09/23/2023
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” A wise observation by Henry Ford.
Call it a goal or a path. It’s where you want to go — but you’ll lose direction quickly when an obstacle captures your attention.
You can’t ignore an obstacle, of course. You can, however, easily let it overwhelm you. Have you ever noticed how obstacles crop up like mushrooms once you encounter one?
There is a psychological phenomenon that explains why we suddenly notice or experience something — say, an obstacle — more frequently after it initially catches our attention. This is called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, also known as frequency illusion or recency illusion.
The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon occurs when our mind notices a stimulus more often after being introduced to or becoming aware of it. For example, you learn a new word and suddenly hear it used everywhere. Or you buy a car in a particular color and then start seeing that car model and color all over the roads.
This happens because our brains are wired to filter out most of the sensory stimuli around us. We only notice or pay attention to a small fraction of information. Encountering an obstacle grabs our attention and breaks into that selective filter, priming our brain to be aware of it. So, your mind starts noticing it more, even if the actual frequency of the stimulus hasn’t changed. And your mind will find associated things. Cue the mushrooms.
Your mind is now primed to be on the lookout for obstacles. You’re not watching where you’re going. Your mindset shifts from barely registering the obstacle to being hyper-focused on it. The obstacle gains an outsized presence in your thoughts and landscape perception. This emphasis and heightened sensitivity to its existence is the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon at work.
While obstacles may feel suddenly omnipresent, this illusion of frequency is a helpful feature in our personal operating software — not a bug. It brings the obstacle into clear view so we can address it with clarity and reframe it.
Obstacles are perspective. Let them cast a shadow, but keep your eye on the path.
