The Weekly Charge⚡#3: You Are What You Do

You are what you think right?

Have you heard this before, or maybe something like it?

Conventional wisdom generally puts thought before action. And it makes sense doesn’t it?

You have to decide to go to do something.

You have to strategize on the next step.

You have to plan to succeed.

And once the thought occurs, you can take action and that action will define you as an individual. Right?

None of these things are necessarily wrong

But is that actually how our psychology works? Does thought influence action?

Or does it work in reverse?

How actions influence our thoughts

A 2010 manuscript gathered together recent scientific studies which looked at how actions might influence thought.

This was done in a variety of different settings depending on the study.

Of particular interest was a study which looked at the relationship between physical gestures during a speech and cognition pattern changes measured by changes in inflection, tone and speech pattern.

What they found was surprising.

Generally, when speaking, we tend to think of gesturing as providing visual reinforcement of the words which are originating from our thoughts.

The researchers found it works both ways though.

The speaker’s perception of what they were saying changed noticeably depending on the level, amplitude and the type of gestures they were performing.

To give an example, simply by deliberately acting out confident gestures, speakers were able to increase their own self-confidence and trust in what they were saying, all else remaining equal.

Wow. That’s pretty cool

From the wisdom of children

This actually shouldn’t be all that surprising though.

Remember as kid, when you were first learning how to count?

Did you do it all in your head?

No, of course not.

You used your hands and exclaimed “this many!” proudly as you counted the fingers correctly.

It turns out, the physical counting isn’t just a crutch for a still developing mind.

Researchers also specifically looked at information retention in children who used physical gestures while learning something new vs those who relied purely on verbal or conceptional frameworks.

Unsurprisingly, the children who used gestures universally learned the information faster, and retained it better, than the ones who didn’t.

This suggests that physical actions impact our perception of new concepts.

Why is this happening?

The research on this still fairly new, but it likely has to do with feedback loops with our neurotransmitters.

Thoughts, emotions, feelings, motivation…these aren’t abstract concepts with no clear origination.

We may not understand the exact mechanisms behind them, but we do know they all originate through a complex dance of neurotransmitters, hormones and other biological signals.

And it appears that through deliberate action, we can modulate the expression of that dance to a desired outcome, even if we don’t know the steps yet.

OK, but so what?

Indeed, this all seems a bit esoteric doesn’t it? But it really has some profound implications.

1. Physical actions can accelerate learning and retention of new information

2. Physical actions an influence how we think about ourselves and how we think about the action itself providing a positive (or negative) feedback loop

3. A simple change in gesturing while talking can make us more confident

4. Physical actions can change our mood, emotions and even our motivation to accomplish the action itself

It appears we may be more of a product of our actions than we thought (pun intended 😀)

Here’s your Weekly Charge ⚡

Yep, it’s as simple as that.

Thought follows action and I want you to take advantage of that to increase your motivation, change your mindset, or even become a different person!

Feeling unmotivated to work out? Just start doing some pushups.

Nervous during that speech? Practice power poses.

Struggling to get started on that project? Just start going through the motions even if you don’t know exactly where they’ll take you.

Feeling down or have a low mood? Do a little happy dance in your kitchen (seriously).

I think you’ll be shocked at the impact that starting with action instead of thought will have on your life!

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