How motivation and discomfort are connected and how to use it to your advantage
Miscellaneous / / March 21, 2022
We talk about the biological foundations of motivation and ways to increase it.
American journalist Nir Eyal, author of the book "Undistracted: How to manage your attention and choose your life,” he admitted: he worked on the manuscript for five years, although he planned to finish much before. And the problem was not a lack of experience or knowledge. Eyal simply didn't tackle the task because he lacked motivation.
Paradox: The book on how to stop being distracted took so long to write because the author was constantly distracted. But as soon as Eyal understood how motivation works from a biological point of view, he did not just finish the book. The journalist also changed various areas of his life - for example, he began to play sports, switched to healthy food, began to spend more time with the people he loves, and began to work more productively.
How does motivation work from a biological point of view
Often people think that motivation is practically the same as inspiration. When it is, our sails are filled with wind, and we are ready to move mountains. When there is no motivation, we can give up and go
procrastinate — in social networks, at the TV or on shopping.But if you wait for motivation, inspiration, or at least a magic pendel, you are unlikely to complete difficult tasks and achieve truly big goals. And when a person understands how this mechanism works, he can learn to start it manually when necessary.
Eyal suggested starting with the basics. Why did nature endow living organisms with a brain? First of all, to move - perhaps that is why in English the words "motion" (motion) and "motivation" (motivation) have a common ancestor.
Motivation by discomfort works even in a snail. The brain cells of the animal register the feeling of hunger, and this pushes it to crawl forward in search of food. Thus, a study of freshwater snails, conducted at the University of Sussex in the UK, showedMichael Crossley, Kevin Staras, György Kemenes. A two-neuron system for adaptive goal-directed decision-making in Lymnaea / Nature communicationsthat these creatures are capable of making complex decisions using just two neurons. One of them reports whether the mollusk is hungry or not, and the other determines the presence of food. Such a simple system tells the snail whether to move in the direction of a potential food source.
More complex brain structures have evolved to help animals avoid aversive stimuli—sensations that cause discomfort. So, bears spend the winter in dens, and birds fly to warmer climes to get rid of the cold. In such a situation, we put on a coat and a hat, and when, on the contrary, it becomes too hot for us, we undress or go into the shade.
Such swings that affect our behavior are an example of homeostasis. These are physiological and psychological processes of self-regulation, in which the human body tries to stay in the same state - for example, at a comfortable temperature.
The desire of the body to maintain homeostasis governs all kinds of bodily functions, conscious and unconscious. If the brain understands that its owner lacks something, be it bodily or spiritual food, it forms a feeling of hunger or, for example, loneliness. It makes us feel bad enough to do something to meet our needs.
How to turn discomfort into motivation
Motivation is the desire to avoid or get rid of discomfort, says Eyal. Of course, evolutionarily we are more complicated than a snail, but our motivation is the same: when we feel discomfort, we direct maximum efforts to eliminate it.
Our desires are, in fact, also a form of discomfort. And what looks like a lack of motivation is also an attempt to return oneself to familiar conditions, only in an unhealthy or unproductive way.
Take a teenager who spends all his free time playing computer games. It is not entirely true to think that he lacks motivation - after all, it takes hours of concentration and practice to emerge victorious from an epic battle.
Rather, the child is motivated to play video games because in them he finds an opportunity to avoid boring school assignments, social pressure and annoying parents. This is a quick and easy way to get rid of discomfort, and people almost always take the path of least resistance.
A similar situation with pain is one of the most powerful manifestations of discomfort. Scientists from the University of Oxford in the UK noteKatja Wiech, Irene Tracey. Pain, decisions, and actions: a motivational perspective / Frontiers in neuroscience: Pain is an evolutionary mechanism that motivates action to reduce potential harm to the body. Often people immediately take pills so that nothing bothers them, and do not think about the long-term consequences - about the same side effects of drugs.
In addition, researchers at the University of Arizona in the US establishedFrank Porreca, Edita Navratilova. Reward, motivation and emotion of pain and its relief / Painthat people have a "memory of pain". Because of this, the value of each new pain medication for the patient decreases, even if the physical sensations do not change. But the motivation to avoid it does not disappear.
So, our actions are connected with the need to restore homeostasis. Based on this, you can change your thinking and plan accordingly to move in the right direction.
How to put it into practice
- Trust that discomfort is not necessarily a bad thing. It does not always need to be eliminated - on the contrary, you can use this feeling as rocket fuel to move forward.
- Do not look for the easiest way to get rid of discomfort. Instead, try to look inside yourself and understand what drives your desire. What are you avoiding and why aren't you doing what you need to do?
- Try to do something through «I do not want". Eyal realized that he didn't work on the book simply because he didn't want to. He thinks it's all to blame impostor syndrome: the journalist did not feel like a real writer and was distracted to avoid disappointment and self-doubt. The author then asked the question: “Who said that I need to want to write?” After that, he managed to let go of the oppressive thoughts and just create page after page.
- Make a plan to get out of procrastination. Think about how you will deal with unpleasant emotions next time. Look for practices that will help with this, for example 10 minute rule.
- Focus not on feelings, but on the daily routine. Decide in advance how you want to spend your time based on your goals and values. This will pave the way for your future actions. As a result, you don’t have to wait for motivation – instead, you can look at the calendar and understand what you should be doing here and now.
- Set the "implementation of intent". This practice planning what, how and when you are going to do it. A person who is distracted, waits for motivation, and then does not understand why he fails to achieve his goals. And the one who is difficult to switch knows what can interfere with him. Therefore, he tries to think carefully and prevent such situations.
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