Content of my thoughts is determined by my physiology (and emotions). I identify with my thoughts. Thoughts are me. So it's very counter intuitive to think that I may need to change my physiology (or tap in into some emotional state like) to think better.
It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting
He made an experiment to give his wife a present everyday. And he did it even if he was pissed at her. And his brain was catching up. "Oh, I am buying her a present. I must love her." He tricked his brain and in general he end up in a better relationship.
If you want to change your psychology change your physiology first
The way we think comes from the way we use our bodies
Tony Robbins starts each day from jumping on a trampoline just to push around fluids in the body. This is his way of preparing himself to think clearly. He has connection with the fact that content of thoughts is dependent on physiology.
Tony Robbins has set of priming exercises where he uses emotions like gratitude to help solve an problem, internal conflict or tap into goals.
Notes
- Ask yourself often if you need to change your physiology in order to think better or solve a problem.
- The feeling when a person stays long on a phone and feels terrible and it is surprising why
Examples from my life. Woke up and slumped in the bed starting to work on some multi dimensional problem. It was counterintuitive to push myself to go run in order to first change my physiology, pump oxygen into my brain etc. and then solve the problem
We feel like the mind is divorcable from the body (from Bloom on Sam Harriss podcast)
Name: Divorce of Mind from Body, Duality of mind and body
Other names: Self-dependent thinking trap
On Ego. It's about my sovereign, independent mind. No, it's about your body. We think that itβs more about external circumstances and itβs more about how our body process fluids. I am biking and there are a lot of good ideas coming up. My default state would be to think that itβs happening because of some actions in external world (stumbling upon inspiration) or that my sovereign, independent mind thought something through. And the truth is its about about me pushing fluids, oxygen, lymph through my body and so the mind is more electrisized and has more connections