Causes of degradation
Many people refuse to use the term “degradation,” especially in relation to personality. However, just because the phenomenon is called more softly and veiled, it will not cease to exist.
The reason lies in physiology . The human body constantly strives to reduce total energy expenditure in order to ensure its safety. To do this, the brain creates special programs that force us to act according to a pattern, automatically.
From year to year we perform morning and evening rituals, we repeat some actions so often that we can perform them with our eyes closed. And, it would seem, beauty - our brain is resting, which means there is no need to be afraid of overwork. But there is something else to be afraid of here, namely, a decrease in brain plasticity.
In this understanding, one can compare the human mind to concrete. As long as it is stirred, it remains liquid. Once you stop external influences, the mass will harden, and changing its shape is extremely problematic. Likewise, our mind, without constant stimuli, “freezes” and loses the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
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The reasons why the mixture in the head begins to slowly ossify can be different:
- All kinds of addictions, especially bad habits.
- Feeling guilty about an action that cannot be corrected.
- A traumatic incident.
- Achieving the main goal of life.
- A lot of free time and loneliness.
- Routine lifestyle: monotonous work, lack of emotions in personal life.
Many of these reasons can only be eliminated with the help of a psychologist, so deep-rooted degradation is a serious problem.
Be gone laziness
Carry out every planned action. Overcome laziness, do “I don’t want and I can’t.” Remember that even a small step towards any goal carries you forward, and does not roll you back. After all, this is what you wanted?
Thank yourself for completing the tasks, because even a simple trip to the theater and morning exercises will be just a burden at first. Promise yourself a new blouse or a day of shopping if you do X task several days in a row.
Of course, these are just examples. You need to come up with your own yourself. By the way, let this be your “zero” advice task that will welcome you to the path of growth and development.
Signs of degradation
It’s not so difficult for a person whom degradation has long been drawn into its net - he doesn’t want anything, doesn’t strive for anything and simply exists, and does not live a full life. But it is almost impossible to get out of this state. In order not to go to extremes, you need to look after yourself and your loved ones, noticing the slightest signs:
- Decreased interest in the lives of loved ones. A person stops caring about his family, doesn’t ask questions, and listens with extreme reluctance.
- Loss of communication and social skills. The person becomes more and more unsociable, avoids crowds of people, and does not dare to make contact. Most of all, a degrading personality avoids communicating with those who point out mistakes and talk about the need for change.
- Deterioration of intellectual abilities. Interest in reading, learning and learning anything new is lost. The vocabulary is becoming increasingly scarce.
- Loss of motivation to work and do what you love.
- Clutter at home, in the workplace, in appearance. Negligence towards one's own health.
- The emergence or worsening of bad habits.
Before you make a diagnosis and panic, understand the reasons for the observed symptoms. Perhaps you have been working on an important project for a long time, so you have forgotten about your appearance and health. Or maybe you are simply tired of communication, and therefore distance yourself from your family. Or maybe it’s high time for you to go on vacation, which is why your head stops working.
What happened
The issue of healthy thinking is a very slippery one. Firstly, because no one uses such a term as “healthy way of thinking”, and secondly, because it is not very clear to which specialists in which field it should be addressed. In theory, this is a medical question (what is considered painful pathologies of perception), but in practice, it seems, we are talking about more subtle matters.
And in this context, the “health” of thinking directly depends on the culture of society. While in the Middle Ages a person who heard voices was considered a prophet or an impostor (but note: not crazy), today a character with such symptoms is classified as mentally ill.
It is clear that during evolution our cognitive functions and thinking changed and developed
But it is important to understand that, from an evolutionary perspective, the only healthy thinking is the one that provides the best chance of survival and reproduction. And they depend on the social, economic, cultural characteristics of this particular society
Simply put, an alpha male from a society that lives by hunting mammoths is unlikely to have the necessary cognitive abilities to survive in a society of, say, computer programmers.
How to start developing?
Whether you are experiencing the first symptoms of degradation or not, the following methods of “brain warming up” will not be superfluous.
Foreign languages
Learning a new language is a great way to jumpstart the development process. Learning new words and semantic fields associated with them, immersion in the cultural characteristics of another country, enriching vocabulary - these are only the minimal results that such training brings.
The main thing when learning a new language is to motivate yourself to work regularly. Good incentives can be travel, the opportunity to read an interesting book in the original, become a polyglot and, on occasion, brag about it.
Refusal of repetitions and everything familiar
You can stop personality degradation with a serious shake-up for the brain. To do this, you need to modify as many processes in your life as possible. Use your left hand, take a new route to work, rearrange your home, change your daily routine, visit a different store, etc. The more new things there are in your life, the more you will stretch your brain.
Also, you should not give in to the temptation to periodically “turn off your brain.” Don't watch movies or re-read books. Yes, plunging into the pleasant and already explored world of Haruki Murakami or re-watching all of Harry Potter is so pleasant and luminous. But look at it from another angle: You spend several hours on something that does not bring you practical benefit. You could devote this time to a new book or film that would bring you new impressions. As a result, you deprive your brain of alternative neural connections, rather than rest.
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Get a pet
Children and animals are eternal sources of chaos and uncertainty. They are constantly on the move and learning new things, so it will be difficult to get bored with them.
Get a puppy, a kitten, or at least a hamster. The animal needs to be properly cared for, so you will have to study a lot of information. He needs to arrange a comfortable place, and this threatens you with new housework. Animals require attention, so you will be distracted by training, walks and just petting. All these circumstances will allow you to get out of your comfort zone and “cure” from moral torpor.
Change your social circle
In order to constantly develop, you need to periodically replenish your list of acquaintances and friends. Try to communicate with strong-willed, active individuals whom you would like to follow. Society greatly influences people and they often change not only their opinions and interests because of their friends, but even such significant nuances as their type of activity.
To find new active acquaintances, sign up for a fitness club, visit an anti-café, or go to meetings of similar interests. Even the fact that you leave the house and do things that are atypical for you contributes to self-development, so new friends will be a pleasant addition.
Start taking care of yourself
Self-care is a great way to improve self-esteem and cope with minor psychological problems. Train yourself to constantly monitor your appearance and over time you will realize that this is no small job.
Start with something simple. Organize your wardrobe: get rid of old things, make a list of what is worth purchasing. Evaluate your image: what would you like to say goodbye to and what to add - realize your desires. Visit a hairdresser, change your hairstyle and feel free to learn how to keep it in shape. These simple actions will allow you to love and accept yourself.
Replace TV and social networks with useful hobbies
It’s not without reason that TV has received the unspoken title of zombie-box - it really softens the mind and takes up a huge amount of time. If you like watching movies, watch them on the Internet.
It is also worth giving up aimless surfing the Internet. Unsubscribe from entertainment groups with funny pictures - they do not bring any benefit to your life. An alternative option is to set limits that will not allow you to spend more than the allotted time on social networks.
The freed up time should be spent on things that truly bring you pleasure. If you like to draw, buy some beauties and create. If you like dancing, sign up for a course. Collect, cook, sing - let your soul rest.
Nextedit
Every degenerate is obliged:
- Be stupid whenever possible (and better always!)
- Play: on your phone, on your computer (preferably Fortnite, Dota, Line and other degenerate games).
- WATCH TV MORE FREQUENTLY, preferably programs like Dom-2, which contributes well to the degradation of your brain (which is already the size of a seed).
- TAKE PHOTO! Photographs are the hobby of all degenerates. ALWAYS puff out your cheeks in photos (it's degenerate). You can also do a duckface.
- Make your own playlist with the most popular tracks of Russian rap, take the speaker away from the sucker and turn on your playlist as loudly as possible in the most crowded place.
- And the last thing - CURE after every word, use 11-984 swear words, then your brain will definitely atrophy.
Life story
Degradation will not go away by itself; rather, you will simply slide into the abyss of unwillingness to do anything, and you will remain there. Remember this and do not allow your soul to become lazy.
Today one of my employees asked me the question “Why have we not had planning meetings for a whole month?” I thought - really, why? I try to be effective, I pay a lot of attention to my work, I understand the importance of planning meetings - so why don’t I hold them? Because of all these questions, the mood deteriorated a little...
I thought about this issue for a long time, and finally realized that the whole problem is that I, as a manager, do not think about the development of the company . I was completely focused on achieving my money goals, I wanted to get the most out of myself, my team and my clients to get the most out of me. But this is wrong, this is my short-term task, and it won’t work in the long term - burnout and a lot of health problems are possible.
To get maximum benefits in the long term, you need to constantly develop: monitor the performance of yourself and your employees, look for the team’s weaknesses and try to close them, monitor the market situation and introduce innovations in a timely manner.
For myself, I realized that I need to be as attentive as possible to the atmosphere in the team and analyze the questions that employees ask . Most often, behind a harmless remark, there is an important problem that needs to be resolved in time, otherwise the consequences can be quite sad.
If you don't have anything new to tell your team at a planning meeting, then you probably don't have anything new going on. You will stagnate and gradually degrade. Every week you need to take a snapshot and assess where your company is moving: towards development or degradation.
A company either grows or declines—there is no in-between. Of course, there is such a word as stagnation, but in essence there is no such concept. Stagnation is just a short lull before a company goes down. Therefore, it is important to constantly develop and pay attention to emerging problems in a timely manner.
Main question
If the limiting factor has been eliminated or was not there at all, the next step is to ask the most important question “what do I want and who do I want to be.” There is no need to try to answer quickly. You can devote enough time to this, doing routine work during the “search” period, which brings only a certain amount of money for living.
It is important to find a balanced answer that will be a kind of ticket to a better life. It must be meaningful and motivating for some action.
Maybe all your life you have wanted to become a businesswoman and open your own business in the beauty industry? Or go on the pop stage and give concerts, even for a small audience? Or have you always been attracted to the position of top management in large companies, but never got around to even putting a finger on the path to your dream? This is it, this is the time that has come!
Think
“I think, therefore I exist”
Realizing that degradation is already knocking on the door, it is important to force yourself to think as often as possible. Even if you don't want to
The best part is that you don’t need to set aside any special time for the thinking process. You can think about everything - from the meaning of life to why, in the fairy tale about the chicken Ryaba, the grandfather and woman kept beating the egg, and when it broke, they cried bitterly. Every second of our existence throws up so many questions that the brain simply has no right to be bored.
A great way to stimulate mental activity is crosswords, puzzles, logic riddles, tests and special applications. Popping marbles in a telephone game is a lot of fun when you're on the subway, but it's much more beneficial for your brain to solve a couple of tricky puzzles.
Even if you are successful, smart and fulfilled, do not think that personality degradation is not about you. She is lurking nearby and waiting in the wings.
Degradation is a downward movement. Sometimes it happens: you see a classmate 10 years later, and his appearance scratches your gaze: empty eyes, drooping shoulders, lethargy, or vice versa, fussy concern is out of place. Still not fully understanding what’s going on, you think: “How did he go down…”.
