How My Brain Works

I need your help. I'd like to show you a video and get some feedback on it if possible.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, part of my approach over the coming months is to research, test and build a personal development training program focused on happiness, resilience and engagement.

One of the intro topics is going to be on the brain.  How it works and how that relates to later modules and concepts.

The brain amazes me.  In short, our thoughts, memories and experience of the world, including emotions are nothing more than electrical impulses and chemicals.  There's significant evidence that suggests that "Neuron's that fire together, wire together."  Neuron's are the tentacle-like connections in our brains.  Meaning that our thoughts, moods, emotions etc, travel down the most well worn paths in our brain.  So let's say you're a bit of a cynic.   You will naturally and comfortably follow that path of thinking (perhaps even to your detriment in some cases).  An optimist, by contrast, will tend towards that style of thinking because their brain has wired itself together that way (we won't talk about nature v nurture at this stage suffice to say that environment and genetics influence these developments in your brain).  The brain is also incredibly plastique, or malleable.  Meaning we can change it.  Even later in life (there is much recent research suggesting that brain plasticity continues well into to old age AND if you don't use it you will lose it (get your grandparents to learn something new this year).    So, if we want to shift our thinking we need to work at it in order to lay down new neural pathways.   This is my 2011 mission, to rewire my brain (and hopefully yours too).

Anyway, I digress.  I wanted to share a video that I found that explains part of the concepts I've been talking about.  I'd love your feedback on whether it made sense, was interesting, not confusing etc.

Let me know what you think.



Till next time,

Be happy