Train your brain to change your life
Prefrontal cortex is like a muscle
DO you sometimes go through those low periods in your life in which you look around and it seems everyone else is doing so much better than you are?
These people seem to look amazing for their age, have fabulous jobs and are always busy with something that makes you say: “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Well, you could have, but you were probably so busy thinking about it that you didn’t actually do anything.
The latest research into neuroplasticity shows that we can, in fact, train our brains to think in a certain way.
The prefrontal cortex (that section of the brain right behind your forehead) is like a muscle we need to strengthen.
This is the part of the brain that helps us with things like decision-making and regulating our behaviour. Self-control, or willpower, is taken care of in this part of the brain.
The more you exercise your willpower — like committing to not having a drink after work, even though you are at a work function — strengthens the muscle. It is exactly like training your body.
We often get into this blame-and-victim mentality of looking outward and feeling as though we have been short-changed.
There are certain things you have no control over, like the day you will die or the weather, but for the vast majority of your life you actually are the driver.
You can choose what you eat, your exercise regimen, your friends, your career, your next holiday destination, your level of discipline, and so on.
If you have always believed that you were meant for more, then today you can take back control and choose to become the grandest version of yourself.
It is a matter of deciding and sticking to a plan. If you choose to think and act the way you always have, you will get what you have always got . . . wise words from Einstein.
You need to follow a few steps and in no time you will start living the life of your imagining:
Step 1
Are you ready to change? Remember, you cannot be half-pregnant: you either are or you are not. You need to go all in or you will not see results. This is a mind game and those with the strongest minds will get the biggest rewards.
Step 2
What is the goal? Most people have three main goals: health, money and relationships. Pick one — let’s not overwhelm ourselves. There will be one thing that you are so sick and tired of that you are ready to change right now.
Step 3
Why? You need a “why” in order for your mind to buy into this change. It may be that you are unhappy in your relationship, or you feel lethargic and want to lose a few kilos. Whatever it is, write it down and look at it every day. But usually, if your “why” is strong enough, your brain has already bought into the programme. You need to feel it with your entire being.
Step 4
Gather all the information you need to make the transformation. Look for information that challenges you and makes you think a little differently — information that makes you say “I never saw it like that”. Remember, the reason you want to change is because you have been doing something wrong. So do not get egotistical and reject the new information because you have never thought about it before. The quickest way to stop learning and growing is to think you know everything. A wise man knows he knows nothing.
Step 5
“Fake it ’til you make it.” You need to start behaving in a way that is already in line with your vision. Do not overthink it. If you know you need to be at the gym four times a week, drive there, go through the door and walk to the change room. Go in before your mind talks you out of it. Remember, we are all here to master ourselves and actions help us to take charge of where we are going.
This is your life and it is time to play by your rules. Sitting around and waiting for life to happen is so last year.
Make you happen today, because nobody else can.