Why do we experience and what to do

Let's imagine for a moment that you - a giraffe. You live in the vast African savannah. Your neck is about two meters long. From time to time you notice a group of people passing by and photographing you.

But it is not only a long neck and no camera distinguish you from the people. Probably the biggest difference is that your every solution promises immediate benefits.

When you are hungry, you go and eat leaves from trees. When the storm swooped down, you are looking for shelter under the branches. When you see a lion is attacking your friends, you run away.

Every day most of your giraffe decisions - what to eat? where to sleep? how not to get caught predators? - immediately affect your life. Life giraffe passes among immediate results. It is a life focused on the present moment.

Wednesday deferred results

Now we switch places with a giraffe. You - the person who took leave and went on safari. In contrast, a giraffe, a man lives in an environment of deferred results.

Most of the decisions that you make now, will not lead to immediate benefits. If you did a good job today, in a few weeks you will get salary. If you save money, you have enough to pay taxes. Many aspects of modern society based on the fact that the benefit at some time in the future.

And the root of evil. Giraffe concerned only short-term issues (saved from the lions or storm), and many of the issues that concern people, are in the future.

For example, while you are shaking potholes on the African savannah, you can think of:

Safari - it's great fun. It would be cool to work ranger in the park and see the giraffes every day. Speaking of work. Maybe it's time I change it? Is it true I like what I do?

Unfortunately, the pending results among the leads to chronic stress and anxiety.

The evolution of the human brain

The human brain has evolved to the present state, while the person was in an environment of immediate results.

Homo sapiens appeared about 200 000 years ago. The brain of the first people of this kind was almost identical to ours. In particular, the neocortex - the newest part of the brain responsible for higher mental functions such as speech - was almost the same size as ours.

When compared to the brain age, modern society was formed recently. And most recently - about 500 years ago or something like that - our society transferred to the medium of deferred results.

The rate of change increases exponentially as compared with the prehistoric times. Over the past 100 years, we have seen the flourishing era of cars, airplanes, televisions, personal computers, the Internet.

Almost everything that surrounds you in the world today, invented in the last few hundred or even decades.

For a century there was a lot of things. And in terms of the evolution of 100 years - it is nothing flash, an instant. The human brain is hundreds of thousands of years, was in the same environment (immediate results), and in no time it changes. Our brains are sharpened by immediate results. And that's the problem.

anxiety Evolution

Inconsistency of our old brain and the new environment has a big impact on chronic stress and anxiety.

Thousands of years ago, when people lived in the immediate environment of the result, stress and anxiety have been helpful, because they helped to start active actions in the face of danger or some urgent problems. For example:

• On the plain appeared the lion you are experiencing stress → → → you escape the stress goes away.
• → a storm you experience and think where to find shelter, you find shelter → → stress goes away.
• Today you do not drink → you feel thirsty and stress you find → → water stress leaves.

Here's how to use your brain stress, anxiety and excitement. Concern was emotion that protects people in the environment of immediate results. It helps to solve the short-term, urgent problems. There was no such thing as chronic stress, because in the immediate environment, the result was not chronic issues.

Wild animals rarely experience chronic stress.

Deer can wind up a loud noise, and run through the forest. But once the threat has passed, the deer immediately calm down and begin to chew grass. It will not be a day to reflect on the dangers of this, as do many people.

Professor Mark Leary (Mark Leary) from Duke University

When you live in an environment of immediate results, you are concerned only about acute stress factors. When the danger has passed, you will immediately calm down.

Today, we face many challenges. Do I have enough money to pay taxes in the next month? Will I be able to climb the ladder or be stuck at the current position? Will I be able to fix broken relationships?

Problems in the environment result in deferred rarely can be solved right now, at the moment.

What to do

The main cause of concern among the pending result - constant uncertainty. There is no guarantee that good grades in school will help you to find paying jobThat your investment will pay off in the future, which came out on a date, you can find your love. To live in an environment of deferred results - so do not know what will happen next.

So what can you do? How can flourish in an environment of deferred results, which creates so much stress and anxiety?

The first thing to do - to assess their prospects.

• You can not know exactly how much money you get when you retire, but you can start saving a certain amount each month and approximately calculate how much to accumulate 55-60 years.
• You can not predict if it will have to find love, but you can keep track of how often do you meet new people.

These actions will allow you to take part the control the situation into their own hands. It will not solve all your problems, but it will help to get out of the narrowness of experience and suspense.

One of the most significant differences between the environment and the immediate environment is the result of pent-rate of feedback. Animals quickly get a response to their actions. Without assessing their prospects you do not get such a response.

Make a plan, measure its achievements in the short and long term. All this will help you a little to reduce the degree of uncertainty.

Move your concern

The second way to deal with stress - transfer concerns with the future of the present and solve problems as they come.

• Instead of worrying about the duration of your life, go for a walk every day.
• Rather than worry about the child's admission to the university, make sure that he has enough time to paid tuition.
• Rather than be afraid not to have time to lose weight before the wedding, choose what is useful and low-calorie dish to cook for lunch.

Right strategy adds to you confidence that you're going the right way. Knowing this, you get an immediate response and simultaneously solve future problems.

Here are a few examples:

Job

You publish one article, get the money, the standard of living rises somewhat. At the same time you realize that the more you write, the more experience getting. In the future, you write a book, get a lot of money and make your life even better. By focusing on the present moment - writing today's article, you get an immediate response and at the same time improve your prospects.

Sport

Classes at the gym are fun, especially if you spend all day at the computer. body of pleasant physical exercise and stretching, and after a workout, you feel a surge of strength, freshness and vitality - all this immediate results. At the same time you improve your health and increase your chances of living longer. This long-term perspective.

Reading

You get the pleasure of knowing the world, learn from others' experience. This is an immediate result. And at the same time you develop as a person and broaden their horizons. This long-term perspective.

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Our brains are not suited for the pending results of the medium, but as you can see, it can be done. With the assessment of its prospects and the switching of attention at the moment you can get rid of anxiety and stressThat plagued not only you, but also all the modern society.