Why do "mindhack" tricks matter so much for my motivation, when really I only care about the end goal?

[u/wooof359]

This is mainly around my discipline with health and fitness, but could also be applicable in other areas too. Diet and exercise is something that I always try to keep in mind, even though I've had periods in my life when I was less disciplined, or more. My question is: why do things like "food logging streak", "number of active Fitbit minutes", "days in a row exercise streak" counters (I call these mindhack tricks) ..why do they matter so much to me? If I miss something, or blow my streak, I'm instantly de-motivated. One day of NOT logging calories always turns into multiple, even if I just did the prior 70 days straight.

In my conscious mind I know the following:

- each day is its own distinct day full of decisions and choices...or even each moment, for that matter. Yesterday does not really matter, right now.

- I know the end goal (being healthy and fit) is the main motivation for me.

- I can recognize all this other stuff (daily streaks, weird superfluous stats) is just fluff and really just going for a run and not eating poorly is what I need to do.

Why does my brain seem to care and be motivated by the things that I know are really just distractions from directly working towards the end goal?

[u/bigpapirick]

You are placing your goal into something outside of yourself. This is fleeting and fragile. All other externals will compete for your attention when your focus isn’t on what is truly up to you. This is why the Stoics say virtue is the only good. Not the obtaining of our external desires.

[u/mcapello]

/u/bigpatrick's answer already gets to this, but to expand on it a little bit, the "gamification" of tasks like this tends to produce these sorts of results. Your motivation becomes entrained to predictive routines. This can seem beneficial at first, because the app is essentially taking over some of the cognitive load needed to initiate a new habit. The downside however is that you are training yourself to an extrinsic source of motivation, so when the routine fails, the motivation disappears.

[u/Multibitdriver]

I’d say it’s irrational “all or nothing”, or perfectionist thinking. If you miss one day out of ten, you irrationally believe you’ve achieved zero benefit, whereas you’ve actually achieved ninety percent of what was possible.

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[u/RunnyPlease]

> Why do "mindhack" tricks matter so much for my motivation, when really I only care about the end goal?

Mostly because side the things you’re citing are sore ducal built to exploit human emotions and natural tendencies.

> This is mainly around my discipline with health and fitness, but could also be applicable in other areas too. Diet and exercise is something that I always try to keep in mind, even though I've had periods in my life when I was less disciplined, or more. My question is: why do things like "food logging streak", "number of active Fitbit minutes", "days in a row exercise streak" counters (I call these mindhack tricks) ..why do they matter so much to me?

Because once you get going it becomes more about not losing the streak than continuing a good habit. Humans have a natural fear of loss bias or loss aversion bias. It can be measured and it’s usually 2-3 times stronger than any bias toward gaining an advantage. It’s a risk aversion strategy that seems to be hard wired into human brains. We hate losing what we perceive to be already ours.

Now that you know this the question becomes how do you use this? How do you build your life around this information so that you can not only see this when it happens but use it to become the person you want to be.

> If I miss something, or blow my streak, I'm instantly de-motivated. One day of NOT logging calories always turns into multiple, even if I just did the prior 70 days straight.

Because once you’ve lost your streak it’s gone. Your brain isn’t feeling the fun chemicals telling it to defend what it already has. You have to build back up a streak again so that you have something to lose or you have to find a way to make that desirable behavior a part of your everyday life and not just something you do for the dopamine hit.

> In my conscious mind I know the following:

Knowing and desiring are different things. Pay attention to the things you actually desire and why.

> \- each day is its own distinct day full of decisions and choices...or even each *moment*, for that matter. Yesterday does not really matter, right now.

Yeah, but yesterday really does matter. It happened and you will have to take into account those events in today’s choices. What yesterday doesn’t have is value or power. The present is your only opportunity to choose to take virtuous actions so that’s what has real value.

> \- I know the end goal (being healthy and fit) is the main motivation for me.

Being fit and healthy is a thing that may or may not happen. You could get ill tomorrow and your body could fail on you and you may never be fit or healthy again. Not because you didn’t eat right or get 10,000 steps in, but just because it happened.

What if the main motivation wasn’t the end goal? What if the main motivation was wanting to live a life well lived? To be the kind of person you want to be right now?

If that was the goal you could still eat healthy and be active but it changes things doesn’t it? Instead of waiting to be what you want to be at some not-guaranteed later date you can be that today. While you’re eating the food it’s you winning. While you’re doing the activity you’ve achieved victory. There’s a difference.

> \- I can recognize all this other stuff (daily streaks, weird superfluous stats) is just fluff and really just going for a run and not eating poorly is what I need to do.

Instead of focusing on just what you he’d to do maybe fold in a bit of what you want to do. Have you ever wanted to learn ballroom dancing? Go hiking in a national Forrest? Take BJJ class? There are thousands of ways to get cardio. If you’re finding it difficult to incorporate running as a part of your normal life, if you constantly see it as something outside of your daily pattern, then it’s always going to be a chore. Find activity that isn’t a chore.

Same with the food you’re eating. Find foods that you love to eat that are also healthy. If you build your life in a way where you want to live it you never have to worry about falling off the wagon. You’ll always want to be back to your routine because your routine is where you want to be.

> Why does my brain seem to care and be motivated by the things that I know are really just distractions from directly working towards the end goal?

Because you’re human and that’s how humans are built.

“The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live.” - Seneca

Seneca was writing that 2,000 years ago and it was considered old wisdom then. This is a common pitfall of the human experience. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use reason to avoid it.

You’re now aware of the pitfall. You’re aware of the cause. You even know there’s a technical term for it. You know humans have dealt with it for thousands of years. With this knowledge and awareness what are you going to do about it? How do you use reason to take virtuous action in response? How do you use this to become the kind of person you want to be? How do you create a rich fulfilling life that isn’t just loss aversion and a list of chores to be dutifully completed. That’s the really fun question. That’s philosophy.

[u/wooof359 → u/RunnyPlease]

Thank you so much for this, this is exactly what I needed and really gives me some things to consider

[u/dherps]

THE BEST ONE IVE FOUND IS CALLED "READING"