Training Our Brains for Success

Changing our thoughts from a predominantly negative to a predominantly positive orientation has physical implications. According to brain research expert, Dr. Pat Wolfe in Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice, the brain is the only organ that sculpts itself. Our experience becomes our physiology. Several studies have shown there to be actual structural changes in the brain as a result of learning experiences.

Emotion is a primary catalyst to learning. Our brains are hard wired to pay attention to experiences that have an emotional component. When we feel threat, a chain reaction of physiological responses is set off from the amygdala in the brain. Dr. Hans Selye called this response the fight or flight response. When we feel this fear, our cognitive thinking is less efficient. The focus is on readying the body for action.

As you spend time in fear and negative emotion, your thinking processes are compromised. Your body is compromised over time due to frequent fight or flight responses. The release of adrenaline into your system, unless balanced by physical action, tends to wear on your body. The purpose of fight or flight is to energize you when there is an actual physical threat. Fantasizing about the intentions of others and worrying about the future create stress and discomfort. As you immerse yourself in these thoughts, your ability to think clearly, diminishes. You still learn, and what you learn is to be afraid. Worry is a form of practice where you become more adept at being fearful. As you replay your fears again and again, you build neuro-pathways in your brain that make you very "good" at being afraid.

Your negative or positive orientation determines how you see people and events. A negative orientation has you seeing everything that can go wrong and anticipating that it will. A positive orientation has you seeing everything that can go right and anticipating that it will. The emotion of our anticipation is a powerful creative factor. If I expect prosperity (well-being) and success in life, I will look for it in every situation. If my thoughts are predominantly negative, I will look for failure. What I look for often determines what I find. If I expect you to be disagreeable, my emotional approach to you will no doubt invite more disagreement. If I expect to do poorly in the job interview, my body language will reveal my fears, and I will come across as less than confident. My fears become my self fulfilling prophecies.

You brain thinks better and your body feels better with positive emotion. You can teach yourself to respond to life positively through practice. Each time you practice thinking positively with emotion, new neuro connections are created and reinforced in your brain. This is how the brain shapes itself based on experience. You learn to expect positive outcomes and your thinking orients itself toward finding ways to achieve those outcomes. Over time you can teach yourself to respond positively and productively to events in life.

With a true positive orientatio
I expect to be successful whether or not this particular situation succeeds. Your reputation may be disagreeable, but I approach you looking for agreement. If it is there I will find it. At the same time, I don't have to blame you if I don't get what I want. In the job interview I expect to succeed and so I approach it with confidence. I increase my confidence with preparation. My body language reveals my inner confidence. I tell myself that I intend to acquire this job if it is right for me. If it is not, I am willing to let it go. I can release all people and situations, accepting that what is mine is mine, and what is not, is not. I let go of what is not, and keep my mind focused on positives. In other words, I let go of how I think things are supposed to be.

It is important to understand that being truly positive does not mean pretending everything is okay when it isn't. It means that you expect success, regardless of appearances. It means that you remove your focus from what you don't want and place it on what you do want. For example, if I am feeling sick, I focus my attention on being well. Wellness becomes my vision and I take steps toward achieving it. Wellness is my natural state and I envision restoring it. I think about being well and how good that feels. I think about how I would move and the freedom I would experience with feeling whole and well. Next, I do whatever I can in the physical, to help me become well. This includes food and liquid intake, exercises, appropriate treatments, releasing all anger, resentment and emotional hurt through forgiveness, etc. It may also include present moment pain relief in order to help me keep my focus on the goal of wellness.

The brain stores information in neural circuits. In order to create success and well-being you need to train your brain. You envision what you want, adding to your vision the good feelings you desire. This creates new pathways in your brain. Visioning with emotion provides you with “experience” as a successful , healthy, and/or prosperous person. Practicing your vision experience increases your well-being. Envision what you want often. Take confident action as if success were guaranteed. Respond to all situations expecting that things will work out for the best. Keep in mind that success may not look exactly as you think it should. Let go of your "have-to's" and your "shoulds".

Now that you are focused on your goal and feeling positive and confident about it, your brain can comprehend opportunities and options that you would have missed previously. You are training your brain. Begin with the absolute refusal to allow fear to lead you. Regardless of what things look like or how badly they may seem, you are capable of insisting on a positive outcome. If you are ill, envision wellness and take steps toward it. If you are broke, envision abundance, and work toward it. If you are lonely, envision a beautiful companionship and love yourself the way you want a companion to love you. If you are in conflict, envision peace and become peace in all that you say and do. Focused practiced makes you proficient at responding positively and seeing possibilities. The question is: "What do you want?" Think. Pray. Meditate. Contemplate. Let your intuition speak. Determine the goal. Add positive emotion to your vision. Let your vision sculpt success into your brain. Move forward with enthusiasm and certainty.