As athletes and human beings, it’s easy to hit the gas pedal and test what we are made of.
We use part/s of our brains — the dorsoprefrontal cortex and more holistically the corticolimbic system, to notice shiny objects, produce the chemicals to chase them, and then make available the energy to physically chase and claim them.
Sorry to be a lame-o, but consider the classic primal example — which is also very evolutionarily important, of the Hunter-Gatherer. For my style of inclusivity and imagining that there were, too, female hunters, we’ll take it this way.
A woman rests her head on her straw pillow in the woods at 8:30 pm. The sun is down and the moon is out, and it’s time to rest. Before she slips into sleep, it is already on her mind that the wild game that roam and inhabit the area will be out at 6am crossing her path. The sounds of their hooves and huffs and the smell their sweat have been so programmed into her brain that she doesn’t have to “look” for the food anymore. She just has to move towards it.
Her brain rests and digests the previous day until, say, 5 am, and at 5:01 am— click, click, boom, her brain starts dispensing cortisol into her body. She is waking up and she has a purpose. More aptly, she is waking up for a purpose: to feed herself and perhaps her family/tribe. When 5:52 am hits — flip, flip, both of her eyelids pop open and the rising sun’s rays rain down into her eyes. She becomes more alert and her respiration widens — diaphragm, lungs, nostrils expand. As oxygen floods her, and she is ready to go!
Transfer this deep, deep, old, old, programming of *having to get up to gather your food* to today’s brain and the modern athlete/human, the brain works the same way, simply chasing different “end games”.
Consider the hard-charging triathlete — and ya, I’m gonna stick with a female example.
A woman rests her head on her cooling-infused memory foam pillow in her temperature-regulated bedroom at 8:30 pm. The sun is down and the moon is out, and it’s time to rest. Before she slips into her slumber, it is already on her mind that she has a hard brick workout at 6am (for the non-triathletes, that’s a bike ride immediately followed by a run). The bountiful burn of cycling through the spinwheel’s resistance and chopping her arms and legs through the wind’s resistance without avail has been so programmed into her brain that she doesn’t have to “psych” herself up for the training session anymore. She just has to move towards it.
Her brain rests and digests the previous day until, say, 5 am, and at 5:01 am — click, click, boom, her brain begins shooting cortisol through her bloodstream. She is waking up and she has a purpose. Rewind…she is waking up for a purpose: to build her cardiovascular engine, to build legs of steel, and to create an even more iron-willed yet equanimous mind. When 5:52 am hits — flip, flip, both of her eyelids jar open and the sunlight flooding through her bedside window graces her eyes. She becomes more alert and her respiration widens — diaphragm, lungs, nostrils expand. As oxygen fills her, she is ready to go!
Both of these examples — ancient and current, showcase how the brain developed in it’s first two stages to chase and conquer shiny objects.
credit: conflictsavvy.net
The reptilian brain — or “brainstem”, enabled us to avoid hazards.
The limbic brain — or “mammalian brain,” enabled us to approach rewards.
Thirdly and finally (unless there is a new layer coming), the neocortex — or “monkey brain” enables us to connect to other human beings.*
When the very fucking powerful hormones adrenaline and dopamine are released, it becomes so easy for us to hit the gas pedal and test what we are made of. Allow me to shift that language: hitting go and chasing the thing doesn’t just become easy for us, it becomes habitual. Conditioned. How we move through the world.
This go-getter mode is a beautiful human expression; but if we only wake up and chase the meal or chase the PR, not only does our brain not stay optimally healthy (our neocortex literally shrinks — it’s a matter of “use it or lose it,” much like everything in life), we miss out on a fully lived life.
This is a wake up call for you.
A wake up call that I was gifted over the past year, and one that I want to — without imposing on the Universe’s plans, write to your heart today.
It’s a call to exercise all three parts of the brain (which sounds plain and boring), and can only be done by practicing the things that make the neocortex strong.
The scientific talk is dragging on — I’ll put it bluntly…
WE NEED TO CONNECT AND STATY CONNECTED TO TRIBE.
WE NEED TO CONNECT AND STAY CONNECTED TO FAMILY.
WE NEED TO CONNECT AND STAY CONNECTED TO FRIENDS.
WE NEED TO MAKE NEW SOCIAL CONNECTIONS TO EXPAND THE NETWORKS OF OUR SOCIAL BRAIN.
It’s easy…being the hard-charging athlete, to stay focused with laser vision on being the best at the thing, whatever it may be.
But it’s not necessarily healthy.
Just like, within the fitness realm, bodybuilding is admirable and gratifying and impressive in many ways…and it may even be fulfilling, but it is not necessarily healthy.
This is where my discussion of determination and discipline enters.
I’d call determination that deeply-rooted, go-getter drive to secure the shiny object and reach the finish line.
I’d call discipline a more highly-evolved faculty to pull back, reflect, and judge how to proceed.
Determination gets you to the next finish line, the next meal.
Discipline gets you the life you want to build, a lifetime of family dinners.
Determination is a quick-to-come, quick-to-go hit of glucose from a sugar cookie.
Discipline is a quick-to-come, long-to-stay fat-packed avocado.
Determination gets you the victory.
Discipline gets you the victory that you celebrate by dancing with loved ones.
Determination — no offense, and I can say this because it is coming from my own self-reflection…is quite simple-minded.
Discipline is broad-minded.
The struggle is that, as athletes and human beings, it is hard to hit the brakes and notice who we are/what we are made of.
Discipline asks of us to:
do the thing you have to but do not want to
slow down and practice moving at different gears, even though they aren’t all ecstatic and euphoric
adapt our movements and decisions around what we notice, not what we want to see
consider how our actions affect/effect other human beings
disperse our time amongst not just our basic needs and individual needs, but others’ needs, too
view what we do today — in this very moment, in it’s long-run context
Determination is seeing the tree within eye-pitch on a fartlek run.
Discipline is seeing the whole forest when on a recovery run.
From the athletic perspective, I practiced tons of determination (brains 1 and 2) for many, many years — even though I’d like to think/I convinced myself that I was practicing discipline, too.
But as you grow, the hairs split (and gray, for some).
From the human perspective (no, not separate from the athlete), I practiced both determination and discipline, but counted on the feeling of immediate euphoria and ecstasy that a workout could deliver me more than anything else.
It was my #1 source of happiness. And my #1 purpose: to be in the best shape ever.
This was born in me when I was about 7 years old, actually.
So rep by rep, step by step, I became more determined but not as disciplined as determined (that’s another question, whether we need more of one than the other or in equal balance).
If you can relate to chasing one goal…even if it has an ever-evasive finish line, at the expense of everything else, you’ll get what I’m saying.
The bodybuilder knows what it takes to be the best, and, again, while it is admirable and temporarily satisfactory to create the one thing you lust after sculpting, it may not get you to where you want to go.
Side story: when I first moved to Boulder, I’d pull up to a mountain at random (just while on a drive between clients) and run the mountains for hours without first thinking about water, cell phone, directions, etc. That’s the adrenaline and dopamine taking over. And, again, it’s gorgeous, not grotesque. But it isn’t everything.
The disciplined athlete and human version of me would now think before going: pack the water, preview the route and any closings, bring validation of my identification. That’s the serotonin and estrogen teaming with the iron-willed, go-getter.
My goal here is to illuminate the importance of feeding all three brains and exercising discipline as well as determination.
The impetus for my writing is a series of injuries I accrued in the past 10 months, joint to joint to joint — YUCK!
Because my determination was so much stronger than my discipline.
I think it is unnatural to practice discipline. But it is human.
As athletes, we become a little non-human in order to achieve goals.
I am now inviting various practices of discipline into my life so that the ferocity, power, and magic of my determination can serve myself and the world, rather than break me down.
What are some of the ways that you can practice discipline, both as athlete and human — and some of the ways I am?
I created a little acronym, cuz I love them, to teach you.
Meditate — noticing what thoughts are driving your actions and beliefs
Expand — consider what actions will grow you as a person, not just an athlete (or fill in the blank of the persona you are most attached to)
Commune — do the things you love to do with other people
Collaborate — create things with other people
Air out — disperse your training/workload over longer stretches of time; leave some space for your muscles, mind, and that ONE persona to breathe and receive other aspects of life!
A mecca is a holy place.
A mecca is a lusted for destination.
A mecca is where magic happens.
I proffer that the mecca of human living — in its dynamic way, is a practice of both determination and discipline, and I encourage you to practice both qualities in your life on a daily basis. You will return a much more wholesome YOU.
*I do believe there are brains beyond these three brains (a spiritual brain), but we can save that for a future post.