Self-obstruction

I have known for a while that we, as humans, ignore information that is constantly presented to us.

My son’s drawings, enshrined on our fridge, are memorable and delightful. They are also soon blocked out, unintentionally, for I see them a few times a day. This is the mind’s focus weapon at work. If we were to be cognisant of everything around us simultaneously, we would make Hannibal Lector look sane. So we focus on what we want, or tell ourselves is important to us – see the role of the Reticular Activating System. The childhood game of “I-spy” relies on this, as do advertisers, who never remind us of the positive attributes of our current vehicle.

If this is a feature of our mind’s inner workings, should we not be changing the way we display mission statements? If they are not in the heart, they are not there at all! If we do not know what we are looking for when studying, little – if anything – is absorbed. Every course, lecture and communication needs to blast through the filter and scream at us, “I’m new, interesting and important!” before we take notice.

I might also add, here, that we often distract ourselves, allowing interference and postpone-able data to mute our own excellence. We keep ourselves from delivering our very best, by letting “good” things -even “urgent” things – stop us from doing what is really of the highest value. Most meetings are unfocussed, as are most email newsletters, presentations and courses, though they need not be.

Why not our business cards, emails, meetings – and homes – reflect innovation, creativity and fun, in the interest of achieving our true potential?

#Cognition #Learning #Focus #RAS #Potential #Interference #Block