Why don't we finish what we started?

What is the reason for the lack of discipline?

WHY ARE WE MAKING A MESS?

I came back from a long walk. I climbed the hills around Sloboda all day. I'm tired. While changing clothes, I threw the traumatic pistol on the bed. The thought flashed: “I have to put it in the safe ...” And I was surprised at what kind of internal resistance this thought aroused. I was really very tired, and some monkey inside me asked for water, food and sleep. And the inner sergeant in me insisted: "Put your weapon in the safe." I'm used to trusting the sergeant, and life has taught me to despise monkeys, so I am very strict about weapons. The gun was where it should be. And I went to the kitchen thinking about why people tend to cultivate a mess.

Leaving things out of place is very simple: I used it and left it. This is done because in order to return an object to its rightful place, an act of will is required. A small feat of will. If the potential of your volitional center is small, then this simple and understandable action becomes inaccessible. The reasons may lie not only in fatigue (any volitional action is very energy-intensive), but also in the absence of an established habit (which, in fact, is the same, because a habitual action requires much less energy than a new, atypical action).

And tossing things anywhere is the same as not finishing the job. For every business must end with putting things in order.

WHY DON'T WE FINISH WHAT WE STARTED?

A person only does what he wants. There is a physiological rationale for this. Desire is a consequence of the action of dopamine. Depending on in which part of the brain and in what quantity dopamine is produced, a person exhibits one or another activity of appropriate intensity. And dopamine is produced in the greatest amount, as a rule, at the start stage. A person experiences excitement, sometimes pouring out into enthusiasm. But as the situation develops, the creative component exhausts itself, and it is replaced by the ordinary need to implement the planned plan. And this is where the most interesting thing happens.

According to psychological research, the guarantee of receiving a reward does not excite the human psyche as strongly as one or another probability of receiving it. That is why lottery games have been so popular since their inception.

When probability is replaced by clarity through planning and implementation, the dose of dopamine produced drops. And along with this, our desire to finish what we started. And now the very resource of will is required to bring the matter to the end.

And this resource consists of two components: the energy supply of the volitional center and its systematic training. Both are important components of my Hunter method today. I suggest you get to know him in my next publications.