Share
Pin6
Tweet
6 Shared
"Either you're dead or you're moving forward"
Mick Jagger
“Why degrade?!”, someone will be indignant. Because stability as such, in fact, does not exist - it is an illusion.
There is either progress, or regression, or development, or degradation. Everything that stands still automatically degrades.
Therefore, if a person does not develop, does not strive for more than he has and is capable of at the moment, he stops in place and gradually degrades.
Let's take nature: a lake in which there is no movement of water due to underground springs and springs gradually becomes a swamp and begins to bloom. A house in which no one lives for a long time begins to become overgrown with cobwebs and deteriorates.
Everything that doesn’t improve, doesn’t work on, doesn’t update, slowly dies. Body muscles that are not used for a long time gradually atrophy.
Our life is a journey. Whether this will be the path of development or degradation is up to everyone to decide for themselves.
Development is something different for everyone:
- for some, this is the path to financial freedom and success in society;
- for some - mastering new skills and abilities, for others - a career or achieving a goal;
- For some, development is the path to one’s true self, to understanding oneself, self-realization.
In a word, this is movement. This is what ultimately makes each of us happier.
What is the problem with 80% of people?
If everything is so clear and obvious, why then does 80% of the population experience Groundhog Day every day, spinning in the “work-home-work-no-joy” wheel, do not feel the colors of life and rather survive every day than live?
Why do thousands of people endure the wrong relationships, the wrong people nearby, live in the wrong place, with the wrong people and not the way they would like?
In fact, people don't become successful because they don't know how.
There is plenty of information in open sources; there are thousands of personal examples of outstanding personalities and their success stories. There are books and resources for self-development.
The problem is not that there is a lack of knowledge on this topic.
The problem is that most people either do not take any action at all in order to change their lives a little, or take some scattered periodic actions, chaotically and without any benefit in the final result.
— 10 tricks to prevent mental regression
_______
1) Look after yourself. If you suddenly feel discomfort because something is wrong (for example, your favorite website has changed its design or your favorite yogurt has disappeared from the store), grab this feeling by the tail and begin to “unwind” it. Why not try all the yogurts or start making your own?
2) Don’t re-read books you’ve already read. Don't rewatch movies you've already watched. Yes, it’s a very pleasant psychological feeling to plunge into that cozy little world, in the lives of already familiar characters, no surprises, you already know the ending and you can enjoy the little things that you didn’t notice the first time, having devoured the book in an hour (or watched the season over the weekend). But at the same time, you take away the chance from new books and films to reveal something fundamentally new to you, and deprive your brain of the formation of alternative neural connections.
3) Look for new routes. Try to look for new routes for your usual journey home and back, find alternative shops, cinemas and other infrastructure points on the map of your life.
4) Look for new music. Most often, we listen to 50–100 familiar tracks that are pleasant to us for the same reasons - we have adapted to them, and our brain does not need to spend additional resources to process and comprehend them.
5) Look for new friends and acquaintances. Yes, it’s, of course, great when you have friends with whom it’s nice to get together every Friday and discuss football or a new dress. But most of us live in big cities, why limit your circle to 4-5 people, and most often not chosen by us, and “imposed” by circumstances - school, college, work?
The social tools embedded in us greatly influence our way of thinking, and sometimes it happens that, under the influence of certain friends, we change our point of view, set of interests, and sometimes even our type of activity.
6) Have children. Children are a constant source of chaos and uncertainty in your life. They are living “concrete mixers” in your head, destroying all templates and reshaping your established routes in a new way.
They bring something new every day with their questions, behavior, inquisitive minds and continuous experiments with everything around them. You yourself will not notice how your thinking will liberate and you will begin to think differently. If you are unable to have children yet, then you can start with a dog. Firstly, it requires a walk (and fresh air is good for the brain). Secondly, it involves you in involuntary communication with other dog lovers. And thirdly, it can also become a source of chaos.
7) Stop criticizing. They are indicators of resistance to changes that unexpectedly occur in life. Changes that, most often, you cannot change. Or you can, but with a lot of effort that is not worth it. It will be much more beneficial for your own development to accept these changes and motivate your brain to continue living in the new reality.
Stop labeling people. This is very convenient - instead of understanding a person, thinking about why he did this, succumb to weakness and simply “brand” him, attaching him to one or another psychotype.
9) Experiment with flavors. Even though evolution has overshadowed our sense of smell, smells still have a huge impact on us. And if you have a favorite eau de toilette that you haven’t changed for years, then it’s time to change it. And do this with some frequency.
10) Learn foreign languages. Foreign words and their associated semantic fields are often different from your native language, and learning them is perhaps the most effective tool for training brain plasticity.
Also read the article on how to find a spiritual teacher.
__________
What is the reason for inaction?
There is an explanation for this desire to be where you are.
Dynamic balance
In nature there is such a thing as “dynamic equilibrium”. When a lot of effort is put into staying in place. That is, maintain balance.
Externally, the object is motionless, but titanic work is being done inside it. But there is no strength to move forward.
This is one option: when a person seems to be rushing about, wanting something, rushing to extremes.
- He starts running in the morning and stops every other day because the weather is bad.
- Leaves an unloved partner, but returns a week later, “because what would he/she do without me.”
- He thinks about his own business, is tormented by this question, but sits in the office from 9 to 6, because “what if nothing works out?!”
When a person spends a lot of strength and energy on communicating with manipulators, on nurturing his own grievances, on “living in the past,” on everything that requires resources but does not bring anything positive. And there is no strength left to move forward.
Loss of personal reputation
Drug addicts very quickly lose their reputation due to lies, irresponsibility, unreliability, sloppy appearance, manipulative, aggressive and secretive behavior. People tend to distrust them and are often disrespectful.
Marriages in such families quickly fall apart. Although the patient acts badly, he still feels shame and guilt from what is happening. Self-esteem gradually falls, standards of decency and morality are lowered, and not a trace remains of the good old qualities. Each of them, deep down in their souls, understands that there is nothing left to lose, so they live one day at a time.
How to trick your brain and force yourself to do something?
For example, a person wants to improve their physical fitness and start running. But he can’t start right now, because there are a lot of reasons: he doesn’t have running shoes, he has them, but in the wrong color, the weather is bad, and so on.
As a result, he doesn't start at all. Running means straining. There is not enough motivation.
But if there is a beach season on the horizon, an affair with an interesting partner, some important event where you need to be in shape, motivation increases sharply. Because the difference between “want” and “have” has changed.
Deterioration in physical health
There is a strong connection between addiction and physical health.
In addition to psychological instability, the patient experiences frequent ailments, loss of strength, high blood pressure, and panic attacks. All this prevents him from functioning normally as a healthy unit of society. To put it bluntly, a person acquires an “animal” image, where the main task is to satisfy his need for a stimulating substance, and then move away from this state. Those who struggle with addiction are so obsessed with their pursuit of euphoria that their first priority in life becomes finding new drugs that will help them achieve the desired state. They lose concentration, which prevents them from doing even the most basic things, such as eating, sleeping, working, hobbies and activities they love. All this together greatly weakens the immune system.
What prevents a person from developing?
Fear of making mistakes
This is the disease of all perfectionists and high school students: “What if I do the wrong thing?”
In fact, mistakes are normal, without them nothing will work out at all.
Confirmation is the stories of outstanding personalities (remember Tesla, Ford, Jobs, Gates), for whom everything did not go smoothly and one failure followed another. But they did not give up - and still achieved their goal!
You can make mistakes, this is the only way to gain experience. The main thing is not to give up and try again. And don’t immediately set the bar too high for yourself, leaving no room for mistakes and imperfections. The path of development is a path of ups and downs.
Characteristic symptoms
A degraded personality is easy to recognize, even just by external signs.
There are also deeper symptoms that can be recognized in person
:
Loss of appearance. Unwashed hair, dirty clothes, heavy body odor - these signs appear already at the final stage. A man walks down the street drunk, not embarrassed by it, and does not cover the bruises on his face with dark glasses. Complete loss of shame. And it all can start from refusing to do a manicure and cut your hair regularly, not paying attention to the cleanliness and integrity of your clothes - these are the first signs of degradation. Loss of interest in life, the scope of needs is narrowed to food and drink. Politics, painting, sports cease to matter as such. There is nothing in this world that could evoke emotions in a degraded personality. The world narrows so much that it becomes almost invisible. Loss of feelings such as shame and disgust. Base instincts are not controlled, food from a garbage can does not cause disgust
A person no longer hides from judgmental glances, he simply does not notice them or does not take them into account. Decreased intelligence, memory, primitiveness of judgment
A person’s speech changes, the set of words and expressions becomes minimal. Remember Sharikov from “Heart of a Dog” - this is roughly how a degraded person thinks. The person becomes psychologically unstable. Here the manifestations can be different - irritability, grumpiness, frivolity, aggressiveness, tearfulness. In any case, it is not appropriate to talk about healthy mental reactions.
Of course, it takes a certain amount of time from not wanting to develop yourself to lying drunk on a bench. Degradation does not happen overnight. Therefore, if we notice its first signs in ourselves or our loved ones, then we need to take measures to nip them in the bud.
Let’s summarize: how to start developing
What success is, everyone determines for themselves. But development is what everyone should strive for so as not to degrade.
This is a continuous struggle, and first of all, with yourself, but rather with your weak qualities that prevent you from living the life of your dreams.
Everyone has a choice. You can sit and whine about what a bad boss, low salary and what a brute your husband is. Or you can tear your butt off the sofa and start doing something.
What choice are you making?
Did you like the article❤️? Save it to your Pinterest
