The Blue Dot Effect is a self-imposed prison that we willingly confine ourselves to, hindering our progress and growth.

Hearing about the Blue Dot Effect reminded me of a situation that made me go “Aha!”.

When I used to work +60 hours a week in a restaurant, I would complain about how little free time I had and how annoying the customers were. Now working only 45 hours a week with significantly fewer annoying customers and still, I find myself complaining about how boring the work is.

“When we reduce serious problems, small problems become serious“

What is the Blue Dot Effect?

As we try to improve, our failures and obstacles can hit us harder than they used to.

Researchers have discovered that the Blue Dot Effect results from our brain’s tendency to focus on negative stimuli. Meaning we long for dramas in our lives and our brains are conditioned to look for problems.

Here’s a short video showing the experiment done by a bunch of Harvard psychologists.

The negative effects on your progress

Try going back 2-3 years and think about how you used to spend your day-to-day life.

Before starting your journey to become better and consuming all the self-help knowledge. What were your thoughts on problems at the workplace? Did you pay any attention to your physical or mental health? How often have excuses for why you shouldn’t bother trying?

Now back to the present moment.

You’re still struggling with consistency and procrastination. But the knowledge you have gained over the years and the small actions you took towards improving your life have guided you towards this post.

The failures you’ve had along the way are something unique to you.

Your frustrations, anger, and hopelessness are the things that will help you breakthrough the bottleneck you’re in.

Stop thinking how slow your progress has been and what you “should’ve achieved” by now.

That’ll only increase your dissatisfaction and slow down your progress.

And when that happens you fall into the trap I used to be in:

• Buying courses that claimed to make me a millionaire within a year
• Learning skills to a bare minimum and expecting results
• Constantly comparing with others
• Chasing the new “hot thing”

Hardwired for pessimism

“Why make such a big deal about it?” My friend said.

After seeing me drown myself in misery for eating a piece of chocolate high in sugar. I was anxious the whole day about how many calories I needed to burn or if this would ruin my 12% body fat.

 “the better our lives get, the pettier our grievances become” (ClippingChains)

That seems to be the reason why the news pushes out all the negative events as quickly as possible.

You see people reacting to it “OMG” and getting furious about it.

Most of us rarely bother learning more about it and have fun making assumptions.

On a wider scale

Our quality of life is better now than ever before.

Yet, there have been record numbers of people experiencing depression, loneliness, and anxiety.

I’ve even come across several people getting triggered or stressed by people liking their posts on Instagram.

In a video about this effect, Mark Manson explained his time in New Zealand.

People there were protesting outside of the prime minister’s home, angry and dramatizing about a recent decision she made. Apparently, there wasn’t enough funding for bus lanes and the people were upset to the point where they wanted her removed.

Unhealthy comparisons

You can’t help but compare yourself with others.

It’s normal for athletes, actors, and people who are trying to become the best in a certain field. But most of us(including me) compare with the wrong things.

It’s basically like a double-edged sword but you can make use of it.

The important thing is, that it helps us put things into perspective and help find what areas we can improve on.

How do you make a healthy comparison?

• Focus on their work ethic, not their lifestyle.
• Admire their dedication, not their achievements.
• Concentrate on what you want, not the standards society has placed on others

Benchmark for satisfaction

Our brain tends to adapt to events and normalize the things we are experiencing.

Someone who’s been in a toxic relationship will find it weird and suspicious when they’re suddenly being treated nicely.

Or when you’re used to getting a certain number of likes on your Instagram posts or how hard life is when you have a functioning brain and all your limbs.

It’s like a bar for what pain and suffering gets lower when there is less of it.

I used to be satisfied by being at an acceptable weight and eating less junk food.

But now unless I have visible abs and exercise 3-4 times a week, I feel like shit.

Professional and material success generally doesn’t improve well-being. Also when our lives get too comfortable, we become dissatisfied or stressed about things that aren’t as serious as they seem. We’re almost wired never to be content with ourselves.

It is right to be contented with what we have, never with what we are.

Mackintosh

Sometimes, I listen to old people’s stories that go like “Back in my day…”

Choosing your problems

Problems give us a sense of meaning and when you look for problems you’ll find them.

Also, why does it seem like once you solve a problem, another one taps you on the back?

Whenever I hopped from job to job to a “better” working environment, even if was closer to my home, higher pay and fewer working hours. There would always be something for me to grind my teeth about.

Choose your problems wisely and as Mark Manson says “You only have limited fucks to give”.

Emotional Issues

Is it necessary to solve them?

We all have our emotional issues. Social anxiety, insecurities, PTSD, ADHD you name it.

But that’s the thing, the definition of said issue has expanded so much that having a huge stress in your job is now considered a trauma. I wonder when I suffered a knee injury for a year and me being sad and irritated about it, were those feelings I felt at the time can be called depression?

Unless it’s harming everyone around you and making it so difficult that you can’t even get out of bed.

Then it will serve you better to focus on bigger issues than spending time “handling” your feelings about past events or how empty you feel on the inside everyday.

It’s not about avoiding or keeping your negative emotions away.

It’s more about fighting back and using it as an accelerator for a better future.

To be quite honest, if you’re reading this then my problems and yours aren’t that big of a deal. So these labels are just something we would like to believe in.

The Solution

Take a step back and stop obsessing over getting results so quickly.

Going on the journey of improving myself, getting leaner, becoming a better writer, and earning millions. I focused on insignificant problems.

• Fixing my morning routine
• Looking for tips and tricks before starting to create posts
• Getting “more” knowledge through podcasts or online courses
• Finding the best diet (intermittent fasting, keto diet, one meal a day, etc…)

These problems could be solved by simply focusing on the “hard” work I’ve been avoiding.

• Writing 300+words daily
• Implementing ideas I’ve learned immediately
• Not caring what others will say about my actions and ideas
• Counting calories and moving my body more (i.e. walking)

As I write this, I still struggle with taking the necessary steps toward my goals after learning about the Blue dot effect.

I’ve realized that whenever I encounter new obstacles along the way, I should be grateful for it. That problem only appeared because I had reached a new level.

A well-lived life isn’t about eliminating problems but creating better problems.