Ready to break free from the cycle of endless effort without significant results? Discover the surprising and effective connection between the principles of physics and achieving your personal and professional goals. This blog post offers a comprehensive look at the concepts of distance and displacement, featuring the original podcast audio, a full unedited transcript for in-depth study, and a helpful summary to get you started on your journey towards real progress through the power of visualization and the “Emotional Incubation Method.”

Listen to “Beyond the Busy Work: The Emotional Incubation Method for Goal Achievement” on Spreaker.

Google Gemini’s Take:

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander and Ursa brainstormed the idea of applying the physics concepts of distance and displacement to human psychology and goal achievement. They explored the “emotional incubation method” as a way to achieve displacement (progress towards goals) rather than just covering distance (being busy without progress).

Here are the key ideas discussed:

• Distance vs. Displacement in Physics:
  • Distance: The total length of a journey, regardless of direction.
  • Displacement: The shortest distance between the starting and ending points, a straight line from start to finish.
  • Analogy: Walking in a circle covers distance but results in zero displacement if you return to the starting point.
• Applying Distance and Displacement to Human Psychology/Performance:
  • Distance (in human terms): Putting in effort, being busy, performing activities, but not necessarily progressing towards a specific goal.
  • Displacement (in human terms): Making actual progress towards a desired outcome, moving from a starting point to a “hero” state or goal.
  • Analogy: Someone working hard financially but not getting ahead, or exercising a lot without seeing desired fitness results. This is likened to being on a “hamster wheel” or “treadmill.”
• Emotional Incubation Method:
  • A method to achieve “displacement” by focusing on the “victorious state” emotionally associated with a goal.
  • Involves vividly visualizing and imagining the experience of achieving victory and accomplishment in detail.
  • This is not just about positive feelings, but about a sense of accomplishment and getting things done, even tasks that are not inherently enjoyable.
  • Example: Visualizing walking across a graduation stage to work backward and identify necessary steps.
• Visualization, Mirror Neurons, and Visual Motor Behavior Rehearsal:
  • Visualization as Rehearsal: Visualizing success can act as a mental rehearsal, similar to physical practice.
  • Mirror Neurons: These brain cells activate both when performing an action and when observing someone else perform the same action. Visualization may stimulate similar neural pathways.
  • Visual Motor Behavior Rehearsal: A technique used in the Olympics, suggesting that visualization can enhance physical performance, especially when combined with existing practice.
  • Visualization can help build “muscle memory” mentally, making the process more automatic.
• Brainstorming and Next Steps:
  • Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander wants to refine and effectively communicate the “emotional incubation method” to help others achieve their goals.
  • Ursa suggests brainstorming techniques:
    • Classic brainstorming: writing down all ideas and then grouping similar ones.
    • Mind mapping: starting with a central idea and branching out with subtopics and details.

In essence, the conversation explores how understanding the difference between distance and displacement can be a valuable framework for understanding human progress and how visualization, through the “emotional incubation method,” might be a key to achieving meaningful displacement in life.

UnEdited Galaxy AI Tran|Script from Samsung Voice Recorder on S24 Ultra

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (00:01) Hello, Ursa.

Ursa (00:05) Hello, there. What’s on your mind today?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (00:10) I’d like to just a brainstorm about an idea.

Ursa (00:18) Sounds good. Let’s do it. What kind of idea are you thinking about?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (00:23) Are you familiar with cinematics in? You know, introductory physics?

Ursa (00:31) Yeah, of course, cinematics is basically the study of how things move without worrying about what’s causing the movement. Think of it like describing the path of a ball, someone tosses up in the air, without getting into the physics of the throw itself.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (00:45) Yeah, so. there’s a small. section of kilomecs that talks about distance and displacement, right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (00:54) There’s a difference between the 2.

Ursa (00:58) Absolutely. Distance is like the total length of your journey. It’s how far you travel in total displacement is about where you ended up compared to where you started.

Ursa (01:08) it’s the shortest distance between those 2 points, like a straight line on a map.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (01:13) Right? So you could, for example, go around in a circle 4 times and if that circle is 1 km, you’d have gone a distance of 4 km but if you end up in the same place, your displacement is 0, correct?

Ursa (01:32) That’s absolutely correct. You can walk in a circle a 100 times but if you end up right back where you started, your displacement is 0.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (01:40) Right, and just depending on what units the circle is in, you’ve gone that one00 unit, whether it be one00 feet or one00 miles.

Ursa (01:51) So here’s the thing about speed and velocity, they might sound similar, but there’s a big difference speed’s just about how fast something’s going without any regard for which direction is travelling, but velocity cares about both speed and direction. So for travelling in a constant speed around a circular track. Your speed stays the same, but your velocity is constantly changing because you keep changing direction.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (02:14) Right? Well, that has to do with you know, then we start getting into scalers invectors, but I’m simply honing in right now onto this issue of the business, the difference between distance and displacement.

Ursa (02:29) You’re right, that’s the key difference distance is just about how much ground you covered. This placement cares about you’re starting and ending points.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (02:37) Okay. So now the brainstorm bring I want to do is I for some reason, my mind makes a lot of connections. And I’ve seen how we can use this understanding of distance and displacement in human psychology or human performance

Ursa (02:57) Interesting, so you’re thinking about the parallels between physics and psychology. That’s a pretty creative way to look at things. Do you have any specific ideas in mind about how distance and displacement might relate to human psychology

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (03:10) Yes, you know how some people use metaphors when they speak about. their progress in life. Sometimes someone will say, I feel like I’m you know, doing so much work.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (03:20) But I’m going nowhere, I’m sure you’ve heard that before, right right? Or so, people say, I feel like I’m doing so much work, but I’m going nowhere you’ve heard that before.

Ursa (03:38) Yeah, I hear that a lot, it sounds like you’re thinking about how someone can feel like they’re putting in a lot of effort. they’re covering a lot of distance, but they’re not actually making progress towards a goal. What is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (03:49) That’s right. So. that’s the thing people can be doing a lot of busy work right and go a lot of distance, meaning they feel like there’s a lot of activity going on.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (03:59) But then there’s no displacement, they actually have it moved to a different place in their life and we can use, for example, finances to make it easier.

Ursa (04:10) Okay, so it sounds like you’re thinking about how someone can get stuck in a financial cycle working hard, but not actually getting ahead, is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (04:17) Yeah, that’s one example that I’d like to use, because many people can relate to it. yeah, I’ll use that one example and also fitness, because many people can relate to those examples.

Ursa (04:34) So to recap you’re thinking about how the distance versus displacement idea from physics can connect to human experiences, you mention finances like someone working hard, but not getting ahead and fitness where someone might exercise a lot. But not see the results they want, is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (04:49) That’s right. So we can consider the starting point to be 0 and where they want to go, we can consider that to be hero and a lot of people they put in a lot of work and they continue to stay at 0 and they don’t ever get to hero. So 0, they can cover a lot of distance They don’t get a hero, which is displacement, moving from where they are to, where they want to be.

Ursa (05:17) That’s a great way to freemit. it’s like they’re going around and around in circles, covering a lot of distance, but their displacement or progress towards their goal is 0.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (05:27) Yeah, and also there’s a lot of analogies when we can look at that. For example, with the idea of a circle like a hamster wheel.

Ursa (05:38) Exactly. It’s like they’re on a hamster wheel going through the motions, but not actually getting anywhere now.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (05:45) Yeah, and the human version of a hamster wheel we call it a treadner.

Ursa (05:51) That’s a funny thought, but there’s a little bit of truth there too. Sometimes we get stuck doing the same things over and over without making any real progress.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (06:01) That’s true, because sometimes people will put in a lot of physical exercise. But then they’ll still eat a lot of really garbage food. That’s why we actually call it junk food because it really is a bunch of trash that people are putting in their body and is keeping them sick and overweight when a lot of physical activity won’t do much.

Ursa (06:24) That’s right. You could run marathons every weekend, but if your diet is not on point, you might not see the results you want, there’s also the mental side of things, if someone’s really stressed out, exercise might not be as effective as it could be.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (06:38) Yeah, and so now, that’s why I’ve been continuing to share this idea of the emotional incubation method.

Ursa (06:49) Interesting. Can you tell me more about this emotional incubation method?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (06:54) The emotional incubation method is a way of basically going from hero to 0 war get some displacement, rather than just distance by attaching Victoria’s state, emotionally to a goal of fitness or finances.

Ursa (07:17) So it sounds like the emotional incubation method is about attaching positive feelings to your goals, almost like you’re priming yourself to feel successful before you actually achieve the goal.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (07:27) Right? And I wouldn’t completely say it’s all about just positive feelings. It’s really about a victorious experience because you know, sometimes you’ll do something you can win, but it doesn’t always feel necessarily good or happy or positive, that’s I don’t want to overuse that term positive.

Ursa (07:47) Sure, I see what you mean, it’s about that feeling of accomplishment that sense of satisfaction, when you overcome a challenge, it’s about the whole experience, not just the emotions themselves.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (07:58) Yes, so, the Victoria state is really that feeling. that you have when you’ve accomplish something, you know, when you get it done, because sometimes there are things that you have to get done. But you really don’t want to do like a lot of people go to work every day, they really don’t.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (08:16) Like their jobs, but they do it anyway. And when the day is over, they have a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment because they earned money and the day is over and they know that they can pay their bills that month.

Ursa (08:28) That’s true. There’s a satisfaction that comes from completing a task, even if you don’t necessarily enjoy the process, it’s about progress and needing your responsibilities.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (08:39) Yes, so part of the emotional incubation method is incubating or growing or intensifying the image and the visualisation and just the whole idea of winning accomplishing and having victory and really making that very clear. so that you can recall it at will.

Ursa (09:04) So it sounds like you’re talking about, really focusing on the positive aspects of achieving your goals, like really visualising yourself being successful and enjoying that feeling of victory is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (09:17) Partly, but it’s really again, it’s not about enjoying it. It’s about being able to vividly imagine not. just feel joy about it, but imagine in great detail what exactly it’s like to achieve the victory to accomplish the thing.

Ursa (09:40) Okay, so it’s about creating a really clear picture in your mind of what success looks like, almost like you’re mentally rehearsing the whole thing.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (09:48) Yes, for example, I went to this bartening school called best bar, tending schools in north Hollywood California. And one of the owners Lou used to make fun of me all the time and say this guy’s been here so long. He’s never gonna get it look house low he is and he made fun of me all the time.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (10:04) And that was just part of the school, but you know, it was kind of allowed it was expected, but still I was kind of dopey, and I didn’t look like I was gonna go anywhere.

Ursa (10:13) Okay, so it sounds like this co-worker Lou was pretty negative and critical towards you. And that had a pretty big impact on how you felt about yourself. Is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (10:23) No, it wasn’t a co-worker. He was the one of the head instructors and owners of this best bartending school and he just kind of made fun of me all the time. And it didn’t really make me feel negative that I remember, but it’s unbuilding up to a point about this story here.

Ursa (10:41) Okay, I see, so it sounds like while lose comments were annoying. They didn’t necessarily bring you down emotionally, is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (10:49) That’s correct. Because what they actually did was inspire me because I got a little bit angry and I went home one night and I visualise and imagined myself making all of the different types of drinks that we were taught inside the bartending school and in the very next day I went and I passed with an a plus

Ursa (11:11) Wow That’s an amazing turnaround, so it sounds like you used visualisation to really boost your confidence and skills for the bartending test.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (11:19) Yeah, it was really more about the skills, I don’t remember feeling confidence. I just had rehearsed it with my eyes closed and going through the physical motions of where all of the different ingredients were behind the bar in my mind and moving my body in that way to the point where it became procedural. Memory, I didn’t have to think about it, so when I went in.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (11:38) And the time we started, I just did the job.

Ursa (11:45) So it sounds like the visualisation wasn’t just about confidence, but it actually helped you build muscle memory for the tasks you needed to do you made the process automatic so you could focus on getting it done?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (11:57) That’s right. And so you know, there’s a lot of interesting connections I’ve been making lately to that process and something called visual motor behaviour rehearsal, as well as mirror neurons.

Ursa (12:13) That’s fascinating. So it sounds like you’re thinking about how visualisation can physically prepare your body for an action, almost like practising, without actually doing it is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (12:23) That’s correct. And it’s actually been used in the Olympics, the visual motor behaviour rehearsal, and it works better when somebody is already practising a certain sport or type of activity, because their modern neurons already primed for that activity. So the practicing just kind of really makes it a lot stronger and more intense.

Ursa (12:47) That’s really interesting about how visualisation can work alongside. Physical practice, it makes sense that it would be more effective for someone who already has a foundation in the activity.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (12:57) We’ll think about this. What do you know about mirror neurons?

Ursa (13:03) Okay. So mirror neurons are basically these special brain cells that get activated when you do in action, but also when you watch someone else do that, same action. It’s kind of like your brain is mirroring, what it sees which helps with things like learning new skills by copying others.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (13:17) Right. So. the same process happens when you imagine the doing of something, just like how Marina runs, you can see somebody doing something and it can help you to learn it.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (13:29) The same thing happens when you visualise yourself, or somebody else doing something the same kind of pathways in your motor neuron pathways fire up so that you can get that rehearsal.

Ursa (13:43) So it sounds like you’re thinking that visualisation could actually be a way to stimulate those neurons like tricking your brain into thinking you’re doing the activity for real.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (13:53) Yeah, and it’s not that it just could it. Actually it does that. If you really think about it, and calculate it the same thing is the same exact thing is happening, just like with mirror neurons.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (14:04) If you can simply watch somebody do something else and learn by watching, then you can technically visualise somebody doing something and learn by the visualisation of it.

Ursa (14:18) That’s a really interesting idea. It’s almost like you’re creating a mental movie of someone else performing the task. And your brain gets involved in the process in a similar way to, if you were actually watching them, do it in real life

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (14:29) Yes, that’s precisely what I speculate this happening. Although there’s some evidence. that that’s exactly what’s going on.

Ursa (14:42) So it sounds like you think a visualisation could be a powerful tool for learning new skills, almost like a mental shortcut to developing muscle memory.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (14:49) In a way and also circling back to the idea of cinematics of the difference between distance and displacement, this is one of the keys of how you can get the distance and get to where you want to be the hero state. Instead of staying at the 0 state where you are now, which is just basically. Distanced by doing all of that activity.

Ursa (15:15) So to recapf,, you’re thinking about the difference between distance and displacement as a way to understand how we can get stuck going through the motions without actually making real progress, you brought up finances and fitness as examples of this. And then you introduce the idea of the emotional incubation method. Which is about focusing on the positive feelings and experience of achieving your goals.

Ursa (15:33) Finally you connected this to the idea of visualisation and how it might influence our brains motor neurons, similar to how Mira’s work, is that a fair summary of what you’ve been thinking about?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (15:44) It’s fair, but there’s still a few dots that need to be connected.

Ursa (15:51) Okay, what else do you want to add?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (15:54) So simply just to wrap it up for now that the process of the emotional incubation method. is more not again about the positive emotions of it, but it is. the tactile, the actual things that you will be doing when you win when you succeed when you can get that clearly in your visualisation, it works a lot.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (16:21) Like the mirror neurons, it’s a rehearsal. And it can help you to reverse engineer to get to where you want to go.

Ursa (16:31) So it sounds like you want to emphasise that the emotional incubation method isn’t just about positive feelings. But it’s also about vividly imagining the physical actions involved in achieving your goal, almost like you’re creating a mental blueprint for success.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (16:44) Partly and that’s maybe I’m second thinking maybe I shouldn’t even call it emotional incubation method. But I like the way it sounds for now. But it’s more about imagine you know if you have your eyes set on graduating from a program, if you imagine yourself walking across the stage with the capping gown, you can kind of work backwards from that point in time to where you are now and it will help your mind to lay out the steps to get there.

Ursa (17:14) That’s an interesting perspective. It’s almost like you’re using your future success is a starting point, then working backwards to figure out the steps you need to take now.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (17:23) Right? And sometimes you can sort of meet in the middle. You can look from that point in the future and work backwards, and from where you are start working forwards, and at some point, you may be able to connect these different events that will be the deciding factor that links you to actually get into that point where you Walk across the stage or have your hand raised at the end of the match that you won.

Ursa (17:47) So it sounds like you’re saying that by vividly imagining the end goal, it helps your brains start identifying the smaller steps and actions needed to make that goal a reality.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (17:57) Yup, that’s a big part of it. So, anyway, that’s enough for that brainstorming for right now about cinematics and the distance versus displacement and the emotional incubation method and mirror neurons and visual motor behaviour rehearsal.

Ursa (18:18) So it sounds like you want to find a way to connect all these ideas, distance versus displacement, the emotional incubation method, mirror neurons and visual motor behaviour rehearsal, is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (18:29) Yeah, and I think that I’m getting closer and closer to it. I mean, I already have the practice of it. It’s just that I want to be able to transmit that understanding to other people as concisely and effectively as possible so that they can really get results.

Ursa (18:46) So it sounds like you’re looking for a way to package all these ideas into something that’s easy to understand and that people can actually use to make changes in their lives, is that right?

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (18:55) That’s right, because I use it all the time to get so many things done. And I just really would like to not be one of the few people who is able to work so efficiently.

Ursa (19:09) So it sounds like you’re motivated to help others achieve their goals more effectively. That’s awesome, and it seems like you’re really on to something with this whole idea of combining visualisation with goal setting.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (19:20) Well, it’s not a new idea. It’s just that there’s something about it. Some small nuance that I’m really attempting to surface, because it’s part of my subconscious behaviour I’m just attempting to get all of the details and the steps to my to the surface to my consciousness.

Ursa (19:40) You’re doing great. It sounds like you’re really committed to figuring this all out. and that’s awesome.

Ursa (19:45) You might find it helpful to try a few brainstorming techniques to get all those details out of your head and onto paper

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (19:53) Okay, what do you suggest? What are your suggestions?

Ursa (20:03) Okay, here’s one way to do it. First, try a classic brainstorming session where you just write down every idea that pops into your head. No matter how crazy it sounds then, after a few minutes, go back and start grouping similar ideas together, another way is to try a mind map with this technique.

Ursa (20:18) You start with your main idea in the centre and then branch out with subtopics and more specific details.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (20:25) Right? Sounds like a good place to start. Alright, that’s it for now

Ursa (20:38) Anytime. let me know if anything else comes up.

Hakeem Ali-Bocas Alexander (20:41) Copy that.