How to Conquer Your Monkey Mind

You may not realise it, but you are in a constant battle with your monkey mind, every day.

The monkey mind is the part of our brain which craves reward over anything else, it the part of our brain which loves the rush of dopamine, and will think of any excuse to get it.

It is what distracts you from everything important in your life, it is the reason you always watch 'one more episode' of that show before you go to bed.

It is the reason we love TV, sex, junk food, social media, video games, and many more things.

The monkey mind is, however, an essential part of human biology, and we must learn to tame it, to negotiate with it, and to live in harmony with it.

What is the right approach?

Well, when people get into self-development, they have a tendency to try and cut out all of the things in their life which aren't necessarily pushing them forward, and try to focus on work, work, work.

This isn't the right approach. If you cut out every behaviour which satisfies the monkey brain and its ever present cravings, you aren't going to last long.

The monkey brain will catch up to you, as it needs pleasure to be satisfied, it needs to know we are living in the right way according to our survival instinct and our deepest biological impulses.

The monkey brain is a fundamental part of human psychology, so as I mentioned before, we must learn to negotiate with it if we want to live a fulfilling, productive life.

The best way to do this is by hacking the reward system of the brain, and forming habits. A habit will only form if there is a reward at the end of it.

For example, you can't expect yourself to study every day without fail, if you don't have reward yourself for it afterwards.

How do I reward myself?

There are different types of rewards, some are more beneficial than others.

We have some rewards which feel great, and satisfy the monkey brain in the moment, but will have a negative effect later on. These include things like eating junk food, drinking alcohol, or watching pornography.

You should try and avoid these types of rewards, and only indulge every now and again. They may feel amazing whilst you're doing them, but as we all know they are not a great thing going forward.

There are other, more positive rewards however, which can satisfy the monkey brain in the moment, but also provide a more positive impact further down the line.

These may include spending time with friends or your partner, as this relieves stress and is good for your mental health whilst also providing stimulus for the monkey brain.

You could also go and play some sport, or take part in an activity that you love. For me, this is wake boarding, I head down to the wake park every week and I love it.

The monkey brain loves this kind of stuff, but it is also beneficial for our physical and mental health, so it's a win-win.

Habits

So, the take away here is that you need to form good habits, and the only way you can do this is by reinforcing the habit with a reward which will keep the monkey brain satisfied.

After a while, the monkey brain may even begin to crave these good habits, as it becomes aware of the reward which will follow soon after, this proves how powerful the reward system of the brain can be, and how you can use it as a tool for productivity, self improvement, and happiness.

Check out the video below by Improvement Pill, a great YouTube channel of self-improvement. This summarises a lot of the ideas I have mentioned here.

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