The RESET Loop - How to Prepare, Act, and Adapt When Life Gets Messy by Khan Mohammad Mahmud Hasan - HTML preview

Part 2: Energy Audit

The second part of Preparation is the Energy Audit.

An audit is a careful check of a system. Just like a mechanic checks the oil and fuel before taking a car on a long journey, you must check your biological ba ery before a empting a difficult task.

Many times, we fail at our goals simply because we are running on zero fuel. We blame our character, when we should be blaming our empty stomach or our lack of sleep.

Before you start a challenging project, take three minutes to perform a simple routine. Ask yourself three basic questions about your physical and mental baseline.

 

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1. The Sleep Check, Am I Rested?

Sleep is critical for the maintenance of the brain. Without sleep, your brain cannot function properly. Sleep deprivation has been shown to compromise a ention, new learning, and memory. The longer you endure sleep deprivation, the more compromised these essential functions become.

If you did not sleep well the night before, your prefrontal cortex is already weakened. You must be honest with yourself. If you are completely exhausted, today is not the day to start learning a very difficult new skill or writing a long report.

 Actionable Step: If your sleep check reveals you are exhausted, adjust your expectations for the day. Do not demand perfection.

Focus on simple, easy tasks. Do not beat yourself up. Prioritize going to bed earlier tonight. You need a calm and alert mind to be able to use your brain's skills to their full potential. The most basic way to tune yourself up is to get enough sleep. If you do not get enough sleep, you will not be able to maintain enough a ention.

2. The Food Check, Do I Have Fuel?

As we discussed, the brain runs on glucose. If you have not eaten for many hours, your blood sugar will drop. When your blood sugar drops 63

too low, your brain sends out a distress signal. You may feel nervous, dizzy, light-headed, fatigued, weak, or irritable.

You cannot focus or use self-control if your brain is starving. The brain is paying as it goes, and if the tank is empty, the car will stop.

 Actionable Step: If your food check reveals you are hungry, stop what you are doing and eat something nutritious. Do not eat a large amount of processed sugar, because excessive sugar makes your pancreas secrete too much insulin, which will make you crash later. Eat a balanced meal or snack. By eating balanced meals, you give your brain what it needs: fuel, the right building blocks to function at its potential. Do not a empt difficult mental work on an empty stomach.

3. The Stress Check, Am I Relaxed?

Finally, check your stress levels. Are your shoulders tight? Is your breathing fast and shallow? Is your mind racing with worries about money or family jhamela?

If you are highly stressed, your amygdala is active. Your body is filled with cortisol. In this state, your brain is narrow-focused on survival, not on learning or creativity.

 Actionable Step: If your stress check reveals you are anxious, you must calm your nervous system down before you try to work. Take five deep, slow breaths. Slower breathing slows 64

down the heart rate and relaxes the body. Step outside and take a brisk walk. Exercise provides an immediate treatment for the physical and emotional symptoms associated with stress. It breaks the stress-feedback loop to the brain. Take a moment to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Only when you feel a sense of calm should you sit down to tackle your important goals.

 

The Power of Preparation

By understanding the P in PACE, you take the pressure off your own shoulders. You no longer have to be a superhero with infinite willpower. You recognize that you are a biological creature with limits.

By designing your environment to guide you safely, and by auditing your energy to ensure you have the fuel you need, you set yourself up for absolute success. You make the right choice the easy choice. You build a protective wall around your mental ba ery.

When your space is clear and your ba ery is charged, you are finally ready to take action. You are ready for the second step of our journey.

In the next chapter, we will discuss the le er "A". We will learn how to Act. We will discover the magic of micro-steps, and how to build massive momentum without triggering fear in the brain. But for now, look around your room. Look at your desk. Look at your phone. Start preparing your space. Your future self will thank you for it.

 

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A – Act Small, Think Momentum

Welcome back, my friend. We are now moving forward on our journey to change your life. In the last chapter, we talked about the le er P in our PACE methodology. We learned how to Prepare our physical space and protect our mental ba ery. We learned that relying on willpower is a dangerous game. We learned that we must make the right choice the easy choice.

Now, your desk is clean. Your mobile phone is in another room. You are well rested. You have eaten good food. You are ready to start.

But how exactly do you start?

This is where most people make their biggest mistake. When people decide to change their lives, they usually try to do everything all at once. They want to be a completely different person overnight. They look at the big mountain they want to climb, and they try to jump to the top in one single leap.

In this chapter, we will talk about the le er A in our PACE

methodology. The le er A stands for Act. But it does not mean taking massive, giant action. It means something completely different. It means acting very small. It means thinking about momentum.

To understand why acting small is the great secret of success, I want to tell you a story. It is a story about a man who lived right here in Cox's 66

Bazar. He was a struggling entrepreneur who completely changed his life using the magic of tiny actions.

 

The Story of Faruq, The Exhausted Entrepreneur

Cox's Bazar is a beautiful place. We have the longest natural sea beach in the world. The sound of the waves from the Bay of Bengal is peaceful. The air smells like salt and fresh fried fish. But for a man named Faruq, this beautiful city felt like a heavy prison.

Faruq was forty years old. He owned a medium sized hotel near the beach. For many years, his business was doing well. He was busy, but he was happy. Then, a few years ago, the global health crisis happened.

Tourists stopped coming to Cox's Bazar. The hotels were empty. The restaurants were quiet.

Faruq lost a lot of money. The jhamela, the chaos, of trying to save his business took a heavy toll on his health. He stopped sleeping well. He ate too much rich, oily food to feel be er. He sat in his office chair for fourteen hours a day, worrying about his bank loans.

Over three years, Faruq gained thirty kilograms of pure fat. He became very heavy. He had no energy. When he tried to walk up the stairs to the second floor of his hotel, he had to stop and breathe heavily. His doctor told him that his blood pressure was dangerously high. His 67

doctor told him that if he did not change his life, he would not live to see his children grow up.

Faruq was terrified. He knew he had to change. He looked at himself in the mirror and felt a deep sense of shame. He decided he was going to become a perfectly healthy person immediately.

He set a massive goal. He told his wife, "I am going to run a full marathon! I will become an athlete! I will run every single morning on the beach until I am thin and strong!"

 

The Failure of the Giant Leap

The next morning, Faruq woke up at five o'clock. It was dark outside.

He put on his old sports clothes. They were very tight on his heavy body. He put on a pair of running shoes. He walked out of his house and went down to the sandy beach.

The cold wind blew against his face. He felt motivated. He told himself,

"Today, I will run five kilometers without stopping."

Faruq started to run. For the first minute, he felt okay. But by the second minute, his lungs started to burn. The soft sand made it very hard to move his feet. His knees hurt terribly because they were carrying so much extra weight. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would explode out of his chest.

 

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By the third minute, Faruq could not breathe. He stopped running. He fell onto his knees in the wet sand. He was coughing loudly. He felt dizzy. He felt like he was going to pass out.

He sat on the beach for twenty minutes, trying to catch his breath. He felt humiliated. He felt weak. He looked down the long, empty beach.

Five kilometers seemed like an impossible distance. It seemed like a distance only a superhero could travel.

Faruq walked slowly back to his house. He took off his running shoes and threw them into the back of his closet. He went back to sleep.

For the next six months, Faruq did not exercise at all. Every time he thought about running, he remembered the terrible pain in his chest.

He remembered the feeling of failure. His brain associated exercise with extreme suffering. So, he avoided it completely. He gained five more kilograms. His situation became worse.

 

The Magic of the Laughable Micro-Step

One day, Faruq met an old friend at a local tea stall. They sat together drinking hot cha. His friend looked very healthy and strong. Faruq explained his sad story. He explained how he tried to run a marathon but failed on the very first day.

 

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His friend listened carefully. Then, his friend smiled. "Faruq, my brother, " he said, "you tried to climb the mountain in one jump. You must take the stairs. You must use a micro-step."

"What is a micro-step?" Faruq asked.

"A micro-step is an action so small that it is almost funny, " his friend explained. "It is an action so tiny that you cannot possibly fail. You must start with an action that requires zero willpower."

"How can a tiny action help me run a marathon?" Faruq asked, feeling very doubtful.

"Just listen to me, " his friend said. "Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, do not try to run five kilometers. Do not even try to walk.

Your only goal for tomorrow is to wake up, put on your running shoes, and tie the laces. That is it. Once your shoes are tied, your workout is completely finished. You can take them off and go back to sleep."

Faruq laughed loudly. "That is a joke, bhai! Pu ing on shoes will not make me lose weight."

"Just try it, " his friend said.

The next morning, Faruq woke up. He remembered his friend's strange advice. He thought it was silly, but he decided to try. He got out of bed.

He found his running shoes in the back of the closet. He sat on the edge of his bed, put the shoes on his feet, and tied the laces.

 

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It took him exactly one minute. It required zero willpower. His heart did not beat fast. His lungs did not burn. He felt absolutely no stress.

"Okay, I am finished, " Faruq said to himself. He took the shoes off and went back to sleep.

He did the exact same thing the next day. He woke up, put on the shoes, tied the laces, untied them, and went back to bed.

He did this for five days in a row. It became a simple, easy habit.

On the sixth day, Faruq woke up. He put his shoes on. He tied the laces.

But this time, he felt a li le bit different. Since he already had his shoes on, he thought, "Maybe I will just step outside the front door and feel the fresh air. I will not run. I will just stand outside."

He opened the door and stood on his porch. The morning air was beautiful. He stood there for two minutes. Then he went back inside, took off his shoes, and went to work.

On the tenth day, he put his shoes on. He stepped outside. He thought,

"Since I am already outside, maybe I will just walk to the front gate of my property." He walked to the gate and walked back.

On the fifteenth day, he walked to the end of his street.

After one month, Faruq was walking for ten minutes every morning.

He never forced himself. He never used aggressive discipline. He just 71

let the natural momentum carry him forward. Because the actions were so small, he never felt fear. He never felt pain.

After three months, Faruq was walking for thirty minutes every morning on the beach. After six months, he started to jog slowly. He jogged for five minutes, then walked for five minutes.

One year later, Faruq was running five kilometers every morning. He had lost twenty kilograms. His blood pressure was normal. He had a huge smile on his face.

Two years later, Faruq successfully completed a half-marathon in Dhaka.

He did not achieve this by using massive willpower. He did not achieve this by pushing through terrible pain. He achieved this by starting with an incredibly tiny, almost laughable micro-step. He achieved this by tricking his own brain into taking action.

 

The Science (Facts), The Neurobiology of Micro-Steps Why did Faruq fail when he tried to run five kilometers on the first day? Why did he succeed when his only goal was to tie his shoes?

To answer these questions, we must look at the science of the human brain. We must understand the neurobiology of micro-steps. We must learn how tiny actions bypass the fear response in your brain and trigger natural momentum.

 

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The Amygdala and the Fear of Big Goals

Let us go back to a part of the brain we discussed in the first chapter.

Deep inside your head is an almond-shaped structure called the amygdala. The amygdala is your brain's alarm system. It is designed to keep you safe from danger.

The amygdala is triggered by intense emotional states like fear. It serves as a sort of panic bu on. When the amygdala senses danger, it activates the fear system in your body. This is the fight-or-flight response.

When our ancient ancestors lived in the jungle, the amygdala looked for predators. If a lion was hiding in the bushes, the amygdala would hit the panic bu on immediately. It did not wait for the higher-thinking parts of the brain to analyze the situation. It worked on a fast track. This fast track to the amygdala kept our ancestors alive.

The amygdala signals the hypothalamus to release stress chemicals.

The pituitary gland signals the adrenal glands to dump epinephrine, or adrenaline, into your bloodstream. This increases your heart rate and your breathing. Your body prepares to fight or to run away.

But here is the very important truth about your brain, the amygdala does not only react to physical lions in the jungle. It also reacts to massive, overwhelming tasks.

 

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When Faruq looked down the long beach and told himself, "I am going to run five kilometers right now, " his brain interpreted that massive goal as a threat. The goal was so big, so painful, and so overwhelming that it triggered a false alarm.

The amygdala sounded the alarm before his thinking cortex knew what was happening. His brain dumped stress chemicals into his body.

He felt a surge of anxiety. The amygdala stirred up enough fear to make him want to stop and escape.

When you try to take massive action, when you try to change your entire life overnight, your amygdala hits the panic bu on. Your brain says, "This is too much change! This takes too much energy! This is dangerous! Stop immediately!"

This is why you feel paralyzed when you look at a huge project. This is why students feel sick to their stomachs when they think about reading an entire textbook in one night. The massive goal triggers the fight-or-flight response. Your brain wants to flee from the work to protect your energy.

 

Bypassing the Fear Response

So, how do we stop the amygdala from hi ing the panic bu on? How do we start making changes without triggering the fear system?

 

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We must sneak past the amygdala. We must use actions that are so small, so simple, and so completely non-threatening that the alarm system does not even wake up.

This is the brilliant science of the micro-step.

When Faruq changed his goal from "run five kilometers" to "just tie my shoes, " he completely bypassed his amygdala. Tying shoes is an easy, safe action. It does not require massive energy. It does not cause pain.

Because the action was so tiny, the amygdala stayed perfectly quiet.

There was no fear. There was no adrenaline. There was no stress.

By keeping the fear system turned off, Faruq allowed his higher-thinking brain, the prefrontal cortex, to stay in control. He was able to take action calmly and peacefully.

When you break a massive goal down into a tiny micro-step, you turn off the internal resistance. You stop fighting your own survival instincts. You create a safe environment for your brain to begin moving forward.

 

Dopamine and the Reward Center

But sneaking past the amygdala is only the first part of the magic. The second part of the magic involves building natural momentum.

 

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Why did Faruq slowly start going outside, walking to the gate, and eventually running? Why did the action grow larger all by itself?

The answer lies in a powerful chemical messenger in your brain called dopamine.

Dopamine is a neurotransmi er that sharpens and focuses a ention. It is associated with reward, movement, and learning. Dopamine is one of the principal neurotransmi ers that code pleasure.

When you experience something positive, or when you complete a task successfully, your brain releases dopamine. This dopamine activates an area deep in the brain called the nucleus accumbens. The nucleus accumbens is sometimes referred to as the pleasure center.

When the nucleus accumbens is activated, you feel a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and pleasure.

But here is the most important part, dopamine does not just make you feel good. It makes you want to repeat the action that made you feel good. When this area is frequently activated, it becomes hard to stop doing the things that activate it.

This is the biological basis of momentum.

When Faruq successfully put on his shoes and tied his laces, he completed his goal for the day. He succeeded. Even though it was a very small goal, his brain recognized it as a victory. His brain released a small drop of dopamine.

 

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His nucleus accumbens lit up with a tiny bit of pleasure. His brain learned that pu ing on the shoes resulted in a feeling of success.

The next day, his brain wanted that small drop of dopamine again. So, it became very easy to put the shoes on.

As he continued to succeed at his micro-steps, the dopamine system became engaged. The dopamine focused his a ention on the positive habit. The effort-driven reward circuit in his brain became active. This circuit involves the nucleus accumbens, the striatum, and the prefrontal cortex. It links what you do with rewards.

When you start with a tiny action and succeed, the dopamine reward makes you want to do just a li le bit more. It pulls you forward naturally. You do not have to push yourself with willpower. The dopamine pulls you.

When Faruq stepped outside the door, he got another drop of dopamine. When he walked to the gate, he got more dopamine. The tiny wins built a chemical cascade of pleasure and motivation.

This is how a micro-step builds natural momentum. It bypasses the fear system, and it activates the pleasure system. It turns a scary, impossible task into a series of highly rewarding, easy games.

 

Activating the Left Frontal Lobe

 

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There is one more crucial piece of science you must understand. It is about how taking action literally changes your mood and cures depression.

Your brain has two frontal lobes, the right side and the left side. These two sides handle emotions very differently.

The right frontal lobe is associated with negative emotions and is passive-oriented. When people are depressed or anxious, they usually have overactivation of the right prefrontal cortex. Passivity and inaction create sad feelings. If you sit on the sofa all day worrying about your big goals but doing nothing, you are activating the right side of your brain. You are feeding your own negative emotions.

The left frontal lobe, in contrast, promotes positive feelings and taking action. Taking action gets you going and makes you feel be er.

Activation of this lobe is associated with the alleviation of depression.

When you take any action, even a tiny micro-step, you engage your left frontal lobe. You wake up the positive, action-oriented part of your brain.

By doing something constructive, you can shut down the feeling of being overwhelmed. The left prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus work together to tame the amygdala and shut down the fear response.

 

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This means that action is the best cure for anxiety and sadness. But remember, the action must be small enough that it does not trigger the amygdala first.

By starting with a laughable micro-step, you safely activate the left frontal lobe. You instantly start feeling more positive, more capable, and more hopeful. You shift your brain from a state of passive fear into a state of active progress.

 

The Suggestion (Actionable Steps), Applying the Power of Small Now that we understand the neurobiology of micro-steps, dopamine, and the amygdala, how do we apply this to our daily lives? How do we use the A in the PACE methodology to build massive momentum?

I am going to give you two very practical, actionable steps that you can use right now. These steps will help you break down impossible goals and escape the trap of endless planning.

We will focus on two major concepts, The Two-Minute Rule, and Action Over Analysis.