Attention Diversion helps achieve your goal
Hey look over there! It’s you realizing your goal!
image by eecomics
My father grew up on a farm in Nebraska during the depression. Both his parents immigrated to America from Italy. Dad came down with polio at an early age. This disease impacted the muscles in his left leg, causing that leg to be about 4 inches shorter than the other. He walked with a significant limp and required a special shoe to allow his left foot to reasonably touch the ground. As Dad’s education didn’t go beyond elementary school, he was by no means a trained psychologist.
One of the fond memories I have of my Dad is that when some small trauma happened, Dad would cry “Look! Look over there!” Or He would make a big deal out of a small wound and declare that he would make the repair easy by cutting off the limb. His diversion of attention from the problem at hand to some other object often quelled some of the emotions and allowed us to get by the momentary trauma and move on with resolving the issue at hand.
I am reading a book on the life and practices of Milton Erickson, MD. As his credentials imply, he had more than a high school education. He, too, was stricken with polio and overcame significantly greater disadvantages than my Dad. He became known and studied for his psychotherapeutic strategies. One story was about a wound his son incurred that required medical attention. Dr. Erickson, on seeing the wound, in what was probably an alarmed voice, told the wounded son to quickly get a towel, then not just any towel but a large towel, then not just any large towel but a really large towel. He then got his son to make the towel into a tourniquet and quickly evacuated the son to a surgeon. On the way, he reminded his son of a wound his sister had and got the son to focus on convincing the surgeon that he needed 100 stitches so as to out stitch his sister. When in the presences of the doctor, a general anesthetic was recommended. The son was emphatic about his need to be awake through the procedure as he wanted to make sure the doctor provided more than the necessary stitches to outperform his sister. Through the course of the suturing, the son watched the process and was telling the doctor to make the stitches closer together so as to be assured of his obtaining the goal.
Now, what I am not doing is suggesting you forego needed medical treatment or act in some manner to obtain the Darwin award for survival of the fittest by doing away with the least mentally fit. What I am suggesting is that when in a traumatic situation, the diversion of attention away from the trauma to some other event or less significant part of the trauma can focus our brain on other issues that will allow us to overcome the urgency of the trauma or event. As with my dad and Dr. Erickson, these diversions are a skill that can be used to aid in our personal resiliency.
Action time!
We are long on content let’s be short on the actions. Consider some situation you are involved in that the focused diversion to a smaller part of the issue will allow you to make progress toward a desired goal. I would love to hear about what the issue is and how diversion resolved it.
Did you like this article? ”Like” it or “Share” it to motivate others. And don’t forget to like me on Facebook>> “Coach Rossitto“
A
To Your Success!
Coach Rossitto
A
A
A
A
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC
The LPL Financial Registered Representatives associated with this site may only discuss and/or transact securities business with residents of the following states: AZ, CA, MD, NY. TX
Life Prep Coach 
You must be logged in to post a comment.