It’s Thursday. 5:30 am. Your peaceful slumber is most rudely disturbed by the blaring beep of your alarm clock. With half shut eyes you reach over and hit the snooze button. It can’t be 5:30 already! Surely have a few more hours before your 10 mile tempo run! Nevertheless, you know you must get up and get it done. There’s nothing worse than that sluggish feeling that comes after a missed workout. Aaah, but then a little whisper in your brain says, “Hey buddy. You’d better stay in bed. You got to bed late and you have a long day ahead. Ten miles at lactate threshold pace is tough and…wait, isn’t that a little soreness you’re feeling from strength training yesterday? Go back to sleep.”

One brain, two voices. Why is your brain feeding you opposing viewpoints? Which one will win the argument?

Here’s how this works:

Our brains have different ways of processing information and producing a response. Let’s take a look at two systems in our brain- the cortex and the primitive brain structure.

Our prefrontal cortex is the logical, “thinking” part of our brain. This is the section of our brain that controls our impulses, makes daily decisions, and learns rules. It has our best possible future in mind and can make a plan that makes sense long term, rather than in the moment. (“If you get out of bed right now you won’t have to work through feelings of regret later. You will gain strength from today’s run that will likely aid you in your race.”)

Our primitive brain is the part that handles our basic functions and habitual behaviors. Its sole function is survival and is often looking for danger, even where no real danger is present. This is the part of our brain that reacts to sudden stimuli and has a fight or flight response to circumstances. It always wants to take the path of least resistance. (“You’d better stay in bed because your tired, sore body can’t handle anymore stress. You might get injured or more tired. That alarm clock will likely kill you one day and you best avoid it.”)

We can call using our prefrontal cortex proactive thinking and using our primitive brain reactive thinking.

When you think reactively, you are giving away the control to the circumstance or other people. You are allowing your situation to determine how you will feel. When you think proactively, you are taking control of your own situation. You decide how you want to feel about a situation.

In order to be proactive, you must have a plan. Regarding nutrition, running performance, showing up for a workout, doing your brain training- or pretty much anything in life- if you fail to plan ahead, you give the power over to your primitive brain to decide in the moment what to do. And remember, your primitive brain wants to protect you from hurt, discomfort and inconvenience, which are the conditions that actually allow for the most growth. Thinking about the result you want may help you decide to stay proactive rather than giving in to your reactive thinking.

Which part of your brain are you going to listen to? Take control, watch your thoughts, see the results!