Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Excerpt from Chapter 15 of "SmartTribes" by Christine Comaford

Positive Target Fixation

Before we part I want to leave you with one last practice that members of a SmartTribe use to keep themselves focused or to get unstuck. Years ago, I took surfing lessons in Maui. My instructor had me positioned in a terrific location, except it was near a jetty made of rocks. As a nice wave would begin to build, I’d paddle hard to catch it and my instructor would yell, “Watch out for the jetty!” Needless to say, I’d surf right into it.

He didn’t know about positive target fixation.

So I explained the concept and asked him to yell, “Surf to the beach!” And I did. Beautifully, consistently, because that was where I focused. Where you look matters.

Wayne Dyer shared a cool quote with me a few years back: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” When you want to buy a new car, you suddenly see it everywhere. Did that particular make, model, and color suddenly appear on the road in droves? Nope. You just changed what you looked at.

What are you looking at? If you get in your Critter State and you look at what is not working, what is so hard, you’re practicing negative target fixation, and your brain will find all the reasons why things are so difficult. Your brain will work hard to validate your reality.
Yet if you ask, “Why is it so easy?” you’ll fixate on a positive target. For example: “Why is it so easy to streamline our sales process?” “Why is it so easy to find the perfect [new hire role] for our company?” “Why is it so easy to create marketing messages that resonate deeply?” You get the idea. Try it. It’s fun, it’s free, and it’ll snap you right into your Smart State.

No comments:

Post a Comment