Monday, 12/7/20: Talking about an experiment, a new Netflix movie and tips for moving home

Happy Monday!

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter. Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday, a short story and a roundup of positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: From my weekend, I am thankful for beautiful weather on Saturday, a thoughtful, surprising gift I received and catching up with a friend.   

TODAY: Today I am most excited about spending the day with my mom! We both took the day off work for some holiday activities. 

INTENTION: After today, the rest of my week is going to be pretty busy work-wise, so my intention this week is to stay calm and focus on handling the task in front of me.  

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Lesson of the Week: Ready to Learn

Do you remember that “Invisible Gorilla” video that went viral in 2010? It featured six people (three in black shirts, three in white shirts) passing a basketball around. At the beginning of the video, viewers were instructed to count how many passes were made by the people in the white shirts. 

At the end of the video, the number of passes was revealed, followed by a question asking, “But did you see the gorilla?” 

Gorilla? 

Yes. At some point during the video, a gorilla enters the frame, thumps its chest and leaves.

Logic would tell you that you wouldn’t be able to miss something like a dancing gorilla. But when researchers conducted this experiment, they found that half of the people who watched the video and counted the passes did miss the gorilla. It was as though the gorilla was invisible (hence the name). 

The researchers behind the video – Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons – say that this experiment reveals two things: 1) we are missing a lot of what goes on around us and 2) we have no idea that we are missing so much. It’s a psychological phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. It’s also why, for example, it’s easy to miss obvious bloopers in movies. When we are focusing hard on one thing, such as the main character, we are likely to miss unexpected things entering our visual fields.

I remember learning about this experiment and phenomenon in a college psychology class, but it wasn’t until last week when I was reminded of it again and realized how it could relate to my own life. 

I first thought of it as I read my current book, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (which, by the way, is amazing and I can’t wait to write more about it once I finish). In the book, Rhimes shares honestly about her health journey and writes that “nothing works if you don’t actually decide that you are really and truly ready to do it.” Followed by a candid, “everything sounds like crap until you are in the right mindset.” 

I then thought of the concept again when I saw this Instagram post from Gretchen Rubin featuring the following familiar quote: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” 

As Gretchen writes in her Instagram caption, “When I articulate very clearly in my own mind what I’m seeking to learn, that’s when I start seeing the teachers. Because the fact is, the teachers are out there—it’s myself that I need to make ready, to acknowledge and define what I want to learn.”

What Shonda’s and Gretchen’s words made me realize is that a very crucial component in this inattentional blindness phenomenon is our own readiness. The first time you watch the Invisible Gorilla video, you unintentionally miss the gorilla because you are focused on the basketball players. But when you watch the video after your perspective has changed and your mindset is “look for the gorilla,” you see it and realize it was there all along. 

It made me think that the next time I need help with achieving a goal or fixing a problem, I should take a step back and consider what it is I’m ready to learn. Shifting perspective to include not only what I need to do, but also what I am ready to learn may be just what I need to reframe current circumstances and reveal the right teacher, thought or resource. In others (because I love a metaphor), it may be just what I need to “see the gorilla.”   

It’s an interesting concept to think about, especially in a time when many are planning or ideating about New Year’s resolutions. But instead of resolutions, what if we first thought about what we are ready to learn in 2021? Where might that lead us? 

On My Monday Radar

Sometimes we just aren’t ready to jump into our Monday to-do list right away. In case you want some content to procrastinate with, here is a roundup of a few positive things on my radar:  

• Related to this article about handling moving home again. I could have never imagined that 2020 would mean living in my childhood home with my family for about half of the year. I’m so thankful for the opportunity and the “bonus time” (as my family is calling it), but I did find comfort in many of the things mentioned in this article. One of the biggest takeaways? Remembering that moving home isn’t just a transition for me, but also a transition for everyone else already living at home too. 🙂 
• Can’t wait to read Priya Parker’s book after listening to her on this podcast episode. I love that podcasts are always introducing me to new “teachers,” resources and ideas. In this episode, Brene Brown talks to Priya Parker – a conflict-resolution facilitator and author of The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters – about meaningful gatherings and what it means to come together. I was so relating to what Priya was saying that I actually bought her book midway through the episode. 
• Excited for this Netflix original musical debuting Friday! I love musicals, so I was really excited to see that Ryan Murphy was adopting a Broadway production called The Prom for Netflix. The musical will be out this Friday and features a star-studded cast with Kerry Washington, Nicole Kidman, Keegan-Michael Key, Meryl Streep, James Corden and more! 
• Did you make a 20 in 2020 List this year? If so, what did you think? Even though I needed to adjust much of my list mid-year, I really enjoyed having this “bucket list” of sorts for this past year. I’m including a mention of this today because I’m starting to think about items for my 21 in 2021 list and will be featuring it in an upcoming newsletter. I hope you’ll make one with me!

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan

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