Trigger
A couple of days ago, I tried eating a bowl of kiwis and raw amla (Indian Gooseberries) as part of my daily routine to consume nutritious foods. But they tasted so intense and sour that I felt like throwing up. This wasn’t an overreaction – I’ve never enjoyed citrus fruits, and raw Amla is also difficult to have.
I kept the bowl untouched and carried on with my day. Over the following two days, I did intense workouts. Today, the bowl sat on the table all morning, untouched.
Despite a heavy breakfast, I felt a sudden, sharp hunger. I reached for the bowl, started gorging, and ate every bit within seconds. And instead of feeling repulsed, I relished it. What was intolerable two days back was now satisfying and even enjoyable.
It was a small moment, but it revealed how much of what feels hard or unpleasant depends less on the task itself and more on the state we are in.
Some reflections
–> The quality of our life is determined by how we react to our experiences. And those reactions are state-dependent. For example, food tastes much better in a state of a calorie deficit, life’s problems feel smaller after an intense run, and the bed feels softer after a day’s of hard work.
| Activity | State achieved | Change in perception or reaction |
| Meditation | Calmness | Being less reactive to external disturbances; more focus |
| Fasting | Craving for nourishment rather than stimulation from food | More open to eating healthier, simpler, and unprocessed foods |
| Doom Scrolling | Overactive mind | Less motivation to do hard tasks for long periods |
–> Our ability (1) to focus our attention on specific tasks for long periods of time and (2) to tolerate pain in return for long term gains is correlated with our achievements.
–> The mind is so unpredictable. Sometimes it wants to do one thing, and sometimes the other. Most of the times it doesn’t want to do the hard thing, and that’s when we have to find a way of anyway doing it.
–> Putting our body and minds under controlled stress (such as fasting and training) is known to have a positive impact on our health (here’s an informative podcast on this topic by David Sinclair – a professor of genetics at Harvard and a leading researcher in longevity).
–> Intense workouts have profound psychological benefits as well, in addition to physical benefits (such as improved metabolism, muscle growth, and enhanced cardiovascular health).
–> Regularly doing hard things enables us to appreciate the small pleasures of life much more, which greatly enhances the quality of our day-to-day life (here’s a three hour long podcast on this topic).
One line conclusion
Doing hard things more often + regularly putting our body and mind under controlled stress = more happiness, health, and growth.
