Why Focusing on the Path Instead of Obstacles Changes Your Perspective

The human brain

cannot comprehend the negative.

It is incapable.

I'll give you an example.

The human brain cannot comprehend the negative. You ready?

Don't think of an elephant. Ah. Yeah, I know.

You can't tell the human brain not to do something.

Right? And so what happens is we very often reinforce things

when we put things in the negative.

And... and it's... it's such a huge thing to...

to convert things into the affirmative.

You're supposed to do it with children as well.

Instead of saying to children, "Don't eat on the couch," we're supposed to say,

"Eat at the table."

Tell people what we want them to do, not what them... what we don't want to do.

Pilots know this.

It is well known in the pilot community that when you tell a pilot,

"Don't hit the obstacle," they'll hit the obstacle.

Because what they're doing is focusing on the obstacle.

Skiers know this.

If... if you ever seen skiers go through trees? Do you know how they do that?

It's very easy.

If you go through trees on skis and you go, "Don't hit a tree,

don't hit a tree, don't hit a tree," guess what you're watching?

You're only looking at trees.

As opposed to, "Follow the snow, follow the path, follow the path."

The only thing you see is the path. Skiers know this. If you focus on the obstacles,

all you will see is obstacles.

If you focus on the path through the trees,

all you will see is path through the trees. It's your choice

how you choose to perceive your own career. It's literally perspective.