| ||
| ||
|
||
|
|
|
Accepting New Ideas
Much of the time when a new idea comes to us, we handle that idea and move on, without ever becoming consciously aware of the process. During the times when we are consciously aware of the process of handling a new idea, we often reject that idea without understanding why we rejected it, or sometimes without even understanding that we did reject it. How can this be? To understand this, lets briefly review the mechanics of how our minds work. When a new idea comes to us, it comes into our conscious mind. It can be as a result of our own thinking, or it can be from an outside source. Immediately, and sometimes before the new idea is even properly formed, our sub-conscious mind starts to evaluate that idea. Now this evaluation is happening in our sub-conscious mind. That means that we are not consciously aware of it, but it is happening anyway. So how does our sub-conscious mind evaluate an idea, sometimes before the idea is complete, and without us being aware that this is going on. To understand this we need to understand a characteristic of our sub-conscious mind. Our sub-conscious mind has no ability to reason. If that is so, how can it evaluate a new idea? Well one way is to ask itself, does this new idea fit with what I already 'know'. If it does, then the new idea will not be immediately rejected. If it doesn't then the sub-conscious mind will send a message to the conscious mind to say that this new idea doesn't fit. Usually at this point, the conscious mind will believe what the sub-conscious mind is saying to it, and reject the idea. There are a number of problems with this. What if the information that the sub-conscious mind is evaluating the new idea against, is wrong? A common example of this is when a new idea comes into our conscious mind, and our sub-conscious mind starts to evaluate it. The sub-conscious mind says, 'I already know that'. Now that 'I already know that' message is sent to the conscious mind, and what happens then? Often the conscious mind stops considering the new idea at that point, and moves on to something new. But did the sub-conscious mind really know that it knew that? Maybe sometimes, but often the new idea is not even properly formed yet, so how could the sub-conscious mind be sure that it 'knew' that. Unfortunately when the conscious mind gets the 'I know that' message, it usually stops receiving or processing the new idea, and that means the opportunity to learn something new is lost. What can we do about this? How can we interrupt our sub-conscious mind so that it does not stop us learning from new ideas, when we are exposed to them. I suggest that there are two easy ways. Firstly, when we hear our sub-conscious mind saying 'That doesn't fit', or 'That can't be right', or something similar, we can simply say to our sub-conscious mind 'Thank-you for that information'. This means that we have decided not to act on the message that our sub-conscious mind was sending. Our conscious mind is then free to continue considering, reasoning and thinking about the new idea. The second thing we can do is ask our conscious mind to think about the new idea in a way it may have not done before. Usually our conscious mind thinks 'Is this idea right?', or 'Is this idea wrong?'. Instead of those questions we could ask 'Could this idea change or improve my life in some way?'. This allows us to look at a new idea in a completely fresh way, without being influenced by all the things that we have learnt before, or that we already 'know'. It was Will Rogers who said many years ago that "it's not what people don't know that hurts them. It's what they do know that just ain't so." Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him and subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.MyPowerfulMind.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Psychology - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Mind, Information, and Attitude Information is flowing to us at a great rate. The radio, television, the internet, advertising, newspapers and magazines are giving us information all day. Solution Focus Process: Solution Talk vs. Problem Talk Pt 2 It is crucial that interviewing with helpee progress toward solutions. In addition to Exceptions and Miracle questions, Coping and Scaling questions are also useful and effective methods of moving helpees from problem talk to solution talk. The Cyber Narcissist To the narcissist, the Internet is an alluring and irresistible combination of playground and hunting grounds, the gathering place of numerous potential Sources of Narcissistic Supply, a world where false identities are the norm and mind games the bon ton. And it is beyond the reach of the law, the pale of social norms, the strictures of civilized conduct. What are the 4 Brainwave Patterns and How Do They Effect Your Health WHAT ARE BRAINWAVES?Every moment of your life your brain is active. It is pulsing with electrical impulses; you heard that right, electricity! The electricity or electrical current generated by the brain can be measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures the frequency of the electrical current. Intro to Being an ADHD Parent In my fifteen years of private practice working with children with ADHD, one of the common concerns that I observed by parents was the fear that they had done something, or failed to do something, that caused their child's ADHD. I guess it is normal to blame yourself when your child is having problems. Kids and Lifebooks: Tips for Social Workers Every child who is adopted from foster care deserves a clear, detailed record of his or her life prior to adoption. While a foster child is waiting for a forever family, a lifebook can help her to make sense of the past and prepare to go forward. Human Psychological Issues in the Recruitment of Suicide Bombers Swedish Scientists did a study and found that young men with low intelligence scores were more likely to commit suicide."Researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute analyzed test scores for 987,308 armed forced recruits and then cross-referenced the data with those who subsequently committed suicide over 26 years - a total of almost 3,000. Insighting Human Behavior thru Gravity Wave Simulations of the Moon Every police officer will tell you that when there is a full moon, the natives are restless and it will be a long night, with lots of arrests and paperwork? This is a known fact one which cannot be dismissed so easily after such basic observations. An evolutionary theorist would say this is because on moonlit nights our ancient ancestors went on night hunts or that the Sabertooth tigers came to hunt us? Some say these things date back to our Tree Shrew ancestry, all of which Darwin might agree is plausible. HypoManiacs Often Misunderstood Are you a Hypomaniac? If you are you have some definite advantages over others. Hypomaniacs are often superstars in their fields, but they are often misunderstood by those who work so hard to profile personalities and put individuals into neat little boxes. Its Never Too Late First of all, a bit of background: A high school dropout, stay-at-home mom until the age of 40, I wasn't too motivated to learn. Then I read the following quote:"Old Bureaucrat, my comrade, it is not you who are to blame. Are All Dementias Alzheimer's? I'm surprised when some patients and caregivers confuse dementia and Alzheimer's as one and the same. Each time a family member is suffering from memory loss, the conclusion is always Alzheimer's. Fallacies About the Inner Child Over the past 10 years I have helped individuals who have been plagued by the memories of past events to permanently release the disruptive energy imprints of such memories from their energy bio-fields.A special and interesting case of such release pertains to situations where an individual has within them a construct that is referred to as an "inner child" that is still in need of nurturing or healing. Hypnosis: A Brief History Evidence of hypnotic-like phenomena appears in many ancient cultures. The writer of Genesis seems familiar with the anaesthetic power of hypnosis when he reports that God put Adam "into a deep sleep" to take his rib to form Eve. You, I and We Our life in society hovers around the concept of 'You-I- We'. The first stage is 'You-You' which is called 'dependent' stage. Emotional Intelligence: The Basics There's so much talk about emotional intelligence and how it can promote personal and business success. What is it really? What are its basic tenets?Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one's emotions and that of others. Right Brain, Left Brain The right brain controls the left side of the body and the left brain controls the right side of the body. The right brain is the more creative or emotional hemisphere and the left brain is the analytical and judgmental hemisphere. Behavioral Manifestations of Alzheimer's Dementia Alzheimer's Dementia has a combination of cognitive and behavioral manifestations. Cognitive impairment is the core problem which includes memory deficits and at least one of the following: aphasia or language problem, agnosia or problems with recognition, apraxia or motor activity problem, and impairment in executive functioning (e. On Empathy The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1999 edition) defines empathy as:"The ability to imagine oneself in anther's place and understand the other's feelings, desires, ideas, and actions. It is a term coined in the early 20th century, equivalent to the German Einfühlung and modelled on "sympathy. I'm Sorry! Blame-Game or Accountability? A powerful tool for health as we approach the new year can be to focus on giving and/or receiving only real apologies when we want to heal a rift with a family member, friend, or co-worker. We hear apologies all the time, but I don't think many of them are sincere. Time Out of Mind Let us first consider the role of time in our lives, then let us consider that role in terms of mental illness. Buddhists and Hindus, among others, propose that time does not actually exist.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
