Wisdom Wednesday #4 - Don't "Lock In"

I recall countless times when I had to finish my homework, a big project, study for a major assessment—the list goes on. I often found myself repeating the cliché, “lock in.” At first, this illusion of motivation sounds empowering, but that is exactly what it is: an illusion. This act of dedicating every ounce of willpower left to becoming laser-focused is an unrealistic standard commonly set for one’s self, one that hurts you more than helps.

In reality, “locking in” adds unnecessary stress to an already difficult situation. Rather than suddenly unlocking some hidden power within us—as is common belief—it pushes us toward burnout, inflexibility, and unrealistic standards. These pressures only worsen when things don’t go as planned, which reinforces the need to build towards sustainable, healthy work and study habits that can only be built gradually over time.

Unfortunately, this mentality has become widespread, and many—including myself—have become a victim to this narrow mindset. I know that relying on such a deceivingly easy solution seems ideal, but starting to strive for regular, healthy habits will be beneficial in the long run. It eliminates the need to “lock in,” and activating that productive flow state will become much easier.

Through building consistent habits, you set yourself up for a naturally occurring rhythm and for long-term success without burnout. Being a victim of the “lock in” mentality, I need to work on this as well. Whenever I struggle to activate the flow state, I always become frustrated and repeat the same phrase over and over.

“Just lock in, it is not that hard.” This is such a negative viewpoint to hold since it only harms me. I become stressed with finishing the task at hand, which is typically homework. I procrastinate whatever I need to do more and more until it’s late at night and the phrase finally does its magic. But once it does, it is late at night, meaning I lose sleep and become more paranoid over something I could have done several hours ago.

This loss of sleep hindered my performance the next day, and made me more stressed, less alert, and lazier. When it came time to complete that task later that evening, the vicious cycle repeated. “Just lock in.” Yet, it never happened. So, I told myself that over and over and procrastinated the task. When I finally completed it, it was even later at night, and I lost more sleep. My health and motivation kept deteriorating until I finally burned out. But, all I needed to do was “lock in,” right?

Undeniably, long-term, healthy habits are challenging, but not impossible. To help combat the “lock in” mentality and build healthier habits, here are some strategies that can make a difference:

1. Start small. The first step to performing up to par regularly is to actually start performing. This is a daunting task, but recognizing that you are capable of completing small, manageable tasks will give you some confidence to start gradually building upon them.

2. Set specific goals. A big issue for many is setting broad goals that do not have a clear outline, such as plainly “studying more.” It becomes much harder to find the motivation to accomplish something as vague as this, which is why it is important to start to strive for specific goals such as “study for 45 minutes as soon as you come home from school.”

3. Consistency, not perfection. Personally affected by this, I felt like it needs to be addressed. Over the summer, I set a goal where I would study for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for the SAT. Though I completed this for about 3 weeks, I once broke my cycle by going on vacation. I promised myself that I would dedicate a substantial amount of time to studying while away from home, and I never did. I strived to complete those 2 hours as I had before, and not having enough time to perfectly accomplish that, I stopped studying for the rest of the summer. Rather than completing some amount everyday like I had, I became concerned with staying perfect, and I never returned to that rhythm afterward. I did not recognize that it was okay to miss a day or face setbacks, which ruined my flow.

4. Reward yourself. Building in small rewards for sticking to difficult habits will train you to enjoy this tedious process more. This helps continue the cycle.

5. Be patient. I left this point last because it is the most important to building long-term habits. Similarly to “locking in,” you can not expect instantaneous results. Long-term events take time to construct, so staying patient retains that motivation and forms consistency.

I hope this newsletter was able to help you recognize that the “lock in” mentality is harmful. Please continue to build healthy work and study habits. Doing so will avoid burnout, lessen stress, and improve your health overall. Thank you for reading, and I look forward to next week’s edition. Peace and love.

- Jaime Paladi, Public Relations
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