The Yellow Arrow

For several years I have taught a workshop called Visioning for Results.  I believe that it is possible to get more of what you want in life if you understand and apply three things:  The Path of Least Resistance; Creative Orientation; and Creative Tension.  This blog focuses on understanding the first. 

The path of least resistance describes the physical or metaphorical pathway that provides the least resistance to forward motion by a given object or entity, among a set of alternative paths.  More simply stated energy goes where it is easiest for it to go.  I use an exercise to demonstrate this principle, which I will describe later in the blog. 

First, I have one request…don’t think of a red car.  What is the first thing that happened?  Of course, you thought of a red car.  But do you know why you thought of a red car?  Because your brain does not understand a negative in the absence of the positive.  Or more clearly, as soon as you read, DON’T think of a red car, your brain has to think of the red car in order to understand what it shouldn’t think of.  It has to understand the positive statement first to understand the negative command.  This is a fact about how the brain works.  Thus, if I really don’t want you to think of a red car, it would be better to say, think of a blue car or think of a pink elephant.  The red car would never enter the equation and you would never think of it. 

If you are parent, you understand this well.  Right after you say to your three-year-old, don’t spill the milk, you watch the milk topple over, run down the table, and onto the floor.  Although I can’t reference scientific proof, I believe this happens because the three-year-old brain is still developing and doesn’t process the true intent of the request as quickly as the adult brain will.  Consequently, the first thing the brain responds to is the positive aspect of the command, and “spill the milk” becomes the order it responds to.  With my three-year-old, I try to remember to say, “hold onto your milk with both hands.”  This seems to work much better than “don’t spill your milk.”

So how does this relate to getting what you want while using less energy?  Let’s think of the command “Don’t spill your milk’ as a mathematical equation.  In Equation A there are two steps,

Step 1:  The brain sees the positive, spill the milk.

Step 2:  The brain adds the negative, don’t. 

Step 1 + Step 2 = unspilled milk or milk still in the cup, hurrah!

Now, to make it simple, let’s assume that each step requires brain energy of 1 unit. 

Step 1:  1 unit of Brain energy

Step 2:  1 unit of Brain energy

Step 1 (1 unit of Brain energy) + Step 2 (1 unit of Brain energy) = 2 units of energy expended to keep the milk in the cup.

Okay, so the simple statement of “Don’t spill the milk” requires 2 units of energy.

Now, let’s apply our mathematical equation to a different command, the one I use with my three-year-old.  Equation B, “Hold onto your milk. ”

Step 1:  The brain sees the positive, hold onto your milk.

Step 1 + (no further instruction) = unspilled milk or milk still in the cup, hurrah!

Let’s add the brain energy:

Step 1:  1 unit of Brain energy

Step 1 (1 unit of Brain energy) + 0 = 1 unit of Brain energy

Requiring only 1 unit of brain energy, Equation B requires less energy than Equation A which requires 2.  Tah Dah!  This is how you get what you want while using less energy.

Sounds too simple?  Feeling a little skeptical?  Pretend that it is true and apply it to how you live your life.  In the current economy, how many of us haven’t thought, “I don’t want to lose my job.”  And, we put our energy into “Don’t lose my job!”  Think first about the instruction you have just given your brain.  First, the brain has to understand “lose my job.”  Hmmm, probably not the best place to focus the brain’s energy in the first place, then it has to use the second unit of energy on DON’T! 

The better instruction is “Keep my job.”  It is more direct, enables the brain to really focus on what you truly want, and uses less energy in the process.  To learn more read, Robert Fritz’s The Path of Least Resistance.   Fritz applies this law to creativity.  The Path of Least Resistance is a foundational tool in getting more of what you want in life. 

Apply this principle see how it works for you. 

!Buen Camino!

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