Picking up where we left off yesterday, let me take you back to a specific moment from my cold plunge over the weekend and share an insight about the mind.
The moment was just before I put both feet in the water. I knew what was coming. An intense impulse began to pump through my body. The impulse 10x’d when my feet hit the water. It said I wasn’t ready. It said to wait. The impulse overwhelmingly wanted me to step out of the freezing water and think about it more.
Delay tactics. That’s all those impulses were. Misguided firings of my natural survival instinct.
Here’s the insight for you. The longer you think about something scary or uncomfortable, the more likely you are to avoid it. You’re not going to talk yourself into it. You’re going to talk yourself out of it. That’s why my impulse told me to wait. It wanted more time to work its persuasive ways.
Your mind works the same way. Like a spider caught in its own web, your mind will say and do anything to start an internal debate with yourself.
The more you think the more you imagine.
The more you imagine the more real it seems.
The more real it seems the more uncomfortable it feels.
The more uncomfortable it feels the more convincing it sounds.
When the action is clear but uncomfortable, the quality of your decisions aren’t going to improve with more time thinking. They’re going to deteriorate as your impulsive mind chips away at your reasoning, your confidence, then your courage. Until finally you give in and back down.
When the action is clear but uncomfortable, it’s not time for more thinking.
It’s time to act with courage and discipline.
Everything is training for something. Do the work.
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