When experiencing a craving for an easy ’type 1’ reward, mindfully notice the feeling without acting on it, recognizing that the urge is temporary and will pass. This helps manage automatic wanting for things you don’t cognitively desire.
To increase automatic wanting for effortful ’type 2’ rewards, mindfully attend to and actively think about their positive aspects and benefits, boosting both cognitive and incentive salience wanting.
When facing a difficult activity, use mindfulness to recognize that difficulty is only one part of the experience, and connect the activity to your broader values for a more complete and rewarding perspective.
To reduce the automatic ‘wanting’ for a type 1 reward, intentionally focus on its long-term negative consequences or how it conflicts with your values.
When struggling with motivation for a difficult activity, vividly imagine and focus on the positive feelings, satisfaction, and sense of accomplishment you will experience at the end.
To increase overall happiness and deeper satisfaction, prioritize engaging in flow-inducing activities that require a sweet spot of skill and effort over easy, low-effort ’type 1’ rewards.
To achieve a state of flow and fully engage in effortful activities, proactively shut down potential distractions like social media, email, and texts.
Engage in difficult or uncomfortable activities only when you willingly decide to do so, as this element of choice is critical for them to feel pleasurable or meaningful.
Pair your exercise routine with a second fun and somewhat tempting experience, such as watching a favorite TV show, to make the activity more appealing and easier to start.
To reduce the startup cost and make morning workouts easier, have exercise equipment readily available in your house and lay out gym clothes the night before.