My Operating Systems professor (Tomasz Jordan Kruk, PhD) in college had an appropriate anecdote for this:
"Humans usually don't intuitively understand the word 'no'. Please imagine a non-pink elephant."
"Humans usually don't intuitively understand the word 'no'. Please imagine a non-pink elephant."
Eg: If you're doing a sport where leaning forward is bad, avoid telling yourself 'dont lean forward' as your mind only hears 'lean forward', therefore reinforcing the thing you're trying to avoid. Alternatively, tell yourself 'lean back' or 'stay straight' or whatever you're focusing on for that maneuver or drill.