I'm about to skirt dangerously close to an established form of science and philosophy that is relatively new to me. Stick with me though as I'm introducing a simple take on a solid principle and, as such, it should hold up:
Mean, mode, median
Do you remember these three math terms from school? If not, allow me to jog your memory.
If you have a set of values (numbers), the definition of each of these would be as follows:
Mean: What we consider to be the average of the set (i.e. add all the values up, then divide that by the number of values in the set)
Mode: The value in the set that occurs most often
Median: If you placed the values in order, the one in the middle is the median
Modal thinking*
To my mind then, modal thinking is a nifty label (that I might have just invented...?) to apply to the thoughts that occur most in our minds - i.e. the things we tell ourselves most often.
"Whether you think you can, or you can't, you're both right" - Henry Ford
The thoughts, habits, behaviours and beliefs we exhibit most are what we default to.
They set the boundaries for our Comfort Zone: the authority space we choose to occupy in terms of the action we take and the expertise we want to become known for.
They are the “What we think we can…”
Are your modal thoughts, habits, behaviours and actions doing you justice? Do they embody the genius that actually exists behind those beliefs and actions?Emotion, hesitation, fear – these can easily cloud our judgement and introduce the “What we think we can’t”.
Often it takes the objective and outside eye of a friend, colleague, peer, coach or mentor (👋) to remind us that we’re better at this than we think. And that’s the first step to shifting our modal thinking closer to demonstrating the magic we’re actually capable of.
One last observation on modal thinking
Your current modal thinking has been shaped by everything that surrounds you. And your inner dialogue takes that 'environment' and turns it into an expectation (of what you can and can't do). Accepting this existing dialogue is a choice.
I mentioned Comfort Zone a few paragraphs above. Is the authority space you want to own bigger than the Comfort Zone you have created for yourself? If so, then it is time to make a better choice.
You're good enough, you're ready and you've got this...Plus, I've got your back.
(*Not to be confused with Model Thinking - although that sounds fascinating too.)
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