We do everything twice
Doing deload differently.
“Everything a person does is created twice — once in the mind and once in its execution — ideas and impulses are pre-incident indicators for action.”
- Gavin de Becker
This is wonderful when you have an inspired idea for something amazing.
But what about those impulsive brain worms that puppeteer you into acting before grasping the consequences?
This could be:
picking up the phone to mindlessly scroll
obsessing about a food/drink until it becomes an irresistible craving
opting for instant gratification vs. what would get you closer to your goals
responding with words or messages you can’t delete or suck back out of the air
We all do it.
But we can get better at cultivating the skill of arresting the idea mid-thought and weighing it before acting impulsively.
An experiment:
Just for today, see if you can catch yourself grabbing mindlessly for your phone before you enter into its dopamine-depleting world.
Before you reach, click or scroll on anything ask yourself: is this worth the limited time I have in this life? What am I getting in return for my attention? Then go pet your pet, or hug your kid, or re-focus on what you should be really doing.
Say F NO to the things that don’t matter.
M