How many times a day do we make lists? The grocery list, the “to do” list… and on it goes. One of the best lists you can make for yourself – in order to take care of you – is the “Take it in!” List.
What is it? That’s simple. It’s a list of all the things you’ve done in life that have gone really well.
There are so many of them. Honest.
The “Take it in!” list is a chance for you to look those things square in the face every day and…well… take them in. In other words, intentionally bring them up into your consciousness so that you can gain strength from them.
Why? Because our silly human brains like to focus on the things that haven’t gone so well. It’s a phenomenon called “negativity bias”. Like a sticky piece of velcro, our brains attach themselves to experiences that were bad. Often, that negative event is what we remember far more than any positive one that may have occurred at the same time. Crazy, right?
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson has a life hack that can help us. He says that negative experiences are registered in the brain immediately, while positive ones need to be held in awareness anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds in order for them to register in our emotional memory. Hanson calls it “solidifying positive experiences”. In other words, we really need to be conscious of the good things that happen so that our brains will retain the memory of them.
Forget the grocery list, kids. This just might be the most important list you will ever make.
On your mark, get set, write!
