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Hacking Motivation & Escaping The Grip Of Big Tech Companies
Potencia Education
May 15, 2024
The newsletter which curates & delivers the best mind hacks, mental health tips & high performance strategies to you every single week.
š MOTIVATION HACK
āFuture Pacingā (Or... How To Connect With The Future, Activate Motivation & Supercharge Your Progress In Minutes!)
There's a great quote that says:
āEverything is created twice... first in the mind & then in reality.ā
This quote is also a great way to think about your motivation!
To āactivateā motivation, you must not only set goals & clarify your reasons for why you really want to achieve this goal in the first place... but you also have to do is to connect deeply & emotionally with the goal + reason!
(The key word here: emotionally!)
That's because motivation does not come from 'logic', but rather from 'emotion'...
The Brain, Emotion & Motivation
The part of the brain responsible for logic & reasoning is actually not the same part of the brain that's in charge of our motivation...
The part of our brain primarily responsible for motivation is our ālimbic brainā, which is also our emotional center of the brain...
A good reference for this is the work of neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio...
In his research, he took people who had a damaged āamygdalaā (which is the center of the ālimbic brainā) & he studied these individuals...
What he found out was pretty amazing & very unexpected!
These individuals could reason & rationalize what they should do (just like you & I)... but they could not get themselves to actually act on those choices!
Even the most basic decisions such as āwhat to eatā... they couldn't act on what they came up with, proving that while the logical, rational part of the brain (known as the āprefrontal cortexā, part of the āneocortexā) can analyze, plan out & start the decision making process, it can not move us into action on its own...
And instead, it's the emotional part of the brain - the ālimbic brainā - that primarily controls our motivation; that's the part of the brain that moves us into action!
Now, what does this have to do with todayās motivation hack?
The answer is... everything!
See, āfuture pacingā is perhaps the easiest & best way to emotionally connect with your goalsā¦ (& the reason why you want to achieve those goals)...
Just as top athletes will close their eyes & proceed to consciously visualize every part of their performance, their routine & see themselves competing at their absolute best (visualization is a well-known, well-documented secret of high achievers!)...
ā¦you can do the same through this motivation hack, āFuture Pacing.ā
All you need to do is thisā¦
Whenever you feel you need more "motivation"ā¦ just close your eyes & proceed to run through the steps of that particular task, project, or the goal you are looking to achieve in your life ā in detail...
As you do this, see yourself completing each part of the processā¦
And doing so with great ease + joy + no stress...
See it vividly...
Hear it clearly...
Feel it in your body...
And, as you continue visualizing the process, see yourself effortlessly moving on from one part to the next...
And feel it (this part is most important; really feel it deeply!) how easy it feels to be doing this task & how good it feels as you reach completion & move towards your goal!
(note: for even better results, make each of the images you visualize bigger, brighter & more visually enticing... doing so communicates to your brain, subconsciously, that this task is worth doing & will activate more motivation!)
The 'Future' Part Of 'Future' Pacing
The other reason why this motivation hack is so powerful is because we tend to value things in the present more than things in the future ā which can be problematic at times!
We even have expressions for this, such as:
āa bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.ā
We value the present more than the possibility of something in the future...
Hereās a practical example...
When youāre hungry...
You have a choice between eating something that will make you feel good right now, but may not contribute to your long-term health, fitness & wellbeing...
...or, you can choose to eat something healthier (that may not taste as good; although not necessarily) which will give you something valuable in the future!
Most people make the āwrongā decision (opting for short-term gratification!) most of the timeā¦ causing most of the problems that we experience as individuals, as well as an entire species!
Why?
Well, again, the problem is that our brain tends to value what we want now more than that which we want in the future... (in this example, great health & wellbeing!)
What āfuture pacingā does is flips this scriptā¦
It helps us connect deeply, vividly & emotionally with that which we want in the future... so much so that it feels just as real (if not even more!) than that which we want in the present, helping you make better long-term decisions!
Recap: Hereās how āfuture pacingā works...
Itās very simple...
Close your eyes & take a deep breath...
Imagine yourself hovering up, out of your body & now, moving into the future (picturing a timeline - days, weeks, months - youāre flying over can be helpful)...
Now, drop into the situation that youād like to visualize; 1st part of it (e.g. writing the book / screenplay / poem you have been delaying on, sending your resume, starting your own business, competing in that sports competition, or whatever your goal is!)
Float back into your body (now, in this future situation) & feel yourself going through all the steps & motions perfectly... from one step to the next... enjoy it!
Now, see yourself achieving your goal & feel how amazing that will feel!
At the peak of emotion, open your eyes & get to work!
By the end, youāll feel incredibly motivated & inspired...
You wonāt have to āforceā yourself to do something, youāll āwantā to take action!
Thatās āfuture pacingā ā you take the joy that feels distant, far away, not-as-vivid (because, again, the brain tends to de-value things in the future) & you go there (in your imagination) & you feel it now...
You get in there & connect emotionally with the journey & the destination, in advance!
Use this āmotivation hackā today š
āāā RECOMMENDATION
Free: Habits Of The World's Highest Achievers... Proven To Transform Your Health, Income & Relationships!
As the saying goes:
āChange your habits, change your lifeā.
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Itās called:
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š QUOTE OF THE WEEK
āWe greatly overestimate what we can do in one year. But we greatly underestimate what is possible for us in five yearsā
š PRODUCTIVITY HACK
Stop AutoPlay (Or... How To Stop Falling Victim To The Tricks Of Tech Companies & Stop Wasting Precious Time)
A psychological trick many tech platforms (most notably Youtube & Netflix) use to get you to keep paying attention is "auto-play"...
You've probably seen this...
When one video, or an episode of a show, finishes... what happens?
Many years ago, nothing would happenā¦
Now, the platforms have been edited to capture more attentionā¦
Now, instead of nothing happening (which increases the odds that you'll get up, do something else & stop paying attention to these platforms)...
What they'll do, is usually in the bottom right corner, you'll see a notice that the next video, or the next episode of a show will be starting in 5 secondsā¦
5ā¦4ā¦3ā¦2ā¦1ā¦
And a new video (or episode of the show) plays automatically.
You don't have to do anything... or even decide that you wanted to watch another video, or episode... that's just the default assumption that platform made for you!
(they do this knowing that, once the new video or episode starts your likelyhood of watching it is much, much greater than if this feature wasn't there)
So, whatās the solution?
Well, turn off auto-play.
This way, you can still choose to watch another recommended video or another episode of your favourite showā¦ but at least itāll be your choice (not a decision the platforms just made for you!)
How to do this?
Just go to settings & do this now (it literally just 1 checkbox you need to uncheck, or toggle - it takes like 15 seconds & can save you from playing into the hands of these platforms):
Thatās it!
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