How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life pdfdrive com

particularly apt place to work, or consider whether you can tweak your
regular workspace. For example:
• To encourage open-mindedness, consider finding an open space to sit and
think. (Perhaps even go outdoors to walk and talk, if you’re having a
conversation.
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)
• For creativity, you might try to sit in a place that’s full of art or quirkiness.
• To have a relaxed discussion, choose a cozy space rather than a
boardroom.
• Need to think particularly clearly today? Clear your desktop or workspace.
Brighten the lighting.
Martin, our aviation man, thinks a lot about how his surroundings can either
detract from or support his intentions. He has a general day-to-day goal of
remaining undistracted, and he vouches for the last of the examples above. “I
always had a cluttered desk. But I discovered that when I was struggling to stay
on track with the intentions I’d set in the morning, it really helped to literally
remove everything from my desk. Clear the space, and I suddenly feel
clearheaded. The effect is nothing short of miraculous.”

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MIND’S-EYE REHEARSAL
If you play a sport like golf or tennis, have you ever tried to imagine yourself
hitting a perfect shot before you swing your arm? If you think it helps, research
suggests you’re probably right, for two reasons. First, our brains activate in
much the same way when we’re visualizing something as when we’re
experiencing it for real. Researchers have found the overlap to be between 60
percent and 90 percent.
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Second, the more we rehearse a particular behavior, the
stronger the associated neural pathways become in our brain—making it easier
for us to summon that behavior when we most need it. It’s why practice makes
perfect. So when we take the time to visualize ourselves handling a situation
with aplomb, we’re effectively giving our brain the chance to rehearse—making
it easier for us to fire up the right neural connections when we’re in the heat of
the moment.
There’s a great deal of research confirming the power of this kind of mind’s-
eye rehearsal. I especially like an experiment by Harvard researcher Alvaro
Pascual-Leone and his colleagues, where two groups of beginners were taught to
play a sequence of notes on the piano, then asked to practice it for a week, and
tested throughout the week for their accuracy. The twist was that one of the
groups was only allowed to “practice” in their minds. They would sit in front of
a keyboard for two hours a day, but they weren’t allowed to touch it; instead,
they visualized themselves playing the notes. The other group was allowed to
actually play the notes, rehearsing for the same amount of time. The result? Both
groups learned to play the sequence. On day three, they were equally accurate.
On day five, the physical practice group had edged ahead. But giving the
“visualizers” just one hands-on practice session allowed them to catch up with
the group that had played every day.
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Doug, the CEO of a major online retailer in China, uses mental rehearsal a
great deal in his professional life. “It’s become hugely important for me
whenever I’m going into a challenging situation such as a big presentation,” he
says. “Of course I do the normal type of preparation—bullet points on cards and
so on. But on the morning of the day I’m giving my talk, I also take a moment to
imagine how I want the session to go. Then I think back to a previous difficult
presentation that went well, and I remember how I handled it. I take a deep
breath, and I think about each aspect of that successful memory and also the
physical sensation of that past experience. The process relaxes me because it

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makes me feel sure that I have the resources to deal with the challenge ahead.”
Note that effective visualization isn’t the same as the kind of affirmations
espoused by those in the New Age “positive thinking” movement. Doug wasn’t
just muttering “Believe you’ll achieve it and you will.” He was doing some
mental contrasting and practical when-then planning. He imagined the specifics
of the challenge ahead, and visualized exactly how he would address and
overcome those challenges, based on his past experience. Likewise, the pianists
didn’t just talk about or imagine themselves as successful musicians; they
steadily worked through each note in their mind. The scientific evidence on
visualization supports the benefits of realistic mind’s-eye rehearsal, not
untethered wishful thinking.
I’d also highlight that mind’s-eye rehearsal, when done well, takes advantage
of as much sensory information as possible: visual images, yes, but also sounds,
feelings, smells, even tastes. Doing this helps to activate a richer set of neural
connections in our brains. So when Doug prepares to give a presentation, he
pictures a room where he gave a great speech in the past, 
and
he also brings to
mind as many other details of that positive experience as possible: the sound of
his voice, the things others said, and the feeling in his chest. Perhaps even the
snack he ate before giving the speech.
Doug adds this advice for making maximum use of the technique: “What
ideally happens is that over time you build up a playlist of successful memories
to call on. You might call on one memory for ‘I want to do a good presentation,’
and another memory for ‘I need to be supremely patient and tolerant today.’
With some practice, I find you can visualize those memories just a moment
before you need them—literally as you’re walking into the situation.”
Here are some practical step-by-step ways to use mind’s-eye rehearsal to
reinforce your intentions: