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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Thought Tweet #854.5

by Rick Baker
On Oct 24, 2013

Thought Tweet #854.5 When you criticize people you trigger their 'No' responses....and, at that point, constructive communication is over.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

When 'No' thoughts are filling the brain there is little room for 'Yes" thoughts. In fact, chances are 'No' and 'Yes' thoughts will not want to occupy the brain at the same time. They would rather take turns. And, for most people the 'No' thoughts are much more sticky. When they find their way into people's brains they stick there until they run out of reasons to defend and bolster the ego.

While 'No' thoughts are sticking around the brain, working away to defend and bolster the ego there is little, if any, opportunity for constructive communication...particularly communication involving the person who triggers the 'No' response.

Put your foot down...say "No" to "No"

by Rick Baker
On Oct 15, 2013

Beliefs: some good, some not-so-good

Beliefs intertwine with perceptions and patterns in your brain. Then beliefs manifest their influence, acting as your 'internal filters'. These filters guide your view of the world. These filters guide your behaviour. Your beliefs become deeply-held in your subconscious mind. From that strong base, your beliefs generate your habits…some good, some bad. Your beliefs determine your appetite for new things, your attitude toward change, and your ability to replace bad habits with good habits.

Do you know the true nature and depths of your beliefs?

Have you taken the time to 'dig deep' and understand your most-powerful beliefs?

These beliefs, your strong-and-deeply-rooted beliefs, govern your life: deep beliefs are the roots of your greatest joys; deep beliefs are the roots of your darkest fears.

Your deepest and most-strongly-held beliefs aid your efforts toward certain goals while they resist your efforts toward other goals. In these ways, your beliefs are fundamental to your life. They are fundamental to how you feel during your life and they are fundamental to whether or not you achieve the success you desire.

Where did your beliefs come from?

When it comes to questions like this, all of us are students. None of us know with certainty why or how we have beliefs. Yet, certain things make sense to us. As examples:

·         We perceive things and our perceptions of those things are taken to our brains

·         Our brains file vast amounts of information in memory, for future reference

·         Our brains like to simplify our lives so they sort things into patterns/concepts

·         With repetition bits and pieces of information solidify into bigger pieces and then into patterns

·         Diversity of perceptions expand and complicate perceptions, building a hierarchy of sorted/related patterns [and concepts]

An illustration...

When we are infants we hear our parents say the word "No". That's an audio perception. As our parents repeat the word "No" we learn "No" is an important part of our lives. Simple repetition of that spoken word causes neurons in our brains to construct deeper "No" pathways. Recognizing the importance of "No", our infant brains begin to build a "No" pattern. Our infant brains quickly pick up diverse perceptions that will feed into the "No" pattern. A parent may show an angry face while saying the word "No". The visual body language signal and the verbal sound signal send 2 separate messages, both of which feed into the growing "No" pattern in our infant brains. We notice/perceive that different situations precede our parents’ "No" messages. We perceive more diversity, more repetition and the "No" pattern becomes stronger, deeper, and more-nuanced. Even as infants we have a very broad and deep understanding of the word “No”. We recognize its sound, we recognize what it looks like when it is written, we recognize the facial expressions and the various forms of body language that accompany the word “No”, and we know the word “No” is expressed to us as a result of a wide range of different situations.

We learn our parents are not the only ones who deliver "No" messages to us. Other family members, to varying degrees, deliver "No" messages. We meet neighbours who have little people of their own and both those neighbours and the toddlers they bring into our lives add more "No" to our perceptions.

Why all this discussion around the word “No”?

That question begs the questions…

Do you understand how the pattern/concept “No” has fed negatives into your belief system?

Do you understand the extent the pattern/concept “No” throttles your efforts toward your desired goals & success?

Do you understand how to go about repairing the damage the word “No” has done to you belief system?

Are you willing to make an effort to find out?

Thought Tweet #835.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 27, 2013

Thought Tweet #835.5 Your brain is pre-programmed to conserve your energy. Don't make your brain go against its grain. Avoid multi-tasking. 

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Our brains are amazing things. They automatically sort information. They automatically recognize patterns. They automatically do all sorts of functions to minimize the use of energy. Then we go and mess all that up by trying to do too many things simultaneously. We multi-task our brains. As a result, we force our brains to operate in a low, grinding gear. Not efficient. Not effective.

Tags:

Brain: about the Human Brain | Thought Tweets

Thought Tweet #822.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 10, 2013

Thought Tweet #822.5 People mirror trust: if one shows evidence of it others sense it and show it too.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Actually it's a double-entendre, double-mirror metaphor: we have mirror neurons in our brains to help us understand other people's intentions...and we tend to mirror other people's behaviour.

Tags:

Brain: about the Human Brain | Thought Tweets | Values: Personal Values

Task-multiing beats up on Multi-tasking

by Rick Baker
On Sep 7, 2013

I've been asked, "What's your definition of multi-tasking and task-multiing?"

Here's how I have answered... 

First - the way I use them, both words refer to processes/actions done by people's brains [not machines].

  • Multi-tasking is doing [or trying to do] a number of different tasks at one time.
  • Task-multiing is doing one thing so well it can either be repeated for profit or used to accomplish more than one goal...or both.

And, there is more...

People do not multi-task well...if not all people then at least the vast majority of people do not multi-task well. When we multi-task our brains slice time & thought and actions up into small pieces to meet the requirements of multiple tasks. When brains do that they must repeatedly shift our attention.

When we multi-task we focus, initiate, stop, shift, re-focus, re-initiate, etc. For a number of reasons, people's brains have trouble doing that.

Another factor: when we are multi-tasking, much of the time we are doing things that are a waste of time. By 'waste of time' I mean things that do not take us toward our goals. By Spirited definition, those things are Bad Habits. The distraction caused by multi-tasking increases the likelihood of doing waste-of-time things.

While we are wasting our time on excessive [multi-tasking] things or struggling with multi-tasking in general, we are not concentrating on activity that can be repeated for profit or can be used to serve multiple purposes. i.e., Many people's brains are too busy [because of their] multi-tasking to perform task-multiing. As a result, multi-tasking people miss many opportunities.

Opportunities are found by people who are able to focus and concentrate the energies in their minds...[and let that focus and concentration fully escape...but that's a topic for another day].

Many brains are neuronally challenged to the point they are over-loaded...in other words - too busy. The people who own those brains are, in reality, too busy for constructive work. What's worse, even more people think they are too busy - these people are mixing I'm-too-busy thoughts with bits and pieces and fragments of multi-tasking thoughts. Now, that's a sure-fired way to waste brain energy and accomplish little.

That's why I say task-multiing is better than multi-tasking.

[It’s also explains why successful people have more time…but, that’s another Thought Post.]

***

"The neural circuits devoted to scanning, skimming and multi-tasking are expanding and strengthening while those used for reaping and thinking deeply with sustained concentration are weakening or eroding."

Clifford Nass, Stanford University

Thought Tweet #816

by Rick Baker
On Sep 2, 2013

Thought Tweet #816 We have a choice: multi-task to mediocrity or concentrate for excellence.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Can this common sense [backed by brain science] withstand the urgencies of your day?

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.