Do Hard Things: The Anterior Mid-Cingulate Cortex

Recently, I’ve been studying the Anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC). It’s this profound little portion in your brain that essentially controls will. It’s interesting, because just like a muscle you can make your aMCC grow or shrink by actively doing things you don’t want to do.

Let me give you an example: if you’ve never had an ice-bath, perhaps the notion of even getting in one sounds daunting. That’s good – REALLY good. This means you have an opportunity to seriously grow your aMCC because you would be doing something that you don’t want to. You should think of the aMCC as the center for will in your brain, the more often you do thing you do not want to, the more capable you will be in doing harder things you do not want to.

I remember the second time I jumped out of a plane — it was significantly harder than the first time. My brain was literally fighting my body to move toward the jump door, so the instructor basically carried me out. Yeah, I definitely didn’t want to do it, but I certainly benefited from the jump.

The brain has high plasticity and can improve or diminish on based on the smallest of things. This is why most experts recommend that you start your day off with some simple productive task because it is likely to cascade your day into a highly productive one. Here’s my recommendation for some small things that can drastically improve your day:

• Take an ice bath (or cold shower) as soon as you get up
• Make your bed
• Do some journaling

The important part here is that you do something that you DO NOT want to do. It should be difficult for you to do whatever task that you are setting out to do because that is what grows your aMCC. As soon as that task is no longer difficult you will no longer receive the growth benefits from it because your brain has literally developed in size.

So to recap, or for those of you that are looking for a TLDR:

Doing activities that challenges you grows your anterior mid-cingulate cortex and makes you more tenacious.

I’m curious, I’ve shared some of the things that I do first thing in the morning. What activities challenge you?