I encourage you to ask yourself, what habits do you have that help you grow and which ones are keeping you stagnant … and which dominate your life?
Usually, the ones that are helping you grow are in some form addressing an issue in your life that you are navigating. It could be anything from working your way to your ideal work position, deepening the intimacy in your relationships, finding happiness, creating a healthy lifestyle, etc. But you choose to stick with the habit because you know your future self would be grateful.
The habits that are keeping you stagnant may be the ones you don’t really pay attention to, aren’t aware of, or don’t know how to shift out of and are all based on memory recall. It could be anything from how you react in situations that make you angry, choosing something you know isn’t good for you, your communication style, and the such. And these habits are ingrained in us and maybe make us feel helpless in our capacity to change them.
I recently watched an excerpt of a Lex Fridman podcast he was watching with Michael Levin. The conversation was about 2-headed worms that never die.
LOL. I know. But I am now a super fan of Michael Levin, with dual degrees in biology and technology, he offers a unique perspective in how to overlay electrical networks over biology, and I cannot wait to watch more of his interview and learn about the research he is doing in regenerative and developmental biology.
The excerpt I watched discussed how Planarian Worms never die due to their regenerative process. Considering they are worms, they are pretty advanced beings (hello Dune!!). The talk about genomes, somatic electrical networks, body plans, and more. It’s wild and I highly recommend you watch it. It’s 12-minutes long, so decently short.
But it overall led to this part of the conversation that really held my attention:
Michael Levin: “Biology is like this in general. Evolution doesn’t take the past too seriously because it basically makes these problem-solving machines as opposed to how to deal with exactly what happened last time.”
Lex Fridman: “Problem solving vs Memory Recall. A little memory but a lot of problem-solving.”
This feels powerful when you are reflecting on your life, your habits, your dreams and considering all the ways you feel stuck due to mindless habits vs feeling expansive through actively engaging with your dreams and figuring out how to manifest them.
The theme in the Awake & Activate online studio is Living on Purpose (it also comes in the form of a Yoga Challenge.) And one of the ideas being discussed is the power to choose how to live through making aligned choices in the four pillars of life: Health, Relationships, Money, Purpose. The choice that seems to align with biologies drive to be problem-solving rather than repetitive through the limitations of memory recall.
Problem-solving vs Memory Recall possibly being interpreted to mean we are meant to continually evolve not remain the same. We aren’t meant to continue responding in the same ways as we have in the past. As Lex Fridman suggested, a little bit memory and a lot problem-solving. Remember what you did but if it didn’t produce the result you wanted, do something different!
We have habits that set us up for growth and we have those that keep us stagnant.
Our biology wants us to continue to evolve. However, our minds and emotions can disrupt that through mindlessness and getting comfortable in the stagnant rather than doing what can be rough, tough, and hard work to continue to grow.
As humans, we engage with life in a much different way than most other species of life … and we have the power of choice and choosing to evolve.
Are you problem-solving or are you in memory recall?
Are you living for your future self or as your past self?
I encourage you to ask yourself, what habits do you have that help you grow and which ones are keeping you stagnant … and which dominate your life?