Let me ask you a question; do you think you would notice a gorilla on the court during a basketball game? Not if you were doing the task that subjects at the University of Illinois were asked to do.
I am often asked by those who eventually become clients, " How is learning to think in a different way going to help my pain?, My pain is real, it's not just in my mind!" To answer this, let's focus on the power of our attention, the resulting perceptions, and what role that can play in the experience of pain.
Our attention acts as a filter...a powerful filter! It can, and does, direct all resources to specific tasks and away from others.
In a very famous experiment on this subject, Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris conducted a study at the University of Illinois that had shocking results. The subjects were asked to watch video of a basketball game, and, were tasked with one thing; counting the number of passes made by the players in white shirts only.
At one point on the video, someone in a gorilla suit walked through the group playing the game, and then stood in the middle of the screen before walking off again. Over half of the subjects watching MISSED the gorilla!
Our ability to notice things consciously is very, very limited. When the subjects had their attention riveted on certain things, it actually deleted those things that didn't match, even when they were right in front of their face. Whenever I am faced with a client that has an "overactive" conscious mind that wants to "intrude" while we are doing a trance induction, I simply utilize this principle and literally overload their conscious mind with "other" tasks. But what about the clients ability to experience this after they go home?
A phrase that I use more and more on initial sessions is, "Let's get this out of the way now; I can't make you DO anything!" Many times people will say, " Can you make me stop smoking?" Oh, believe me, I could. Sit in front of me, let me put a gun to your head, and I guarantee you you will stop smoking. But that's not my line of work.
I am a coach with some extremely impressive tools, and a great deal of skill in knowing where and when to use those tools, however, those tools are only to elicit, unleash, and initiate the resources within the client. I am an active participant in a teaching process; the process of learning to use your brain to do phenomenal things. And, when my clients are good students, ( and almost all clients suffering from pain are) then what can seem like magic very often occurs.
Our attention is always on something, always! What our attention is on will create the largest part of our reality, and we tend to see and experience more of what we focus on, "good" or "bad". Isn't it true that the last time you bought a car, or a new dress or suit, that you almost immediately started seeing those things everywhere? They were there the whole time, but the new relevancy of that car, suit or dress in your life, literally shifted your attentional units, thus bringing what had always been there into your awareness.
Mastering the skill of shifting our attentional units can be one of the most empowering tools around. Part of what I do is teach people how to begin mastering this skill. I can assist people in not seeing, hearing, or feeling some things, and seeing, hearing, and feeling other things. Everyone can learn! In fact, everyone already does it daily, just not in a way that serves them well.
So, don't be so sure that you could never miss a gorilla on the basketball court. More importantly, if this principle is at work in your life, ( and it is) what "gorillas" are you missing in your daily experience because of your habitual focus of attention?
Vincent Harris is a Professional Speaker, Trainer, and Consultant, specializing in the New Science of Happiness, Positive Psychology. When You sign up for his FREE weekly newsletter, you'll receive a FREE Mp3 audio download and a Special Report "How to Make Others Crave to Be Near You." Just go to http://www.successpath.info/Consultations.html
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