THE NEGATIVITY BIAS AND HOW TO BEAT IT

Oh our caveman brain pretend you're a caveman you're out hunting for food and you see a berry bush up ahead but you also hear a suspicious rustling sound from within the bushes do you a run back to the safety of the cave without your berries or do you risk it despite the danger I'm going to say survival instinct will kick in and back to the caves you go okay so now you're on your way to school you're not a caveman anymore by the way you're on your way to school and you meet up with the Tarkan's your friends one of them gives you a really nice compliment the other one really just gives you an insult but which of those is going to stick in your head all day the good positive compliments or the bad negative insult the negatives always going to be that negative one you can't get out your head the compliment that you got is pretty much ignored and this just goes back to our caveman friends the negative is stronger than the positive if we ignore a positive event like the tasty berries and we skip the risk we survive but if we ignore the negative event the risk of a tiger being behind the bush we're a goner the outcome of a negative event is much stronger than the positive one so naturally our brain focuses on the negative as a survival instinct millions of years on there may not be a tiger in the bushes but our brain is still wired to think this way and this is called the negativity bias so a negative thing may happen to us we stress out we react and before we know it that negative feeling is locked away in our brain it's all we can think about and we stress about it a bit more until our brain spots another negative event on the horizon and goes on the hunt to find it it's a never-ending circle meanwhile though positive things all have to be happening to us but they just go in one side of the brain and straight out the other they're gone positive thoughts goes through our brain without recognition because we're still too busy thinking about the negative events no wonder our brain focuses on the negative more than the positive as it's been part of our natural brain function for millions of years and because the guy seems like a pretty impossible thing to tackle but there are some really great solutions all of which will help to give us a motivation and confidence boost so how do we beat that caveman number one awareness now that we know the great power of negativity and we're more aware of it we'll be less likely to invite it into our brain when we feel a negative event happening or feel ourselves being drawn into a negative thought and stressing over it tell yourself that you are smarter than your brain thinks you are quite simply by saying I am NOT a caveman and this is not a tiger number two velcro the positives negative events are quickly locked in and stored away in our memory and we saw just how quickly positive events flow through our brain and out the other side for positive events to get locked in we need to spend longer on them when positive things happen make a point to enjoy the experience longer and replay over a few times in your head even if it's just for 10 seconds more by holding onto that positive event in our awareness longer we can velcro it into our long-term memory and beat the caveman number three a gratitude journal now I know this might sound a bit odd but basically what I mean is just a bit to write down positive things anything that you're pleased and happy about there's lots of variations of this idea that you can tailor to suit you you could do something similar but in your study diary maybe write down a daily or weekly quick story or quote about something positive or funny that happens just above where you're writing down your homework or coursework you can create a whole page for it at the back of your study diary or make it even more visible and stick it up on your wall or vision board at home where you'll see it all the time whatever you choose this idea will keep our brain more focused on the positive things so it has less time to be finding the next negative event number four a kudos folder every time that you get back a piece of work that you're proud of or achieve the mark that you wanted to maybe a medal certificate so so print out and put it in that folder when negativity is getting you down making you feel low in confidence and motivation you've got that folder full of things that completely beats the caveman and shows just how wonderful you are number five a drop of ink and a bowl of water when negativity strike however it does maybe you missed a goal in a football match or someone said something mean to you or maybe just didn't get the mark you were hoping for in a mock exam think of it like a drop of ink going into a big bowl of water at first when it first hits the water that drop of ink is really strong but after a while it starts to mix with the rest of the bowl of water until eventually it's gone and you can't see it anymore think after a few hours or days will that negative things still be like that first drop of ink in the water or well it has just washed away completely and not matter anymore this idea helps to visualize the negative feeling disappearing and put it into perspective so even though the negativity bias has been around for a long while it does have to explain things if we understand how our brain works naturally we can beat the caveman by trying out these ideas and rewiring our brains of positivity which will really help to boost our motivation and confidence you

Channel: The Pocket Mentor App

Views: 42,738

Keywords: negativity bias, mental strength, mental health, brain hack, revision, 3 steps to revision successs, successs, mindfulness, mind gym, student life, student, school, revision help, exam, exam help, examstress, make your mind up, motivation, focus, resilience, confidence, psychology, growth mindset, positive, mentor, tips, revision technique

Id: 0LfteZ9k8YU

Length: 6min 0sec (360 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 28 2017