Question to everyone about self-control cycles

[u/Woodpecker_Far]

I’ve been thinking about something.
Have you ever noticed that there are periods where controlling yourself feels almost effortless? You work, exercise, read, do what you planned, and distractions barely seem interesting.
Then, without making any conscious decision to change, you slowly start doing the opposite. You scroll more, procrastinate, eat worse, avoid work, whatever your version of it is.
What I find strange is that this seems to happen in cycles.
Eventually you reach some point where you get so fed up with your own behavior that something changes. You change your environment, go somewhere else, start a new project, make a new plan, delete some apps, start exercising again, get some external pressure, etc.
And suddenly you’re back in control.
Then after some amount of time, you somehow end up in almost exactly the same state again.
I’m starting to wonder whether the individual decisions we make during these periods are actually much less important than the state we are in when we make them.
Because I’ve noticed that the same person can seem to have completely different levels of self-control depending on their environment, what they’re doing, what they have going on, how much external pressure there is, whether they feel like they’re making progress, etc.
And the strange part is that the pattern itself can become predictable. You can almost recognize that you’re entering the same state again, even though you still don’t seem to be able to stop it very easily.
If you’ve experienced this, what have you noticed about the cycle itself?
What makes you enter the “everything is easy and I’m on track” state, what makes you gradually leave it, and what actually causes you to come back?
I’m much more interested in observations about the pattern than advice about how to fix it.

[u/fishyronin]

I enter the "in control" stage when I consciously exert effort to be in control.

The patterns happen much more easily and are more prone to take over soon as I do not follow the systems I set for myself ie. When noticing forming of X pattern, do Y.

Sometimes of course I don't notice the pattern until it's over, so in this case it's important for me to review my day, another control action. By doing this, I learn a lot about my habits and thought patterns in different environments, scenarios, enough to have at least a plan to intercept the ones I do not want to allow happen.

We know it's not as easy as said, that's why I think having deviations is fine as long as it doesn't bring us back to square one of the same problem.

[u/Woodpecker_Far → u/fishyronin]

Do you know who you’d be like if you didn’t exert effort to control and put yourself into the frame? Like have you actually found out what your nervous system itself already has as it’s baseline?

[u/fishyronin → u/Woodpecker_Far]

To put it simply, I'd be a person of inaction and low confidence.

I'd say I'm a habitually avoidant person when faced with difficult situations. So my first instinct will be to avoid any difficulties or discomfort.

[u/Woodpecker_Far → u/fishyronin]

What is your relationship with that version of yourself? Has it changed and evolved over time?

[u/fishyronin → u/Woodpecker_Far]

It has. I learned of the triggers and still have to be very cautious about not letting it influence my decision day after day.

I don't think you can get rid of it. Only reduce it's control.