See that bridge. That’s a ‘bridge of pain’ or ‘no-pain.’ Find out how your brain deals with creating permanent pain.

I play a lot of badminton these days.
And after running on the courts for two hours, I’m fine.
But the next day, my knees are sore.
I find it difficult to bend my knees. And have to use some sort of pain-relieving balm.

So I decided to use my brain as a balm instead
And drive resources from my brain to make sure my knees are not sore any more.
So all I did was focus on my knees not being sore.
And believe me, I’m no magician.

Incredibly, they’re not sore any more.
Now this sounds bizarre, doesn’t it?
Probably as bizarre as learning a new skill.

When you learn a new skill you’re in extreme pain.
And of course, you have all those naysayers saying, “You’re not talented.”
So there’s a lot more than mere extreme pain. There’s discouragement too.

But the brain can rise above all of this pain to create permanent success.
You see the brain works on the system of synapses and neurons (wait, don’t glaze over, because I’ll explain)

Think of neurons as two sides of a cliff.
Neuron 1 is one side of cliff.
Neuron 2 is the other side of the cliff.
There’s a wide, deep ravine in between those cliffs.

To cross over, you need a bridge
That bridge is the synapse bridge.
When we learn something new, the brain keeps building a bridge between the two cliffs.
All the time, as you go through your day, your brain is building new bridges.
The more you repeat a learning or action, the more the brain works on strengthening the bridge, because it recognises the bridge as important.

So you can create a bridge of pain.
And the brain will keep working on that bridge so that your synapse (bridge) is one one of pain.

Day after day. Week after week. Month after month.
Pain and more pain.
So that a once rickety bridge becomes a steel structure.
A structure that’s permanent, and can take on even more loads of pain.
Thus increasing your pain manifold.

Really talented people recognise the failure and the pain
But they rise above it forcing their brain to remember the joy and achievement.
The excuse-makers find a way to focus the brain on the pain and failure.
And the brain gives us exactly what we want. It creates a stronger bridge of pain or joy—depending on what you choose.

So do you want to fix muscular pain?
Or creative pain?
Get your brain to swing into action. And see how it fixes the so-called problem faster than you think.