Growth Gains
F*ck it, just start
I have been very passionate about self-improvement for the past two years. Self-improvement for me means to be a lifelong learner, to keep an open mind and try to understand different ideas fully. Growth is understanding a new concept and that concept changing our perception of the world. Needless to say that growth is difficult to achieve, but there are a few things to keep in mind to make the process more enjoyable and somewhat easier.
Firstly it is important to frequent different types of media. Having constantly the exact same ideas floating around us causes stagnation – no movement or challenges, simply the ideas we know and accept already. This stagnation is very dangerous because we normalise the non-movement thus when we are confronted with a more difficult task we have a resistance to it. We are in the comfort zone and getting out is difficult.
The leading thought behind growth is leaving said comfort zone. This is when habits come in handy. If you have customised a habit to force yourself to Just Do It (not sponsored), then it becomes a lot easier. Getting on the way with any task makes it a lot more feasible, we can genuinely grasp how difficult it is and how long it can take. Building the mentality/habit of saying to oneself "F*ck it, just start" is such a game changer. I cannot say I have fully mastered it myself, but when I am able to pull it off it does wonders. I do struggle with this mentality more in my social life than my work/school/organisational life. Social anxiety is a fear I am yet to conquer. This being said every time I do get the machine going there is almost no stopping it. So it all comes back to the same phrase – "F*ck it, just start".
Expanding our comfort zone is like pushing a boulder up a mountain, but the mountain is infinite. We can get closer to the top with every step but once we stop the boulder starts rolling back down. The thing is that every time we push ourselves upwards we also push upwards the limit to which the boulder can fall. I'll try to explain this with my experience of writing. I have written a text every week for quite a few weeks now. At first I struggled even putting together a 400 to 500 word piece. Nowadays this has become the bare minimum. The baseline has shifted as I have improved my craft. Expanding our comfort zone is basically like the myth of Sisyphus but with a slight twist.
Another thing I have found crucial in my growth process is the flow state. I believe that this deep focus mode helps us unwrap not only the mysteries of the task at hand but also the mysteries of ourselves through said task. For me flow state is experienced through being immersed in one and one single activity. There are different ways to experience this flow-state – it can be through sports, writing or even work. The flow-state tends to be achieved when the task at hand is of the perfect difficulty. It has to be easy enough to understand but difficult enough to complete. This perfect difficulty makes the task interesting.
Learning a new skill is a way to incorporate all the aforementioned ideas. When starting off we are completely outside of our comfort zone (if we are not then it is not starting off). At a certain point we get to a level where we are comfortable enough but there is so much to still learn that is the place where usually the flow-state comes along. We start having longer and longer sessions, better and better output and more and more confidence.
In conclusion, for a person to promote self growth it is important to:
- Get out of the comfort zone
- Enter the flow state
- Learn new skills (incorporating both 1 and 2)
This Week's Suggestions:
🎶 "Enemy Brain" by Fox Stevenson:
This song is about our brain not cooperating and it resonates with the idea of leaving the comfort zone which is such a no-go for the brain. Furthermore the song is a drum and bass banger.
🎬 The 'Dopamine Detox' trend needs to end:
This video debunks the Dopamine Detox trend by already saying that it is not only dopamine which affects our brain but a mix of hormones that dopamine is a part of. Basically dopamine is not the enemy as it is often described.
🎧 Lessons From Selling Morning Brew For $75 Million At 28:
Another great podcast episode from Ali Abdaal. This time he is joined by Alex Lieberman who like the title of the video says sold his newsletter called Morning Brew for 75 million dollars while being only 28.
That's all for today! Till next week!
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