Something I struggle with is following a particular method for influencing my behavior consistently. I start out well with a new method for handling some improvement that I want, but then I get tired and distracted and quickly I fall back to my old ways.
I have a few examples. First is the game of chess. I have learned some really intelligent decision making methods for analyzing a chess board. When I follow these methods, carefully, I improve my candidate move selection process dramatically. The challenge is that I get mentally tired, and I start to slip. Something will happen on the board or around me that pulls my attention and my decision making method falls apart and I go back to learned behavior. I need a way to quickly bring my mind back to attention, and I think that can be accomplished with a Metaphor Mantra.
I will get away from chess, and an example more relatable for everyone. This morning, I went running in Scottsdale, AZ. This was a trail run that was very technical. This means a trail with lots of rocks and ups and downs. You have to pay attention, or you will slip and fall and get injured. To go fast requires some very active and responsive thinking. I have learned a method for dealing with a technical trail. First, my cadence must be consistent. My legs turn over in the same speed, and I keep my upper body very straight. Second, I keep my knees up and focus my foot strikes very consistent. Third, I learn to map several steps in advance. I do well on this method. I am getting faster and faster. The problem is that when I get tired, I forget some of these ideas and I start to stumble. What I need is a Metaphor Mantra.
Here is how that would work. For the concept of consistent leg turn over, I use the Metaphor of a locomotive. Can you see it? With each puff, the steam locomotive drives the bars forward 3 times, and as it does so, the wheels turn. Always consistent. The circular motion of the large iron bars, keep a consistent path forward.
For the concept of lifting my knees, I use the Metaphor of independent suspension. I have a vision of a large beetle that has 6 legs each with independent lifting mechanism. I also think about a solid off road vehicle with four wheels, each with their own independent suspension mechanism. The body of the car stays stable, yet the four wheels are handling the difficult terrain separately and independently.
The third concept of seeing the path several steps in advance, I think of Space Invaders. The 80s video game, to be good at it, you have to see your path through the falling aliens several steps ahead. If you focus only on the one you are shooting at right now, the next one will get you. The faster the game gets, the more you have to see ahead to plan your rapid succession of movements.
To bring this all together, I have crafted the Metaphor Mantra. I am a conductor playing Space Invaders driving a Locomotive with Independent Suspension. I just keep repeating that in my head, especially when I am tired.
Take this concept to something more real. Unless of course you are planning to run an 8 mile trail run in the desert today! I am trying to remember a few things when I meet and talk to people. I want to remember their name, I want to ask them about themselves, and I want to listen carefully. I do this well when I am thinking about it. However when I am tired, grumpy, out of sorts, I fall back to rude, condescending and arrogant. So I need a metaphor mantra! When I think of remembering a name, I think of a tombstone. So now I get funny. I have to speak at this person’s funeral and plan their burial. So I repeat this mantra – tombstone, eulogy, the dash right when I am about to talk to someone. What name am I going to put on their tombstone? What am I going to say during the eulogy? What is their life about? What goes in the dash? I better remember their name and I better ask good questions and I better listen.
Ok, I am sick, I know. You probably should not read these. I might just be crazy. I am imaging people’s funerals when I shake their hands. I will not go through how I remember a name – that is really nuts. However, mantras with funny metaphors work. It is just a fact. If you want to remember to follow a specific method consistently, give this concept a try!
Guy Reams
