# 98: Breaking the Tetris Effect
Story behind the Passage
There are tough days in the life of an entrepreneur and there are even tougher days. But all these days are really worth it. They take you to places where you do not necessarily wanted to go but as soon as you are out of these really bad zones again, you realize why you had to go through them. Of course, this holds true for life in general but in entrepreneurship, I feel that the cycles are moving more quickly. And that is actually part of the excitement which running your own business brings about.
I had to go through several cycles of letting go of something that held me back. This is the reason why I picked The Happiness Advantage. I just wanted to write about something that has “happy” in the title today. And then I ended up opening the chapter on the Tetris Effect and recognizing opportunities. I immediately knew how my thoughts matched with what I was reading.
The Tetris Effect is basically the result of Tetris overconsumption (by the way, I did play hours and hours of Tetris in my teenage years). As Achor explains, studies show that you rewire your brain in a way that you continue seeing Tetris shapes even after playing. This also leads to the fact that you do not see other things because the Tetris world frames your mind (Achor 89–90). This also means: You miss seeing chances.
My Learnings
“When someone is stuck in a Negative Tetris Effect, his brain is quite literally incapable of seeing these opportunities.” This is so true, there is not much to add. Only one thing, maybe: Not letting go of something, e.g., a former career, a place, or even people, can have the very same effect. You wire your brain in a way that you do not spot opportunities. And seeing opportunities really is EVERYTHING in life, not just in entrepreneurship. Every tiny conversation or moment during the day offers so many chances of becoming happy; of feeling whole and in balance.
The difference with entrepreneurship is just that happiness is linked to actually monetizing chances. This is not because entrepreneurs are simply greedy. No, they live on what they do and their entire income therefore depends on the deals they close. Practically EVERY DEAL goes back to an opportunity that you spot somewhere — if you are able to do so. It is hardly the case that anybody comes to you and says: Here is this wonderful opportunity — I am passing it onto you on this silver platter. No!
You know what — it would not even be fun this way. As an entrepreneur, you need to have some sales talent in your blood and this kind of personality gets you really excited about spotting opportunities and closing deals. It is not just the deal itself that creates HAPPINESS, it is the entire stuff around it; mostly the conversation, of course. Using entrepreneurial opportunities always involves communication processes. This interaction unleashes energy — if you are a people person — and then everything flows naturally.
If you are stuck in the negative Tetris mode, all this does not happen. All of a sudden, nothing moves forward. But, of course, while you are in the middle of it, you do not recognize that it is your field of vision and your (negative) energy that is causing the trouble. Remember: The resonance principle — I wrote about this in some other entry. In my case, this recent Tetris Effect cycle lasted a few months and it definitely cost me some opportunities. But, of course, I do not know which ones because I did not see them.
There is only one way of preventing the negative Tetris Effect from kicking in. I would call it the Happiness Radar. You need to keep in touch with your inner happiness barometer. Since you slip into Tetris mode gradually, this is not that easy. It requires closely watching yourself and asking for constant feedback. But there is an easy way of how to at least preclude it: the people around you.
In my case, the people that created my Tetris world haunted me in some way. But this was only possible because I let them do so — I actually spotted them and invited them to come to my life again. My focus was on them, not on happiness. And then the vicious cycle gets out of control. You do not notice this only when you encounter “your people” again, entrepreneurial mindsets. Rather, you have to be open again to letting them share their vision with you. This is when your natural ability to spot opportunities becomes alive again. And then you have phone calls all day, you close deals, and you really make people happy with very small solutions that have a huge impact.
There is only one thing that bothers me: I really loved Tetris and now that I am writing about it, I would love to play again. I even bought a Nintendo DS some years ago with a Tetris game.
Will there be a backlash?
As an entrepreneur, I will take the risk of trying!
This is not an irresponsible choice because the people that haunted me, that disturbed my field of vision, are not the Tetris kind.
Reflection Questions
1) Do you know the Tetris Effect? In which part of life does it affect you?
2) How did your career choices happen — by “chance” or planned?
3) Which people in your surroundings are the best opportunity spotters?