I'm assuming everyone reading this has played Tetris at least once in their lives. Has anyone ever sat and played for an hour, or two, three+ hours? When you're done with your binge of Tetris, do you start seeing those blocks everywhere? Or start thinking of how the shit on your bookshelf would fit together perfectly?
"The Tetris Effect stems from a very normal physical process that repeated playing triggers in their brains. They become stuck in something called a 'cognitive afterimage.' You know those [dots] that cloud your vision for a few seconds after someone takes a flash photograph of you? This happens because the flash has momentarily burned an image onto your visual field so that...you see that same light patter- the afterimage- everywhere."
Cool dude, get on with it...our brains are stuck in these patterns in everything we do. Almost everyone has been stuck in a negative pattern of thinking at one point or another in their life. Some have even been stuck in a far too optimistic pattern, thinking they can do anything in the world without suffering any consequences.
Our society and specifically our jobs, encourage us to think critically and recognize problems to be solved. That's a good thing, but not when that becomes your only pattern or only filter through which you see the world.
Again I'll use accountants as an example because they're easy to pick on. They spend 8+ hours a day scanning documents for mistakes. The best ones find the most mistakes and capitalize on fixing them. Great. But what about when it comes time to do things at work outside of scanning documents- for example, a performance review to determine they're next career move or a promotion. Do you think it might be a little difficult for them to break that train of thought, focus on the positives that they bring to the company, and get an outcome they desire? Surely they're not going to speak negatively of themselves in their own performance review, but I'll bet you they lose sight of the little things that they bring to the company.
And this spills over into their personal lives. They ask their kid why they got a C (which is a reasonable question) but they never talk about the A that they received. This is all very generalized. Every person and every case would be different, but we've all been there before.
"The problem comes when individuals cannot 'compartmentalize' their abilities."
You have to have that switch in life, and it may go in multiple directions rather than just on/off. Or maybe you have multiple switches, who knows how the F some of you are wired. Point being, the accountant needs to be able to scan for errors at work, scan for positives in his job review, recognize his child's success in school but also encourage them to do better, and for god's sake make his wife happy. And maybe that accountant is a powerlifter. Well shit he needs to be able to turn up the focus and anger a little bit during training, but shut it off when he leaves so he doesn't throat punch someone at work (except on Thursday's when it is acceptable).
How do these filters develop?
Picture yourself, as a hipster, at a local Starbucks. There is someone grinding coffee, banging around coffee pots, your music is on, you're reading, there are multiple conversations going on around you, you're thinking about what you need to do when you leave...you would lose your shit if you COULD think about all of this at once.
"To deal with this overload, our brains have a filter that only lets the most pertinent information through to our consciousness."
How do I know? Now imagine the same scene but a cougar bursts through the door. I'm pretty sure that would be the only thing you would be focusing on- your mind filters out the rest. (Why a cougar?Because you gotta drive with the fear Bobby.)
And all this would be fine if you could trust your filters. Well, you can't. Mostly they have been formed out of necessity and bad habits.
Here's an example of how powerful these filters are: Have you ever started car shopping and you get set on that big beautiful red pick up truck you've always wanted and finally now you can afford it. You think it over for a couple weeks to make sure it's the one you want. Now in those two weeks, as you're driving around town, all you see are red f'ing pick up trucks. Everywhere. Ten a day, minimum. Did everyone go buy one? NO. Your brain has just changed that filter or that focus and now you are seeing every red truck that you cross, where before you didn't because it wasn't something your mind thought it should focus on.
So how do you reset these filters to make them work for you?
Practice. Habits. Rituals.
A couple examples I have used.
1. Most conversations (not every time we talk, but we'll get there eventually) Yessie and I have we ask each other "High/low/" Meaning share with each other one positive aspect from our day's and one negative. Now this isn't ideal to force you to focus on the positive, however we usually take that negative and make it constructive- asking each other how we can fix it, how we can help each other through it etc.
2. Pick a time everyday (first thing in the morning, right before lunch, with your family for dinner, right before bed) and write down three positive things that happened to you that day or maybe that you saw happen to someone else. Now you are forcing your brain, everyday, to scan for positives.
"As with any skill, the more we practice, the more easily and naturally it comes. Since the best way to ensure follow-through on a desired activity is to make it a habit, the key here is to ritualize the task. For example, pick the same time each day to write down your gratitude list...it doesn't matter [when or how] you do it, as long as you do it on a regular basis. The more you involve others, the more the benefits multiply." They will hold you accountable to keeping up with it.
The beautiful part...it works with people of any age. So a family can sit down for dinner every night and play high/low or take turns giving three things that were positive influences on them for the day.
"In business and in life, the reasonable optimist will win every time."