I think this principle has to do with the way our brains are wired, as explained in my first TED Talk. In essence, our brains are programmed to find patterns and repeat them for the most part. However, we are also subject to the natural process of self-awareness. We may have learned to focus on the things that actually matter, but there are times that we have to remind ourselves of our most basic needs or desires.
If we are not careful, our awareness of our needs will eventually lead us to focus on the things we don’t care about, which we might find interesting or entertaining, but which we do not actually care about.
The principle of specificity is the fact that our awareness of our needs is based on what we think we want. It is also called the principle of the law of appropriateness. The law of appropriateness states that we should focus on the things that we want to be doing, rather than the things that we want to be doing. It is the idea that the things we want to be doing are actually the things that we actually want to be doing.
The principle of specificity is a pretty cool idea and there are a lot of neat applications. I’ve seen it used in business strategy to suggest that the most effective marketing strategy is to focus on specific “need” statements. (This would be an example of the principle of specificity.
This principle is very true and has been very useful in business. An example of it can be seen in the recent merger between the Coca Cola Company and Pepsi Cola, where the Pepsi CEO was forced to accept that the Coca Cola CEO was really more of a product (the Coca-Cola one). This also helps the company survive in a competitive environment where they are constantly being bombarded with new ideas.
The concept of specificity can be found in the law of attraction, which states that if you focus on one thing, it will eventually attract all the things that you focus on. This is a good example of the principle of specificity. So if I focus on a specific task, it will eventually attract all the tasks that I focus on.
But why do we focus on specific things? This is where the principle of specificity comes into play. When you focus on specific goals, you are able to achieve the goal that you want to. So you can take one specific task and complete it by focusing on that specific task. But the problem is, this only works if you also have the ability to focus on other tasks. So if you focus on one single task, you are already focusing on one single thing.
The point is that it’s impossible to focus on everything at the same time. Even if you have the ability to focus on eight items at the same time, you won’t be able to achieve all eight of them. Because each of the items that you can focus on individually are going to take longer, and it’s impossible to achieve all eight items at the same time. So it is impossible to achieve the goal that you want to if you have the ability to focus on other tasks.
I think the problem is that we live as though we can achieve something, but in reality we can’t. So its impossible to achieve something because we already know we can’t. So instead of focusing on the task of achieving the goal, we just focus on the goal itself. For instance, if your goal is to get a new job, what you focus on is getting a new job, but it’s impossible to achieve this because you already know you can’t get a new job.
And here’s the thing: If we can’t achieve a goal because we already know we cant, how on earth do we achieve it? We can’t go to the gym because we know our legs are too bad, so we go and do something that makes us feel good.
