool and Encouragement to Fail

Mark advocates for proactively making failure a goal during learning processes to lower the pressure of perfection. He recounts his own experience of intentionally aiming to lose ten chess games as a way to overcome the fear of failure and embarrassment. This radical shift in perspective allows people to see failing as a step toward mastery rather than a personal deficiency. Applying this philosophy to public speaking, work challenges, or creative pursuits can build resilience by turning failures into targeted practice, thereby accelerating growth and diminishing shame.

Fostering Curiosity and Creativity as Developable Muscles

Creativity and curiosity are often seen as innate traits, but Mark draws on scientific research showing they can be cultivated like muscles. The ability to ask "Why?" and approach the world with wonder is an aptitude that improves with practice and time spent in creative modes. He encourages adopting a curious mindset, noting it is key to problem solving and innovation. Mark underscores the importance of making learning approachable and hands-on, using simple yet captivating experiments like levitating a ping pong ball with a hair dryer (demonstrating the Kanda effect) or creating a cup-and-string "chicken sound" to spark engagement and discovery.

Happiness Rooted in Relationships and Values

Reflecting on happiness, Mark explains it boils down to first principles familiar to engineers: fundamentals like healthy relationships, living in alignment with one's values, and focusing on meaningful impact. Material success or flashy accomplishments often bring only fleeting satisfaction. He and Mel explore how gratitude acts as a powerful antidote to the insatiable desire for more and the anxiety it generates. Gratitude fasting—actively listing things to appreciate, or imaginatively losing something precious—can reorient perspective toward abundance and contentment. The conversation also touches on the importance of switching off productivity mode at home to embrace present, inefficient moments with loved ones, fostering deeper connections.

Overcoming Feeling Stuck Through a Mindset Shift

For those feeling stuck or creatively blocked, Mark advises treating life's challenges as opportunities to learn and incrementally improve. Using the analogy of video games or puzzles, he encourages breaking down big problems into manageable experiments with a goal of continuous iteration rather than immediate success. Holding faith in one's ability to figure things out, even if the final outcome is different from expectations, is a critical mindset. Curiosity-driven exploration and hiding the complexity of growth beneath engaging tasks help reignite motivation and inspire new directions.

The Joy of Sharing and the Scale of Impact

Finally, Mark expresses gratitude for the platform that allows him to reach millions worldwide, positioning himself humbly as simply focusing on the next exciting video rather than the vast scale of his influence. He cherishes the "aha" moments sparked in others and finds joy in being a conduit for learning and curiosity. The conversation closes with Mel commending his authenticity and impact, reminding listeners of their own potential and encouraging them to embrace risk, creativity, and resilience as tools for building a better life.