Just Seven Things

Exploring why and how we do what we do, and how we can do it better

Archive for the category “Conscious and Unconscious”

16 Aug 2008
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Thrashing and Power of Focus: the simple truth

Power by dfu

Power by dfu

Nothing has struck me more since I began my pursuit of self-development a few years ago, than the apparent power of focus.

Struck about ten years ago with a real curiosity about the qualities and benefits of mindfulness within Buddhism, it feels like part of the end game for a lot of self-development challenges includes the ability to master the power of focus to the best of your abilities.

With my ‘simple mind’ investigations that I am now undertaking, I am now struck by the double-challenge of that mastery:

1. To be able to focus is a challenge in itself. I always remember a quote where someone said that the secret of their success was their ability to concentrate single-mindedly on one matter with absolute focus (for something crazily short like 15 minutes (would love to get this correctly sourced…..)

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Posted in Action Orientation, Conscious and Unconscious, Control, Focus, Habits and Routines, Mindfulness, Psychology, Stress and tagged , , , , ,
15 Aug 2008
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Our Simple Minds: Mind Tricks

Sorry that I’m struggling to shake the simplicity theme that underpinned the Play/ Game posts earlier in the

Person at Desk by Sigurd Decroos

Person at Desk by Sigurd Decroos

week. I feel this will be a recurring theme throughout my exploration of conscious vs. other-than-consciousness as it is at the heart of our self-management.

The whole idea about tricking or ‘blatantly’ nudging yourself into change is a strange one when you consider the supposed power of the intellectual conscious. Back to the ‘remembering to take something to work’ example that I have mentioned before and that David Allen uses so well: how could such an intelligent human animal really rely on leaving something by the front door in order to remember to take it into work the next day. Why is NLP and hypnotherapy so effective in enabling self-change when analysed, it is clearly so simple: all about beliefs and mental associations. 

I was struck this morning how we can trick ourselves into working. How we can fool ourselves into addressing challenging tasks just by being a bit dumb about it.

Put simply: if we remove the conscious barriers or layers between identification of the need for the action, and the action itself, then it appears that we get more done with less resistance. I sometimes think that Forest Gump is an ideal role model for all busy people who want to achieve more in their lives.

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Posted in Action Orientation, Conscious and Unconscious, Focus, Game Playing, Mindfulness, NLP, Psychology, Time Management and tagged , , , ,
11 Aug 2008
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The Psychology of Game Playing: Creating Good Habits & Having Great Thoughts

Puzzle by Billy Alexander

Puzzle by Billy Alexander

This week I want to really explore how taking a playful approach to your conscious and unconscious pursuits can be so successful.

I have posted on a number of occasions on this subject matter, including on:

– The use of simple games/ tools to get things done or shift habits

– ‘Choice architecture’ to nudge to change

– Unconsciously restricting time to create focused creativity

Thoughts on the ‘why’ of the success of using simple games to shift habits have included:

  • Does game playing lessen the ‘weight’ of the reactive response? Does it remove resistance because the new routine to be adopted is being done so as a game/ challenge as opposed to a mental challenge? It is therefore made ‘neutral’ by the game. – How Easily Simplicity tips into Bad Habits
  • By accepting our ‘peopleness’ and suggesting rather than telling we have greater success in change. – Nudge Yourself to Change
  • We don’t like being told what to do. Using a simple ‘light-touch approach’ to change hooks you into change easier that having a great set of ‘worthy’ reasons why the change is good. – Good Habits, Bad Habits and the Breaking of Both

But, to be honest, I’ve only really scratched the surface and I’m intrigued as to the why for the following reasons: Read more…

Posted in Conscious and Unconscious, Creativity, Game Playing, Habits and Routines and tagged , , , , , ,

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