Your Brain on Optimism!

We aren’t moving ahead, this project is off the rails, I work with the same idiots, I want to be more productive. How to get out of our own way? You see, the details don’t change, how you respond and navigate them do.?Lets take a quick look at the increased performance, mental and physical benefits that come with a productive frame of mind.

I work with and play with people trying to change their lives for the better in any number of ways. As they describe a situation where they want to grow in their profession, have more time, meet new people or eat healthier or pursue a new career but they tell me they can’t reach the goals.?I, and hundreds I’ve worked with, have learned that we need to focus on a change in mindset.

Lets look at how we train our brains – yes YOU train your brain.?To keep it simple think of a bridge.?When you have a thought, a synapse (space between neurons) shoots a chemical to another synapse, which is now a bridge for electrical signals to cross.?The signal carries relevant information you’ve been thinking about.?Every time that electrical charge is triggered the space of that bridge decreases to reduce the distance the charge needs to travel!?Your brain loves efficiency. ?So you see your brain is rewiring, changing itself to make it easier for the thought to trigger.?If your thoughts reshape your brain, then you are changing your physical concept of reality.?How cool is that?

The thoughts you think more frequently come to represent your personality and your habitual narrative or the story you tell and how to respond.?Because it becomes habitual, when we respond to something, the thought that wins is the one we have practiced the most - as that “bridge” above has become solid and strong.

Your mind is hardwired to move you towards pleasure, not pain.?The mind also loves what is familiar.?Remember the synapse example above??The more I criticize and complain, the more I train my brain that this is my “normal” response.?I will eventually find others, as that will seem familiar and I will relax into my habitual pattern – you know “misery loves company”??How often do you get sucked in to a pity party?

Lets add that the mind does what it thinks you want it to do, in your best interests. The mind also works from the pictures you make and the words you use. If I always look for what is wrong, what isn’t working, the deficiencies in others, or use my imagination for worry, it is highly likely that will become my habitual negative narrative and will affect how others perceive me.

Researchers at Stanford University show that a complaining view of the world shrinks the hippocampus – that part of the brain that, among other things, is essential for problem solving and can cause damage to memory.?It is also clear that this habitual negative narrative causes stress and reduces resiliency, and there is so much we now know about stress and the fight-or-flight mode raising blood pressure and impairing the immune system.

If we have trained our minds through repeated thoughts, then we can retrain them.?In Executive Coaching we use many techniques and easy tweaks that help you recognize your patterns and your habitual non-productive narrative.

1.?Recognizing the pattern and injecting some simple pattern interrupts.?This is “retraining” the brain!

2.?Energy flows where attention goes – become aware of your conversations.?Make sure you have a clear purpose to a conversation.?What are the results you want??Are you simply giving in to a negative narrative??Remember…. What we see depends mainly on what we look for.

3.?Begin to link pleasure to what is unfamiliar.?For instance, you have that darn paperwork to do – visualize how good it will feel to have it done, put some favorite music on – reward yourself with a walk when it is done.?Or take some very small steps in the direction of a change that seems daunting, using your powerful imagination for all that could go well.

4.?Stay on Point.?Complaining and commiserating on what has gone wrong can take on a life of its own.?Before you know it, you are off on several topics.?If you have an uncomfortable conversation ahead with someone’s less than desirable behavior as the topic -- you will need to stay on point, beginning with something positive can assist.?Make sure you also leave the conversation with clarity on the behavior you do want to see and on a productive/positive note.

5.?Yes, things go wrong in life and business!?When you feel a “pity party” coming on make it ultimately constructive, working toward a solution.?Ask a trusted co-worker or family member to help you process a resolution quickly – lean into the frustration and anger and let it fuel a solution.

Remember to laugh more often and cry less.?

Compliment more and criticize less.

Savour more and fix less.

What if life is supposed to feel good?

About the Author:?Judith Richardson, MA, BA, B.Ed, MEC