You are waiting for the reward before you start

It is WayMaker Wednesday. The reward you want is already wired into you.

The Question

What have you been putting off because it stings, knowing it would make you feel better once you got through it?

The Thought

Your body is already wired to reward you for hard things. The pepper proves it.

Bite into something spicy enough and your brain lights up. Not because peppers are good for you, or because you did something noble. Just because you got through something that hurt. The pain is the trigger. The dopamine is the response.

Most of the things you keep putting off work the same way. The hard conversation, the workout, the phone call you have been dreading. Your brain will flood you with the same feeling once you are on the other side. You do not have to earn a good outcome. You just have to get through the discomfort.

You are waiting for the reward to come first. It does not. The discomfort is the doorway. Walk through it, and the feeling you wanted is on the other side.

Do the thing you have been avoiding. Your brain already knows how to reward you. You just have to give it the trigger.

Put It Into Action

The Trigger Test

• Name one thing you have been putting off because it feels uncomfortable.
• Do it today. Not when you are ready. Before you are ready.
• Notice how you feel when it is done.
• That feeling was always waiting. Now you know how to get there.

Know someone who keeps waiting to feel ready? Send them this.

Forge Forward,

Jon Mayo