Target Fixation

The brain reacts to perceived impending threats by diverting bandwidth to the problem. To be clear, I am probably not a threat to your brain.  At least I'm not yet.  The amount of bandwidth utilized is proportional to the significance of the threat.  "I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!"  A gnat is not given the same priority as an approaching hammer for good reason.  This reduces the ability for other stimuli to interfere with the threat resolution process. When a person is fixated, most outside details can't be seen or felt.  Tunnel vision has taken control.  When in a vehicle on track at high speed and the tunnel vision arrives, a mistake has a greater likelihood of occurring.  Mistakes lead to accidents, and accidents lead to uncomfortable conversations with the higher power, aka, your spouse.  I want to help break the cycle.

When everything but the target has faded into a state of perceived non-existence, the problem looks approachable.  Seven other issues have appeared, but they are unseen, stuck on the periphery.  Sometimes avoiding the initial threat leads to one of the other as yet unknown threats winning.  This is one reason why people often claim that the tree jumped out of nowhere and hit them.  It did from that person's point of view as they were fixated on another threat, or their cell phone.  An alternative is that jumping trees are real and undiscovered unlike the camouflaged ones I unearthed.

The hands tend to follow the eyes, so it is prudent to keep your eyes focused on where you want the vehicle to go, not where it is headed if the two are in conflict.  This becomes ever more important if the car begins to rebel from the driver's control inputs.  It is also important to stay ahead of the car by looking farther ahead the faster you go.  When an unwanted trajectory results in being off line after carrying too much speed into a braking zone, if you are intent on staring at the wall the car is about to meet, you are more likely to make that expensive introduction.  The wall is nice enough, but it isn't going to be a mutually beneficial relationship.  It is best to avoid the pain and stay away from that wall.  Keeping your focus on the area of the track you want the car to be moving toward gives you a better chance of skipping the tow of shame back to the pit lane.  Another common occurrence at the track is when drivers stare at the bumper of the car in front which can lead to synchronized off track excursions when the following car goes wherever the lead car does.  I can't tell you how many times I've ended up parked in other people's garages on my way home as a result of this.

There are those who think target fixation isn't a problem for them because they don't drive cars on race tracks.  The problem is that this phenomenon isn't exclusive to the track or driving in general.  It is pervasive throughout every aspect of life.  I would bet there are a minimum of five areas every one of you has been guilty of fixating on without realizing it.  I know target fixation is a leading catalyst for restraining orders, or at least it is in AcMo's experience.

We've been so focused on brand building that we've lost sight of the bigger picture.  We need revenue to keep the power on and the doors open.  A strong brand doesn't pay for that on its own.  Starting tomorrow--today is booked--AcMo will be refocusing on where we want to be, which is to have a product in every household in the universe.  To help achieve that goal, we've been studying the behavior of nature's most successful parasites to see which of their characteristics can be adapted to our business model.

Now that I've mentioned target fixation, some of you will now fixate on identifying moments of it in your own daily routines.  It is similar to those times when you have a song stuck in your head that you can't stop humming.  If you didn't have one at that moment, you might now since I've also mentioned it.

Break the cycle by reminding yourself to step back to process your environment and expand the tunnel.  Become one with your surroundings and stop staring at your targets all of the time.  It can lead to missing out on some of the best parts of the experience.  We do that here during the quiet periods.  We spend that time meditating and allowing our minds to open to the flow of the universe.  Try it, it's fun and enriches the experience without any bitter aftertaste or harmful side effects.*  Do contact us if you find conclusive evidence that jumping trees are real.

*It causes me to fall asleep a lot, which is only harmful when I'm driving,  but that probably won't happen to you.