Closing Open Loops
Intention is something I'm still learning, one day at a time. What I wear, how I present myself, what I eat, what my day actually consists of, even how to show up as a good friend in the middle of it all. It's part of why Pilates clicked for me the way it did because it's not just movement; it's intention with how you breathe, how you hold yourself, all of it.
Two quotes run through my head on repeat:
"Close your open loops”
"When you do the things you told yourself you would do, you gain more confidence in yourself."
I think about these more than I'd like to admit. When you're someone who's always trying to be a little better than the person you were yesterday, it's extremely easy to get overwhelmed by everything going on around you.
An open loop is basically anything unfinished that your brain refuses to let go of. There's actual psychology behind it, called the Zeigarnik effect, and it says our brains hold onto unfinished tasks way harder than finished ones.
It's not that I'm bad at remembering things. It's that my brain is doing exactly what it's wired to do, like reminding me, over and over, that something's still open. Remember to text that person. Remember to pick up that medicine in two weeks. I need to figure out how to bake my own bagels at some point.
Random thoughts that show up throughout the day, things I can't even act on right now, but they sit there anyway, ruminating. Or the task I said I'd do today that gets pushed three days out, and then never happens. It just stays there unchecked and taking up space!
One of the ways I try to close these loops is by writing things down the second they come to me. I brain dump everything onto paper and sort through it afterward. It's how I get to a clean slate, for the day or the week. Finding a system that actually works for you matters more than the system itself.
Doing the things I said I would do is what quietly builds confidence. That quote I just told you, I think about 24/7. When you talk yourself out of something enough times, that ugh, I never did this feeling creeps in. I said I would, but I didn't. And then there's the low hum of anxiety that follows and the feeling that you should have. I'm a visual person, and I've come to accept that my brain, smart as it is, was never built to hold everything. So I've leaned on processes instead. Brain dumps have saved me more times than I can count. So has a good whiteboard jot. I even keep a running "waiting on" list, which are the things I need to keep in mind, but that I can take out of my head for now.
I think this is where intention shows up in the smaller things too, not just the big to-do list items. The outfit is put on with purpose instead of grabbing whatever's clean, or your space is kept clear instead of letting it pile up. Those are open loops too, in their own way! Closing even the small ones is its own quiet kind of follow-through!
And if you aren't sticking to what you set out to do, try to look at what's making it hard to complete it. If you constantly put your clothes on the bed after you wear them and you hate it, put a basket next to your bed instead. If it doesn't work, change the process. Something I'm still learning.
What’s the Catch?
Trying to get rid of your open loops is a PROCESS
