Millions of years ago, our ancestors, primitive humans, were born. For primitive humans, the most important thing was to survive. In order to survive, primitive people must save energy. Energy-consuming things such as thinking and exercise will be rejected by instinct. Carpe diem

Millions of years ago, our ancestors, primitive humans, were born. For primitive humans, the most important thing was to survive. In order to survive, primitive people must save energy. Energy-consuming things such as thinking and exercise will be rejected by instinct. Carpe diem is instinctively loved by primitive people, because in primitive society, if you don’t save energy and carpe diem, you may be eaten by wild beasts one day.

Until 200,000 years ago, our ancestors evolved a rational brain, which made humans stand out from other mammals and become the masters of this planet.

After the birth of rationality, society developed very rapidly. 10,000 young humans entered the agricultural society, 300 young humans entered the industrial society, and 50 years ago, humans entered the information society . Human beings have transformed from primitive people hunting in the jungle into modern humans.

However, the changes of the times have not changed our instinctive reactions, and our original genes are still deeply ingrained in our brains. So from a certain perspective, we are primitive people living in modern society.

This is why we are always swayed by entertainment, because our nature is such that we like things that are simple and comfortable. Evolved rationality is too weak compared to instinct. Coupled with the convenience of the information society, countless forms of entertainment tempt us, and many of them are within easy reach. So nature and convenience make it easier for us to choose entertainment.

Appropriate entertainment is good for the body and mind, but many people cannot grasp it. The relaxed and happy feeling makes us not want to engage in complex and difficult learning and thinking. But it cannot be solved by using willpower alone, and it will be defeated by instinct before long.

1. Let entertainment first become entertainment later

If we want to say goodbye to the entertainment mentality, we need to use cognition to "convince" the "primitive man" in our bodies.

The wise thing to do is not to fight but to communicate with him, telling him that he will enjoy what he should enjoy, but after completing important things. This is an effective strategy, because primitive people would not agree with giving up enjoyment, but they can accept it by delaying enjoyment. The benefit of

this kind of post-entertainment is: builds the pleasure of pleasure on the sense of accomplishment after completing important tasks. This will be very relaxing, very grounding, like a reward. Entertainment is fun at first, but your energy will be consumed and important work will be delayed. As time goes by, people can also feel anxious. There is scientific research on this point of

post-entertainment. Many great people complete important work in the morning. Because this is the peak period of brain work. Studies have shown that the human body begins to secrete , epinephrine, and adrenocorticoids, two hormones that can keep people energetic, from dawn, and the peak secretion period happens to be around 7 a.m. This is a very efficient way for people to work. After the human body eats, energy will also be converted into glucose an hour later and transported to the brain. People's memory and understanding will improve, and the brain's operating speed will reach its peak, and it will not reach the bottom until four hours later.

So we will grow better by completing the important things first and then having fun. And this kind of loop will strengthen with the number of times of entertainment. After a period of time, we will involuntarily do things first and entertain later.

(One thing to note is that we must have clear goals and arrange today's work the night before, so that we don't know what to do because of vague goals? And once people don't know what to do, they will take the initiative to choose easy entertainment.)

2. Give meaning to actions and make learning and thinking a high-level entertainment.

Entertainment is divided into two types in my eyes. One is low-level entertainment such as watching dramas, games, and novels. One is running, fitness, reading, thinking, writing and other high-level entertainment.

Take reading as an example. When I read, I don’t think I am reading a book. I will subjectively think that I am talking to a wise man. During the conversation, I saw how he discovered and solved problems. I saw his perspective on thinking about the problem... The satisfaction generated after this kind of dialogue can completely replace the direct pleasure brought by active entertainment.

I saw a limerick about running on the Internet

Some people run to lose weight,

some people run to enjoy themselves,

some people run to live longer,

want to lose weight and live longer.

This is also the meaning given to actions.

Since there are higher-level enjoyment options, we are naturally not so dependent on low-level enjoyment.

3. Develop a habit and make learning and thinking a new instinct.

Carpe diem is instinct. Through the development of habits, learning to think can also become instinct.

As long as you choose high-end entertainment in conversations with yourself again and again, the area of ​​​​this circuit in the brain will expand by one point every time you do not choose it. After forming a habit, you will involuntarily choose learning, reading and other high-end entertainment.

Conclusion: The reason why habits are difficult to change is because their self-reinforcement ability becomes stronger and stronger with use, and eventually forms an instinct that is difficult to change.