CREATE A MORE BALANCED BRAIN

A mindset exercise to build a more balanced brain.
negativity, mindset, fear, balance

In Episode 3 of the Reinvention After 40 series (Turning Your Personal Development Goals into Reality) you learned 3 important things about your brain.

1. It has a negativity bias

2. It seeks evidence

3. It makes up stories

These three factors, which play a significant role in every choice you make – every day of your life, put you at a disadvantage when you’re trying to lean into something new or challenging because the database is skewed to the negative. 

You can start to shift that database – start growing a more balanced brain – by creating a Mindset MuseumTM

It’s a simple process:

1. Envision your Museum space. It can look like the Guggenheim, the Palace at Versailles, a willow grove, any space that you love the feel of.

2. Now think of all the things you’ve accomplished that you’re proud of or the hard times that you thought you’d never survive, but did.

3. For each of these memories, envision a piece of art to represent it.  You could imagine a portrait of the actual occasion, a sculpture, a fountain – as long as the image you create in your mind’s eye is clearly associated with the event for you it will work.

4. Now find a space in your museum to house these items.

5. Each time you feel frustrated, disillusioned or afraid of failing, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

6. Now envision yourself walking through your museum. Allow yourself to re-experience your sense of accomplishment, tenacity or resilience as you view the collection.

7. When positive things happen moving forward, add them to your MINDSET MUSEUM.

Why it works. 

Your brain (through its negativity bias) automatically retains all of the painful, scary or scaring events of your life. It’s evolution’s way of keeping you safe.  It does not however, retain most of the more positive experiences you’ve had. From an evolutionary standpoint, those are less important.   

In creating a Mindset Museum you’re calling the more positive memories you do have into evidence.  By visiting it and adding to it regularly, you’re using the sensory and creative areas of the brain to store memories that it otherwise would have released. 

This creates a body of evidence that is more representative of your reality than the one created by your default negativity bias – one that will be far more effective in helping you make choices that serve you well.

What’s Next?

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