I’ve started teaching a class called “The Science of Doing Hard Things” …

The TLDR? In the face of hard @#$@, our brains follow predictable patterns—some that hold us back and others that move us forward. Understanding this neurological “cha-cha”* can help us navigate our personal, work, health, and any other challenges that come up with greater awareness and resilience. 

 *One of my favorite quotes is that you “can’t dance without moving forward and backward”!! 

This topic is super personal to me because right now, I feel like I’ve done a lot of hard things at the same time: building a company, taking care of my health issues, moved across state lines, planning a large wedding in 4 months, freezing embryos, showing up for my friends and family, trying to keep up with the news, read, you get it. 

I feel like we’re all doin’ “The Most” as the kids on social say.

So in an effort to explain why sometimes, hard times can be like snacking on raw broccoli (maybe not the thing you’d choose to eat, but you feel good when you’re done), let’s get into it: 

Your brain is fundamentally a pattern-making machine. This evolutionary feature helps you navigate the world efficiently, but it comes with trade-offs. When you're exhausted, stressed, or overwhelmed—as anyone might be when moving to a new city like Philadelphia (GO BIRDS), planning a wedding (on a budget), or managing business tradeoffs (daily)—your brain automatically falls back on mental shortcuts to conserve energy.

These shortcuts, or heuristics are often skewed toward the negative—an evolutionary adaptation that helped our ancestors survive by prioritizing threats. The challenge is that these negative mental patterns create a self-reinforcing cycle:

1. Fatigue triggers the use of mental shortcuts: When tired or stressed, your brain conserves energy by relying on automatic thought patterns.

2. These shortcuts trend negative: These mental shortcuts typically emphasize threats and problems.

3. Which then depletes us further: Negative thoughts activate your fight-or-flight response, consuming even more energy and deepening fatigue.

This "doom loop" can make challenging periods feel insurmountable. Our tired brain sees threats everywhere, triggering stress responses that makes us even more tired, which further impairs our thinking. OY! 

But don’t worry people, this is a Mental Fitness newsletter after all and we’re going to look on the bright side of challenge right about…. 

NOW…the neuroscience of doing hard things reveals a fascinating paradox: these toxic @#$-storms that trigger our doom loops can also create the conditions for impressive neural growth and quick psychological development. In other words, there are 4 pretty cool potential side effects of doing “hard”:

1. Building the Resilience Muscle: Resilience isn't necessarily a trait you’re born with, but a practiced skill of “getting up and moving forward” when challenges hit. Each time you face adversity and press on—you're strengthening neural pathways associated with persistence.

2. Flexing that Confidence: Self-efficacy—or your belief in your ability to accomplish specific tasks—grows primarily through experience. The process of tackling difficult challenges and seeing yourself succeed builds confidence in a way that little else can. In other words, doing hard !@#$ prepares you to do more hard @#$@.

3. Experiencing Post-Traumatic Growth: Research in positive psychology has documented that many people experience significant positive change, or “growth” following life's difficulties. This "post-traumatic growth" has been shown to help folks develop new strengths, deeper relationships, greater appreciation for life, and enhanced meaning.

4. Strengthening Your Brain's "Willpower Center": We’ve talked about this one before, but perhaps most fascinating is how difficult tasks specifically strengthen the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC). This brain region, sometimes called the "willpower center," plays a crucial role in motivation, decision-making, and cognitive control. Studies show that repeated exposure to doing things “you do not want to do”—like engaging with challenging situations that require tenacity—actually grows this part of the brain—essentially building up your brain's capacity to handle future difficulties with greater ease.

Given all going on in my life, I would have the right to be shoveling down eclairs for self-care, Netflixing nightly, and skipping the gym because I should “do what feels right.” But instead, I have found that by sticking to my hard routines, eating my (unfortunately) low-sugar diet, pushing myself to the gym, and deliberately seeking opportunities that push my boundaries and capabilities, this period has yielded unexpected strength. Each obstacle I have overcome has built confidence for the next…

Sometimes people ask me “what will I do if MYNDY doesn’t work out?”

These days, my resilience, PTG, aMCC, and other letters are so strong I tell them that it’s not an option. If MYNDY doesn’t work out….I’ll continue to do MYNDY-like-things. The result of doing hard things isn’t simply survival, but emerging with greater capabilities and belief in yourself (and in my case, my mission)—a neurologically enhanced capacity to handle whatever comes next.

So the next time you’re face something difficult, remember that your brain has two paths available: 

1. The doom loop of negativity or 

2. The growth path of learning

By understanding these mental patterns, you gain the power to consciously choose your approach. Next time you have a choice, I hope that you choose #2 → transforming life's inevitable bull@#$ into opportunities for your brain to become stronger, more flexible, and better equipped for whatever the future holds.

In other words….I hope you dance. 

As always, with heart,
Lissy

^PERSPIRATION

I’ve picked an extra hard riddle for you today so we can flex those mind muscles (and build a little bit of that ol’ aMCC!) 

“What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?”

^CELEBRATION

^{_{This is a way to celebrate your mind and the world because there’s not enough good stuff shared these days!}}

We launched a new format for our Mind Moment series: We did a LinkedIn Live last week with the incredible Jason Levine, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Founder @ Focused Physio!

Cool news: We taped it! If you ever feel like you’re sitting all day, and both your mind, and body, get stuck…this one’s for you. Mental fog is directly connected to your physical state. This short set of exercises—involving a few physical movements that you can do at your desk—will jumpstart both your body and mind in as little as 1 minute, no fancy equipment needed.

To learn a bit more about Jason—who studied anatomy @ Harvard Medical School and holds a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the MGH Institute of Health Professions— and the ways in which he can help you and your body feel your best, you can find him here on LinkedIn and here @ Focused Physio.