The Motivational Triad
For most of us, becoming organized and productive requires changes in various facets of our lives. It means changing things like habits, systems, and priorities. In most cases, the first and most important thing that needs to change is our mindset about being an organized person.
When trying to shift our thoughts to more productive ones, I think it’s necessary to understand how the brain works.
The Motivational Triad
In the beginning, our human brain had one primary purpose – to keep us alive.
And to make that happen, our primitive brain focused on three essential functions: seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, and conserving as much energy as possible.
Together, these three prongs make up what is called the Motivational Triad, and they were vital to our evolution. Together, they guided us to kill our food, escape our enemies, procreate, eat when we needed fuel, and rest to conserve our energy.
Seeking Pleasure
Our primitive brain was smart. It guided us to seek pleasure as a means of survival. Food was pleasurable because it caused our stomachs to feel full, and as the food digested, dopamine was released, which made us feel happy. These factors motivated us to continue eating food, which in turn kept us from dying. The pleasure of sex motivated us to procreate and keep our species going. And the pleasure of feeling safe and warm guided us in seeking out shelter that protected us from danger.
Avoiding Pain
In order to avoid pain, our primal brain taught us how to prevent being attacked by a wooly mammoth and encouraged us to stick together instinctively. The pain of injury or dying was mitigated by staying alert to the danger of our surroundings and our enemies.
Our brain also instinctively guided us to hunt, gather, and forage for food to keep our bodies strong and healthy. That way, we could avoid the pain of hunger, illness, or even death.
Conserving Energy
In pre-modern times, when we were guided solely by our primitive brains, we needed to have enough energy to accomplish daily survival activities.
The problem was that there wasn’t a supermarket on every corner, so there was no guarantee about when our ancestors’ next chance to eat (or acquire energy) would be. Because of the unpredictability of food, it was vital that they only expend energy on activity that was vital to survival. That meant early humans only utilized energy when necessary and sought food that contained high-energy nutrients like fat.
The Pre-frontal Cortex
Today, we no longer rely solely on the basic instincts of our primitive brain to survive. As a matter of fact, as humans have evolved, our brains have changed and developed into powerful organs that, among other things, can plan, make decisions, problem-solve, and exert self-control over our more basic instincts.
The region of our brains that can do these things is called the Pre-frontal Cortex. It is with this part of the brain where we make decisions to achieve our goals - like becoming more organized or productive.
Be aware that the instinct of the primitive brain is to pull us back to the fundamentals of human nature - to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and conserve energy.
As we work towards creating change, it’s important to remember that we’ve been thinking the same thoughts and following the same habits for many years. The primitive brain just wants to keep doing things the way it always has - it’s safer and easier.
So, be gentle with yourself as you progress through your journey to a more organized life. Remember, you are literally rewiring your brain as you change your mind and habits.
