“It's like the butterfly of happiness. If you try to capture it, it flutters away. You need to let it come and sit in your hand.” — philosopher Ted Slingerland.
BRAIN WAVES
Experimenting. There are useful mental tricks that can help change your habits. But ultimately, successful behavior change relies on iteration, argues physician and researcher Kyra Bobinet. Bobinet defines iteration as a continuous process of experimenting with and analyzing your efforts. In other words, trial and error. Much of the way we approach life doesn’t leave room for error, she writes. Iteration doesn’t just leave room for failure – it welcomes it as part of the process. “By treating behavior change as a series of experiments, we bypass the brain’s failure detection system and keep our drive alive,” Bobinet explains. “Instead of aiming for perfect adherence to a rigid goal, we should focus on progress over performance.” Next time you’re trying to build a habit, it might help to think of it as an experimentation process.
Final words. What do we think about at the end of our lives? In a recent commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee shared that in his experience working with patients who are dying, most of them express one of four common phrases during their final moments: "I want to tell you that I love you,” “I want to tell you that I forgive you,” “Would you tell me that you love me?” and “Would you give me your forgiveness?” We think of love and forgiveness as idealist, Pollyanna-ish sentiments, but it seems they are the last things on our minds as we leave this world. Mukherjee urged graduates to take these expressions seriously and challenged them to make love and forgiveness part of their everyday lives. Good advice for us all.
Big ideas. We like to think that the world’s great visionaries are just that – innovators with a clear vision of what lies ahead. But the key to coming up with big ideas might be to stop focusing on the future. Listen to learn more.
ON THE HIDDEN BRAIN PODCAST
Why Trying Too Hard Can Backfire On You: Thinking is a human superpower. On a daily basis, thinking and planning and effort bring us innumerable benefits. But like all aspects of human behavior, you can sometimes get too much of a good thing. This week, we talk with philosopher Ted Slingerland about techniques to prevent overthinking, and how we can cultivate the under-appreciated skill of letting go.
ON THE MY UNSUNG HERO PODCAST
Rasha Kowalewski’s Story: Rasha remembers the hospice nurse who treated her ailing mom with uncommon kindness.
Don’t forget to send us the story of your unsung hero! Record a voice memo on your phone and email it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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MIND GAMES
What can go through glass without breaking it?
LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE
Forward, I am heavy; backward, I am not. What am I?
Answer: A ton
A MOMENT OF JOY
Have an idea for Hidden Brain? A story you want to share with us? Send an email to ideas@hiddenbrain.org. Listen to us on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music or your favorite podcast platform.