An amazing fact… Did you know that research shows that our brains change and adapt throughout our lifetime by creating and reinforcing an ever-increasing variety of connections or pathways!
We have over 100 billion neurons in our brains that can make more connections than the stars in the night sky! Your brain is shaped by your thoughts, actions and experiences and this in turn determines how you are wired and therefore the way your life is shaped. In a powerful sense, this really means you have the ability to change the way your mind works.
All you need to do is to consciously choose what pathways or thoughts you want to focus on, therefore allowing yourself to control your emotions and actions. The key obstacle here is only your willingness to want to change.
You can reshape your mind to achieve real changes in your life. We see this with professional and private clients especially in the coaching arena and the only hindering factor is ones willingness to change or believe that change is possible.
Many of us have our own mindsets, actions and behaviours that can be traced back to what are really threats deeply wired in our brains. When we sense these threats we trigger our fears that then make us revert to our trusted responses. We then become what we repeatedly do, most of the time without noticing.
This may then have an impact on our freedom, happiness and fulfilment in life, a huge cost to pay for something we can change!
We need to find the root cause of these threats by delving into the fear behind them. An example could be the threat of making a mistake where the root cause would be around the fear of failure.
So what can we do?
Get in tune!
We spend most days with our brains in autopilot and we do what has become ingrained in us, usually without even knowing it. We need to wake up to what is around us then we can recognize what may be holding us back or what we fear.
Mindfulness is a term I hear a lot and in simple terms, this means becoming aware of yourself and your surroundings by paying more attention to the moment and things that are external to you. We can practice mindful listening, where we shut off our “self-talk” or internal dialogue to be really listening and present. This will help you observe the activity of your mind and where you naturally default. In simple terms… think about the way you think…….
Think outside the square
Now we need to look at what needs to change or we will go back to our old ways! We need to change our thinking as thinking is a habit and we need to redesign the way we think in order to produce new behaviours and weaken the old ones. We need to redirect our mindset many times in order to create a new pathway and create the change we want. By thinking differently to how you normally would, it allow you to CHOOSE how you want to see the world and how you will RESPOND to it.
You will also grow as a person as part of the process… something to think about.
Keep flying!
