Doing something Difficult

I recently listened to a podcast by Andrew Huberman(neuroscientist, podcaster) where he talked about the way to unlocking the full potential of your brain and building resilience can come through doing something difficult and ultimately uncomfortable for you. This got me thinking about my own expereince with discomfort as I used to face it everyday in my life as a professional rugby player (cue some big unit running full tilt at me) and now its a bit harder to manufacture.

“Huberman explains that doing something difficult, especially something that requires effort, focus, and discomfort can reset the brain by increasing neuroplasticity and resilience. Engaging in challenging tasks (like cold exposure, intense exercise, or deep focus work) activates the prefrontal cortex and releases neuromodulators like dopamine and norepinephrine. This process enhances motivation, improves stress tolerance, and helps rewire the brain for growth and adaptability. Essentially, pushing through difficulty signals to the brain that it can handle adversity, making future challenges easier to overcome.”

Ice baths are very “in” right now so seem like the best thing for you in terms of reseting the brain and getting you set up to handle what the day throws at you.  They could work for you, I’ve however always viewd ice baths as a performance tool.  Everyday after training throughout my rugby career I subjected myself to jumping into freezing cold water for the sake of recovery and performance.  Did it make a difference, I’m not sure.  Did it make me feel any worse, definitely not.  Did it have any positive effects, I dont recall getting the hits of Dopamine and positive feelings jumping out of the ice baths, on a hot day yes it was a great way to cool off but it didnt have the same affect on my brain as what is claimed by all the ice bath experts around the world.  Maybe it was because I had just finished a really tough training session or game and was already reaping the benefits of those hormones, but I just felt that ice baths just didnt do anything for me.  That meant I kept that mindset when people talked about, which they do alot, having an ice bath and how its so good for them.  I sterotyped these people into being weak minded and unable to control their own emotions without submitting themselves to some cold water.  

I used to do plenty of things that were difficult and that I didnt really want to do during my rugby career, now, however I’ve come to realise that without that little bit of discomfort or difficulty in my life, I seem to get bored easily in my day to day life, and tend feel a bit sorry for myself.  If however, i’ve got up early and gone for a tough run (and I like my sleep so it is difficult) or perhaps pushed that extra bit harder on the bike, I generally face the day in a much better light and really appreciate what life throws at me.

I guess, the fact we are now faced with everything we do becoming easier for us.  Travel, food, reading the news, watching our favourite series.  We aren’t as used to having to struggle through something as perhaps we once were.  Getting back to what Huberman talks about, it doesnt matter what the difficult thing is that you do, what does matter is that you don’t really want to do it.  By then forcing yourself to push through the discomfort and completing whatever it was that you didnt want to do, you are building more neurons that show that you can adapt to challenges, and are heading towards building up your resilience.  

Now, I’m not going to be jumping back into an ice bath anytime soon, but full power to you, if you are doing it because its hard and you think it sucks then you are rewiring your brain for the better.  If you’re doing it because you want to post about it on instagram then I’ve got no time for you.  

Go do something difficult.

KJ