The Quick Answer:
The quick answer to the question of how your mind works is that we really don’t know. While we have some ideas about a few big principles, think, for instance, the idea that we want to avoid pain and pursue pleasure, we know relatively little about the smaller details of our minds’ inner workings. Hell, even avoiding pain and pursuing pleasure is something we could question if we think of people who go to the gym or firefighters who put themselves in harm’s way in doing their job. Still, it is important to have some idea of our minds’ inner mechanisms so that we may try to ‘hack’ into them to get the results we want out of our lives. Below are five major principles regarding how our minds work:
1. The Principle of Least Resistance
Imagine this: it’s been a long day. You arrive home and drag yourself to the kitchen. You promised yourself that today you would cook and not order in as you usually do. You pause and think: “Should I really start cooking today? I feel very tired right now, maybe I should start tomorrow.” The question is, will you end up cooking or ordering in? If you think you’d stick to your commitment to cook and start chopping the veggies, you’re a special breed. For us lesser humans, however, ordering in would be almost an automatic choice. In fact, we might have already decided on the way home that we’ll push our goal of cooking to the weekend or the holiday, that we’ll push our goal to the ever illusive ‘perfect moment.’ Actually, there is nothing ‘lesser’ or shameful in this decision. We are, by design, programmed to take the path of least resistance.
How can we use the principle of least resistance in our daily lives?:
Increase resistance for the things you do not want to do: Imagine the scenario above, but with a twist. You would like to order in, but your bank card is not working at check out. Through a quick Google search, you realize that is a common problem for customers of your bank and that you can fix the problem with a quick call to your bank. If statistics on the number of people experiencing anxiety are anything to go by, a lot of people would give up on ordering in and start chopping the onions. Still, this might not be enough to deter to more brave souls among us. Well, we can always increase resistance! Whether it’s telling three of your friends you’re going to try a recipe you found online, and you’ll send them a picture of how the meal turns out, or it’s burning your phone, there is definitely a level of resistance that will eventually get you cooking.
Decrease resistance for the things you want to do: The opposite is also true! Maybe it’s not the cooking itself that’s bothering you but rather going to the grocery store for the ingredients. Or maybe there’s a certain kitchen utensil you need that you do not have. Or worse, what if you forgot to take whatever you plan to cook out of the freezer? Whatever the problem may be, making sure to solve it in advance could reduce to amount of energy and effort you need to pull through with your goal. So that chicken, remember to take it out before leaving for school or work. When you come back home, ordering in will be that little bit harder as it would mean taking the walk of shame of taking the chicken back to the freezer.
2. Your Brain is Plastic: It can change
Alright, let’s say you set out your running shoes the night before and slept in your running clothes (decreasing resistance). Let’s say you went a step further and announced to your family and friends that you’ll be going for a run at 6 AM (increasing resistance). You did this, and you managed to deliver on your commitment to run for the first few days. Well, does it get any easier? The answer to this is a big yes! It is because of our brain’s plasticity that we can change and learn to begin with. So, if you manage to go on that run a few times, your brain will start building neural networks that make it easier for you to go for that run in the future.
We can think of it in terms of the analogy of the two wolves. Imagine you had two wolves inside you, and one was encouraging you to do the right things, whatever they may be for you (e.g., exercise. study more, spend more time with family, etc.), and the other was encouraging you to do things that may harm you in the short- or long-term (e.g., watching Netflix, procrastinating, ignoring your friends’ messages, etc.). Which wolf would win, and which would win consistently? The one you feed.
How can you take advantage of your brain’s plasticity?
The 21-day rule: Trying to form a new habit? Try doing it every day for 21 days. The number of hours, reps, pages, or whatever is not important here. All that matters is consistency. Do that thing you want to do for 21 days and let the wolf you feed start winning.
3. Body and Mind: Who controls whom?
It is not only the mind that influences and controls the body. The body and mind are intertwined like dance partners, their movements echo and amplify each other. Think about how taking a few deep breaths can calm your mind, or how exercise can improve your mood and mental state, or even how smiling can signal happiness to the brain the same way the brain expresses our happiness by smiling. Some research even suggests a link between your feelings of happiness and clarity and healthy gut bacteria.
How can you use the two-way street between body and mind in the opposite direction?
Exercise: If there’s a cheat code to life, it is definitely this, exercise! The research on this is so vast at this point that I need not give any rationale here more than to say exercise will improve not only your mental but also your physical health. If you are not already, get exercising!
Meditate: If there’s a second cheat code, it would definitely be meditating! Research on meditation and mindfulness has exploded and is now also vast and plenty. What does it indicate? Meditation results in multiple positive mental and physical outcomes. One of my favourite ways to meditate is by using guided meditation videos on YouTube.
4. The Feedback Loop: Growth and Improvement
Like a seasoned athlete constantly refining their technique, our brains thrive on feedback. Imagine learning a new language. Each stumbling attempt, each corrected pronunciation, sends a vital signal back to the neural pathways, strengthening connections and fine-tuning our linguistic skills. This feedback loop is a fundamental principle of performance and improvement.
How to use the feedback loop?
Set goals and evaluate progress: One way to make use of the feedback loop is to set a specific goal and constantly evaluate your performance and progress toward achieving your goal. One trick I like to use here is thinking of goals, not as targets that I either hit or miss but as destinations that I want to get to. In particular, I like to use percentages. For instance, I might reflect on the day and ask myself, “How many hours did you want to work on your writing today, and how many did you actually work? If my goal was two hours, and I only managed 30 minutes, I note down that I did not hit my target but I also note down that I did 25% of the work I wanted to do. The goal for tomorrow will still be 2 hours, but I’ll set an additional goal of improving and getting to 30%. In this process, I’ll ask myself what worked and what didn’t when I did 25% of the work and use the feedback to loop me upwards!
5. A creator, not a camera
We are not passive recipients of the world, but active co-creators of our own realities. Our past experiences, beliefs, and expectations colour our perceptions, filtering and interpreting the information we come across. This “constructivism” explains why two individuals can witness the same event yet draw wildly different conclusions. Recognizing our role in shaping our own perceptions empowers us to approach the world with an open mind, embracing diverse perspectives and continually refining our understanding of reality.
How to take advantage of your brain’s role as an architect?
Reframe your experiences: When faced with a setback or disappointment, instead of dwelling on “I failed,” try reframing it as “This is a learning opportunity” or “I’m getting closer to my goal.” It’s a cliche, for sure, but it’s quite effective. A lot of what happens in therapy is mental health professionals encouraging clients to reframe their experiences.
Shaping your environment: Maybe you’d like to be a happier person. If so, one way you could do this is by filling your house or room with things that make you happy. Maybe that’s paintings of animals you love. Maybe it’s dance figurine decorations. Maybe it’s hanging up a John Cena shirt. While this may seem unconventional and pointless, you shouldn’t underestimate your brain’s ability to take in these things and create feelings of happiness, love, and safety where you might have otherwise felt lonely and bored.
Ultimately, the brain is a very complex mechanism, and we do not yet have definite answers to how your mind works. While the above rules are true in general, your specific life and circumstances might demand more specific treatment. That’s why you should always be your own experiment to learn how your mind works so you can better achieve the things you want to achieve and better live the life that you would like to live.