Why can’t we stick to our goals like “I will lose weight” or “I plan to finish this article before the deadline. “Nice thoughts, but not formulated in terms that your ancestral, reflexive brain might understand,” says psychologist Gary Marcus. The work around? “Translate those abstract goals into a form your ancestral systems – which traffic largely in dumb reflexes – can understand: if-then. If you find yourself in a particular situation, then take a specific action.”
Does your brain have a mind of its own?
Why can’t we stick to our goals like “I will lose weight” or “I plan to finish this article before the deadline. “Nice thoughts, but not formulated in terms that your ancestral, reflexive brain might understand,” says psychologist Gary Marcus. The work around? “Translate those abstract goals into a form your ancestral systems – which traffic largely in dumb reflexes – can understand: if-then. If you find yourself in a particular situation, then take a specific action.”