Episoder
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In episode 345, we continue our 18-week self-leadership series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches. This week, we dive into Chapter 15, exploring the neuroscience of relationships and authenticity.
We revisit key insights on relationship-building from past episodes and introduce the concept of authenticity, drawing on reflections from Andrea Samadi and insights from Mohamed Issa's forthcoming book. Learn what authenticity means, how it impacts our lives, and practical steps for fostering genuine connections with others.
Discover the balance between the reflexive and reflective systems in our brain, and how understanding these can enhance our social interactions. Reflect on your unique gifts and talents, and find out how to nurture them to build deeper, more authentic relationships.
Join us for an enlightening episode that blends neuroscience with practical advice, helping you to live a more authentic life and improve your personal and professional relationships.
On today's episode #345 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
On today's EPISODE #345 “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity” we will cover:
✔ A review of one of our FIRST interviews, with Greg Wolcott EP #7, July 2019 on his book Significant 72
✔ Ch. 15 from Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership book on “Relationships and Authenticity
✔ A review of Mo Issa’s definition of Authenticity from his book, The Shift: How to Awaken to the Aliveness Within
✔ The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain
✔ 4 Steps to Building More Authentic Relationships
For Today, EPISODE #345, we are moving on to Chapter 15, reviewing “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity.” We’ve covered relationships on this podcast, right back to the beginning, with Greg Wolcott EP #7, (July 2019) with his book Significant 72: Unleashing the Power of Relationships in Today’s Classrooms. Greg Wolcott, an Assistant Superintendent from Chicago, IL, has dedicated his life to this topic through his work at Signficant72.com.[iii] It’s here where you can learn more about Greg’s Relationship Mindset Movement, his book, tools, and resources to improve student-teacher relationships in the classroom. Relationships are also one of the six social and emotional competencies that we built our podcast framework upon, knowing how important relationship skills are for our well-being and future success. “Social relationships—both quantity and quality—affect mental health, health behavior, physical health, and (even our) mortality risk.”[iv]
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[v], look to see if Relationships and Authenticity (in Pathway 6, our final pathway in this book study) along with biases, trust and empathy is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. I was not surprised to see this pathway is a high area of focus for me.
While we have covered relationship building often on this podcast, the one topic we have NOT covered yet is authenticity. This is interesting timing for me, as I’m currently reading a book by a good friend, Mohammed Issa[vi], where he covers the topic of authenticity, in depth. It’s the title of chapter 8 of his forthcoming book, The Midlife Shift[vii] (Reclaiming My Authenticity). I remember years before Mo wrote this book, I could tell he was thinking deeply about this topic. In 2021 he sent me a message, and asked me “what does living an authentic life mean to you?”
I take questions from Mo seriously over the years. I know he’s not messing around. I can go back to my notes from 2021 and I can see that I wrote a few pages of “what authenticity means to me.” These notes are important for today’s episode, and when we meet with Mo the middle of next month.
I wrote: Authenticity: is being genuine or real.
What’s authentic for me personally—it’s living life according to my values. And this takes ongoing refinement. I know what’s important and what drives me daily (health is at the top of my value chart, and I’d never compromise it—it’s first, what I focus on the minute I wake up, and close my eyes at the end of each day). Living life authentically for me, is putting health as my backbone of strength, which I’ve found helps me to skyrocket my personal and professional life. It’s been this way for me, for as long as I can remember.
Living an authentic original life: means living who I am by design.
After health, I prioritize what unique expressions I want in my life—growth/challenge (come next) and these things that I value make me authentic/and uniquely me. I have to fight for these values in my life—to go after them, and keep them at my forefront, because only I know what’s best for me here. If I’m not putting health first, (for myself and my family) or learning, growing, researching, and then disseminating/sharing what I’ve learned, I’m not living my true authentic self. It will hurt my productivity if I compromise who I am, at this granular level.
I took some time off from producing episodes earlier this year, and while it was great to have this extra time, I ended up using this time for things that didn’t truly make me happy at the soul level, like this work does.
What about you?
What does authenticity mean to you?How do you know when you are living a truly authentic life? It’s eye-opening once we know this about ourselves, so we can course correct, when we veer off this path of authenticity.Do you know what is special about you? What are your unique gift/talent that makes you stand out from others? A talent that you know deep inside that you must keep working and perfecting, as it’s this talent that awakens your aliveness?I love how Mo Issa defines authenticity, which shows up as a theme in all his books. After years of self-reflection, Mo believes that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift).
Getting back to Chapter 15 of Grant Bosnick’s book; what does he have to say about being authentic? Bosnick says that before we can build authentic relationships with others, he has us consider what authenticity means to us first.
He says that being authentic is: “being real, being honest and true with yourself, being vulnerable, letting go of your own ego, looking not only at what you like about yourself, but also the “darker part that can be improved or changed (I’ve heard this called our “shadow work”) and having the courage, humility, and discipline to take a hard look in the mirror at who you are.” (Chapter 15, Relationships, Bosnick).
Bosnick covers what holds us back from being authentic and he lists: “fear of being vulnerable, fear of rejection, fear of judgment, fear of abandonment, competitiveness, insecurity, self-protection, jealousy, fear of not being good enough” well I pretty much resonated with the entire list. Some of his list more than others, but right up there, for me, would be “fear of not being good enough” which I’ve been working on for the past 25 years.
When I let go, finally, of caring what other people think of me, it was probably the most freeing experience I’ve ever felt. Sure, it’s nice to be liked by others, but also, to know that not everyone will connect with who I am, the authentic me, and to let go of caring about that, is freeing.
Being Authentic:
What does this mean to you? Do any of the items on Bosnick’s list keep you from being truly authentic? He asks us some reflection questions:
What might be holding you back from being truly authentic?What can you do, even small steps, to help you feel more comfortable with being who you are? Being truly authentic?Being Fake or Superficial
Bosnick goes on to describe why some people show up as fake or superficial. I always think of the character Eddie Haskel from the TV Show Leave it to Beaver when I’m thinking of a “fake” person. He was always trying to impress Mrs. Cleaver, and he came across as insincere. We can all spot people like this, and Bosnick reminds us of why people can come across this way. He says that “it’s in our comfort zone, we want to be liked, it’s easier, our ego gets in the way (and that change can be difficult) when we don’t have the courage, humility and discipline needed to take a hard look in the mirror at who we are.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 177).
What are some reasons for not being authentic?
Bosnick thinks “insecurity, jealousy, inner competitiveness, fear, self-protection” can keep us from not showing others our true selves, and in turn, we can appear fake or superficial. Brene Brown writes about The Power of Vulnerability[viii] as the “birthplace of joy, belonging, authenticity and love” in her 2012 book, with suggestions for how to prevent us from appearing fake in this process. Her book teaches us “how to practice courage, and accept imperfection, to embrace vulnerability and acknowledge our fears.”[ix] She dives into exploring the power of authenticity, of being true to our feelings, thoughts, and actions as the backbone to living an authentic life.
With this in mind, going back to Bosnick’s book, he mentions that he struggled with being vulnerable, with letting others see his true authentic self, and felt he needed to protect himself, but when he “let people see the real me. It was so rewarding and felt so good (and) freeing (so he then) decided to have the courage to be authentic and real.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 177) He was fully aware that some people might not like him, but he knew that was ok, as he knew he would build the right relationships, with those who did.
Reflection on Being Authentic
He then asks the reader to reflect:
What holds you back from truly being authentic?How can you become more comfortable with being authentic?I went back to Mo Issa’s definition that we covered in the beginning of this episode that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift).
We will go deeper into Mo Issa’s work when we meet with him next month, but I think that this is what we are supposed to discover about ourselves (FIRST) through self-awareness, and only then, (once we are clear on who we are) can we build more authentic relationships with others.
To close out Bosnick’s chapter 15, on relationships and authenticity, he does cover being self-focused vs other-focused, valuing differences, overcoming our own egos, and putting other people first, which was the theme of Simon Sinek’s famous book, Leaders Eat Last.[x] Simon Sinek penned this book when he noticed that some teams trusted each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives were offered, were doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why Sinek wondered? Well, the answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general who said "Officers eat last." Sinek watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort--even their own survival--for the good of those in their care.
Bosnick calls this “other focused” and reminds us that “in order to build truly authentic relationships, we need to overcome our own ego and put others first.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 182). Bosnick does cover the different needs of extroverts and introverts, that we have covered on EP 186[xi] as well as different behavioral styles that can help us to learn how to better interact with other people who have different “styles” than we do.
The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain
To close out chapter 15, Bosnick goes into the Neuroscience of Our “Social Brain” and covers the story of the famous Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient.[xii] Without going too deep into the neuroscience, Bosnick explains that “we have two systems in our brain: the X-system and the C-system. The X-system (or reflexive system) is automatic, responsive, like/dislike, reward/threat. Since this part of our brain is non-thinking, it’s not affected by our mental load.
The C-system (or reflective system) is controlled, conscious, with executive function and executive control.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). Motivation and effort are required to engage this part of the brain, and it can be affected by our mental load.
X-system (reflexive)=automatic
C-system (reflective) =we need motivation and effort to activate
The story of Phineas Gage goes like this: “in 1948 in the United States, (he) survived a blast while building a railroad, which shot a tamping iron through the front part of his brain. Remarkably, he survived. However, his behavior had changed. Where before, he was a mild-tempered, respecting person, his behavior was now to seek reward without consequences, operating only by habit, (and he turned) rude…He destroyed the C-system, (his controlled thinking) operating on X-system only. In other words, he had no control over his automatic, reflexive system, and his behavior became unbearable as a result. He treated everybody as an object for his own personal reward.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186).
The C-system, (that requires motivation and effort to activate) Bosnick explains, is important for self-reflection and understanding self/other relations and occurs in the front (middle) part of our brain. We know this part of our brain as the Default Mode Network[xiii], and the part of our brain where we take breaks for creativity, thinking and learning to occur. He adds to our understanding here by saying that “when the brain is at a resting state, this specific system kicks in, which is focused around social understanding (thinking about yourself, others’ thoughts, others’ actions etc.).”
Bosnick reminds us to “stare out the window and do nothing and (says) your life will thank you, and it will help you to build more authentic relationships. This was the whole idea behind EP 48[xiv], on Using Brain Network Theory to Stay Productive During Times of Chaos.
Bosnick Reminds Us to Go Slow to Go Fast
I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard the phrase “go slow, to go fast” this week, and here it is at the end of chapter 15. Bosnick says that “in order to build truly authentic relationships with people, we need to go slow, to go fast.” He suggests that we “slow down the conversation with people, truly listen to them empathetically and be fully present with them. This will build the relationship to be deeper…go slow with the conversation and communication in order to go fast with the depth of the relationship.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 187).
Reflection Activity: Building More Authentic Relationships
Bosnick suggests the following reflection activity for building more authentic relationships.
Think of a person in your business, or personal life, that you would like to build a more authentic relationship with.How would you describe them? Are they introverted/extroverted? What are their behavior styles? How do they approach authenticity and relationships?Let your brain go into your Default Mode Network. Stare out of a window and think: what could you do to build a more authentic relationship with each of the people you are thinking of? How can you go slow to go fast?I will add one final step, that came from the quote from Mo Issa and suggest that once we have done the work ourselves, and know what makes us truly authentic, we know our own unique gifts and talents, and we continue to nurture and grow them, we can next look outward, and recognize the unique talents and gifts in others. We covered this practice extensively on EP 214 with Dr. Marie Gervais[xv], by learning to see the “spirit” in others.I’m confident that by practicing these steps, with each person we want to build a deeper, more authentic relationship with, (whether in our personal or professional lives) that we will notice strides of improvement, once we have identified and appreciated our own authenticity and uniqueness. Then, we can recognize it in others for the magic to occur.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #345 on “The Neuroscience of Relationships and Authenticity” we covered:
✔ Mo Issa’s definition of authenticity from his book The Shift: How to Awaken the Aliveness from Within
Mo believes that “true authenticity means being ourselves—not an imitation of what we think we should be or what others want us to be. We all have a unique gift, and we must find and nurture it.” (Mo Issa, The Shift).
✔ Andrea’s reflection from 2021 when Mo Issa asked her “what does authenticity mean to you?”
What’s authentic for me—it’s living life according to my values. Living who I am by design. If I’m not putting health first, (for myself and my family) or learning, growing, researching, and then disseminating/sharing what I’ve learned, I’m not living my true authentic self. It will hurt my productivity if I compromise who I am, at this granular level.
✔ We ask the reader to consider: What makes YOU authentic?
✔ How do you know when you are living a truly authentic life?
✔ Have you identified your unique gifts or talents that make you stand out from others?
✔ Do you know what might be holding you back from being truly authentic?
✔ The Neuroscience of Our Social Brain
“We have two systems in our brain: the X-system and the C-system. The X-system (or reflexive system) is automatic, responsive, like/dislike, reward/threat.
The C-system (or reflective system) is controlled, conscious, with executive function and executive control.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186). Motivation and effort are required to engage this part of the brain.
The story of Phineas Gage who destroyed the C-system, in his brain and was operating on X-system only. In other words he had no control over his automatic, reflexive system, and his behavior became unbearable as a result.
The C-system, (that requires motivation and effort to activate) we learned, is important for self-reflection and understanding self/other. We know this part of our brain as the Default Mode Network[xvi], and the part of our brain where we take breaks for creativity, thinking and learning to occur.
“When the brain is at a resting state, this specific system kicks in, which is focused around social understanding (thinking about yourself, others’ thoughts, others’ actions etc.).” We learned to get into this resting state by “staring out of a window and do nothing (except reflecting on what else we can do to improve our relationships) and this knowledge that we uncover will help us to build more authentic relationships. We learned to slow down the conversation with people, truly listen to them empathetically and be fully present with them. This will build the relationship to be deeper…go slow with the conversation and communication in order to go fast with the depth of the relationship.” (Chapter 15, Bosnick, Page 186).
✔ 4 Steps to Building More Authentic Relationships
Think of a person in your business, or personal life, that you would like to build a more authentic relationship with. Get to know them on a deeper level. How would you describe them? Are they introverted/extroverted? How do they approach authenticity and relationships? Let your brain go into your Default Mode Network. Stare out of a window and think: what could you do to build a more authentic relationship with each of the people you are thinking of? How can you go slow with your conversation to go fast with the depth of the relationship? And finally, we looked at the quote from Mo Issa that suggests that once we have done the work ourselves, and know what makes us truly authentic, once we know our own unique gifts and talents, and we continue to nurture and grow them, next, we can look outward, and recognize the unique talents and gifts in others.I will close out this episode with a quote from Mo Issa’s second book, The Shift that says “we all have a primal need to belong—a human urge to be part of something larger than us. We fulfill that need when we connect authentically to exchange energy and feel seen, heard and valued.” (Mo Issa)
Let me know what you think. Did this episode help you to improve your authenticity, and deepen your relationships?
I know this episode will take time to practice and refine. It’s taken me my lifetime so far to fully embrace my unique talents and gifts, where I recognize my own authenticity. Now I’ve got the rest of my life to take this understanding and help me to build stronger, deeper relationships with others.
And with that thought, I’ll see you next time where we will cover chapter 16 from Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, on biases.
REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #7 with Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today’s Classrooms” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/greg-wolcott-on-building-relationships-in-todays-classrooms/
[iii] www.significant72.com
[iv] Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy Published August 4, 2011, by Debra Umberson and Jennifer Karas Montez https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150158/
[v] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[vi] www.mo-issa.com
[vii] The Midlife Shift by Mo Issa https://www.mo-issa.com/book (COMING SOON).
[viii] The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/
[ix] The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown https://www.blinkist.com/en/books/the-power-of-vulnerability-en
[x] Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek 2014, https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591845327
[xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 186 on “Using Neuroscience to Understand the Introverted vs Extroverted Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-using-neuroscience-to-understand-the-introverted-and-extroverted-brain/
[xii]Phineas Gage, Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/phineas-gage-neurosciences-most-famous-patient-11390067/
[xiii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #48 “Brain Network Theory” https://www.achieveit360.com/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/
[xiv] IBID
[xv]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #214 on “The Spirit of Work: Connecting Science and Business Practices and Sacred Texts for a Happier and Healthier Workplace” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/marie-gervais-phd-on-the-spirit-of-work-connecting-science-business-practices-and-sacred-texts-for-a-happier-and-more-productive-workplace/
[xvi] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #48 “Brain Network Theory” https://www.achieveit360.com/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity, and results using practical neuroscience.
In Episode 344, we continue with our 18-week self-leadership series, diving into Chapter 14 of Grant Bosnick's book to explore the neuroscience of resiliency. We revisit past episodes with Horacio Sanchez to understand the factors that contribute to resilience and discuss the intriguing analogies presented by Bosnick, including the donkey in the well and the carrot, egg, and coffee bean story.
Learn how to build resilience within yourself and your teams by focusing on Patrick Lencioni's five functions of a high-performing team. Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity. We also delve into new research on the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, a brain region associated with willpower and resilience.
Join us as we uncover strategies to harness resilience, strengthen our brains, and emerge stronger from life's challenges. Don't miss this insightful episode that equips you with the tools to face adversity head-on and lead with resilience.
On today's EPISODE #344 “The Neuroscience of Resilience: Building Stronger Minds and Teams” we will cover:
✔ A review of past EP 74 and EP 286 on “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness”
✔ A review of Horacio Sanchez’s work on resiliency: protective vs risk factors.
✔ Ch. 14 from Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership book with 2 intriguing analogies presented by Bosnick, including the donkey in the well and the carrot, egg, and coffee bean story.
✔ Learn how to build resilience within yourself and your teams by focusing on Patrick Lencioni's five functions of a high-performing team. Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity.
✔ Discover how developing willpower, a crucial faculty of the mind, can enhance your ability to overcome adversity.
✔ We also delve into new research on the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, a brain region associated with willpower and resilience.
For Today, EPISODE #344, we are moving on to Chapter 14, reviewing “The Neuroscience of Resiliency,” a topic we have covered a few times on this podcast, way back with Horacio Sanchez, who named his Educational Consulting Business Resiliency Inc. back on EP #74[i] and then we did a deep dive Brain Fact Friday on EP #286 “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness.”[ii] On this episode we reviewed Horacio Sanchez’s definition of resiliency as “a collection of protective risk factors that you have in your life” and that there are some factors we are born with, and others come in through childhood, family, school, life events and social experiences.
Horacio reminds us that “if you have little risk, it takes less to be resilient. But—if you have a lot of risk, it takes a lot more protective factors to offset the scale.” This is why two people can possibly respond in two completely different ways after a traumatic experience. One person walks away, dusts themselves off, and recovers quickly, (they had more reservoirs of resilience to tap into) while the other has a completely different outcome, and needs more assistance to get back on track.
With resiliency, we can overcome adversity or difficulty and have good outcomes in our life, but you can see why not everyone is born with exactly the same protective factors needed, so we don’t all have the same levels of resiliency. Horacio mentioned that “25% of the population are naturally resilient” and his work focuses on instilling this trait in those who are not naturally resilient due to the number of risk factors associated to them. To this day, he continues with his mission, flying around the country, helping our next generation of students to become more resilient.
Resiliency came out as a low priority for me with the with 0% (Pathway 5) along with Change and Agility, and it makes more sense to me now that I understand the protective and risk factors that I faced growing up as a child, from my family, from school, life and social events. When I review the list, I can see that I was fortunate to have more protective factors, than risk.
IMAGE FROM EP 74 with Horacio Sanchez.
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[iii], look to see if Resilience (in Pathway 5) along with change and agility, is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
If you haven’t listened to EP 74, or 286, where we dove deeper into the building resiliency, grit and mental toughness, I highly encourage that you listen to both of these episodes, in addition to what we will uncover today on resiliency.
So what does Grant Bosnick have to say about building resilience in ourselves, and our teams in chapter 14 of his book? He opens up the chapter with a situation with a farmer and his donkey, who had fallen into a hole in the ground, (a well) and couldn’t get out. Finally, after trying to get the donkey out, he gave up, and decided to shovel dirt into the well, since the donkey was old, and not worth saving. At first Grant writes that the donkey cried with the dirt being shoveled onto him, until he eventually stopped and was quiet. When the farmer looked into the hole he was amazed at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt, the donkey would shake it off his back, and use the dirt to climb up higher, until he was able to easily step out of the hole and trot off happily.
What Grant is showing us at the start of this chapter is that we all will have dirt shoveled on our backs in our life, and “that we can either get buried in the dirt or shake it off and take a step up. Each adversity we face is a stepping stone, and we can get out of the deepest wells by shaking off the dirt and taking a step up.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 160).
There was another analogy in Grant’s book that I liked, about a carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee. The story went like this. There was a young woman who went to her mother one day, complaining the things were difficult for her with her life. Her mother took her into the kitchen and filled three pots with water, and placed them on the elements, bringing each one to a boil. One pot she placed carrots in, the second, an egg and the third one, coffee beans. After 20 minutes, she asked her daughter what she saw. Her mother’s explanation was eye-opening.
She explained to her daughter that “each of these objects faced the same adversity—boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it was softer and became weak. The egg was fragile…but after being in the boiling water, it’s inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. (Bosnick writes that) after being in the boiling water, they changed the water…(and the mother asked her daughter) when adversity faces you, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161).
Grant asks the reader of his book to think about this question. Which one would you pick? “Are you the carrot that seems strong but with pain and adversity (wilted) and became soft, losing its strength? Are you the egg that starts with a soft heart, but hardens with the heat? Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that (brought) the pain?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). I’m hoping that we all desire to experience change with the adversity we face.
Bosnick gives two real-life examples of famous people who took their pain, and changed for the better, because of it. Terry Fox, a distance runner from British Columbia, Canada was his first example and Kawhi (Ka-why) Leonard, a professional basketball player from the NBA. You can look up these stories, if you don’t know them already. Growing up in Canada, I remember Terry Fox’s story well. Terry Fox took the pain of a cancer diagnosis that led to one of his legs being amputated and replaced with an artificial leg, and rather than giving up, or becoming hard or soft, he changed the situation with his Marathon of Hope. It was “first held in 1981, and has now grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research, with over $750 million Canadian dollars raised in his name.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 162).
Bosnick reminds us that “resilience is not only about bouncing back from adversity, but rather it is about surviving and thriving through the stress caused by the adversity, and changing our situation to make it better.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 162).
Building Resilience in Ourselves and Then with Our Teams
After Bosnick focused on building resilience in ourselves, he went on to show how to build resilience in our teams, and he mentioned a book, that we have recently talked about with mediation expert John Ford, from EP 340.[iv] I love making connections with past episodes, and when I read Bosnick mention The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni[v], I went straight back to that episode with John Ford. In chapter 14, Bosnick outlines “the five dysfunctions of teams: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. (Next he outlines) the five functions of a high performing team: trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 170).
Bosnick writes that “when we feel accountable and have attention to results, we adopt a mindset or attitude of control, which enables us to take direct, hands-on action to transform changes, adversities and the problems that they may cause…If we believe that we can influence the outcome of an adverse situation, we are more apt to push ourselves to deal with it. If the opposite is true, we may question our ability to turn adversity around and stop trying.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 171).
When I think of a recent time that I faced adversity, and had to be resilient in the process, if I didn’t think it would be possible for me to be successful, there is no way I would have persevered. Each individual on a team must have this mindset, as they go through change and adversity. The focus must be on Lencioni’s work: “building a high functioning team—with trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results—(that) will lead to proactive behaviors and increase our own (personal) resilience and the resilience in our team.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 171).
Bosnick offers a reflection activity in Chapter 14 where he asks the reader to:
Think of an adverse situation that you are facing at the moment (could be in your work or personal life).Consider how this situation is making you feel. I’m going to add that if you feel like the situation is in control of you, then you are not going to win. You’ ve got to be confident that YOU are in control of whatever it is that you are going through.How can you adopt a more prosocial mindset to see the adversity as opportunity to make things better for yourself and others? Thinking of the carrots, the egg and the coffee bean. What will it take to get you to become the coffee bean?How can you help yourself and your team to be more high functioning? Thinking of Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, how will you help your team to move towards trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results?Developing Our Will to Overcome Adversity:
What will it REALLY take for you to become more resilient and overcome adversity? It will take a highly developed Will Power. We have talked about how to develop this faculty of our mind on EP #294[vi] where we dove deep into the 6 Faculties of our Mind, with our Will Power being one of them. I do highly recommend listening to this episode if you want to review these important faculties.
Since I can always use a refresher myself, I’ll highlight what we covered on this important faculty that we will need to develop, to overcome adversity.
YOUR WILL: This is one of my favorite faculties. (out of the 6: along with our ability to reason, use our intuition, perception, memory and imagination). This one (The use of the Will) gives you the ability to concentrate. While sitting down to write this episode, I’ve gotten up from my desk a few times, but I’m determined to finish writing this, so I can record and release this today. That’s the will at work. You can also use the will to hold a thought on the screen of your mind, or choose thoughts of success, over thoughts of failure. OR-use the power of your Will to overcome the adversity you face, like Terry Fox, or Kawhi (Ka-why) Leonard. If you have a highly evolved will, you’ll lock into doing something, block out all distractions, and accomplish what you set out to do.
HOW TO DEVELOP THIS FACULTY TO OVERCOME CHALLENGE OR ADVERSITY?
Developing the will takes practice. Meditation can strengthen your will, but so can staring at a candle flame until you and the flame become one. I tried this activity in my late 20s, and remember it was a few hours of staring at this candle flame, before I was able to block out the distractions of the outside world, and the flame extended towards me. This faculty, like the others, takes time and practice, but once you’ve developed this faculty, you’ll know you have the ability to sit, focus, and do anything. An extension of this activity would be that once you and the flame have become one, try to change the color of the flame. In your head say “blue, blue, blue” and watch the color of the flame turn to blue. Pick a different color and see if you can quickly change the color of the flame from blue, to red, to orange, to whatever color you think of.” This activity will strengthen your will.
BRINGING IN THE NEUROSCIENCE:
It was here that I wondered what neuroscience has to say about this topic. We have covered The Neuroscience of Resiliency on past episodes, but we have not yet covered some new research that Dr. Andrew Huberman discovered this past year about what happens to our brain when we have a highly developed Will Power, that we will need to overcome adversity and challenge. This new research actually made famous scientist jump out of his chair.
DID YOU KNOW that there is a part of the brain called “the Anterior mid cingulate cortex. This area is not just one of the seats of willpower but scientists think it holds the secret in “the will to live?”[vii]
When I first heard about this part of the brain, I knew it was important for overcoming adversity, and helping us to become more resilient.
Scientists discovered that this part in the brain increases in size when we do something we don’t want do, like exercising when we would rather not, or diet or resist eating something we know is bad for us, when we would rather eat the old way.
Dr. Huberman shared on this eye-opening episode with his guest, David Goggins that “when people do anything that they don’t want to do, it’s not about adding more work, it’s about adding more work that you don’t want to do, this brain area gets bigger.” This part of the brain is larger in athletes, larger in people who overcome challenge, and as long as people continue to “do difficult things” this area of the brain keeps its size.
To me, this shows that building resilience in ourselves and our teams is not just good for whatever challenge we are looking to overcome, but we are building stronger, more resilient brains: specifically, stronger anterior mid cingulate cortexes.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #344 on “The Neuroscience Behind Building Resilience in Yourself and Your Teams” we covered:
A review of EP 74 and 286 where we covered the Neuroscience of Resilience with Horacio Sanchez’s work reminding us that our protective or risk factors in our lifetime, will determine how resilient we will be in our life. While 25% of the population are naturally resilient, Horacio asserts that “if you have little risk, it takes less to be resilient. But—if you have a lot of risk, it takes a lot more protective factors to offset the scale.” Horacio has dedicated his life to helping our next generation become more resilient.Next we looked at Grant Bosnick’s book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership (Chapter 14) where he gave us the analogy of the donkey who fell into the well, and demonstrated resiliency when he used the dirt shoveled on him, to climb out. This example taught us that we all will have dirt shoveled on our backs in our life, and “that we can either get buried in the dirt or shake it off and take a step up. Each adversity we face is a stepping stone, and we can get out of the deepest wells by shaking off the dirt and taking a step up.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 160).Another analogy we learned was through the mother and daughter story, and that when adversity faces you, Bosnick asks us to reflect. “Are you the carrot that seems strong but with pain and adversity (wilted) and became soft, losing its strength? Are you the egg that starts with a soft heart, but hardens with the heat? Or are you like the coffee bean that actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that (brought) the pain?” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 161). I’m hoping that we all desire to experience change with the adversity we face, like the coffee bean.After learning about building resiliency in ourselves, we learned about building resiliency within our teams, and looked at Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. Then we learned to turn this around, using the five functions of a high performing team: trust, absence of fear of conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results.” (Chapter 14, Resilience, Bosnick, Page 170).Then we looked at how we develop resiliency, using our Will Power from EP 294 where I shared an activity to strengthen this faculty of our mind either through meditation, or with an activity of staring at a candle flame, and with time, effort and sheer will power, blocking out everything else around you, until you and the candle flame become one.Finally, we looked at the fascinating new neuroscience behind the part of our brain (the anterior mid cingulate cortex) that becomes bigger when we use our will power to do those things we don’t want to do. Scientists believe this ability to use our will power to do difficult things, which builds our resiliency, is what’s really behind the will to live.I hope you’ve found this episode on building resilience in yourself and your teams as valuable as I have, and that when challenge comes our way in the future, that we continue to lean into it, using every ounce of our will power, and become a coffee bean, emerging stronger than the challenge we faced, and knowing that this process is building a part of our brain (our anterior mid cingulate cortex) to be bigger, helping us to continue to do difficult things in our future.
With that thought, I’ll close out this episode and see you next time, with two interviews coming, to help us to continue to build stronger versions of ourselves this year. I’ll see you next week.
REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #74 with Horacio Sanchez on “How to Apply Brain Science to Improve Instruction and School Climate” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/leading-brain-science-and-resiliency-expert-horatio-sanchez-on-how-to-apply-brain-science-to-improve-instruction-and-school-climate/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #286 on “Building Resiliency, Grit and Mental Toughness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-building-resiliency-grit-and-mental-toughness/
[iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #340 “Navigating Workplace Conflicts: Insights from a Mediation Expert, John Ford” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/navigating-workplace-conflicts-insights-from-a-mediation-expert/
[v] The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Published April 11, 2002 https://www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #294 “Beyond Our 5 Senses: Using the 6 Faculties of our Mind” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/beyond-our-5-senses-understanding-and-using-the-six-higher-faculties-of-our-mind/
[vii] How to Build Will Power Dr. Andrew Huberman with David Goggins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84dYijIpWjQ
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Manglende episoder?
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In episode #343, host Andrea Samadi interviews Dr. Sui Wong, a renowned neurologist and neuro-ophthalmologist based in London, UK. With over 110 peer-reviewed publications and extensive research in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Dr. Wong shares her holistic approach to improving brain health and patient outcomes.
Discover the science behind visual snow syndrome, the impact of lifestyle-specific interventions, and the connection between eye health and neurological disorders like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Dr. Wong also delves into the importance of mindfulness, nutrition, sleep, and a balanced lifestyle in enhancing overall well-being. Join us for an insightful conversation that bridges neuroscience with practical strategies for everyday life.
Don't miss this episode filled with valuable insights and actionable tips to help you thrive. Welcome, Dr. Sui Wong!
Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/GwR82IYJTbE
EPISODE #343 with Dr. Sui Wong on “Unlocking Brain Health: Insights from a Leading Neuro-Ophlamologist we will cover:
✔ Dr. Sui Wong's career path in medicine, that led her to write 4 books to help her patients (and the world) improve their brain health.
✔ How understanding our eye health can help us to prevent neurological disorders (like Alzheimer's Disease) in the future.
✔ What we should all understand about our eye health for improved health and longevity.
✔ What common neuro-ophthalmology cases she sees.
✔ Why did she introduce Mindfulness into a study on Visual Snow Syndrome?
✔ What would Dr. Wong add to our list of Top 6 Health Staples?
✔ How to learn from Dr. Wong, and find her books.
On today's episode #343 we meet with Dr. Sui H. Wong, a Neurologist and Neuro-Ophthalmologist based in London, United Kingdom. In addition to her clinical work as a medical doctor and physician, Dr. Wong is an active neuroscience researcher, who translates pertinent and clinically relevant questions into research, to improve person-centred patient outcomes. Additionally, she has the qualifications and experience to consider a broader spectrum of lifestyle-specific interventions. Dr Wong’s holistic approach in empowering patients has been recognized with many awards, and this is just the beginning for her.
When I was introduced to Dr. Wong, an active neuroscience researcher with a mission of translating important clinically relevant questions into research for improved person-centred patient outcomes, I knew I had to speak with her. She is a widely published author and researcher with over 110+ peer-reviewed publications in medical journals, chapters and conference abstracts, to date.
I looked at the articles Dr. Wong has published, and one caught my eye. She’s done extensive research that you can find in Ophthalmology Journals, like a recent article that I’m going to paraphrase, but it was called Visual Snow Syndrome (which is a neurological condition where individuals see persistent flickering white, black, transparent or colored dots across the whole visual field) After Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy.[i] We have spent some time on this podcast walking through Pubmed.gov, and if you go there, and put Mindfulness into the search bar, you will come up with over 30,000 results.
Let’s meet Dr. Sui Wong, and see what we can learn from her decades of research and her thoughts on what lifestyle-specific interventions she recommends.
Welcome Dr. Wong, thank you for coming on the podcast today, and meeting me, all the way from the UK (where I was born)(Worthing, Sussex). Welcome.
Q1: Can you give us an overview of why you chose this path and ended up in Neuro-Ophthalmology with an explanation of what you do with your work?
Q2: How can understanding our eye health help us to prevent neurological disorders in the future? We’ve covered Alzheimer’s Prevention strategies and I wonder what you would with the importance of our brain health?
Q3: I listened to a recent podcast you did on Neuro Podcases and while I don’t have a case for you, I’ll tell you I had a scary eye experience years ago? It turned out to be an ocular migraine, but I seriously thought I was going blind. Before I spoke to my doctor, I had no idea what this was, and that it was nothing to worry about. What do you recommend we ALL learn and understand about our eye health for improved health and longevity?
Q3B: Is there a connection between migraines in our head, and our gut-brain axis?
Q4: What are some common neuro-ophthalmology cases you see?
Q5: I looked at your research and one of your publications drew my attention. It was the Visual Snow Syndrome study that improved with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Since we talk about Mindfulness often on this podcast, can you share what this study revealed? What can we all take away from the power of Mindfulness?
Q6: What advice would you give us outside of this list that we’ve created from all our interviews, of the TOP 6 health staples to boost our physical, and mental heath, helping us to age gracefully, and how much of our health do you think has to do our brain health?
Q7: For people to reach you, what is the best way? What services do you provide?
Q8: Anything I have missed?
Dr. Wong, I want to thank you for your time, meeting with me today, and helping us to all make the connection with our brain health, and longevity.
RESOURCES AND CONNECT WITH DR. SUI WONG
Thursday Tips-Bitesize brain health tips to thrive: bit.ly/drwongbrainhealth
Website for Dr. Wong’s books: https://www.drsuiwongmd.com/books
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuiwong.neurologist/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sui-wong-neurologist/
Mindfulness for Brain Health (in paperback/ hardcover/ Kindle/ audiobook)https://books2read.com/u/4XNXAgBreak Free from Migraines Naturally (in paperback/ hardcover/ Kindle/ audiobook)https://books2read.com/u/bwgG5ZSleep Better to Thrive (in paperback/ Kindle/ audiobook)books2read.com/u/mv0XQ2Quit Ultra-Processed Foods Now (in paperback/ Kindle/ audiobook)https://books2read.com/u/m27M21
Email [email protected]
REFERENCES:
[i] Visual Snow Syndrome Improves with Modulation of Resting-State Functional MRI Connectivity After Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy published by Sui H Wong, et al, March 2024 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37967050/
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In episode 342, we continue our 18-week self-leadership series inspired by Grant Bosnick's book, diving deep into Chapter 13, which focuses on the neuroscience of agility.
Join Andrea Samadi as she explores how physical and mental agility play critical roles in our ability to handle sudden changes and stressors. Discover practical strategies to enhance your mental agility, build resilience, and thrive in the face of adversity.
This episode not only highlights the importance of maintaining physical fitness but also delves into the science behind mental flexibility. Learn how to identify and manage your stressors, strengthen your neural pathways, and become anti-fragile in both your personal and professional life.
Stay tuned for insights from neuroscientist Tara Swart and actionable tips to improve your brain's agility, ensuring you are better prepared to navigate life's challenges. Don't miss this enlightening episode and the upcoming interview with Dr. Sui Wong on resilience!
On today's episode #342 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. So far, it’s taken us 8 months to cover the first 13 chapters thoroughly, and we still have 6 chapters to go. After this week on agility, we have chapter 14 on resilience, 15 on relationships and authenticity, 16 on biases, 17 on trust, 18 on empathy and the final chapter 19 (and one of my target areas to focus on this year), the topic of presence. When we finish each of these chapters, we will put them all together, with a review of each one, in one place. It really has surprised me that a thorough study of this book will take the entire year to complete.
On today's EPISODE #342 we will cover:
✔ The Neuroscience of Mental and Physical Agility
✔ An overview of our personal and professional stressors
✔ Why being antifragile can help us overcome life’s obstacles and challenges
✔ Characteristics of an Agile Brain
✔ 6 Pathways of an Agile Brain
✔ 4 STEPS to Developing an Agile Brain for Future Problem Solving Success
For Today, EPISODE #342, we are moving on to Chapter 13, covering “The Neuroscience of Agility” which came out as a low priority for me with the with 0% (Pathway 5) along with Change and Resilience. If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Agility (in Pathway 5) along with change and resilience, is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
I was surprised to see this topic showing up with a low priority, not because this topic is something that I don’t think about daily, but it was when I read the first few paragraphs of Grant Bosnick’s chapter 13, on Agility, where I was reminded that we are talking about physical agility, in addition to mental agility, and as I’m getting older, I notice this area requires extra effort to stay on top of. While the self-assessment says this is not an area of focus for me, it’s one of my TOP priorities at the moment.
Grant Bosnick opens up this chapter by talking about a basketball player who pivots by “maintaining one foot having contact with the ground without changing its position on the floor and utilizes the other foot to rotate their body to improve position while in possession of the basketball. In life and business, when we are faced with a change or challenge immediately in front of us (Bosnick says) it is the same.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). He reminds us that “in basketball, to be agile and pivot, a player needs to be physically fit and have strong ankles, otherwise they may injure themselves in the moment of stopping suddenly.
Reading this paragraph took me back to my 20s when I was a teacher in Toronto. I loved basketball. So much so that I spent some of my weekends being trained as a basketball coach where I learned drills directly from one of the Toronto Raptor’s coaches themselves. I remember taking these drills to a boy’s PE class, and watched in amazement at the skill of these young men, playing a sport, where I honestly thought there were players in that PE class who should have gone pro. I watched them pivot, and move in ways that I knew I never could. One student worked with me after class, trying to teach me to walk and pass the ball through my legs at the same time, and after an hour, I just gave up. It took these young athletes many years of practice outside of their gym time to develop these skills. Thinking back now, to those days, a few decades later, I know that while I don’t have the same physical agility as I did years ago, and I definitely can’t walk and pass a basketball through my legs at the same time, I still put exercise at the top of my list, and know that when I put in the time here, this helps (not hurts) my ability to pivot maybe not like those basketball players, but enough to be prepared physically, to handle sudden change that inevitably will come my way in life. And while I know that we can’t all be at the same level physically, (depending on the amount of time we can dedicate here) we ALL have the same advantage when it comes to the ability to strengthen our mental agility.
This is where Grant Bosnick takes us in his book, reminding us that “in business or life, when we are faced with a challenge or a change that makes us stop suddenly in our course of action. At that moment, we need to have mental agility to be strong in that moment… (reminding us that) we all face stressors and challenges in life. We need to push through, adapt and thrive in the moment, so that we can pivot, see the opportunities and come out even stronger on the other side.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 145)
Stressors and Triggers
Bosnick covers “various stressors or triggers that may cause us to stop our course of action (with) ways to improve our mental agility and ability to pivot.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 145).
On Table 13.1 Bosnick lists common stressors in the workplace, in our personal lives and I think he’s got ALL of the stressors covered. I looked at what is currently stressing me out (in my work and personal life) and they are ALL on Bosnick’s list in some form. I think that it’s easy to get overwhelmed with work and personal stressors, that I even forgot about daily stressors like traffic, or road closures, not having enough time for the daily exercise, or things that are important to us, or those days where I fall short on sleep, and know I’ll pay for it somehow.
Bosnick does tie chapter 9 on emotion regulation into this chapter, with strategies to overcome our daily life stress, and when we look at the Neuroscience of Mental Agility next, we will connect emotion regulation with a strategy from Tara Swart, MD, PhD, a neuroscientist and author of The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain for improving and strengthening our neural pathways, to improve our brain agility (or mental agility).
Before we can strengthen our mental agility, it helps to know what is stressing us out. I was actually talking about this during the week with one of my good friends from high school. We throw ideas back and forth, and I mentioned that as certain stressors were piling up in my daily life, I was getting to the “end of my rope with them.” She gave me a good analogy, and shared that we can pile up all of our stressors on a book shelf, until we reach our breaking point, and the book shelf breaks. I think it’s good to be aware of our breaking points, and how much we can handle at once. Bosnick suggests an activity where we identify all of our stressors.
IDENTIFYING OUR STRESSORS
First, look at the stressors on Bosnick’s list, (Table 13.1) and see if you can identify what is stressing you out. I think these days we can also circle workload, and lack of time in our work day, and I’ve circled injury with my girls who are both facing injuries from competitive gymnastics at the moment. Look and see what your stressors are.Bosnick suggests next to uncover the magnitude of these stressors by rating them on a scale of 1-5.Here’s where our mental agility comes into play. Bosnick introduces three terms from the book Antifragile by N Taleb[iii] where there are three types of systems, organizations or people.
The fragile: which is like an egg and breaks under stress. No one wants to be labeled as fragile.The robust: which is like a phoenix, when destroyed comes back exactly as it was before. This is a step in the right direction, but who wants to emerge from challenge the same as before?The antifragile: gets stronger from uncertainty—like the Hydra from the Greek myth where you cut off one head, two grows back in its place. It gets stronger from the sudden change.When we face challenges, changes and stressors, we need to become antifragile in the process according to Grant Bosnick. He also mentions resilience that we will cover next in chapter 14, and have covered this topic often on this podcast[iv] with EP 135 “Using Recovery to Become Resilient to Physical, Mental and Emotional Stressors.” This episode came from some of the biggest AHA moment from EPISODE #134[v] with Kristen Holmes, the VP of Performance Science of WHOOP[i], a wearable personal fitness and health coach that measures sleep, strain, and recovery.
Bosnick, in chapter 13 cover specifically how to grow from adversity, sustaining our peak performance, and that what we want to take away from this chapter is how to “train our brain to be antifragile in order to be more agile in the moment when we face challenges or stressors.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 149)
HOW DO WE IMPROVE OUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL AGILITY?
Bosnick does talk about the importance of maintaining “a healthy lifestyle, with proper amounts of sleep, food, water and physical fitness. This will increase your energy and mental alertness” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 151) so that when something comes our way, unexpectedly, we can be better prepared, or more agile which will help us to be “prepared to withstand the shock.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 150). He also talks about the importance of taking the time to rest and recover by going for a walk, practicing yoga, or meditating. We’ve gone deep into the Top 6 Health Staples Scientifically Proven to Boost Our Physical and Mental Health[vi] that will provide us with the mental strength “to withstand our stressors in the first place, just like a basketball player needs to have physical strength to withstand the sudden stop.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 150).
Bosnick also suggests “yet another way to improve our mental well-being and strength is to find meaning in what we do (and that) by aligning personal meaning and doing what matters most, we will create a focus and a source of energy that can help us cut through a lot of the chaos. We did cover this topic with Chapter 2 on Goals[vii] and Chapter 3 Inspiration and Motivation[viii].
Bosnick does cover more strategies in Chapter 13 including overshooting, mental self-talk, and the importance of anticipating the future with examples that I know we’ve mentioned before on this podcast, with neuroscientist Friederike Fabritius, who wrote about Wayne Gretsky’s ability to think ahead of the hockey puck. Bosnick shares that “Wayne Gretsky, the greatest ice hockey player in history, once said “I don’t go where the puck is; I go where the puck will be.” And this, Bosnick reminds us “is what we need to think in order to get through these stressors or obstacles and find the opportunities on the other side.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 156) anticipating and directing ourselves to where we want to be.
Bosnick has us think of ways that we can adapt and manage ourselves through change, urging us to overshoot to strengthen our mental muscles which can endure more than we think, with strategies that include learning to become more optimistic.
It was here that I wondered what else could we learn about the neuroscience of agility (specifically mental agility where we all have the same ability, since we all have a brain) and I wondered if there was a way that would allow us to use our brain to work FOR us, rather than against us, and the answer came when I found Tara Swart MD, PhD, a neuroscientist and author of The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain. The answer came to me with her definition of “Mental Agility.”
What Is Mental Agility?
Tara Swart opens up her book, The Source, with a paragraph written by Charles Haanel, from 1919, (you can tell from the language that this was written over 100 years ago) in her Epigraph that reads:
“Some men seem to attract success, power, wealth, attainment with very little conscious effort; while others conquer with great difficulty; still others fail altogether to reach their ambitions, desires and ideals. Why is this so? The cause cannot be physical…hence mind must be the creative force, must constitute the sole difference between men. It is mind which overcomes environment and every other obstacle...”
Tara Swart says that “Mental agility is the ability to switch between tasks and between different ways of thinking, such as logical, emotional, creative, intuitive, physical, or motivational.”
She says that mental agility “also enhances the way you respond to stress and your capacity to keep multiple options open, allowing you to make your thoughts and emotions work for you during challenging tactical or physical events.”
In many ways, mental agility boils down to being flexible and not so hard on yourself, whether life gets in the way of your goals (like with any of the stressors from Bosnick’s list) or you encounter personal slip-ups in your day to day life. We’ve all been there, but how we persevere through all of this is a sign of mental agility.
Tara Swart wrote this book to offer an up-to-date, scientifically backed method for retraining the brain to direct our actions and emotions to lead us towards our deepest dreams and goals. She shows us how to take control of our own brain, and this powerful understanding took her nine years of college, seven years of practicing psychiatry and ten years of being an executive coach to get to this point.
In chapter 5 of The Source, Swart lists an activity to help us to improve our Mental (Brain) Agility by learning to “nimbly switch between different ways of thinking.” (Chapter 5, The Source, Page 109).
Swart reminds us that we are all “perfectly capable to assessing more of our brain power more of the time. We don’t because we don’t realize how brilliant, flexible, and agile our brain can be.” (Chapter 5, The Source, Page 109).
DID YOU KNOW THAT “an agile brain is one where each of our neural pathways is adequately developed?”
An agile brain Swart says can:
Focus intensely and efficiently on one task at a timeThink in many different ways about the same situation or problemSwitch gradually between these different ways of thinkingFuse ideas from differing cognitive pathways to create integrated solutionsThink in a balanced way, rather than thinking rigidly (or logical) for example.What is Swart’s Whole-Brain Approach to Brain Agility?
(IMAGE CREDIT: Credit by Andrea Samadi from Chapter 3, Brain Agility, The Source, Tara Swart).
Swart lists 6 ways of thinking that correlate with a simplified version of that neural pathway in the brain.
HOW AGILE IS YOUR BRAIN?
Swart next suggests that we try this activity to see how agile (or balanced) our brain is to see where our strengths are, as well as areas for improvement.
STEP 1: Draw a circle in a notebook, and give yourself 100% to start of with in the center with “Your Source”
STEP 2: Draw the arms for each of the 6 areas that correlate with brain agility. Emotions, Physicality, Intuition, Motivation, Logic and Creativity.
STEP 3: Call to mind one of your stressors (personal, or work) and rate how much of your brain power went towards each area.
STEP 4: Look to see how effectively you draw from your brain’s resources during times of stress. Did you allocate more energy to certain areas, and less to others?
Swart reminds us that we don’t need to have balance in all areas, but it’s important to “feel strong enough in all the pathways, as well as knowing what your key strengths are.” (Ch 3, The Source, Page 115).
EXAMPLE:
From Andrea: You can see my example in the show notes with a sports injury with both my children that is definitely one of my stressors.
INTUITION 50%
While dealing with anything stressful, I notice that I go straight to my intuition first. Before was even told about each of my daughter’s injuries, I could tell by looking at their facial expressions, and body language that the injuries were important for me to take seriously.
PHYSICALITY 20%
Once I have the intuitive feeling, next I’ll feel something in the pit of my stomach that tells me (to go straight to the ER) or whether we can wait the injury out with some time.
EMOTIONS 10%
While I’m always working on mastering my emotions, it’s impossible for me to hide what I’m feeling. When I’m serious, you will see it on my face.
CREATIVITY 10%
Next I’m thinking of ways to solve the problem, (the injury) and what we will need to do for a speedy recovery.
MOTIVATION 5%
This pathways keeps me focused on the end result
LOGIC 5%
I don’t need to get x-rays or wait for a doctor to tell me the results. While I know that my husband would lean this way first, I rely on different pathways in the brain while under pressure.
If you can take ONE of your stressors, and do this activity, you will learn what pathways in your brain are your strengths. Most people, Swart says have 2 or 3 pathways that they favor, 2 they draw on while under pressure and 2 they don’t use much, if at all.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #342 on “The Neuroscience of Agility” we looked at Chapter 13 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership uncovering our top work, personal and everyday life stressors.
Next, we rated our stressors on a scale of 1-5 to uncover the magnitude of what stresses us out on a daily basis.
We looked at three terms from the book Antifragile by N Taleb[ix] where there are three types of systems, organizations or people.
The fragile: which is like an egg and breaks under stress. No one wants to be labeled as fragile.The robust: which is like a phoenix, when destroyed comes back exactly as it was before. This is a step in the right direction, but who wants to emerge from challenge the same as before?The antifragile: gets stronger from uncertainty—like the Hydra from the Greek myth where you cut off one head, two grows back in its place. It gets stronger from the sudden change.We learned that when we face challenges, changes and stressors, we want to become antifragile in the process so that we grow from adversity, and become stronger in the process.
Finally, we looked at Mental Agility, with Tara Swart’s whole-brain approach from her book, The Source, by taking one of our stressors, and rating how much of our brain power we use while problem solving. I highly encourage this activity to notice which pathways you favor during problem solving, which ones you go to while under pressure and which ones you don’t use at all.
The goal with this episode was to show us that while physical agility is important, it’s our mental agility that some, like Charles Haanel, from 1919, believe “overcomes environment and every other obstacle.”
While I will always keep the TOP 6 health staples at the top of my mind to improve my physical agility, I’ll end this episode with a quote from our ALL-TIME most listened to episode from November 2022 on “Applying the Silva Method for Improved Creativity, Intuition and Focus”[x] that has now over 9K downloads.
I hope you have found some valuable insights in this episode, and we will see you next week, with an interview with neuroscientist Dr. Sui Wong, and then chapter 14 on resilience.
See you next week.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii] Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Published Jan. 28, 2014 https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto/dp/0812979680
[iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #135 “Using Recovery to Become Resilient to Physical, Mental and Emotional Stressors” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-using-recovery-to-become-resilient-to-physical-mental-and-emotional-stressors/
[v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #134 with Kristen Holmes, VP of Performance Science of WHOOP.com on “Unlocking a Better You: Measuring Sleep, Recovery and Strain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kristen-holmes-from-whoopcom-on-unlocking-a-better-you-measuring-sleep-recovery-and-strain/
[vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE “Top 5 Health Staples” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/
[vii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #323 “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Our 2024 Goals” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-season-11-of-the-neuroscience-meets-sel-podcast/
[viii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 on “The Neuroscience of Inspiration and Motivation” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/
[ix] Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Published Jan. 28, 2014 https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto/dp/0812979680
[x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast PART 1 “Applying the Silva Method for Improved Intuition, Creativity and Focus” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-deep-dive-with-andrea-samadi-into-applying-the-silva-method-for-improved-intuition-creativity-and-focus-part-1/
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In this enlightening episode, we delve into the intersection of neuroscience, corporate innovation, and soul health with Pam Buchanan, founder of QuantumSense. Pam shares her journey from the high-paced boardrooms of Silicon Valley to exploring the concept of soul health, which she believes is crucial for achieving true well-being and productivity.
Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/4SNJuB3hfEg
Throughout her career, Pam has been at the forefront of innovation, from introducing mutual funds to the banking industry to working alongside visionaries like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg at NASDAQ. Now, through QuantumSense, she aims to bring the concept of soul health to the masses, offering programs that help reduce anxiety, increase energy, and boost overall life satisfaction.
Join us as we explore how practical neuroscience can be integrated with soul health to create a paradigm shift in the workplace and beyond. Pam shares actionable insights and tools that you can start using today to improve your energy levels and overall well-being. Don't miss this thought-provoking discussion that could redefine how you approach your mental, physical, and soul health.
For more information, visit our website and stay tuned for more episodes that bridge the gap between science and practical application.
EPISODE #341 with Pam Buchanan on “Unlocking the Power of Soul Health” we will cover:
✔ How practical neuroscience can be integrated with soul health to create a paradigm shift in the workplace and beyond.
✔ Actionable tools you can start using today to improve your energy levels and overall well-being.
✔ Ideas to BEGIN thinking about soul health, in addition to our physical and mental health.
On today's episode #341, we welcome Pam Buchanan, founder of Quantum Sense, a consulting agency for the new paradigm, something we talk about often on this podcast.
After Pam took an introspective look at how she was able to perform throughout her career – which required her to be able to keep up with the pace of Silicon Valley – she accredited her successes to more than physical and mental health. She began what would be over a decade of research and self-examination to eventually define this as Soul Health. Throughout her personal and professional life, Pam has a long-history of being at the forefront of innovation. She was among the first to bring mutual funds to the banking industry in the 80s, and she identified unicorn startups to take to the public markets.Prior to starting Quantum Sense, Pam served as a Managing Director at Nasdaq for 15 years and was responsible for identifying, building, and maintaining relationships with pre-IPO, companies, founders, c-level executives, venture capital and private equity firms. It is in this role where she was in the boardrooms and minds of some of the world’s greatest innovators including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Pam understands how the corporate mindset has evolved over the past few decades and is ready to lead the next evolution through Soul Health. Now, as the Founder of Quantum Sense, Pam is drawing from her wide-ranging experience and ability to distill and convey complex concepts to bring Soul Health to the masses. She has developed programs and services designed for companies proven to help their employees reduce anxiety, increase energy, create focus, boost creativity and ultimately improve their overall satisfaction in the office and life.
If you look at the direction our podcast is taking, you will see that while I’m always looking for ways to connect the most current brain research to improve our productivity and results, I am also extremely wide open to what else is out there. What else could we all be thinking, and doing, that might be a paradigm shift from our old ways of thinking in the workplace, but ways that will be necessary for us to ALL reach these higher levels of achievement. Ways to understand and improve our own Soul Health.
Let’s meet Pam Buchanan, and learn more about the fascinating intersection she has discovered with neuroscience and corporate innovation, through the lens of Soul Heath.
Welcome Pam! You have no idea just how timely it is that we are meeting. I have been diving into this topic, after being interviewed recently on some other podcasts that focus on this topic, and this is an area of interest for me right now. Welcome, and it’s an honor to have you on the podcast today.
Q1: When I looked at your background, which is impressive, but it also reminded me of my Mom, who spent years in the financial industry (life insurance) when her heart was in education. She made money, but ultimately, not living her soul purpose for her career led her to many health issues (like Cancer) over the years. It was impossible for me to miss that there was something off with the daily stress she had to led to her health issues. Can you share what led you to go from the fast-paced boardroom, working with some of the world’s greatest innovators like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, to helping others to improve their Soul Health? Where did this shift begin for you?
Q2: It’s interesting to me that you’ve attributed your past success to more than just physical and mental health. I relate to this, as I’m interested in both of those areas (and the Top Health Staples[i] that drive our performance) but there is a side of me that is the driver behind all the success that I’ve seen over the years, and it’s the spiritual side of me. Or like you say, our Soul Health. What was it for you that helped you to notice the importance of your soul health, and unlocking the depths of your soul’s energy? How did you begin to introduce Soul Health to the corporate world?
Q3: In your decade of research, I wonder who did you study to learn more about this important area of yourself?
Q4: Reducing anxiety, increasing energy, boosting creativity, these are all areas I’m exploring at the moment. Finding NEW tools to do this so that I’m refreshed at the end of a work day, instead of drained. What have you learned that can help us all to embrace our soul/spiritual side, and this new paradigm of work/life balance?
Q4B: What tools are you using? (I’ve recently had my aura read, and it picked up where my energy levels are operating…not far off from what I know about myself from the usual DISC or Myers Briggs Assessments. It picked out my mental state in my working environment and how I’m coming across to others.
Q5: I know that there have been leaps forward in advancements in the workplace, where meditation and mindfulness are now common areas to reduce stress, whereas 10 years ago, these topics were left out of the Corporate World. What are you seeing with your work? Where are we now with talking about this side of ourselves in the workplace? What is the future of soul health to you?
Q5B: Where should we all begin to improve our soul health?
Q6: What services do you provide and how can people learn more about your work?
Q7: What have I missed? Is there anything else that’s important that you would like to share?
Pam, I want to thank you for joining me on the podcast. You’ve added credibility to an area that I know doesn’t need it, but your background and experience could help others bridge the gap into looking at this side of their health. Their Soul Health.
For people to learn more about you, what is the best place?
CONNECT WITH PAM BUCHANAN
Website: https://thequantumsense.com/ and www.senseforward.co
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pam-buchanan/
RESOURCES:
The Consciousness of the Way with San Qing (Podcast Andrea mentions at 7:35) https://www.instagram.com/theway_126/
Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EP 307 with Dr. Konstantin Korotkov “Bridging the Spiritual World with Rigorous Scientific Method” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-konstantinkorotkov-on-bridging-thespiritualworld-with-rigorousscientific-method-methodtappingintothe-powerof-our-thoughtsenergy-fieldsandlimitless/
Sylvia Brown Secret Societies and How They Affect Our Lives Today January 1, 2009 https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Societies-Affect-Lives-Today/dp/1401916767
Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EP 207 with Greg Link “Unleashing Greatness with Neuroscience, SEL, Trust and the 7 Habits” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/co-founder-of-coveylink-greg-link-on-unleashing-greatness-with-neuroscience-sel-trust-and-the-7-habits/
REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Bonus Episode on The Top 5 Health Staples https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast! In episode number 340, host Andrea Samadi speaks with John Ford, an experienced workplace mediator and author of "Peace at Work: The HR Manager's Guide to Workplace Mediation." With a wealth of expertise in conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and soft skills training, John shares his journey from practicing law to becoming a mediator. He discusses the importance of trust, effective communication, and addressing conflict head-on in both personal and professional settings. Discover practical tools like talking sticks and empathy cards, and learn how to apply neuroscience and emotional intelligence to navigate conflicts and improve workplace dynamics. Don't miss this insightful conversation that bridges the gap between science and everyday application!
Watch our interview here https://youtu.be/NShwQio_QAk
EPISODE #340 with John Ford on “Peace at Work: Connecting Emotional Intelligence to Conflict Resolution” we will cover:
✔ The importance of acquiring Emotional Intelligence Skills for conflict resolution in our workplaces of the future.
✔ The influencers who inspired John Ford's work (Daniel Goleman, John Gottman, Ken Cloke and many more.
✔ Tools and resources to support Conflict Resolution in our workplaces.
On today's episode #340, we welcome John Ford[i] BA. LLB (UCT) Founder, Author of Peace at Work: the HR Manager’s Guide to Workplace Mediation, who is an experienced workplace mediator and works as a Conflict Resolution Coach and Workplace Mediator. He’s also a past president of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California and served as managing editor for Mediate.com for over 10 years. Currently, he teaches negotiation and mediation through UC Law SF (formerly UC Hastings).
When I saw the work John has been doing, providing soft skills training on communication, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, assertion, negotiation, mediation, dealing with difficult behavior, customer service, nonverbal communication, de-escalation, stress management, diversity and inclusion, I knew I had to have him on the podcast. I saw the importance of teaching our next generation of students these important social and emotional learning skills over 25 years ago, working with 12 teenagers, who turned their results in school, sports and their personal lives around, in a matter of weeks. I had to learn more about John Ford’s pathway that took him from practicing law, to working on workplace mediation, training others in these important emotional intelligence training skills.
Let’s meet John Ford, and see what we can learn from his vast experience with conflict resolution to see how he gains trust, with a calming effect in the most difficult and tense situations.
Welcome John, thank you for meeting with me today. Where have we reached you today? (I’m located in Arizona).
Q1: John, can you share what inspired you to transition from practicing law to focusing on workplace mediation and soft-skills training?
Q2: Can you also explain how your work was influenced by all of these researchers and influencers that our listeners would know well. Like Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, John Gottman’s evidence-based research as well as Paul Ekman’s work on facial expressions.
Q3: What are some other books that you can point us to improve these important skills, books, like Difficult Conversations (Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Hein), or Nonviolent Communication to help us to improve how to better communicate our feelings in our work and personal lives?
Q4: I see you have created tools to help express our feelings without using blame (which we all know takes us down a pathway to more conflict). I don’t remember how long along it was that I learned to take “you made me feel” out of my vocabulary, since no one can make me feel anything. It was a good lesson to keep in mind that only I control my feelings. Could you explain how The Empathy Set[ii] and The Talking Sticks work and the benefits they bring to users?
Q5: In your opinion, what are the most common challenges organizations face when dealing with workplace conflicts?
Q6: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start incorporating empathy and effective communication strategies into their professional or personal life?
Final Thoughts: Can you share a success story that highlights the impact of your products or training programs on a team or organization?
John, I want to thank you very much for meeting with me today. For people to learn more about you, what is the best place?
CONNECT with JOHN FORD
John Ford
www.johnford.com
www.empathyset.com
www.empathysetapp.com
REFERENCES:
[i] https://www.johnford.com/johnford
[ii] https://www.empathyset.com/
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In episode 339, we delve into Chapter 12 of Grant's latest book, exploring the cutting-edge neuroscience of change. Building on seven months of in-depth discussions, this episode aims to equip you with the knowledge to thrive in 2024 by understanding how our brain interprets change as either a reward or a threat.
We'll revisit key episodes that have previously tackled the concept of change, including insights from futurist Chris Marshall and renowned neuroscientists. Discover how your brain's response to social and emotional threats can be as powerful as its response to physical dangers, and learn practical strategies to navigate these challenges.
Gain a deeper understanding of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and its evolution into self-determination theory. Explore Bosnick's ACRES model—Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness, Equity, and Sureness—to see how meeting these needs can help you embrace change and achieve your goals.
Join us as we unpack Dr. Huberman's insights on how to harness neuroplasticity to create lasting behavioral changes. Learn how to manage the agitation and strain that come with pushing past your comfort zone, and find out how to build a positive change network to support your journey.
Whether you're looking to enhance your agility, resilience, or overall well-being, this episode offers valuable tools and reflections to help you navigate and embrace change with confidence.
Welcome back to SEASON 12 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives.
On today's episode #339 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. So far, it’s taken us 7 months to cover the first 12 chapters thoroughly, and we still have 7 chapters to go. After this week on change, we have chapter 13 on agility, 14 on resilience, 15 on relationships and authenticity, 16 on biases, 17 on trust, 18 on empathy and the final chapter 19 (and one of my target areas to focus on this year), the topic of presence. When we finish each of these chapters, we will put them all together, with a review of each one, in one place.
On today's EPISODE #339 we will cover:
✔ The Neuroscience of Change
✔ How our brains sense rewards versus threats
✔ How social and emotional threats are the same as physical threats
✔ Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
✔ Review of Self Determination Theory
✔ Triggers to watch for during times of change.
✔ How to Change Our Nervous System to change our actions and behaviors, and leave behind a legacy we are proud of.
For Today, EPISODE #339, we are moving on to Chapter 12, covering “The Neuroscience of Change” which came out as a low priority with 0% (Pathway 5) along with Agility and Resilience. I wasn’t surprised to see this topic showing up with a low priority for me this year, mostly because I love change, and am constantly looking for new ways to do things. If I am doing the same things over and over again, I can tend to get bored, so it’s important to find new angles, and challenges, daily to inspire the most creativity.
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Change (in Pathway 5) along with agility and resilience, is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
We’ve covered the topic of “change” in many different places on this podcast, most recently on EP 296,[iii] with Futurist Chris Marshall on his book “Decoding Change”, EP 244 “Using Neuroscience to Change our Perceptions”[iv], or EP 209 on “Using Neuroscience to Impact Change”[v] where we looked at a quote from the great, late Sir Ken’s famous TED TALK, Do Schools Kill Creativity, where he reminded us that “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, (by not fearing change and making mistakes along the way) you’ll never come up with anything original.” Think about this for a moment. Think of the times in your life where you embraced change. Would you agree with me that embracing change helps us to have more guts and perhaps stretch more in the future? It helps us to build our future confidence levels. There are many different ways to change our brain, like we found out with Dr. Michael Rousell on EP 159[vi] who taught us “How the Power of Surprise Can Secretly Change the Brain.”
So what does Grant Bosnick say about The Neuroscience of Change in Chapter 12 of his book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership? He opens up the chapter with examples of change, asking how we feel when:
Example 1: We are in nature and come across a “breathtaking view” (how do we feel) I love seeing water (rivers, lakes or waterfalls in nature). How about you? What do you enjoy seeing/feeling in nature?Or, think of this—we are in nature, and we see a large bear in front of us (how do we feel seeing a large bear compared to the first example of the beautiful river or waterfall)? I’ve never seen a bear, but we do see rattlesnakes often on the hiking trails with the same effect as a bear! If a rattlesnake doesn’t kill you with their venom, they could very possibly bankrupt you, due to the high cost associated with treating snake bites.[vii] Think about how seeing a bear or a snake in nature, makes you feel now? The first example is obviously peaceful, and the second quite stressful.Example 2: We are working hard, and go for our dream position at work, and we are thrilled that we actually land the promotion! (How do we feel) This feels incredible!Or, you don’t get the promotion, someone else gets it (how do we feel then)? Deflated is a word that comes to mind.With both of these examples, the breathtaking view, or when we land the promotion we worked so hard to achieve, Bosnick explains “we feel like we got a reward. It’s a rush. We get a sensation in our brain and a hit of the big neurochemicals” dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, norephinephrine, adrenaline.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).
But with the bear in the woods, (or snake on the hiking trails), or being overlooked for the promotion our brain actually sees this “like it’s a threat. We feel tense, stressed, pressure…our body physically feels it.”
Then Bosnick said something that caught my attention that showed me the difference between these two examples. Bosnick says that “Neuroscience has shown us, that the feeling we get from a social or emotional threat (like being passed over for the promotion) is the same as the feeling we get from a physical threat, (like seeing the bear of the snake) and that the negative (threat) response is stronger than the positive (reward) response.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). This explains to me why social and emotional threats can have a long-lasting impact on us and deflated just doesn’t cover it. If we let these threats impact us, they do have the ability to zap our future confidence levels.
When we see how our brain interprets “everything and everyone we meet as either a reward or a threat” we can better understand “how our body reacts, (and) our brain and mind think, (leading) to the decisions, behaviors and actions we make.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). It’s here that Bosnick reviews the five levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, where the bottom two are our physiological needs (food, water, shelter) then safety needs (health, emotional security, financial security) that we need first for survival. The top three are our psychological needs, social belonging (friendships and love), the need for self-esteem (confidence, recognition and respect) that leads us to the top, with self-actualization (where we pursue our goals and seek happiness).
Bosnick talks about how Maslow’s model evolved into “Self-Determination Theory” around the year 2000 where researchers found that there were “three physiological needs: the need for Competence (feeling valued for our knowledge, skills and experience), the need for Relatedness (collaborating, connecting or serving others) and the need for Autonomy (being able to exercise self-regulation…to achieve our goals.” (Page 133, Ch 12, Bosnick).
Bosnick expands on this, calling it ACRES, A=autonomy or the feeling of control or choice), C=competence (feeling valued and respected for our contribution), R=relatedness (a need to belong and be accepted, to also have social connections), E=equity (perceiving actions as fair) and S=sureness (the ability to predict what’s going to happen moment to moment). (Page 133, Ch 12, Bosnick). Bosnick tells us that “if all of our ACRES are being met, it will put us in a toward state and we will fully embrace everything ahead of us; (but) if our ACRES are threatened, it will put us in an “away state” and will then resist or block things ahead of us.
IMAGE CREDIT: Figure 12.1 ACRES Example Grant Bosnick
Bosnick shows us the ACRES example in his life, showing the reward and threats he felt with a work situation.
Understanding our basic human needs, and how they have evolved over the years, helps us to understand why we resist change, whether it’s intentional, or from a subconscious point of view.
Remembering that Our brain is tied into “everything that we do, and everything that we are.” (Dr. Daniel Amen)
I can look at Bosnick’s ACRES example, and clearly think of a work experience I did not enjoy, as it went against the ACRES Model of Needs. With brain science in mind, I can gain more understanding of why I didn’t enjoy this experience, helping me to seek out a NEW work experience, where the ACRES were all met.
When I think of that work experience I did not enjoy, ALL five of the ACRES examples were not met, so I felt the negative threat response in my brain, activated daily, didn’t notice any positive reward responses, and even though I felt like I was consciously making an effort, my brain kicked into the “fight of flight response” just like my body was preparing for a threat (like the bear in the woods, or snake on the hiking trail). At the end of each day, I felt threatened and not rewarded.
Can you think of when you have felt the ACRES Model working for you (where you feel rewarded) or against you (where you feel threat) while going through change?
Bosnick next explains how open-minded or close-minded we are to change, in his figure 12.2 with an image that was created by Michael Mahoney[viii] the author of The Human Change Process book, who addresses why change is so difficult for people, and how to lean into change, and maximize your chances for success.
“The open-minded/closed minded dimension relates to the degree of mental openness to the environment and our level of curiosity. Open- minded represents the level of reward that we perceive and close-minded represents the level of threat that we perceive. With a passive mindset, we will either subtly support or oppose the change; with an active mindset, we will either overtly support or overtly reject the change.” (Page 137, Ch 12, Bosnick).
We did dive into the emotion of curiosity on our interview with the co-author of the famous book The Archeology of Mind, Lucy Biven on EP 270[ix] where we looked at Jaak Panksepp’s research, and again with Gabrielle Usatynski on EP #282[x] “How to Use Jaak Panksepp’s 7 Core Emotions to Transform Your Family, Career and Life.” With this look at effective neuroscience, it makes sense to set out with a “seeking” or curious mindset, while approaching change, to be as open as we all can to what we might learn in the process, while being mindful of what makes you close-minded. Bosnick points out that it’s normal to go back and forth between these two states, but just to be mindful of what shuts you down, or puts you in the threat response. We want to be in the “Bring Change On” quadrant from figure 12.2 but what do we do if something is “triggering” us as a threat response?
Bosnick lists a few triggers we can be mindful of watching during times of change. Some included:
History of this particular type of change: Think about how have you been in the past with the change you are experiencing now? Remember that past behavior can help you to predict future behavior.Beware of the fear of loss that Bosnick says creates insecurity and unsureness.Beware of the fear of the unknown.Lacking a plan.Fear of giving up our freedom.If you are going through a change right now, look at the change response quadrant figure 12.2 and see where you would place yourself. Are you clearly in the Bring it On Quadrant, or are you going back and forth between being open-minded (and ready for change) or close-minded (and unsure of yourself).
Look at the list of triggers and see if any of these are causing you to experience a threat response in your brain.
What I love about Bosnick’s book, is how many reflection activities he has, in addition to the Companion Workbook that goes along with this text. Bosnick suggests to “build a positive change network” so you don’t need to face change on your own. He suggests adding in new social connections to increase the positive rewards in your life, and minimize the threat responses you might face.
What Else Does Neuroscience Say About Change?
Can we really change our nervous system—specifically our actions and behaviors that will lead us to NEW conditions, circumstances and environments in our life?Can we with focus, and with the use of our will, become more open-minded to change in our life?After learning about how our brain either feels threatened or rewarded during times of change, I wondered what Dr. Andrew Huberman would suggest and I found an episode he did back in 2021 on “How Your Brain Works and Changes”[xi] that gave me some insight into how I can change my actions and behaviors to be more open-minded, getting me to that “Bring it on” Quadrant, so that I’ll see the change I’m experiencing as a reward, instead of a threat.
I think this is brilliant! Using our understanding of practical Neuroscience to actually change our brain, and lean into change, with an open-minded, active mindset, keeping our brain primed for rewards, and aware of how to mitigate threats.
Dr. Huberman suggests that in order to change our actions and behavior towards something, we must first of all understand how this part of our brain works in our nervous system. He dives into an hour long explanation you can watch, but I will give you the short-cut version.
He explains that our nervous system consists of these five things:
We experience sensation (we have neurons that see color, feel sensations, taste, smell). We can’t change our sensory receptors.We experience perception (our ability to take what we are sensing or paying attention to) and focus on it. He says we can put a spotlight on something we want to pay attention to, for example.Then we have our feelings/emotions (like happiness, sadness, boredom, frustration) and he reviews how neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers argue (like crazy) about this topic, and how emotions/feelings work. Dr. Huberman says that it all goes back to understanding that there are certain neuromodulators that have a profound impact on our emotional state. Dopamine (involved with motivation and reward, and important with things outside of ourselves, things we want to pursue) and serotonin tends to help us to feel good with what we have. Dr. Huberman reminds us that “feelings and emotions are contextual” and that while showing joy/sadness can be appropriate in some cultures, it can also be inappropriate in others. While he says, there are no “happiness” or “sadness” circuits in our brain, but it is fair to say that “certain chemicals, and certain brain circuits tend to be active when we are in a happy/focused state, certain brain circuits tend to be active when we are also in a non-focused, or lazy state” (Dr. Huberman) It makes sense to me here to do our best to lean into the happy focused state as often as we can, knowing we could use the happiness brain chemicals in our pursuit of new things.Then our thoughts: that are like our perceptions, but they draw on “not just what’s happening in the present, but also things we remember from the past, and things we anticipate in the future…and our thoughts can be controlled in a deliberate way” (Dr. Huberman). We have spent a considerable amount of time on this podcast talking about how important our thoughts are, with ways to lean into positive thinking, and put a hard STOP on the negative thoughts that come our way.Then finally our actions and behaviors that Dr. Huberman considers to be the most important part to our nervous system. Our actions and behaviors he says are the only things that will create any “fossil record” of our existence. Or I say, they will be what will determine our legacy, or the impact we want to have on the outside world. When we die, our body disintegrates. The sensations, perceptions, feelings and emotions, or thoughts we had in our lifetime “none of these are carried forward” except the ones that we convert into actions (like writing, or actually doing something with the things we THINK about. Our legacy, or “fossil record” is through the ACTION we take in our life.IMAGE CREDIT: Andrea recreated this image from Dr. Andrew Huberman's Solo EP Jan 3, 2001 "How Your Brain Works"
At this point, I can draw back on MANY episodes where we have focused on taking action (rather than just thinking of what we want to do) but we are focused on the Neuroscience of Change right now. How can we stay open-minded to bring on change in 2024 and keep moving forward?
Dr. Huberman has us reflect back on what builds our Nervous System (our sensations, our perceptions, feelings and emotions, our thoughts) and they ALL lead to this one last part, our ability to TAKE ACTION.
He says that we do “have the ability to change our nervous system” and this is when we “deliberately put our focus on something that we want to do.” This is where the work comes in here. When we want to “learn something new, CHANGE something (like a behavior) and he gives the example of learning to resist speaking, or force yourself to be quiet where we want to actively suppress our behavior and CHANGE our BEHAVIOR or ACTIONS.
When are suppressing a circuit in our brain, (using our forebrain that is fully developed by age 22) to do something different (that’s challenging to us) norepinephrine (adrenaline) is released and it will create a feeling of challenge or agitation as you engage these neurocircuits to push yourself past this threshold of where you normally don’t go. In the situation where we are learning to not speak, and withhold something we really want to say, we are putting self-regulation into action. “You will feel limbic friction that comes from this top-down processing.” (Dr. Huberman).
Think about any time you have tried to take a new action or behavior. You’ll feel annoyed (which is really the adrenaline that’s released from your brain).
“Agitation and strain is the entry point to neuroplasticity” Dr. Huberman
If we can push past this agitation and strain, we will be changing our brain, our actual nervous system, as we create a NEW change of behavior in our life.
This brings me to a quote by Peter Senge where he says that “people don’t resist change. They resist being changed.” That feeling of agitation will come up during change, and when the change is your choice…or something that you really want to do, you will push past the threshold to overcome the change.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #339 on “The Neuroscience of Change” we looked at two examples of what happens to our brain when we see something our brain wasn’t expecting, like the breathtaking view, or when we land the promotion we worked so hard to achieve, Bosnick explains “we feel like we got a reward. It’s a rush. We get a sensation in our brain and a hit of the big neurochemicals” dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, norephinephrine, adrenaline.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).
But when we see a bear in the woods, (or snake on the hiking trails), or we are overlooked for a promotion at work, our brain actually sees this “like it’s a threat. We feel tense, stressed, pressure…our body physically feels it.”
We learned that “Neuroscience has shown us, that the feeling we get from a social or emotional threat (like being passed over for the promotion) is the same as the feeling we get from a physical threat (like seeing a bear or a snake).
When we see how our brain interprets “everything and everyone we meet as either a reward or a threat” we can better understand “how our body reacts, (and) our brain and mind think, (leading) to the decisions, behaviors and actions we make.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).
Next we reviewed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that led to “Self-Determination Theory” around the year 2000 where researchers found that there were “three physiological needs: the need for Competence (feeling valued for our knowledge, skills and experience), the need for Relatedness (collaborating, connecting or serving others) and the need for Autonomy (being able to exercise self-regulation…to achieve our goals.” (Page 133, Ch 12, Bosnick).
We learned that when our ACRES are being met, (our autonomy, competence, relatedness, equity, and sureness) it will put us in a toward state and we will fully embrace everything ahead of us; (but) if our ACRES are threatened, it will put us in an “away state” and will then resist or block things ahead of us.
Looking at Bosnick’s ACRES example, we thought about work experience we did not enjoy, to see where it went against the ACRES Model of Needs. With brain science in mind, we can gain more understanding of why we either enjoyed, or didn’t enjoy this experience. It all led back to how our brain either interprets the experience as a reward, or a threat.
We looked at triggers to be aware of to mitigate threat, during times of change.
Finally, we looked at how to change our nervous system, to change our actions and behaviors, so we can leave behind a legacy (or fossil record as Dr. Huberman calls it) that we are proud of.
We learned that “Agitation and strain is the entry point to neuroplasticity” Dr. Huberman
This is when lasting CHANGE is happening at the brain level, and impacting our entire nervous system. So when I’m working on something, (like trying to learn something new…like understanding the neuroscience of change for this episode) and that limbic friction feeling comes up, (and I’m annoyed or agitated) I now have a deeper understanding of what’s happening at the brain level. I will now push forward, stay positive and lean into the change that I know is happening in my brain, as I embrace the change and say “Bring it on!”
The Neuroscience of Change is an exciting topic, and it’s only going to be strengthened with the next two topics, Agility and Resilience.
To close, I’ll revisit the quote from the great Sir Ken[xii], who’s vision for creativity in our schools and workplaces of the future, is something that left a lasting impression on me. If we are afraid of change, of failing and doing something wrong, we will never come up with anything original.
I hope this episode has inspired you, like it has me, to lean into change, with brain science in mind, and keep working on the legacy or fossil record that you want to leave on the world.
I’ll see you next time.
REVIEW OF OUR MAP (This is chapter 12/19)
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #296 with Chris Marshall on “Decoding Change” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/futurist-and-behavioral-scientist-chris-marshall-on-decoding-change/
[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #244 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-using-neuroscience-to-change-our-perception/
[v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #209 “Using Neuroscience to Impact Change” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/using-neuroscience-to-impact-change/
[vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #159 “Using the Power of Surprise to Change Your Beliefs” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-michael-rousell-on-the-power-of-surprise-how-your-brain-secretly-changes-your-beliefs/
[vii] Rattlesnake Bites in Pima County Pose Costly Consequences Bri Pacelli April 2, 2024 https://www.kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/midtown-news/rattlesnake-bites-in-pima-county-pose-costly-consequences
[viii] Human Change Processes by Michael Mahoney https://www.amazon.com/Human-Change-Processes-Foundations-Psychotherapy/dp/0465031188
[ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #270 “A short-Cut to Understanding Affective Neuroscience” with Lucy Biven https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/lucy-biven/
[x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #282 “How to Use Jaak Panksepp’s 7 Core Emotions to Transform Your Family, Career and Life” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/gabrielle-usatynski-on-how-to-use-jaak-panksepp-s-7-core-emotions-to-transform-your-relationships-family-career-and-life/
[xi] How Your Brain Works and Changes by Dr. Andrew Huberman 2021 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6wuY0R571xaBTbNOX4yuqY
[xii] Do Schools Kill Creativity? Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
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Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, where we connect science-based evidence with practical applications for improved well-being, achievement, and productivity. I'm Andrea Samadi, your host, and today we're diving into episode number 337, continuing our 18-week self-leadership series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches to self-leadership.
In this episode, we explore chapter 11 of Grant's book, focusing on the neuroscience of time management. Discover how understanding your chronotypes and managing your energy can lead to better productivity and creativity. We'll share insights from Kent Healy's perspective on time management and highlight practical strategies from renowned experts like Stephen Covey and Brendon Burchard.
Learn how to prioritize tasks, avoid common time traps, and use your peak energy periods for deep work. Whether you're an early bird or a night owl, this episode provides valuable tips to make the most out of your 84,600 seconds each day.
Join us as we uncover the science behind effective time management and how it can transform your personal and professional life. Don't miss out on these powerful insights to help you reach greater heights in 2024.
Welcome back to SEASON 12 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives.
On today's episode #337 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
On today's EPISODE #337 we will cover:
✔ We'll share insights from Kent Healy's perspective on time management and highlight practical strategies from renowned experts like Stephen Covey and Brendon Burchard.✔ Discover how understanding your chronotype and managing your energy can lead to better productivity and creativity. ✔ Learn how to prioritize tasks, avoid common time traps, and use your peak energy periods for deep work.✔ How will YOU manage your time, with brain science in mind?
For Today, EPISODE #337, we are moving on to Chapter 11, covering “The Neuroscience of Time Management” which came out as a low, or RED priority for me at 8%, and again, not because this topic isn’t important for me, but I’ve already put strategies for time management into place, so this is not an area I need to focus on this year. It’s interesting to see how each of these lessons play out in our daily life, putting theory into practice. This morning I had to chance to see why this topic showed up as low importance for me to work on this year. I had slotted on my calendar to write this episode, (a Saturday), I started my day at 4am (with early meditation, then some time in the sauna) before hitting the hiking trails for what I call a long 7-mile hike, that I do only if I am fully rested, to guarantee a good day of focused writing. While driving back from this this hike, I had a call from a good friend I had not seen in quite a few years, who wanted to see if we could meet for coffee. I know the time required to write, record and edit this episode, so I told her this was my priority for the weekend, and that I could let her know if I finish earlier. Otherwise, we could plan to meet another time, even though I know it would be great to see this friend. This weekend was not the right time.
So before we even start looking into the Neuroscience Behind Time Management that this topic is important to me. Vitally important. Not just for managing my own time, but also valuing the time of others as well.
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Time Management is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
We covered this topic on the podcast in our early days, with someone I came across about 15 years ago, before publishing my first book, on success strategies for teenagers. I wanted to find other success books were out there, and I came across Kent Healy’s Success Principles for Teens[iii] that he co-authored with Jack Canfield.
At that time, I was working with success principals (character and leadership) with students in the classroom and reached out to Kent for some thoughts on something to help inspire our next generation to think bigger, (like I knew he did) and reach for greater heights. Kent created a video for me that we used with students and I featured this video on EP 33[iv] of our podcast that was called “Time Management, the Greatest Asset We Have.” Kent gives a perspective to the amount of time we have, in a way that 15 years later, I’ve still not forgotten his words in this video recording. You can watch Kent’s explanation of “time management”[v] here, with the visuals that he provided, reminding us that “we all have the same amount of time” and he even breaks it down and tells us how many seconds we have every day (84,600 seconds to be exact). While ALL the experts agree that we can’t create more time, or change this number, some will say we can use our time to generate more of something else (like energy) but Kent’s message was about using this time (these 84,600 seconds we have each day wisely) and focus on what we can control, and that’s our personal growth.
He gives an example of adding just 15 extra minutes a day towards learning something new, and that adds up to 3.8 full days a year, and asks us to think of what value we put on 15 minutes of time.
After thinking about Kent Healy’s message on time, my mind went back to when I heard over and over again, the words from Earl Nightingale, through Bob Proctor, who often would quote Earl’s thoughts on time management. Proctor would quote Earl and say “Time cannot be managed! Nobody masters time management. I merely manage activity.”[vi] Which led me to think about the blocks of time (my activity) that I have on my calendar, and the early morning blocks are non-negotiable. Also, my work hours (whether it’s working on the podcast on the weekend), or my full time work (weekdays) my calendar is blocked off, and the time here in non-negotiable.
Kent Healy’s message about paying attention to what I do with even 15 minutes of time, mixed with Earl Nightingale’s message of managing activities (or blocking out what’s important for us to accomplish each day) is engrained so deeply into my daily habits that I have a deep respect for my time, and other people’s.
Think About These Questions:
Do you value your time?
Do you value other people’s time?
Do you think 15 minutes of time really matters?
Let’s see what Grant Bosnick thinks about Time Management in Chapter 11 of his book. He opens up the chapter by asking us to define what it means to “manage time” and says “it’s more about managing our energy through time.” (Ch 11, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).
HOW GRANT BOSNICK MANAGES HIS TIME:
Bosnick does mention Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that we looked at on EP #207 with our interview with Greg Link, who took The 7 Habits Book to incredible heights, saying that Covey’s work influenced his approach to thinking about time. Bosnick created something he calls his 7 Roles Planning Sheet where breaks down his task list into several different roles we might have in our life (like competent salesperson, collaborative team member, parent, etc). I like how his planner breaks down the different roles we all have, so we can separate our work roles and personal life roles, with the next steps (or goals) to move each of these roles forward.
IMAGE CREDIT: Grant Bosnick Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership Chapter 11
I’ve seen the author of the book, High Performance Habits, Brendon Burchard[vii], create something that also helps break down our long task lists, using different projects with his 1- Page Productivity Planner that I’ve put a link to in the show notes.
I’ve personally used this planner for years to keep track of the steps in certain projects, keeping them all separate. Like writing a new book, or building a new website, with the steps needed in order to move each project forward.
IMAGE CREDIT: Brendon Burchard’s 1 Page Productivity Planner[viii]
The part I liked the most on this planner, was the PEOPLE section, where you keep track of important people you reached out to (helping you move each project forward) to those who you were waiting to hear back from. EVERY important person I have ever met with (over the years) was written on this list, until I crossed them off and had finished what I needed to accomplish with them.
Bosnick also covered a concept that Stephen Covey is known for creating where we pinpoint on a graph what is urgent and important to cover immediately. We covered this graph, and Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits on EP 68[ix] “The Neuroscience of Personal Change.” The urgent and important quadrant, or quadrant 1, is for tasks and responsibilities that are critical and require immediate attention. These activities are often time-sensitive and necessary for your existence, such as pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, or last-minute preparations. This concept came from Covey’s Habit #3 Put First Things First: Plan Weekly and Act Daily.
Stephen Covey built his whole career around the 4-quadrant chart called the Urgent and Important Matrix[x] where our attention goes to Quadrant 1 with Urgent and Important Tasks completed first and Quadrant 4, Distractions last. I’ve put the chart in the show notes for anyone who wants to see all of the quadrants.
Quadrant 1 - Crises - URGENT and IMPORTANT
Quadrant 2 - Goals and Planning - NON-URGENT and IMPORTANT
Quadrant 3 - Interruptions - URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT
Quadrant 4 - Distractions - NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT
Whatever method you use to manage your long task list, Bosnick mentions it helps to “see all of the tasks and micro-tasks that need to be done” in one place, and I’d have to agree that it helps to have something printed off where you can see everything that’s important for you to accomplish, in one view.
Bosnick does cover our Circadian Rhythms of Life, and “when we are at our peak energy and peak mental alertness: early morning, late morning, after lunch, evening, nighttime.” (Ch 11, Bosnick) so that we schedule our tasks that require the most cognitive function, in the times we are the most alert, and administrative tasks where less cognitive function in required, around this. This is something I know we are all aware of, but here’s the kicker. What if you had a call from someone you wanted to see, to go meet them for coffee, during the time of day that you know you were the most productive.
Would you meet them, or get your work done first, and then find the time to meet with them? I think the answer to this question is obvious, that high performers, who value their most productive time blocks of their day, would always complete their work first.
I love the section in Bosnick’s book about “Time Traps and How to Overcome Them” as we all could use a refresher on ways to avoid those things that “drain our energy and time.” (Bosnick, Ch 11)
Bosnick’s Top Energy Drainers:
ProcrastinationSaying Yes to EverythingThe PerfectionistThere are more, but these ones just made me smile. They’ve come up in ALL of the time management courses I’ve done over the years. It’s funny because over the years, I’ve learned to be a bit more flexible with life in general, but with time management, I refuse the bend the rules.
For procrastination: I say “do it now, or it will never be completed.”
For Saying Yes to everything: I say “no to everything FIRST with the contingency that I can get back to the person if something changes.
For the Perfectionist: I understand this one. When I’m interviewing someone, I want what I put out to the world to be perfect, as it usually represents that person’s life’s work. I will put the time needed to be sure I’m proud of the work I’m doing. Brendon Burchard calls this “Prolific Quality Output”[xi] and this is a High-Performance Habit that helps you to focus on the outputs that matter.
Ask yourself:
What are the outputs that matter the most for your personal or professional career?
For me and this podcast, it’s producing high quality, well-researched episodes, that make a difference for others who listen. In my professional life, everything I say during a presentation matters. I don’t want anything less than perfection, so I’d put the time in to make sure I’m always delivering Prolific Quality Output.
Bosnick suggests “setting your highest priority and focus around this” (Ch 11) and I don’t think there is anything wrong with reaching for the highest standard you can, without burning yourself out.
What does Neuroscience Say About Time Management?
I tuned into Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Episode on “Tools for Better Productivity and Time Management”[xii] and this episode was in agreement with Grant Bosnick’s idea of being aware of our chronotypes. Dr. Huberman mentioned that “For those people who go to bed around 9:30pm-11:30pm and wake in the window of 6am-8am that there tends to be an increase in catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, 0-8 hours after waking, which generally speaking leads to increases in alertness, attention and focus that are great for analytical work, great for implementation of strategies that you already understand.”
Dr. Huberman and his guest, Dr. Adam Grant discussed how many people do not take advantage of these brain chemicals that they also said “provides extra energy and leads to more divergent thinking” as many people will use this important block of time to knock out their emails, or have non-productive conversations with their coworkers-and miss this opportunity.
The Neuroscience of Time Management shows me that understanding my chronotype is a crucial component to whether I will be making use of my time and brain chemistry at the specific time of day when I will have access to extra energy and more divergent thinking that involves creativity that generates new and original solutions to problems.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #337 on “The Neuroscience of Time Management”
DID YOU KNOW:
That our chronotype “the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time or what people understand as being an early bird versus a night owl”[xiii] should be factored into our Time Management Strategy?
“For those people who go to bed around 9:30pm-11:30pm and wake in the window of 6am-8am that there tends to be an increase in (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, 0-8 hours after waking, which leads to increases in alertness, attention and focus that are great for analytical work, great for implementation of strategies that you already understand.” Dr. Andrew Huberman with Guest Dr. Adam Grant
As we are thinking about the best strategies to manage our activities, projects, or even the roles we have in our personal and professional lives, in order to have access to this extra energy, and divergent, creative thinking, we will want to plan our “deep” work 0-8 hours after waking.
This made me think of Grant Bosnick’s Top Energy Drainers:
ProcrastinationSaying Yes to EverythingThe PerfectionistWith this extra energy, and creative thinking, I would put it all into creative prolific quality work (the perfectionist in me) and use the extra energy to combat against procrastination, while protecting my time by saying no to everything, (at first). I know I can always come back to projects that I would like to do, that have meaning to me, but by truly managing my energy and activities, I am protecting this commodity that we all have: time.
What about you? Will you change anything you are doing now, with this understanding of WHEN you might be the most alert, creative and have the most energy in your day?
This did make me think that the 84,600 seconds that Kent Healy reminded me that we all have each day, and how 15 minutes a day (that adds up to 3.8 days/year) can be used even more wisely with this understanding of The Neuroscience of Time Management.
IMAGE CREDIT: KENT HEALY on Time Management
I’ll close out this episode with a quote from Benjamin Franklin where he reminds us that “lost time is never found again.”
I hope this episode has helped you to see the questions we asked at the start of this episode with a new light:
Do you value your time?
Do you value other people’s time?
Do you think 15 minutes of time really matters?
I will definitely continue to be mindful of other people’s time, and keep working on using my blocks of time in the early morning hours, when I’m most productive and creative.
With that thought, we will close out this episode, and I’ll see you next time for Chapter 12 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership on The Neuroscience of Change.
REVIEW
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
RESOURCES:
Are you a morning lark, or a night owl? https://www.sleepwatchapp.com/blog/on-the-nature-of-larks-owls-in-their-modern-habitat/
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii] Success Principles for Teens by Jack Canfield and Kent Healy April 15, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Success-Principles-Teens-Where-Want/dp/0757307272
[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #33 with Kent Healy on “Managing Our Time, Our Greatest Asset” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/author-kent-healy-on-managing-time-our-greatest-asset/
[v] Author Kent Healy on “Time Management: Our Greatest Asset” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ibHzu751I
[vi] How to Master Time Management by Bob Proctor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yey59NOFNFY
[vii] https://brendon.com/
[viii] http://www.experimentswithsuccess.com/2014/09/darren-hardy-interviews-brendon-burchard/1-page-productivity-planner/
[ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #68 The Neuroscience of Personal Change https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-personal-change/
[x] The Urgent and Important Matrix https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/coaching-tools-101-what-is-the-urgent-important-matrix/
[xi] https://wakeupitsdayone.com/2018/07/16/increase-productivity-habit-4-of-high-performers/
[xii]“Tools for Better Productivity and Time Management” Dr. Andrew Huberman with Dr. Adam Grant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8B0KWmv_-Q
[xiii] Chronotypes Definition https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes#:~:text=Chronotype%20is%20the%20natural%20inclination,bird%20versus%20a%20night%20owl.
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In this episode of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, host Andrea Samadi revisits a profound interview with Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, the author of the best-selling book "Blue Mind." Dr. Nichols delves into the fascinating connection between our brains and water, inspired by his extensive research and personal experiences.
Andrea reflects on Dr. Nichols' groundbreaking work, which explores how being near, in, on, or underwater can enhance our happiness, health, and overall well-being. This episode covers the origins of the Blue Mind theory, its scientific backing, and practical ways to apply it in daily life to combat stress, anxiety, and burnout.
As we honor Dr. Nichols' legacy, Andrea encourages listeners to practice Blue Mind, understand their personal connection to water, and extend this healing practice to others. Tune in to discover how the magical and mysterious connection to water can transform our lives.
On today's episode #338 we will revisit a previous interview #297[i] from last summer to remember the author of the best-selling book, Blue Mind, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, who made such an impact on the world with his Blue Mind Movement, and is no longer with us today. While this is a difficult episode to write, I know it’s an important one as I could use the tips I know we are going to cover myself at the moment. I’m also sure there are others in the world who could benefit from revisiting the surprising science that shows how being near, in, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier more connected and better at what you do. I could have left this episode until a later date, even closed to World Blue Mind Day coming up July 23rd (later this month) as I stared at a blank document and the words just wouldn’t come out. Then when I finally did start writing, last month, the document was erased, so it just must not have been the right words. Or maybe this episode was meant to be written near the ocean as I’m sitting next to the Gulf of Mexico, while writing this. Or maybe even written from the point of view, of being under the water, looking around, and up, to “see” what can be felt deeply with this mysterious brain/mind connection.
Before sitting down to write this episode, I noticed sea turtles swimming around in the ocean, up close to us, and everyone mentioned how rare this was. I just kept thinking of Dr. Nichols telling me (in our interview this time last year) that he studied sea turtles for 30 years, and remembered him mentioning that he was hoping someone else more qualified (like Dr. Oliver Sachs) would write the book he wanted to write, connecting the deep mysterious ocean with the intricacies of our brain.
While revisiting our interview, I wondered:
What else could we learn from Dr. Nichols that we might have missed the first time? You know when you read a good book twice you always see something new. This is because you’ve changed since the first time, and you bring new experiences with you. I wonder what doors this second look would open for all of us?How can I improve my own Blue Mind Practice? Dr. Nichols mentioned that even if we are doing ok, practicing Blue Mind could still help us, but for those people who are in Red Mind (feeling anxious) this practice could save your life. It’s another tool to add to our tool kit to prevent us from reaching Grey Mind (or Burn out).How can revisiting this episode help others close to me (starting with my own family) helping them to practice Blue Mind in our daily lives? Also not being afraid of the hardest science in the room (our emotions) and keep talking openly about our feelings, and to not be afraid to reach out to others if we feel Red Mind or anxious thoughts.How can we highlight Dr. Nichols’ work so that we ALL can do what he suggests we do, by finding “our water, pay attention to how it feels and then take someone else with you” to experience the deep mysteries felt with this Blue Mind that’s backed by science.Knowing our first interview was an important one, I watched the YouTube[ii] version for the third time this week, writing more notes on top of previous notes, to see if I could dig deeper into the meaning of the words of wisdom covered in our first interview.
Let’s go back and revisit this important interview with marine biologist and author, Dr. Wallace J Nichols, to see if we can take our own practice of Blue Mind, to the next level.
We opened up our interview when I recalled standing next to the bluest water I have ever seen in Turks and Caicos, last summer, 2023, just prior to our interview. I remember our bags were packed, and we were just leaving our hotel to return home, when I was introduced to Dr. Nichols, (via email) after experiencing some of the most “magical” memories that our family has ever felt, near the water. Dr. Nichols recalls those turquoise waters, saying he “knew them well” and we would return home as a family, not knowing we would ALL need Dr. Nichols’ Blue Mind Theory later this summer ourselves. It’s all easy to see these things looking backwards, but the dots had not connected forward yet, like Steve Jobs’ famous Stanford Commencement Speech.[iii]
I knew this was an important interview. For myself, as well as for others.
INTRO: We open up this interview with my introduction about Dr. Nichols, and how the foreword to his book, Blue Mind, was written by Celine Cousteau, one of the daughters of the great Jacques Cousteau who wrestles with explaining the “awe and wonder” of our oceans and waterways. She says “should we leave it, or dive in and explain it?” Jacques Cousteau would dive in, so she decides to do the same and says “it’s about reconnecting our sense of self and soul with our waterways and oceans. It’s about finding creativity, clarity, and confidence in our deep Blue Minds.” (Celine Cousteau) Next, I ask Dr. Nichols to share some of the meaning behind Celine Cousteau’s words in the Foreword, and he shared that she connected her background in psychology to her words.
Then I ask Dr. Nichols about how he made the brain/water connection and I loved his answer. He was hoping that someone else would publish Blue Mind. He searched all over the place for this book, Your Brain on Water, and pitched this book idea to Dr. Oliver Sachs, and he was told over and over again, that this is your book to write.
I understood why he kept looking for this book, from my point of view. I’m a former teacher, from Toronto, trying to make sense of how our brain impacts our future results, specifically as it relates to learning. I remember writing the idea of this podcast down, connecting Neuroscience to Social and Emotional Learning and almost hid this idea from others in the beginning. I’m not a neuroscientist, or anything –ist. But there was a time when I was told, just like Dr. Nichols, “you need to make the neuroscience/education connection” (and was handed a ton of books to read). I remember thinking “this is too hard for me” but I did it anyway. I was determined to learn more about our brain and learning, and paid people smarter than me to explain the concepts I couldn’t grasp. Slowly but surely, I began to understand how our brain learns something new.
Which is why I was so impressed when Dr. Nichols “wrote the book” anyway, connecting the nervous system (that we are still making deeper discoveries with) to largely unexplored bodies of water, like the ocean. He connected top neuroscientists, to those who understood the mysteries within the depths of the ocean. He says himself that it took him some time, explaining to me that he’s a marine biologist, who studied sea turtles for 30 years, and I understood what he was saying. He noted “I’m not a neuropsychologist, I just came in the side door.” He did the work needed to “put this theory together, because he knew he had to do this. What he created continues to gain momentum over the years. He started a movement, The Blue Mind Movement, with this book that he knew he had to write, and proved that we ALL can make the brain/water connection to become happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what we do.
Q1: I was amazed at the research held in the pages of this book. I had to ask how he did it, and the answer just blew me away. Dr. Nichols talked about how they held Blue Mind Summits where they would connect the leading experts in neuroscience, (like neuroscientist Howard Fields) to those who used these principles in their lives around water, like pioneering top wave surfer, (Jeff Clark) or those who used this magical connection to water to overcome addiction. They were asked one question that they each would answer from their specific point of view. Like making the connection with dopamine (in our brain) and surfing, something that had never been done before.
This is where true learning begins, almost like connecting peanut butter to chocolate to create the Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup. Even though Dr. Nichols mentioned that no one would fund this idea, he just knew it had to be done, and he did it.
He mentions Dr. Dan Siegel[iv] often in Blue Mind, and looked for anyone we knew the science to help make this brain on water connection.
Sometimes I forget what questions I ask on interviews. The questions just come out of me and if you know me, I’m like this in real life. I remember someone saying that meeting me for the first time was like a job interview. I’m so curious, and I will just ask you so many questions, you’d leave our conversation wondering “why so many questions?!” I forgot that I mentioned my fascination with surfing at the north shore of Hawaii to Dr. Nichols until I re-watched our interview. Hollywood really does Blue Mind well, with all the movies, bringing water to life, and television has mastered this topic. Until this weekend, I had no idea that the American animated tv series Spongebob was created by a marine scientist educator an animator, and was the highest rated Nickelodeon Series, and the most profitable, generating over $13B in merchandising revenue.[v] So why did Hollywood[vi] film and television producers see something that didn’t reach those who protect our oceans? This is what motivated Dr. Nichols to keep talking to those who could help him to make this brain/water connection. Since writing Blue Mind, Dr. Nichols’ mentioned there were hundreds more organizations dedicated to saving our oceans, but more work needs to be done here. I do feel a responsibility to continue to spread Dr. Nichols’ work, and keep his Blue Mind Theory in the forefront of our minds.
And by question 2, I was already asking Dr. Nichols “why am I mesmerized by the ocean?” and sharing how I felt a connection to the Billabong Pipe Masters section of the North shore in Hawaii. He looked at me with deep understanding, and it was here that I knew he understood what I was feeling, as I was starting to understand his Blue Mind Theory. I just couldn’t put it into words. There is something magical about being around water, and I’ve felt it for years.
Q2: I asked Dr. Wallace “Why are many people fascinated with the ocean and the “secrets it holds?” and he reassured me this was common, and he hears this all the time. I thought that if I felt this way, how many others listening also feel this fascination? When he said that “many people feel this way” and that “we are not alone” I felt my emotions coming through. Finally, someone telling me what I feel around water is common. I felt understood at a whole new level. He said “maybe everyone feels this connection” and it might not always be the ocean. It can be a puddle, or even frozen water! Now Dr. Nichols is catching my attention, and I can’t look away. As he listed all the sources of Blue Mind, my awareness is expanding. I had no idea there were so many ways to connect to water, and his words and calm voice were transporting me to what he called “virtual water.”
Now that we know what Blue Mind is, (it’s a feeling of fascination that we might all feel around water) how do we apply it and make use of it in our lives to become happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what we do?
Dr. Nichols directs us to STEP 1 of this process where he says that we must first of all understand our own Blue Mind. I know that I am more creative around water. I know my kids have always loved swimming in the ocean, or swimming pools. What about you? How do you feel around water? Have you ever stood mesmerized looking at water, or ice, or fog, and wondered what was capturing your attention? I hope that you feel some sort of reassurance that this is something Dr. Nichols would hear all the time. Now what’s next? What do we DO with this Blue Mind Theory?
STEP 2: Mindfully practice Blue Mind in your life. When you are in what Dr. Nichols calls RED MIND (anxious or super stressed) go to the water, get in the water, float on the water, sit by the water, read your book by the water. Practice this evidence-based method that can help transform you to a better place and make this a part of your “emotional tool-kit.”
Dr. Nichols had a goal to make this common knowledge to transform well-being and wellness, while also transforming our ability to protect these waters.
Q2B: Then it happened, and I no longer am afraid to “feel” deep emotions. It happens ALL the time when I’m connecting with others at the heart level, during interviews, (or in life) and I know Dr. Nichols could see it, let alone “feel” it. My eyes started to tear up, and I had to ask “Why do some of us feel so emotional around the water?” I knew he understood what I was trying to ask him. I loved his answer. He said “when we are in the water, we’re vulnerable. Our armor fades away. We access connection, curiosity, compassion, to each other, ourselves and to the water.” He reminded me that “It’s a place for reflection. Deep reflection. Deep thought.” I love when I feel comfortable enough to be my whole self with someone else. It’s an incredible place to be. No need to pretend, or hide, or be someone I’m not. Just exist and be 100% myself. This is how I feel around water, and this inspires my writing, deeper thoughts, and a desire to connect and learn.
Dr. Nichols reminds us that “water soothes the soul” and this is written in the King James version of the Bible, Psalms 23, written 3,000 years ago. Having a bad day, (he says) get down to the water, it will soothe your soul. This is a deeply ancient concept and Dr. Nichols explains the scientific connection to “why” this happens, in his book. His research goes deep into the water/brain connection.
We make some of our best memories on the water, near the water, with the people we care about. This is true! In your mind, think about the photos you take. How many photos do you have of those you love, that have water associated with them? It doesn’t need to be the deep blue ocean. It was be frozen water (ice) or even fog.
We have our deepest thoughts around water. I know this is true for me! It doesn’t have to be the bluest ocean. Sometimes, on rare cooler days while hiking in the mountains, we can see fog, and it always stops me in my tracks. I never thought of this as Blue Mind until reflecting on Dr. Nichols’ words.
We have our nostalgia around water.
We learn a lot. We reflect a lot.
Our world is simplified around water. Our brain shifts to a different place. A place that Dr. Nichols refers to as Blue Mind.
All of this opens us up to emotions. Sad things. Happy things. We grieve at the water. Many of us cry in the shower but don’t forget that “water soothes the soul” (Psalms 23).
Q3: I wondered what Dr. Nichols discovered when he measured his brain in the water, and his response showed me how far technology has come. They went from their prototype cap, with wires, to now where he said we can measure our brain waves without wires while surfing, kayaking, floating or swimming. I still would like to try this.
If you want to do your own research, go to Google Scholar and type “blue mind, blue health or blue space” into the search bar, to learn more.
Q4: Dr. Nichols explains what happens to our brain while swimming, vs floating, when we are still. He shares that Dr. Feinstein would say our brains can go into delta waves (much deeper than theta) when we are floating).
Standing by a lake will give us this “meditative” state, but most people who have not done this before, might not stay there for 2 hours. Or they might think that mediation is boring. To overcome this, Dr. Nichols suggest, that you can put a fishing pole in their hand, and they might stick around the lake just a bit longer than usual.
Q5: How do we use BLUE MIND to become more self-aware? Dr. Nichols explains that when we are in a crisis of any kind RED MIND (feel anxious, urgency) our thinking narrows and we might feel panic which is useful at times, (it can help us) but it can also (when it’s triggered all the time) lead us to GREY MIND and will eventually burn us out.
So we must learn to rest, relax, breathe to gain perspective. Learn to pause to see things from a new angle. Take a more compassionate approach and you might appreciate the opponent better or learn to understand yourself better. This helps with problem solving and thinking.
IMAGINATION:
When you can’t get to the water, think about water with your own imagination. We don’t need to go to that turquoise water on the other side of the world. Blue scription is doing blue mind wherever you are.
I explained to Dr. Nichols during our interview that we had left the deep blue ocean. When we returned home, I completely forgot about ALL of the types of water we have available to us in Arizona, where we say we are land locked. Dr. Nichols opened up my mind, and uncovered a way for anyone to find water.
He would begin with…
WILD WATERS:
Start with wild waters
A river, lakes, oceans
DOMESTIC WATER:
Pool tub spa showers
Put a candle in bathroom
URBAN WATER:
Fountains to sit or walk by
VIRTUAL WATER:
Poetry songs recordings of water apps
Make your own recording of videos, of water to replay later.
Reminding us that we ALL have an abundance of water, even those of us who think we are land locked.
Q7: When I asked Dr. Nichols about our emotions, or why many people prefer to leave them out of the conversation, he reminds me that “our emotions are the hardest science in the room.” The Science of Emotion is rigorous and complex. He’s now fully aware that the science backs up our emotional side, and knows when this side is ignored, is usually from people who just are not aware of the vast amounts of science behind our emotions. His answer made me feel more comfortable with the fact I know I can “feel” deeply, and to not be afraid of this. I will just keep learning, to understand this difficult science, and am grateful I had this once in this lifetime opportunity to sit down and speak with Dr. Nichols, who opened my awareness up to a whole new level.
Q8: When I asked Dr. Nichols about what has impacted him the most over the years with his study, it was all about helping others. I know his work and Blue Mind Theory can save someone’s life, if you are struggling with a RED mind yourself, (to find peace) and once you’ve gone from RED MIND to BLUE MIND yourself, reach your hand out help others to get through their day.
Dr. Nichols reminds us that we ALL know someone who is sitting on their couch not sure what the point is, and urges us to go find them and get them to water (of some sort) wherever it is. Take them fishing, he says. Go find your water
Practice blue mind ourselves first, and then take someone else with you
Reminding us that water gives us peace of mind and heart.
At the end of this interview, I felt a deep connection to Dr. Nichols, so much so, that when I stopped recording, I couldn’t stop the tears. I felt his heart, and years of work with his Blue Mind Theory, and was moved to such a deep level. He understood what I was feeling, and I didn’t need to explain why I was crying. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time that he felt that someone “really connect” with his work.
Looking back now, I’m just grateful that I let him see the true authentic me. Not one that is guarded, or afraid. I had no armor on, was vulnerable just like while floating in water, and Dr. Nichols’ BLUE MIND THEORY message came through loud and clear.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION:
To review and conclude this review of our interview EP297 with Dr. Nichols last summer, I remind us to revisit Blue Mind Theory, no just this month, but every month, making it a part of our emotional tool kit. Every July 23rd is World Blue Mind Day, and I am committed to sharing Dr. Nichols’ work with new reflections each year.
I ask you, the listener, how do you connect to Dr. Nichols’ BLUE MIND THEORY?
When you feel RED MIND, what strategies do you have to move you back to peace and calm of BLUE MIND? Have you tried using the water for this?
I encourage everyone to read Blue Mind, and keep looking at the science. Keep practicing Blue Mind Theory.
STEP 1: Understand your BLUE MIND (what is YOUR Connection to being on near or in water)?
STEP 2: Practice BLUE MIND and finally, grab someone’s hand, and take them with you to water (where ever that might be). Dr. Wallace suggested fishing. I love swimming. What’s your favorite way to practice Blue Mind Theory?
For those of you who feel a deep connection to Dr. Nichols’s work, like me, I wanted to let you know that there is a verified Go Fund Me Page to help Dr. Nichols’ Foundation continue to raise funds to continue to raise awareness around the world. The Dr. Wallace J Nichols memorial fund was established to continue the work of one of the world’s most important environmentalists and change makers.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/nichols-memorial-fund
I’ll close out this episode with a reminder from Dr. Nichols book to keep learning and perfecting whatever Blue Mind is to you, with his final thoughts in our interview.
Q8: Hear from Dr. Nichols himself about what’s impacted him the most about the mystery within the ocean. While I can’t ever call up Dr. Nichols, and ask him for another interview, which is the sad part of this episode, I do believe that his legacy is an important one, and I will continue to reference and practice his Blue Mind Theory in my own life, as well as make connections back to his work in the future, so his work continues forward, helping others around the World, to find peace with this surprising science that shows how being near. In, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Interview with Andrea Samadi and Dr. Wallace J Nichols “Blue Mind” EP #297 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/author-scientist-and-activistdrwallace-jnichols-on-blue-mind-the-surprising-science-that-shows-how-beingnear-inonor-underwatercanmakeyourhappier-h/
[ii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast YouTube Interview with Andrea Samadi and Dr. Wallace J Nichols “Blue Mind” EP #297 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwx1jrHj33c&feature=youtu.be
[iii] Steve Jobs 2005 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
[iv]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Interview with Andrea Samadi and Dr. Dan Siegel EP #28 on “Mindsight: The Basis for Social and Emotional Intelligence” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/
[v] Sponge BobTV Series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpongeBob_SquarePants
[vi] Chasing Mavericks 2012 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1629757/
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Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity, and results using practical neuroscience.
In today's episode, number 336, we continue our 18-week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches to self-leadership. We delve into Chapter 10, exploring the neural science of persuasion and influence. This topic emerged as a key focus area for 2024, providing insights into why understanding persuasion and influence is essential for long-term success.
We revisit past episodes and notable works like Jack Carew's You'll Never Get No for an Answer and Mark Waldman's Words Can Change Your Brain. Learn about the three modes of persuasion—logos, pathos, and ethos—as well as practical strategies for improving your persuasive approach.
Discover how to apply six scientifically validated principles of persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini, focusing on reciprocity, scarcity, and authority. These principles can help you build lasting influence and effectively communicate your ideas.
Join us as we explore the difference between persuasion and influence and how to use these skills to achieve your goals while helping others. This episode is dedicated to Monica Gilfillan, a highly influential figure in education, whose support and inspiration remind us of the power of helping others first.
Don't miss out on these valuable insights to enhance your self-leadership journey. Subscribe, review, and rate our podcast to stay updated with new episodes!
On today's EPISODE #336 we will cover:
✔ The difference between persuasion and influence.
✔ Strategies to improve our persuasion muscles and ways to become more influential for longer lasting relationships and impact.
✔ 3 Tips to Put the Science of Persuasion and Influence into Practice in our Daily Lives.
✔ Dedicated to Monica Gilliflan, a highly influential figure in education, whose support and inspiration remind us of the power of helping others first.
On today's episode #336 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
For Today, EPISODE #336, we are moving on to Chapter 10, covering “The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” which came as a surprise to me that Pathway Two, showed up as my highest area of focus for 2024. When I looked at the topics that are listed in this pathway, I can see why this area is a work in progress for me, and this self-assessment picked up that I need to make these 3 areas listed in this pathway, a priority in 2024. I’m paying attention to what neuroscience says about persuade and influence, in addition to inspiration, motivation that we covered on EP 324[ii] and presence, that’s the last chapter in this book, and I think the most important. (at least for me).
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[iii], look to see if Persuade and Influence is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
Thinking back on past episodes, I know we have not yet covered this topic entirely, except for the time I was asked to review Jack Carew’s classic book from 1987 called You’ll Never Get No For an Answer that was covered on EP176.[iv] We explored “Why Our Brains Don’t Like the Word No” and revisited Mark Waldman’s book from 2013 Words Can Change Your Brain where we were reminded that “Words can heal, or hurt—if you were in an fMRI scanner (that can take a video of the neural changes happening in your brain) (and you were told a firm NO! for something) we could record, in less than a second, a substantial increase of activity in your amygdala and the release of dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters…that immediately interrupt the normal functioning of your brain, especially those that are involved with logic, reason, language processing, and communication. And the more you stay focused on negative words and thoughts, the more you can damage key structures that regulate your memory, feelings, and emotions. This may disrupt your sleep, your appetite, and the way your brain regulates happiness, longevity and health.”[v]
In this episode, we looked at 5/10 of Jack Carew’s unique strategies that American Author and Salesman Og Mandino encouraged us all to read to improve our communication and influence with others and I noticed that Strategy 2 was to stop looking out for number one and always look for how you can help others first.
So, after noticing this, I went straight to Chapter 10 of Grant Bosnick’s book, on “Persuade and Influence” to see what he had to say on this topic.
Right off the bat, in the opening of this chapter, Bosnick asks us to think about how we would persuade someone else to do something, like give you a pen you would like to have, for example, or ask for a promotion, or ask someone to buy something you are selling.
Then he differentiates the word persuade that he says “we can think of as quick, more direct, more for short-term or immediate gain” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) while influence he says “is softer, more subtle, much more for longer term and lasting gain.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership)
Persuasion Bosnick says is “more tactical, whereas influence is strategic.” He gives us the history of persuasion, explaining its origin from the early Greek Philosophers, and that Aristotle wrote about three modes of persuasion: logos (that’s about logic and reason), pathos (that’s about emotion and inspiration) and ethos (that’s about the speaker’s own character and credibility).
Thinking of Jack Carew’s second tip in his book to improve our influence with others (by putting other people first) I think is a good example of a strategy that builds this concept for long-lasting gain (influence) versus persuading someone to give me something that I need for short-term, or immediate gain (like, to pass me their pen, so I can write down something important that I’ll need to remember).
Bosnick provides a list of strategies to improve our persuasive approach, that includes giving people a sense of ownership, or automony to persuade them to take action with something, or by praising them, and making them feel good for taking action.
He offers an exercise to further build our persuasive skills by asking us to complete a sentence: I would like to persuade x to do the following.
Then he brings in Jack Carew’s strategy for becoming more influential and asks us to think about “what’s important to them: their goals, concerns, passions and values.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 109).
Bosnick goes on to explain how to build influence and his exercise reminded me of a networking event I attended in 2014 called Ceospace.[vi] This was an organization where many leaders came up with an idea, and took their idea out into the world, with the help of a larger, more influential network. Author Adam Markel wrote that “it was one of the most magnificent places for entrepreneurs and business owners to come together to seek guidance, insights, inspiration, collaboration, and support.” It’s where Jack Canfield[vii] came up with the idea for his Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, where Lisa Nichols[viii] first began public speaking, and where countless thousands of others launched their ideas into the world.
The CEO of this organization passed away in 2020, and from what I can see, this organization didn’t thrive without his presence. This CEO, Berny Dohrman, had quite a life story. I felt a connection to Berny because of his passion to make an impact on our educational system. He wrote a book called Super Change[ix] that was about the tools and strategies needed to survive and thrive in an uncertain future.
What I think Berny Dohrmann had that was special, was that he used his influence, to create long lasting change in others. He did not persuade anyone to come to his events for short term results, but was able to influence others easily, with a vision for a better future. It all stemmed around his networking event, where participants would do speed rounds, to meet as many people as possible, asking the other person “What are you working on, and how can I help you.” At the end of the event, participants would have access to high level connections, all who were willing to share the strategies for success that worked for them. It was a brilliant idea, and I know this event took many leaders to new heights.
The Science of Persuasion and Influence
What was so special about how Berny Dohrmann influenced others? Why was Jack Carew’s book from the 1980s still being taught in sales training classes today? I had to look up the Science of Persuasion and Influence and found “6 Scientifically Validated Principles of Persuasion and Influence” that came from Dr. Robert Cialdini.[x] (Chald-ini) I picked the first three to highlight here.
Reciprocity. We are obliged to give if we have been given something. This was the whole idea behind Berny’s networking events. Participants didn’t ask for what they wanted FIRST, they offered to help someone else first, and after you had helped them, they would be more open to helping you. This was also Jack Carew’s second strategy. Stop looking out for number one. Always think of how you can help others first, and you will naturally draw them to want to help you back. Scarcity. If it's scarce, we want it more. Use this by highlighting the Benefits, Uniqueness and Possible Loss. Berny did this with his networking events by holding them twice a year. If you missed the event, you missed the chance to network with these brilliant minds. Jack Carew picked this as his 10th strategy for becoming more influential. He called his last chapter in the book “Become the Only Choice.” What if you missed the event that would change your future? Carew explains this concept like “the fear of loss.” No one want to miss an opportunity. There is a science to persuading and influencing others and it’s all about showing others how you (or what you offer) is unique and something that no one else (other than you) can offer. Authority. We are more likely to comply with a request if it is coming from a perceived authority/expert. Dr. Cialdini explains this one on the home page of his website, Influence at Work: Proven Science for Business Success. He says that “it’s important to signal to others what makes you credible before you attempt to influence them.”[xi] It’s better if you don’t do this yourself, and have someone else introduce you, with your credentials, first. This is what made Berny Dohrmann’s networking events successful as each participant was introduced to another person with their credentials and experience, that gave that person instant authority to help, or influence others.REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #336 on Chapter 10 on “The Neuroscience of Persuading and Influencing”
DID YOU KNOW:
“There are 6 short cuts to increase the chances that someone will be persuaded?” (Robert Cialdini)
We covered the first three:
Reciprocity. We are obliged to give if we have been given something. Use the neuroscience of influence and persuasion, and think of ways to help others first, (just like Berny Dohrmann’s networking events), instead of thinking what you can gain from other people, think of what you can give to them. Always be the first to give and take the time to make sure what you are giving is personalized and useful to that person. This way, what you will give will have more meaning to that person. Scarcity. If it's scarce, we want it more. Use this by highlighting the Benefits, Uniqueness and Possible Loss. Take the time to find out how what you are offering to someone else, will help them. You will need to find out what they are looking for to do this, by asking questions, and listening. Then you can “frame what you are saying/offering, so others will find it to be valuable.”[xii] Authority. We are more likely to comply with a request if it is coming from a perceived authority/expert. Being introduced by others is a fast way to have others learn about your expertise, making you instantly more influential and persuasive.We looked at Chapter 10 from Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership where Bosnick explained the difference between the word persuade that he says “we can think of as quick, more direct, more for short-term or immediate gain” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) while influence he says “is softer, more subtle, much more for longer term and lasting gain.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).
We looked at a past episode on this topic, taking us back to Mark Waldman’s book from 2013 Words Can Change Your Brain reminding us to be careful of the words we choose to speak to others.
My take-away from this chapter: If I want to improve my influence, it begins with understanding the wants and needs of my audience first (how can I help them) and then being able to say what I mean, and mean what I say. The words I speak do matter when I’m working on gaining influence. If I’m speaking with someone, and not being completely honest, or not meaning what I say, I know that this can be felt by the other person, and it will hurt my ability to gain trust, rapport and influence. Our brains can detect “benefits and threats”[xiii] and I want to be sure that I’m drawing those I want to interact with towards me, not away from me.
Once I have gained influence with someone I am speaking with, then I can take my persuasion skills to the next level, and we can begin to work together on our common goals.
For example, if someone is asking me in a sales situation if I can offer them a discount. When I’ve build rapport and trust with this person, I can say “yes, I can give you 5% off this order, if you would be able to guarantee the order will come in by the end of this month.” We can begin to use our persuasion and influencing skills to not only give others what they need, but also negotiate with them, for what we need.
I hope this episode has helped to give you some ideas on ways to practice the neuroscience of persuading and influencing, to help others with their goals first, and then in turn, allow you to move yourself forward in this process, with these skills.
I also want to end this episode, with a mention to someone I ran into recently, who I had not seen about 10 years. I ran into Monica Gilfillan[xiv] an avid listener of this podcast, and I had no idea, until we spoke recently and she shared how these episodes were helping her with new ideas. This made me feel proud and grateful (coming from a peer) and did infuse me with some extra energy to keep going with these episodes. If there is someone I would list as highly influential, who knows how to persuade others, it’s Monica Gilfillan. Over the years, I noticed as I connected with a new person in the field of education, they were always connected to her. After she shared how the podcast was helping her, she went straight to ask me how she could help, and what I needed. We all need people in our network who are wired to help others, and I highly suggest connecting with Monica, especially if you are in the field of education. She is an influencer who everyone can benefit from knowing. I thought it was fitting to dedicate The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence to Monica Gilfillan and to thank her (and all of you who tune in) for listening.
CONNECT with Monica Gilfillan https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicagilfillan/
And with that, we will close out this episode. We’ll see you next with Chapter 11 on Time Management.
REVIEW
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
REFERENCES:
[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 on “The Neuroscience of Inspiration and Motivation” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/
[iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #176 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-communication-why-our-brain-doesn-t-like-the-word-no/
[v] Words Can Change Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Published July 30, 2013 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=words+can+change+your+brain&gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthCiCJCWZ-n3nMbmllmxcYj7pY9p3EGBjIT1liFGTzVVBlYWdxCBg6hoC3DMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241598338504&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030091&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2910883915011355196&hvtargid=kwd-36327312367&hydadcr=15527_10340956&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2ixec66yv3_e
[vi] https://ceospacemembers.com/
[vii] https://jackcanfield.com/
[viii] https://motivatingthemasses.com/
[ix] Super Change by Berny Dohrmann October 31, 2019 https://www.amazon.com/Super-Change-Survive-Thrive-Uncertain/dp/1949003906
[x] https://www.influenceatwork.com/7-principles-of-persuasion/
[xi] The Science of Persuasion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw
[xii] The Neuroscience of Influence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5CZ2AXT1o
[xiii] The Neuroscience of Influence Leadership Coaching by Dean Newlund https://mfileadership.com/2021/01/27/the-neuroscience-of-influence/
[xiv] Monica Gilfillan https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicagilfillan/
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Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! In episode 335, we delve into the neuroscience of emotion regulation, a crucial skill for personal and professional success. Host Andrea Samadi continues the 18-week self-leadership series inspired by Grant Bosnick’s book, focusing on strategies to enhance our ability to manage emotions effectively.
We explore practical tips from Bosnick, such as labeling emotions, creating distance from them, and reframing situations to view them more positively. Additionally, we highlight the importance of sleep for emotion regulation, drawing insights from experts like Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Matthew Walker. Discover how improving your sleep quality can lead to better emotional control and overall well-being.
Join us as we connect the dots between neuroscience, sleep, and emotional intelligence to help you achieve greater heights in 2024 and beyond.
On today's episode #335 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
For Today, EPISODE #335, we are moving on to Chapter 9, covering “The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation” which showed up on my leadership self-assessment as a low, RED score, of 20%, but again, not because it’s not something I don’t need to pay attention to, this is something I pay attention to daily, right up there with physical health that is listed in Pathway Four of Grant’s Self-Leadership Map.
If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Emotion Regulation is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
Before looking at what Grant Bosnick has to say about Emotion Regulation in Chapter 9 of his book, I looked around to see what else I could find on this topic.
We actually have already covered this topic as one of the six social emotional learning competencies that we launched this podcast with, back in August, 2019[iii] and we called that episode “Self-Regulation: The Foundational Learning Skill for Future Success.” In this early episode, we defined self-regulation as “the ability to manage your emotions and behavior in accordance of the situation. It includes being able to resist highly emotional reactions to upsetting stimuli, to calm yourself down when you get upset, adjust to a change in expectations and (the ability) to handle frustration”[iv] In other words, it’s the ability to bounce back after a setback or disappointment, and the ability to stay in congruence with your inner value system.
HOW TO HELP OUR CHILDREN WITH EMOTION REGULATION:
We covered some tips on this early episode to help our children to practice this skill, and strengthen their “self-regulation” muscles, beginning with:
Naming the emotion they are experiencing at a given moment, with a strategy (like stopping to take some deep breaths when something frustrates or overwhelms them) so they can keep working, and move forward.Uncovering what motivates each of us to develop intrinsic motivation that can help propel us forward.Taking brain breaks, or “unfocused moments” that allow for the brain to solve problems during these resting states.WHAT GRANT BOSNICK SUGGESTS FOR EMOTION REGULATION:
Then we covered some tips to help us to continue to strengthen these self-regulation skills in the workplace, and I wondered what Grant Bosnick had to say in chapter 9 of his book on this topic. Within the second paragraph of this chapter, he explains the science behind emotion regulation when he outlines that “neuroscience has shown us that the exact same feelings we get from a physical threat also occur as social and emotional threats.” (Page 91, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). This took me back to working with children with this foundational learning skill, that determines future success, and the whole idea that “social and emotional threats” can impact us (stop us in our tracks) exactly as if there was a actual physical threat (like coming face to face with a bear in the forest).
In Chapter 9, Grant explains some different ways to regulate our emotions, and he uses a graphic to demonstrate how to move forward, while regulating our emotions, instead of spiraling out of control, downwards, and it begins with where we focus our attention. If we focus on the emotional aspects, he tells us “it will drive us into a downward spiral” but if we learn to “focus on the nonemotional aspects, or distance ourselves (from whatever it is that is bothering us) this is the start to creating an upward spiral.” (Page 94, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).
IMAGE CREDIT: Image 9.2 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership
TIP 1: LEARN TO LABEL OUR EMOTIONS:
Bosnick agrees with the steps we created to build emotion regulation in our children, as he also mentions the importance of being able to name or label the emotion that you are having first.
TIP 2: DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM EMOTIONS THAT ARE BOTHERING YOU TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY RELIEF: Then he suggests to find ways to distance yourself from the emotion (he calls this attentional deployment) to give you temporary relief from the situation. He mentions seeing the issue through someone else’s eyes, and I remember Dr. Maiysha Clairborne sharing this strategy back on EP 289[v] when she explained the importance of stepping into someone else’s shoes when you are in conflict with them, to feel what they feel, and even stepping back and looking at the entire problem from above (outside of anyone’s shoes) to gain a new perspective.
TIP 3: REFRAME THE CONFLICT: Next Bosnick suggests “reappraisal or reframing” the conflict, by looking at it in a more positive way. He mentions that mindfulness can help us to “take a step back, lower anxiety, bring attention to the moment, become less judgmental about what is happening, help the brain to not attach meaning to the emotions and be open to new meaning and new connections.” (Page 97, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He suggests looking at the situation from someone else’s point of view to reframe it.
TIP 4: LEARN TO REGULATE OUR EMOTIONS BY FINDING STRATEGIES THAT KEEP US STRONG, AND CLEAR HEADED: It’s his last technique of “response modulation” that caught my attention the most, because we’ve all experienced this. Once we are hit with an emotion about something, he asks “is it better to suppress it, or acknowledge it?” (Page 99, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He says “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).
EMOTION REGULATION AND SLEEP:
So in a world where we are hit daily by external stimuli, how on the earth can we be proactive to stay mentally strong and clear-headed so we have improved executive control to manage our emotions and regulate them? This took me straight to the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Matthew Walker who recently recorded an episode called “Improve Sleep to Boost Mood and Emotion Regulation.” [vi] It was here where I learned just how important sleep is for keeping a strong, clear mind, so we can use this strength to acknowledge and regulate our emotions, like Bosnick suggested.
Dr. Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and the host of The Matt Walker Podcast, gave example after example that proved that when you’ve NOT had a good night’s sleep, things that wouldn’t bother you (when you’ve slept well), begin to aggravate, or grate on you more.
Here’s what I found to be remarkable on this topic, something I had not ever heard before.
DID YOU KNOW that "The greater amount of REM sleep you are getting (where our dreams occur), the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day?" (Dr. Matthew Walker).
Dr. Walker went on to explain that “the brain chemical noradrenaline (that’s responsible for our stress reaction) completely shuts off during REM sleep, and serotonin (that plays a role with our mood) decreases, while acetyl choline (that carries messages from our brain to our body through nerve cells) increases by up to 30% in some parts of the brain (and can be even more active than when we were awake). Dr. Walker concluded that the decrease of stress related brain chemicals is what makes “REM sleep was the perfect condition for overnight therapy.”
If we want to improve our emotion regulation, the science is pointing directly to improving our sleep.
Diving deep into the 4 stages of sleep and suggestions to improve our sleep is something I’ve been working on for the past 5 years. There is a lot to this, and I’m still working on improving ALL the macroingredients of a good sleep (suggested by Dr. Walker), that include QQRT, or knowing the quantity (amount of sleep), quality (fragmented vs continuous), regularity (sleeping/waking around the same time) and timing (sleeping in alignment with my chronotype). Dr. Walker dives deep into all these areas with Dr. Huberman, and if you do wonder where you can improve, I highly suggest their 6-part series on sleep.
TIPS FOR IMPROVING EMOTION REGULATION BY IMPROVING OUR SLEEP:
Here are three tips that I took away from the neuroscience of self-regulation, that I’ve been working on, to see if improving my sleep in these areas, could possibly improve emotion regulation.
KNOW HOW MUCH DEEP SLEEP WE ARE GETTING EACH NIGHT: We all know the importance of knowing how much sleep we are getting to be well-rested the next day, (how many hours or the quantity) but it’s also important to keep an eye on the QUALITY or amount of DEEP RESTORATIVE sleep we are getting each night.Most of us could all sleep a bit longer (or I’ll speak for myself here) because this is one area that’s hard to do living in Arizona. If I want to beat the summer heat, we need to wake up early to exercise before the heat advisory warnings go off around 8am, and this means that to get one benefit, (daily exercise) it comes at the cost of losing some sleep.
In addition to knowing I need to improve how long I’m sleeping, (and ways to offset waking up early for exercise) it’s also being sure that I’m getting quality sleep each night. This is my current area of focus that I’ve been tracking the past few months. You can see from the diagram in the show notes that there are some nights I went above my average of 2 hours 22 minutes of restorative sleep, measuring this using the Whoop wearable tracker, and other nights I was far below. When I looked at what was happening in my life on those days where restorative sleep was low, there wasn’t anything that stood out, other than when I began to pay attention to ALL areas of sleep (QQRT-quality, quantity, regularity and timing), restorative sleep improved. There are many type of trackers you can use to track restorative sleep. The tracker I use tells me how much deep sleep I’m getting (that’s physically restorative) and how much REM sleep (that’s mentally restorative).
KNOW HOW MUCH REM SLEEP WE ARE GETTING:Keeping an eye on how much REM sleep we getting, is my next tip, since we know it’s important for consolidating new memories, learning and motor skills. We also just learned that the more REM sleep we are getting, we can say we are getting some good overnight therapy, restoring ourselves mentally. You can find sleep trackers that can help you to measure and track these important ingredients of a good sleep for yourself, and see how much REM sleep you are getting each night, while keeping in mind that “the greater amount of REM sleep you are getting, the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day.” (Dr. Walker)
I noticed this number improved just by forcing myself to stay in bed a little bit longer, even if it was only waking up, and saying “try to go back to sleep for another 15 or 20 minutes” and this improved REM sleep, since the REM sleep rich phase is at the end of the night. You can see the purple areas on the graph of my REM sleep in the show notes, right at the end of my sleep. If I had not pushed to stay asleep till after 5:00am (my internal clock would have me getting up at 4am) then I would have missed out on some valuable REM sleep here. If you can measure this for yourself, you can find ways to increase this valuable sleep stage for yourself. I’ll also add that if you can remember your dreams, especially the ones just before you wake up, you can learn a lot about yourself, increasing your self-awareness.
Remember, we are working on ways to help with our emotion regulation, and it seems to me, that an easy way to do this, would be to see how we can improve our REM sleep.
APPLY THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP TO IMPROVE EMOTION REGULATION: Since “during REM sleep the stress chemicals are turned off” helping us to “strip away the emotion from the memory” we can take this understanding a step further, and see if we are able to solve any of our problems during sleep.Dr. Huberman and Dr. Walker went into great detail about this concept[vii] that I’ve actually witnessed it first-hand. They described what happens in REM sleep to be like “Behavior-Desensitization” and I had the opportunity to see the stages of this process, done by someone skilled and trained in trauma and the brain, working with someone I know well, who has experiences significant trauma in their life, starting at an early age. Using a series of techniques, the trained therapist took the client safely from talking about a traumatic memory from their childhood, (with exteme emotion attached) to where they could say out loud that the memory had lost its emotional load and no longer gave them an emotional reaction. This is exactly what happens to our brain during REM sleep and why it’s mentally restorative.
Putting these tips all together, and knowing that improving the quality, and quantity of sleep is linked to improving emotion regulation, I’m working hard to improve restorative sleep and REM sleep, each month. I hope these tips have given you some insight on NEW ways that sleep can improve our emotion regulation.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #335 on Chapter 9 on “The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation”
We looked at where we covered self-regulation in our early days of this podcast back in August of 2019, with some tips for teaching this skill to our children or students. This skill is one of 6 social and emotional skills that are finally being taught in our schools today. This is a foundational skill for future success.
We looked at Grant Bosnick’s suggestion to regulate emotions in his book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership with his chart that suggests:
TIP 1: Labelling our emotions, and looking for a way to distract/create distance from them to provide temporary relief. If we focus on the emotional aspects, he tells us “it will drive us into a downward spiral”
TIP 2: If we learn to “focus on the non-emotional aspects, or distance ourselves (from whatever it is that is bothering us) this is the start to creating an upward spiral.”
TIP 3: Reframing the emotion, or changing the way we think about it, by looking at the problem from a different perspective, can help to see it in a more positive way.
TIP 4: In Bosnick’s last technique of “response modulation” he mentioned that once we are hit with an emotion about something, he asks “is it better to suppress it, or acknowledge it?” (Page 99, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He says “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).
CONNECTING THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP TO IMPROVE EMOTION REGULATION:
This led us to dive deeper into the neuroscience of emotion regulation with the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Matthew Walker, known as The Sleep Diplomat.
“Sleep moves the needle on almost every aspect of brain and body health” Matt Walker
Before listening to Dr. Walker’s most recent episode with Dr. Huberman, I had no idea that the research would point to a direct correlation with a good night’s sleep and our emotion regulation.
DID YOU KNOW that “The greater amount of REM sleep we are getting, the greater amount of emotional detox we will get the next day?” (Dr. Matthew Walker).
Grant Bosnick said that “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).
It therefore makes sense to me that in order to strengthen emotion regulation, then we must therefore strengthen our sleep.
3 TIPS FOR IMPROVING EMOTION REGULATION BY MEASURING OUR SLEEP:
KNOW HOW MUCH DEEP SLEEP WE ARE GETTING EACH NIGHT KNOW HOW MUCH REM SLEEP WE ARE GETTING KNOW THAT INCREASING REM SLEEP= OVERNIGHT THERAPYFinally, how will we know if we are improving our emotion regulation by improving our sleep? Ask yourself how well you are doing with this. Remember: When we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, (it is better to acknowledge the emotion so) we will be able to better manage our emotions. (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).
This is a work in progress for me, but without asking anyone else, I know that the research is accurate when it shows that
“sleep deprivation increases reactivity in the amygdala by 60%.”[viii]
To best way to improve reactivity in the amygdala, is by getting sufficient sleep. Improving all the ingredients of sleep (quality, quantity, regularity and timing).
I also know that when I’m getting a good night sleep, my senses are more activated, and I can see more beauty in the world, especially with others around me.
I’m more accepting of myself, and know that I’m stronger and more peaceful, which is what Grant Bosnick suggested for being able to improve this foundational success skill.
This translates to the work I’m doing, looking at the world through a different lens where life becomes more joyful, creating hope that anything is possible (for myself and others).
And all of this came from connecting the science behind a good night’s sleep to emotion regulation.
I hope this episode has given you some helpful ideas, and we will see you next time, as we move to chapter 10 of Grant Boswick’s book on the Science Behind Persuading and Influencing.
REVIEW
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #14 “Self-Regulation: The Foundational Skill for Future Success” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/self-regulation-the-foundational-learning-skill-for-future-success/
[iv] How Can We Help Our Kids with Self-Regulation https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/amp/
[v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #289 with Dr. Maiysha Clairborne on “What Hold Us Back: Getting to the Roots of Our Doubts, Fears and Beliefs” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/maiysha-clairborne-md-on-what-holds-us-back-getting-to-the-root-of-our-doubts-fears-and-beliefs/
[vi] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM
[vii] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM
[viii] IBID
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Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! In Episode #334, host Andrea Samadi reconnects with Ike Diogu, a former Division I college athlete turned pro, whose impressive mental mindset left a lasting impact on her over 20 years ago.
Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/hvBHF4ectQI
EPISODE #334 with Nigerian-American Basketball Player, Ike Diogu on "The Mindset of a Champion" we will cover:
✔ Ike's journey from ASU to the NBA and Beyond.
✔ How his upbringing, influenced by his family shaped his mental toughness
✔ How his coach, teammates and personal values played a role in his success in the NBA and as the captain of the Nigerian Basketball Team.
✔ How Ike inspired Andrea, over 20 years ago, to continue working with students and social and emotional learning skills.
Discover the story of Ike's journey from Arizona State University to the NBA, and how his upbringing, influenced by a deep-thinking father and supportive siblings, shaped his mental toughness. Learn how Ike's coach, teammates, and personal values played a role in his success, both in the NBA and as a captain of the Nigerian national basketball team.
Andrea and Ike delve into the importance of mental preparation, goal setting, and the power of a supportive environment. Ike shares his experiences from the Rio 2016 Olympics and his ongoing passion for basketball and mentoring others. This episode is a testament to the power of social and emotional learning, and the impact of mental mindset on achieving extraordinary results.
Don't miss this inspiring conversation that highlights the intersection of neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and athletic excellence.
On today's episode #334 we meet with someone who caught my eye, over 20 years ago when I worked with athletes at Arizona State University. Sitting in front of Ike Diogu, years before his exciting career would unfold, I just knew he would be successful. I was in my late 20s, and hadn’t published my first book yet, The Secret for Teens Revealed, that was written with the purpose to help our next generation sharpen the skills that were integral for achieving goals (in school and sports). It designed to develop certain ways of behaving and more importantly, thinking, that would enable young people to achieve whatever it is that they want in life.
Working with elite College athletes at ASU, I thought would be a great place to test out the chapters of this book (Chapter 1- Developing a Winning Attitude, Chapter 2- Developing Your Mind, Chapter 4-Goal-Setting and Persistence, Chapter 5-Building Your Confidence Formula for Predictable Results for Success). You get the point here. So, one day, I asked Ike a series of questions to “feel out” where his mindset was, and I’m not kidding, he almost knocked me out of my chair.
Whatever I asked Ike, he had a well-thought out answer, that told me for certain that he didn’t need the book I wanted to publish. He had already learned these skills at a young age, that I knew would skyrocket his future success. I just remember thinking “where will Ike Diogu end up?” and while I didn’t follow his career over the years, I did see his photo on the wall one day, going down to the baggage claim at Arizona’s Sky Harbor Airport, and it was then that I thought back to the moment I knew this young man had everything he needed, for an exciting and successful life.
Of course I was going to look for him, and see if he would be open to coming on the podcast. We’ve learned about the Daily Grind in the NHL on EP #38[i], Accelerating Leadership in the NFL on EP #166[ii] but I knew I’ve always been missing the Mindset of the Athlete.
I’m honored, and so excited to connect back with Ike Diogu,[iii] who I’ve not seen face to face for over 20 years, and dive into “The Mindset of a Division 1 College Athlete Turned Pro.”
Welcome Ike!
Thank you for agreeing to meet up with me here, and filling me and our listeners in to what you’ve been up to the past 20 years!! I wonder, when I reached out to you, do you remember me from back at ASU? You wouldn’t know that that was my first official job in the US. I came from Toronto, Canada, with so many hopes and dreams for our next generation, and September 11th really made it difficult for me. Working with you gave me vision and hope during what I remember as my most difficult and challenging times in a new country. I used to look forward to those days at ASU, and knew you were helping me much more that I was helping you. It does come full circle sometimes when we get to tell those people who helped to motivate and inspire us. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to work with you back then.
INTRO Q: Before we get to where you went after I met you at ASU, can you just orient our listeners to your background BEFORE you went to College at ASU? Where did you grow up, and I’m looking for where did your winning mindset come from? Was it your Dad with a doctorate degree in Philosophy do you think? Who taught you these skills (they are called SEL skills now)--I knew they were important, (had this book written but not yet published) and they hadn’t yet made it into our schools yet?
Q1: I mentioned that you made a memorable impression on me all those years ago. It was your mental mindset that stood out to me. So much so, that when I saw your photo on the wall at the Phoenix airport, going down to the baggage claim, I completely freaked out and said to my husband “I knew Ike Diogu was going places! I just knew it!” I’ve kind of got a 6th sense for seeing talent, and while I like to see the talent in EVERYONE, I notice that not everyone uses the gifts they’ve been given, but you were in full use of them all when I met you. I had to watch an incredible interview you did on “Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball” from 3 years ago to get up to speed with where I last saw you, but can we start with something I saw somewhere that you said in that interview? You said “throughout all the adversity that I had throughout my professional career, I think the mental toughness (Coach Evans) instilled helped me get through some of the really tough times I faced.” I remember your Coach walking around at ASU…he had quite the presence. How did coach Evans help strengthen your mental toughness? I saw it as very strong already, back then. What did he teach you to set you up for success AFTER playing College Basketball?
Q2: I’ll credit the photos I’m using in this interview to the African in Sports interview you did 3 years ago. It did help me to accurately see where you went after ASU. I had no idea…I just knew you would do amazing things in the world. In this photo, the interviewer asked about your teammates at ASU and look at that smile. I knew ASU was special for you, but what do you think made it so special, enough that you would really have to think about leaving there, to go to the NBA?
Q3: Let’s go to when you were drafted to the NBA. You said yourself “I never would have imagined that I would have made the jump that I made.” I did…but 20 years ago, ( I saw you would have Quantum Leap success) I was just learning to trust things like heightened intuition that I never ignore anymore. Tell me about your mindset of “putting your name into the draft” and then playing at open gym in Garland, TX. In the back of your mind, what were you thinking?
Q4: So, back at ASU, I remember asking you questions about where your confidence levels were, or your attitude and mental mindset. Those are all pretty normal questions, but I knew they weren’t being taught in our schools. Now I’ve been researching the science behind high performance for 20 years, and working on bridging the gap with some things that might be considered spiritual in nature, but when I saw the #9 that you wore for when you were drafted into the NBA for the Golden State Warriors, I can’t help but ask “what does the number 9 mean to you? Anything? Or are you just assigned that number based on your pick? I ask this because the #9 is considered a lucky number in many cultures, and is associated with spiritual growth, selflessness and humanitarianism.
I had to look at the numbers you wore at ASU. #5-is known for freedom, curiosity and change, as well as a desire to have adventures and explore new possibilities (which I think is interesting that it’s here where you left College BB and leaped forward to the NBA). Does this mean anything to you?
Then #6 is associated with responsibility, service and nurturing, that I saw you brought to the Nigerian Team with your background in the NBA. But I also saw a photo of you on your IG page, in front of Garland High School, that has the slogan “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.” I’m guessing this was your High School. Do you think your natural ability or drive to serve others began here, or before this?
There isn’t any science to the numbers, but I did notice the well-known numerology meanings coincided with each team, staring with #9 and I was curious if any of the numbers have meaning to you.
Q5: So, now take us to Nigeria where I saw you were the Captain of your team. What did you teach your team that you learned from the NBA about preparing to go against your opponent?
Q6: I heard you say “In order to get to the next level that we want to go, you need to do X, Y, and Z” and I wonder what were some of the important strategies you taught them? What was X, Y and Z?
Q7: The Rio 2016 Olympics—What was that experience like?
Q8: Where are you now? Are you playing for Venezuela? What’s been your path since the Olympics? What is your vision for the next 5 years?
Ike, it’s been an honor to reconnect with you. I’m so grateful for this chance to have you on the podcast really just to let you know that you had these skills all along, and I hope other who tune in around the world can gain some inspiration and hope from your life experience. When I look back over the years, the people I’ve had on as guests have made an impact on me in some way (whether from their research in the scientific world, or in education, or those who just made me stop and think about how I can better serve the world). You definitely caught my attention 20 years ago, and watching the interview you did (African in Sports Interview)[iv] I was beyond moved from not only your mindset for excellence, but the desire to help others to reach their greatest heights. I look forward to following your work in the future, and know you will continue to stand out in your field.
Thanks for meeting with me today!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Some final thoughts. At the end of this interview, I thanked Ike for giving me such incredible hope at a time in my life when I didn’t have it all figured out. I remember having these huge visions for these important social and emotional learning skills that were not yet taught in our schools, and Ike’s grasp of these skills propelled me forward. This was years before we had the research behind these SEL Competencies that we now know skyrocket academic achievement, healthy relationships, mental wellness and so much more.[v] These SEL skills are integral in our classrooms today. I think it’s important to be open at all times to learn from others, as you never know what it is that might help you in the future, like Ike helped me to stay focused on this work. I do highly encourage watching the interview I mentioned, “Ike Diogu: Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball”[vi] if you want to learn all of the details of Ike’s Motivating Story “Diving into the Mindset of a D1 College Basketball Player, turned Pro.”
I’m grateful to have had the chance to reconnect with Ike, and do want to give a shout out to all the parents out there, like Ike’s Dad, who are raising their children to be mentally and physically strong. Also, the coaches, like coach Evans[vii], who took Ike to the heights he needed to be successful at the pro level, and taking his mental toughness to greater heights.
I believe we all have the ability to do just what Ike did, (maybe not with basketball, but I mean make Quantum Leaps with our results) and as Ike said himself, he “never would have imagined making the jump that (he) made.” But I did. I bet his Dad and family did as well. And Coach Evans did. Ike was surrounded by people who believed in him.
Which is a testament for all of us to keep learning, growing, and reaching for the next level in whatever it is that we want in our lives, and encourage others to do the same.
I’ll end with a quote from Thomas Edison:
See you next week as we continue with our Self-Leadership Series, and chapter 9, on Self-Regulation.
RESOURCES AND MORE ABOUT IKE DIOGU
Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs
Ike Diogu on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blackcaesar01/
REFERENCES:
[i] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/assistant-coach-to-the-winnipeg-jets-todd-woodcroft-on-the-daily-grind-in-the-nhl/
[ii] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/vice-president-executive-producer-of-the-new-york-jets-chris-gargano-on-accelerating-leadership-for-maximum-impact-and-results/
[iii] Ike Diogu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Diogu
[iv]Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs
[v] https://casel.org/
[vi] Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs
[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Evans_(basketball)
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Join us on episode 333 in the 11th season of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. Our mission, as always, is to equip you with actionable, scientifically supported methods to hone social-emotional learning skills, boost productivity and promote overall well-being. This episode continues our 18-week self-leadership series informed by Grant Bosnick's proven strategies. In this installment, we turn our attention to the crucial role of expectations in our lives.
Starting off the discussion in the engaging world of Grant Bosnick's book, we dissect the meaning and importance of expectations. We then explore the crucial aspects of emotion regulation, persuasive traits, effective time management, and the vast concept of change. This episode revisits key moments from our previous chapters, ranging from the neuroscience of goals to the significance of hydration on brain performance, AHA moments, creative insights, and more.
The highlight of the episode is an in-depth exploration of the science of expectations, underpinned by Grant Bosnick and David Robson's book, 'The Expectation Effect.' Here, we probe the profound influence of positive and negative expectations on our daily life, mindset, goal achievement, and even health. Inspired by teachings from luminary mentors like Bob Proctor, this illuminating exploration of expectations is designed to leave you with a fresh perspective.
Stories from an unforgettable seminar 20 years ago bring to life the immense power of expectations. Understanding the neuroscience connections, we further explore dopamine and its correlation with our level of expectations. Practical tips to apply these psychological insights in day-to-day life are provided as we take you on an intellectual journey from theory to practice.
Throughout the episode, you will discover how to better regulate your expectations to boost your happiness, productivity, and confidence. This intellectual journey will equip you with the tools to tap into the power of expectation and unlock a better version of yourself. Expect the best and join us to uncover the enormous potential within you.
Stay tuned for our next episode, 'The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation', as we continue our intellectual journey.
Welcome back to SEASON 11 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives.
On today's episode #333 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. Today we cover Chapter 8, “The Neuroscience of Expectations” and l look at what Grant Bosnick covers on this topic, as well as a deeper dive into David Robson's book, The Expectation Effect.
We will cover:
✔ What is the meaning and importance of expectations?
✔ An unforgettable moment when Andrea first encountered the power behind our expectations.
✔ We will explore the science of expectations to boost your happiness, productivity, and confidence.
✔ 3 TIPS for applying The Neuroscience of Expectation to your daily life.
✔ Ideas to trouble-shoot applying this concept, along with belief, to achieve your goals and dreams.
I did need to take a short break from writing and recording since we last covered this book, the end of March, with new responsibilities in my work world. I’ve got my footing now, and missed researching, recording, and producing these episodes. The benefits that I personally receive from gathering this information, and sharing with it you, the listener, wherever you might be tuning in around the world, helps me in many different ways, but mostly, this work keeps me thinking, and making connections, neural connections, which we all know is important for cognition and learning. I did appreciate the notes from listeners of past episodes they have found helpful, and will continue to provide my best work here. We will resume the final 5 chapters of Grant’s book, based on Self-Leadership strategies, covering the topic of expectations today, then emotion regulation, persuade and influence, time management and ending the series with change.
Just a reminder that we left off with Chapter 7 on “AHA Moments and Creative Insight.[ii]” There is great power and immense self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[iii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium or low level of importance for you to focus on this year.
REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Before we cover Chapter 8 today on Expectations, let’s review where we left off, since this is a good reminder for me, to make the connections from these prior episodes.
It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, (from Grant Bosnick’s book) connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to our daily life. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast and it’s the application of what we are learning that contains the magic.
REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are we doing to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are we improving our mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter? Just the fact that you are here listening to this episode, and I’m writing it, is a good indication we are all building this skill. What have you noticed with the momentum you’ve built with your goals this year? Are you on track? How can you narrow your focus more?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are we using people or places that inspire us, to take our results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to our physical and mental health. What else can we all do to take more action in this area? I recently connected with someone who caught my attention over 20 years ago, when I worked with athletes at ASU. I remember sitting in front of this one athlete, and just knew he was going somewhere. We are working on the details to have him on the podcast right now, but stay tuned for a future episode on “Diving into the Mindset of a D1 College Athlete, Turned Pro” with Nigerian-American professional basketball player, Ike Diogu. Who are what is inspiring you these days?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Think about where we are in our Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 4 of Grant Bosnick’s book. How is mindfulness helping us with our physical health?
What’s interesting to me with this topic, is that the more I continue to study, and look to improve my own areas of weakness (right now I’m looking at how to optimize sleep which is currently my weakest link) and am diving deep into this topic with Dr. Matthew Walker’s most recent 6 PART podcast series with Dr. Andrew Huberman.[iv] Mindfulness is a topic that Dr. Walker lists as integral for improving sleep. I’m curious how you are implementing this skill to improve daily results.
REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are we practicing “getting into our flow?” When do we notice we are in flow the most? Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are we practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity this year? This is a hard one, as getting into this flow state requires practice for me. A month and a half away from this podcast, really did take me out of my flow state here. After recording an interview, and editing, I made many mistakes, or flat out forgot what to do next on the production side. I was rusty, and not in flow. I’d been producing episodes for 5 years, without taking a break, and this break revealed that the skills I’d developed need to be practiced. Use them, or lose them type of idea. This is exactly how my daughters explain what happens to them when they take time away from their sport with an injury. I learned that when we lose this flow, the best way to get it back is to get back to work, as best as we can. One step at a time. What about you? How are you using flow in your daily life?
REFLECT BACK to Chapter 6 on The Science Behind our Physical Health:
Where we narrowed our focus from a wide and complex field, to something we can implement immediately with “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance.” Midway through the year, I’m thinking “How am I keeping my brain hydrated?” Do I know how much water I’m drinking every day? This is something I’ve put more emphasis on recently, as we have now introduced an Infrared Sauna to our daily routine, and this requires more water to help eliminate toxins. They recommend drinking 20 ounces of water before using the sauna, since sweating can cause dehydration, and drinking at least a liter (or four 8 ounce glasses of water) afterwards. I did think it was interesting that one of the products I’ve also been wearing since our interview last year with Dmitri Leonov, who taught us about the Taopatch[v] nanotechnology that also requires an increase in water intake to eliminate toxins. Do you know about how much water you are drinking every day?
REFLECT BACK to Chapter 7 on “AHA Moments, Creative Insight and The Brain” where we looked at the book, The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman. They wrote this book to “explain how these Eureka experiences happen—and how to have more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success.” (The Eureka Factor). We also went back to PART 4 of The Silva Method[vi] on “Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” where we tapped into (once again) to Dr. Andrew Huberman’s research on creativity here, thinking about how we can have more insight to solve problems in our personal and work lives. It’s definitely a balancing act, working on implementing ALL of these strategies for an improved 2024. Some of these I’ve got the hang of, and others (like sleep) are continual works of progress for me.
For Today, EPISODE #333, we are moving on to Chapter 8, covering “The Neuroscience Behind Expectations” where we will dive into a topic that I mark as high importance in my life, right up with breathing. When I took my self-assessment, the topic of expectations showed up as low priority for me to focus on this year. Not because it’s not important to me, but because I’ve already made this topic of high importance. Expectations came out for me in the RED category, with a low score of 8% along with goals and time management, that I also put high importance with on a daily basis.
If you’ve taken the self-assessment, look to see if Expectations are of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.
Before looking at Grant Bosnick’s thoughts about the topic of expectations, where he begins chapter 8 by asking us “what did you expect?” I had to do some research first, to see what is already out in the world, and there was a lot out there, on the science behind expectations.
I first looked at the definition. What does it mean when someone has expectations? Collins Dictionary defined this term to mean “your strong hopes or beliefs that something will happen or that you will get something that you want.”[vii]
When I typed “expectations” into Pubmed.gov (a free database of more than 37 million research articles) I saw over 95,000 entries for how expectations can help a person to improve their health and behavioral outcomes, and noticed topics like “unmet expectations[viii]” or even “how expectations modulate pain.”[ix]
Before going down the rabbit hole looking to understand the science behind expectations, I found a book called The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World[x] by David Robson that I highly recommend. He covers a “journey through cutting-edge science of how our mindset shapes every facet of our lives, revealing how your brain holds the keys to unlocking a better version of you.”
It was in the first few pages of Robson’s Expectation Effect where I began to piece together past podcast episodes where we’ve talked about how “expectation hooks us up to what we want.”
I saw the word “expectation” then BOOM, I could hear my mentor, Bob Proctor talking about this exact topic, back in the late 1990s. Who knew there was a science to this! We will get there, but here’s what I remembered learning on this topic, 20 years ago. When Proctor talked about the importance of “expecting” what it is that we want, I remember highlighting it at the top of my notebook with an ORANGE highlighter, and never thought I would years later share these notes with anyone, (sorry they aren’t neater) but look what I wrote. “Expectation hooks you up to what you want, and brings it to you.” Then further down the page, wrote “you can be hooked up to what you want (you’ve read Think and Grow Rich a billion times, and even listened to our 6 PART Series Think and Grow Rich Series,[xi] and you know EXACTLY what you want) but you DON’T EXPECT to ever get it, for some reason, that only you would be aware of. If you don’t expect it, you won’t bring it to you.
I remember Proctor explaining this concept with goals, and he said it could also work with something we expect that we don’t want, like a winter cold when we say something like, “Oh, I usually get a cold right before Thanksgiving, so let’s not meet up until after this time.” Have you ever had someone tell you they were expecting to become ill? My mind goes straight back to the orange highlighter, and how I knew it was important to highlight that what we “expect” to happen, is brought right to us.
Robson writes in his book that:
Now I really did believe in these concepts I learned back in those seminar days, (because I saw first-hand how many people achieved results from this way of thinking) but I’m sure many others thought these ideas were superstitious or something. Fast forward 20 years, and now, I see this exact concept written in the 2022 book by David Robson, called The Expectation Effect, illustrating that what scientists are learning about the connections between the human brain and performance, are nothing short of amazing! Many of us have heard of these concepts, we might have even written them down, and highlighted them in orange, but now, science reveals something new about how our brain responds to the things we “expect” to happen.
David Robson shows us in his book exactly “how those beliefs, in themselves, shape your health and well-being in profound ways, and that learning to reset our expectations (about these issues) can have truly remarkable effects on our health, happiness and productivity.” (David Robson, The Expectation Effect).
So, I’m reading David Robson’s book, excited to make a scientific connection to the word I highlighted in ORANGE in those seminar days, and here I come across the author warning us about New Age self-help books, like Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, that Bob Proctor starred in, saying these concepts to be pseudoscience.
I will say that many people misunderstand The Secret and Proctor[xii] himself said “You can’t just THINK and GROW RICH, you’ve got to DO SOMETHING with those thoughts.” So with an open mind, let’s see what Grant Bosnick has to say about The Neuroscience of Expectations.
I did mention that Grant opens up chapter 8 by saying “What did you expect?” and he gives examples in the beginning of this chapter ways that expectations are created in our minds whether it’s with an expensive glass of wine we taste, that we “expect” to taste good based on its price, or even the credibility that we “expect” from doctors verses the doctor’s assistant.
What Grant Bosnich Says About The Science of Expectations:
Grants explains that “in neuroscience, dopamine is the neurochemical in our brain that makes us feel good and is associated with feelings of euphoria, bliss, motivation, concentration and reward. If we meet our expectations, then it generates a slight increase in dopamine, and a slight reward response. If we exceed our expectations, it generates a strong increase in dopamine, and a strong reward response. And if our expectations are unmet, it generates a large drop in dopamine, and a strong threat response.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85).
Grant explains that when our expectations are met or exceeded, this “increases our dopamine levels, which leads to increased happiness and well-being, which helps maximize our performance by setting up the conditions of flow and insight. This leads to more productivity and increased confidence.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85).
But here’s the kicker! Grant shares that “if our expectations are not met, (however) that it dramatically decreases our dopamine levels, we feel disappointment and stress, resulting in poor performance and decreased confidence.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85).
Grant asks us some questions around what we expect of ourselves and others, and it’s here that I thought about how I have high expectations for myself, and the goals I’m working on, but I’ve noticed that in order to avoid disappointment, I work on not having expectations of others. Except of when I go to the doctor for something important, I except that he will look after whatever it is that I’m there for to the best of their ability. There is this one doctor that I drive over an hour to see him, because his services exceeded my expectations. His office experience was not the best, but when I get to see him, I have a high level of care, that I expect, and I’ll look past the poor experience in his offices, to get to the high level of care when I reach him.
Grant addresses this by saying that we can influence our own, and other people’s expectations by “delivering higher than expected” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 87) which is exactly what happened to me with that doctor. Grant explains the importance of “setting the expectation low, then delivering high” to avoid disappointment.
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #333 on Chapter 8 on “The Neuroscience of Expectations”
DID YOU KNOW:
That when our expectations are met or exceeded, this “increases our dopamine levels, which leads to increased happiness and well-being, which helps maximize our performance by setting up the conditions of flow and insight, which leads to more productivity and increased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick)
Conversely, did you know that “if our expectations are not met, that it dramatically decreases our dopamine levels, we feel disappointment and stress, resulting in poor performance and decreased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85).
I go right back to Grant’s opening statement “What did you expect” and then my ORANGE highlighted notes from 20 years ago where I learned that “expectation hooks us up to what we want.”
HOW TO USE THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EXPECTATIONS IN OUR DAILY LIFE:
1. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M EXPECTING (of myself and others): Understanding the science, helps me to keep my expectations tied to myself, and not others, to avoid disappointment and stress. I expect to achieve my goals, (by putting in the necessary work) keep myself in good health (physical and mental) and will not just THINK about these expectations, but will do the hard work, take the action necessary to achieve them. This way, I’m not just “thinking” of what I expect to occur, I’m actually doing something with those thoughts, like the quote from Bob Proctor from the beginning of this episode. If I’m ever feeling “disappointed” with something in my life, a good question to ask is “what did you expect?” and see if I can backtrack to my thoughts. Was I using the science to flood my brain with dopamine, (with something within my control-that I could take action towards) or not.
2. USE A POSITIVE EXPECTATION TO BUILD RESILIENCE FOR A HEALTHIER VERSION OF ME: Understanding the science behind our expectations, and especially David Robson’s work, where I learned that “people with a more positive attitude towards their later years are less likely to develop hearing loss, frailty, and illness—and even Alzheimer’s disease—than people who associate aging with senility and disability” (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) marks a strong case for expecting exceptional mental and physical health in the future. Again, it goes without saying that we can’t just “think” ourselves into good health. We need to do the work here in order to expect results to occur.
3. CONTINUE TO EXPECT GOOD THINGS (for myself and others) AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS LIKE CREATING MY OWN LUCKY CHARM. Knowing that “expectations and beliefs can influence—indeed are already influencing your life in many other surprising and powerful ways. (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) makes me believe in some of the rituals I’ve heard of over the years, like lucky charms. I learned from David Robson’s The Expectation Effect, that “superstitions and rituals can boost perseverance and performance across a whole range of cognitive tasks, and (that) the advantages are often considerable.” (Page 198, The Expectation Effect). Whether you are a professional athlete, singer, public speaker, or someone like me who just wants improved results in your life, there is a science to having a lucky charm, or something that brings you the promise of success, to help you to create a feeling of control during high stress. Don’t dismiss the power of a lucky rock with a goal written on it, or whatever it is that holds significance to you with your future goals, or something that has meaning to you, that you expect to occur in your future.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON OUR EXPECTATIONS:
Some final thoughts, before closing out this episode, when we are working on our expectations, it’s highly important to be honest with whether you believe them to be possible, or not.
This is an important part of this. David Robson mentioned in his book, The Expectation Effect that:
THINK ABOUT HOW YOU RESPOND TO DIFFICULT LIFE CHALLENGES:
Imagine yourself going for a new position at work, and you are talking to your close family members about where you are in the interview process. They say to you “this sounds good, it looks like you are in the lead for this new position” and you reply “I’ll let know IF I get the job.” How you speak about your expectations (or as Robson said “our responses to difficult situations” (internally in your mind), or out loud to others, is extremely important. Keeping brain science in mind, the best way to talk about your expectations is with certainty and our reply with this brain science in mind could be along the lines of “I’ll let you know WHEN I get the new position” to keep the dopamine flowing to your brain. This response will help you to “feel good (and is associated) with feelings of euphoria, bliss, motivation, concentration and reward.” (Grant Bosnick). If for some reason, you don’t believe what you are expecting, or that the leap might be too far of a jump for you, you will feel what’s called cognitive dissonance, and you’ll need to do more internal work to get yourself to the place where you can think “truth rather than appearances”[xiii] and speak what you expect out loud, (or think it internally) and feel the alignment of this expectation in your life.
Only then will we get to this place where our expectations and beliefs can influence our life in many astonishing and powerful ways, leaving us mind-blown by our own potential for personal change.
We’ll see you next episode for The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation.
REVIEW
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “Aha Moments and Creative Insight” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-self-leadership-and-the-neuroscience-of-goals/
[iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iv] 6 PART Series on Improving Sleep with Dr. Walker and Dr. Huberman https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/guest-series-dr-matthew-walker-the-biology-of-sleep-your-unique-sleep-needs
[v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #318 with Dmitri Leonov on “Understanding Nanotechnology for Health and Wellness of the Future” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dmitri-leonov-on-taopatch-understanding-nanotechnology-for-health-and-wellness-of-the-future/
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 264 “The Neuroscience Behind The Silva Method: Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/
[vii] Expectations Definition https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/expectation#:~:text=Your%20expectations%20are%20your%20strong,get%20something%20that%20you%20want.
[viii] Unmet Expectations at Work at Age 62 and Depressive Symptioms https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34173825/
[ix] How Do Expectations Modulate Pain? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37369088/
[x]The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World by David Robson Feb. 15, 2022 https://www.amazon.com/Expectation-Effect-Mindset-Change-World-ebook
[xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/
[xii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #196 PART 6 of our Think and Grow Rich Book Series https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-15-success-principles-of-napoleon-hill-s-classic-boo-think-and-grow-rich/
[xiii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #315 and PART 2 of our REVIEW of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich
https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-2-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-chapter-4-thinking-and-acting-in-a-certain-way/
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In the 332nd episode of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, we have an informative discussion with the distinguished authors of the 'Wisest Learners' series, Dr. Wallace and Dr. Artyom. We delve deep into the intersection of neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and its implications for personal growth and productivity. Listeners will discover invaluable insights on learning strategies, the role of emotions in cognitive control, and how environmental regularities shape memory and attention.
See this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/lk7jJZDqrPo
Our conversation explores the significant developmental transitions children undergo around the age of 12 and the bewilderment many parents experience during this time. By discussing the principles laid out in their book, our guests illuminate the importance of a holistic approach to child development from an early age and its profound impact on academic performance and lifelong learning. Specific focus is given to the concept of 'automaticity', which simplifies complex cognitive functions in children.
Moving on to practical application, the discussion underscores the critical role of granting children autonomy in their learning journey. Real-life examples highlight how granting autonomy in choices, like book selection, can inculcate a lifelong love for reading and writing. However, an important balance is emphasized to avoid stifling a child's natural curiosity with excessive parental control.
A notable part of our conversation is an analogy comparing essential life skills to multivitamins, emphasizing the necessity for multiple principles in education rather than relying on single solutions. The role of parents in a child's education is underlined with varied involvement approaches and their effects. The interaction concludes with important practical suggestions for parents, emphasizing the importance of role-modelling and consistent communication with children.
This enlightening episode provides a unique fusion of theoretical understanding and practical guidance, making it essential listening for anyone seeking to better understand how to nurture resilient and joyful learners. Whether you're a parent, educator, or just interested in the fascinating world of cognitive neuroscience, buckle up for this insightful journey into the art and science of parenting based on neuroscience and social and emotional learning.
EPISODE #332 with Dr. Wallace Panlilio and Dr. Artyom Zinchenko “The Wisest Learners: Unleashing Neuroscience, Education, and Athletic Ability” we will cover:
✔ How a Cognitive Neuroscientist from Germany, met an experienced School Administrator in the Philippines, to create “The Wisest Learners” book series.
✔ How can we use an understanding of our brain, to bring the joy back into learning for our children and students?
✔ What KEY take-aways should we know about using our brain to be “wise” learners?
✔ How to apply these scientific principles in your school, workplace or sports environment to take your students/children to greater heights?
On today's episode #332, we meet Dr. Wallace Panlilio II and Dr. Artyom Zinchenko, the authors of the Wisest Learners[i] Book Series. Dr. Artyom Ph.D is an accomplished author and cognitive neuroscientist with extensive experience in the field. He earned his Doctorate in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Max Plank Institute for Cognitive Human and Brain Sciences in Germany and is now a researcher and a faculty member at LMU in Munich. He’s also a father of 2 children.
Dr. Wallace is an experienced educator and entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Philippines and has served as a headmaster (school administrator) for 14 years. He holds 2 master’s degrees in entrepreneurship and educational leadership and is always looking at ways to further optimize the results of the students in his schools.
Without further ado, let’s meet the authors of The Wisest Learners and see how they connect the most current brain research to the future success of our next generation.
Welcome Dr. Wallace Panlilio and Dr. Zinchenko. Where have we reached you today? Thank you for meeting with me to share the vision of your Wisest Learners Book Series to help parents and teachers Unlock the Secrets for our next generation, using the most current neuroscience research.
Before we get to the questions, I wonder if you could tell me more about who you are, and where this vision for youth began…especially as helping our youth has also been my life’s mission.
Can you describe the inspiration behind "The Wisest Learners: Parents Edition" and how did you intend this series to impact parents and educators?
Q1: How can we all use the principles from your book to help our children not just excel academically but also find joy in learning?
Q2: In a world filled with information, how does your holistic approach benefit parents/educators to nurture well-rounded learners who can thrive in diverse situations that we know (ad adults) they are going to face?
How does your research-based approach give your readers the confidence that the strategies you recommend are backed by science and can truly make a difference in their child’s education?
Could you discuss the long-term benefits of wise learning for children as they grow into adulthood, not just academically but in their careers and personal lives?
Q3: In terms of practical application, how can we begin implementing the book’s strategies with our everyday interactions with our children?
Can you share an anecdote from the book that illustrates the impact of unconventional connections in learning?
How does the book propose to challenge conventional wisdom in education and parenting?
The book discusses the integration of technology in learning. What are your views on balancing digital tools with traditional learning methods?
Q4: I’m interested in your forthcoming book, Wisest Learners to develop a child’s athletic potential. Can you tell me more about what you cover in this book?
Dr. Wallace, Dr. Artyom, I want to thank you both for your time and sharing your vision for your Wisest Learners Book series that I think is a critical tool for all of us to read, and implement.
For people to reach you, what is the best way? Through your website wisestlearners.com?
Q10: Finally, what is the one message you hope every reader takes away from “The Wisest Learners Series?
CONNECT WITH DR. WALLACE PANLILIO AND DR. ARTYOM ZINCHENKO
www.linkedin.com/in/artyom-zinchenko-417021170
www.linkedin.com/in/dr-wallace-panlilio-77490649/
Official Site: www.wisestlearners.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wisestlearners
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wisestlearners
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wisest-learners
RESOURCES:
"Wisest Learners (Parent Edition): Unlock the Secrets to Your Child’s Academic Success" is a Mom’s Choice Awards Gold Recipient and a winner of the National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA) 2024. This book is available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats. Simply search for "Wisest Learners Parent Edition" or use the links provided below.🔗 Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMQ7V69H🔗 Paperback: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRBBSXFZ2. "Wisest Learners (Teacher Edition): Unlock the Secrets to Your Students' Academic Resilience" is launched on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats this month of May. Simply search for "Wisest Learners Teacher Edition" or use the links provided below.🔗 Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1JRPYM 🔗 Paperback: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZKKVD5N You can also get more information about the program by visiting www.wisestlearners.com.REFERENCES:
[i] https://wisestlearners.com/
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In this transformative episode, join us as we engage with renowned pediatric occupational therapist and founder of Zensational Kids, Allison Morgan. Learn how yoga and mindfulness integrated into her therapy sessions have improved her clients' physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral wellness. Discover her motivation for writing curriculums for pre-K through high school students and the unique challenges that come with it. Dive into the importance of balancing the human nervous system and its impact on children’s functionality.
Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/mtj4zuuirbc
Uncover our conversation concerning the urgent need for increased mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools, especially in light of the post-pandemic stress faced by many students. Learn about Allison’s incredible journey as a pediatric occupational therapist and her vision to alleviate the struggles of today's students, teachers, and parents through innovative solutions.
Delve into the profound significance of social and emotional learning in an educational setting. Gather valuable insights on the teaching and learning dynamics and the vital role educators play in creating their classroom's atmosphere. Learn how to utilize mindfulness and self-awareness strategies to revolutionize the classroom environment and the importance of educators' mental and emotional well-being. Discover practical ways you can begin incorporating these strategies into your classroom or homeschooling routine today with our plethora of free resources.
Subscribe to Allison's free video program for more resources, empowering discussions, and actionable strategies for your personal and professional growth.
On today's episode #331, we have our final interview before the summer months. Today we will be meeting with Allison Morgan, the Founder of Zensational Kids.[i] She is a pediatric occupational therapist, author, international public speaker, and educational trainer driven to empower youth and the adults that care and serve them. She is passionate about training educators, parents, mental health professionals, and allied health professionals, giving them effective techniques to develop skills such as self-awareness, management skills, compassion, and resilience so they can model and authentically teach these skills to children.
EPISODE #331 with Allison Morgan on “Making the Neuroscience, Mindfulness and SEL Connection” we will cover:
✔ Where Allison made the Mind, Body, Neuroscience Connection with her work as a pediatric occupational therapist.
✔ Allison’s Vision for the Schools of the Future.
✔ Uncover the urgent need for increased mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools.
✔ Learn how yoga and mindfulness integrated into her therapy sessions have improved her clients' physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral wellness.
✔ How to Access Allison’s work for a free to implement NEW strategies immediately.
Allison began integrating yoga and mindfulness into her therapy sessions with children in 2007. Discovering the multitude of physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral benefits these practices offered her occupational therapy clients and recognizing the need for more mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools, Allison began writing curriculum and developing teacher training programs to help others share these practices. For those who have followed our work over the years, you’ll know that when I came across Allison, I was thinking I wish I had known Allison in 2014 when we launched our curriculum into the school market, and got to see first-hand just how difficult that would be.
She is the author of curriculums for pre-K through high school-age students: (which is not easy to be focused on both elementary and secondary students at the same time. They are both vastly different, requiring completely different strategies).
Young Explorers: Yoga and Mindfulness in Early Childhood EducationEDUCATE 2B: Mindfulness and Social-Emotional Learning for Educators and students in the K-5th grade ClassroomEVERYDAY Mindfulness: Techniques for Teens to Develop Compassion, Calm, Focus and ResilienceI had to be sure to connect with Allison before we take a break from interviews prior to the summer months, because of the importance of addressing the stress our kids are facing in the classrooms, especially post pandemic. I look forward to meeting Allison, and sharing her knowledge and expertise that this podcast was built around. Let’s meet the CEO of Zensational Kids, Allison Morgan!
Welcome Allison, it’s wonderful to meet with you after our email exchanges. We do have a lot in common, don’t we? Gymnastics, SEL and Neuroscience! That’s quote the combo!
Can you walk us through your career as a pediatric occupational therapist, and orient us to your background?
Q1: I’ll never forget the moment I saw just how impactful these important SEL skills are for students (in school, sports and in life). It was like a brick hit me in the stomach. What was it for you that made you take notice of these important SEL skills, (That back in the day were called soft skills and not given the merit they deserve) for you to create your own curriculum for mental and emotional well-being in the classroom? What made you put your hat in this field?
Q1B: I loved to see Understanding the Brain AND Understanding the Nervous System in the beginning of your Educate 2B book. I can guess that it was your background as an occupational therapist that made you make the mind/brain/body connection, but tell me when this connection began for you?
Q2: Before you had your eye on releasing your own curriculum, especially on Mindfulness, did you look at what other Mindfulness Curriculum was out in our schools? What did you notice was missing perhaps from what you saw? When was it that you decided to put your work out into the world? How did you differentiate yourself? I ask this because I remember looking and seeing Goldie Hawn and Dr. Dan Siegel’s program[ii] that almost deterred me from trying.
Q3: When I was a teacher in the classroom in the late 1990s, we had zero training in working with behavioral students. It was the main reason I left the classroom. Now we look in our classrooms and especially since the Pandemic, we’ve got learning loss now to add to this equation. What should we know about the health and wellness of children today?
Q3B: What’s the difference between the feeling of anxiousness, and the feeling of excitement? How can we differentiate the two?
Q4: I love your worksheets that have PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) and RTI (Response to Intervention-that aims to identify and support struggling students early on)! As someone who has worked from the publishing side of education, I always saw a need to integrate SEL skills into our classroom, starting with the day to day work we are doing with our students.
How do you integrate this important information into the day-to-day workings of a classroom?
What is your philosophy/approach around the fact that we cannot support the well-being of students without first addressing the well-being of educators? I can go off on a tangent here with Dr. Bruce Perry’s work.
Q5: How are you identifying the major pain points that schools are facing right now (mental health, behavior, academic loss, teacher’s leaving at an extraordinary rate) and how shifting from typical top-down programs to bottom up approaches that will actually address most of their issues?
Q6: What’s the difference between a “curriculum” and the development of daily habits/practices to create internal mind/body change.
Q7: How have we adapted from requiring full-day and 3 day mindfulness trainings for educators to downloadable videos for direct student instruction where we lead all of the practices?
Q8: Where are you based out of, and what Districts are you currently working with? Any success stories to share?
Q9: What is your vision for your programs?
Q10: What have I missed?
Thank you, Allison, for reaching out to me, to share your vision for making a difference with mental health and resilience in our classrooms. This is important and critical work. If people want to learn more about you, is the best way through your website? https://zensationalkids.com/
RESOURCES:
Free Video Tools to Try https://zensationalkids.com/freestuff/
Best Practices for Yoga in School
REFERENCES
[i] https://zensationalkids.com/
[ii] https://www.kidstherapyfinder.com/videos/brain-health-goldie-hawn-and-dan-siegel-at-tedmed-2009-58
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Welcome to Episode 330 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, a part of our 18-week series on self-leadership. Join host Andrea Samadi and author Grant Bosnick as they explore the neuroscience theory behind creating solid health habits, establishing goals, and increasing productivity for greater achievement and well-being.
Tap into the power of the AHA moment, and learn how to foster these spontaneous occurrences for instant performance improvement. Bosnick shares insights from his book "Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership" and offers strategies for organizations to solve problems creatively using innovative thought processes.
Uncover the crucial role physical and mental health play, particularly the significance of adequate hydration for brain health and daily water intake recommendations. Learn about the concept of neuroplasticity and see examples of creative problem solving applied in real-life situations.
Listen as we bring to light interesting perspectives from Professor Hod Lipson from Columbia University on AI and innovation, discuss the Silva Method, and recall our first series on creativity and innovation. Take inspiration from figures like Albert Einstein and learn about hypnosis from the work of Dr. David Spiegel. Cultivate self-awareness and personally tailored plans using our practical five-step method to foster more 'aha' moments. Experience the magic of wisdom acquisitions drawn from a poignant poem by Stuart Edward White.
Ready to supercharge your personal and professional growth? Listen to our exciting and educational podcast that delves deep into the interaction of neuroscience and social and emotional learning. Don't forget to subscribe for more insightful episodes.
On today's episode #330 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] a few weeks ago. Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. We can even map out our “Journey of the Mind” as we go along the way.
REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6
It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to our daily life. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast and it’s the application of what we are learning that contains the magic.
REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are you improving your mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to your physical and mental health. What else can you do to take more action in this area?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 4. How is mindfulness helping you with your physical health?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are you practicing “getting into flow?” When do you notice it the most? Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are you practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity in this state?
REFLECT BACK to Chapter 6 on The Science Behind our Physical Health:
Where we narrowed our focus from a wide and complex field, to something we can implement immediately with “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance.” Are you keeping your brain hydrated? Do you know how much water you are drinking every day? Grant reminds us that “everyone is unique and needs different amounts of water per day (but suggests) an adequate intake for men is roughly around 3 liters (100 fluid ounces) a day, (and) for women it’s about 2.2 liters (74 fluid ounces) a day. This is one area I know I can do better with, especially living in the desert, I know I can improve this one with some focused effort.
We will cover the remaining 6 chapters (Agility, Resilience, Relationships and Authenticity, Biases, Trust and Presence) after we take a break for me to navigate a new work schedule in my personal life. As soon as I have my footing here, and Dr. Shane Creado from EP 72[ii] reminded me the other day of our brain’s neuroplasticity, so I should be able to find the balance in a few weeks, and once I’m in the groove, and I’ll be back to finish this series. In the meantime, this will be a perfect time to put some serious thought into where we began this year, and where we are going. Think about the areas where we know we can improve, and get to work on these areas.
I’ll be using this time to strengthen my own mindset and be sure I’m applying each of these episodes that guarantees the strongest version of myself this year.
REMINDER: In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[iii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year.
For Today, EPISODE #330, we cover Chapter 7, “AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain” we will look at what Grant Bosnick covers on this topic, as well as a deeper dive into John Kounios and Mark Beeman’s fascinating book The Eureka Factor[iv] so we can all have a clear understanding of how these AHA Moments occur in the brain, and how exactly we can foster our own creative insights for unique and immediate improved performance.
✔ Tap into the power of the AHA moment, and learn how to foster these spontaneous occurrences for instant performance improvement.
✔ 5 Simple Steps for Illuminating our Personal and Professional Life with AHA Moments of Creativity.
✔ What Does Neuroscience Say About These AHA Moments of Creativity?
Today we dive into Chapter 7 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Science Behind Insight” which came out as MEDIUM importance (orange score) for me, alongside mindfulness and flow. If you have taken the self-assessment, you’ll know it’s how you answer the questions, based on what’s of high priority for you, that determines the lessons that are important to begin now, or ones that you might think you have a handle on, so they show up as lower priority, or medium, like this topic did for for me. I do block out time every day for mindfulness, and am working on getting into “flow” with my work, but insight is a new skill for me. I’ve never sat down to see “what insight” will come into my mind today, as these types of moments happen spontaneously, like Alexis Samuels mentioned on EP 328[v] when he made the connection with financial literacy and gamification, in the shower.
What I loved about Grant Bosnick’s book Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership is that he opens up chapter 7 with a story of how insight was used by an organization to help solve the problem with the high number of babies that die within a month of their birth, specifically in developing countries. This organization solved this specific problem using a thought process that took insight using “materials and human resources that could be used to address this issue” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) by building incubators made out of Toyota cars that were readily available in these developing areas.
Instead of using their analytical mind and thinking “how do we get more incubators to these areas” someone on their team used insight and creativity to come up with the best solution.
So how do we think up these creative ideas? Grant asks us to ponder where we have our best ideas.
In the shower (like Alexis Samuels)?While exercising?At your desk while doing work?Just before falling asleep or waking up?While walking or hiking?While taking with a friend?Grant suggests that few people will come back with “at their desk while working” since this type of creativity involves breaking away from the analytical, thinking mind, and tapping into our “nonconscious” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) part of our brain.
It was here I had to look deeper into how this type of thinking happens, and I found the fascinating book, The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman that Alexis Samuels mentioned during our interview, and I mentioned I had just started to read it.
If you want to dive deeper into the science behind insight and creativity, I highly recommend this book. I wanted to know HOW to create these “AHA” Moments at will, not by chance and this is what these two cognitive neuroscientists who wrote this book, set out to do. Their goal of writing this book was to “explain how these Eureka experiences happen—and how to have more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success.” (The Eureka Factor).
In the very beginning pages of The Eureka Factor, we learn that “insight is creative” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman) and when the authors went on to define “what creativity is” they suggest to not define it (yet) since “everyone intuitively recognizes creativity when he or she sees it” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman).
I thought back to when we covered “Improving Creativity” on PART 4 of The Silva Method[vi] on “Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” and we tapped into Dr. Andrew Huberman’s research on creativity here. Dr. Huberman explains that “when we see something that’s truly creative, it reveals something to us about the natural world and about how our brains work….It must reveal something that surprises us” for it to be truly creative.
So, going back to The Eureka Factor, John Kounios suggests that “creative insight is not an exotic type of thought reserved for the few. In fact, (he says) it’s one of the few abilities that define our species….most humans—have insights. It’s a basic human ability.” (Page 11, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman).
HOW CAN WE BE MORE CREATIVE TO HAVE MORE INSIGHT?
So now I want to know how we can we all have MORE insight to solve problems in our personal and work lives? How can we be more creative on purpose?
Grant Bosnick has an exercise in his book to help foster this ability, and it begins with quieting the mind, and letting it drift. Next, he suggests having a positive mood, and then be open to pattern completion, allowing new connections to form. Finally, he reminds us to NOT directly focus on the problem.
In The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman cover this concept of “pattern completion” and explained that we be open to unique solutions to our problems, letting the brain do what it was designed to do. They reminded us with a few fascinating discoveries in health, as well as an Oscar Winning Character that was created while the film writer was at a baseball game, that sometimes the answer we are looking for is opposite to what we commonly think to be true.
I remember the advice that the Legendary speaker Bob Proctor[vii] would give to people every time they would have a problem they were looking to solve. He would say “go somewhere quiet and think” which covers Grant Bosnick’s first suggestion. I remember people coming to me when I worked with Proctor, saying “OK, I did that” I went somewhere quiet, and I’m still stuck” and I always wondered what else I could suggest to someone who really was stuck in this process. After reading Grant’s book, I can now connect the understanding of neuroscience to this equation. Having a positive mood is important, while you are quietly thinking, and also understanding that the brain doesn’t like incompleteness. When you are quiet, thinking of a solution, your brain will do the work to make the connections where you might never have thought before.
While reading The Eureka Factor, I came across an image that helped to explain this idea so we can ALL improve our ability to generate new and creative insights that will empower our personal and professional lives.
IMAGE CREDIT: The Eureka Factor (Kounios, Beeman) Page 24
If someone were to ask me “Where do I begin to improve my ability to create NEW insights in my life?” I would say, start here:
STEP 1: Go somewhere quiet and think. We’ve mentioned a few times on this podcast that “Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to think, but it requires more effort to do so”[viii] (Wallace D. Wattles). I recently heard Professor Hod Lipson[ix] from Columbia University, speaking about the future with AI, and while his whole presentation was forward-thinking, eye opening and brilliant, what caught my attention the most was when he mentioned that while working with students with AI and robotics, the hardest part for them was to come up with a name for their robot, because he said “it takes a lot of effort to be creative.” Take the time needed for this process.
STEP 2: You might think you are stuck, and might see a brick wall in front of you, metaphorically speaking, but know that there is always a solution to every problem. You just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s here that I share ways I’ve moved past where I’m stuck, and that’s by using The Silva Method. I’m reminded daily that many of our current listeners found us from the first episode we did in this 4-part series[x] that ended with an episode on “How to Be More Creative and Innovative”. I just heard from Fatima Kahedi this weekend that she found our podcast through Spotify, just by searching for The Silva Method.
Then, this weekend, I was listening to a recent episode Dr. Andrew Huberman did an “Ask Me Anything[xi]” Episode from Melbourne, Australia. On this episode he reminded us of the work of Dr. David Spiegl on Hypnosis[xii] saying that there is a simple way to tell if someone is hypnotizable or not. It has to do with what Dr. Spiegl called an “eye roll” at the beginning of the test where he asked Dr. Huberman to look up, and then close his eyes. If the whites of his eyes showed for a certain amount of time, as his eyes were closing, (which they did) he would score a 4/4 on this test and be highly hypnotizable.
I heard this and thought “That’s the Silva Method!” Jose Silva gets us to relax somewhere quiet by going to the alpha state (by counting backwards) and then by rolling our eyes upwards in our head while relaxed. It’s here he asks us to practice seeing things on the screen of our mind. Now that I’ve heard the science connected to this practice, I can see that by using The Silva Method, we are relaxing ourselves deeply enough to begin to “see” things more clearly. Or in essence, we are practicing self-hypnosis.
STEP 3: Keeping your mood positive, break away, and do something that makes you happy. It could be going for a walk, or a hike, or playing tennis like the image from The Eureka Factor. Just break away and divert your attention away from the problem. If you are in a meditative state, just be sure to have positive, elevated emotions flowing through you. Looking at the image in the show notes from The Eureka Factor, we see a person playing tennis. You can use whatever method you want here (The Silva Method of Meditation, your own mindfulness practice, going for a walk or hike) whatever it is for YOU where you feel calm, rested and at peace.
STEP 4: Be open to new ideas that might pop into your head. Be prepared for ideas that might be completely opposite to how you were originally thinking of solving the problem. We are all different here. Think back to the beginning of this episode, when Grant Bosnick asked us to consider where our creative ideas flow into our minds. Mine come in that time just before I go to sleep, or just before I wake up. Others might come in the shower, or while exercising. Be open to NEW ideas coming into your mind, and be ready to write them down.
STEP 5: Know that there is much work going on from your unconscious mind. You’ll will become more self-aware in this process.
Grant Bosnick lists a few inventions that were developed this way, in chapter 7 on Insight, and I found an article that lists “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, (where) inspiration arrived suddenly”[xiii] to help them with their famous AHA Moments.
DID YOU KNOW that when Albert Einstein created his masterwork on the theory of relativity that he was “taken aback” when his breakthrough came suddenly? His mind kept wandering as he pondered the thought “if a man falls freely, he would not feel his weight.” It was “by linking accelerated motion and gravity (where) Einstein eventually created his theory of relativity.” (Dan Falk)
John Kounios also lists some “concrete examples that illustrate the steps and features of the insight experience itself—in particular, their expanded perspective, sudden occurrence, reinterpretation of the familiar, awareness of the unforeseen relationships, subjective certainty, and emotional thrill.” (Page 18, The Eureka Factor).
REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #330 on “The Neuroscience of Insight”
DID YOU KNOW that “the moment a solution pops into someone’s awareness as an insight, a sudden burst of high-frequency EEG activity known as “gamma waves” can be picked up by (EEG) electrodes just above the right ear?” (Page 70, The Eureka Factor).
“Gamma waves represent cognitive processing in the brain, such as paying attention to something or linking together different pieces of information.” (Page 70, The Eureka Factor).
John Kounios recalled in Chapter 5 of The Eureka Factor with excitement after years of work that they “had found a neural signature of the aha moment: a burst of activity in the brain’s right hemisphere. Almost literally (he says) this is the spark of insight” but he did add to this conclusion that “in the world outside the lab, insights may need to be evaluated, verified, refined and applied, and this requires contributions from the more analytic left hemisphere” (Page 82, The Eureka Factor).
Just like when Einstein came up with his famous AHA Moment of The Theory of Relativity, “it took him 8 years (using the analytical left hemisphere of his brain) to work through the mathematical details.”[xiv]
So while we need both the left and right hemispheres of our brain to come up with these insightful AHA moments, there was another important key finding that they discovered with a patient who had a stroke that damaged the right part of his brain more than the left. The stroke didn’t interfere with this particular patient’s ability to speak and understand the spoken language, but the patient himself knew he was missing something important. This discovery led to an important finding that takes place in the right hemisphere of the brain, and is important “for filling in the gaps to make sense of things” (page 75) and that is the ability to “read between the lines” (Page 76, The Eureka Factor).
Which is essentially what the brain is doing when it’s “filling in the gaps” and solving our problems with our AHA Moments.
We covered 5 STEPS for How to Have MORE AHA Moments to Enrich our Personal and Professional Lives:
STEP 1: RELAX: Go somewhere quiet and think.
STEP 2: LOOK PAST THE BRICK WALL: You might think you are stuck, and might see a brick wall in front of you, but know that there is always a solution to every problem. You just haven’t figured it out yet.
STEP 3: KEEP POSITIVE: Keeping your mood positive, break away, and do something that makes you happy. It could be going for a walk, or a hike, sit somewhere quiet and meditate, or play tennis like the image in the show notes illustrates from The Eureka Factor. Just break away and divert your attention away from the problem.
STEP 4: THE MAGIC HAPPENS HERE!
Be open to new ideas that might pop into your head. Be prepared for NEW ideas that might be completely opposite to how you were originally thinking.
If you decide to read The Eureka Factor, on top of the suggestions that Grant Bosnick suggests, you will learn how the left hemisphere of your brain and right must work together to “fill in the gaps.” This is where we open up our minds to NEW creative ideas.
This concept is exactly like when someone tells you a joke, or uses sarcasm, or irony. Our brain that doesn’t like “gaps or incompleteness” taps into the right hemisphere to interpret language in this way. This is a prime example that demonstrates just as our “ability to use language requires two intact hemispheres, so does effective, practical, creative performance” (Page 82, The Eureka Factor) and it’s within “the right hemisphere (of our brain that) where the spark that ignites the creative fire” begins. (Page 82, The Eureka Factor). The magic happens when we can relax, with a positive mindset, close our eyes, and see what messages come “in-between” the lines.
STEP 5: Know that there is much work going on from your unconscious mind. EPISODE #295 on “Unleashing the Power of our Subconscious Mind” is a good place to revisit as we peel back the layers and uncover who we truly are.
Self-awareness is at the root of this process.
To close out this episode, I’ll end with a poem that reminds me of how the AHA Moment is formed that we covered recently.[xv]
Isn’t it amazing how we acquire wisdom? When we suddenly “see” something that escaped us for so long.
Stewart Edward White explains how AHA Moments of Learning can change us, in his poem where he writes:
“Curious how we acquire wisdom!Over and over again, the same truthis thrust under our very noses.We encounter it in action; we are admonished of it;we read it in the written word.We suffer the experience;we gradually assent to the advice;we approve, intellectually, the written word.But nothing happens inside us.Then, one day, some trivial experienceor word or encounter stops us short.A gleam of illumination penetrates thedepth of our consciousness.We see! Usually it is but a glimpse;but on rare occasions a brilliant flashreveals truth fully formed.And we marvel that this understandinghas escaped us so long.”
I hope you’ve enjoyed a deeper dive into the Neuroscience of Insights. We have one last interview to release this weekend, and we’ll see you in a few weeks (once I’ve got my footing) when we return to finish our review of the final chapters of Grants Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #72 with De. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-shane-creado-on-sleep-strategies-that-will-guarantee-a-competitive-advantage/
[iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iv] The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman Published April 14, 2015 https://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Factor-Moments-Creative-Insight/dp/1400068541
[v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #328 with D. Alexis Samuels https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/exploring-neuroscience-and-gamification-in-financial-literacy-education-with-d-alexis-samuels/
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 264 “The Neuroscience Behind The Silva Method: Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/
[vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 66 with The Legendary Bob Proctor https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/
[viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 315 “Thinking and Acting in This Certain Way PART 2 Review of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich book https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-2-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-chapter-4-thinking-and-acting-in-a-certain-way/
[ix] https://www.me.columbia.edu/faculty/hod-lipson
[x]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 261 PART 1 of our Deep Dive into Applying The Silva Method https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-deep-dive-with-andrea-samadi-into-applying-the-silva-method-for-improved-intuition-creativity-and-focus-part-1/
[xi] Dr. Andrew Huberman “Ask Me Anything” Melbourne, Australia https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-event-q-a-dr-andrew-huberman-question-answer/id1545953110?i=1000650096634
[xii] Dr. Andrew Huberman is Hynpotized by Dr. Spiegl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlTzVB6TGT0
[xiii] “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, inspiration arrived suddenly” by Dan Falk, Published September 2, 2005 https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/great-eureka-moments-in-history-famous-inspirational-moments/
[xiv] IBID
[xv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 314 PART 1 of our Review of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-1-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-prosperity-consciousness/
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Join us in the riveting Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast as we delve into the exciting world of neurotechnology. Our featured guest, Nolan Beise, is the CEO of Circl, a path-breaking Canadian neurotechnology company, whose pioneering strides in brain-computer interfaces and brainwave-sensing technology are reshaping our understanding of the human mind.
Raised in Toronto, Nolan’s academic pursuits led him from a secluded town in Northern Vancouver Island to become a top academic at the University of Toronto and later found companies like Suva Technology and Circl. In this episode, we discuss the scientific insights behind brain health, cognitive performance, and the possible applications of neurotech in various sectors from dementia care and first responder training to professional sports.
Watch our Interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/J78FZ9CTHTg
As mental health issues surge globally, innovative technological advances offer a new spotlight of hope. From detecting early signs of cognitive impairment to managing the brain's capacity for a 'mental garbage can', this episode touches upon personalized intervention strategies, monitoring brain health, and enhancing treatment efficacy. We also delve into the associated health risks that may arise from mental burnout, such as sleep disruption and reduced cognitive prowess.
With an aim to offer affordable and accessible brain health technology, Nolan envisions a future where tools akin to Fitbits for the brain can help people understand their brain's evolution and proactively tackle changes detrimental to their mental wellbeing. This episode is a must for anyone interested in exploring neuroscience, brain health, technology, and optimizing human potential.
EPISODE #329 with the CEO of Circl.com Nolan Beise, we will cover:
✔ Nolan Beise’s vision to help the world to improve their brain health and cognitive performance in the future.
✔ How his Circl Headset takes older brain scan tools to new heights with measuring our brain’s function as it relates to our health, detecting early signs of cognitive impairment.
✔ Why we should be paying attention to our brain health TODAY to prevent major neurodegenerative diseases in the future and the health risks associated with burnout.
✔ Where Nolan’s focus is with this headset today, and his vision for this device in the next 5-10 years.
Today, we meet with someone who is from my hometown, Toronto, Canada, but now is in Victoria, British Columbia. Our next guest, Nolan Beise is the CEO of Circl[i], a Canadian neurotechnology company pioneering brain-computer interfaces designed to understand the human mind by producing research-grade brainwave-sensing headbands and related software applications. Before Circl, Nolan founded Suva Technology, a company specializing in mobile EEG research software. He also brings a wealth of experience from his time as a Senior Advisor at Mitacs. In addition to these, Nolan holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Victoria. With his extensive background in both science and business, Nolan is dedicated to advancing neurotechnology and shaping the future of brain-computer interfaces.
When I see someone like Nolan, dedicating his career to helping the world to improve brain performance using brain wave tracking technology that he has pioneered, I want to have a conversation with him. I have some questions for Nolan that I hope will spark some innovation in our thinking as it relates to the future of health and wellness. Let’s meet Nolan Beise and see what we can learn together about ways to improve our mind and brain health in the future.
Welcome Nolan! Was I correct that while you went to school at the University of Toronto, you are now in British Columbia?
INTRO: I went to Teacher’s College in Toronto, at U of T back in the late 1990s. I remember all of dreams I had back then, of how I would change the world. Can you share where your mindset was when you were a student, walking around those streets in downtown Toronto? What was your vision for the world back then?
Q1: I’ve said this over and over again on this podcast, where our goal is to connect the most current brain research to our daily life (whether we work in our local schools, sports environments or modern workplaces). Back in the day, no one EVER asked me “what are you doing for your brain health.” When did you FIRST start to consider the importance of your brain, and think that the world needs help with optimizing this important, yet complex organ?
Q2: What have you invented, how does it work?
Q2B: How are regular people using this headset that measures brain performance? I can guess there would be an interest from the sports world? How does tracking how our brain processes visual stimuli help us?
Q2C: How would the headset help our first responders?
Q3: I became interested in Alzheimer’s Prevention strategies around the time of the Pandemic, and have focused a few episodes on this topic. I even took my husband to Dr. Daniel Amen’s clinics[ii] to get our brain scanned to see if either of us showed signs of any disease, since I know that our brain health is what would drive our future success. Not everyone can get a SPECT image brain scan, (they are expensive and not covered by insurance). Tell me how most people gain access to your headset. I know your headset costs significantly less than a SPECT image brain scan for those who also want to look at their brain.
Q4: I saw that your company was founded recently, in 2021, consisting of a team of neuroscientists, mathematicians, engineers, and designers. Who is your team, and tell me about this award you won for creating such innovative technology?
Q5: Why did you want to create something that allows us to see our brain performance? What’s YOUR WHY behind your work?
Q6: What makes your headset stand out from the crowd? What are you hearing from those who use it?
Q7: Where would you like to see this technology go in the next 5-10 years?
Q8: What stumbling blocks do you face with your goals?
Q9: What have I missed that’s important?
Nolan, I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. Who knows, we could have walked past each other in the streets of Toronto back in the day. You never know. I’ve always got my eyes wide open to learn more about what’s innovative in the world, and I look forward to seeing more from you in the future. For people to learn more about you, is the best place https://circlbrain.com/?
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS:
I learned so much for speaking with Nolan Beise! He emphasized that while people can go to his website and purchase a headset, that wasn’t his main motivation for meeting us today. His goal was just to let the world know about his vision, and let others know about him. I did connect him to Dr. Shane Creado, and think that when 2 powerful like minds come together, they form a third mind, with potential to take creativity and innovation to greater heights.
If you want to connect with Nolan, you can visit the Contact Us page of his website https://circlbrain.com/pages/contact
Most importantly today, I hope we all have a renewed vision for the importance of our brain health.
I’ll see you next week!
CONNECT WITH NOLAN BEISE
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolanbeise/
Website https://circlbrain.com/
Learn More About the Circl Headset https://circlbrain.com/products/circl-headset
REFERENCES:
[i] https://circlbrain.com/
[ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP #84 PART 3 “How a SPECT image Brain Scan Can Change Your Life” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-a-spect-scan-can-change-your-life-part-3-with-andrea-samadi/
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Join us in episode 328 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for an insightful discussion with D. Alexis Samuels, the founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FineLitX, Global Corporation, and Prosperity Nation. Discover how he integrates neuroscience and gamification to educate and uplift underserved communities, with a special focus on financial literacy, socio-emotional learning, and legal and ethical understanding.
Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/R8FUuCR403o
Alexis Samuels uses game-based learning systems rooted in neuroscience to make complex topics accessible and enjoyable. Here, you will learn how his innovative approaches are not only educating but altering behaviours and perspectives, instilling hope and inspiring success in individuals and communities. You will get a glimpse into the founder's journey, from his humble beginnings to his endeavours to tackle financial illiteracy and fear, and why he believes financial literacy is vital for mental well-being and socio-emotional learning.
We delve deep into the workings of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX, and Prosperity Nation, explaining how concepts from neuroscience are incorporated into games and curriculum. Hear how the companies collaboratively tackle challenges of poverty, targeting school systems and non-profits alike, and partnering with institutions like Notre Dame University on groundbreaking research studies.
This episode provides a unique look into the link between neuroscience and financial literacy, shedding light on the role of dopamine in learning and the effectiveness of rewards and affirming feedback in education. As a major takeaway, experience how the combination of neuroscience, gamification and financial literacy can create compelling, immersive, and educationally-rich experiences, with potential to greatly impact cognitive and social development in societies.
We also talk about real-life applications of these techniques through a credit score-based game, showing how such innovative approaches can reduce fear and anxiety towards adult responsibilities, and spark much-needed conversations. Get ready to transform the way you view education, financial literacy, and neuroscience, and begin to see the game-changing potential when these fields intersect.
Lastly, we touch on the broader societal relevance of neuroscience today, underlining its potential for personal improvement and the urgent need for more active discussions to raise awareness. Join us in unpacking how neuroscience can hold the key to unlocking a world of possibilities in cognitive and social development.
EPISODE #328 with D. Alexis Samuels on “Making the Neuroscience and Money Connection for our Next Generation” we will cover:
✔ Discover how Alexis integrates neuroscience and gamification to educate and uplift underserved communities, with a special focus on financial literacy, socio-emotional learning, and legal and ethical understanding.
✔ Learn about his game-based learning systems rooted in neuroscience to make complex topics accessible and enjoyable.
✔ What BIG NAMES have taken notice of Alexis Samuels and his work on ending generational poverty?
✔ Learn how his innovative approaches are not only educating but altering behaviours and perspectives, instilling hope and inspiring success in individuals and communities.
✔ Look closer into the link between neuroscience and financial literacy, shedding light on the role of dopamine in learning and the effectiveness of rewards and affirming feedback in education.
✔ How you can get involved with D. Alexis Samuels to help him reach more people with his noble mission
On today's episode #328 we meet with someone who caught my attention through LinkedIn. He sent me a direct message, like people do often (I do appreciate these messages), and he was letting me know he was enjoying the podcast, highlighting that his passion was to help bridge the gap with the latest discoveries in brain science and mental health interventions to underserved populations.
He went on to explain how he was doing this, and I was captivated. First because I still find it difficult to bridge this gap with science that we were not taught in schools, but come to find out it’s really important for us to understand. ALL of us, not just as teachers, educators and members of society, but this understanding is coming to be as close to what oxygen is for our survival. It’s of critical importance that we understand this organ that controls everything that we are, and everything that we do.
And I know what it takes for me to work on grasping this knowledge, breaking it down so that I understand these concepts first, and then work on a way to explain it to others, so we can all work on implementing these powerful ideas for change in our lives. I find this difficult work, but something I’m dedicated to doing, and then while talking with our next guest, I come to find out that he has created something to help us with this understanding-- a game, curated in neuroscience, that educates and addresses mental wellness in a way that we all can understand, using gamification. Our next guest has a vision of evening out the playing field, using neuroscience with a game, that teaches economic power, specifically towards our underserved populations.
I can’t wait to see what we can learn from our next guest, D. Alexis Samuels, the Founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX (Fine-Lit-X) Global Corporation and Prosperity Nation to help us to all open our eyes to new ways we can bridge this gap with making neuroscience more applicable for all of us in our day to day lives, especially those in our underserved populations, who need it the most.
Welcome Alexis, it’s wonderful to meet you!
Let’s start from the beginning, Who is D. Alexis Samuels?You are the Founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX Global Corporation, and Prosperity Nation. That’s a lot! What are these companies and what motivated you to found them?Have you worked with any science or research institutions?Tell me more about the societal issues that form your missions’ focus.Specifically, what aspects of neuroscience do you incorporate in your service, and what results have you achieved?Do you have case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of introducing neuroscience in learning environments?What do you feel is the future of neuroscience adapted curriculum in general education?Others write books, but you create games. Is that intentional?Speaking of neuroscience, what’s next for D. Alexis Samuels?Where can we learn more about your games, online curriculum, and platform?If someone wanted to speak with you, partner or collaborate, how can they reach you?Thank you very much for reaching out to me. You did stand out from the crowd as you offered ways to make my understanding of this complex topic to greater heights. I’m grateful to have had this time with you.
CONNECT WITH Alexis Samuels
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-alexis-samuels/
Website https://finlitx.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/d.alexis.2330/?hl=en
Get on the Road to Prosperity Board Game https://youtu.be/2Dq88VoDlrk
REFERENCES
NBA Kenny Smith Endorsement https://youtu.be/YJjz7PsJvHk
John Kounios and Mark Beeman The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain Published 2015 https://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Factor-Moments-Creative-Insight/dp/1400068541
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Join us as we revisit episode 327 of the "Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast", where we hone in on the critical relationship between hydration and brain health. Host Andrea Samadi delves into the sixth chapter of Grant Bosnick’s book during an 18-week self-leadership series, elucidating how focusing on our physical health can sharpen our cognitive performance. This episode is a paradigm shift, captivating listeners with the powerful impacts of nutrition and hydration on the brain. Andrea explores the benefits of water for our brain health and productivity, explaining how adequate hydration can improve concentration, cognition, mood and memory. The episode also explores other aspects of physical health like exercise, sleep and mindfulness, and how they contribute to overall wellness, well-being, achievement and productivity.
Welcome back to SEASON 11 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives.
On today's episode #327 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] just a few weeks ago. Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[ii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year.
For Today, EPISODE #327, Chapter 6, “The Science Behind our Physical Health” we narrow our focus from a wide and complex topic to something we can implement immediately: Today we will consider “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance”
✔ A Review of the Top Health Staples that we have covered on this podcast over the years, specifically since the Pandemic.
✔ How Dehydration Affects Our Cognitive Performance
✔ Tips Grant Bosnick Suggests for Keeping Our Brain Hydrated
✔ Focusing on One Area of Your Physical Health at a Time
Today we dive into Chapter 6 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Science Behind Our Physical Health” which came out as LOW importance (red score) for me, alongside emotion regulation. If you have taken the self-assessment, you’ll know it’s how you answer the questions, based on what’s of high priority for you, that determines the lessons that are important to begin now, or ones that you might think you have a handle on, so they show up as lower priority like this topic did for for me. Not that physical health, or emotion regulation is of low priority for me, it’s quite the opposite, but I block out time in the day for both of these topics, and this time is non-negotiable.
I will say that while the broad term of physical health (that Grant covers in Pathway 4 of his book) is extremely important to me, it is a very complex topic and one we’ve been focused on since the pandemic geared us into looking closer at our physical and mental health.
We created the Top Health Staples[iii] That Are Scientifically Proven to Boost Our Physical and Mental Health where we’ve now added a 6th with stress reduction, for Podbean’s Wellness Week back in 2020, when I was asked to cover this topic. It was here where we shifted our attention to be equally as focused on the health of our mind (our mental health) in addition to our physical health. You can’t have one without the other.
When guests have approached me over the years to join us on the podcast, if they fall into these health staples with an angle I’ve not yet covered, it’s easy to say yes, so we can keep moving our physical and mental health forward. We are always looking for WHAT’S NEW and INNOVATIVE in this area.
How many times have we seen Dr. Gregory Kelly[iv] from Neurohacker.com who is focused on pioneering systems for human optimization and longevity? Twice so far and he’s on the schedule the middle of April to cover Qualia NAD+ where we will learn more about NAD+ that is often called the “aging” molecule due to its profound influence on how well (or how poorly) we will age.
We recently met Dimitri Leonov[v] with a new nanotechnology I’ve been wearing since our interview the end of this year, that’s been spotted on celebrities like Robert Downey Jr.
We are always looking for what’s new to take us to new heights with our physical and mental health, with some exciting and NEW innovators who we will be covering in the next few months.
So what does Grant Bosnick say about physical health is his book “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership?” He begins with the importance of looking at what we eat and asks “what is it doing to your brain?” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). What I like about Grant’s book, and why I wanted to cover EACH chapter over the next 18 weeks, is because it’s a paradigm shift for us to think about how ANYTHING we do impacts our brain.
THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MINUTE:
25 years ago, when I was setting goals for my future, no one said to me “Hey Andrea, think about how your brain will tie into the goals you are setting” or “what foods are you eating for your brain health” or even “Did you know that exercise will build a stronger, more resilient brain?” I didn’t even begin to consider my brain until 2014 when Jeff Kleck, an Arizona School Administrator that we met on EP 246[vi] shared all his notes, books and resources with me, urging me that understanding how our brain operates, will be of critical importance in our future.
Boy was he ever right. I still keep in touch with him, and let him know all the time just how grateful I was for the time he spent explaining what he had learned about the brain with me.
Grants goes over foods that are important for our brain health and productivity, specifically foods that have a low glycemic index “which means they release energy slowly into the bloodstream.” (Chapter 6, Bosnick).
We’ve covered this topic on various episodes, specifically with “The Damaging Impacts of Sugar on the Brain and Body”[vii] and we’ve even used a glucose monitor to test what happens to our body with too much sugar, and how it can tank our overall health and productivity.
While reading this chapter, Grant echoed many of the experts I’m sure you’ve heard us mention, like Dr. Daniel and Tana Amen, from their Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast who reminded us to always make decisions with our brain in mind by thinking or saying out loud with everything that we do “Is this decision GOOD for my brain, or NOT” Dr. Amen said many things that caught my attention while listening to his podcast years ago, and I often took his words of wisdom and created graphics to keep his thoughts close. While talking about our daily habits and aging (which I know we all want to do gracefully) he reminded us that “your everyday habits and decisions are either boosting or stealing your brain’s reserve and are either accelerating the aging the process (which none of us want to do on purpose) or rejuvenating your brain.”
It was Dr. Amen[viii] who first caught my attention with the importance of loving my brain, this organ that controls everything that I am and everything that I do.
Finally, it was when Dr. Amen mentioned that “Your competitive advantage or disadvantage is the actual physical functioning of your brain.” (Dr. Amen from The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast) This statement made me take a good look at whether I was boosting my brain reserve and rejuvenating the aging process, or accelerating it.
Grant covers many of the Top Health Staples in chapter 6, highlighting what many experts have been hitting home for us over the past few years, like the importance of sleep, taking power naps and adding in ideas for relaxation with mindfulness, and massage, but it was his focus on breathing that “helps with emotion regulation and memory recall” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) that caught my attention in Chapter 6.
I remember watching Stanford Professor Dr. Andrew Huberman demonstrate how to “Self-Regulate Your Brain in Less Than a Minute”[ix] on one of his podcast episodes and it was so impactful to me that I use his method all the time now. I love how Grant covers how to use pranayama breathing for “emotional recognition and memory” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) as well as for “increasing concentration.”
This topic of Physical Health is complex, and we can go into many different directions, which is why we created the Top 6 Health Staples to stay focused on moving the needle towards physical health with one idea at a time. I noticed that I would work on one area, like sleep for instance, and could see improvements here, but another area would suffer. It’s a balancing act for sure, requiring focused attention.
So today, to keep it simple, I want to focus on something that we might forget about our brain, and our physical health and that is that “our brain is 75% water. (And) When our brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, we will be able to think faster and be more focused and experience greater clarity and creativity.” (Chapter 6, Bosnick).
Grant reminds us in Chapter 6 of the importance of hydration, and says that “water is essential for delivering nutrients to our brain and for removing toxins. When our brain is fully hydrated, the exchange of nutrients and toxins will be more efficient—thus ensuring better concentration and mental alertness.”
Grant mentions that our brain is “75% water” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) and of the importance of hydration, and I remembered learning that “90 minutes of sweating can temporarily shrink the brain as much as one year of aging does.” From Deane Alban’s 72 Amazing Brain Facts. This brain fact brought home for me, just how important hydration is for our brain health.
You will need to read Chapter 6 of Grant’s book to receive all of his tips, but he does cover the many BENEFITS of drinking water.
He says that keeping our brain hydrated helps us with:
Improving concentration and cognitionHelping to balance our mood and emotionsMaintaining a good memoryBoosting our brain’s reaction timeIncreasing blood flow and oxygen to the brainPreventing and relieving headachesReducing stressREVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #327 on Chapter 6 on Physcial Health, we narrow our focus to “Our Hydrated Brain.”
DID YOU KNOW:
“That our brain is 75% water and when our brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, we will be able to think faster, be more focused and experience greater clarity and creativity?” (Chapter 6, Bosnick).
Grant reminds us that “everyone is unique and needs different amounts of water per day (but suggests) an adequate intake for men is roughly around 3 liters (100 fluid ounces) a day, (and) for women it’s about 2.2 liters (74 fluid ounces) a day.
THINK ABOUT THIS?
Knowing how important water is for the brain, do you know how much water you drink? I’ve definitely started paying more attention to this, especially knowing how “sweating can temporarily shrink the brain.” I’ve been using an infrared sauna, and another health device that calls for an increase in water intake, and I can tell with 100% certainty that when I’m not drinking enough water, it shows up with my ability to think with clarity.
What do you think? Could you improve your water intake? Just by thinking about ways to improve our brain health, we will over time begin to move the needle in the direction of physical health and wellness, which was the concept that Grant wanted us to uncover in Chapter 6. I hope you learned something new, perhaps a new angle for your physical health, as you think about ways to stay hydrated as we all look for new ideas to improve our health in 2024.
REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5
It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to become wise. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast.
REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are you improving your mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to your physical and mental health. What inspiration do you need to take more action in this area?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 6. How is mindfulness helping you with your physical health?
REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are you practicing “getting into flow?” When do you notice it the most? Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are you practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity in this state?
I’ll close out this episode with a quote that I’m hoping will urge all of us to grab a glass of water as we THINK about how we will implement this powerful concept into our week.
Loren Eisley said “If there is Magic on this planet, it is contained in water” and I’ll have to agree. Grant taught us how drinking water helps us, improving our concentration, cognition, mood, emotions, memory, reaction time, increasing oxygen to our brain, preventing head aches and reducing stress.
So go grab a glass of water, and I’ll see you next week with Chapter 7 on Insight.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE Recorded for Podbean’s Wellness Week “The Top 5 Health Staples” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/
[iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #285 with Dr. Gregory Kelly on “How to Beat Aging and Stress with Qualia Senolytics” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-gregory-kelly-from-neurohacker-collective-on-how-to-beat-aging-and-stress-with-qualia-senolytics/
Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #305 with Dr. Gregory Kelly on Qualia Synbiotics https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/returning-guest-dr-gregory-kelly-on-qualia-synbiotic-optimizing-digestion-and-mood-with-prebiotics-probiotics-and-postbiotics/
[v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #318 with Dmitri Leonov on Taopatch, Nanotechnology for Health and Wellness of the Future https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dmitri-leonov-on-taopatch-understanding-nanotechnology-for-health-and-wellness-of-the-future/
[vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #246 with Jeff Kleck on “Using Neuroscience to Inspire Thinkers in our Schools, Sports and the Workplace” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jeff-kleck-on-using-neuroscience-to-inspire-thinkers-in-schools-sport-and-the-workplace/
[vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #275 “The Damaging Impacts of Sugar on the Brain and Body” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-the-damaging-impacts-of-sugar-on-the-brain-and-body/
[viii] The Daniel Plan by Dr. Amen https://www.danielplan.com/change-your-brain-change-your-life-2/
[ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #273 On Self-Regulation https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-self-regulation-using-neuroscience-to-regulate-automatic-negative-thoughts-emotions-and-behaviors/
Click here for more episodes of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast
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Welcome back to the 11th season of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast. In today's enlightening episode, we unfold the phenomenon of 'flow'—a state of profound immersion leading to peak performance. Our exploration is rooted in the teachings of Grant Bosnick and psychologist Mike Csikszentmihalyi, as we look at how strategies like rigorous self-awareness, customized planning, and potential improvement assessment contribute to achieving this state of blissful productivity.
We delve deeper into the neuroscience of flow by understanding the brain changes that occur during this state. This discussion is enriched with insights from neuroscientist Arne Dietrich. We learn about the shift from conscious to subconscious intrinsic system that results in heightened creativity and enhanced mood—making tasks appear effortless and enjoyable.
The episode also sheds light on the key neurochemicals responsible for inducing and sustaining the flow state - dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and endorphins. This understanding paves the way to comprehend the ecstasy felt during flow, accompanied by an absence of pain and hunger, resulting in a beautifully enhanced mood.
Flow is reported to multiply productivity and happiness. It accelerates learning and creativity while improving problem-solving skills. We conclude the episode with practical tips to help you understand better, induce and maintain flow and thus multiply productivity, reach your goals, and experience profound joy in your efforts.
On today's episode #326 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] just a few weeks ago. Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.
In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering:
✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.
✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.
✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.
✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.
✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.
There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[ii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year.
EPISODE #326, Chapter 5, “The Neuroscience of Flow” we will cover:
✔ A Review of Peak Performance and Using Flow for Increased Productivity in the Workplace with EP 27 with Friederike Fabritius.
✔ What is the Flow State?
✔ How to prepare for the Flow State.
✔ What does the Flow State feel like?
✔ Getting into Flow
✔ The Neuroscience of Flow
✔ The Benefits of Flow in the Workplace and Beyond
✔ 4 TIPS for Getting into the Flow State to Increase Productivity
Today we dive into Chapter 5 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Neuroscience of Flow” which came out as MEDIUM importance (orange score) alongside the topics of Mindfulness[iii] that we covered last week.
Flashback to Friederike Fabritius on Peak Performance
What I loved about seeing this topic included in Grant’s 18 chapters was that I remember watching Pioneer in Neuorleadership, Friederike Fabritius presenting on “The Recipe of Peak Performance and Flow” that I shared on our first interview together back on EPISODE #27[iv] in October 2019. When I watch some of these earlier interviews I remember what life what like before I had invested in a high-tech recording system. You will hear some bugs that today, AI can erase, taking our peak performance to new heights. Talking about Peak Performance, these days, I record as usual, (using a Rodecaster Pro Recording System) and then after production, AI cleans up every recorded for me. It’s new, and still ironing out some bugs with it, but mind-boggling to see where we started out, and where we are today. We can always strive forward and improve where we were yesterday.
What I remember loving the most about Friederike’s first talk that I found back in 2017 that she did for high level executives in Barcelona, Spain, was that she accurately described what the psychologist, researcher and “father of flow”[v] (known in his work environment as Mike C) that he devoted his entire lifetime to. And that is, what constitutes a happy life. “Mike C,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (from Claremont Graduate University in CA) along with Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania (who we’ve mentioned before on this podcast “set out to develop a focus on happiness, well-being, and positivity with a goal to create a field focused on human well-being and the conditions that enable people to flourish and live satisfying lives.”[vi]
Friederike explained this concept of “flow” or “peak performance” as an optimal state that occurs when our brain releases three chemicals: noradrenaline (released with a challenge), dopamine (released with anything that gives you pleasure), and acetylcholine (released when you have focused attention).
She reminded us about learning to find our “optimal level” of performance by knowing thyself. Some people she says, need challenge to perform optimally (I’m like this for sure), and other people, you must take the challenge or pressure away for them to perform at their best. One person performs better with an element of “threat” that they perceive as a “reward” and this motivates them, while another person shuts down with this “threat.” To reach peak performance levels with YOUR work, it helps to know how you reach your optimal levels best.
Take This Understanding to Create Flow in the Workplace
How can we create this “flow state” with our work? If you are working in an environment that’s too easy, or not challenging, you will be under challenged, and reaching peak performance in this scenario is difficult as you will be bored. Or, be careful if you are in a workplace with too much challenge, where you are over aroused, constantly putting out fires, and under high stress or pressure, all the time. Over time, without balance, this person will burn out. At the brain level, their amygdala grows bigger, and they will begin to see threats where there are none. Friederike reminds us to find a workplace where we can reach optimal levels of challenge, (if you look at the image in the show notes, it’s at the peak of the curve). Boredom or too easy on the left of the curve, and stress/anxiety at the right of the curve, with optimal levels, or our sweet spot for peak performance at the top. It’s working here where we can access peak performance or flow where we are able to get into the zone with our work, and lose track of time. [vii]
(Image credit: Achieving a flow state)
You can see why it’s important to find your optimal level of performance for this magical brain state to occur.
THINK ABOUT THIS!
When have YOU accessed flow? What were you doing? Maybe you’ve lost track of time reading an enjoyable novel, or while writing, or running?
There are two activities where I’ve experienced this state: hiking in the mountains, or writing these podcast episodes. I can be running through the mountains, and hours can go by before I look at my watch and decide to turn back before darkness hits, or I run out of time, or I can sit down at my desk in the early morning, to write one of these episodes, and find myself still there, and the whole day has gone by. I can easily lose track of time in both these scenarios, and feel exactly what the research supports, that this state of mind “is accompanied with a sense of accomplishment, meaningfulness, and positive mood.”[viii]
So what does Grant Bosnick say about flow in his book “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership?” He mentions the “father of flow” in the second paragraph, and defines flow as “the mental state of being fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of an activity we are doing. In essence, it is characterized by complete absorption in what we do, performing at the edge of our capabilities, peak performance. In this state, it feels effortless, as if things are flowing together.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
Grant mentions that “we are in micro flow all the time. When we look for it, we can ride it into jacked flow. We can train ourselves into flow. And heighten our performance.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
Now we are talking. I’ve only noticed flow AFTER it has occurred, and have not been in the habit of training myself into flow, so this is going to be a new practice for me this year.
PREPARING FOR THE FLOW STATE:
Grant prepares us for flow, just like Friederike, who suggests that we find the right amount of challenge, and then says that “it’s something that we make happen; it is not something that happens to us.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
“Flow depends on our ability to control what happens in our consciousness moment by moment. Each of us has to achieve it on the basis of our own individual efforts and creativity. We are in control of consciousness when we have the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, and to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
We have talked about ways to develop our higher faculties of our mind[ix], like our will, on recent episodes, which is one way to help us to focus our attention, moment by moment and block out distractions, and Grant brings us back to chapter 4 on Mindfulness that he mentions helps us to control our attention at will. See how all of these chapters work together? Developing Mindfulness, will help us to strengthen our ability to access the flow state.
HOW DOES THIS STATE FEEL?
Grant gives some examples from a dancer who describes flow as “your concentration is complete” or a rock climber who says “you are so involved in what you are doing that you aren’t thinking of yourself as separate from the immediate activity.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). Grant shares that he feels this state while drumming, or designing a presentation saying that “his body and mind are one, working together.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick.
When I’m running in the mountains, in this state, it’s like me and the mountains are one. I don’t see what’s around me, just the small area of pathway right in front of me. Or when I’m writing at my desk, it’s just me, the keyboard and the computer screen. All sounds are blocked out, and it’s difficult to break me away from the desk, mid-thought. I have to finish writing, or the flow is gone, and my family knows when I’m in this state, and not to knock on the door, which will break this state of deep focused concentration.
GETTING INTO FLOW:
Grant has a reflection activity to help us to practice getting into this flow state. He suggests:
THINK: When have hours passed by without you realizing it?THINK: When did things just click into place and felt effortless?OBSERVE: Once you know what flow feels like for you, notice the type of activities you were doing to obtain this state in other areas of your life.The Neuroscience of Flow
DID YOU KNOW that in flow “as our attention heightens, the slower and energy-intensive extrinsic system (conscious processing) is traded off for the far faster and more efficient processing of the subconscious, intrinsic system?” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
Grant quotes Arne Dietrich, a neuroscientist from the American University of Beirut who says “It’s an efficiency exchange of the energy in our brain—trading the energy we normally use for resource-intensive conscious thinking activity for (resource-efficient) heightened attention and awareness. The technical term for this exchange is transient hypofrontality.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
Grant also explains the changes in our brain waves. “When we are in flow, we transition from the faster-moving beta waves of normal waking consciousness to the slower, deeper alpha waves and even borderline theta waves. Alpha waves are like a day-dreaming mode…theta waves are the ones we experience during REM or just before we fall asleep, where ideas combine in amazing and unique ways.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).
When I got to the part of this chapter where Grant wrote about the neurochemistry of flow, I stopped and remembered Friederike’s presentation from 2014 and the graphic I created with the three brain chemicals she listed that were important for getting into flow; noradrenaline, dopamine and aceylcholine.
Grant sited the research from Neuroscientists at Bonn University who determined 5 neurochemicals present during this flow state. They found that endorphins (that help with pain and stress relief), norepinephrine which is the same neurochemical Friederike mentioned, noradrenaline (not sure why scientists have two words that mean the same neurochemical…maybe they couldn’t agree on this name and so now we’ve got two words for the same thing (that’s released with a challenge), anandamide (that regulates pain, anxiety and hunger) and serotonin (that plays a key role in our mood) that are all present during the flow state. Understanding the functions of these neurochemicals helps me to understand why during this state of flow I don’t notice aches and pains I have, hunger and thirst disappears, and I’m happy for hours at a time.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FLOW?
When you are in flow, I’d say it feels almost dream-like, or trance-like as our brain waves slow down, allowing us to access higher levels of creativity.
In Chapter 5, Grant points out that
“In a ten-year study at McKinsey, top executives reported being five times more productive in flow.”“Flow helps us to learn faster. Recent research says somewhere between 400% and 500% faster according to research by Advanced Brain Monitoring and DARPA, subjects had a 490% increase in skill acquisition in the state of flow.”“Flow enhances creativity and problem solving. The University of Sydney tested flows impact on creative problem-solving abilities…in a flow state, creative problem-solving increases by 430%”The father of flow, Mike C “Csikszentmihalyi also found, through his research, that the people on earth who have the most flow in their lives are the happiest people on Earth.”“When we are in flow we forget the unpleasant aspects of life.”I knew that the flow state was powerful, but until reading the research that Grant put into this chapter, I didn’t realize just how powerful the flow state really is. Now I’m thinking I want to use this state to make life more enjoyable and help me to develop new skills at a faster rate.
HOW TO GET INTO FLOW
You’ll have to read chapter 5 for all of Grant’s tips. I liked his tips on Getting into Flow Through Mental Stimulation, since this is what I’m doing while writing this episode. I’ve been sitting at my desk, writing this episode since early this morning, and I just looked at the time and it’s well into the afternoon. I’ve been in flow, writing for at least five hours.
How can I use Grant’s Tips to ride myself into what he calls “jacked flow” that will help me to 5x my productivity and accomplish more with less effort?
Grant suggests:
PICK A GOAL: Think of whatever it is you are working on a decide on the goal. Finish the presentation, or write the proposal or for me, finish writing this episode so I can record it tomorrow.PRIME YOUR BRAIN FOR FLOW: Next he suggests bringing in mindfulness, that takes us back to our last episode where we learned about PQ reps. Use mindfulness to filter out your distractions and maintain control with your attention. I found it does help to let others around you know you’ve blocked off a time where you cannot be interrupted.THINK ABOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE GOAL: Why do you want to complete the thing you are working on. For me, with each podcast episode I write, record and release, it helps me to not only implement these new ideas into my own life, but I know I’m gaining skills that help me far beyond the content. Hosting this podcast, writing and recording these episodes, helps me to improve my presentation skills, communication, which improves my overall levels of confidence, let along what I’m gaining from implementing these ideas myself. What benefits do YOU receive from whatever it is that YOU are working on?PUT YOURSELF ON THE EDGE: Ask yourself, is this challenging me? If it’s not, it might not get you into the flow state. If it is, then keep working, and see how far you can get. How long can you stretch your flow state.REVIEW AND CONCLUSION
To review and conclude this week’s episode #326 on “The Neuroscience of Flow” we asked the question:
DID YOU KNOW THAT “When we are in flow, we transition from the faster-moving beta waves of normal waking consciousness to the slower, deeper alpha waves and even borderline theta waves” and “we are five times more productive in this state.” (Bosnick, Chapter 5).
We reviewed an early episode with Friederike Fabritius where she taught us about Peak Performance and How to Create Flow in the Workplace.
We dove deep into how to prepare for the flow state, what it feels like, urging us all to think about WHEN we access this state ourselves.
We looked into The Neuroscience of Flow, the neurochemicals that are present in our brain during flow, with some additional ones that were new for me.
We covered the benefits of flow, that opened my eyes to how important this brain state is for workplace productivity, creativity and innovation. The research from McKinsey mentioned productivity soared by 5x while using the flow state, making me decide it was time to work on inducing flow more often in my work week.
We ended with 4 STEPS to getting into “jacked flow” as Grant calls it, to give ourselves 5x more productivity, with less effort.
Grant tells us to:
PICK A GOAL: With what we want to accomplish is this state. PRIME YOUR BRAIN FOR FLOW: By using PQ reps from our episode on Mindfulness, and blocking out all distractions. KNOW THE BENEFIT OF THE GOAL: Which takes us back to the deeper meaning of “why” we do what we do. PUT YOURSELF ON THE EDGE: You must be challenging yourself. This made me think of something my mentor Bob Proctor would say all the time. He’d say “If you aren’t sitting on the edge, you’re taking up too much space” and I used to think about this. What exactly does he mean? Don’t slouch in our chairs? He meant always lean in, take on difficult, challenging work, or you are wasting valuable time.It’s here I want us to think back to where we began on the map of Grant’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.
REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4
EPISODE #323, Chapter 2, “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Your 2024 Goals”
✔ What is Kurt Lewin’s “Field Theory” and how can we use it to improve our performance towards our goals in 2024?
REFLECT: What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance?
EPISODE #324, Chapter 3, “The Neuroscience of Inspiration”
✔ Uncover WHO or WHAT inspires you.
✔ Learn what happens to our brain when we are inspired (by a person or a thing).
✔ Apply the Neuroscience of Inspiration to our life in 3 steps: WRITE, THINK and LEARN to Level Up Our Results in 2024.
REFLECT: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights?
EPISODE #325 Chapter 4 “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness”
✔ A review of our past episodes where we covered the topic of Mindfulness.
✔ Defining Mindfulness and where many people begin their practice.
✔ Putting Mindfulness into practice using PQ Reps, coined by Positive Intelligence Founder, Shirzad Chamine, to build our mental muscles over time.
✔ My challenge to you to keep working on Mindfulness for improved productivity in our personal and work lives.
REFLECT: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey?
Which leads us to connect the dots to chapter 5 on The Neuroscience of Flow.
REFLECT: When do you experience this brain state, and how can you use it intentionally to reach 5x your usual levels of productivity in your work life?
With that thought, I’ll close out this episode, with a quote from the “Father of Flow” Mike C, who reminds us
The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen.
No one is going to do this work for us.
I’ll see you next week for our review of Chapter 6 on Physical Health.
See you next time.
REFERENCES:
[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/
[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/
[iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #325 on “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insight-from-grant-bosnicks-tailored-approaches-to-self-leadership/
[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #27 with Friederike Fabritius on “The Recipe for Peak Performance” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/pioneer-in-the-field-of-neuroleadership-friederike-fabritius-on-the-recipe-for-achieving-peak-performance/
[v] https://www.cgu.edu/people/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/
[vi] IBID
[vii] Achieving a flow state by Allaya Cooks-Campbell March 7, 2022 https://www.betterup.com/blog/flow-state
[viii] The Neuroscience of Flow: Involvement of the Locus Coeruleus Norepinephrine System by Dimitr van der Linden et al Published April 14, 2021 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645498/full
[ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #294 “Beyond our 5 Senses and Using the Six Higher Faculties of the Mind” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/beyond-our-5-senses-understanding-and-using-the-six-higher-faculties-of-our-mind/
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