You’ve seen me talk about this before, but I think the best way to get a handle on it is to look it up. It’s a term from the field of psychology that defines the field of consciousness. In other words, this idea means we have a certain level of self-awareness that allows us to act without our conscious control. It’s one of the reasons I use pike all my classes on my own.
It’s also one of the reasons many people are skeptical of the term. They think that we are all automatons who just wake up and act as if our lives are just an endless string of mundane actions. But I think the term is accurate enough. Its a bit like saying the world is an endless string of action, like we will all be there one day (no, not me).
People who take themselves too seriously are not going to be able to control what they do so we need to figure out ways to make our actions more of the kind that would be more useful to us. One way to do that is by becoming aware of our habits, routines, impulses, and reactions. We can do this by thinking about things we do and then not doing them.
That’s how we can make our actions more useful. By putting ourselves into situations where we don’t have to be in control of our actions. By doing something we don’t need to do. By thinking about how that particular action might benefit us in the future. By not doing that action. By doing something else and then not doing that. If you’ve ever heard it described, you understand exactly what I mean.
Its what I used to call the “pivot” theory. Most people are pretty good at this method of changing your behavior. The problem is that it requires constant practice and constant monitoring of your impulses, your thoughts, and your reactions. I still use the “pivot” method, plus I have a better time with it than most people.
You see, the problem with pivoting is that it requires you to constantly monitor your impulses, your thoughts, and your reactions. It’s like making a habit of a certain behavior. It’s probably not best for everyone, but it’s definitely a good habit to have. It also keeps you in control of your behavior and allows you to focus on what you want rather than what you shouldn’t.
I use the pivot method a lot when I’m on a project and I’m trying to figure out how to do something. I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly, but sometimes I just want to let loose. I have a friend who always pivots on bad habits to prevent making bad ones. He told me that he used to try to make himself do things that were bad because he couldn’t stop himself from doing them.
For instance, he would usually have a bad habit of being a little careless with his car. One day, though, he was out of the car, and then suddenly his car died. So he took to a new hobby of trying to fix his car. He had to make a new part for his car that didnt go to waste. He had to replace a plastic piece in his engine, and then replace the plastic piece in his front bumper with a new one.
Now, he takes a different approach to his car maintenance. He fixes things on his own, to the point that he can fix it himself without anyone else’s help. He also takes to the field and goes through all of the parts of his old car, and replaces every small item that he might have broken. He even goes through the rear brakes and replaces the rear wheel bearings.
After an engine swap this guy is able to drive his car for the first time and it’s still relatively sound, and that’s before he spends time to fix the front.
