Based on what you’ve seen with the people you’ve coached through SCS, does buffering affect how people show up in the world and the amount of value they produce? Do people who don’t buffer show up better (more alive and clear-headed) and do more with their lives / have a greater impact?

I stopped buffering with food about 4 weeks ago and it’s been interesting to observe my actions and how I show up. I have much less decision fatigue since my mind is not spinning all day on “should I eat this or that?” “Is it bad that I ate that?” “I’ll start tomorrow” etc. My brain is much more free to do productive things like solve problems. I also realized how much time I spent on eating, and that has drastically reduced. The most interesting thing I’ve noticed is that in the past, I would have a negative feeling (e.g., worry) and I would eat over it and then feel calm again, but the C line had not changed. I brought myself false comfort. For example, I had a work assignment due and I would eat to stop worrying and fearing failure enough to start working on it. But in my circumstances, nothing had truly changed. I still had the work assignment and the same amount of time to get it done. I think maybe in some cases it calmed me enough to start but I wonder if that false calming (numbing myself) also took away some of the useful pressure and drive I would have had without it.

Does the false comfort that is created through buffering actually dull our drive to do good work in this world? And without the buffer, are we more likely to do more and contribute more? Like, is it actually true that most people are “better at life” without the buffer? I’m just trying to figure this out because if that is actually true, it’s more incentive for me to keep my buffer-free existence going. Because that means that with the buffer, I don’t show up the same and I don’t contribute as much to my work and my family. I used to have some illusions that the buffer made me more productive because it dulled out my worry voices, but now I think that might have been a lie I was telling myself. Interested in your opinion/thoughts.

Thanks!