Optimal adventurous thinking for all

"Be more positive" - it's an easy mantra, and one that a quick search through research pops up with the benefits of positive thinking (example here )

However, there is a huge benefit, and subtle difference in "be less negative".

Imagine, you have a difficult task to do, say a tough navigation leg, a difficult first aid incident or something right at the limit of your physical ability.

Now, what do you think of these two options would have a bigger impact on your success?

1. I can do this.

2. I can't do this.

It only takes the negative self talk of "I can't do this" to totally change our psychological approach, and even body posture and functional movement.

We talk a lot about the extremes of thinking, with a bias towards "positive" being good, and "negative" being bad. There is a sweet spot right in the middle. And this, really is optimal adventurous thinking.

At the extremes we are in a place where we have to work hard to manage our emotions. Those emotions range really from self doubt through to wild over optimism. This leads to an increased chance of missing the reality in the middle, the logical conclusion.

It is a bit "Spock" like to try and ignore emotion in the moment, and far from neutral being no-thinking, I think it's actually an active choice.

As with all types of thinking, learning some techniques can be a useful way to bring our thinking from the edges.

For example, if I identify that I'm feeling over-confident I find that a pre-mortem is a useful way to work out what else I might have missed. Or, if I'm feeling negative about a task I'll often "box breathe" to get to a point that anxiety is reduced enough to re-frame the challenge.

Then, slowly, I can get to a neutral point, where I give myself the best, most logical opportunity to solve the problem in front of me.

So, imagine a first aid course, navigation course, or skills course where one of the things that you might learn is how to think, not what to think... that's the no-mad Adventures effect.