Vanessa G Fitcast by Vanessa Gillette, Omar Pozos

April 21, 2025 Ep. 220 This Little-Known Psychological Phenomenon is Affecting Your Results

Are you intrigued by this week's title?

That title is called a hook. A hook is something that gets your attention because it opens a loop in your brain, and gets you to keep reading/watching/listening until that loop is closed. Why do certain reels on Instagram get you to pause and watch them through? Because there is text or video or something that hooks you in by opening that loop in your brain.

This little-known psychological phenomenon is called the Zeigarnik effect, coined by Dr. Bluma Zeigarnik.

This is why every episode of a good show ends in a cliffhanger. (It’s why I’m really angry with the author of the Fourth Wing series… leaving every book with a cliffhanger.)

It's also the same reason why many high-performing women find themselves overwhelmed quickly when making changes in their health and fitness.

These women are giving their all in every area, but just like your computer only has so much RAM and you can only have so many tabs open before it slows down, you can only do so many things before your executive function (the “management system” of your brain) gets taxed. Add in stress, poor sleep, anxiety (all common symptoms of hormone imbalances) and your executive function is even more limited.

The Zeigarnik effect states ''Our minds quickly forget finished tasks. However, they are programmed to continually interrupt us with reminders of unfinished tasks.”

In other words, the Zeigarnik effect causes you to have lingering thoughts about the to-do’s you haven’t done, the deliverables you have yet to finish because your brain is looking for closure.

We can hack this effect (the same way I've hacked netflix by pausing episodes in the lull instead of finishing the episode) by reducing cognitive overload.

So how do we do that when we have a million priorities?

In this episode, I'm going to share with you 4 key ways and strategies to mitigate the Zeigarnik effect that is causing you a lot of overwhelm and stress when it comes to your health and fitness goals. Let us know your biggest takeaway from this episode!

Time Stamps:

(1:15) Intrigued By This Week’s Title?

(2:27) The Concept of Hooks

(7:32) Why This Effect Exists

(15:14) #1: Top 3 Priorities

(18:06) #2: Consistency

(28:35) #3: Chucking 2 Minute Tasks

(33:27) #4: Mind Management

(37:34) You Once Prayed For These Tasks

(42:55) The Power of Breath Work

(45:25) Please Share with A Friend

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