Understand Yourself
by Miki SaxonEver had a song or a word stuck in your head? Or a thought about someone?
Ever opened your mouth and had that thought fall out when you had no intention of saying it?
Oops, makes for a very embarrassing moment.
But why does it happen? Why, when you swore to yourself that you weren’t going to bring whatever it was up did your mind let you down and blurt it out.
An article in the NY Times explains why this happens, citing the research of Daniel M. Wegner, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University.
Wegner studies “how we perceive and control our minds,” and just published an article in Science (subscription required to read the whole thing).
“There are all kinds of pitfalls in social life, everywhere we look; not just errors but worst possible errors come to mind, and they come to mind easily. And having the worst thing come to mind, in some circumstances, might increase the likelihood that it will happen.”
Useful reading and a lot of interesting information on his site, but the real fun comes when you make time to take his Mind Surveys on various subjects; they’re a chance to compare your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) to others.
The comparisons are useful because they give you insight as to how your approaches play in today’s world.
And that’s what matters, not necessarily to change to match the rest, but to know how you differ and where you are the same.
An objective way to identify your strengths and differences and know how to package your MAP for maximum impact in today’s talent wars—or to modify/change it if doing so makes sense to you.
Your choice.
Image credit: Dan Wegner at Harvard.edu
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