What we miss purely by paying attention.

I would like to start this post by asking you to watch this clip. I would like to suggest that you play it at full screen, pay very close attention and follow the instructions.

I first saw this clip whilst watching a TV show called 'Test your Brain'. The documentary points out some very interesting facts about how our mind works and the things we miss whilst paying attention to other things.

How did you go with the clip? Don't worry if you missed it.  I was flawed at the fact that I completely missed it! I was so focused on counting and getting the number right (I can be quite competitive), that there really was no way I would have seen anything else.

 

I am a stickler for being focused and paying attention on the things that are important. But after watching the above clip I now wonder what I am missing around me in the mean time. Well I guess that is the price we pay to secure a memory.

 

"The more attention the brain pays to a given stimulus, the more elaborately the information will be encoded - and retained."
(Medina, J. 2008 brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school, Scribe, Melbourne)

 

That is great for those things we are paying attention to. How do we know what to pay attention to?

According the 'brain rules' we use previous experiences to predict where we should pay attention. This must mean that the more we experience, the better we would be at predicting where we should pay our attention to, right?

I do now wonder what I am missing each time I step outside my door. I wonder if I had actually paid attention to something, would it have changed my experience and therefore my perception of the environment around me? Something to ponder.

 

If you don't expect to see something, you probably won't see it. Remember that it doesn't mean it wasn't there.

Veronica Wood

Think your way to reaching your goals!

 

Do you want to 'think your way to reaching your goals'? I do!

Have you heard of the term 'visualisation'? I have and throughout my life have used it as a tool to get what I want by ensuring that I am as prepared (mentally) as I can possibly be. Visualisation is term used when you visualise (or think about) in detail, something you are preparing for. For example, if you are preparing for an interview (which I have had many!) you think about how you would like the interview to play out. A role play in your mind. I have previously visualised myself in the interview as being calm, that the answers will come naturally and that I come across to the interviewer as confident and capable of the job. The last time I was looking for a job, I had one interview and got it.

It really does work and I am now understanding why.

Get this:

"With mental rehearsal, if we can stay focused, the brain does not know the difference between physically doing the activity and remembering the activity."

(Dispenza, J. 2007 Evolve your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mindc, Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida)

 

So your mind cannot tell the differnce between the actual interview (discussed above), and a mental rehearsal of the interview - but it does take a bit of effort in learning how to do this effectively.

There have been numerous studies from psychologist and scientists to find out exactually what is happening and how this actually works. Below is an experiement which demonstrates it perfectly.

 

Experiment
4 groups of individuals. These groups were asked to participate in a 5 day study where they were to practise the piano. Here is how the groups were organised:

Group  1 - learned, memorised and physically practiced 2hrs a day, a one handed, five finger sequence;

Group 2 - physically played the piano with no instructions and randomly practiced for the same period of time;

Group 3 - never physically touched a piano. This group observed group one until they understood what was being learned, and then mentally rehearsed it for the same length of time (2hrs each day);

Group 4 - was the control group - this group did not learn, practise or observe the lessons. They did nothing at all.

 

At the end of the 5 day study (and some intense testing), they found that the group that mentally rehearsed only (Group 3), "showed almost the same changes, involving expansion and development of neural networks in the same specific area of their brain, as the group who physically practised the sequences on the piano." Group 2, even though they practised the piano, showed very limited changes to their neural networks.

 

The below image shows the new neural circuits being established. The top level - Physical practice (Group 1) and the bottom level - Mental practice (Group 3):

 

 

This demonstrates the close relationshiop between doing and thinking an activity. This really is mind blowing! To know that we can change our actual mental capacity just by thinking about it is amazing.

 

For us to benefit from this however, we need to educate ourselves on what it is we want, and how we can achieve it. We need to give our minds the right instructions before it can do the work for us. Think about just how better we could be at something, if we were using both our mind and our body to achieve it.

I will be using what I have learnt about mental rehearsal in the next 10 to 12 months as I will be competing in the Australian Masters Games in 2013.  Here are the steps I will take (and steps you can take to reach your goals) :

Step 1 - Decide on a goal:
I have decided on and set a goal of running the 100 mtrs at the Masters Games;

Step 2 - Educate  yourself on what you need to do:
I will watch loads of videos and educate myself on sprint techniques and running a 100mtr race to show my mind how I want my body to perform. I can then mentally run the race over and over and over exactly how I want it to turn out;

Step 3 - Physically practise:
I will pysically train to teach my body how to run a 100 mtr race so it is familiar with it;

Step 4 - Believe in yourself:
I will tell myself  the following "I am fast", "I will train hard enough to be competitive" "I will do what ever it takes to acheive my goal".


That is my goal (well one of). What is yours? Do you know?

When was the last time you asked yourself these questions

 

"Who do I want to be?"

"What do I have to change about myself to get there?"

"How can I become better?"

"How can I modify my behaviour?"

"What do I have to change about myself to achieve my goals?"

 

Some big questions and quite confronting if you are not used to asking yourself these things. These types of questions are 'open ended' which allows our brain to think outside the square. They create more neural pathways (compared with survival type questions like 'when am I going to eat next?') and without getting too technical, these questions help us to be open to see new possibilities and opportunities. 

 

It is time to get real and get on with what we are really capable of by using our minds to get the most out of this life.

Some more food for thought.

Veronica Wood