Fixing Mental Stagnation
Do you ever feel as though life is passing you by? Maybe your job is so boring you can barely stay awake, or maybe you stay awake too much. Like Neo in The Matrix you browse the internet all night, endlessly looking for something that’ll entertain you.
Mental stagnation is a big problem nowadays. A lot of our primal issues are solved (it’s pretty hard to starve to death and polio isn’t a problem) and a lot of our existential issues are beyond our control. (Seriously guys… political Twittering probably doesn’t make you happy.)
In addition to that, many jobs aren’t exactly taxing nor inspiring.
As a general principle, I maintain that you should only worry about things within your control and forget things that aren’t. The more you do this, the more you come to realise that a lot of things are in your control if you look at them in a different light.
Mental stagnation is definitely something that is within your control. It also has a simple solution in many cases. Some people make it much more difficult though.
Some People…
Some people go crazy. They write entire books about ditching their husbands, joining crazy yoga cults and having sex with tall, dark and handsome men with debatable ethics.
Some quit their careers, move to the third world, and buy a motorbike in various orders.
I don’t necessarily disagree with their decision and there’s no judgement on my part if that’s what you decide to do. I’ve been friends with a guy for a few years now who did exactly that; moved to the third word, got involved in crazy schemes and bought a ridiculous motorbike.
He’s one of the most interesting people I know.
But it seems to me that packing up, moving across the world and quitting your life to seek out something new is a long way around solving the problem of mental stagnation in many cases.
So, you ask, what’s the simple solution to this mental plague?
If you want to think about how to solve human mental stagnation, then first think about what humans are.
What Are Humans?
Humans are problem solving machines.
If you are mentally stagnating, I’d bet that knowing just the above sentence will help you out.
Humans rose above their brothers in the animal kingdom because they knew how to leverage themselves and those around them. This led to complex hunting patterns, shared observations and later agriculture and the ensuing civilisation that’s followed it.
Now you don’t have to care about any of that, but understand that it’s part of your genetic make-up and cultural heritage.
How do you apply that to your life?
Easy…
Find New Problems To Solve
You are a problem solving machine. If mental stagnation is your problem, then chances are you’ve got to fix mental stagnation by solving more problems or solving different problems or getting better at solving the problems you face.
These activities generally fall into a few activities:
- Improve your life (income, health, whatever) by optimising
- Dedicate your time to understanding your core problems in depth
- Get new hobbies, learn new systems, set new goals
Now, you are a unique individual with your own particular passions and, more importantly, your own way of walking through the world cognitively speaking.
By that I mean you’ll have certain problems that you like solving and things you just have no interest in. A lot of articles on the internet will prescribe blanket solutions to everyone.
“Travel and see the world!”
“Join a gym!”
“Learn how to write code!”
All of the ideas are probably good for someone, but if you’re the extroverted type who hates being alone, learning to program isn’t going to be your dream hobby. Similarly, if you’re more of a sensory based person, you’ll have more luck trying to learn gastronomy over philosophy.
Only you know who you are and what you like to solve.
That said, the three keys from above…
Optimise something that’s bothering you.
If you hate your job, then you can quit it and move to Thailand. Or, you could get a better job where you are. That’s still drastic. You could get a promotion. Or you could just eliminate the boring stuff from your job.
The same goes for your health and other areas that are lagging. You can always put your brain to solving the problem, and it’ll shake your brain out of melancholy as long as you’re moving forward. Also, the results will make you feel better.
Dedicate Your Time To Understanding Core Problems
Most mental anguish comes from our complete inability to understand ourselves.
If you’re like 995 of humans, there are things that have been bothering you for years. Whether it’s the fact that you’re short, you feel like an underachiever or you really wish you could draw unicorns or something, you’ve probably got skeletons in your closet you should deal with.
Worse… you probably don’t understand why they are skeletons. There’s a real difference between fixing your issues and progressing, and trying to be something you aren’t naturally suited for. Again, I come back to the internet celebrity thing… I watched a guy who used to be a pretty big internet star today. In his latest YouTube video, he looks awkward, rambles about nothing and generally looks unhappy to be there.
The easiest solution would be for him to quit and do something that makes him happy.
Start A New Hobby
This isn’t a general life advice article. It’s about fixing that mental stagnation which most of us feel at some time or another.
The easiest way to do that is to get a new hobby. It doesn’t have to be something life-altering like an extreme sport (although it can be.) something as simple as buying a couple of books or spending $10 on a pack of cards or a skipping rope can mean you spend hours learning a new skill.
This cures mental stagnation because you are solving a problem and you’re keeping your brain engaged. That’s all there is to it.
Final Thoughts
Too much of the time, people look for “big solutions.” It’s quitting the job or trying to make a million dollars online.
Big goals are great. Unrealistic goals are better. But in your day to day life, big goals pale into insignificance when you actually have to sit down and survive the slog of reaching for something in the long term.
In the short term, it’s always simple solutions that are going to give you the best cost/benefit ratio.
Work out what makes you happy. Get a hobby. Fix a problem.
If that doesn’t work, then try something more complex.