According to Doug Lisle’s, The Pleasure Trap, the primitive parts of all animal brains are pre-programmed with what is termed as the Motivational Triad. To:

• Seek pleasure
• Avoid Pain
• Conserve Energy

The Triad has evolved over millions of years for some animals and tens of thousands of years for humans. The Primitive (or Reptilian) Brain reacts quickly to stimulus – way faster than our thinking, reasoning brain – and way more powerful. The Fight or Flight response (Avoid Pain) is an example of this evolution. It’s why you can react without even thinking.

In his book The Emotional Brain, Joseph Ledoux makes the case that the pre-programming of our brains goes much further than just the Triad. When the Primitive Brain is in power and reacts to something, it CONVINCES the the reasoning, CONSCIOUS parts of our brain that it was the right thing to do.

The conscious, cognitive, reasoning part of our brain is what keeps us out of the trouble our Primitive Brains could get us into. The Frontal Cortex evaluates situations and decisions to make sense out of them. Jonathon Haidt in The Happiness Hypothesis makes the case that the reasoning brain is like a rider on an elephant. We exercise very little control over our Primitive Brain. Some less than others.

Conscientiousness is one of the Big 5 Personality Traits and people high in Conscientiousness are typically self-disciplined, hard-working and goal driven. They identify an objective and then apply themselves until achieved.

There is a human tendency to stay with something after we have put a lot of time, energy, money etc. into it – even when it no longer makes sense.

After a significant amount of money is lost, some gamblers will stay the course only to increase their pain.

Some stock traders will watch stocks go down and down and won’t consider getting out hoping “the bottom is in” only to see it trek lower.

Owning a car that is a lemon is a trying experience. I’ve witnessed people paying month after month for repairs. It’s almost like they have accepted their lot and automatically, without thinking, keep dumping money into a POS.

There’s a time to cut your losses and run. Many people just can’t seem to find that point.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy (SCF) can be applied to so many parts of life: Education, careers, relationships, home ownership – it is a universal concept.

The fallacy also occurs with diet and exercise.

You’re eating right and you’re exercising. You’re maintaining a healthy weight and you’re getting the rest you need. Above all, you’re feeling pretty damn good.

And you’re not just feeling good physically, but you’re also feeling good mentally about what you have accomplished for your health. You should. You did good.

Pat yourself on the back because not everyone is able to do what you’ve done. For one reason or another they can’t establish a good plan and then stick to it.

Perhaps you are one of the 10,000 people per day in the U.S. that are turning retirement age and are channeling Johnny Paycheck in letting their bosses know that they can give your job to someone else.

Good for you. So what’s next?

Perhaps your Vision Board for retirement includes a picture of you on a beach drinking a Mai Tai and watching the waves roll in. Or maybe a golf course in Boca Raton.

No worries. No stress. Just sunshine.

Not everyone would get bored with this routine after a few weeks, but I would. So what’s next after that?

I’ve been lifting weights since I was 14 years old. I’ve long forgotten how it feels to be a beginner in strength training.

And I’m totally ignorant when it comes to empathizing with a woman in her 50’s trying to get in shape by lifting barbells for the first time.

Well, maybe not totally ignorant. I’m learning.

If you read my blog, you know I workout with three 50-something women. I keep playing with the workouts and the class format. We experiment with all sorts of things like eccentrics and drop sets added to the routine. For the last few months we’ve done Lift 4 on Beachbody which is a combination of hypertrophy workouts and HIIT cardio.

These women have stuck with me through all of this. Go figure.

This month, we went back to the basics of building strength: Lifting heavy, pushing limits, writing stuff down.