Behaviour Matters June 2015

Extracts Fr om
6
Three questions
(well,
technically two as one is repeated
twice, although in a
different context), that are
unnervingly simple, yet can
make a significant impact
on the way that we approach
challenges, respond to opportunities,
create opportunities,
think, behave and
adapt. These three questions (I know it’s two) can
help shape your ability to think differently. I appreciate
that sounds a little ethereal, however,
something quite amazing is happening in your
brain, I dare say right now.
I am quite obsessed by the brain. It’s an absolutely astounding organ,
yet we pump our bodies with alcohol, tobacco and drugs, which all have
a detrimental affect. I say we; I mean you – and by you, I mean a vast
generalisation, not necessarily specifically you. I don’t drink alcohol, nor
smoke. However, if we were to conduct a functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRI) scan of your brain right now (that’s the one you might
have seen on television, where they lay the person flat on their back
as they’re slid into what looks like a giant plastic doughnut), we would
be able to see, highlighted in various colours, where the activity in your
brain was at any given moment. We’d be able to ask you questions, pose
conundrums for you to consider and ask you to imagine things, so that
we could see which areas of your brain were activated by the different
tasks. Following that scan, if I were to ask you to start challenging things
more often, by asking “why do we do it this way?” and to then follow that
question up with another: “how can we make this better?” You would
begin, very gradually, to change the way that you think. You’d begin to
approach things differently. If after a period of time, say three or six
months, we repeated the fMRI scan and I asked you the same questions,
we’d notice changes. Your brain would be functioning differently, purely
as a result of how you approach things, as a direct result of the language
you’d been using. Remarkable isn’t it? We have the power to literally
rewire our brain’s neural circuitry. If you’re at all surprised, interested
or gob-smacked right now, this is exactly the problem I have with the
Bite Sized Jez
On Performance
scientific community. In writing this
book, it is, in truth, the beginning of a
crusade to make more people aware
of some of the remarkable advances
and understanding in psychology and
human behaviour, which seem to be
rarely shared with the general public.
Yet it’s so important because with
this level of understanding, even at a
primitive level, we are better able to
understand just how capable we are,
how to change our behaviour and
why it’s important, too.
Over the past twenty or so years,
so much has been learned about how we behave and it’s unlocked
some serious questions about human potential. For example, we now
understand that our behaviour today is not concrete: who we are as a
person; the things we stand for, believe in, the way that we behave
and think is not permanent. This means that we could be somebody
completely different in six months than who we are today. It’s both
enlightening and encouraging to know that we can change something as
significant as the way our brain behaves. Of course, many aspects play
a role in this and both accentuate and prevent this potential, whether
they are genetic or environmental, for example. However, this is exactly
why we should challenge things more often and ask why it is that a
particular process or activity is conducted in a certain way. That question
alone is useful (“why do we do it this way?”) but becomes significantly
more powerful when coupled with asking how the very thing you are
challenging could be improved (“how can we improve it?”).
By Jez Rose, published by Dr. Zeus Publishing
And that’s where we’re
cutting you off!
This is the last ever Extract From
feature. Be a Purple Banana is
now available for you to buy on
Amazon.co.uk
Humans have a tendency to define things by what they are not: not good enough, not smart enough, not
extraordinary enough. Focus on the things that are real - what have you got? What can you do? Build a greater you
by enhancing your natural talents, expanding your skillset or knowledge and embracing the things you do well, not the
definition based on another person. Ask a friend or colleague to list all of your talents – your opinion is often skewed!
www.thebehaviourexpert.com
www.highperformanceprogramme.com