Ditching the Deficit
Last Saturday I woke out of sorts after a hot and humid night. I stomped around, pondering work to be completed by Monday, domestic chores ahead and our garden, with an appetite for water matched only by its growth rate!
Popping out into the greenery with my tea, I found the day clear and magnificent, and four ripe tomatoes lurking in the veggie patch. There were three rosellas sitting in my neighbours’ apple tree, enjoying the sun along with the granny smiths. My English Pointer Oakley smiled at me – always in the present and convinced that I am the most bewitching biped around.
I noticed a subtle shift. My spirits had lifted and I felt open, filled with possibility.
I cast my mind back to my last post written in Vietnam, and the things I know consciously about positivity and its effect on coherent brain function, energy, performance, health and relationships. The authors of the Telomere Effect (Blackburn and Epel) also link positivity to ‘living younger, healthier and longer’ (telomeres are the ends on our chromosomes, like the aglets on our shoelaces).
So why do we sink into the doldrums, with no breath of hope or energy, and how do we get out of them?
Abundant neuroscience research shows us that our brains are wired for an 80% ‘negativity bias’ (Kanouse, D. E., & Hanson, L. 1972). In our families, our schooling and our professional heritage we’ve been acculturated to critique things – we look for the deficit. We’re built, trained and encouraged to look for flaws and risks and fix them.
This approach can protect us from danger but doesn't take us to a place of flow (Seligman), where we can harness our potential and strengths. It certainly doesn’t achieve the open neural pathways that Fredrickson talks about in her Broaden and Build Principle.
In a recent blog Dr Rick Hanson writes:
“In your brain, there are separate (though interacting) systems for negative and positive stimuli. At a larger scale, the left hemisphere is somewhat specialized for positive experiences while the right hemisphere is more focused on negative ones (this makes sense since the right hemisphere is specialized for gestalt, visual-spatial processing, so it’s advantaged for tracking threats coming from the surrounding environment).
Negative stimuli produce more neural activity than do equally intense (e.g., loud, bright) positive ones. They are also perceived more easily and quickly. For example, people in studies can identify angry faces faster than happy ones; even if they are shown these images so quickly (just a tenth of a second or so) that they cannot have any conscious recognition of them, the ancient fight-or-flight limbic system of the brain will still get activated by the angry faces.”
So how do we manage our brain’s natural negativity bias mindfully? In this post I explore this further and share some practical tips on how to ditch the deficit - make more of a habit out of positivity and a strengths based approach.
Acknowledging that our default is to look for the snakes and tigers and flee or kill them - how do we start to shift away from that? How can we unlock individuals' strengths to grow, broaden and build?
Here are some practical ways I've come across through my learning and work:
Ritualise Positive Thinking. Positivity is a choice. It doesn’t mean ignoring risks or flaws altogether, but it is about where you focus first in any situation. We can only ditch the deficit by working consciously to form a new habit. Start to savour positivity by experimenting with a journal - identifying the things at the end of each day that you’re grateful for or happy about (instead of what’s gone wrong, been disappointing, annoying or worrying).
Adopt a Growth Mindset - Carol Dweck has researched a 'Growth' and 'Fixed' Mindset where a Growth Mindset focuses on learning and a Fixed Mindset on looking good. A person with a Growth Mindset believes effort is the pathway to mastery. Those with a Fixed Mindset see that success relies on innate skills and talents rather than making an effort. If we are to unlock our strengths, then we need to believe that if we try, we have the potential to learn and grow. This is highlighted in this short video sharing the results of a Praise and Mindset Dweck study.
Use Appreciative Inquiry - David Cooperider talks about identifying our desired destiny and taking an open, curious and systemic approach to search for the best in people and communities. For those interested in learning more about Appreciative Inquiry I recommend reading this excerpt from ‘A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry’ by David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.
Start with your Signature Strengths – I identify myself as a strengths based coach and facilitator. This doesn't mean that I'm naive or blind to flaws or problems. I believe that a person's most direct path to individual growth begins with a primary investment in his or hers greatest talents. To discover more about your strengths I recommend taking either:
· VIA Survey for Character Strengths (free online survey assessing 24 strengths)
· Clifton Strengths Finder ($15 for top 5 strengths, $89 for full 34 strengths)
Practise Mindfulness - Being self aware and mindful of our own beliefs and responses helps us to be really present, better able to observe, accept and make interpretations, rather than leaping to judgment. We know from neuroscience research that mindfulness and meditation are strategies for a coherent mind and tapping into our best selves. You might like to experiment with a simple start to mindfulness practice - simply tuning into your breath as an anchor. You can go further with many great guided mindfulness meditations available, including Smiling Mind and Headspace.
Be Aware of Emotional Contagion - Surrounding ourselves with positive people helps us combat our default negativity bias. Think about the 5 people with whom you spend the most time. What do they focus on? How do they energise you? You are most likely projecting the same energy to others around you.
Finally, I believe we are not our thoughts. We can make a conscious effort to dispute our own self talk and negativity bias and challenge it.
I’d love to hear from you about your ideas and experiences of ditching the deficit.