{"id":4501,"date":"2013-06-27T12:01:29","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T16:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/?p=4501"},"modified":"2013-06-18T16:20:52","modified_gmt":"2013-06-18T20:20:52","slug":"reprogram-your-brain-for-more-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/06\/reprogram-your-brain-for-more-success.html","title":{"rendered":"Reprogram Your Brain for More Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christine<\/a>I\u2019m thrilled to have Christine Comaford<\/strong><\/a> as my guest today. She\u2019s a global thought leader who helps mid-sized and Fortune 1000 companies navigate growth and change, an expert in human behavior and applied neuroscience, and the bestselling author of\u00a0Rules for Renegades. Her latest book is SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together<\/strong><\/a>. Her coaching, consulting, and strategies center on increased accountability, communication, and execution.\u00a0The results? Hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue and value for her clients.\u00a0 During her incredibly diverse career, Christine has consulted to the White House (Clinton and Bush),\u00a0built and sold five of her own businesses. Today she shares how to reprogram your brain for more success:<\/p>\n

Are You Stuck in Your Critter Brain?<\/strong>
\nWhy We Choose Safety Over Excellence (and How to Reprogram)\u00a0 <\/strong>
\nBy Christine Comaford<\/a><\/strong>
\nYou may not realize it, but parts of your brain are so focused on keeping you safe and secure that they\u2019re holding you back from true growth and prosperity. Here, I explain how neuroscience techniques can help you reprogram your brain to work in a smarter, and ultimately more successful, state.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brett is over the moon. He has just received a long-awaited promotion and with it the opportunity to present to his firm\u2019s key clients. But his excitement is short-lived: In almost every client meeting, he freezes up and stumbles over the material despite the fact that he knows it well. Soon, he\u2019s not only wishing he was still in his old position, he\u2019s worried about his future with the firm.<\/p>\n

What happened? In short, Brett\u2019s brain \u201clearned\u201d in childhood that shrinking back from center stage would protect him from ridicule. Now, decades later, his neural wiring is still causing him to choose the \u201csafe\u201d route\u2014and, ironically, sabotaging his success.<\/p>\n

Our hypothetical friend is no anomaly. You too are likely a \u201cBrett.\u201d Maybe you don\u2019t choke in the spotlight, but more often than you realize, subconscious reactions to your surroundings trigger debilitating responses. You can learn to identify these scenarios and defuse them. But the first step is understanding why you do the things you do. Basically, you\u2019re acting in ways that feel \u2018safe\u2019 at the moment but that cripple you in the long run.\"Smart<\/a><\/p>\n

The field of neuroscience, which is the foundation of my work, has exploded into the mainstream lately. No wonder. Scientists have reams of evidence that show our brains are remarkably moldable, and therefore our long-established neural pathways aren\u2019t our destiny.\u00a0 We can break the mental patterns that harm our relationships, make us miserable, and hold us back.
\nIn the past this has all been theory, but lately we\u2019ve seen some exciting practical applications emerge. I take the best of these tactics and apply them to the worst behaviors business has to offer\u2014behaviors that squelch productivity and profitability.<\/p>\n

In other words, short-tempered leaders can stop blowing up at employees. Confrontation avoiders can step out of hiding. Procrastinators can finally buckle down. Good performers can become great performers. Dysfunctional teams can become powerhouse teams. Best of all, we can retrain our brains and shift our behavior quickly. In a fast-paced global economy, that matters.<\/p>\n

In my new book, SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together<\/strong><\/a>, I simplify the human brain into three key parts. The first two, the reptilian and mammalian brains, I collectively call the \u201ccritter brain.\u201d This part of the brain cares only about safety and survival. It prompts us to choose fight\/flight\/freeze behaviors that keep us from standing out, being put in danger, or feeling discomfort.<\/p>\n

Accessing the third part of your brain\u2014the neocortex\u2014puts you into what I call the \u201cSmart State.\u201d Here, you have easy access to all of your resources, plus you\u2019re creative, present, emotionally engaged, and can envision an exciting future for yourself. In other words, you\u2019re ready to make smart choices and execute them well. Here, I share five powerful tips that will help you to leave the Critter State behind and shift into the Smart State:<\/p>\n

Learn to ignore shiny objects. (Smart State Accelerator: FOCUS)<\/strong> In its quest for security, the critter brain tends to filter out things it doesn\u2019t want to see, hear, feel, or deal with (like Scarlett O\u2019Hara, your critter brain vows to \u201cthink of it tomorrow, at Tara\u201d). Meanwhile, it also has the ability to focus disproportionately on shiny objects that distract you from doing what you really need to do. That\u2019s what happens when you spend all day on a minor project and tell yourself that you\u2019re being productive\u2026never mind the major biannual report you\u2019re \u201cconveniently\u201d neglecting because it\u2019s so overwhelming!<\/p>\n

To move out of your Critter State and into your Smart State<\/strong>, you must cultivate the ability to be present in the here and now, to be honest about your current situation, and to accurately identify and prioritize high-value activities. The first step? Identify and understand the parts of yourself that urge you to run away or stick your head in the sand.<\/p>\n

Look back at instances in which your productivity and success were compromised, and even if it\u2019s uncomfortable, try to figure out what they might have in common. For instance, maybe your leadership is consistently undermined because you avoid confronting insubordinate team members. With this information, you can acknowledge that your critter brain wants to avoid a fight at all costs. And now that this tendency has been specifically identified and no longer lurks in your subconscious, you have the power to override that \u201cflight\u201d instinct the next time someone flouts a deadline.<\/p>\n

If you find it difficult or uncomfortable to keep your eye on the ball while ignoring shiny objects (and you probably will), concentrate on identifying how your Smart State choice will increase your long-term safety and success. With this type of focus, the constant parade of bright shiny distractions otherwise known as \u201clife\u201d will have less of an ability to pull your attention away.<\/p>\n

Figure out where you\u2019re going and why. (Smart State Accelerator: CLARITY)<\/strong> For the critter brain, ignorance can often be bliss. However, it\u2019s bad to go about your business\u2014personal and professional\u2014with no idea (or at least an incomplete one) of why you do what you do. Just think about the young professional who says she wants to make money\u2014but can\u2019t articulate what she\u2019s going to do today, tomorrow, next month, and (to some extent) next year to fill her bank account. Her goal is unlikely to become a reality.<\/p>\n

Clarity can sometimes be so hard to achieve because it requires you to take the time to discover what you need, to articulate it clearly, and to be sure anyone else involved understands it. But it\u2019s essential to have in both vision and communication, because it sets up the person you\u2019re interacting with to succeed or struggle\u2014and sometimes that person is you.<\/p>\n

In all situations, try to take a few moments to ensure that you\u2019re expressing what you truly mean or need; that you know where you are, where you want to go, and how you\u2019re going to get there; and that your energy is focused on that outcome.<\/p>\n

Buck up and get the job done. (Smart State Accelerator: ACCOUNTABILITY)<\/strong> Yes, it\u2019s tempting to cut corners, mislead others, or throw in the towel altogether in order to make life easier for ourselves. But \u201cmaking life easier\u201d is your critter brain talking. In its quest for safety and security, it isn\u2019t always considerate of other people (or even of your own true best interests). But when you don\u2019t keep your word\u2014when you lack accountability\u2014your performance and ultimate success will suffer. Living in your Smart State involves valuing yourself and others enough to buck up and follow through with your commitments even when you don\u2019t feel like it.<\/p>\n

Be honest\u2014you can usually tell when you\u2019re in danger of taking the easy way out. In these situations, put aside your misgivings and seek out an accountability partner. This is a person you check in with to share what you accomplished, what you didn\u2019t and why, and what you\u2019ll accomplish in the near future. Knowing you have to report your actions to someone else tends to keep you on the straight and narrow. Plus, your partner can help remind you of the long-term consequences of not keeping your word when your critter brain takes over.<\/p>\n

Make others feel safe. (Smart State Accelerator: INFLUENCE)<\/strong> It\u2019s no surprise that the critter brain is fundamentally selfish; after all, our animal friends don\u2019t survive by putting their own interests last. (\u201cHere, you take the last acorn\u2014I\u2019ll make do until spring,\u201d said no squirrel ever.) Thankfully, in the modern human world, we don\u2019t have to be so cutthroat. In fact, the greatest successes come from empowering others so that the overall team can achieve more. To do this, you need to be able to understand, empower, and motivate others; in other words, influence them.<\/p>\n

Influencing people in your Smart State isn\u2019t about strong-arming them or ordering them around. It\u2019s about building rapport and connecting, which makes the other person\u2019s critter brain feel safe. Once his fight or flight instincts are no longer at the forefront, he\u2019ll be more willing to accept you, listen to you, and work with you.<\/p>\n

It may sound simplistic, but mirroring posture and behavior are great \u201cshortcuts\u201d for helping you establish rapport with a client or colleague. If he leans forward, you should lean forward too. If he speaks softly and slowly, so should you. His critter brain will classify you as \u201csimilar to me\u201d\u2014in other words, a non-threat\u2014and you\u2019ll be on your way to a productive relationship.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t run out of gas. (Smart State Accelerator: SUSTAINABLE RESULTS)<\/strong> Your critter brain is not a \u201cplanner.\u201d It doesn\u2019t approach the future with the consideration of a master chess player; instead, it does what it thinks is best for you right now. In other words, sustainability isn\u2019t often a primary consideration. That\u2019s why we can sometimes be really fired up about a goal (like losing weight) at first, but run out of steam quickly. It\u2019s also why so many of us feel completely exhausted by the end of each busy day. When you learn to consciously and intentionally manage your energy in your Smart State, you will continuously move forward. Eventually, you might even be able to put in less overt effort as you are carried along by your own momentum.<\/p>\n

To diagnose how sustainable you are right now, make a chart to determine whether your overall energy balance is positive or negative, and what might be sapping it. Start with three columns: Gain Energy, Lose Energy, and Mixed. Then, fill in people, activities, and things that fit into each column. Maybe signing a new client and problem-solving with your team go into the first column, your needy colleague goes in the second, and responding to emails goes into the third. Once you\u2019re finished, take a look at the chart and assess whether the way you spend your time causes you to gain or lose energy overall. If it\u2019s the latter, ask yourself what you can change so that more of your energy is spent in positive and productive ways.<\/p>\n

Once you commit to developing these five skills, you\u2019ll be well on your way to living in your Smart State instead of your Critter State. And while some of them may seem simple, they\u2019re each hugely important. Your ability to focus, plan, motivate yourself, interact with others, and more can often mean the difference between success and failure. Ultimately, in business and in life, your Smart State is where you need to be to lead, to grow, to innovate, and to prosper.
\n***************<\/p>\n

Join the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Commitment<\/strong><\/a> and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways<\/a><\/strong> for free at http:\/\/howdoiloveme.com<\/a><\/strong>. Read my 2013 31 Days of Self-Love Posts HERE<\/strong><\/a>. Join the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please leave comments under my posts so we can stay connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m thrilled to have Christine Comaford as my guest today. She\u2019s a global thought leader who helps mid-sized and Fortune 1000 companies navigate growth and change, an expert in human behavior and applied neuroscience, and the bestselling author of\u00a0Rules for Renegades. Her latest book is SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together. Her coaching, consulting, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2],"tags":[707],"class_list":["post-4501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-positive-mental-attitude","category-self-empowerment-confidence","tag-christine-comaford"],"yoast_head":"\nReprogram Your Brain for More Success - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/06\/reprogram-your-brain-for-more-success.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reprogram Your Brain for More Success - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m thrilled to have Christine Comaford as my guest today. She\u2019s a global thought leader who helps mid-sized and Fortune 1000 companies navigate growth and change, an expert in human behavior and applied neuroscience, and the bestselling author of\u00a0Rules for Renegades. Her latest book is SmartTribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together. 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Let Me Count the Ways, a She's appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including Oprah, Howard Stern, and Good Morning America and has been quoted in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Marie Claire, and Men\u00b9s Health. After being a consummate People Pleaser who felt unworthy of getting her own needs met for many years, Daylle found a path of self-love that enabled her to build her self-esteem and reinvent herself into a dual career. She learned to get taken seriously without being overtly assertive when she became one of the first women to start an independent record label (on a dare!) and learned to play ball nicely and successfully in an industry dominated by men. To help independent musicians empower themselves, Daylle writes music business books for Billboard\/Random House, including the very popular Start & Run Your Own Record Labe and I Don't Need a Record Deal! Daylle's books have been translated into over 10 languages and are popular around the world. She speaks for colleges, organizations and corporations. Through her company, Project Self-Empowerment, Daylle creates programs and materials to help people empower themselves. One goal is to raise the money to self-publish her book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways and give it away for free in colleges and through organizations, to give thanks for all her blessings. Daylle uses her writing and speaking to help others find the kind of contentment and empowerment that she has.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/author\/dschwartz"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4501"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4594,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4501\/revisions\/4594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}