Brains and thinking: A smart approach to personal change

An Article by Molly Rose Teuke
Molly Rose Coaching

What if personal change didn’t have to be hard?

What if it were easier than we ever thought possible?

What if we could think our way into change with ease and grace?

Your brain’s default setting is ‘autopilot.’ You know, those reflex reactions that get in the way of good intentions. Flipping on the TV instead of going for a walk. Procrastinating on a project you promised you’d get to. Snapping at the kids when you vowed you’d be more patient. It happens on life’s bigger intentions, too – changing jobs, getting fit, reducing stress, making new friends, deciding when and where to retire — anything you’ve decided is important to you in your life.

Life is easier when your brain is on your side.
When you want to change your life in some way, your brain doesn’t always sign on as a willing partner, at least not right away. More often, it does what comes naturally: It resists.

The brain’s basic organizing principle is ‘minimize threat, maximize reward.’ Unexpected or unusual activity of any significant level—like a new way of thinking or behaving—is perceived as a threat, and it’s the brain’s job to protect you from threat.

In other words, your brain—specifically, the part of your brain called the limbic system—lives to maintain the status quo, and will sabotage the loftiest of goals. When you send a message to your brain to do something ‘different,’ it strains to do what’s familiar and predictable, even when you really do want to change.

Personal change doesn’t have to be hard.
Every day, the emerging field of neuroscience is shining new light into the shadowy mysteries of the brain. Thanks to brain imaging technologies and the growing scope of brain research, we have a pretty clear picture of why and how our brains sabotage our best intentions.
Researchers are helping us understand how simply taking time to think differently can influence our brains to work for us, not against us.

A good coach helps you recognize and cultivate the kind of thinking that keeps your brain from operating on autopilot. Thinking that gets the prefrontal cortex (PFC) involved—and that changes everything. The PFC is where we do our real thinking, where we reason things out. It’s the ‘you’ in “…when you really do want to change.”

When your PFC prevails, you get your way, and change occurs. Problem is, your PFC is only a tiny piece of your brain, just 4% to 5% of its total mass. It’s also the new kid on the block. It’s the most recent in evolutionary terms, and the latest to develop as we grow. Which means it’s easily bullied by the limbic system (that part of your brain most responsible for emotion) and the basal ganglia (a much bigger part of your brain responsible for behaviors we’ve hard-wired to become automatic, like riding a bike).

Yet, we can think our way out of autopilot.

We keep growing our brains as long as we live, and those little gray cells are highly teachable. Call me today to learn more about the powerful impact of coaching with the brain in mind, and how I can help you make personal change a whole lot easier.