Beads Of Anxiety

“IPHONE TYPE PROBLEM,” it happens to me every time I have to purchase something expensive. I’ll be standing in the store, contemplating my phone options―do I want the iPhone or branded android phone? ―when I’m suddenly seized with anxiety. What if I choose the wrong one? Beads of nervous sweat gather on my forehead; like is not a fun place to have a mild panic attack.
Although I take my consumer choices seriously, I have always had a knack for making the wrong ones. I was the guy with the outmoded iPhone and the ugly looking hand bag; I usual order badly at restaurants too.
This recurring problem is what first led me to investigate the talents and the limitations of the human brain. Could I teach myself to make better choices? And what about
1. Tap your emotions. Our conscious thoughts are only a fraction of what’s going on in our brains. At any given moment, the unconscious is taking in vast amounts of information that we’re not even aware of and processing it all very quickly. Based on its conclusions, the brain generates emotions. So don’t disregard that subtle feeling telling you to avoid the salmon special. Your personal supercomputer is trying to tell you something.
2. Don’t think under pressure. It was one of the worst moments of my life: I was 17, playing peewee basketball and my team was trailing by a point. If I sank two free throws, we would win. I missed twice. Instead of relying on the part of my unconscious that’s like a trained autopilot (it had learned how to shoot baskets through years of backyard practice), I analysed the details of my shots, using brain areas that had no idea how to get a ball through a hoop. Once we’ve taken the time to develop any skill (and it always takes time), we should trust our instincts.
3. Consider alternative points of view. Professional poker players often use a simple trick when they suspect another player of bluffing: They think about how the player
Be sceptical of your memories. In recent years, scientists have demonstrated that human memories are surprisingly dishonest. The act of recalling an event (say, your eighth birthday party) changes the structure of that memory in the brain. Details are tweaked; the narrative is altered. The more you think about it, the less accurate your recollection becomes, and the less reliable it is as a basis for making any kind of conclusion. (So maybe you shouldn’t hire a clown for your kid’s party after all.) 7. Don’t expect to diet and finish the crossword. It turns out that the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for willpower and cognitive thought, is a rather feeble bit of flesh and easily depleted. In a telling study, people who were asked to remember a seven-digit number and then offered a snack were much more likely to choose chocolate cake over fruit salad than were those who were asked to remember a one-digit number. The first group’s self-control “muscles” were exhausted! It’s important to realize that you can do everything―just not all at once. (Martin 2009) 8. Study your mistakes. One common trait of successful people is their willingness to focus on their fumbles. Even when they do well, they insist on looking at what they could have done better. Such perfectionism might not be a recipe for happiness, but it’s a vital component of learning, since brain cells figure out how to get things right by analysing what they got wrong.9. Go ahead and daydream.