How to Stop Procrastinating Homework - The Secret Force That's Stopping You

So I just finished watching Budweiser's new Superbowl ad called "Born the Hard Way," and while a lot of people are using it as a means to get into a political flame war, another one, my first reaction when I saw it was that it reminded me of a concept that completely changed the way I viewed self-development, productivity, and life in general. That is the concept of the flinch, as described in Julian Smith— not this Julian Smith, but this Julian Smith's book of the same name.

Now believe it or not, you've already encountered the flinch. You probably encountered the flinch earlier today. You might be encountering the flinch right now. Very few people know it actually exists, let alone what kind of control it has over their lives. The flinch, in a nutshell, is a type of inner resistance inside each and every one of us that causes you to recoil at the thought of discomfort or pain. The flinch is the reason why you wouldn't jump into an ice-cold river right now even if you knew it was perfectly safe.

If I were to tell you right now to stop watching this video and go take an ice-cold shower, you're not gonna listen to me because why would you do that? It makes you tense up—that's the flinch. So you're probably thinking, the flinch doesn't sound so bad. It's the thing that stops me from doing stupid things like taking cold showers.

But here's the thing about the flinch: the flinch is instinct, which means there's no getting rid of it. It's ingrained, originally designed to keep you safe, out of danger's way—to make your guts turn around high cliffs and to run away from predatory animals. It's a survival mechanism. But since we, in our 21st-century Western culture, we're not typically fighting for our lives in a primal sort of sense, the flinch is still there. It's instinctual, right? So it has to focus on something. If you let it, it'll focus on things like going to the gym, doing homework, and maybe even taking a shower—things that aren't life-threatening whatsoever, just uncomfortable.

But the good news is you can beat the flinch. All you need to do is ignore it. Do the hard things anyway, no matter how strong the flinch is, because eventually, the more you do that thing, the less power the flinch will have over you. Eventually, you'll be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Now, the German brewster in the Budweiser commercial I was talking about earlier traveled from Germany to the United States. Back when traveling overseas was a really dangerous thing—in pursuit of a dream, he left his family behind, risking his life and his overall well-being in order to pursue his passion to brew beer. I mean, like, what a great cause, right? That was undoubtedly really uncomfortable.

Now you may not be planning a huge lifestyle change or a big move like the guy in the Budweiser commercial, but the point of Julian Smith's book is that every single day, you’re encountered with little instances where the flinch will cause you to recoil at the thought of anything uncomfortable—things that will actually help you grow. Like picking up a hugely dry, academically constipated Spanish textbook and just sitting there and memorizing vocabulary that hurts the brain but is really good for you.

If the thought of doing something like that makes you just recoil or wince and just shrivel up into a fetal position, I don't even know where I was going with that. If that makes you wince, basically, the flinch has a stronger foothold in your life than you might actually think. Seriously, though, if getting work done is a big struggle in your life, then I recommend you check out Julian Smith's book. I posted a link in the description. It's only 38 pages long. It's there for free, so just give it a read. It might change your life.

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