#9: Do the Hard Thing

Adding an extra dose of behavioral science to your week with our series In a Nutshell— a collection of behavioral science principles, explained in 150 words or less, written weekly by CUBIC director Allison Zelkowitz.

Do you ever have trouble motivating yourself to exercise, meditate, or study, even though you KNOW you’ll feel better afterwards?

It turns out the composition of the human brain is a key reason this is difficult.

As explained in the podcast You Can’t Always Want What You Like, our brains contain limited regions that focus on “liking.” In contrast, there are more and larger regions that drive “wanting,” or craving. 

Because of this, we naturally desire instantly enjoyable sensory experiences, like sweets, cigarettes, or Netflix, whereas we have to convince ourselves to pursue healthier endeavors.

So, what can we do when our brains are sabotaging our best intentions?

According to Psychologist Hedy Kober, we can try savoring, or focusing on the positive aspects of an effortful activity to make ourselves want it more.  Then we intentionally bring these rewards to mind next time we’re persuading ourselves to do it again.