Hi ,

The biggest problems in your life might come from the smallest problems.

Let me explain.

According to the region beta paradox, put forward by psychologist Daniel Gilbert , there are instances where we respond to things non-linearly.

His leading example was travelling from a to b.

If I'm travelling 1 mile, you'd expect it to take me twice as long to travel 2 miles.

But the increase in distance, past arbitrary thresholds might encourage me to change my mode of transport.

I might walk one mile, taking me 20 minutes, but I might cycle two miles, taking me only 15 minutes.

Suddenly, there's a paradox where a greater distance takes me less time.

This is the region beta paradox: Going over a certain threshold (perhaps a 30 minute commute time) might cause me to switch modes.

Similarly, I might use my car if the distance is doubled again, and fly if it's 10 - 100x that.

Big challenges that stand in your way often pass a tipping point, or threshold that demand change.

Therefore we must occasionally look out for the smaller ones.

Imagine person a and person b have shitty jobs.

1. Person A has a job twice as shit (on an objective shit scale) than Person B.

2. Because Person A has passed a threshold of shittiness that is too high, they're going to leave.

3. Person A now finds a good job.

4. Person B, who started out in a better position than Person A, is now in the worse position. All thanks to the Region Beta Paradox.

"How does this apply to my daily life?"

You've likely faced and changed the biggest challenges in your life because they passed such a glaringly obvious threshold.

• Moving out of a horrible apartment
• Breaking up with a nasty partner
• Healing a broken bone by resting the joint

The challenge is that there are smaller issues that, because they're not so serious, you've not found the need to change.

• Living in a slightly damp apartment
• Dating a slightly selfish partner
• Training on a tight hamstring

In these examples, having a worse apartment, partner or injury might - in the medium future - give you a better overall outcome.

The question becomes: 'what mildly irritating things am I dealing with right now?'

And 'How long am I going to let them slowly bother me?'

Here are your outcome options:

1. You do nothing and continue to ignore the problem = things remain mildly bad
2. You fix the problem = move up out of the negative
3. You aggravate and make the bad problem much worse - this demands or results in action that causes major change = you're forced to try again and find a better solution.

Written out like this, can you see that the worst outcome is the one we all stick to by default?

Final thoughts on this:

a) Consider that those with severe PTSD from the most horrible war, crime and accidents often present with better long term mental health outcomes than those with only mildly scarring traumas.

b) A thought experiment on how to deal with any mild negatives in your life: 'What would I do if this was twice as bad?'

- Maybe you're not yet overweight enough to change your habits

- Maybe you're not having enough panic attacks to reach out to a therapist

- Maybe you're not quite paid too little to ask for a payrise.

Imagine the problem doubled next week, what would you do then?

Why wait until it gets to that point?

c) The best thing about getting a brain injury is that it's always treated pretty seriously.

If I had a mild concussion, I'm confident I'd not have turned my life around in the way I did.

The strong negative forced me to take action and trigger the paradox.

I'm confident you can do the same with any hardships in your life.

To quote Chris Williamson: "Adversity is a terrible thing to waste."

Know someone who could do with this email? Do them a favour and send it over.

Cheers

Live by design, not default.

James - humans BEING

Found this useful?

→ Share it with a friend.

Or want to learn how to apply these tools to your own routines?

→Book an Exploration Call (30 min call)

Disclaimer:The information I share is for education and general interest only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a substitute for professional care. Please do not start or stop any medication or supplement without guidance from a qualified health professional who knows your personal history.

The views expressed are my own, based on sources available at the time of writing. Logos, images, and short excerpts may appear for identification, critique, or educational purposes; all trademarks and copyrights remain with their owners. I aim to be accurate, and if you believe something here is incorrect, please let me know so I can review and, if needed, correct it.

humans BEING Humans BEING network LTD,

167–169 Great Portland Street

5th Floor

London

W1W 5PF