Rule of The Racer
One of the basic principles taught in schools of extreme driving and racing is: if you are running into the wall, don't look at the wall! Look where you WANT TO GO. Sounds absurd? How can we avoid something if we don't even look at it?
But in reality there's wisdom of practical neuropsychology in this approach. Imagine how many signals our brains receives literally every millisecond. Car behind the window. Some sound behind the wall. Maybe radio in the office. Someone talking in the lounge. Do we pay equal attention to all those signals? Of course not, otherwise we simply couldn't do anything, all resources of our nerve system would be spent on watching the absolutely unimportant, secondary things!
What does our brain do to avoid that? Unceasingly filters out everything "unimportant" and focuses on the "important". But how does it differ "important" from the "unimportant"? First and the most critical mechanism is what we habitually focus upon is "important". Habit may be result of emotional attachment to a certain external signal or it can be consciously and deliberately developed (this point is especially important for us).
As soon as something important reaches our senses, our brain dedicates maximum resources to that issue.
It is well known on the level of conventional wisdom: "whatever you are afraid of, happens to you" etc. Why is that so? Because our brain "doesn't get the difference" between "run away from" and "run towards". It just dedicates resources to whatever is marked as "important".
Guessed what it means? Right! That if we focus on the problem, pain and suffering instead of the solution, we get appropriate outcome. And (which is much more exciting), vice versa!
Sliding from the track, running into the wall of old tires? "The wall, the wall, the wall..." nothing left in our consciousness except the wall... BAAM! We are to our problems like rabbit to the boa!
Running into the wall of tires... "The track, the track, here is the track..."
Automatically our brain dedicates all it's supercomputer power to what is IMPORTANT. Every small muscle of our body even without our conscious participation works on the task of getting back on the track!
Does this principle always work? No. We can't cheat laws of physics. We must remember that. But if we focus on the goal, it significantly shifts chances in our favor. Chances that we may not let the critical mistake happen or at least will be able to "get back on track".
And that we must remember too. Because what is life if not the ever-changing ratio of chances on the multitude of crossroads between happiness and suffering, health and illness, even life and loss of it?
Let's look on the track and stay on the track!
P. S. Focusing on the goal, often against the habitual emotional reaction is something difficult and takes proper training. But this is the topic of another post...
But in reality there's wisdom of practical neuropsychology in this approach. Imagine how many signals our brains receives literally every millisecond. Car behind the window. Some sound behind the wall. Maybe radio in the office. Someone talking in the lounge. Do we pay equal attention to all those signals? Of course not, otherwise we simply couldn't do anything, all resources of our nerve system would be spent on watching the absolutely unimportant, secondary things!
What does our brain do to avoid that? Unceasingly filters out everything "unimportant" and focuses on the "important". But how does it differ "important" from the "unimportant"? First and the most critical mechanism is what we habitually focus upon is "important". Habit may be result of emotional attachment to a certain external signal or it can be consciously and deliberately developed (this point is especially important for us).
As soon as something important reaches our senses, our brain dedicates maximum resources to that issue.
It is well known on the level of conventional wisdom: "whatever you are afraid of, happens to you" etc. Why is that so? Because our brain "doesn't get the difference" between "run away from" and "run towards". It just dedicates resources to whatever is marked as "important".
Guessed what it means? Right! That if we focus on the problem, pain and suffering instead of the solution, we get appropriate outcome. And (which is much more exciting), vice versa!
Sliding from the track, running into the wall of old tires? "The wall, the wall, the wall..." nothing left in our consciousness except the wall... BAAM! We are to our problems like rabbit to the boa!
Running into the wall of tires... "The track, the track, here is the track..."
Automatically our brain dedicates all it's supercomputer power to what is IMPORTANT. Every small muscle of our body even without our conscious participation works on the task of getting back on the track!
Does this principle always work? No. We can't cheat laws of physics. We must remember that. But if we focus on the goal, it significantly shifts chances in our favor. Chances that we may not let the critical mistake happen or at least will be able to "get back on track".
And that we must remember too. Because what is life if not the ever-changing ratio of chances on the multitude of crossroads between happiness and suffering, health and illness, even life and loss of it?
Let's look on the track and stay on the track!
P. S. Focusing on the goal, often against the habitual emotional reaction is something difficult and takes proper training. But this is the topic of another post...