<p><b>The Three-fold model of motivation:</b> <br>
<b>>Intent: </b> Having intrinsic goals will lead to more success than those acquired extrinsically <br>
<b>>Resistance: </b> Though we may intend, there can be some difficulty to address between intending and actually doing. <br>
 >Emotional <br>
 >Egotic - Ahamkara <br>
<b>>Action: Following through on intent</b> <br>
</p><p><b>Origin of Thoughts</b> <br>
1>Reflex/Instinct - Automatic and happend without intention <br>
2>Habit - Trained action that becomes automatic <br>
3>Thought - Actions originate from thoughts <br>
 >If we want to control our actions, strengthening the mind to create the right kinds of action generating thoughts is a more foundational angle. <br>
</p><p><b>Origin of Motivation</b> <br>
>What is motivation? Motivation != Desire; Motivation != Habit, though it helps; <br>
>Motivation is the ability to hold one thought persistently in the mind. The <b>One-Pointed Mind</b>, if a goal is held for a long time it will lead behavior in that direction naturally <br>
>Dharana, focusing technique for training the one-pointed mind.
</p><p><b>How to Concentrate</b> <br>
>There are three fundamentals operations of the mind, that can be strengthened with dedicated meditative practices <br>
 ><b>The ability to direct the mind</b>: Directing thought meditation (selecting various objects to direct attention, shift when thoughts begin to drift) <br>
 ><b>The ability to let go of a thought in the mind:</b> Pratyahara(sensory withdrawal) <br>
 ><b>The ability to hold a thought in the mind:</b> Dharana<br>
+Awareness of thought meditation <br>
</p><p><b>Indriyas</b> <br>
How does thought come about? A major answer is the Indriyas, <b>sensory impressions</b> <br>
A sensory impression gets attached to an <b>emotional reaction</b> and gets laid down, becoming a "thought creating machine", or samskara <br>
Digesting that samskara can help alter thinking by removing unwanted thought generators, and we can also implant good thought generators <br>
For completeness, also consider transcendental thought, or some intriguing thought tied to the self without any sensory or emotional origin. <br>
</p><p><b>Pratyahara</b> <br>
>The more attention is devoted to one sensory organ, the more powerful it becomes. Removing organs increase the ability of the remainder <br>
>Light metaphor for attention: lightbulb; flashlight; laser beam. The narrower our focus, the stronger our output <br>
>Pratyahara is a technique which specifically increases our attentive capabilities; control the mind through control of the sensory organs <br>
>When solving boredom with entertainement, we rely on external sources to pull our attention to something, rather than relying on ourselves to direct our attention. In time, we lose this ability to direct our attention, and so meditative training is one answer to strengthening this. <br>
</p><p><b>Cognitive Drains</b> <br>
>The more things you deem of importance and carry mentally, the more drain is <br>
>For each mental attachement to an idea/task/resolve/whatever, there is some mental component there being taken up leading to less available energy. <br>
>This could also be considered karmic <br>
>Two solutions: Satisfaction or grief <br>
</p><p><b>Planning & Goal Setting</b></p>
>Desires; Shoulds - <br>
>Values; Duty/Dharma - Intrinsically motivating <br>
>By moving shoulds towards the bottom categories, we gain intrinsic motivation <br><p><b>Common Pitfalls in Goal Setting</b></p>
>Compensatory Goal <br>
>Fantasy-based Goal <br>
>Goals from desires/external direction <br><p><b>Setting a Good Goal</b></p>
>1. What is the intent behind this goal? Try to move it towards intrinsically motivating sources like values or dharma <br>
>2. Make goal actionable and measurable; transform from goal to action (verb: do..., read...) <br>
 >Ensure this goal is self-actionable, does not depend on another <br>
>3. Ensure goal is not overly ambitious, too far away <br>By building towards our goal in smaller increments, starting at 25%
for example, the actualy process gets easier
<br>
<p><b>Getting Overwhelmed - <a href="https://coaching.healthygamer.gg/guide/lessons/getting-overwhelmed">Dr. K's Guide</a></b></p>
>As tasks pile up, we can struggle to get motivated to finish them <br>
>You'd think that the more you care about something, the more motivated you should be to do it, right? But in reality, this self-placed importance can become paralyzing, as the more we care about something the more important it becomes that it be done correctly. <br>
>This can explain decision paralysis, when we don't think we'll be able to act in a way that meets our expectation. <br>
>What is required to start, is <b>compromise</b>. Give up on the dream of writing a best-selling novel to write a first draft. <br>
>A solution? >Acknowledge how important this is to you,
& that you’ll need to start somehow
>Try creating a
compromise between your perfectionist self, and your paralyzed self. Do
something that scratches your perfectionist’s itch, but that you can do
out of decision paralysis, low momentum requirement
>1. Make
the task easier for yourself, grow your capacity for
operationalizing (breaking a task down into actionable steps) by
practice.
>2. Cultivate some level of detachment, ironically
taking a step back can help clear your decision making, quell some of
those expectations.
<p><b>Overview</b> <br>
>There are several neuroscientific circuits that we can study to understand our own patterns of thinking <br>
1.The hedonic circuit - Liking things, Gaba/Opioid receptor <br>
2.The reward circuit - Reinforces behavior that brings about a reward <br>
3.The effort computation circuit - Calculates the effort to reward ratio to decide if a task is worth doing <br>
4.The emotional circuit - Powerful effect on motivation, can increase or decrease <br>
</p><br>
<p><b>Dopamine Reward Circuitry</b> <br>
>Mesolimbic circuit and the nucleus accumbens <br>
>Engaging in a behaviour -> Receive some reward -> Reinforce behaviour <br>
>Addiction is an example of the exploitation of this circuit, too much dopamine(reward) <br>
<br>
>The principle of tolerance, which explains how exposure in the brain to a substance limits its effect over time, can also be applied to dopamine <br>
>As we interact with something we find pleasurable, we can end up decreasing the pleasure received over exposure time. A game is less fun on hour 3 than hour 1 <br>
>Because technology is entertaining such that we can receive more dopamine, the reinforcement of engaging with can be naturally higher <br>
>But this can also hamper activities that traditionally gave dopamine, but that don't match the scale of our current technology uses. <br>
>If the reward is not as high we are less likely to engage. This is true for regulalr activities seeming unappealing compares to; but also people with dopamine tolerance who can only achieve it through unusually high sources like technology <br>
</p><br>
<p><b>Hedonic Circuitry</b>
>Prediction-Reward-Error processing, and issues leading to procrastination