What can Google teach you about your life today?
Which is your favourite search engine?
Is it Google? Yahoo?
Have you ever considered that search engines are a really interesting way to see the power of your own mind?
How many times have you heard people saying things like: “You see what you’re looking for”?
Or: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t you’re absolutely right?”
Now while it’s easy to accept this on a conscious level, for most people that is as far as it goes.
Most people never really take the time to consider the effect of their internal processing and thoughts on their everyday experience of life, and even fewer go on to do something to do something about it.
I’ve already mentioned many times that because of the way our brains filter our sensory input we pretty much see exactly what we’re looking for. The reticular activating system (RAS) of your brain is a sort of control mechanism, which causes you to filter for whatever you have decided, is important in the sensory bombardment of your nervous system.
Take your thoughts seriously; because they will either support or sabotage your efforts and your unconscious mind doesn’t care which, it merely looks to support your internal beliefs and work towards your values.
For example beliefs are nothing more than what we hold to be true about the world and your brain just works to prove itself right
Your beliefs are like on/off switches to your abilities so even if you have all the skills you need to achieve your goals, if you don’t believe you can achieve them your brain will filter to prove that right, and it’s very very effective.
So how does this relate to search engines?
Well, just for a moment open up your favourite search engine and type in
* Reasons I hate my job: 17,000,000 hits
* Reasons I love my job 19,300,000 hits
* I’m not good enough 167,000,000 hits
* I am good enough 172,000,000 hits
The above examples show that you on the Internet you can pretty much find any information you search for and the truth is that your mind is doing the same thing every minute of every day.
So you’re experience of life depends almost entirely on what you are focussing on.
This explains why when two people go through a similar experience they can have very very different emotional responses and resultant behaviours.
So next time you find yourself going through some form of negative experience, maybe you could take a moment to remember Google and ask what am I searching for here? And what would be a more useful search term?
Have fun,
Anth.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:12 am
Anth:
As a long in the tooth Soccer Coach, I have often diagnosed a few of my charges with suffering from the same syndrome that I am displaying now. I apparently have been quite happy, while procrastinating, and confident that I could have done better in life, had I pulled out all the stops. I used to tear my hair out when my question -”Could you have done better?” was answered affirmatively. I sought total comitment from my charges yet I find myself now passing the same comment. Such players, I realised, always felt comfortable coming off the field knowing they could have done better. Obviously, myself and other coaches (including you) need to have their charges come of the field drained, sweating, tired and bruised. but fulfilled having reached a stage of flow.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:31 am
Thanks to the article, Now there is more reason to comment than ever before! Everyone should participate. I am incorporating what your wrote to our project!