In The Moment Of Choice
IN THE MOMENTS OF CHOICE...
What you sow, so shall you reap. In other words, our actions decide the results we get. So we have all heard.
But even before we act, there are 2 steps that happen in our mind which we most of the times do not pay attention to. In fact, these 2 steps that we are unaware of are so crucial that they actually dictate the action we take and the result we get.
These 2 steps that quietly take place in our mind unknown to us are … ATTENTION and CHOICE. Most of us, at any given point in time, when we choose to undertake a particular action; we actually choose based on where our attention at that point in time is. Every minute is a tradeoff. The fact that you are reading this piece is because you chose to over every other thing on the earth you could have done. And that you chose this is because something about this piece caught your attention.
Let me explain further.
The video games these days have almost every teenager hooked to it. While coaching a teenager, I got a glimpse into the mind of a gaming teenager. This teenager decided to set an alarm(by his own volition) each time he started playing his favourite video game so that he becomes aware when the alarm goes off that it’s time for him to switch off his game.
But when he came back for the coaching session after 2 weeks, he was successful in his endeavor only 2 times. So, I used a Coaching model with him which we call ACAR Model. Or ACTION-CHOICE-ATTENTION-RESULT model to help him find out what really happened and why he failed the other times.
Together we discovered that when his alarm went off his attention continued to be on the game. At that point, he had 2 choices: switching off the game OR ignoring the alarm. In that moment of choice which is a very small window of only a couple of seconds, he chose the game.
On the other hand, the days he did manage to switch off his game when the alarm went off, his attention was on his assessment the next day for which he needed to prepare. And hence the choice followed by the action and the result.
A very simple and practical model, it helped him to reflect and find out why he was not able to switch off his game despite his best intentions.
This happens to the best of us. Right from giving up sweets to going for workouts, pursuing something meaningful to spend the time of social media, despite our best intentions, we mostly, fail. A quick focus on where our attention is versus where it should be, drastically increases the possibility of getting desired end result.
What you sow, so shall you reap. In other words, our actions decide the results we get. So we have all heard.
But even before we act, there are 2 steps that happen in our mind which we most of the times do not pay attention to. In fact, these 2 steps that we are unaware of are so crucial that they actually dictate the action we take and the result we get.
These 2 steps that quietly take place in our mind unknown to us are … ATTENTION and CHOICE. Most of us, at any given point in time, when we choose to undertake a particular action; we actually choose based on where our attention at that point in time is. Every minute is a tradeoff. The fact that you are reading this piece is because you chose to over every other thing on the earth you could have done. And that you chose this is because something about this piece caught your attention.
Let me explain further.
The video games these days have almost every teenager hooked to it. While coaching a teenager, I got a glimpse into the mind of a gaming teenager. This teenager decided to set an alarm(by his own volition) each time he started playing his favourite video game so that he becomes aware when the alarm goes off that it’s time for him to switch off his game.
But when he came back for the coaching session after 2 weeks, he was successful in his endeavor only 2 times. So, I used a Coaching model with him which we call ACAR Model. Or ACTION-CHOICE-ATTENTION-RESULT model to help him find out what really happened and why he failed the other times.
Together we discovered that when his alarm went off his attention continued to be on the game. At that point, he had 2 choices: switching off the game OR ignoring the alarm. In that moment of choice which is a very small window of only a couple of seconds, he chose the game.
On the other hand, the days he did manage to switch off his game when the alarm went off, his attention was on his assessment the next day for which he needed to prepare. And hence the choice followed by the action and the result.
A very simple and practical model, it helped him to reflect and find out why he was not able to switch off his game despite his best intentions.
This happens to the best of us. Right from giving up sweets to going for workouts, pursuing something meaningful to spend the time of social media, despite our best intentions, we mostly, fail. A quick focus on where our attention is versus where it should be, drastically increases the possibility of getting desired end result.
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