iceberg illusion

This week in class we talked about the Iceberg illusion see here)  How so many different factors combine to make someone successful.  What motivates these people to be persistent, dedicated and develop good habits?  Some of the motivation might come from unlocking the key to the unconscious mind.

When you look at the ten fastest men in the world (judged by 100-meter times) they all have one thing in common.  None of them are first born children and only one was in the first half of the family’s birth order. That being born in the second half of your family’s birth order there are constant signals that you need to catch up. So being fast is not only genetic genes but also these nudges to keep up with the older family members that push these men to excel.  If you are born last in your family that is not going to make you a world class sprinter, but it does show that there are unconscious factors that motivate us to perform.

Walton and Cohen tried an experiment that would also demonstrate how a small intervention could lead to a change in motivation.  They brought in a group of Yale students and handed them a mix of magazine articles.  One of the articles was about Jackson (made up student) who came to Yale without any sort of career path.  He developed a liking for math and was now a member of the math department.  The article was totally forgettable except for half the students.  For these students Jackson’s birthday was manipulated to be the same as the reader.

When tested Walton and Cohen found that the birthday group had a significantly better attitude toward math and persisted 65% longer on problems.  What is also amazing is that none of these students noticed any change about themselves or their attitude toward math.  The psychologist concluded that the birthdates brought a connectiveness between Jackson and the students which motivated them. 

John Bargh tries to explain that the unconscious mind has a lot of energy in reserves.  Direct pleas to produce that energy do not often work.  The unconscious mind can not be fooled that easily.  However, when nudged by a couple of the unconscious cues we mentioned above the energy pours out.

Therefore, when examining successful people there is much more than meets the eye.  Even more than the people themselves could tell you

struggle to learn

Last week in my blog I mentioned that defeating fear is one of the most important things to do to be successful.  I received a lot of feedback stating that fear does hold people back.  The fear of losing, fear of looking dumb, and the fear of struggling while others seem to be cruising.

Can struggling help you learn.  Let’s look at two lists of words.  What I would like you to do is look at both lists for an equal amount of time.

A                                                                         B

Ocean/breeze                                                 bread/b_tter

Leaf/tree                                                          music/l_rics

Movie/actress                                                 sh_e/sock

Gasoline/engine                                             phone/bo_k

High school/college                                       chi_s/salsa

Turkey/stuffing                                               pen_il/paper

Fruit/vegetable                                               river/b_at

Computer/chip                                                television/rad_o

Chair/couch                                                     l_nch/dinner

Without looking try to remember as many pair of words as you can.  From which column do you recall more words?  If you are like most people you should remember two to three times as many words from column B.

So why does this happen?  When you examined the words in column B, you stopped, you stumbled and for a second you struggled.  You did not practice harder with column B you practiced deeper (more info)

Another example happens quite often in the classroom.  A teacher calls on a student who is struggling to figure out the answer.  His friend trying to help the student out tries to whisper the answer to him so that the teacher can not hear.  The truth of the matter is if you give the student the answer they probably will not remember it in the future.  However, if they are forced to struggle, retrieve the information themselves then they are more than likely to remember this information in the future.

So, the next time a teacher asks you a tough question, do not ask your partner for the answer.  Instead force yourself to struggle, because when you struggle at the edge of your ability, where you make mistakes you become smarter.

The great thing about deep practice is that we are not asking you to work longer just harder.

Nuggets of wisdom from Angela Duckworth

This week a group of students and teachers went to visit the University of Pennsylvania.  During that time Angela Duckworth, founder of character lab (here}, was gracious enough to talk with us for 45 minutes.  Here are some of her responses to student questions

FEAR

After giving the group some background on her work she opened the floor for some questions.  When students were hesitant at the start she talked about the importance of getting over your fears.  Angela talked about recently going to her reunion.   Angela and her friend were wondering what made some of these people more successful than others.  They both concluded it was not the smartest people but the most fearless who became the most successful.  She encouraged the students to get over their fears.

PASSION

Angela defines GRIT as passion and perseverance.  That people often think about perseverance as the hard part but that for many people the passion part is difficult.  Her advice was thinking about what you do with your free time?  She also cautioned that many times you do not know what you like?  That you may need to ask your friends or parents. Then once you figure out what you like try it.  Take an internship or follow a person who does that type of job.  That this type of experience will help you figure out if you want to continue this path.    

SUCCESS

        One is the resilience to overcome failure.  That people who are the best in what they do have often faced many rejections but refuse to quit.   That when your passion is so strong that everything you learn about you bring into your field.  So, when one of the best clinical psychologists learned to dance she brought that into her therapy.  Angela used the analogy of when you are walking on the beach, you do not truly notice everything on the beach.  However, once you start building a sand castle you realize that the sand, sea shells, branches, and water are all needed to make the castle.  So, when you find your passion you are continually bringing knowledge from different places into your field.

COLLEGE ADVICE

 First these schools are not looking for the students who spend an extra ten hours trying to get a 95 to a 97.  They want students who show their passion in something else besides school.  Athletics, clubs etc.  They are not looking for resume builders, they do not want a student who is in ten clubs with little interest nor do they want a student who makes up a club so that he can be the President.  They want students who have a passion for something and demonstrate that over their high school career.

SELF REGULATION OF DEVICES

Angela mentioned how these games were designed to get you addicted (like crack cocaine) to them.  That if you wanted to reduce your use that you needed to put the devices out of sight.  That the further away you put the device the less chance you had to reach for them.

Anytime I hear Angela Duckworth talk I learn something new.  I would love to hear what resonated the most with you.

turn fear into excitement

I was going to receive an award that also required a speech in front of a big crowd.  I was extremely nervous pacing around in the back of the room when my mentor came up to me and said., “calm down, relax, and take some deep breaths”.  When I heard my name being called for the award I kept thinking of my mentors’ words to stay calm and be relaxed.  Now I wonder did my mentor give me the correct advice.

Alison Woods Brooks, a professor at Harvard, asked students to give a persuasive speech.  She gave them two minutes to prepare, which made many of the students visibly shake.  When Brooks asked 300 professionals what advice they would give these students 90% agreed with my mentor in saying that they would tell them to relax.

Before the students gave the speech (quick video) she randomly asked them to say three words.  One group would say “I am calm” and another group would say “I am excited”.  What impact did that one word have on the outcome?  When students used the word excited 17% of the student’s speeches were rated more persuasive and 15% more confident.

Now will these same reframing work in other areas.  Brooks tried this with students facing a difficult math test.  She again randomly assigned the students and found similar results.  When students stated that they were excited to take the test they scored 22% better than students who did not say anything at all or who said I am calm.

Why does this work.  When you state that you are excited about something you are turning the negative anxiety into a positive emotion which allows you to perform better.  When you state that you are excited you are changing your mindset from threatening to a mindset of opportunity.

So next time you feel that anxiety building before a test, speech, interview or even a date remind yourself that you are excited.

As always your thoughts and feedback are welcome.