Awareness, Acceptance, Action
Cognitive blind spots present a significant roadblock to the full realization of individual human potential. There are many kinds of blind spots including those that are common to all humans such as the Bandwagon Effect , where individuals become attracted to popular trends, or the Restraint Bias where individuals overestimate their capacity to resist temptation. There are also other types of blind spots that are common to individuals who have suffered neurological damage. The term reduced deficit awareness refers to an individual’s lack of awareness of a cognitive problem and it’s impact on his functional capabilities. For example, a patient may be certain he can drive despite deep paralysis and a visual field cut! Even our normal dominant psychological preferences for sensing versus intuition and thinking versus feeling as defined by our MBTI personality type set the stage for cognitive blind spots and biases.
Interestingly, the process to overcome these challenges is similar.. First there is an awareness that our personal effectiveness is limited in some way. Next is an acceptance that a mindset or an existing way of approaching a problem is the reason we are coming up short of our goals. Finally, an action plan is generated to bring about change.
For instance, in neurological rehabilitation, one of the most important indicators for significant recovery after a stroke or brain injury is awareness of deficits. Realistically, how can improvements be made if one is blind to the need for change? Moreover, there are several levels of awareness that must be achieved in order to change:
7 Levels of Self- Awareness That Can Lead to Change:
(judgment). How that energy is allocated, according to type theory, is based on psychological preferences. The dominant function has access to the most abundant and readily available energy, followed by the auxiliary or assisting function, then the tertiary or third function, and lastly the inferior or 4th function (everyone uses all of the functions: sensing, intuition, thinking and feeling but at different levels of frequency and competence, hence the terms: dominant, auxiliary and so on). Effective use of type preferences insofar as perception and judgment are concerned is often dependent on both the opportunity to use a a natural function and support from the environment to foster it’s development.
people have like-minded characteristics with those of their ilk, they also exhibit a vast array of individual differences. Parrots mimic; eagles eat fish; and owls like to hang out at night. However, within their type, each bird is distinctly different from another. The MTBI II serves to capture these differences in people who have the same personality type. Now there is the MBTI III, a questionnaire that gauges type development. How well does an individual use his/her dominant and auxiliary functions characteristic of that type? Can that person effectively shift to the non-preferred third and fourth functions when necessary? 
Recently I heard someone declare the “F” word to be the most versatile word in the English language. Insert it anywhere! I am so “F-ing” sick of those “F-ing” refs! What the “F” ?!! “F” this! “F” that! What an “F-er”! Oh “F”! That’s “F-ing” sick!! I saved the “F-ing” turtle! (I actually heard a kid belt that one out after he helped a turtle cross the road). You get my drift. My opinion of the “F” word? It’s a coarse word that anyone with intelligence or class should avoid. Yet we all use it, myself included,at my weakest moments. And it worries me….
It seems that every time I want to add something to my home office, I find myself asking why it always has to be so difficult! In my day, the only thing you had to worry about was finding an outlet to plug the device into. You never had to ask, “Why is this component not recognizing that component?” Bah!!! Where is my sledgehammer?