Our own worst enemies?
- Thread starter Bee
- Start date
That is an easy one. We have two minds: the primitive reptilian brain (fight and flight + pleasure seeker) vs the prefrontal cortex. The reptilian brain was part of the universal brain formed 300 million years ago, which is shared amongst mammals and birds. It is instinctive in nature. The cortex grew later, which controls executive function, something we are using on The Mind Tavern! So typically, the reptilian brain deals with short term while the cortex is long term. They are in conflict, much of the time.
The book Thinking Fast & Slow talks about deliberative (slow) thinking and instinctive (fast) thinking. The fast thinking is much more energy efficient than deliberative thinking, and so we tend to rely on it when we can, to conserve glucose and therefore increase survival prospects.
The book Thinking Fast & Slow talks about deliberative (slow) thinking and instinctive (fast) thinking. The fast thinking is much more energy efficient than deliberative thinking, and so we tend to rely on it when we can, to conserve glucose and therefore increase survival prospects.
I have an idea for you Bee, that may help. Use Choice Architecture. I have been meaning to do a post on this - will get to it sometime. Place your gym kit already laid out before you go to work. Then, when you get back from work, just say to yourself...
1. All I need to do is put the gym kit on. Don't think anymore. (choice architecture - engineer the environment to make the desired behaviour easier).
2. Once you have changed, get your keys, go to the car, turn the engine on. That is all you need to do.
#2 is from a mini-habits course I went through. The idea is you don't actually commit to doing anything. Just doing those behaviours. If you don't want to then go to the gym, you are perfectly fine coming back inside. But in most cases, this is enough to just get the ball rolling.
1. All I need to do is put the gym kit on. Don't think anymore. (choice architecture - engineer the environment to make the desired behaviour easier).
2. Once you have changed, get your keys, go to the car, turn the engine on. That is all you need to do.
#2 is from a mini-habits course I went through. The idea is you don't actually commit to doing anything. Just doing those behaviours. If you don't want to then go to the gym, you are perfectly fine coming back inside. But in most cases, this is enough to just get the ball rolling.
For me it is the daily 3-mile walk that took a while to form the habit. When I come in after the walk, particularly on hot days, I am drenched with sweat at a level to include dried salt stains and I have the feeling of being physically drained. My next action is to sit down in my non-absorbing chair and drink at least one bottle of water. Then I take a bath. After a while I feel better, but I had to build up my habit both for getting out and doing it (at all) and then build up the habit to longer distances. I do 3.05 miles normally, but with an improvement in the weather, I have one more increment that I add during fall and winter that makes it about a 3.9 mile walk. In the summer, that takes too much out of me but in cool weather I can handle the longer walk. As soon as my ankle heals, I'll get back to the 3-mile route.