First Thought, Second Thought
by Charles Brown
Is our behavior a character flaw or habit?
There are only a few activities we perform that are not learned or imitated. Those would be our heart beating, our bowels functioning and our fingernails growing. Everything else we learn. That being the case, we can “Un-Learn” any behavior and learn new behaviors in their place.
Within our brains signals move along electronic pathways. These pathways lead from node-to-node. At each node the signal can be switched to a different path, however, when we learn something we establish a single path that passes through each node going on its way in an established (habitual) direction to the next node and the next.
The first thought we have is a reaction. It occurs within milliseconds after the stimulus and cannot be altered. However, from the first node forward it is a learned response. For instance, we touch something hot and instantly pull our hand back. And for some of us, when we are startled, we scream or cry out. This is either a learned or imitated response. Further, if we are insulted our first thought goes instantly to the first node and then on down a learned pathway; our habitual response.
The good news is that with proper training and practice we can become extremely efficient and effective at a task by relying on our habit. Professional golfers will say, “I just trusted my swing and routine.” Military personnel and pilots will say, “During it all I relied on my training.” They relied on habit created by constant training. Their actions become almost unconscious.
We as humans have the ability to intercept the signal at any node and re-route it to a new pathway. This is a conscious process, switching the signal; for a while it takes concerted effort and then eventually the new pathway becomes the habit. This process is called “First Thought, Second Thought”. You are in control of the Second Thought and those thereafter.
One may practice “First Thought, Second Thought” behavior modification for all manner of things; such as an Anger Response, a Crying Response, even a Love/Hate response.
The concept is also useful in sports. You can change the way you swing a golf club or tennis racket, because you “learned” how to swing at some time in your life. You didn’t just step up and swing! So your “learned” method can be replaced with a new method. You can also change your attitude/enjoyment of the game by modifying the pathways in your brain.
One thing to remember, however, is that the old pathway is still there and oftentimes in the heat of competition it is easy to slip back into the old method or habit. Likewise in the heat of an argument, the old way might return. You must be aware of this pitfall.
So, there you have the philosophy of “First Thought, Second Thought”.
