How Popular People Control 'Helplessness'

Sometimes you feel lethargic when you are feeling uneasy or when something unpleasant happens. In such cases, changing your mindset is effective, so I will tell you how.

Specifically, it is what is called "attribution" in psychology. The person who proposed it was Fritz Heider. Attribution is seeking and inferring causes for events.

Let me give you an example. Let's assume you became number one in sales. When you think about the factors behind why you were able to take number one in sales this month, you can have various thoughts.

These are the four ways of thinking.

One of these ways of thinking is the internal/external axis as a foundation. "I was able to do it because of my own power" is internal. Thinking "It wasn't my power, but something outside was the cause, and it went well this time" is external.

As another axis, there is the fixed/variable axis. There are things that never change, and things that change often, such as it just happening to be that way this time. If you assume there is an internal/external axis on the horizontal axis and a variable/fixed axis on the vertical axis, you get four quadrants. This links to the reasons mentioned earlier.

Thinking "I originally had that power, so it blossomed now" for the first reason is an internal and fixed factor. But the second one, "I worked hard this time because I had the motivation to do so," is an internal and variable factor.

The third one is external because the cause is outside, not in yourself. The fourth one is an external and fixed factor. Having these four factors or reasons is Fritz Heider's way of thinking.

"I was just lucky" is a good reason, but if it's a bad reason, it's "I'm unlucky."

This can also be applied as a factor when something bad happens. For example, suppose you did some big business and failed. "It's scary to do a big transaction without meeting with a company you only looked up on the internet. That's why I failed" is an external and fixed factor.

"I just happened to be unlucky this time" is an external and variable factor. With this, you don't fall into a loop of blaming yourself. You don't become helpless, so if you can shift to an external and variable factor, your heart will feel at ease.

The event that occurred is the same, but it changes so much depending on how you perceive it. "I failed. I'm no good. What a loser I am" versus "I just happened to fail. I was unlucky" are completely different, aren't they? When you are tormented by a sense of helplessness, your way of thinking has become internal and fixed.

You just need to change this "cognition" to something external and variable. To do that, there are various ways to do it. Have someone tell you. Or, try relying on something like fortune-telling, or try a change of pace. Anyway, it's fine as long as your cognition changes.

The easiest and simplest thing is the turn of the month. I think it's easy to think, "October was bad, but it will get better when it becomes November," and it's easy for cognition to change. So, if you can settle various uneasy things at the end of the month and welcome the new month with a fresh feeling, your cognition will change, your heart will become energetic, and your popularity will also increase, so please give it a try.