The Power of Impulse

When we hear the word impulse, it almost always references a negative action. Impulsively eating, binging entertainment, drugs, and so on.

There is a very simple rule to impulse that can inform you on your journey to improve and produce things of value.

If the reward is delayed - be impulsive. If the reward is immediate - abstain.

Typically the things that will be the best for us are the ones that are immediately difficult. Because of this, we convince ourselves to wait. We put off the workout, the project, the conversation. It's within our DNA to want to be safe. So logic tells us "Why would you voluntarily put yourself in danger?" Our fight or flight response tells us to stay away from immediate risk.

We use a biased and subjective truth to convince ourselves that we'll do it later, that now just isn't the right time. The tough part is whatever logic we come up with is usually believable. We talk ourselves out of inconvenient and difficult things to save our current self the discomfort.

Part of building a keen personal awareness is in noticing these patterns the moment they arise. If there's something difficult you need to do, beat logic to the punch and do it immediately.

Think about it. When have you ever regretted impulsively doing something difficult? It's a weight off the chest.

In the Martial Arts, we take on a multitude of challenges to achieve desired results.  We endure sparring sessions to learn our weaknesses.  We show up to class even if we're tired and don't feel like it.  Impulse, when it comes to showing up and doing the work, is the missing ingredient that comes before we insert doubt and judgement into equation.

If it's difficult, do it now.  Rarely will we regret the impulse of grit.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
― Viktor E. Frankl