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by Rick Baker
On Jan 9, 2012
Thought Tweet #386 "Heightened attention to detail can actually mess you up." Sian Beilock
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
From Sian Beilock's 2010 book 'Choke'.
by Rick Baker
On Jan 6, 2012
You know what gets your attention?
- Pleasing and beautiful things,
- Surprising things, and
- Things that are out of place
Those 3 things get your attention.
But, those 3 things sure have a tough time getting your attention!
You know why those 3 things have such a tough time getting your attention?
- Your FOCUS1 and
- Their COMPETITION2
ATTENTION, actually the lack of success in capturing it, has led to some rather bizarre business activity...marketing activity, social media activity, etc.
Footnote:
- I am not picking on YOU here. When I say 'you' I mean almost all of us. The fact is, people have plenty of thoughts going on in their brains, all day, every day...some experts say as many as 50,000 thoughts/day. It is tough to FOCUS with all those thoughts keeping us so occupied.
- When you look out at the world you observe lots of stuff...their COMPETITION outnumbers THEM by orders of magnitude.
by Rick Baker
On Jul 19, 2011
Here’s what I think...
- When we behave [take action], our behaviour alters our brain…maybe only a little, maybe much more than a little…depending on the situation...and the nature of our behaviour [our action].
- When we think, our thoughts alter our brain… maybe only a little, maybe much more than a little…depending on the situation around and the nature of our thoughts…probably, also depending on the strength of the emotions/feelings we are experiencing at the time we are thinking.
- When we are not consciously behaving or thinking [for example, when we are asleep] things happen inside us that alter our brain… maybe only a little, maybe more than a little…likely, these changes are minor but they build over time. For example, brain-things likely happen during our sleep to place experiences of the day into our ‘memory bank’.
Considering the fact we are thinking and behaving 100% of the time we are conscious and we are not conscious the rest of our living hours…
I am saying our brain is constantly changing…physically…maybe a little, maybe much more than a little…but always at least a little.
I recognize this has not been verified empirically…i.e., it is not proven.
It seems to me this is just common sense.
While many people have said our brains are like computers I do not agree with that. Our brains have wiring, connections, and on-off switches like computers. Maybe once they are established most or maybe all of the connections are unchangeable. Maybe some of the brain wires are unchangeable. Regardless, the brain wires are replacing themselves, and growing, and moving around and the connections are multiplying/popping up in new places and dying/ceasing activity in some places. And, the switches are doing that too.
On a macro scale the brain is changing slowly unless there is a catastrophe like a stroke.
On a micro scale the little pieces of stuff in the brain are in a constant state of flux…ebbing and flowing with our thoughts, our behaviour, and all the mysterious workings of our subconscious.
Certain behaviours and thoughts align with Good Work Habits. The more of these behaviours and thoughts we do/have the more we will self-inflict brain changes aligned with Good Work Habits…as described in the Napoleon Hill classic ‘Think and Grow Rich’. [Note: I do not recall Napoleon Hill ever indicating the brain itself changed. Rather, he said our thoughts resonated and connected with “Universal Intelligence”.]
Certain behaviours and thoughts align with Bad Work Habits. The less of these behaviours and thoughts we do/have the less we will self-inflict brain changes aligned with Bad Work Habits. As in – Don’t Think and Don’t Grow Poor’.
The truly great news is recent scientific developments have provided much new evidence to illustrate/suggest the above is more than just directionally correct.
While many have said ‘Think and Grow Rich’ is a nice little motivational book, recent scientific developments are illustrating/suggesting the book contains ‘the secret’ – as in the book, ‘The Secret’ - to successful business [and life].
Recent scientific developments are beginning to validate the fact business people who desire riches can get them using a ‘Think and Grow Rich’ process. This validation will help business people understand how simple actions [New Work Things] can generate material people changes and those people changes can generate profitable business.
by Rick Baker
On May 27, 2011
I think we should focus on strengths.
We should spend time working on our strengths rather than our weaknesses.
So, I have been captured by the good work the people at the Gallup organization have done to create STRENGTHSFINDER.
I own copies of all the books written by Marcus Buckingham and by Tom Rath…and I am re-reading all of them.
While doing this re-reading, I was slowed down by one section of Marcus Buckingham’s book ‘Now, Discover Your Strengths’. Marcus talked about brain neuroplasticity and he had a strong view that brain neuroplasticity is overrated. His words made it clear he knew the facts – ie, the 2001 facts – about brain neuroplasticity. He knew about neurons and lost-limb work [I immediately thought about Ramachandran], etc.
Marcus made it clear he thought people were overestimating the value of using ‘brain plasticity’ activities/exercises to create better results at work. He stressed, at the very least, this is an inefficient way to go about self-improvement.
Rather, he recommended [I am using my own words here]:
- Focus on Strengths…that’s the best place to improve one’s performance
- When the job/role requires it, patch up Weaknesses…or work around them if that is possible.
Also, Marcus talked about:
- Talent Themes…how they are innate and cannot be changed
- Values…how we can choose to adjust them [and adjust our character]
Marcus Buckingham got me thinking.
First
I believe people only do 3 things.
I believe if we boil things down then people only do 3 things:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
That’s it. Whether I do things voluntarily or in reaction to some unknown drivers in my involuntary back-up systems, whether I do things in reaction to subconsciously-driven emotions, or whether I logically plan out things and do them…every single thing I do can be sorted into one of 3 categories:
- Good Habits
- Bad Habits
- New Things
Not to get too bogged down in detail [assuming it isn’t already too late], some examples:
- I breathe whether I want to or not…that’s a Good Habit because it tends to keep me alive
- I look both ways before I cross the street…that’s a Good Habit my Dear Mom taught me
- I eat too much ice cream…that’s a Bad Habit because it removes my ability to buy smaller belts
- I have trouble getting to sleep…that’s a Bad Habit because it wastes time, annoys me, etc
- I read books…depending on the book that’s a Good Habit [re-reading Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’] or that’s a New Thing [when it is my first reading of the book]
- I took the STRENGTHSFINDER test…that was a New Thing that led to some Good Habits
- I read plenty of books about the brain: de Bono, Ramachandran, Doidge, Schwartz, Amen, Glynn, Lynch, Maltz, Ratey, Robbins, Calvin, Begley…etc, etc
Here’s the point
Yes - I read plenty of books about the brain and I am specifically interested in reading about brain neuroplasticity.
Putting Marcus Buckingham’s thought together with my philosophy about Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things…
Is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?
What if I asked Marcus Buckingham, “Marcus, is that a Good Habit or a Bad Habit?”
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s a Bad Habit”.
I wonder if Marcus would say, “Rick, that’s definitely a Bad Habit because you are not focusing on one of your Strengths!”
Ouch!
Footnotes
by Rick Baker
On Apr 12, 2011
If the historical record is correct then the ancient Egyptians threw away their brains.
I mean, when they preserved people’s bodies using the mummification process they did not preserve the brains with the other body parts, which included the heart, the liver, the lungs, the stomach, and the intestines. The ancient Egyptians preserved all those parts for the afterlife. And they preserved the skeleton and muscles.
But, they did not preserve the brains. They threw them away.
I found that fascinating.
So, I did a little research.
Here are the Egyptian hieroglyphs for the brain and the heart:
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| Brain |
Heart |
NOTE: the above hieroglyph for ‘brain’ is what you will find if you search the Internet. Since drafting this Thought Post I became even more interested in hieroglyphs and I purchased Jean-Francois Dumon’s ‘Aaou Hieroglyphic Dictionary’. That dictionary indicates the above hieroglyph does not represent ‘brain’; it represents ‘viscera’…which, of course, means other organs [not the brain].
Jean-Francois Dumon presents the following hieroglyph for ‘brain’:
D36-G17-G17-F51 [I am trying to contact Jean-Francois Dumon to sort this out]
Here is an excerpt describing ancient Egyptian thinking about the heart…
“Heart (ieb)
Appearance: Those used to the valentine-related heart of Western Culture may be surprised at the Egyptian concept of the heart. Theirs looks more like a vase with handles, and indeed many vases and jars were shaped like the hieroglyph in question. The heart of Egyptian iconography is a fairly faithful representation of a section of the heart of a sheep. The "handles" correspond with the connection of the veins and arteries to the organ.
Meaning: The Egyptians early in their history realized the connection of the heart to the pulse. An ancient Egyptian medical treatise of the heart says that it "speaks in the vessels of all the members." It is not surprising then that they believed that the heart held the mind and soul of the individual. Another Egyptian author stated emphatically that "the actions of the arms, the movement of the legs, the motion of every other member is done according to the orders of the heart that has conceived them." It was sometimes said of the dead that their hearts had "departed" because it was believed that the heart was the center a man's life force.”
The above excerpt is representative of the way experts describe the ancient Egyptian view: the heart held the mind and soul of the individual...and the heart governed the body.
Now, ‘Western’ thinking – thinking heavily flavoured with science - has a different view.
I hope I do not do an injustice to that ‘Western’ thinking when I describe [my understanding of] it this way:
- The brain governs the body [although there is at least a partial acceptance that spinal neural systems can influence the body, independent of the brain]
- The brain may contain the mind…probably, if ‘the mind’ exists then the brain does contain the mind…however, there is no scientific evidence to confirm the mind exists whether as a thing independent of the brain or as a subset of the brain
- The heart is a pump, which pumps blood…it governs circulation of blood…that’s it
Considering all that and more…
Is it reasonable to conclude the ancient Egyptians, when they preserved their hearts and threw away their brains, were primitive and ignorant?
Is it reasonable to conclude the ancient Egyptians were 100% wrong?
Footnote:
Related to this…the folks who follow my Thought Posts know ‘I Wonder’ about a lot of things. This ancient Egyptian heart and brain topic has me wondering. I have read ancient Greeks, pre-Socratic Greeks, did not take credit for most or maybe even all of their thoughts. As a rule they believed the gods caused them to think what they thought and feel what they felt. As examples, if while on the battlefield they became fearful they blamed it on a god and if they prevailed over the enemy they credited a god. [Refer to Homer’s ‘Iliad’] So, it is easy [but not necessarily accurate] to conclude the ancient Greeks heard voices in their heads...similar to the voices normal people now hear in our heads [or perhaps just in front of our faces]. I mean that voice that talks to us all the time, helping us sort out things and decide what to do. Assuming the ancient Greeks heard voices as we now do, they heard [essentially] their own voice but concluded the gods were using that voice to speak to them.
Today, we tend to believe the voice belongs to us rather than a God or the gods.
I wonder:
- Did the ancient Egyptians ‘hear’ voices?
- If so then were those voices in or near their hearts rather than their heads?
by Rick Baker
On Mar 4, 2011
It is important to get the proper amount of sleep...say 7 to 8 hours per night.
In order to get that sleep, it is important to get to sleep when you want to get to sleep. I mean, laying around thinking about sleep doesn’t count.
There are some things you should not do just before going to bed because those things tend to reduce your ability to fall asleep.
Conversely, there are some things you can do to promote falling asleep sooner rather than later.
I listened to an audio book that provided a list of things we shouldn't do just before bedtime.
As examples:
- Don't exercise just before bedtime.
- Don't drink coffee.
- Don't eat.
- Don't watch TV, especially the news…which tends to raise blood pressure.
- Don't read exciting stuff.
To be clear - reading before bed can help us fall asleep.
However, that sleeping aid doesn't work if the reading material is exciting.
I see opportunity here.
I'm thinking of writing a series of before-bedtime ‘blogs’: I will make sure they are not exciting at all.
In the meantime, I sure hope my Thought Posts are not depriving you of too much sleep.
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