Don’t Think of a Watermelon (Truby Tip – Focus on Positive Not Negative)

Try not to think of a watermelon. Impossible, right? The same applies to behavior change—focusing on what you don’t want only reinforces it. Discover how shifting your focus to what you do want can transform your mindset, your team, and your results.

Video Transcript:

If you want to fix or correct behavior or negativity, don’t focus on what you DON’T want. Focus on what you DO want. 

Why? Because the human mind can’t process negative without engaging in it. 

If I say “Don’t think of a watermelon”, you’ve got to think of a watermelon, as I say don’t think of it. 

The only way to keep you from thinking of a watermelon is to say “Think of a cantaloupe.” 

It’s the same thing when you’re trying to correct behavior, if you tell a child, “Don’t spill the milk”, they’ve got to think about spilling the milk. They’ve got to fear spilling the milk. So instead, say “Be careful. Hold the milk carefully.” That’s a different phrase. 

Here’s the thing about teamwork, for example, you will never build a team by trying to fix what keeps you from being a team. If you focus on that, people are focused on that.

Focus on BEING a team, it eliminates the things that prevent you from being a team. 

So when you want to change things, in your environment, in yourself, in your team, focus on what you WANT, champion what you WANT, not what you don’t want.