A new study from Northwestern University compared personality types used frequently in consumer research to self-improvement goal-setting strategies. People are motivated by one of two fundamental needs: we are either “promotion-focused,” seeking products that will help us achieve hopes and aspirations, or we are “prevention-focused,” seeking items that help satisfy a need for safety and security. According to the research, people are better able to exercise self-control when they choose goal-pursuit strategies that “fit” with their promotion or prevention focus.

“This research has important implications for consumer welfare,” explain Jiewen Hong and Angela Y. Lee (both of Northwestern) in the February issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. “While self-help remedies are saturating the market, resisting temptations remains a strenuous process and a constant struggle for many people. The data reported in this research offer an important step toward understanding self-control and highlight the benefits of adopting the right goal pursuit strategies.”

“[We] find that when people adopt goal pursuit strategies that fit with their promotion or prevention focus, they have better self-control. In contrast, their self-control is weakened when they adopt goal pursuit strategies that conflict with their focus,” the researchers explain.

They conclude: “Self-control is not just about doing the right things, but also about doing things the right way.”

Jiewen Hong and Angela Y. Lee, “Be Fit and Be Strong: Mastering Self-Regulation through Regulatory Fit.” Journal of Consumer Research: February 2008.

By untying your nots, you can use them to achieve your goals and improve your life.

The word “not” can activate possibility thinking – breaking up writer’s block, reenergizing brain storming sessions, sparking new and innovative thinking, and much more.

In Rapid Eye Technology (RET), the word “not” is used in very specific ways in certain processes known collectively as scramblers or colloquially as “not-nots.” A scrambler is simply a series of statements using the word “not” to confuse and break state often. The RET eye directing device (wand) is moved in specific patterns to enhance the effect. However, useful results can be obtained without the use of the wand or the movement of the eyes for those unfamiliar with RET or wishing to use these powerful processes for themselves on their own.

Obviously, you would not do the processes the same way as you would if you were in a RET session. You would also be hampered by not having a RET therapist handy to work with you. Nevertheless, the processes I’m going to describe may work well for you anyway. Try them out and see for yourself.

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Every two to three hours our brains subtly shift from right dominance to left dominance and back again.

There are obvious advantages to using both hemispheres when addressing a goal or project. When both “people” in your head work together on a common goal, magical things tend to happen. The reason those magical things don’t happen more often may be because your brains are in conflict with each other. Bringing them together in a common direction may be all you need to do to get things moving in your life – moving in the direction of your goals.

Quite basically, you have one brain hemisphere that thinks in a linear fashion and is great for organization. The other is great for spatial, non-concrete thinking – creativity. To avoid total confusion, we humans will assign one brain hemisphere or the other to be dominant for any given task. Usually the dominant one is the one that was dominant the last time you did the task – not because it is better suited to the task, but purely by the luck of the draw – that was the one that happened to be dominant at that time.

That’s pretty haphazard if you ask me.

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Every day, I get up, slip my clothes on, put on my shoes and tie them, brush my teeth, wash my face, brew a hot cup of java, and go to work.

I don’t have to focus on HOW to do these things – I’ve mastered them.

There are basically five levels of skill acquisition:

Unconsciously Unskilled (UU) – in which I am unaware of a skill I might want or use later.

Consciously Unskilled (CU) – in which I become aware of a skill I want but am as yet unskilled at it.

Consciously Skilled (CS) – in which I’ve learned the skill and must focus on HOW to accomplish the skill each time I do it in order to do it correctly.

Unconsciously Skilled (US) – in which I do the skill without any further attention to HOW TO DO IT. Like tying my shoes, I can do it without thinking – I just do it.

Skill Mastery (SM) – in which I have MASTERED the skill. In this level of skill acquisition, I no longer must practice the skill to retain it because I have EMBODIED it. It is now part of WHO I AM.

Mastery, in its truest form is demonstrated by total relinquishing of control – which means that the ultimate test of Mastery is the ability to perform the skill without conscious control or attention.

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Perhaps you already know that you have two hemispheres to your cortex. Although each hemisphere seems to govern certain types of thought patterns, they communicate with each other to such a degree that it is hard to discern their separate functions. However, by taking charge of those hemispheres you can take charge of your mood, your choices, and your communications – making it easier for you to function, achieve goals, study, interact, and communicate with yourself and others.

You don’t need to be a neurosurgeon or brain specialist to take charge of your brain. Just as you don’t have to understand how a computer works to make it work for you, you can obtain substantial benefit from your brain without having to understand how it works. You just need the right “software” a program you can run. And just as with your computer’s software, which program you run and what you input into the program can make quite a difference in the output you get.

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