False Plateaus

Beware of False Plateaus.

What do you mean beware of false plateaus? 

To explain what I mean, let's imagine a scenario. We will take a person... To protect his identity, let's call him Ike IcUllen. Ike is a very intelligent and ambitious individual who set his sights on achieving a well defined career goal, let's say becoming a doctor. Ike worked incredibly hard, delaying gratification for years and sacrificing other dreams for the sake of achieving this singular goal. Mike for the most part felt fulfilled and motivated in this pursuit. His sacrifices were done with little hesitation, there was a compelling feeling congruency in his behavior that was inline with his identity, and he felt a passion and purpose that made the delayed gratification feel somewhat morally righteous and dare he say masochistically gratifying. 

However, when Ike finally achieved his goal, there was a feeling of hollowness. The big "hell fucking yeah, now I'm satiated" feeling never materialized. Even when Ike broke down his accomplishments into smaller steps, he found himself unsatisfied and listless, causing him to plunge immediately into the next task or goal to stay on course. 

Was Ike's brain broken? Maybe... but not for this reason. Ike was pursuing false plateaus. He was grinding away with the expectation that if he just climbed the next proverbial mountain, there would internal peace, tranquility, and an ever lasting sense of accomplishment. His anticipated sense of reward far exceeded any reward he ever felt. Why was Ike on this unsatisfying treadmill?

I think the answer lies in our evolution. Our human brains are programed for optimizing reproduction and for problem solving. An untrained brain without a focused problem to dedicate itself to can become quite unpleasant to experience. We crave the anticipation of a reward far more than we enjoy the reward itself. Our brain dangles a carrot to push ourselves to achieve, giving a false promise that the accomplishment will be pleasant, pervasive, and permanent. Thus, if we are not working directly on solving a problem and getting that carrot we find of value, we can begin experiencing the state of listlessness, anhedonia, and a general lack of hunger for life.

This harkens back to and further elaborates on the concepts of the "If I could just... everything would be better" trap and the "wherever you go... there you are" concept. Both of these are forms of and realizations from the false plateau concept respectively. 

What is the take home here? How do I use the false plateau concept to my advantage. First, be aware of it. Then you won't be surprised when the glorious feeling you expected from achieving a long sought after goal is fleeting or never manifests to begin with. Second, focus on the grind. This concept allows you to refocus yourself on the enjoyment of the day to day grind. You can position yourself to be in your flow by intentionally putting yourself in 'eu-stressful' problem solving situations with the awareness that this is where the best substance of life exists.