Changing Your Mind

This week I find myself wondering how many of us don’t really understand how we think, or realise how important our thoughts and outlook are, or how much our mindset can affect our everyday lives, either negatively or positively. As I am currently preparing to deliver mindset training to staff and students in a local school, I feel positively excited. The opportunity to introduce a whole school to such powerful ‘tools’ that could help them to cope better with the stress, support brain growth (in size and neural connections) and maybe even help them to become smarter and more successful is just… brilliant!

On visiting the school for an initial chat, the deputy head teacher explained that some students taking mock GCSE exams were having a ‘melt down’ with the stress of it all.  I was instantly transported back in time to my own experience of high school exams.

I have always felt nervous before exams and can vividly remember taking one look at a maths ‘O’ level paper and bursting into tears, saying ‘I can’t do any of this!” The invigilator spoke quietly to me and suggested I take a few breaths before taking another look at the paper. I did calm down enough to complete the exam and scraped through with a grade 6. I didn’t care that this was the lowest grade pass, I was just so delighted because I had convinced myself that I had failed: my inner talk being “I am no good at maths; my brain isn’t wired that way”.

I never really enjoyed going to school much and left at the first opportunity to study ‘A’ levels at college, which although still stressful, were more enjoyable because I could choose what to study: I was interested in taking psychology as an option and they didn’t offer that in school so it gave me a way out.

I passed and went onto train as a nurse and then a registered holistic therapist (enjoying both but still experiencing periods of stress) before studying for an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology as a mature student. It was the MAPP course that helped me to understand why I have experienced stress in every exam I have ever taken.

Mindset: Fixed v Growth

On the second weekend at university, we were introduced to the concept of fixed and growth mindsets. We completed an exercise that asked us to:

“Think about a time when you felt measured and write about how this felt”.

I immediately thought back to my 11+ which I failed (almost certainly due to stress) and that subsequently defined which ‘set’ I was put in for English and Maths at high school. I had been measured and failed; I was no good at Maths. Even once I had settled in at high school and was ‘promoted’ into the top maths set and entered for the GCSE’s a year early, my fixed mindset didn’t change, so neither did my stress levels. I gave up advanced maths after a few weeks because I was suffering from migraine headaches – before every maths lesson – which stopped when I left.

In a fixed mindset, the belief held is that ability is static, you are born with a certain amount of intelligence or ability (such as creativity, musicality) and that there is not much you can do to change this. This can lead to feelings of helplessness, avoiding challenges, giving up easily and an inability to accept constructive criticism. Effort is viewed as a sign that you are ‘dumb’ rather than smart and both failure and success cause anxiety. As Dweck (2012) states, “fixed mindset makes people into non-learners” (p.18).

In a fixed mindset, an action becomes an identity: ‘I failed the exam’ becomes ‘I am a failure’…

From a growth mindset perspective, the belief held is that we can all grow and learn through failure and effort is viewed as essential for learning and mastery of new skills. When in a growth mindset people embrace challenges, persist in the face of obstacles and learn from their mistakes.

Carol Dweck (2006) describes how “The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life,”(p6): I can understand now how my fixed mindset as a child went unchallenged and continued to show up into adulthood (mainly at exams). Personal development and maturity has helped a lot and I am now predominantly growth mindset, although can ‘slip’ without continued effort.

So you can see why I am really excited at the chance to tell young people, teachers and parents that ‘measures’ are merely a snapshot at one moment in time; that we are all able to grow, get smarter and reach for our dreams with the right tools…

1. There are some great resources out there too, giving information about how to discover your individual mindset and how to adopt a growth mindset. Go on… change your mind!

 References

Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

Dweck, C. (2012). Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential. Robinson. Kindle edition.

Maggie Bevington worked in both conventional and holistic medicine before achieving an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP 2014). She now delivers Upward Spirals workshops: a unique, integrative, research-based approach to health and wellbeing – combining Positive Psychology, mindfulness training, nutrition, exercise and sleep – for individuals, groups and organisations.

Website: www.upwardspirals.org.uk

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Animals have the same happy brain chemicals that we have. Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin reward an animal with a good feeling when it meets a survival need. Animals don’t mask these impulses with words, so they help us understand the impulses we feel so powerfully.

Dopamine

Dopamine is released when a lion sees a gazelle it can catch. Dopamine creates the excitement you feel when you approach a reward.

Endorphin

Endorphin is released when a gazelle is bitten by a lion. Endorphin creates an oblivion that masks pain, which enables the gazelle to fight for its life.

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is released when a gazelle enjoys the protection of a herd. Oxytocin creates the nice safe feeling of social support.

Serotonin

Serotonin is released when a lion sees that it’s in the one-up position in regard to food or mating opportunity. Serotonin creates the feeling of being “special.”

Impulses without words

These impulses can be hard to see in yourself because you don’t consciously think them in words, but you can easily see them in others. It would be nice if our happy brain chemicals just flowed all the time, but they evolved to do a specific job. They are only released in small squirts and you have to do more to get more. This is nature’s operating system.

The mammal brain rewards you with a positive feeling when you step toward meeting a need, and it alarms you with a bad feeling when you see a threat to meeting your needs. But it defines your “needs” in a quirky way. It cares about the survival of your genes, and it cares about anything that turned on your happy chemicals in youth. We mammals are not born hard-wired with the experience of our ancestors. We wire ourselves from life experience. Anything that triggered your happy brain chemicals in the past wired you to expect more good feelings in that way in the future. Whatever felt good during your myelin years (before eight and during puberty) built the superhighways of your brain. This is why a bad hair day can feel life-threatening, while a good hair day sparks positive chemistry that doesn’t match your conscious inner dialogue. It’s not easy being a mammal! We all end up with some pathways we could do without.

Happy chemical downsides

Each happy chemical has a down side.
– We habituate to dopamine quickly, leaving us with a been-there/done-that feeling unless we keep stepping toward a new goal.
– Endorphin is stimulated by real physical pain, but inflicting pain on one’s self to enjoy it is not a sustainable path.
– Oxytocin causes herd behavior, with consequences so familiar to us.
– Serotonin causes endless frustration about being special, even in lives that are safe and comfortable beyond the wildest imagining of our ancestors.

Like water in a storm

The electricity in your brain flows like water in a storm, finding the paths of least resistance. Your paths got built from accidents of experience, not from your conscious intent. Your electricity will flow into those old pathways until you build new ones. You can design a new happy habit to stimulate your happy chemicals in new ways, and wire it in to your neurons by repeating it for forty-five days. This is the subject of my book Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.

Positive psychology offers many frameworks for enhancing good feelings. (For example, Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218-226. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.2) Knowledge of the evolutionary origins of our positive emotions can support and strengthen these models.

About the Author: Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which helps people re-wire their brain chemistry naturally. InnerMammalInstitute.org She’s the author of Meet Your Happy Chemicals, Beyond Cynical, and I, Mammal. Dr. Breuning is Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

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An even more substantial discovery is that we can tap into our dopamine reserves, and release dopamine at will. This is one of the most important discoveries I have made throughout my research. Releasing more dopamine will help you form positive habits by allowing you to feel joy as a reward. However as discussed earlier, you have to keep in mind your long-term goals while focusing on a short-term craving and desires. Focusing only on your cravings (I love hamburgers, so I will have one) may provide you the immediate pleasure, but may also distract you from establishing your desired habits (a healthy dietary routine).

Creating Positive Rewards: Tap into Your Positive Charge

As humans we are designed to work hard, to feel good when we accomplish something, and to feel bad when we don’t. It is wonderful to know that creating a sensation of feeling good is fully within our power. You should create a sense of reward for yourself every time you achieve something. Even completing the smallest routines such as brushing your teeth, getting dressed, driving to work, opening the door for someone—these are all achievements. If you see them as more than just a regular routine, you can potentially tap into your dopamine reserve. And when your dopamine is released, you feel good and are ready to achieve your next goal.

To achieve any large goal you need to break it down into small goals. For example, one of my goals was to write this book. But that took some time, and after two years of research, I had still not written a word. It looked like I was getting nowhere. But my goal wasn’t just to write a book. It was also to complete a number of steps along the way. So I broke down my goal into many daily successes. One of my goals was to write 500 words a day. It was a small aim but by achieving it I increased my dopamine level on a daily basis, and that kept me going until I finished the book.

Build Habits that Perpetuate Positive Inputs and Outputs

Now that I understand this process, I know that there was the time when I worked very hard all day and still felt unhappy with the results. At the end of the day I felt I had accomplished nothing, and would go to bed thinking about all the things I had not completed. I would feel bad, not sleep well and then wake up with a headache…and start all over again. This was a habit of mine that would continue for months and then years. Needless to say, I felt bad about myself, the work I needed to do, and the goals I felt I had not accomplished. Sound familiar?

A friend suggested that at the end of the day, I write down everything that I had done. To my surprise, every time I did this, the list just got longer and longer! Looking back, I now know that by writing down all that I had accomplished I began releasing dopamine into my body. There are many other ways to produce dopamine, such as to celebrate your successes daily, regardless of how big or small they might be. This celebration could be as simple as telling yourself, “I did it!” By breaking your daily task list into small steps and acknowledging every little step you complete will give you a dopamine boost.

For example, if you decide to wake up at 5 AM to exercise, break this down into small steps. First, wake up. Then get dressed to exercise, get a water bottle ready, run on the treadmill for 20 minutes, take a shower, and get dressed for work. Each of these steps is success in itself. By being mindful about each step and feeling good about accomplishing each one, dopamine will be released, making you feel joyful!

Time In*

What can I do to produce more dopamine and be happier and closer to reaching my goals, whatever they might be?

*Time In is when you stop for a few minutes or more, reflect on the reading, and ask yourself some important questions. The purpose of this procedure is to help you understand the topic you are studying. I highly encourage you to take a moment for Time In.

About the author: Braco Pobric is the bestselling author and a founding member and Chief Happiness Officer of the Institute for Advanced Human Performance. He is Certified Positive Psychology Coach, Certified NLP Practitioner and former globally Certified Trainer and Coach for Dale Carnegie Training. Connect with Braco at: https://www.facebook.com/braco.pobric

‘We are the Positive Psychology People’

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Emotion connect neurons

Anger releases the energy we need to push away a potential threat. It’s one of the responses that helped our ancestors survive. Each time your brain releases its anger chemistry, connections build among all the neurons active at that moment. This is how your brain learns from experience. When a future situation resembles a past threat, electricity zips down the path to your anger and prepares you for survival action. Social animals experience social threats as survival threats, which is why mundane conundrums can be triggering. Conscious perception of threat is not necessary because electricity flows easily where it has flowed before.

Common enemies build social bonds

Mammals form social groups to protect themselves from common enemies. They stick with a group despite significant internal conflict because predators quickly annihilate isolated individuals. We have inherited a brain that seeks comfort in social bonds. Common enemies help us sustain those bonds despite inevitable frictions. Your mammal brain feels good about people who share your dislike of certain candidates and causes. Political anger is a reliable way to enjoy the good feeling of safety in numbers.

Mirror neurons build pathways when you observe the political anger of others

Mirror neurons fire when you see another person get rewards or avoid pain. If you observe political anger that appears to get a reward or avoid harm, your brain is inclined to mirror it. If it happens repeatedly, the pathway builds. If it happens before age twenty, the pathway will myelinate, which makes it one of your core circuits. Without conscious intent, you can get wired for political anger if it’s often around you.

The mammal brain looks for safe ways to challenge its social hierarchy

Most mammal groups have a social hierarchy. It emerges organically as each brain looks for safe ways to promote survival. Challenging a stronger individual for food or mating opportunity is not a way to survival. The brain looks for challenges it can win. Venting anger at your boss or your lover has consequences, but venting at a politician on a screen is safe. We have inherited a brain that feels good when it’s in the one-up position, and venting at politicians is an accessible way to feel good.

Political anger is often blamed on today’s world, but history shows that people have always been angry with the power structures around them. That’s what mammals do. We humans drape this response in sophisticated language so its emotional core gets obscured. The eager quest for new political information obscures that way we flow it through old pathways.

We have to live with the brain we’ve got. It enjoys social alliances. It enjoys challenging authority. It enjoys finding threats and preventing them. Political anger is a reliable way to stimulate these good feelings. But it is not a reliable way to solve problems, because it locks people in to responses that fit their old pathways. The greater good is served each time a person inhibits their anger long enough to see the benefits of new solutions instead of just the threats.

The automatic political responses of others are easy to see, but the automaticity of one’s own response are easy to overlook. Electricity simply flows into your well-developed neural pathways, giving you the sense that you know what is going on. Inhibiting old responses feels unsafe, but it’s a valuable contribution to the greater good.

About the Author: Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which helps people re-wire their brain chemistry naturally. InnerMammalInstitute.org She’s the author of Meet Your Happy Chemicals, Beyond Cynical, and I, Mammal. Dr. Breuning is Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay.

‘We Are The Positive Psychology People’

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