It doesn’t have to be cooking, basically any hobby works like this, as long as you get returns to effort. It might be art, or weightlifting, or whatever. You just need to keep reminding your brain that effort has a purpose.
When I was a young precocious type, nothing I did in traditional academic areas seemed to reflect a return on effort, because I was one of those breeze-through-it-upside-down types working at too low of a difficulty level. Later in life, I did need to pursue academics in ways that required a lot of effort. I have always believed that this was only possible for me because as a child I was also studying classical piano, where I learned how it felt for grinding away to lead to clear improvement.
At the same time, it’s definitely been the case at various times in my life that I have had an inappropriately internal locus of control. Believing that one’s own agency can accomplish things that it can’t can be pernicious too – at least for individual mental health.
When I was a young precocious type, nothing I did in traditional academic areas seemed to reflect a return on effort, because I was one of those breeze-through-it-upside-down types working at too low of a difficulty level. Later in life, I did need to pursue academics in ways that required a lot of effort. I have always believed that this was only possible for me because as a child I was also studying classical piano, where I learned how it felt for grinding away to lead to clear improvement.
At the same time, it’s definitely been the case at various times in my life that I have had an inappropriately internal locus of control. Believing that one’s own agency can accomplish things that it can’t can be pernicious too – at least for individual mental health.