For 10x more energy, do this (no caffeine)...

For more energy, close your open loops.

Why it matters…

Unfinished tasks, no matter how small, drain mental energy you could be using elsewhere.

Examples of open loops:

- The loan not paid off

- The passport not renewed

- The article not published

- The person’s number you didn’t ask for

- The bedroom not cleaned

- The relationship not ended

- The message not responded to

The upside for you…

Open loops need energy to survive.

But closing them releases it.

What you could do with that energy:

- Enjoy life instead of worrying

- Be more present in your conversations

- Work harder

- Be happier

- Build self esteem and confidence

What science says…

Putting things off doesn't protect you, it amplifies stress.

- In one study, participants were given a choice; a strong electric shock now or a mild one later.

- 70% chose now.

Their reasoning?

They wanted to get it over with.

The deeper explanation?

Prolonged uncertainty hurts more than immediate discomfort.

As the saying goes: bad news is better than no news.

But, of course, we don't always act like those participants.

When overwhelmed, we avoid deciding.

Yet a decision is all that's needed to regain control.

What to do next…

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1.) Admit you have open loops.

2.) Write them all down on a piece of paper/phone notes.

3.) Pick one (start with the scariest).

4.) Get specific, not fuzzy, on what needs doing: “I will (action) at (time/place).”

5.) Do it now or schedule it (when the time comes, do it. Don't negotiate with your emotions).

6.) Repeat.

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But if you get stuck, remember this story…

A man and his son were driving home until they broke down on a pitch-black motorway. So they had to leave the car to find the closest phone dock and call for help. The son got a torch from the car and started shining it in the distance, but he couldn’t see a thing.

- “Dad this is useless” he said in frustration “I can’t even see into the distance with this thing”.

Disgruntled, tired and fed up, the son just wanted to go home.

But then his Dad came over to him, grabbed the torch and shone it on the ground in front of him.

- "You don’t need to see a mile up the road," he said. "All you need to do is put one foot in front of the other. So long as you can see enough to do that, you’ll be OK."

The bottom line…

You don't need to fix your whole life; just close one loop at a time.

In other words: to forget the bigger picture, look at everything close up.

Go deeper…

In the early 1900s, the Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin realised something at a restaurant.

- Waiters tend to recall orders that are still unpaid better than those that have been paid.

He then described this observation to his graduate student, Bluma Zeigarnik.

Intrigued, Bluma looked into it and discovered it was true.

The Zeigarnik effect = we remember incomplete tasks better than completed ones.

That mental tension keeps the loop open until its closed.

The takeaway…

Close the loop. Reclaim the energy.

Or be tormented, endlessly.

That's all for this week.

Enjoy closing your loops.

Lew

P.s. you can join the waitlist for my first product here.

P.p.s the face u pull at urself when you realise ur lowkey lecturing urself in the newsletters u send to other people.

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