Just commented on Julien Smith's insightful post about changing one's own behaviours and seeking out change and challenges. In a nutshell, the idea is that you should get out there and try stuff to strengthen yourself and confidence. But read the post, because there's more to it than that.
His post was timely for me, because I've been thinking about the whole idea of seeking out change, challenge and risk for a while, so I puked up my current thoughts on Julien's blog, and it came out like this:
I agree with the “seek out change often” advice, though the natural next question is often ignored, i.e., if forcing the brain to adapt to new circumstances keeps us “psychologically limber”, why don’t we all seek out change all the time?
I suspect that the answer has to do with “mental bandwidth”. Adapting to change requires a lot of energy to re-wire the brain, and if you do it too often, you burn out. The “brain as a muscle” analogy is valid here… Keep it challenged/worked out, but don’t overdo it -the trick is to know when you’re engaged in a constructive workout/change, and when you’re going too far.
After all, “I didn’t think I could do it, but I managed to” stories are everywhere, but it’s because no-one does motivational speeches about ending in failure and nervous breakdowns… Hollywood is bursting with people who “went for it and gave it their all” and who are now depressed, bitter waiters.
I don’t want to be a downer here, and I say these things as someone who takes more risks than most and has exceeded their own expectations on a number of occasions. I just think that the “just do it” mantra is often bad advice, and should be replaced with something more nuanced:
1) Identify activities that expand your baseline limits and capacity to adapt (like exercise, getting enough sleep, etc.), and do them often.
2) Every once in a while, do something at which you might fail. This is the key -to pick something where the real possibility of failure exists, but at which you stand some chance of succeeding. Find out everything you can about the challenge beforehand, and make sure you have the mental reserves to deal with a failure and move on. Then do it.
3) Understand the role of randomness in the world. If you fail, try to recognize that external factors play more of a role than most people realize, so don’t beat yourself up too much (see “The Drunkard’s Walk” by Leonard Mlodinow for more on this).
Not very pithy, but more helpful, I think.
His post was timely for me, because I've been thinking about the whole idea of seeking out change, challenge and risk for a while, so I puked up my current thoughts on Julien's blog, and it came out like this:
I agree with the “seek out change often” advice, though the natural next question is often ignored, i.e., if forcing the brain to adapt to new circumstances keeps us “psychologically limber”, why don’t we all seek out change all the time?
I suspect that the answer has to do with “mental bandwidth”. Adapting to change requires a lot of energy to re-wire the brain, and if you do it too often, you burn out. The “brain as a muscle” analogy is valid here… Keep it challenged/worked out, but don’t overdo it -the trick is to know when you’re engaged in a constructive workout/change, and when you’re going too far.
After all, “I didn’t think I could do it, but I managed to” stories are everywhere, but it’s because no-one does motivational speeches about ending in failure and nervous breakdowns… Hollywood is bursting with people who “went for it and gave it their all” and who are now depressed, bitter waiters.
I don’t want to be a downer here, and I say these things as someone who takes more risks than most and has exceeded their own expectations on a number of occasions. I just think that the “just do it” mantra is often bad advice, and should be replaced with something more nuanced:
1) Identify activities that expand your baseline limits and capacity to adapt (like exercise, getting enough sleep, etc.), and do them often.
2) Every once in a while, do something at which you might fail. This is the key -to pick something where the real possibility of failure exists, but at which you stand some chance of succeeding. Find out everything you can about the challenge beforehand, and make sure you have the mental reserves to deal with a failure and move on. Then do it.
3) Understand the role of randomness in the world. If you fail, try to recognize that external factors play more of a role than most people realize, so don’t beat yourself up too much (see “The Drunkard’s Walk” by Leonard Mlodinow for more on this).
Not very pithy, but more helpful, I think.
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