Book Thoughts: The Comfort Crisis
We're reading The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter and wanted to share some thoughts! This book maps right onto our shared value of Living a Good Story, which helps make sure you Life a Good Life.
Get uncomfortable
The book's lessons are sprinkled throughout a story of the author taking an opportunity to go on a long trip to Alaska where he lives out of a tent with his friends/guides, and experiences vast amounts of time, space, boredom, and physical challenge.
He introduces us to the concept of 'Misogi' which has roots in Japanese culture but has more recently been westernized. The new concept of Misogi involves taking on one big challenge every year that makes you better for the other 364 days of the year! These Misogi challenges are meant to be challenging and cleansing and to help you signpost your years, too.
Jesse Itzler has helped popularize the concept and has a few rules:
- It should be really challenging. Like, you should have a 50/50 chance of success
- It should scare you.
- It should be for you, and nobody else. It's a personal challenge and journey.
Have you taken on a Misogi? Have you done a challenge so big it makes you better and stronger every other day of the year?
Get bored
When we are bored and not actively doing something, a part of our brain called the default mode network gets activated.
I love to do things. Even when I'm taking breaks from working, I like to be watching things, reading, chatting, playing sports.
But this is not Default Mode Network time.
With smartphones in our hands all day, we've lost almost all DMN time.
This might be why you still have some of your best ideas in the shower - because it's the last place that's safe from your smartphone, and you have DMN time for your brain to just wander.
DMN time fosters creativity and new mental connections between parts of the brain. Your brain scans look different when DMN is activated versus when you're doing something.
To me, this seems related to the benefits of meditation. People swear by meditation. But I always find it so hard to take time away from DOING, to meditate.
Like with meditation, hearing and learning that this time can actually have a positive ROI compared to just working all day, encourages me to get bored from time to time. To know that the best thing you can do for your productivity is sometimes to do nothing is a challenge for "doers" to accept.
But when we do so, we can make new connections in ways that direct work might not allow us to.
Get in Nature
We need to be in nature. Biologically, we're still animals who need time amongst dirt and plants and trees.
Again, brain scans show objective benefits. Here are some guidelines for nature-time minimums!
- 20 minutes, 3x a week - even if all you can do is get to a park in your city.
- 5 Hours per month in somewhat wild nature - like a hike outside your city.
- Deeper disconnect and wild nature every month - ideally for 3 or more days.
- And you CAN’T BRING YOUR PHONE. If your tech’s there, it doesn’t count as nature time.
- The wilder the nature the better!
More to Come!
We're only partway done the book, so we'll share thoughts on the following topics when we finish up.
