Today Dr. Nic starts his Mind Hack Monday series.
Hey E-com Insiders it is Dr. Nic here and I’m basically coming to you with the first Monday, Mind Hack Monday video. Now I think time zones are a little bit out of whack so maybe this is getting to you late on your Monday. Nevertheless this is the first one that I wanted to share with you and set the scene for all that we’re going to be doing going forward. So, what I wanted to lead with is a mind hack that for me has been one of the most powerful mind hacks I’ve ever come across. It is powerful in terms of it is the gift that just keeps on giving and giving and giving. It’s not just in business the kind of thing that we need as entrepreneurs, but in our lives and also it is just so incredibly simple. It will sound maybe familiar to what you’ve heard before but there are some nuances that really make this powerful.
So, before I even get into what the Mind Hack is I want to cover this idea of positive thinking. So, you’ve probably heard all about that and everyone strives to have positive thinking it’s the positive thinking movement or the power of positive thinking/ I grew up with it my parents were big advocates of it and we’re always the rah-rah about the positive thinking and the no-no to the negative thinking. If you have any negative language or said anything negative it was like you were going against the tribe right because you’re not allowed to say anything negative. It’s this real dichotomy or a duality between the positive and the negative however you can’t have a positive without a negative.
So, what I noticed in my own life and what I’ve come to learn now from working with a lot of people is that while positive thinking is a great idea what it does is it makes you polarize toward one end of this holistic duality. So, you spend all your time trying to be positive you’re trying to shut down the negative and it’s actually mentally unhealthy to do that. It’s mentally unhealthy to do it because we become afraid of the negative. We resist the negative. We only want to focus on the positive and we attach values to those things. The minute you say I don’t want to even think about the negative you’re attaching our value to it; an emotional value to it that prevents you from sometimes accepting reality as it is. So, what I’ve come to understand is that to really elevate to really have a mind hack is being able to be comfortable with both the negative and the positive with both. It is realizing that the world is full of both of these things. Sometimes bad things happen sometimes things that you don’t want to happen they do happen and its okay it’s okay to talk about that as well as also talk about the positive things it’s actually holistic. That’s something what you want to do.
Now, maybe the founders of the positive thinking movement that’s what they intended as well but what I noticed them you probably notice as well is it seems to be let’s just gravitate toward the positive and shun the negative. So, why is this important? Well this is just giving you background in this mind hack that I’m going to show you it you should stay with me on. What we know from brain science [and I won’t bamboozle you with all the neuroscience and everything because really who cares] is get the best out of our mind the best out of our lives that’s what this is about. We know that an optimistic brain just performs better. An optimistic brain performs better. So, we’re going to call that the ‘O’ word right and you’re going to hear me talk about it over and over again. Of all the mind hacks that we’re going to talk about and we can do and you can bring into your life there are just a couple that if you master overtime will just pay you massive dividends. A lot of the other mind hacks won’t even be necessary you can get these first ones in place.
So, having an optimistic mind you will perform better in business. Now, what this means is had being optimistic that means you are using the part of your brain that is projecting into the future and you have a positive hope for the future; you see a positive outcome; you see a better outcome in the future and that’s what you are hoping for when you feel good about its optimistic. Now, optimistic of course that is really a faith based emotion and process because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. This is one of our human faculties that we have provided by our four brains is this ability to project into the future and have feelings about it right that’s what optimism is. We know that brains that have that they just tend to work better.
Now it’s easy to be optimistic when everything’s going well; when ads are converting; when CPA is low; when AOV is high; when customer lifetime value is going through the roof; when our email marketing campaigns work; when our customer support issues are at low down; when our product fulfillment is no problem at all and everything’s smooth sailing it’s easy to be optimistic. The time that you need to be optimistic the most is when things aren’t going well. It is often when there is no reason to be optimistic is when it’s crucial for you to be optimistic; when the tax office is chasing you for money; when your ad account just got shut down; when the tech isn’t working; when your product has run out; when customers are been hurt putting complaints and deciding to sue you for the product that they purchased; when there’s negative reviews; when someone goes and does something and your business partner embezzles all this money out of you. All those times at which we’ve no doubt all experienced some of those things that’s when being optimistic is crucial.
So, how do you be optimistic without just being sticking to the positive and not accepting the negative? How do you do that? That leads me to the mind hack that I want to share with you for this Monday. I’m taking longer than I normally would on a Mind Hack Monday because I really want to lay the foundation for this because I’m going to come back and revisit this concept over and over again. So, let me just share with you on my phone here I’m going to draw this out for you. What I want to do is instead of talking about the negative and the positive only use some new language. What we’re going to do is talk about the current version of the situation and the better version of the situation. Because what we want to do is always move from our current version of the situation no matter what it is and we want to move to the better version of the situation. The way that this is abbreviated is written this way CVS to BVS which is short code for [Current Version of the Situation to the Better Version of the Situation] and that little bit of code there is actually the mind hack. That is a bit of software that I’ve just uploaded into your brain. Now if you really want it to take hold you need to say after me CVS to BVS. Look at it again CVS to BVS its good it’s kind of funny sounding a bit of code. But I want you to think of it like an app that you’re uploading to your brain like an app you would install on your iPhone or other phone what you’ve got. CVS to BVS, CVS to BVS, you might as well say and think it out loud. I’m forcing you to do this CVS to BVS, CVS to BVS. That little phrase even though it doesn’t have much meaning for you yet will come to have massive meaning for you.
So, here’s how you use it here’s how you be optimistic no matter what situation you’re in. Again it’s easy to be optimistic when things are going well. When things aren’t going well it’s easy to feel angry. It’s easy to start blaming other people. It’s easy to stop blaming ourselves. It’s easy to get frustrated. It’s easy to start feeling down and depressed. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and get anxious and worried and not know what to do. How can you operate at your best in your business when your mind is in that state of disarray when you’re actually spending energy on themes that can’t actually shift you forward? As much as we might feel so justified blaming someone who we feel is responsible for our situation it doesn’t change anything at all. It’s a complete waste of time, effort, and energy and brain resource.
All you need to do whenever something is happening for you is use some kind of short circuit and CVS to BVS is what that is as long as you can remember CVS to BVS or even the phrase will trigger a new way of thinking. That new way of thinking is here is my current version of my situation I accept it fully this is the current version I don’t need to spend time blaming myself or XYZ on my team or vendor or ads manager or whatever it is or my competition current version of the situation is this. But the better version of the situation is this and we’re going to do another call on how to actually frame that better version but whatever the better version of the situation is that’s what you have and you just say what is the current version of my situation CVS. What is the better version of the situation? How do I move there? What do I need to do to move to the better version of the situation? What you need to do that the mind hack is that a little bit of software CVS to BVS in your mind that causes you to stop and pause at the moment you’re about to blame someone else, you’re about to blame yourself, you’re about to feel frustrated, you’re feeling overwhelmed, down depressed, anxious, worried, scared, stressed all of those kind of things that moment that that comes in you replace all of that with just this one line of code in your mind CVS to BVS and you stop yourself thinking about all that other stuff. You say okay the current version of the situation is my ad account has been shut down what’s the better version? Well the better version the situation is that my ad account isn’t shut down. What do I need to do to move to the better version situation? I need to do this-this and this. Just focus all your resources on doing that. Don’t worry about blaming anyone. Don’t worry about blaming yourself.
Let’s just say you had an ad person agency running your ads and they ran a non-compliant ad and so all your ads got shut down. You could blame them. You can spend time saying I told you not to do that. I told you so etcetera. None of that really works. CVS is this; current version is this, what’s the better version of the situation. Now, the reason this works is that when you do this in your brain neurologically you are causing your brain to be optimistic because the better version of the situation is the thing the good hope that you have for in the future. That triggers certain neural pathways in your brain that begins to turn your brain into an optimistic brain. Now you’re doing a couple of things. Watch what’s just happened. You are not rejecting the negative and only focusing on a positive. You’re being realistic and you are accepting the current version of the situation. There’s a level of acceptance there, but what you’re doing is also anchoring and medially into the future with what you actually want which is the better version and that creates optimism in your brain. An optimistic brain can come up with better creative ideas and is proven. An optimistic brain remains calm and can have a better working memory and a whole lot of other things. Optimistic brains are just better at doing.
So, how do you be optimistic? Use the software I just uploaded to your brain CVS to BVS no matter what situation you’re in. If you have teenagers and they come home and you’re not getting on with them CVS to BVS. Right now I don’t have a great relationship with my teenager that’s the current version of the situation, I accept it. The better version of the situation is that I do have a good relationship with my teenager. What do I need to do to get there? You can use this CVS to BVS in every single aspect of your life. It requires no judgment, blame, anger, frustration or anything like that at all. It just requires you to accept the current version of the situation in its entirety and identify the better version that you want and you just throw all your available resources at moving to that better situation.
So, the mind hack to be optimistic and to accept the positive and the negative is CVS to BVS. If you want to take this further and really hardwired that into your brain I would get a notepad or a pen and paper and I would literally write CVS to BVS just like I did on my iPhone there. Write it out a hundred times. I’ve written it out well more than 100 times as a way to upload it into your mind. Every time you say it you cause your brain to think this way. Can you imagine three or four months from now if you’ve been using CVS to BVS on a daily basis any situation that comes your way you will have trained your brain to always do this. What’s the current version? What’s the better version? Then you are focused on moving to that better version. What else is there to do? What else do you want to do really if you are in a situation that you’re not happy with? You can see there’s a better situation over there. What time do you have for anything else other than to work toward that better version of the situation? That’s what this mind is all about.
Now, of course you can use it when everything’s going great as well. The current version of the situation is everything’s awesome what’s the better version let’s move to it so CVS to BVS. You can use it in every single aspect of your life. Let me know what you think in the comments below and more importantly let me know that you’ve used it and what has happened as a result of you using this thinking. Just try it. It’s not hard, woo-woo, over the top, out there it’s just a very practical straightforward way to get your brain trained to be optimistic and proactive.
So, I hope you enjoyed this I’m going to come back and revisit CVS to BVS all the time. You’ll hear it in the language. I want it to become part of the language of E-com Insiders. I’m Dr. Nic and it’s been my absolute pleasure to share this video with you on Mind Hack Monday. I’m going to see you in another one real soon and I’ll catch you in the group. Again comments down below. Please let me know that you got something out of this and how you’ve used it, I’ll respond and look forward to see all the comments.