Despite our deep-rooted negativity bias, we still have the power to choose our perspective and act rather than react(+).
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After speaking on a panel with another colleague, I was so impressed by her leadership that I sent her an email saying, “Today’s panel went absolutely amazing.” She replied: “When I first read your email, I thought it meant I was a complete idiot for facilitating the panel discussion.” Her negative thinking was in line with the anxiety she was feeling. It changed my positive message. Neuroscientists call the insidious built-in device that tormented my colleague negativity bias. This is an alarm system built into the brain that perceives negativity even when the situation is positive or neutral.
deal with negativity bias
Our minds are like Velcro on the negative side and Teflon on the positive side. Think back to a time when you spent countless hours ruminating about one negative aspect of a situation, even though in retrospect there was nothing to worry about. Still, your negativity bias caused you to overlook a lot of positives.
Your co-workers praise your presentation, but you can’t get the grimace of someone in the front row out of your head. The majority of your colleagues praise the project you led, except for one naysayer whose negative comments keep flashing in your brain like a neon sign.
Negativity bias plays an important role in survival, and is often associated with physical danger or imminent danger, such as financial pressure, tight deadlines, health concerns, performance anxiety, or fear of being passed over for a major job. It protects us from unforeseen threats. . . The list goes on. It overestimates the threat, underestimates our ability to deal with it, alerts us to action, even when the positive experiences outweigh the negative ones, and makes our lives mostly negative. It makes us appear to be filled with events and makes us nervous.
Meets a 3:1 positivity rate
If negativity bias is left unchecked, after just one episode, threatening negative memories are more likely to be retained than positive memories for survival. Ask anyone who was alive the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, where they were. You probably remember where you were, who you were with, and what you were doing on September 11, 2001. That is, assuming you’re old enough. I know it can be done.
But now that the initial 9/11 threat has passed, I’d be surprised if you told me what you were doing a week from now. You’re more likely to remember the time you fell out of a tree and broke your arm than the time you climbed it safely. Or that nasty medicine your mother forced on you. That will be more memorable than her lemon meringue pie.
According to Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, a scientist at the University of North Carolina, for every heart-breaking negative emotional experience, you need at least three uplifting, heart-warming positive emotional experiences. . Applying what she calls a 3-to-1 ratio creates a cooperative relationship between the survival mind and the rational mind. “Positivity does not mean that we should follow axioms such as “smile and bear it” or “don’t worry and be happy.” Those are just superficial aspirations.Positivity is something deeper.Positive emotions are , consisting of a whole range of positive emotions: from gratitude to love, from fun to joy, from hope to gratitude, and then some.
9 Paths to Less Adopted Perspectives
Fredrickson argues that just as we have negative biases that rob us of life, we also have within us the potential for positive, life-giving perspectives, ones that are less considered. Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl’s famous quote says it best: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space we have the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
One of the best mental tools we have at our disposal is the ability to flip our narrow vision and see the bigger picture, freeing ourselves to see and enjoy all areas of life. Rather than automatically reacting through a negative lens, we have the ability to choose a different perspective by simply pausing and acting. Here are some tips on how to incorporate more positivity into your life to balance your negativity bias.
Rewrite the story your negativity bias is telling you. Adopt the role of Narrator (rather than Actor) when replaying a Career Challenge. Be aware of the stories your negativity bias is telling you. Changing the narrative can prevent emotions from coloring the facts. When a publisher asked me to record an audiobook, my negative bias warned me that it would be a big deal. I rewrote the story, viewing the upcoming events in the recording studio as an adventure rather than a problem to be solved. And it turned out to be a fun and rewarding experience. Use spiritual judo to overturn negativity bias. You can train your mind to reverse negative bias. Brainstorm solutions to work challenges instead of getting caught up in the problem. Instead of blaming yourself for your shortcomings, high-five your strengths. Seeking profit in the face of loss. Pinpoint the upswings of the downswings. Look for opportunities in difficulties. Focus on the good news surrounding the bad news. Along with your to-do list, create a to-be list, such as watching the sunset or observing bird nests. “I had to pay more taxes this year than I ever paid” becomes “I earned more money this year than I ever paid.” Disconnect from everyday life that defines you. People who travel frequently are 7% more satisfied with their lives. Research has shown that traveling to far-flung lands can disconnect you from the life that defines you, broaden your horizons, and give you the perspective of an outside observer that is obscured in your daily life. Research shows that when we travel, we begin to think in terms of “we” rather than “me,” moving beyond imaginary threats from people of different ethnicities, genders, and ages to dealing with strangers and people with different lifestyles. You begin to find common ground to share. and cultures around the world. Please expand your scope. Focus your mind on the possible big picture aspects of the situation and build from that. The habit of regularly broadening your horizons develops muscle memory and has the cumulative effect of trivializing professional disappointments. Expanding your mind and taking in as much information as possible expands your options and possibilities. In other words, we expand the narrow “zoom lens” with negative bias into a “wide-angle lens” and create a perspective that expands the field of view. Practice self-affirmation. A series of studies have shown that self-affirmation acts as a “cognitive expander,” providing a broader perspective and diffusing the brain’s tunnel vision of self-threat. Focus on how far you have come in your career as you look at how far you have to go to achieve your true worldview. Practice self-affirmation. A series of studies have shown that positive self-affirmations act as “cognitive extenders.” These foster a distant relationship with self-judgment, allowing us to see ourselves in a broader context of possibilities and possibilities, and diffusing the brain’s tunnel vision of self-threat. Please take a chance. Instead of sticking your neck out and expecting a negative outcome, take small risks in new situations. Rather than settling into a comfortable rut or routine, try something new. “I won’t go to the office party because I don’t know anyone” will change to “If I go to the party, I might make new friends.” Don’t let one negative event dominate your entire life pattern. “I didn’t get the promotion. Now I’ll never reach my career goals” becomes “I didn’t get the promotion, but there are many other steps I can take to reach my career goals.” Nothing is permanent and every situation can be changed for the better. Don’t take your career highs more seriously than your career lows, and don’t take your lows more seriously than your highs. There can’t be a front without a back, and there can’t be a top without a bottom. Similarly, you can’t have career success without career downturns. Treat setbacks as lessons to be learned, rather than failures to be endured. Think about what you can learn from difficult outcomes and use them as stepping stones rather than obstacles. Think of the situation as not happening to you, but because of you.
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