Your brain – you might think of it as organized little compartments where you can store stuff. Maybe you think of it as a master super computer that analyzes all your choices equally and comes up with the best solution for you. Nope, it’s not. Far from it. Your brain is more like a bunch of your buddies all trying to decide where to go have dinner – each one trying to assert their favorite choice.
When it comes to the choices you make and the things you do, there are three regions in your brain, all competing for their favorite choice. Alex Korb, author of The Upward Spiral, describes them like this:
- The Prefrontal Cortex: The only one thinking about long-term goals like, “We need to prepare that report for work.”
- The Dorsal Striatum: This guy is always voting to do what you’ve done in the past, like, “When it’s time to work we usually start by checking email nine times, then Facebook, and then watching Netflix.”
- The Nucleus Accumbens: The party animal of the three. “Email, Facebook, and Netflix are fun. Work sucks.”
Guess who wins? Spending a big part of your day in email, on Facebook and watching Netflix? Yep. But when you exert effort, the prefrontal cortex can override the other two and do the right thing. If you do this enough, the brain begins to rewire and the prefrontal cortex thought wins out. I see these same brain areas like this:
- Long term desires (prefrontal): Drop 20 pounds.
- Habit (Dorsal): We always have some cookies in front of the TV after dinner.
- Addict (Nucleus): I want sugar – Yay!!!
So if you stay in touch with Prefrontal Cortex (long-term goals), you begin to find it easier and easier to override those other areas of your brain. This is how good habits are created in the brain. If you stay focused on your goal and continue to practice the behaviors that will get you there, you will eventually reprogram your “habit brain” and your “addict brain.”
Why don’t we stay in touch with our long term desires? Because stress turns off that part of your brain! Then Habit and Addict kick in and take over completely (”Ugh, don’t want to go walk. Let’s have chips and beer while we kick back and watch TV instead”). Yep, they have complete control. Let the stress eating commence! It is like you hand the wheel over to your autopilots – and they are going to do what you have always done.
Reducing stress in your life is going to allow you to let your brain stay in touch with your long term desires and goals. Once you remove the stress, you can take one small step towards what your goal is and the rest will just flow for you. Some ways to remove stress from your life? Here you go:
- Plan your day to minimize the stress of trying to juggle. If you work outside of your house, include in the plan time to address concerns at the end of your work day before you leave the office, so you go home feeling resolved. You can leave a list of what needs your attention first in the morning on your desk, and not carry it around in your head all evening at home.
- Get a clear idea of what is expected of you at work. If you do not have it very clear between you and those you work for what is exactly expected, you are not going to feel in control. Stop working overtime. Period. It is not worth it.
- Concentrate on the positives. Yes, being a Pollyanna IS effective. Try it on and see how you begin to feel.
- Any chance you have to put on some background music, play something from the most careful, happiest time of your life. I never fix dinner without music!
- All those too cute for words videos of kittens, puppies, dolphins and goats? A cute animal video can reduce heart rate and blood pressure in under a minute.
- Automate as much of your life as you can so you are not constantly trying to decide: What to wear today, what to have for lunch today, what on earth am I going to do about dinner. Automate – plan out at least 5 outfits you like to wear and then plot them Monday through Friday so you always know what to pull out and put on without even thinking. The same for meals – what do you like for lunches – just a couple of choices and then alternate them. Have 6 different dinners on a list to rotate (you don’t need 7 because 1 night is either eating out, at a friends, get take out, or have all the left overs!).
- Worry is a wasted emotion. If you MUST worry, tell yourself you will sit down and worry at a specific time of day each day, and for no more than 10 minutes. You can spin horrible stories in your brain all you want during that time, write them down and then let them go.
- Remind yourself throughout the day to drop your shoulders down from up around your ears and lean back in your chair.
If you do a search for stress relief, you’ll find many more stress busters. Find the ones that work best for you, stay focused in your prefrontal cortex with your eye on the prize, and retrain your habit brain and your addict brain.
Want to find out if getting coaching can help you feel better? Click on the link below and set up a free mini session with me. We’ll take a look at what is bothering you the most right now, I can share with you information on the programs I offer, and I’ll get you results right on that phone call so you start feeling better and understand more about yourself in just 30 minutes!
