One lesson I keep learning the hard way is that memory cannot be relied on when it comes to confidence and self development.
I've got a little hypothesis about this, I dunno how scientifically accurate it is…
The hippocampus and the amygdala are right next to each other in the brain. One controls memory and the other controls fear (simplistically speaking). And I believe that fear can turn off memory.
So your fears and your insecurities can make you temporarily forget that you intended to do something brave. And so you’ll notice that your intention to act with more courage just keeps sort of slipping off the radar.
You’ll be thinking, “I’m going to be more honest today”, and you genuinely mean it. And yet, you get to the end of the day and it just didn’t happen. It wasn’t like you thought of doing it and changed your mind. It literally didn’t occur to you.
You can easily remember to do comfortable things, like watch your favourite show or pick up some chocolate on your way home from work. But when it comes to uncomfortably valuable things, suddenly you’re struggling to keep it in your head long enough to act on it.
Do not rely on memory.
Use to-do lists, alarms, reminders, visual warnings; make sure that your memory does not need to be working properly for you to live with integrity.
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