Dr. Andrei Belovekin: How to install stability makes you aggressive losers

Modern scientists are not afraid to explore spheres as uncertain as luck. Professor Richard Vaisman for many years has been studying how the brain works for people who consider themselves lucky and losers. For example, he distributed to the candidates a newspaper and asked them to count the number of photos that he contained. But on the second page of the newspaper, it was printed in big letters, that there were 43 photographs – you can not count anymore. In another experiment there was an inscription: "If you read this, then tell the experimenters and you will receive 250 books" . The lucky ones noticed these inscriptions, but the losers kept counting all the photos until the very end of the newspaper.

What does that say? The luck factor is related to the fact that lucky people have a much wider focus and do not focus on the current task. This allows them to be flexible, to rebuild quickly and to make the most of available resources. Lucky people tend to ambiguity more often and try with pleasure new and unusual, develop their social circle. Interestingly, lucky and successful people are more likely than mistresses to make mistakes, but they recover quickly after mistakes.

But in the case of losers, the attention is very close and they do not notice anything other than their present task. Such fixation makes them anxious, obsessed, the purpose of their action is to avoid mistakes. They neglect alternative options and can not change their behavior, give up anything unusual, shrink the circle of knowledge, choose "stability", "be like everyone else" and "what will people say?" Losers are looking for an "ideal" solution, a kind of "miracle", a "guru's secret" that will help solve all their problems at the same time. When another recipe does not work, the loser does not draw conclusions, but simply moves on to another "recipe for success". This cognitive error is called "the survivor's error" and explains why the success secrets of others do not work.

What works? There is a wide focus of attention, the desire for new experiences and mental flexibility. This ability to change your attention and simultaneously reflect on several phenomena is called cognitive flexibility. For cognitive flexibility is the brain belt. In fact, it is a brain transmission that allows you to switch from one mode to the other.

The higher the cognitive flexibility, the lower the level of stress. Flexibility allows you to rebuild effectively, adapt to new conditions, familiarize yourself with new people, adapt to different situations, and manage change appropriately. People with good cognitive flexibility are easier to plan, set reasonable goals, and switch freely between different options for the future.

But if your gyrus works badly, your brain feels like a hand. It reproduces, like a zaevshaya plate, the same model, despite different situations, with an aggression towards those who do not agree and with the inability to cooperate. The less cognitive flexibility you have, the more you become obsessed, the more you face change, the desire for the past, and the fear of the future that you can not see.

How to make your mind flexible? Of course, as you have already understood, there is no universal recipe. But something can be advised. First, avoid cycling on a thought or option to do something. It is important to consider in detail all ideas, ways, including those that you do not like. If you feel that you are obsessed with something, then it is important to change in time, to relax. Multivariate practice and stimulate creativity: always have alternative ways to reach the goal.

Be easier. Surprisingly, excessive efforts exacerbate your effectiveness. The law of Yerkes-Dodson's optimum motivation says that the best results are achieved with a moderate level of motivation. At the same time, the more complex your job, the lower the level of motivation for productivity. That is, high motivation and high tension will help you dig a gap faster, but it does not help to improve the work of the company. Humor, absurdization, paradox, play and spontaneity will help you.

Help people. It is interesting to note that the focus on personal achievements removes the work of the cingulate cortex, but altruism, compbadion, empathy and gratitude activate the anterior part of the cingulate gyrus. Help those who are worse than you, and you will become more efficient in your work.

Practice mindfulness. Of course, you can do without orange clothes, because the practice of awareness means only to manage the center of attention intentionally, in the present and without price. You can meditate or enthusiastically practice dances or other hobbies – you always practice mindfulness and the state of the flow.

Instead of looking for a ready-made universal solution, we must be attentive to what is happening. Look for instability because it gives you new opportunities here and now. Like any other change, improving cognitive flexibility begins with an awareness of the problem. As soon as we stop fighting against reality, it will open up a sea of ​​opportunity. And the more flexible our brains are, the easier it is for us to use them.

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