Mindfully Noticing the PIG
Many people understand that working hard to achieve your goals is a fundamental principle of all things in life. In fact, pretty much everybody understands this about the external things we do. Take working out your body to build a better physique. I don’t know of any adult human being, who is of sound mind, that doesn’t understand that in order to build a stronger body, you have to lift weights, or exercise in a way that increases your muscle mass. This means eating the right foods, drinking lots of water, and developing a routine to the way you want to do things so you can get the results you want to get. When we try to apply the same principles to the internal world of building our mental and emotional strength, it becomes harder for people to grasp the concept entirely. But why is this the case, and why are people often not able to build the motivation needed to do the work I am asking you to do?
In my own experience, I had a particularly hard time with this myself, and it truly came down to my own PIG. When I follow my exercise routine, eating the right way, exercising the right way, and developing the habits I need to achieve my goals, I see the physical results when I look in the mirror. When I stand with my shirt off and flex my muscles (which is a little embarrassing to admit that I do, but what the hell, in for a penny) I see the changes I am creating through my behaviours, I am able to observe the benefits of my work, and I get gratification for this achievement. I also get the acknowledgment from others who recognise what it is that I have been doing by complimenting the way that I look. This all feeds into my Problem with Instant Gratification, it increases the presence of certain parts of my personality that are tied to attention seeking behaviour, and grandiosity of thoughts. In other words, it feeds my ego and causes motivation to keep doing the things that are getting me the rewards that I am getting.
"When we try to apply the same principles to the internal world of building our mental and emotional strength, it becomes harder for people to grasp the concept entirely"
When I tried to apply this to my emotional wellbeing, I don’t physically see the changes when I look in the mirror, I am not able to “flex” my emotional muscles to see the growth I have achieved, and there is no external compliment from others on the way that I am thinking or feeling, because they can’t see what’s happening within me. Yes, some may notice my behaviour change, but most people won’t acknowledge this to my face. And also, let’s be honest here, even if they did, I would probably reject the recognition as some type of manipulation, because lord help me if I can actually take a compliment for once, particularly one that doesn’t serve to feed my ego. So how do I create the mental flex I need to create to build motivation? Over the years, and with lots of trial and error, I developed my ability to do this through mindfully checking in with my system at the end of the day, and when I discovered the afore mentioned work of Andrew Huberman, it reinforced the validity of the work I had been doing.
There are several areas of my day that I want to look at from a mindful perspective when checking in with my system, but before you complete this exercise, it is important to bring yourself into a safe place and access your own personal state of Wise Mind. Try to use the meditations available on the social media platform of The Liberation place to practice bringing you into this internal place. It is incredibly important to practice these exercises from this mental space, otherwise you will not experience the benefits of completing the exercise. Many people go through this process to “check the box” of completing an exercise, but that won’t be beneficial in the long run. Yes, you will have completed the exercise, great! But your system won’t take the acknowledgement in a healthy way if you don’t complete it from a space of Wise Mind. Set aside the time to practice the skills of mindful breathing, entering a safe place, and accessing your Wise Mind to assist you in these activities. If not, this will just be another program that you did, and not something that you are actually living.
