Transitional Beast-Mode
The Art of Juggling Headspaces
I was sitting in a tiny rental lodge, feeling resistance. It was about dinner time — I knew I should go make some food. I just wanted to sleep, sink into a bed and stay passive. It felt similar to when I’m recently awake, lying in bed, and procrastinating getting up.
On the one hand, making food would shift me into a new state of being, getting going and maybe feeling happier. For part of me, this promise didn’t feel real — not in the way the bed did. I realized I was stuck in a tie between Pragmatic-Analysis and Akrasia.1
I shifted out of this impasse by going into Beast-Mode. Practically, I acted out the first hedonistic impulse to appear — grabbing a date and eating it. Shifting my headspace into Beast-Mode helped ease the short-term resistance — the Beast-Mode shift made the possibility of future state-shifting more real. If I could go into temporary Beast-Mode, then surely I can enter a happy salad-making headspace.
My Akrasia headspace is quite stupid, lacking the theory of mind required to understand that my experience and headspace can shift to enjoy many things that temporarily feel “too much” — such as early-morning cold showers. Other headspaces of mine — including Beast-Mode & Pragmatic-Analysis — are much more mature, and able to account for the preferences & goals I hold in other headspaces.
When I’m in these mature states, I can control my reactions and mindset to a large degree — making mental moves to shift how I relate to things. When I’m in Akrasia, I feel resistance that makes everyday things hard to do — washing dishes becomes a slog through a nasty marsh. When I’m in Beast-Mode or Pragmatic-Analysis, washing dishes can be great fun — accompanied by singing, taking my time to make things sparkle, and enjoying the repetition.
Unfortunately, I easily forget that I can shift mindsets around. I “meld” with the negative thought patterns, forgetting other ways of being. When I’m anxious, I resist taking steps to improve the situation, fearful that I’ll do something to provoke even stronger anxiety. When I’m in Akrasia, I’m unable to imagine what flow is like — thinking that the grass is equally brown on the other side, and further away.
Historically, I’ve used Pragmatic-Analysis to deal with most challenges — with great success. However, it’s less efficient when dealing with Akrasia and Anxiety. The analysis easily turn non-productive, serving to affirm dysfunctional headspaces rather than finding a path forward.
Pragmatic-Analysis tends to frame solutions in plans, such as “I’ll step out of bed, go take a shower, then do some breathwork […]”. At this point, Akrasia starts resisting, either shutting down the thoughts or turning the planning into a daydreaming-ideation state. Shifting into Beast-Mode is a better plan — doing something immediately pleasant that is also invigorating/agency-inducing.
P.S: I’ve recently started exploring/enumerating these states, and might write more on them. Let me know if you are interested.
P.P.S: I’d love to guide you through an inquiry on the things that matter to you. Sessions are 60-90 min, and run in the gifting economy (pay what you want).
Here’s a statement from my client Frans-Lukas, shared with his consent:
“I've attended Jonathan's philosophical guidance sessions four times, and the experience has been transformative. […] I often share the concepts discovered in Jonathan's sessions with my friends, and they've significantly impacted my life.“
“Akrasia” is a stoic term that means something akin to “acting agaist one’s better judgement” — related to procrastination, addiction, bad habits and similar. In this case, I was in a headspace where I was tempted to go into passivity in a way that has negative long-term effects on my wellbeing.