Have you ever tried to change something about yourself?
How did you find it?
How about changing someone else or for that matter an organisation?
Why is change so hard?
There are multiple ways I could answer this, but the neuroscience gets to the core and avoids some potentially messy areas.
Very simply neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change by reorganising itself by forming new neural connections.
Scientist used to believe that the brain couldn’t change after childhood but the research of Michael Merzenich changed our understanding of how the brain can re-wire itself throughout life.
Here are some essential concepts
Your every move, sensation, emotion, thought, decision or behaviour is a result of a neural pathway in your body and brain.
The brain and nervous are shaped throughout life by experience, the ones you are aware of and the ones you are not.
The process of neuroplasticity is at the centre of how humans adapt to their environment.
It's important to note that not all 'neuroplastic' change has helpful outcomes; chronic pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia are all in part, the result of neural pathways that negatively impact the quality of people’s lives. More on this in next weeks newsletter.
I’m not going to delve deep into the biology of neurons and neuroplasticity
Here are the headlines:
At birth a baby has 100 million brain cells but few connections between these cells.
During the first few years of life and again during adolescence, a large number of neurons and their connections that are not used are ‘pruned’. ‘The concept of "Use it or lose it" so it is only the neurons that form functional networks which survive.
This means that average adult brain contains around 86 million brain cells. Each is connected to around 1,000 others. That's 86 trillion connections.
“Neurons that fires together wire together” (Hebb, 1949)
“Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows.” ― Daniel J. Siegel
Neural circuits become stronger, faster, and easier with repeated use by a process called myelination. “Skill is myelin insulation the wraps neural circuits and that grows according to certain signals” Daniel Coyle, aligns myelination to installation of broadband. See this video
If you want to learn more about myelination and its role in talent, I highly recommend "The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle.
What are the key ingredients to enhance neuroplasticity?
1. TARGETED, MISTAKE FOCUSED PRACTICE
Have you ever watched a toddler learn to walk?
Although most people would assume that infants walk and fall a lot, few would guess that the average toddler takes 2368 steps, travels 701 m—the length of 7.7 American football fields—and falls 17 times per hour.
The best way to build a good circuit is to fire it, attend to mistakes, then fire again, over, and over. Struggle is not an option: it’s a biological requirement.
Action: Challenge yourself to learn new things, embrace the struggle
While the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of brain-training games is mixed, brain training apps like BrainHQ apply the above principle to enhance cognitive function, I use this daily.
Challenge your brain with puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, and other mentally stimulating activities.
Learn new words or a second language
Be comfortable with making the right kind of mistakes, see Amy Edmondson's book "Right Kind of Wrong"
2. PASSION AND PERSISTENCE
Wrapping myelin around a big circuit requires immense energy and time. If you don’t love it, you won’t be motivated to work hard enough. This is key to understanding how leaders can foster environments that promote engagement.
Action: Develop an awareness what activates that internal energy
Follow your passions
Use your passion to help you persist when learning things that are necessary but don’t activate that internal energy.
Introduce novelty and variety into your daily routine to stimulate different parts of the brain. This could include trying new activities, exploring new places, or meeting new people.
3. AN OPTIMAL BODY BUDGET
Creating and strengthening new pathways is energy demanding, it's crucial that you learn how to manage your body budget.
Here are some key actions
Movement- work out vigorously and regularly
Regular aerobic exercise has been linked to increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein associated with neuroplasticity. Find an activity you enjoy and do it with other people to enhance its benefits.
Nutrition- you are what you eat
Moderate refined sugar, bad fats, and processed foods. Digestion is an energy demanding activity make it count by respecting your bodies need for key nutrients.
Consume a balanced diet rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients that support brain health. Include foods like fatty fish, blueberries, broccoli, and dark chocolate as they associated with cognitive benefits.
Sleep- get enough sleep, aim for 7-9 hours
This is the most fundamental if lacking. So much happens in the brain and body while you are sleeping to restore and balance your body budget
Prioritise your sleep- Top Ten Tips Here
Stress - recognise and reduce
‘Stress’ is complex, this is an area I help people explore in my workshops and brain health programs. Recognising stressors is key to being able to change them.
Chronic stress can negatively impact neuroplasticity as it raises cortisol levels. More significant increases in cortisol are associated with deficits in memory.
Practice stress-reducing activities such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, or deep breathing exercises. Mindfulness practices have been associated with changes in brain structure and function. Regular meditation may contribute to enhanced neuroplasticity.
4. SAFE SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
How safe you feel (not are) is crucial for your physical and mental health, learning and happiness.
Establishing psychological safety in teams ensures readiness to learn
Leaders who understand nervous systems and brains are better equipped to do foster environments that promote psychological safety, trust and collaboration.
Learners in teams outperform learners alone
Final words
Change is hard because it requires a lot of energy. Energy than many people don't have because they are busy surviving in a world where they are bombarded with cues of danger. The first step for leaders is to help people feel safer by understanding the myriad of factors that impact people's sense of safety.
For millennia humans have intuitively known the relationship between energy, attention and growth. Neuroscience enriches this understanding and clarifies the core ingredients and biological mechanisms, with this knowledge comes power, how will you use it for yourself, with your teams, in your organisation?
For more information on my workshops, courses and programs send me a message or book a call. I love to meet new people and share my passion.
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