Target Fixation

.....Is not a myth!  Target fixation.  As per Wiki, here is the definition:

"Target fixation is a process by which the brain is focused so intently on an observed object that awareness of other obstacles or hazards can diminish. Also, in an avoidance scenario, the observer can become so fixated on the target that they will forget to take the necessary action to avoid it, thus colliding with the object.
This is a common issue for motorcyclists and mountain bikers. A motorcycle or bicycle will tend to go where the rider is looking; if the rider is overly focused on an obstacle, the cycle can collide with that object simply because of the rider's focus on it, even though the rider is ostensibly trying to avoid it.
The term target fixation was used in World War II fighter-bomber pilot training to describe pilots flying into targets during a strafing or bombing run."
I've brought over a video from YouTube of this very phenomenon.  *Warning, graphic*.  The cyclists and the motorcyclist are all OK in the end.  But here you will see a motorcyclist, and you can tell by his steering that he SEES the cyclists.  He tries to AVOID the cyclists but by the very fact that he is CONCENTRATING on NOT hitting the cyclists, he HITS the CYCLISTS.

What is it that we are trying so hard to NOT HIT?  What are we focusing all our energy on NOT DOING?  What behaviors do we TRY TO AVOID?  According the the phenomenon of Target Fixation, it is these very behaviors that by our very focus on NOT doing them, we will DO them.

Why is this?  I believe it has something to do with structural tension.  Structural tension is talked about in Dr. A's Habits of Health and it is a very real useful tool, but it can also be disastrous if we are focusing on the wrong things.  You see, when we focus on something, whether it is DOING something or even NOT doing something, there is a certain amount of unresolved tension that our brains feel.  As we go about our day, our brains run a program in the background of our daily activites which seeks to resolve the unresolved tension, because if there is anything our brains are GOOD at it is SOLVING PUZZLES and working out SOLUTIONS.  We experience a similar thing when we hear PART of a song but not the whole thing, that song will be playing in our brains all day long it seems like, because there was no conclusion.  Our brains like things neatly concluded, wrapped up, and put away.  Unresolved tension, either positive or negative, necessarily seeks a solution.

Which is why commercials are so effective, by the way. 

OK back to the focusing on the negative behaviors.  If we spend all of our time focusing on NOT doing what we DON'T want to do, our brains will see that as negative tension and it will build up and build up because whether we want to do it or not we are FOCUSED on it.  And like the motorcycle into the cyclists, we will collide with that negative behavior we are trying to avoid every time. 

The solution?  Replace the negative behavior with a positive one.  Focus on the habits of health, the healthy behaviors that you WANT to do.  They will overwrite the negative behaviors, and the negative behaviors will go in to hibernation.  They won't go away forever, but they can be suppressed intentionally not by trying NOT to do them, but by developing healthy habits that you can do INSTEAD. 

So what will you do today?  What habit of health will you bring IN to your life?  Focus on THAT and you will collide (in a GOOD way!) with THAT!

Rinse and Repeat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFaAqS2f18