How To Trick Your Brain Into Doing Hard Things
“I’ll put it off until tomorrow.” “Today was stressful, I just don’t have the energy.”
“I’m sooooooooo tired.”
We all have those days where we don’t feel like doing anything. Where we have an irresistible urge to just lay down and not get up. When we have no motivation to keep going, and begin asking questions like “Why do I even bother?”
Everyone feels this way from time to time, even super successful people like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. But what separates them from everyone else is their ability to trick their brain into doing hard things even when they don’t feel like it. You see, successful people understand that if they want to accomplish something in life, they can’t make excuses. They can’t allow their brain to control them – they have to be the ones in control.
Tip #1: The Cost of Inaction
Instead of focusing on what needs to be done, ask yourself the question: “What is the cost of inaction?”
People are motivated more by loss than by reward. For example, the thought of losing everything you own is a far greater fear than having something to gain. If you had to make a choice between keeping all your assets, or risk losing them all for a chance to win $1,000, would you take that risk? Most likely not, because the reward does not justify the risk.
Tip #2: Indecision Is A Decision
If you have difficulty making decisions on the spot, realize that not making a decision is a decision. For example, if someone offered you an all-expenses paid vacation to Hawaii, you have only two choices: To accept the offer or to decline it. If you accept the offer, you are consciously making the decision to say yes. But if you do nothing, you are unconsciously making the decision to say no. The person offering you the opportunity is waiting for you to make a decision. If you stand there are look at them for a few minutes, they are going to assume you are declining their offer and move on to the next person.
This is why indecision is so costly – by doing nothing you are basically declining opportunities that come your way. Realize that by doing nothing, you are still doing something. Doing nothing is a choice. Doing something is also a choice. Every time you make a choice, you are making a decision. And indecision, is the worst decision of all. If you can’t make your mind up, you are automatically declining an offer without even realizing it.
Tip #3: Life Is Short
You are going to die anyway. What are you afraid of?
Many people follow a traditional way of thinking. They want to save money, live below their means and not take risks. They’re afraid of losing in the game we call life. But the truth is that there is nothing to lose in the first place. At the end of our lifespan, each and every one of us is going to die. We are not getting off this planet alive, and we have a limited amount of time left. What we do with the short amount of time we have, determines whether or not life was worth living. Our emotions, happiness, success, and sense of achievement is based on what we do, not what we didn’t do.
In fact, research shows that when a group of people were asked to name their single biggest life regret, 76% of participants cited an action not taken, that would have helped them realize their ideal self. These people are saying they regret the fact that they have regrets. There were things that they didn’t do, that they knew would have helped them grow. But due to indecision or refusing to take action, they missed out on the opportunity to grow themselves and their potential to become something greater.