Neutral thinking

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

This is a powerful mental attitude during tense or problematic situations that helps you pull through and get things done.  This mental technique is taken from the best-selling book “It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life” by Trevor Moawad.  Trevor Moawad is a mental conditioning coach to elite performers. He is well known for being the mental coach to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and has worked closely with prestigious NCAA football programs and coaches, the US Special Operations community, Major League Baseball, and the NBA.

Neutral thinking was what made Russell Wilson win a Superbowl.  Here’s the author’s explanation of this method and how Russel Wilson applied it in accomplishing a come from behind victory and become a champion.  “Down 19-7, Russell [Wilson] hadn’t gone into the tank. You could tell when the Seahawks next got the ball back. ‘We can still win this game!’ Russell yelled. ‘Let’s go! Four minutes and fifty seconds!’ Why hadn’t Russell given up? Why did he treat the next play as if the previous ones didn’t matter? Because he stayed neutral. Neutral thinking is a high-performance strategy that emphasizes judgment-free thinking, especially in crises and pressure situations. It is the cornerstone of what I teach the athletes and teams that employ me. The thing about neutral thinking that resonates with so many elite athletes, most of whom are deeply skeptical of any self-help, is that it’s real. It’s true. It acknowledges that the past is irrevocable, that it can’t be changed with mantras or platitudes. Neutral thinking shuns all attempts at illusion or outright self-delusion, which are often the foundation of other motivational systems. Neutral thinking strips away the bull and the biases, both external and internal.”

Neutral thinking means not to mind your past mistakes which you can’t change anyway, but it also avoids thinking too optimistically that everything will be fine.  In other words, by facing reality, neutral thinking focuses on what needs to be done rather than paying attention to your feelings, whether good or bad.  The author says, “It’s what you do, not how you feel, that gets things done.”

How do we apply this in non-sports situations?  When Brian Johnson’s (a self-help guru, who promotes neutral thinking) only son Emerson had been biking around their neighborhood suddenly the boy had a flat tire.  His son’s immediate response was crying.  Brian came over to him and said, “Buddy! Your tire’s flat. That’s a bummer. I get it. Now… Remember neutral thinking? What do you want?”  He replied, “To ride my bike.” Brian said, “Exactly. So, what can we do to make that happen?” He said, “Get the bike pump and fill up the tire.” I said, “Exactly.”  Here Brian, through neutral thinking, taught his son on focusing on the solution of the problem rather than crying over the problem.

When we get into a problematic situation such as when someone makes us angry, often times our automatic response is striking back.  Neutral thinking however makes us get through the cloud of bad emotions, and think of a more rational solution.  Remember that relationships can be destroyed for good with just one burst of anger.  Try approaching the situation as if you are a technician or a scientist that welcomes your own failures or the failures of others neutrally and focus on what needs to be done or what is the right thing to do.