Race car drivers understand this keenly; they know in order to win (or survive) a race, they have to keep their vision on where they want to go. Letting their focus drift to a wall they don’t want to hit can have deadly consequences.
The brain has a tendency to over-focus on what we don’t want. It does this to conserve energy and keep us in familiar territory. It requires minimal effort to think about what we already know and it creates a feeling of certainty, which the brain associates with safety.
Creating a vision of what we do want but don’t yet have requires the mental effort of deliberate thinking and a willingness to step into the unknown. Also, we are wired to pay careful attention to anything perceived as threat or danger. Historically an important survival skill, this vigilance can now work against us.
Strategies
Be aware of the tendency to spend too much energy thinking about what you don’t want. Left unsupervised, the brain will keep you stuck and creating more of what you don’t want. Catch your brain in the act and redirect it to what you want to focus on instead. Like getting a puppy to sit, this will be tedious and repetitious at first but the more you do it the easier it will get. Pretty soon your brain will go there with little more than a nudge.
Pro tip: the fastest and most effective way to create a new mental habit is to write things down old school, so make sure you take the time to actually write down what you want. Jot it on post-it notes and keep it in your car or pocket; have it accessible so you can review it often to remind yourself.
Be on the lookout for part 2 in this series next week. You won’t want to miss what being vague has to do with the lottery and Google Maps.
