Letting Your Brain Fill in the Gap

Those of you who like to revisit your goals might consider this idea:

When you have captured on a piece of page where you are now (on the left side of your page) and where you want to be 1 year from today (on the right side of the page) you can see the gap between the two.

That's where your bold steps or action steps go.  Unfortunately sometimes this is exactly where you and I can get stuck.  Why?  Because it looks a little daunting.  Also the critical part of our brain likes to get in the way and say things like, "If you knew how to do that, you would have done it already!"  or  "That seems too overwhelming, you better go get something to eat..."

BUT did you know, that when you are picking up a glass of water, there is a spot in that process where your brain actually fills in the gap.  Yup, it can't exactly see the whole thing, so it just makes it up and sends that made up solution to the parts of you that move and grab the glass.

If your brain can make up something to fill that kind of gap, why not let your brain make up the steps for your action plan?  It knows what you need to do because it processes a billion more things than you can ever consciously remember.

Try an experiment!  Next time you want to create a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be, why not write, "What are the boldest things I can do to get myself from here to there?" on the top of a blank piece of paper.  Then start writing whatever comes to you.

Or write the first 100 things that come to you (including some really ridiculous ones for fun.  1 out of that 100 things is bound to be a good action to take.

The truth is, you do know how to get across that chasm, you just need to let your brain do the work for you.

ReWiring Your Brain

This year more than ever, my clients have been complaining about feeling distracted by a multitude of issues.  The news, the political shifts, organizational cut backs, restructuring, lay-offs have taken up a lot of their time and energy in our "new economy".  Did you know that you can change your response to these shifts in your environment?

According to Dr. Ellen Weber, you can tweak your amygdala (that tiny sac of neurons responsible for reactions) and make it work for you.  "Simply act deliberately in the opposite direction of any negative or moody feelings,"  she suggests.  She also encourages you to disagree with the brain in mind which rewires your brain.

You can also change your brain by using a visual image of that which you want versus don't want.   What do you want to experience?  Calm?  Clarity?  Control?  (yeah, right!)  How about creativity?  Shift your brain by imagining what it would be like to be completely feeling that feeling, no matter what your outer experience is like.  Get into it, that's right, crawl inside.

Now let's add a visual to accelerate bringing what you do want to you.  Imagine yourself using this quality effortlessly in your world.  Hold that image as long as you can until you actually relax into it and begin to "daydream" about other ways of using it.   Let's turn up the heat in that daydream by adding a symbol that will help keep you on track in your daily life, when you are not daydreaming. 

Imagine that someone you know and trust enters the scene in your mind carrying a gift box in their hands.  Hear them say, "Inside this box is a symbol that represents what you most want right now in your life for you to use as a tool in your outside world."  Take the box from them, open it up and see what is inside.

When you keep your critic, judge, paternal adult out of the room of your imagination, you will actually see something in that box.  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Do this exercise until you do see something.  If you are not successful after a day or two, ask for something to stand out in your everyday life to let you know that IT is your symbol.  Each time you see that symbol, it will remind you to refocus on that quality, thing or goal that you want.

Your mind is a powerful tool.  It needs you to refocus it on what is most important.  With all of the flurry of change that is now a constant state, it is up to you to take the helm of your mind and  rewire it, and in every moment, you can.