“When you get what you want in the struggle for life and the world makes you king for a day. Just go the mirror and look at yourself and see what the man has to say. For it isn’t your father, mother, or wife whose judgment you must pass. The one who counts the most in life is the one staring back in the glass.”
Day 19 Morning Scorecard and Clean Slate Self-Reflection:
Cognitive Bias: Your brain is Delusional
In short, your brain isn’t naturally programmed to see reality clearly, it’s engrained to make assumptions quickly. Your mind distorts reality to create the illusion of consistency in an inconsistent world. Simplifying the world down to a narrow viewpoint serves the purpose of protecting our self-esteem from feeling "wrong." This is a survival skill because our ancestors needed to feel "confident" in order to venture out into the world. At one point in history, this internal program of efficiency was adaptive for our species but now it might be more of a hindrance than a help. These cognitive biases helped our ancestors to make quick decisions and lessen the workload for our brains. However, in today’s world, these "coping skills" have become largely maladaptive. Take, for instance, the brain’s natural tendency to accept as true any piece of information it hears repeatedly even if it’s false. This evolutionary hiccup may be advantageous for advertisers and politicians but doesn’t do you any favors in the process. This is why we have to question our own brains to make sure we are not deceived by our evolutionary programming.
FACT: When presented with conflicting information the brain's prefrontal cortex area (critical thinking center) will light up. The brain does this to find a reason why the information is wrong. Once the brain rationalizes the information a pleasure bump is given to the brain as a "reward."
TAKEAWAY: The brain will give you pleasure for confirming to your old beliefs even in the face of contradictory information.
Unfinished Business
We all know the immediate feeling of relief that accompanies putting down a heavy piece of luggage. From a physical standpoint, the desire to put down our burdens is readily understood. From an emotional standpoint, however, we are much more reluctant to address our baggage. Many of us believe that you "can't fix the past, so why try?" I can fully understand this sentiment, but your mind doesn't want you to "fix" the problem it just wants you to "learn" from the issue so it doesn't happen again. From a brain perspective, all emotional reactions serve as a "learning period" when you can step back and decide what the best course of action is moving forward. However, if you never take the time to learn from the situation your brain will keep tapping at your attention until it is addressed. We all like to run away from "negative" feelings but that is only because we don't see the underlying purpose they serve. Going towards a problem instead of away from it, allows your brain to regroup and understand how to address similar problems in the future.
FACT: Research has shown that just speaking your issue’s into a tape recorder initially increased cortisol (stress) levels in your body but then drastically reduces cortisol by up to 40% in the long run.
TAKEAWAY: Releasing your unfinished business is initially uncomfortable but overall is a great idea for your physical and emotional health.
“You must forget about the life you planned to enjoy the life your living.”