Oct 25, 2019
You may remember episode 68 on
counterfactual thinking (why we ‘what if’ and ‘if only’). That
episode and the Inc.com article I wrote on how to break the
negative cycle of 'what if' thinking were incredibly well received.
That episode talked about the different types of counterfactuals –
upward or downward, omission or commission, and usual or extreme.
Today, I’m going to build on that and talk about the difference
between a prefactual and a counterfactual. I’ll explain how they
can work differently to help you achieve goals (building on last
week’s episode as well).
Goals are so important at this
time of year. As the year is ending, you’re looking back at what
you have done, what you could have done, and also looking forward
at what you can do in the future. This is all counter and
prefactual thinking in action, and as I’ve already said, they can
be a huge aid in reaching goals…or a massive hinderance.
Understanding how they work is a big step toward being able to use
them to your advantage, and that’s really the point of this
episode.
Before we jump in, I want to
remind everyone that the cart for the Brainy Mindset Course is now
open! Claim your spot by November 1st. The first of our six weekly
live training sessions begins on November 5th. There are also lots
of worksheets and a dedicated Facebook community where I will also
be answering your questions. It’s going to be amazing, and we
already have some fantastic people signed up and interacting in the
group and getting a jump on things.
Another amazing thing is that
it’s only $199 for the entire six week course, which will give you
all the steps to tackle mindset including live support with me
walking through it with you every step of the way. To make things
extra sweet for you podcast listeners, there is an extra bonus of
25% off. This brings the total down to only $149 if you use the
code BRAINY50OFF at checkout. Sign up now!
Show Notes:
- [06:05] Counterfactuals are
looking back at something that has already happened, and
essentially undoing it in some way in your mind.
- [06:19] Ruminating isn’t the
same as a counterfactual. Memory reflection itself isn’t enough…you
need to change what happened or could have happened in your brain
for it to be a counterfactual thought.
- [06:39] Prefactuals are when
you look to the future, and think about what could be. Like
counterfactuals, this can either be negative positive.
- [06:49] If you look to the
future in a negative way, it has been called “defensive pessimism”
and may involve anticipation of regret and building strategies to
avoid that.
- [07:27] When you think about
what could happen or how you might succeed in the future, studies
show you can actually have great benefits in all sorts of
tasks.
- [08:25] The brain does get
benefit from dwelling and dread.
- [08:51] Your brain loves
dopamine and it drives it to do all sorts of things. Anticipation
is at the core of prefactual thinking.
- [09:48] The treat for the brain
is in the pre-buildup or the prefactual.
- [10:31] I decided to send a
Gratitude Discount to people on my mailing list for my Brainy
Course, unfortunately there was an email mistake and about a dozen
people received %firstname% instead of their
name.
- [13:06] I could dwell on this
for hours in the counterfactual/prefactual world.
- [14:37] Counterfactuals tend to
focus on things that we really have no control over.
- [14:57] Prefactuals are
more likely to focus on things in your realm of
control.
- [15:33] Instead of just
predicting the possible future outcome, you want to identify a
specific circumstance.
- [16:19] My 10/10/80 A/B test
gave me a chance to think a little about what could happen
(prefactual) and because I didn’t dwell too much on what might have
been (counterfactual) I could take steps to actually make it
better.
- [18:46] I also used the power
of prefactual thought to prevent this from happening
again.
- [19:41] One key to using
counterfactuals and prefactuals for your benefit, is to look for
the learning opportunity.
- [21:30] When something
goes wrong the inclination is to make a giant alert on the website,
but you can't always do that because it will overwhelm the brain
and make it so nothing else is noticed and draw attention to
it.
- [22:15] If something goes
wrong, and only affects 2% of the audience, there is no need for a
massive alert to everyone. (It can actually make things
worse.)
- [22:55] Knowing the true impact
is really important before you send out that apology. Don't let
prefactual and counterfactual thoughts blow things way out of
proportion.
- [23:31] First – take a deep
breath, pause for a moment to assess the situation. Then ask some
questions. How many people were impacted? What really happened? Is
it fixed already? If not, when will it be fixed? What can we do now
to make it better?
- [23:47] Then take the actions
that you know need to be taken.
- [24:09] Write out what you
could do to make this situation and others like it better in the
future.
- [24:23] Breathe, assess,
questions, actions, reflection.
- [25:22] One study I really
liked was looking at how counterfactuals and prefactuals impacted
performance in a balancing task compared to a control
group.
- [26:05] Three groups completed
balancing tasks, one group used a prefactual prompt, another used a
counterfactual prompt and the last was the control
group.
- [26:37] The control group
stayed the same. Positive structured prefactual/counterfactual
thinking did 5-6 times better.
- [26:55] Studies have also found
that people perform better on a task after doing prefactual
thinking even if they have no prior experience.
- [27:15] Role playing and
visualization techniques are so important (and why they play a big
piece in mindset work).
- [27:23] Planning for the future
is how you shape it into what you want it to be. Moving out of
negative counter and prefactuals into the positive space is such a
useful and versatile skill for everyone.
- [27:53] Use the “Next time
I’ll” language to program this thinking in your
mind.
- [28:35] You will get there
faster and easier if you structure your counterfactuals and
prefactuals to the positive.
Thanks for listening. Don’t
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