#22 Actions Overrule Thoughts

ByLukas
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One of the most potent drivers of change AND perpetuators of old habits is cognitive dissonance:

In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person’s actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environment. Cognitive dissonance is typically experienced as psychological stress when persons participate in an action that goes against one or more of those things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

What’s interesting about cognitive dissonance is that both “sides” of the dissonance are not equal:

If you think one thing, but you do something else, eventually you’ll start believing what you do, not what you think.

In other words: actions overrule thoughts.

  1. If I tell myself I can’t write a daily post (thought) and I don’t write a daily post (action), I perpetuate the belief.
  2. If I tell myself I can’t write a daily post (thought) but I gain enough courage and I actually do write a daily post (action), I will start shifting my belief towards the actions I’m taking. In other words: I’ll start believing I can write a daily post.
  3. If I tell myself I can write a daily post (thought), but I never actually write that daily post (action), then my belief will start shifting again, and I’ll start believing I can’t write a daily post.
  4. If I tell myself I can write a daily post (thought) and I do write a daily post (action), my belief grows stronger.

We usually start in the first scenario until we gain enough leverage over ourselves to change our actions. The moment we change our actions to actions that conflict with our thoughts/beliefs, we’re creating cognitive dissonance.

Then, if we follow through with our new actions, our beliefs start to change.

The big turning point is that moment where you start taking a different action.

Which begs the question:

  • How can we gain enough leverage over ourselves to go against our beliefs and change our actions for the better?
  • How can we make it so important to us to change (or so painful NOT to change) that we start taking different actions?

Identify your leverage points that jolt you into action, and you gain power over your beliefs and identity.

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    #211 If you can do that, you can also do this

    ByLukas

    No one is bad at sticking to habits.

    Because everyone’s day-to-day life is stitched together with recurring activities anyway, whether you consciously choose to do them or not.

    Maybe you brush your teeth every day – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Maybe you wash your hands before every meal – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Maybe you shower every morning right after waking up – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Maybe you write every day – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Maybe you practice yoga three times a week – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Maybe you spend 10 minutes daily catching up with family, friends, acquaintances, or relatives you haven’t seen in a while – and that has become a non-negotiable.

    Habits are habits.

    And that has an interesting consequence:

    If you can do that, you can also do this.

  • #400 3 lessons from 400 consecutive days of writing (and a request)

    ByLukas

    Today marks day 400 of the Daily Insight newsletter – which calls for a longer post and a question for you.

    Let’s start with three lessons I learned from publishing daily.

    Lesson 1: Writing when not you’re not inspired IS the point

    I wasn’t inspired every day in the past 400 days – but many days I was.

    And I wouldn’t have had the inspiring days without the uninspired days.

    Maybe writing when you’re not inspired is the whole point.

    Because showing up for the bad moments makes it possible to be there for the good moments, too.

    Lesson 2: You don’t have to be ready to get started – you get started to become ready

    In the past, I just couldn’t get myself to write, not even if I really wanted to.

    Now, I just write.

    Doing something new always goes against your current beliefs and always comes with resistance – otherwise, you would already be doing it.

    But seeing how tiny daily actions can normalize a behavior that in the past seemed unattainable was incredibly empowering.

    You don’t have to be ready to get started. You get started to become ready.

    Lesson 3: It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it’s meaningful to you

    For the longest time, I felt like I always gave up on things that were important to me. I just couldn’t persevere.

    So, I chose to start writing daily. But I could’ve also decided to run every day. Or knit.

    In the end, the activity itself doesn’t matter. You can choose any desire you feel resistance towards…

    And start using it as a symbol of your defiance against your limiting beliefs.

    In its essence, such “Tiny Trust Builder” actions, as I came to call them, are symbolic.

    Pick one. Attach meaning to it. Use it to prove to yourself that your aspirations are not just pipe dreams. And see how your life changes.

    What’s next?

    Maybe it didn’t have to take 400 days to prove to myself that I could write every day – or maybe it did.

    Either way, I did it. And now the question arises: what’s next?

    To answer that question, I need your help.

    Why are you subscribed to this newsletter? What do you get out of it?

    Could I do anything to make the newsletter more interesting to you?

    Let me know by replying to this email so we can shape the next 400 newsletters together.

    Thanks for being along for the journey!

    • Lukas

  • #152 When we’re economically obsolete

    ByLukas

    ChatGPT can write in 10 seconds what would take you hours.

    We’re entering an era where what makes us valuable is not economic output anymore.

    We can try to compete.

    Or we can rethink what still makes our lives valuable when we’re economically obsolete.

    I write for the sake of writing.

    I play chess for the sake of playing chess.

    I learn for the sake of learning.

    I sing for the sake of singing.

    I love my family for the sake of loving my

    I live for the sake of living.

    When we lose our economic value, value lies in life itself again.

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    #247 Seeking Simplicity

    ByLukas

    In the pursuit of our ambitions, we often create intricate plans, detailed routines, and exhaustive checklists.

    But when these complexities start to feel more like obstacles than aids, it might be time to strip things back.

    Where are you overcomplicating? Is it in the planning, the execution, or perhaps the goal itself?

    Seeking the simplest way is not always the easiest. But more often than not, it’s the most effective.

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