"Wait what?"
"That's two different things, are you sure about that? Do you understand what you just said?"
I sure am!!!
Although it may seem like there is one thing sitting inside our skill on top of our body, the way it operates and works actually can be split into two different things that both can have a huge impact on WHAT and HOW we experience the journey of not just athletics, but LIFE!
When we understand the basic ways that the brain works and how to use our mind to influence our brain, we can begin to have more power and control in determining our mindsets moving forward which will have an impact on how we take action and show up!
Before we break down the brain vs the mind, we must understand what a MINDSET is!
What is a Mindset?
A mindset is a set pattern of thinking (Thoughts repeated) that determines your perspective (How you see things) on situations/circumstances which influences how you show up (Take action and respond) in those situations/circumstances.
Put simply: The thoughts you think impact what you do.
Think a thought enough, you end up believing it.
When this happens, you end up walking through life living a particular story. The perspective you have on things will influence the behaviors you deliver as well as how you respond to different situations.
WE ALL have mindsets towards everything! Let's look at an athlete that has a certain mindset about practice:
Thoughts repeated: "Practice is dumb, practice is pointless, practice is stupid and boring"
Perspective: "Practice is a waste of time"
How they show up: This athlete probably won't bring their best attitude and effort. They don't think they should be there, they don't see how they benefit from it, they show up late, not excited, low energy. They don't come ready to learn and improve.
Now let's take a look at the opposite:
Thoughts repeated: "Practice brings improvement! I get better from the challenges in practice. I know my teammates push me to be better and I push them right back!"
Perspective: "Practice is a place to learn, grow and get better!"
How they show up: This athlete will be more excited to get to practice! They will bring more energy and effort, embrace the challenges, learn and get outside their comfort zone.
Depending on the mindsets you have on certain things, the definitions, labels or meanings you have attached to the different parts of your journey will have a direct impact on how you walk through your experiences. It will have an impact on how you take action, make certain choices and ultimately the behaviors you end up delivering.
The Brain
Now what does all this have to do with the brain?
Well, think of your brain like the central tower and software of your computer. When it gets delivered to you at your house, it comes wired a certain way set with a few foundational aspects of how it operates.
These foundational aspects are nothing personal to you, it's what we all get when we first order that computer.
The way the brain comes wired is that it wants to protect you, to keep you out of harms way!
Thank goodness, because if there is a bear in front of me I would hope my brain would be wired in such a way to activate every ounce of adrenaline in my body to get the heck out of there!
But, the interesting thing is, things that are challenging, new, frustrating or things that can come off threatening to our brain, it will also work really hard to keep you away from those things as well!
That is, IF YOU VIEW THEM AS THREATENING OR HARMFUL! - I'll come back to this!
Anytime you brain doesn't know how to do something just yet, feels outmatched, feels it can't handle something and gets overwhelmed, basically anytime if feels threatened in some way, it's going to try and keep you from it. This is its way of trying to HELP you.
Now, understand, when you go through experiences, your brain is beginning to create a filing system up there. It begins to organize, based off of what's happening, what to stay away from and what is safe to engage with. The more it logs this information into your brain, the more that storyline begins to settle in.
This is when your BRAIN is controlling the story you are living and experiencing.
Your brain will send you signals when it feels threatened to set off certain behaviors to keep you from that threat or to try and help you remove yourself from a situation or potentially even shut down all together.
Can you take a guess at what those signals are?
That's right, FEELINGS and EMOTIONS.
When you feel that emotion kick in that is very uncomfortable and begins to tell you to act in a way to get away from the threat, that's just your brain trying to say, "Hey, I don't like the way this is going, let me send you the feeling of nervousness or anxiety to try and get you to understand that I'm a little scared and would rather get out of this"
OR
"Hey we have been working hard on this skill and we haven't figured it out yet, I am sending you the feeling of frustration because I don't like not knowing how to do this and I want to stop feeling this way!"
Our brain is always trying to get us to stop feeling a certain way that brings discomfort.
Good news: THIS IS EVERYONE!!!!
It's not just you, so don't take it personal.
This next part is important: The brain functions like a muscle.
That's right, and we can train it by using our thoughts.
Our muscles in our body grow from working out and training them. Over time with consistent hard work, patience and repetition, we can get bigger, faster, stronger, or in general CHANGE what our bodies can do.
Our brain is the same. We have the POWER to CHANGE and WIRE/TRAIN our brain.
How the heck do we do that?
The Mind
We wire the brain by taking control of THE MIND.
The brain is reactive based off of what it experiences, it only knows how to try and do whatever it can to keep us safe.
The beautiful thing about our mind isn't just the fact that we control it, but that it has ownership over the brain!
The mind is what gets to tell the brain the new storyline we will live out moving forward.
The mind gets to respond with defining what we are experiencing instead of allowing the brain to react out of fear or trying to keep us from what is feels is a threat.
The mind has power to question the brain and what it is experiencing.
Remember what I said earlier about the brain being the central foundational software of your computer when it's first delivered? Well the mind is the mouse and keyboard, and you get to type whatever you want and click on whatever you want.
We MUST understand we get to CHOOSE what and how we edit the software in our brain.
When we begin to take control of our mind and CHOOSE to begin changing how the brain is wired, our MINDSETS will change.
I understand we all have experienced things differently and have allowed our brains to shape our story but no matter where you are at, right now you can begin to write your own story.
Where to begin?
Our mindsets.
Take a look at that definition again and work backwords.
How are you showing up in situations?
What perspective do you have towards something and your situations/circumstances you go through?
What types of thoughts have you been saying to yourself that have influenced forming that perspective?
Is your mindset helping you or holding you back from what you are trying to achieve or do?
Understand you have the power by taking control of your mind to wire your brain.
It takes time, just like anything else and won't be an overnight change.
The most important thing you can do is to begin choosing and having awareness towards the thoughts you are thinking and saying to yourself.
Are they more positive or negative? I think we can all agree saying one vs the other is a better option.
Also, paying attention to the signals (feelings and emotions) our brain is sending us is helpful as well.
This will allow us to know what our brain is reacting to and trying to keep us from. When we begin to notice certain emotions that show up with specific situations on a consistent basis, we can start to use our minds and analyze why that may be.
Once we understand why the signal is being sent, we can rewire and change what that signal not only means to us but respond the way we want to even though we may be feeling that certain emotion.
Even if you feel nervous, you can understand that is just your brain sending a signal letting you know that it's a little out of it's comfort zone, but then YOU get to choose to tell the brain what's really going on!
Brain: "Hey, the game today is making me freak out!"
Mind: "Yea, well it's an opportunity to do something great, so we are going to do this thing!"
Key Takeaway
You control your mind to wire your brain.
Begin owning that power today!
Choose the thoughts you want that will write the story you want to experience.
If you don't like a mindset that you may have towards something and think it's holding you back, CHANGE IT!
Keep your mindsets built around being positive, optimistic and that help you take productive action towards your goals, dreams, and desires.
Try not to take it personal when you notice your brain reacting a certain way.
It comers delivered this way so you can do the work to own your journey. Everyone starts with that base level software, the game is taking control to level it up and design/edit according to how you want to build it.
We wouldn't be able to have control over it if we never had to put in the work to train it.
Start building and writing the story you want to be living today.
Control your mind to wire your brain.
Comments