I loved this book! I have to put it on my list of books to re-read annually.
Notes:
Re: Attention
p. 83 What we give attention to becomes our meaning. The reverse is true as well. Want to make someone feel like they don't matter? it's easy. Just look at your phone while they talk to you. Researchers James Roberts and Meredith David at Baylor University, in my hometown of Waco, call this phubbing, a portmanteau of "phone" and "snubbing".
....which makes me think about being on my phone at church. Hmmmm.....
Re: Lightning bolt change
Gretchen Rubin talks about the strategy of the lightning bolt - when something causes you to make a sudden change. I think Shawn Achor would say the lightning bolt strategy relies on a foundation of belief. The chapter is called The Nature of Belief.
He starts of talking about a hiking trip he and his girlfriend did that was really hard. Later, when they were married, they did it again, this time with their 8 year old in tow. It was way harder than they remembered and they ended up having to stay up on the mountain over night. He says the night was painful and felt unending and so cold his sons lips turned blue while he slept. They hiked down when the sun came up, piled into their car, and basked in the heat blowing out of the vents. Through this experience their beliefs changed from what they thought possible about themselves, one another and the world.
He says that when we encounter new information that contradicts our existing beliefs when we do something we previously thought was impossible. Because of this, we experience internal conflict/cognitive dissonance that causes us to have to change what not just what we believe, but what we know. It can be really uncomfortable to make that shift, but those experiences fundamentally change us.
What we need for it to happen is an anchor point: a mountain hike, a book that suddenly brings light to a confusing topic, etc. We can change out anchor points if we believe we can make the change.
He also says that we should review those moments that caused pivotal change so that we can keep ourselves well-anchored at that new higher level of life.
He said they had done several hikes previously with their son - but this was the one that caused his son to declare that he was a hiker. Achor says that both positive and negative events can change our life in positive ways
p. Why be early:
p. 90 Scarcity and Time
The "Good Samaritan" study conducted by John Darley and Daniel Batson in 1973 at Princeton University is among the most renowned experiments examining altruism and the impact of busyness on ones willingness to assist others. The researchers recruited seminary students who were told they would be delivering a talk on The Good Samaritan....Prior to heading to the location for their talk, some participants were informed that they had a few minutes to arrive, whereas others were told they were running late and needed to hurry.
The subjects were given directions to the location of their talk, but on the way, they encountered a dilemma: an undercover researcher slumped in a doorway, head down, eyes closed, and not moving. As the subject passed by, the person in trouble would cough twice and groan while keeping his head down. What would these seminary students do?
Sixty-three percent of the students who believed they had enough time stopped and offered to help the victim. But only 10 percent of those who believed they did not have enough time stopped to offer assistance. Same world, different beliefs, vastly different outcome. The study showed an enormous difference in response simply based on whether one believed they had enough time or they didn't.
In this study, being in a rush significantly diminished the likelihood of altruism - even among individuals who had devoted their lives to the study of compassion and morality. They were literally going to give a sermon on a story about how religious leaders kept walking by a man in need and only the hero of the parable (a social outcast, the Samaritan) stopped to help. Yet wen under time pressure, their ability to act according to their values was impaired.
Re: Sense of Purpose and Engagement in Work
p. 99 Social cohesion and perceived shared meaning were the most important predictors of team success - far outweighing individual talent, skill or educational background. In other words, whether the members of the team believed they were alone or connected had a higher impact on performance.
Gallup's extensive research into workplace engagement revealed that having a close friend at work is the strongest predictor of employee engagement, productivity, and retention. In their analysis of more than fifteen million employees worldwide, Gallup found that employees who strongly agreed with the statement "I have a best friend at work" were seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs. These employees also demonstrated higher levels of performance, were significantly less likely to be injured on the job, and reported fewer safety incidents and quality defects. Moreover, teams with high workplace friendships showed 21 percent high profitability and 41 percent lower absenteeism. Gallup concluded that genuine social bonds at work are not merely a "nice to have" perk - they are essential to sustained organizational success.
On Re-reading
p. 177 The best conclusion I've ever read was in Miracles by C.S. Lewis. In that book, he tries to make a logical and rational case for why miracles could exist. By the end of the book, you feel like you can follow his logic, and that maybe, just maybe, miracles seem possible when they might not have before. Your world feels like it is expanding.
But, Lewis notes, the logical pathways you took to get to those conclusions begin to vanish behind you, like the water of a swamp closing behind your footsteps. And the ideas recede into your memory like the tide - unless you read the book again. I had a Harvard professor in the English department who said if you read a book only once, you never read it. I don't totally buy that; to me, it feels like the equivalent of saying if you climbed a mountain only once, you never climbed it. But there is something very different about a hike you did once versus a hike you have done so many times it becomes part of who you are and can still show you new things each time you walk the trail.
Goodreads says:
The internationally bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential illuminates how harnessing our beliefs can influence our success in the real world.
Same world. Different beliefs. Different outcomes.
The greatest predictor of your future is the beliefs you hold about the world. In this extraordinary book, world-renowned researcher and author Shawn Achor illuminates how beliefs change the math about what is possible and probable in our lives. And by changing the math, beliefs change our path.
Drawing on two decades of research, as well as his work with NASA, the NFL, and over a third of the Fortune 100 companies, Shawn has discovered that the predictive power of beliefs has increased significantly. Beliefs about ourselves, money, the world, politics, faith, and work do more than shape the lens through which we see the world. They shape what happens next. Scientifically speaking, beliefs don’t just reflect reality. Beliefs bend reality.
Unfortunately, our beliefs can be empowering or they can be destructive. During what Achor calls the Great Drift, we have seen the staggering rise of the Four Horsemen of the Modern World: burnout, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. We are underperforming our true potential. But there is hope. Stunning new research in this book reveals the seven most predictive “core beliefs” that alter our future health, success, wealth, and education. Scientifically, these core beliefs take the cap off our potential, enrich us, strengthen us, and heal us.
Shawn explores the six main ways of changing your and others’ beliefs using research-based strategies he has tested everywhere from Wall Street to impoverished schools in Africa, from Camp Pendleton to Camp David:
• The Disaster Elevator: change what part of the brain processes the world.
• The Memory DeLorean: change the memory.
• Stopping Negative Mantras: change the language.
• Creating a Neural Tribe: change the sources.
• Starting the Wave: change the contagious actions.
• Common Texts, Common Action: change the texts.
The Power of Beliefs shows how seven core beliefs predict your present, bend the probability of future success, and, in the modern world, are the key to creating a better life for you and for others.
