The Power Of Figuring It Out In Softball
This is the third installment of the mental flex series. In this series of articles, we will flex your brain by learning strategies that will help you shift your perspective quickly, change your thinking between different topics more efficiently, and help you get more comfortable with new information and change.
If you missed the first two strategies, go back and read "Winning In Mindset: Why "What If" Always Beats "If Only" and "Disrupting Your Softball Routines".
In this third article, we'll explore how learning how to do things on your own can help you become more mentally flexible. Around our house, we call this concept "F.I.O." or figure it out. It may not feel fun all of the time, but your brain truly does remarkable things when you give yourself time to F.I.O.
Let's take a look at what happens when you figure it out.
What Exactly Is F.I.O.?
At its core, the idea of F.I.O. is discovery learning or self-directed learning (Charokar & Dulloo, 2022). Have you ever been asked to complete a task that was new or difficult? Then, after a short amount of time, have you decided it would just be easier for someone else to do the task, or just show you exactly how to do it? Basically, you want to quit and have someone else do it. Yeah, me too! Here's the thing, though. We do a disservice to ourselves when we don't let ourselves struggle a little and learn how to get the task done. Discovery (or self-directed) learning has several benefits for the brain. In our house, we call this process "F.I.O." (figure it out).
Here's what you encourage when you let yourself F.I.O. :
How Does F.I.O. Work My Brain?
- You allow for practice of executive functioning, which helps in planning, problem-solving, and making decisions.
- New pathways in the brain can form or strengthen (neuroplasticity). Exploring new, different, and challenging tasks helps create more reliable memories with more details, making it easier to remember them the next time.
- You help enhance the ability to recall information, which is crucial for learning. F.I.O. lets the brain come to its own solutions (v. passively receiving information). This exercise means the brain will be able to recall the “how to” (information) more accurately and quickly in the future.
- You help the brain work on activating creativity. Figuring it out requires some creative thinking to help solve problems by using the right hemisphere (called making distant associations).
- You leave the door open to experience the much-desired “Aha!” moment. When the right hemisphere is engaged, it can stop an analytical thought process and allow you to see the problem from a more holistic view, which often leads to the “Aha!” and the sense of accomplishment that comes with that.
- You encourage the exploration system. Facilitating a F.I.O. situation can activate a drive to explore the situation and solve the problem. When this happens, the brain releases dopamine, which fuels curiosity. This curiosity helps the focus shift from only wanting the final outcome to getting energy through the problem-solving stage (Di Domenico & Ryan, 2017; Sarathy, 2018; Wright et al., 2025).
The trick is allowing yourself to learn how to get through the initial struggle phase. Tackling a seemingly difficult or new task may send the brain into a friction mode that produces negative thoughts about having to work. Understand, this is a normal defense mechanism of the brain. If it thinks you will feel uncomfortable, exposed (or threatened), it will try to warn you by sending negative thoughts to get you to stop or not do the task. Instead, recognize what this is, that you don't need protection in that moment, and move through it. Then let the energy build as you watch the power of F.I.O. in action.
Dr. Megan Buning is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (C.M.P.C.) with over a decade of experience training the mental game.
References
Charokar, K., & Dulloo, P. (2022). Self-directed learning theory to practice: a footstep towards the path of being a life-long learner. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 10(3), 135.
Di Domenico, S. I., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 11, 145. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145
Sarathy, V. (2018). Real world problem-solving. Front. Hum. Neurosci, 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00261
Wright, W. J., Hedrick, N. G., & Komiyama, T. (2025). Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning. Science, 388(6744), 322-328.
