8urnout to 8usiness

Let's talk rats in a maze, habits and the brain.

| "In Graybiel's experiments, rats learned via specific cues that there was chocolate at one end of a T-shaped maze. While the rats were still learning, their basal ganglia neurons chattered throughout the maze run. That's because in the early stages, the brain seeks out and soaks in information that could prove important." (Source: https://www.cnet.com/science/mit-explains-why-bad-habits-are-hard-to-break/)

Upon learning something new, focus and constraint can feel like being strapped to a chair. Having to figure out something new is very, very uncomfortable. The brain needs a lot of energy because it's soaking up information to create habits that could serve you. It works as intended. It's just uncomfortable.

We readily engage in distractions because they're available, because focusing is uncomfortable and because we'd rather escape that.

In a world with this much external dopamine available (as in, it didn't come from achievement, self-praise and self-validation), such as alcohol, sugar, social media, notifications, etc., it's a steep order to constrain and focus.

And yet: Engaging in that discomfort of heightened brain activity when we learn something new is actually a necessary part of learning. Stop-and-go traffic is a necessary part of learning. The motorway experience - the "flow" doesn't come from the task we do. It comes from our experience with the task.

Most things in life are a skill (I know, mind-blowing, right?!). Since most things in life are skills, they have to be built. Just because the experience is uncomfortable at the beginning doesn't mean it will be that forever - or that you will never experience discomfort again once you've mastered this skill. The only way your life stops being uncomfortable is if you stop growing - and that's really scary.

But if you want the motorway experience around something specific, my suggestion is you:

1. Let it be uncomfortable instead of "pushing through" - bring the discomfort. It's welcome, allowed, and supposed to be there.
2. Know your WHY and place it at the heart of everything you do in that direction.
3. Pay attention to how and when you reward yourself. If you reward procrastination by escaping the discomfort of constraint with sugar, you're going to get good at procrastinating and your brain is going to get better at convincing you to get sugar. Practicing will become more and more uncomfortable.
4. Letting what comes easy be easy. Skills are supposed to be hard, then easy. If you get to skip the queue with a few things, count your lucky stars and honour your experience, but don't make them harder than they are just for the sake of pride. You're the one creating your pride. Not the task.

Want to know more? I help companies retain their employees of all levels by teaching them to manage their minds and their time - your company's two most valuable assets - so your business can replace pressure with precision. Get in touch via linkedin or drop an email at [email protected] to see how we can work together.