By Tim Walsh, M.A., L.P.; DPA, Executive Director of Beauterre
Perhaps the word “superpower” captured your attention. Good. But that illustrates both the problem and solution in this modern world: what captures attention. Every ad, every headline, every billboard, every device, game, product, and food item is designed to capture and keep your attention and cause you to act in some way.
We are bombarded with signals and messages, and our brains are overwhelmed. The algorithms in social media are the most obvious example: we can scroll for hours and not even realize the loss of time, which suggests that the algorithms governing our behavior know us better than we know ourselves. When we study the brain, we come to realize that our attention, focus, and motivation are in limited supply, and we are being drained of them constantly. Even people who are masters at meditation report their attention drifting about every 10 seconds. The average attention span has decreased from about 12 seconds before the worldwide dominance of the internet to only 8.25 seconds—less than that of a goldfish.
Just like Superman and Kryptonite: awareness is our superpower, and the realities of modern life are the Kryptonite. Let’s look at how we can take back our superpower.
The “Autopilot” Problem
Think about where your mind tends to drift when you have nothing particular to do. No phone in hand, no chores waiting. Whether we are conscious of it or not, the brain is always remembering the past, making predictions about what is going to happen in the future, and this creates our experience of the present.
When you aren’t mindful of your awareness and not focused on a specific task, your brain kicks into the Default Mode Network (DMN). Being in the state of mind of the DMN is like being on autopilot. This is a state of “automatic flow” where you daydream, reflect on the past, or imagine the future.
Daydreaming and using the imagination can help the brain recover and rejuvenate from the hard work of focusing attention, allowing our minds to wander into the DMN can actually make us more creative and productive in the long run. However, the human mind also has a tendency called the “negativity bias.” Without intentional focus, we might get stuck looping on negative memories. If we get stuck on the future, our minds invent all kinds of anxious, fearful scenarios—nearly all of which will not come true!
The View from the Command Center
This is where we can use our “superpower.” In the study of consciousness, we are discovering that the human mind possesses a unique ability: we can have thoughts about our thoughts, feelings about our feelings, and deliberate behaviors in response to our impulses. At this very moment, as you read these words and reflect on your own mental habits, you are operating in a higher state of consciousness. Experts use various “million-dollar words” to describe this mental state: your “wise mind,” “super consciousness,” the “observing self,” or metacognition (thinking about thinking). In the science of the brain, this is your Executive Functioning—your mind’s “Chief Executive,” or the Command Center. Research consistently proves that when we consciously activate this superpower, we see an immediate upgrade in our daily lives. Specifically, it strengthens:
- Problem-solving and judgment: You stop reacting and start responding.
- Willpower and goal achievement: You make choices aligned with your long-term values, not short-term impulses.
- Emotional regulation and empathy: You become less reactive and more understanding of others.
How to Activate Your Superpower
Taking back control doesn’t require a radical life change, but it does require intentionality. There are many daily practices that can empower us: mindfulness, meditation, yoga, prayer, mindful breathing, solitude, and reflection.
However, you don’t need to be sitting on a yoga mat to do this. It can be practiced by taking a moment to experience true awe in nature, engaging in charitable service, or exercising without distractions. Simply observing a passing thought or feeling rather than being swept away by it, you create a “gap” between a stimulus and your response. In that gap lies your freedom to choose who you want to be in that moment and across situations. The ultimate practice is to be intentional in the awareness of self, others, and the world around you.
When you elevate to an “observing self,” you move from being a passive character in your life’s drama to being the director. That is the ultimate superpower.
