Why is it always hardest to start something. I have found that most tasks in life are harder to start than to finish. I am not sure why this is but I can give a few personal pontifications on the subject. It seems to me that once a task is started, a commitment has been made to finish it. This commitment is not always upheld and it is uncomfortable when that happens. Maybe part of the problem is that it might seem to be less uncomfortable to just not start something than to not finish it. This is a simple pleasure/pain calculation that could be taking place in the deep dark recesses of our unconscious. This would also explain why this tendency increases with age. It is as if the inertia of doing anything increases with age. Every time we experience the pain of an unfinished task, our brain records the experience and readjusts the "decision" algorithm to take the new experience into consideration. Since pain is a stronger motivator than pleasure(biologically speaking) the painful experiences far outweigh the pleasures of success. Thus the calculated result is shifted more and more to inaction. Success seems to reside in the ability to overcome this simple biological function of our minds. There must be several ways to do this. Rewriting the algorithm is most likely the hardest, whereas the simplest attack would be to acknowledge the result and then promptly ignore it. It is possible to create a conscious algorithm that you use to come to a conclusion based on the experiences that you feel are the most instructive and beneficial. Since it is impossible to just forget or ignore something in the absence of any other stimuli, the conscious calculation and result gives the mind something else to focus on and a way to prod yourself to action, if that is indeed the desired result. It must be noted however that the unconscious result should be used in the conscious calculation. There are times that the unconscious result is the correct thing to do. It is just that we should be mindful of the process and make decisions at a conscious level that will benefit us in the short and long term.
I am not sure where this blog will lead, but at least I have gotten started.
