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Changing patterns step by step: how do you manage to make a decision and stick to it? | Israel today

2022-10-02T08:18:53.992Z


Just before Yom Kippur, it is appropriate to think about changes we wish to make in our behavior patterns • Studies have proven that sometimes all you need to do is think mathematically - it's all a question of dosage


Who among us has not tried to change his ways and lifestyle?

Sometimes it is an uncompromising diet, and sometimes we take it upon ourselves to change our sleeping habits or to be more careful about proper sports activity.

We can try to change behavior patterns, be less impulsive, nicer, less judgmental or simply be humane and respectful.

But more often than not, when we decide to stick to fundamental changes in our lives, disappointments also come - when we become aware of our weaknesses in regards to standing firmly and consistently in our decisions.

Several well-known research institutes in the United States, such as the Research Institute at MIT University, the Research Institute for New Economic Thought INET and the Brookings Research Institute in Washington DC, which studied the amount of ideas and decisions that reach implementation, suggested that in some fields between 80 and 90 percent do not reach maturity or realization.

Yom Kippur in Herzliya (archive, those photographed have nothing to do with the news),

In the book of Ezekiel (33:11) one of the most famous quotes with Yom Kippur is given: "Return from your evil ways."

The main idea of ​​atonement for past mistakes is based on making better, forward-looking decisions.

But is this really possible, and do decisions that are not implemented at the end of the process have no value at all, and indicate a complete failure in the way they were made?

Undisputed victory

"Infinity Mind" is a private company dealing with neuro-cognitive thinking training, which has trained some of the best-known sports teams in Israel.

Its people reviewed the decision-making process of athletes during sports games.

Making a decision is a much more complex process than it seems at first glance, and many factors are involved, some conscious and some unconscious.

Legendary football quarterback Tom Brady described the decision-making in the peak moments of the game: "I don't know how I know where to throw the ball. There are no fixed rules. I just feel like I'm aiming for the right place... and that's where I throw."

Brady is no longer a player.

He holds the league record of 278 wins, including a regular season record of 243 wins.

He holds the record for appearances and victories in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, holds the records for passing touchdowns and the number of yards during the regular seasons and playoffs.

Not for nothing is he the most decorated player in the history of the NFL (National and Professional Football League of the USA), and some would say the best player in its history. 

Tom Brady, photo: AFP

In an orderly and calculated game, when the required achievement is the result of an undisputed victory, it was apparently expected that the decisions of a player of this magnitude would essentially be the result of strategy, cognitive tactics and sporting abilities combined in perfect coordination.

Indeed, in the NFL, every candidate for the position of coordinator is required to pass the "Wonderlick" test, a shortened version of an intelligence test that lasts about 12 hours and deals mostly with logical and mathematical questions.

The basic assumption was that players who do better in logic and math questions will make better decisions on the field.

Paradoxically, it became clear over the years that there is no match between a high score in the test and the ability to make correct and quick decisions during the game.

It was those with the higher score who experienced failures on the court due to bad decisions.

The American journalist Jonah Lehrer reviewed this in his book "How we decide", and brought the opinion of researchers who stated that mathematical and precise thinking abilities are relevant for solving specific problems, but for the overall space, many actors and different stakeholders are required for deeper and broader features that are not based Only on one or another rationale, but on a kind of intuition - the brain's abilities to feel the situation.

The driving force behind intuitive abilities, which are mostly built over the years through trial and error, is related to the way dopamine works, which functions both as a hormone and as a neurotransmitter.

Researchers have discovered that this molecule is involved in the regulation of all human emotions, and beyond an emotional and sensory reward response to events that have happened, dopamine succeeds in making it possible to predict the feelings of reward, which will later become a result resulting from the decision made.

This motivates a person to make certain decisions, even if they don't make sense at that moment, but the more space is given in our lives to understand that trial and error is a central part of the ability to make correct decisions, then the speed of making them and the accuracy in them will improve along the way.

Making mental decisions takes time, compared to an intuitive and emotional decision that is made immediately without stopping and thinking.

Although the decision that is made this way is not always correct, later on it causes the brain to become accustomed and to know when an event that is about to lose may happen, and to reach quick and correct decisions, as mentioned - following trial and error. 

Minyan prayer outside on Yom Kippur (archive), photo: Gideon Markovich

refresh the mind

In order to allow emotional intelligence to be perfected, it is sometimes necessary to detach a little from the responsibility of making mental decisions, and on the other hand, when making decisions to change a lifestyle, it is useful to practice making decisions that are planned, defined in advance and have a clear order of actions.

This theory is also reflected in the training of the fighting soldier.

On the one hand, they invest heavily in decision-making abilities on the battlefield;

On the other hand, the soldier trains to be skilled in the required order of operations, without self-thinking.

This does not stem from a desire to suppress desires and ambitions, but from a place that allows you to sometimes put your mind aside and give room to emotion, but also an ability to understand the things required to be carried out, according to precise planning in advance.

In the article by Roni Cohen from "Infinity Mind", it was stated that these settings seemingly create a mechanical game method, but also take the cognitive load off the players.

Concentration and cognitive effort are the player's resources, no less than his physical abilities.

They need to be regulated so that the player is not busy with deliberations and unnecessary thinking, where there is no need for it.

This way, his mind will stay fresh longer, a fact that will increase his chances of making a better decision when needed.

Yom Kippur is a day defined according to the Rambam's sayings as "a day of repentance for all". A day of soul-searching, of thinking and introspection. The mere participation in the founding event, which unites the Jewish people as a collective, is a value in itself. Of course, repentance from crooked ways is important and essential, but on this day it seems that precisely the disconnection from everyday life, from eating, drinking and workplaces, and the most difficult challenge of all - disconnection from digital communication systems - constitute a wonderful opportunity to connect together with the entire House of Israel to the emotional and spiritual space of Yom Kippur, with the hope that this time we will stick to our decisions to change our ways , and we will always remember that we are built from trial and error, and the doors of answer are never closed.

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-10-02

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