Last week I changed the password on my cellphone.
What it’s showing me is how powerful repetition is, and how easy it is to get stuck in one way of thinking. Every time I pick up my phone, I have an automatic and physical response: I type in my old password, without thinking.
Drawing of a mobile phone with a lock image on the screen.
Image Credit: Kreatikar on Pixabay.com
The Brain is not Always our Friend
Even though the prompts are there for 6 digits, my brain is still typing 4.
Even though I know I changed it, and I did it myself, I’m still using the old one. Automatically.
Its so automatic that I’m often not catching myself until after I get that screen-jiggle that tells me it’s wrong. Sometimes I even stare at the password screen with the two empty circles and wonder why it’s not unlocking.
A password.
4 numbers to 6…
And my “auto-pilot” is messing me up many times a day.
What’s the link to D&I?
What does this have to do with D&I you may be wondering….
It makes me think about how much harder it is to change a belief I have held, an assumption I have, a stereotype that is now ingrained in my brain after years of thinking it, experiencing it (confirmation bias), seeing it, expecting it, believing it.
When we challenge bias and assumptions, messages and stereotypes consciously, that doesn’t mean we don’t snap back to auto-pilot unconsciously. Those beliefs, patterns and behaviours are carved in the neural pathways of our brain. Over many years.
So my question now is:
How can I support myself in making this change?
I’ll let you know next week, along with how it goes.
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