Why You Should Stop Avoiding Difficult Tasks (And How to Do So)

Buzzzzz! Buzzzzz! My siren timepiece originates shaking connected nan nightstand. It’s beckoning to maine arsenic large arsenic it can, and I’m not fresh to answer. Maybe it is because it is 5 americium Monday, nan clip and time I dread nan most. Perhaps it’s because I cognize I request to get up, truthful I’m not precocious to my 5:30 americium CrossFit class, aliases I’ll perceive it from my coach. Plus… I’ll person to do 5 burpees for each infinitesimal I’m late, and I dislike burpees! Can you show I’m only 1 week into my CrossFit membership, and I’m regretting my determination to motion up already?

Clearly, this is simply a difficult task I americium trying to avoid, and alternatively unsuccessfully astatine that. I know, I know, we should situation ourselves to do difficult things. “Doing difficult things is what will make you stronger!” I tin perceive my coach saying arsenic I struggle to assistance a weight complete my caput that a pregnant female adjacent to maine is having nary problem. I tin opportunity that nan embarrassment motivates maine to proceed on, nary matter really uncomfortable I am.

As I group my barroom down to eat immoderate humble pastry and look astir astatine each nan bad-assesses successful class, I region to inquire myself. “Why should I extremity avoiding difficult tasks? And How tin I do so?”

That’s nan mobility we’ll analyse deeper pinch answers that not only helped maine pinch CrossFit but tin thief you successful immoderate you find difficult successful your life.

Why Should You Stop Avoiding Difficult Tasks?

Let’s look it. We are each quality beings and bask being comfortable, period. We emotion each of our regular animal comforts that person made life simple. Whether navigating to a caller destination aliases cooking a meal, we are ever looking for a shortcut. We want faster, easier, better, and decidedly not difficult. These things are almost synonymous pinch nan American dream by today’s standards. This often sought-after dream utilized to beryllium astir hard work and grit but is now astir getting location earlier anyone other pinch nan slightest magnitude of effort.

Despite each this, easier is not ever better, and here’s why:

When we return nan easy way, we programme our brains to beryllium lazy. It nary longer has to usage captious reasoning aliases productivity to create a solution but only needs to activity nan shortcut. This training really re-wires nan neural pathways of our brains successful less-than-optimal ways.

According to Dr. Daniel Amen, M.D. writer of Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, we request to activity our encephalon if we want it to beryllium healthy.

“Your encephalon is for illustration a muscle. The much you usage it, nan much you tin usage it. Every clip you study thing new, your encephalon makes a caller connection. Learning enhances humor travel and activity successful nan brain. If you spell for agelong periods without learning thing new, you commencement to suffer immoderate of nan connections successful nan brain, and you statesman to struggle much pinch representation and learning.”

Furthermore, investigation from Anatomist Marian Diamond, Ph.D., from nan University of California astatine Berkeley showed that rats who were allowed an easy life without immoderate caller challenges aliases learning had little encephalon weight than those who were challenged and forced to study caller accusation successful bid to beryllium fed. New learning really caused accrued encephalon density and weight, meaning a healthier wide brain.

Before you jump to conclusions astir nan differences betwixt quality and rat brains, you should understand nan pursuing research:

“Even though nan rat encephalon is smaller and little analyzable than nan quality brain, investigation has shown that nan 2 are remarkably akin successful building and function. Both dwell of a immense magnitude of highly connected neurons that are perpetually talking to each other.”

The bottommost statement is that it’s simply healthier to workout our brain, conscionable for illustration it is beneficial to workout astir different parts of our body. The much you return attraction of your brain, nan much it will return attraction of you.

Here are 7 ways to return attraction of your brain, according to Dr. Amen.

1. Protect Your Brain – protect your encephalon from injury, pollution, slumber deprivation, and stress.
2. Feed Your Brain – spell connected a fare pinch brain boosting foods.
3. Kill nan ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) That Invade Your Brain – stay happy, hopeful and positive.
4. Work Your Brain – keep learning, learning is simply a encephalon workout.
5. Make Love for Your Brain – regular intersexual activity enhances wide encephalon activity and improves representation arsenic it boosts estrogen levels.
6. Develop a “Concert State” For Your Brain – only erstwhile you consciousness relaxed will you beryllium capable to ore easily, listening to euphony is simply a bully measurement to relax yourself while improving your concentration.
7. Treat Brain Problems Early – intelligence wellness problems specified arsenic worry and slump request to beryllium dealt pinch arsenic early arsenic possible.

Any 1 of these recommendations unsocial tin thief you retired erstwhile it comes to not avoiding difficult tasks. Remember, whether it’s accomplishing difficult things aliases a related area, your life tin only amended pinch an optimized brain, truthful put these into action today. You tin study much astir each 1 here.

Even if nary of this alleged “brain talk” is convincing you, past let’s look astatine nan business from a different vantage point, maturation and confidence.

If you’re reference this article, past you are willing successful learning successful immoderate capacity. Whether it’s basal curiosity, strict individual development, aliases anyplace successful between, you are seeking knowledge successful immoderate way. The hunt for knowledge is simply a hunt for maturation arsenic an individual. Growth, by definition, is nan other of stagnation. So, by this rationale, anyone who is increasing is undergoing change.

To so acquisition alteration and growth, we request to step extracurricular of our comfortableness zone into nan area of uncomfortability. This is wherever each nan magic happens. This is wherever we do nan difficult tasks that we don’t ever want to do. As we do difficult things much and more, they go easier and much manageable.

Anything astir worthwhile learning successful life takes immoderate trouble and clip to go proficient.

Take a infinitesimal to deliberation backmost to erstwhile you were a young child. When you first learned to thrust a bike, did you conscionable hop connected and return disconnected down nan road? My conjecture is no. It astir apt took galore tries earlier you could go proficient and commencement riding each complete nan neighborhood. Did you effort a mates times and past springiness up because it was excessively difficult? No. You continued connected again and again until you figured it out. You astir apt did nan aforesaid point for immoderate athletics aliases hobby you enjoyed. I’ll stake that galore of them you kept practicing until you became beautiful good. This is portion of our thrust arsenic quality beings and is embedded successful our DNA.

We person ever done difficult things arsenic individuals and arsenic nan quality race. World history is littered pinch examples of group doing difficult tasks and choosing nan difficult path. This mentality is embodied successful JFK’s celebrated NASA reside from 1962:

“We take to spell to nan Moon successful this decade and do nan different things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

Meaning, to execute greatness, you must do difficult tasks.To execute nan things you ne'er have, you person to do nan things you person ne'er done.

How to Stop Avoiding Difficult Tasks

How awesome do you want to be?

If this mobility makes you uncomfortable, past your desire for maturation whitethorn not beryllium intrinsically motivating enough. You whitethorn request to build immoderate assurance successful your abilities to do nan difficult tasks successful nan first place.

If you are going to build confidence, you first request to admit nan fearfulness that is holding you back. Often, avoidance of a difficult task is related to fear. This could beryllium related to nan fearfulness of getting started, fearfulness of inability to complete nan task, aliases simply a fearfulness of a deficiency of knowledge astir nan task. In each cases, fearfulness leads to inaction, which leads to a further deficiency of confidence.

According to Jen Gottlieb, Co-Founder and Chief Mindset Officer of Super Connector Media,

“Confidence comes from emotion nan fearfulness and doing it anyhow consistently… because each azygous clip you do thing difficult aliases scary, and still do it, you get to nan different side. You past recognize that you didn’t die, and thing unspeakable happened, truthful you get a triumph and observe that win. With each win, you put different coin successful nan assurance slope and go a small spot much confident. If you do that consistently and spot yourself to beryllium capable to do those scary things, you’ll turn to wherever it will beryllium little and little scary and go easy.”

Sounds for illustration a look for occurrence to me. The cardinal is not to attraction connected nan totality of nan difficult task but only 1 mini measurement astatine a time. This makes immoderate task acold much attainable. As nan aged saying goes, How do you eat an elephant? One wound astatine a time.

With this mentation successful mind, present are 3 tips to thief you extremity avoiding difficult tasks

1. Break it up – Dividing nan task into smaller, feasible parts makes it look easier while allowing you to observe nan mini wins.
2. Manage limiting beliefs – Focus connected what you tin execute and debar immoderate antagonistic self-talk. By staying positive, you will summation your likelihood of sticking pinch it.
3. Seek Support – When others clasp america accountable, we summation our chances of occurrence by two-thirds.

Whether it’s encephalon health, growth, aliases confidence, nan bully news is that location is dream for you and maine erstwhile it comes to completing difficult tasks.

I ended up sticking pinch nan difficult CrossFit people I was enrolled in. That first week was complete 10 years ago, and moreover though it was challenging astatine nan time, I’m gladsome I didn’t springiness up. I’ve been coaching others successful CrossFit for six years now and person learned to do many, galore difficult tasks on nan way. Those successes rank adjacent nan apical of my database erstwhile it comes to CrossFit. I’ll prevention nan apical spot for nan truth that I’m now nan 1 who gets to manus retired nan burpee penalties.

Featured photograph credit: Daria Nepriakhina via unsplash.com