Your Mind is an Ocean, Do Things You Find Hard, How to Stay Young
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Work on fluid thinking as a way to embrace originality and creativity when it comes to solving problems and making decisions. The more expansive your brain approaches a problem the more perspective you develop and the more of an asset you become to any team.
Start making a habit of doing things you don’t want to do, and watch as your willpower grows, you become more resilient, more confident, and more capable.
Always try to squeeze in new experiences. Take the road less traveled, order something new off a menu, read an unusual book, try a new hobby.
Starter Mindset Tip: Your Mind is an Ocean – Your Thinking are the Waves; Engage in Fluid Thinking
Thinking outside-the-box, lateral thinking, non-linear thinking, are all ways of looking at thinking that is broader, more creative, less restrictive, more fluid. It is an important thing to embrace for many reasons. Our decision-making process is typically linear, very much one thought follows another in a logical, near automatic manner. This can be limiting. To begin thinking more unconventionally creates the possibility of breaking out of this routine line of thought, allowing us to expand our perspectives and come up with new ideas that would have previously never occurred to us. It can force us to challenge our assumptions and think of things from perspectives we may be inclined to ignore based on our biases. Fluidity of thought helps encourage originality, creativity, and adaptability, making you a more useful tool to any team. Initially there will likely be some friction as you resist your brain’s tendency towards its comfortable, linear ways, but the more you promote it, the easier it will become. First accept that with most decisions, problems or challenges, there are many ways to arrive at a solution. Then ask yourself ‘what is something that would not have occurred to me if I left my mind on autopilot’. Consider opposite viewpoints, try to remove restrictions your mind sets up, and engage in promoting random inputs. Note: cross disciplinary learning is one way that will naturally allow this to occur.
Health Recipe: Do Hard Things, Accept the Discomfort
Timing: 1-10 minutes. Whatever you can make happen!
Level of Difficulty: By definition, hard.
Serving Size: Start with a short amount of time to create a consistent habit to fit it in most days
Spice Level: Spicy – by design
INGREDIENTS
Just you and a challenge
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Just as failure is a requisite ingredient for growth and improvement, hardship and discomfort play an important role as well. Doing things that at first you may be hesitant or apprehensive to do is surprisingly good for you. As Michael Easter puts it in the book ‘The Comfort Crisis,’ “a radical new body of evidence shows that people are at their best—physically harder, mentally tougher, and spiritually sounder—after experiencing the same discomforts our early ancestors were exposed to every day. Scientists are finding that certain discomforts protect us from physical and psychological problems like obesity, heart disease, cancers, diabetes, depression, and anxiety, and even more fundamental issues like feeling a lack of meaning and purpose.” We’re not suggesting reverting back to stone tools and living in the forest, although that would probably be fun, but trying to highlight the importance of not giving in to things you find tough. In today’s age we are naturally faced with fewer challenges, so you may have to seek them out. Even overcoming small obstacles triggers growth and confidence, and signals to us that we can accomplish things that are challenging.
INSTRUCTIONS
Think of things you typically don’t like to do, for some people this is exercise, but it could be cold water exposure, social interaction, reading that book that’s been on your list for years, or learning a new skill.
Force yourself to do it once a week.
If it starts to become less challenging for you, try doing it twice a week, or for longer, or add in something else that is difficult.
Let yourself enjoy the feeling of the struggle.
Don’t get discouraged. If you find yourself still avoiding difficult things, that is okay, but don’t give up, it will be that much more rewarding when you finally do the hard things.
PRO TIP: Doing hard things that you do not want to do is where you will experience the most growth in your willpower and drive to do things. There is an area in your brain called the anterior midcingulate cortex that will literally grow as you do the hard things you do not want to do. The more it grows, the more willpower and drive you will have in all aspects of life. Scientists are learning that this may even increase your will to live as you grow older. That is the science that we absolutely love. (Huberman Lab, ep. 157)
* Don’t do things that are unsafe.
** To help overcome the first difficult challenges you’ve set yourself, have a friend join in and support you through it.
*** Start expanding these activities outside your initial list and really tackle the things that you have historically not wanted to do.
Dessert Quote:
“In newness we are forced into presence and focus. Newness can even slow down our sense of time. This explains why time seemed slower when we were kids.” — Michael Easter, “The Comfort Crisis”
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn more about discomfort in this amazing book:
Easter, M. (2021). The comfort crisis: Embrace Discomfort To Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self. Rodale Books.
Learn more about increasing your will and drive:
Podcast “Huberman Lab: David Goggins: How to Build Immense Inner Strength,” Episode 157 46 Minutes into episode
