Diving into The Mindset of a Champion: Insights from Nigerian-American Basketball Player, Ike Diogu

Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! In episode 335, we delve into the neuroscience of emotion regulation, a crucial skill for personal and professional success. Host Andrea Samadi continues the 18-week self-leadership series inspired by Grant Bosnick’s book, focusing on strategies to enhance our ability to manage emotions effectively. We explore practical tips from Bosnick, such as labeling emotions, creating distance from them, and reframing situations to view them more positively. Additionally, we highlight the importance of sleep for emotion regulation, drawing insights from experts like Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Matthew Walker. Discover how improving your sleep quality can lead to better emotional control and overall well-being. Join us as we connect the dots between neuroscience, sleep, and emotional intelligence to help you achieve greater heights in 2024 and beyond. On today's episode #335 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January.  The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.   For Today, EPISODE #335, we are moving on to Chapter 9, covering “The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation” which showed up on my leadership self-assessment as a low, RED score, of 20%, but again, not because it’s not something I don’t need to pay attention to, this is something I pay attention to daily, right up there with physical health that is listed in Pathway Four of Grant’s Self-Leadership Map. If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Emotion Regulation is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. Before looking at what Grant Bosnick has to say about Emotion Regulation in Chapter 9 of his book, I looked around to see what else I could find on this topic. We actually have already covered this topic as one of the six social emotional learning competencies that we launched this podcast with, back in August, 2019[iii] and we called that episode “Self-Regulation: The Foundational Learning Skill for Future Success.”  In this early episode, we defined self-regulation as “the ability to manage your emotions and behavior in accordance of the situation. It includes being able to resist highly emotional reactions to upsetting stimuli, to calm yourself down when you get upset, adjust to a change in expectations and (the ability) to handle frustration”[iv] In other words, it’s the ability to bounce back after a setback or disappointment, and the ability to stay in congruence with your inner value system.  HOW TO HELP OUR CHILDREN WITH EMOTION REGULATION: We covered some tips on this early episode to help our children to practice this skill, and strengthen their “self-regulation” muscles, beginning with: Naming the emotion they are experiencing at a given moment, with a strategy (like stopping to take some deep breaths when something frustrates or overwhelms them) so they can keep working, and move forward. Uncovering what motivates each of us to develop intrinsic motivation that can help propel us forward. Taking brain breaks, or “unfocused moments” that allow for the brain to solve problems during these resting states. WHAT GRANT BOSNICK SUGGESTS FOR EMOTION REGULATION: Then we covered some tips to help us to continue to strengthen these self-regulation skills in the workplace, and I wondered what Grant Bosnick had to say in chapter 9 of his book on this topic. Within the second paragraph of this chapter, he explains the science behind emotion regulation when he outlines that “neuroscience has shown us that the exact same feelings we get from a physical threat also occur as social and emotional threats.” (Page 91, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).  This took me back to working with children with this foundational learning skill, that determines future success, and the whole idea that “social and emotional threats” can impact us (stop us in our tracks) exactly as if there was a actual physical threat (like coming face to face with a bear in the forest). In Chapter 9, Grant explains some different ways to regulate our emotions, and he uses a graphic to demonstrate how to move forward, while regulating our emotions, instead of spiraling out of control, downwards, and it begins with where we focus our attention. If we focus on the emotional aspects, he tells us “it will drive us into a downward spiral” but if we learn to “focus on the nonemotional aspects, or distance ourselves (from whatever it is that is bothering us) this is the start to creating an upward spiral.” (Page 94, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick).    IMAGE CREDIT: Image 9.2 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership TIP 1: LEARN TO LABEL OUR EMOTIONS: Bosnick agrees with the steps we created to build emotion regulation in our children, as he also mentions the importance of being able to name or label the emotion that you are having first. TIP 2: DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM EMOTIONS THAT ARE BOTHERING YOU TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY RELIEF: Then he suggests to find ways to distance yourself from the emotion (he calls this attentional deployment) to give you temporary relief from the situation. He mentions seeing the issue through someone else’s eyes, and I remember Dr. Maiysha Clairborne sharing this strategy back on EP 289[v] when she explained the importance of stepping into someone else’s shoes when you are in conflict with them, to feel what they feel, and even stepping back and looking at the entire problem from above (outside of anyone’s shoes) to gain a new perspective. TIP 3: REFRAME THE CONFLICT: Next Bosnick suggests “reappraisal or reframing” the conflict, by looking at it in a more positive way. He mentions that mindfulness can help us to “take a step back, lower anxiety, bring attention to the moment, become less judgmental about what is happening, help the brain to not attach meaning to the emotions and be open to new meaning and new connections.” (Page 97, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He suggests looking at the situation from someone else’s point of view to reframe it. TIP 4: LEARN TO REGULATE OUR EMOTIONS BY FINDING STRATEGIES THAT KEEP US STRONG, AND CLEAR HEADED: It’s his last technique of “response modulation” that caught my attention the most, because we’ve all experienced this. Once we are hit with an emotion about something, he asks “is it better to suppress it, or acknowledge it?” (Page 99, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He says “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). EMOTION REGULATION AND SLEEP: So in a world where we are hit daily by external stimuli, how on the earth can we be proactive to stay mentally strong and clear-headed so we have improved executive control to manage our emotions and regulate them? This took me straight to the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Matthew Walker who recently recorded an episode called “Improve Sleep to Boost Mood and Emotion Regulation.” [vi] It was here where I learned just how important sleep is for keeping a strong, clear mind, so we can use this strength to acknowledge and regulate our emotions, like Bosnick suggested. Dr. Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and the host of The Matt Walker Podcast, gave example after example that proved that when you’ve NOT had a good night’s sleep, things that wouldn’t bother you (when you’ve slept well), begin to aggravate, or grate on you more. Here’s what I found to be remarkable on this topic, something I had not ever heard before. DID YOU KNOW that "The greater amount of REM sleep you are getting (where our dreams occur), the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day?" (Dr. Matthew Walker). Dr. Walker went on to explain that “the brain chemical noradrenaline (that’s responsible for our stress reaction) completely shuts off during REM sleep, and serotonin (that plays a role with our mood) decreases, while acetyl choline (that carries messages from our brain to our body through nerve cells) increases by up to 30% in some parts of the brain (and can be even more active than when we were awake).  Dr. Walker concluded that the decrease of stress related brain chemicals is what makes “REM sleep was the perfect condition for overnight therapy.” If we want to improve our emotion regulation, the science is pointing directly to improving our sleep. Diving deep into the 4 stages of sleep and suggestions to improve our sleep is something I’ve been working on for the past 5 years. There is a lot to this, and I’m still working on improving ALL the macroingredients of a good sleep (suggested by Dr. Walker), that include QQRT, or knowing the quantity (amount of sleep), quality (fragmented vs continuous), regularity (sleeping/waking around the same time) and timing (sleeping in alignment with my chronotype).  Dr. Walker dives deep into all these areas with Dr. Huberman, and if you do wonder where you can improve, I highly suggest their 6-part series on sleep.  TIPS FOR IMPROVING EMOTION REGULATION BY IMPROVING OUR SLEEP: Here are three tips that I took away from the neuroscience of self-regulation, that I’ve been working on, to see if improving my sleep in these areas, could possibly improve emotion regulation. KNOW HOW MUCH DEEP SLEEP WE ARE GETTING EACH NIGHT: We all know the importance of knowing how much sleep we are getting to be well-rested the next day, (how many hours or the quantity) but it’s also important to keep an eye on the QUALITY or amount of DEEP RESTORATIVE sleep we are getting each night.   Most of us could all sleep a bit longer (or I’ll speak for myself here) because this is one area that’s hard to do living in Arizona. If I want to beat the summer heat, we need to wake up early to exercise before the heat advisory warnings go off around 8am, and this means that to get one benefit, (daily exercise) it comes at the cost of losing some sleep.  In addition to knowing I need to improve how long I’m sleeping, (and ways to offset waking up early for exercise) it’s also being sure that I’m getting quality sleep each night. This is my current area of focus that I’ve been tracking the past few months. You can see from the diagram in the show notes that there are some nights I went above my average of 2 hours 22 minutes of restorative sleep, measuring this using the Whoop wearable tracker, and other nights I was far below. When I looked at what was happening in my life on those days where restorative sleep was low, there wasn’t anything that stood out, other than when I began to pay attention to ALL areas of sleep (QQRT-quality, quantity, regularity and timing), restorative sleep improved. There are many type of trackers you can use to track restorative sleep. The tracker I use tells me how much deep sleep I’m getting (that’s physically restorative) and how much REM sleep (that’s mentally restorative). KNOW HOW MUCH REM SLEEP WE ARE GETTING: Keeping an eye on how much REM sleep we getting, is my next tip, since we know it’s important for consolidating new memories, learning and motor skills. We also just learned that the more REM sleep we are getting, we can say we are getting some good overnight therapy, restoring ourselves mentally. You can find sleep trackers that can help you to measure and track these important ingredients of a good sleep for yourself, and see how much REM sleep you are getting each night, while keeping in mind that “the greater amount of REM sleep you are getting, the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day.” (Dr. Walker) I noticed this number improved just by forcing myself to stay in bed a little bit longer, even if it was only waking up, and saying “try to go back to sleep for another 15 or 20 minutes” and this improved REM sleep, since the REM sleep rich phase is at the end of the night. You can see the purple areas on the graph of my REM sleep in the show notes, right at the end of my sleep. If I had not pushed to stay asleep till after 5:00am (my internal clock would have me getting up at 4am) then I would have missed out on some valuable REM sleep here. If you can measure this for yourself, you can find ways to increase this valuable sleep stage for yourself. I’ll also add that if you can remember your dreams, especially the ones just before you wake up, you can learn a lot about yourself, increasing your self-awareness. Remember, we are working on ways to help with our emotion regulation, and it seems to me, that an easy way to do this, would be to see how we can improve our REM sleep.   APPLY THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP TO IMPROVE EMOTION REGULATION: Since “during REM sleep the stress chemicals are turned off” helping us to “strip away the emotion from the memory” we can take this understanding a step further, and see if we are able to solve any of our problems during sleep. Dr. Huberman and Dr. Walker went into great detail about this concept[vii] that I’ve actually witnessed it first-hand. They described what happens in REM sleep to be like “Behavior-Desensitization” and I had the opportunity to see the stages of this process, done by someone skilled and trained in trauma and the brain, working with someone I know well, who has experiences significant trauma in their life, starting at an early age. Using a series of techniques, the trained therapist took the client safely from talking about a traumatic memory from their childhood, (with exteme emotion attached) to where they could say out loud that the memory had lost its emotional load and no longer gave them an emotional reaction. This is exactly what happens to our brain during REM sleep and why it’s mentally restorative. Putting these tips all together, and knowing that improving the quality, and quantity of sleep is linked to improving emotion regulation, I’m working hard to improve restorative sleep and REM sleep, each month.  I hope these tips have given you some insight on NEW ways that sleep can improve our emotion regulation. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #335 on Chapter 9 on “The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation” We looked at where we covered self-regulation in our early days of this podcast back in August of 2019, with some tips for teaching this skill to our children or students. This skill is one of 6 social and emotional skills that are finally being taught in our schools today. This is a foundational skill for future success. We looked at Grant Bosnick’s suggestion to regulate emotions in his book, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership with his chart that suggests: TIP 1: Labelling our emotions, and looking for a way to distract/create distance from them to provide temporary relief. If we focus on the emotional aspects, he tells us “it will drive us into a downward spiral” TIP 2: If we learn to “focus on the non-emotional aspects, or distance ourselves (from whatever it is that is bothering us) this is the start to creating an upward spiral.” TIP 3: Reframing the emotion, or changing the way we think about it, by looking at the problem from a different perspective, can help to see it in a more positive way. TIP 4: In Bosnick’s last technique of “response modulation” he mentioned that once we are hit with an emotion about something, he asks “is it better to suppress it, or acknowledge it?” (Page 99, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). He says “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). CONNECTING THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP TO IMPROVE EMOTION REGULATION: This led us to dive deeper into the neuroscience of emotion regulation with the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman and Dr. Matthew Walker, known as The Sleep Diplomat. “Sleep moves the needle on almost every aspect of brain and body health” Matt Walker Before listening to Dr. Walker’s most recent episode with Dr. Huberman, I had no idea that the research would point to a direct correlation with a good night’s sleep and our emotion regulation. DID YOU KNOW that “The greater amount of REM sleep we are getting, the greater amount of emotional detox we will get the next day?” (Dr. Matthew Walker).   Grant Bosnick said that “when we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, it is better to acknowledge the emotion so we can regulate it.” (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). It therefore makes sense to me that in order to strengthen emotion regulation, then we must therefore strengthen our sleep. 3 TIPS FOR IMPROVING EMOTION REGULATION BY MEASURING OUR SLEEP: KNOW HOW MUCH DEEP SLEEP WE ARE GETTING EACH NIGHT KNOW HOW MUCH REM SLEEP WE ARE GETTING KNOW THAT INCREASING REM SLEEP= OVERNIGHT THERAPY  Finally, how will we know if we are improving our emotion regulation by improving our sleep? Ask yourself how well you are doing with this. Remember: When we feel strong, clear-headed and have executive control, (it is better to acknowledge the emotion so) we will be able to better manage our emotions.  (Page 100, Chapter 9, Emotional Regulation, Bosnick). This is a work in progress for me, but without asking anyone else, I know that the research is accurate when it shows that “sleep deprivation increases reactivity in the amygdala by 60%.”[viii] To best way to improve reactivity in the amygdala, is by getting sufficient sleep. Improving all the ingredients of sleep (quality, quantity, regularity and timing). I also know that when I’m getting a good night sleep, my senses are more activated, and I can see more beauty in the world, especially with others around me. I’m more accepting of myself, and know that I’m stronger and more peaceful, which is what Grant Bosnick suggested for being able to improve this foundational success skill. This translates to the work I’m doing, looking at the world through a different lens where life becomes more joyful, creating hope that anything is possible (for myself and others). And all of this came from connecting the science behind a good night’s sleep to emotion regulation. I hope this episode has given you some helpful ideas, and we will see you next time, as we move to chapter 10 of Grant Boswick’s book on the Science Behind Persuading and Influencing. REVIEW In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #14 “Self-Regulation: The Foundational Skill for Future Success” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/self-regulation-the-foundational-learning-skill-for-future-success/   [iv] How Can We Help Our Kids with Self-Regulation https://childmind.org/article/can-help-kids-self-regulation/amp/   [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #289 with Dr. Maiysha Clairborne on “What Hold Us Back: Getting to the Roots of Our Doubts, Fears and Beliefs”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/maiysha-clairborne-md-on-what-holds-us-back-getting-to-the-root-of-our-doubts-fears-and-beliefs/   [vi] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM   [vii] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM   [viii] IBID      

Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! In Episode #334, host Andrea Samadi reconnects with Ike Diogu, a former Division I college athlete turned pro, whose impressive mental mindset left a lasting impact on her over 20 years ago. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/hvBHF4ectQI EPISODE #334 with Nigerian-American Basketball Player, Ike Diogu on "The Mindset of a Champion" we will cover: ✔ Ike's journey from ASU to the NBA and Beyond. ✔ How his upbringing, influenced by his family shaped his mental toughness ✔ How his coach, teammates and personal values played a role in his success in the NBA and as the captain of the Nigerian Basketball Team. ✔ How Ike inspired Andrea, over 20 years ago, to continue working with students and social and emotional learning skills. Discover the story of Ike's journey from Arizona State University to the NBA, and how his upbringing, influenced by a deep-thinking father and supportive siblings, shaped his mental toughness. Learn how Ike's coach, teammates, and personal values played a role in his success, both in the NBA and as a captain of the Nigerian national basketball team. Andrea and Ike delve into the importance of mental preparation, goal setting, and the power of a supportive environment. Ike shares his experiences from the Rio 2016 Olympics and his ongoing passion for basketball and mentoring others. This episode is a testament to the power of social and emotional learning, and the impact of mental mindset on achieving extraordinary results. Don't miss this inspiring conversation that highlights the intersection of neuroscience, emotional intelligence, and athletic excellence. On today's episode #334 we meet with someone who caught my eye, over 20 years ago when I worked with athletes at Arizona State University. Sitting in front of Ike Diogu, years before his exciting career would unfold, I just knew he would be successful. I was in my late 20s, and hadn’t published my first book yet, The Secret for Teens Revealed, that was written with the purpose to help our next generation sharpen the skills that were integral for achieving goals (in school and sports). It designed to develop certain ways of behaving and more importantly, thinking, that would enable young people to achieve whatever it is that they want in life. Working with elite College athletes at ASU, I thought would be a great place to test out the chapters of this book (Chapter 1- Developing a Winning Attitude, Chapter 2- Developing Your Mind, Chapter 4-Goal-Setting and Persistence, Chapter 5-Building Your Confidence Formula for Predictable Results for Success). You get the point here. So, one day, I asked Ike a series of questions to “feel out” where his mindset was, and I’m not kidding, he almost knocked me out of my chair. Whatever I asked Ike, he had a well-thought out answer, that told me for certain that he didn’t need the book I wanted to publish. He had already learned these skills at a young age, that I knew would skyrocket his future success. I just remember thinking “where will Ike Diogu end up?” and while I didn’t follow his career over the years, I did see his photo on the wall one day, going down to the baggage claim at Arizona’s Sky Harbor Airport, and it was then that I thought back to the moment I knew this young man had everything he needed, for an exciting and successful life. Of course I was going to look for him, and see if he would be open to coming on the podcast. We’ve learned about the Daily Grind in the NHL on EP #38[i], Accelerating Leadership in the NFL on EP #166[ii] but I knew I’ve always been missing the Mindset of the Athlete. I’m honored, and so excited to connect back with Ike Diogu,[iii] who I’ve not seen face to face for over 20 years, and dive into “The Mindset of a Division 1 College Athlete Turned Pro.” Welcome Ike! Thank you for agreeing to meet up with me here, and filling me and our listeners in to what you’ve been up to the past 20 years!!  I wonder, when I reached out to you, do you remember me from back at ASU? You wouldn’t know that that was my first official job in the US. I came from Toronto, Canada, with so many hopes and dreams for our next generation, and September 11th really made it difficult for me. Working with you gave me vision and hope during what I remember as my most difficult and challenging times in a new country. I used to look forward to those days at ASU, and knew you were helping me much more that I was helping you.  It does come full circle sometimes when we get to tell those people who helped to motivate and inspire us. I’m so grateful to have had the chance to work with you back then. INTRO Q: Before we get to where you went after I met you at ASU, can you just orient our listeners to your background BEFORE you went to College at ASU? Where did you grow up, and I’m looking for where did your winning mindset come from? Was it your Dad with a doctorate degree in Philosophy do you think? Who taught you these skills (they are called SEL skills now)--I knew they were important, (had this book written but not yet published) and they hadn’t yet made it into our schools yet? Q1: I mentioned that you made a memorable impression on me all those years ago. It was your mental mindset that stood out to me. So much so, that when I saw your photo on the wall at the Phoenix airport, going down to the baggage claim, I completely freaked out and said to my husband “I knew Ike Diogu was going places! I just knew it!” I’ve kind of got a 6th sense for seeing talent, and while I like to see the talent in EVERYONE, I notice that not everyone uses the gifts they’ve been given, but you were in full use of them all when I met you. I had to watch an incredible interview you did on “Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball” from 3 years ago to get up to speed with where I last saw you, but can we start with something I saw somewhere that you said in that interview? You said “throughout all the adversity that I had throughout my professional career, I think the mental toughness (Coach Evans) instilled helped me get through some of the really tough times I faced.” I remember your Coach walking around at ASU…he had quite the presence.  How did coach Evans help strengthen your mental toughness? I saw it as very strong already, back then. What did he teach you to set you up for success AFTER playing College Basketball? Q2: I’ll credit the photos I’m using in this interview to the African in Sports interview you did 3 years ago. It did help me to accurately see where you went after ASU. I had no idea…I just knew you would do amazing things in the world. In this photo, the interviewer asked about your teammates at ASU and look at that smile. I knew ASU was special for you, but what do you think made it so special, enough that you would really have to think about leaving there, to go to the NBA? Q3: Let’s go to when you were drafted to the NBA. You said yourself “I never would have imagined that I would have made the jump that I made.” I did…but 20 years ago, ( I saw you would have Quantum Leap success) I was just learning to trust things like heightened intuition that I never ignore anymore. Tell me about your mindset of “putting your name into the draft” and then playing at open gym in Garland, TX. In the back of your mind, what were you thinking? Q4: So, back at ASU, I remember asking you questions about where your confidence levels were, or your attitude and mental mindset. Those are all pretty normal questions, but I knew they weren’t being taught in our schools. Now I’ve been researching the science behind high performance for 20 years, and working on bridging the gap with some things that might be considered spiritual in nature, but when I saw the #9 that you wore for when you were drafted into the NBA for the Golden State Warriors, I can’t help but ask “what does the number 9 mean to you? Anything? Or are you just assigned that number based on your pick? I ask this because the #9 is considered a lucky number in many cultures, and is associated with spiritual growth, selflessness and humanitarianism. I had to look at the numbers you wore at ASU. #5-is known for freedom, curiosity and change, as well as a desire to have adventures and explore new possibilities (which I think is interesting that it’s here where you left College BB and leaped forward to the NBA).  Does this mean anything to you? Then #6 is associated with responsibility, service and nurturing, that I saw you brought to the Nigerian Team with your background in the NBA. But I also saw a photo of you on your IG page, in front of Garland High School, that has the slogan “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve.” I’m guessing this was your High School. Do you think your natural ability or drive to serve others began here, or before this? There isn’t any science to the numbers, but I did notice the well-known numerology meanings coincided with each team, staring with #9 and I was curious if any of the numbers have meaning to you. Q5: So, now take us to Nigeria where I saw you were the Captain of your team. What did you teach your team that you learned from the NBA about preparing to go against your opponent? Q6: I heard you say “In order to get to the next level that we want to go, you need to do X, Y, and Z” and I wonder what were some of the important strategies you taught them? What was X, Y and Z?  Q7: The Rio 2016 Olympics—What was that experience like? Q8: Where are you now? Are you playing for Venezuela? What’s been your path since the Olympics? What is your vision for the next 5 years? Ike, it’s been an honor to reconnect with you. I’m so grateful for this chance to have you on the podcast really just to let you know that you had these skills all along, and I hope other who tune in around the world can gain some inspiration and hope from your life experience. When I look back over the years, the people I’ve had on as guests have made an impact on me in some way (whether from their research in the scientific world, or in education, or those who just made me stop and think about how I can better serve the world). You definitely caught my attention 20 years ago, and watching the interview you did (African in Sports Interview)[iv] I was beyond moved from not only your mindset for excellence, but the desire to help others to reach their greatest heights. I look forward to following your work in the future, and know you will continue to stand out in your field. Thanks for meeting with me today! FINAL THOUGHTS Some final thoughts. At the end of this interview, I thanked Ike for giving me such incredible hope at a time in my life when I didn’t have it all figured out. I remember having these huge visions for these important social and emotional learning skills that were not yet taught in our schools, and Ike’s grasp of these skills propelled me forward. This was years before we had the research behind these SEL Competencies that we now know skyrocket academic achievement, healthy relationships, mental wellness and so much more.[v] These SEL skills are integral in our classrooms today. I think it’s important to be open at all times to learn from others, as you never know what it is that might help you in the future, like Ike helped me to stay focused on this work. I do highly encourage watching the interview I mentioned, “Ike Diogu: Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball”[vi] if you want to learn all of the details of Ike’s Motivating Story “Diving into the Mindset of a D1 College Basketball Player, turned Pro.” I’m grateful to have had the chance to reconnect with Ike, and do want to give a shout out to all the parents out there, like Ike’s Dad, who are raising their children to be mentally and physically strong. Also, the coaches, like coach Evans[vii], who took Ike to the heights he needed to be successful at the pro level, and taking his mental toughness to greater heights. I believe we all have the ability to do just what Ike did, (maybe not with basketball, but I mean make Quantum Leaps with our results) and as Ike said himself, he “never would have imagined making the jump that (he) made.” But I did. I bet his Dad and family did as well. And Coach Evans did. Ike was surrounded by people who believed in him. Which is a testament for all of us to keep learning, growing, and reaching for the next level in whatever it is that we want in our lives, and encourage others to do the same. I’ll end with a quote from Thomas Edison: See you next week as we continue with our Self-Leadership Series, and chapter 9, on Self-Regulation. RESOURCES AND MORE ABOUT IKE DIOGU Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs Ike Diogu on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blackcaesar01/   REFERENCES:   [i] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/assistant-coach-to-the-winnipeg-jets-todd-woodcroft-on-the-daily-grind-in-the-nhl/   [ii] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/vice-president-executive-producer-of-the-new-york-jets-chris-gargano-on-accelerating-leadership-for-maximum-impact-and-results/   [iii] Ike Diogu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Diogu   [iv]Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS  https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs   [v] https://casel.org/   [vi] Ike Diogu | Pioneering the Golden Age of Nigerian Basketball | AIS  https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OHb6W9TKzcs     [vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Evans_(basketball)    

Join us on episode 333 in the 11th season of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. Our mission, as always, is to equip you with actionable, scientifically supported methods to hone social-emotional learning skills, boost productivity and promote overall well-being. This episode continues our 18-week self-leadership series informed by Grant Bosnick's proven strategies. In this installment, we turn our attention to the crucial role of expectations in our lives. Starting off the discussion in the engaging world of Grant Bosnick's book, we dissect the meaning and importance of expectations. We then explore the crucial aspects of emotion regulation, persuasive traits, effective time management, and the vast concept of change. This episode revisits key moments from our previous chapters, ranging from the neuroscience of goals to the significance of hydration on brain performance, AHA moments, creative insights, and more. The highlight of the episode is an in-depth exploration of the science of expectations, underpinned by Grant Bosnick and David Robson's book, 'The Expectation Effect.' Here, we probe the profound influence of positive and negative expectations on our daily life, mindset, goal achievement, and even health. Inspired by teachings from luminary mentors like Bob Proctor, this illuminating exploration of expectations is designed to leave you with a fresh perspective. Stories from an unforgettable seminar 20 years ago bring to life the immense power of expectations. Understanding the neuroscience connections, we further explore dopamine and its correlation with our level of expectations. Practical tips to apply these psychological insights in day-to-day life are provided as we take you on an intellectual journey from theory to practice. Throughout the episode, you will discover how to better regulate your expectations to boost your happiness, productivity, and confidence. This intellectual journey will equip you with the tools to tap into the power of expectation and unlock a better version of yourself. Expect the best and join us to uncover the enormous potential within you. Stay tuned for our next episode, 'The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation', as we continue our intellectual journey. Welcome back to SEASON 11 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives. On today's episode #333 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January.  The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. Today we cover Chapter 8, “The Neuroscience of Expectations” and l look at what Grant Bosnick covers on this topic, as well as a deeper dive into David Robson's book, The Expectation Effect.   We will cover:  ✔  What is the meaning and importance of expectations? ✔  An unforgettable moment when Andrea first encountered the power behind our expectations.  ✔  We will explore the science of expectations to boost your happiness, productivity, and confidence. ✔  3 TIPS for applying The Neuroscience of Expectation to your daily life. ✔  Ideas to trouble-shoot applying this concept, along with belief, to achieve your goals and dreams.  I did need to take a short break from writing and recording since we last covered this book, the end of March, with new responsibilities in my work world. I’ve got my footing now, and missed researching, recording, and producing these episodes. The benefits that I personally receive from gathering this information, and sharing with it you, the listener, wherever you might be tuning in around the world, helps me in many different ways, but mostly, this work keeps me thinking, and making connections, neural connections, which we all know is important for cognition and learning. I did appreciate the notes from listeners of past episodes they have found helpful, and will continue to provide my best work here. We will resume the final 5 chapters of Grant’s book, based on Self-Leadership strategies, covering the topic of expectations today, then emotion regulation, persuade and influence, time management and ending the series with change. Just a reminder that we left off with Chapter 7 on “AHA Moments and Creative Insight.[ii]” There is great power and immense self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[iii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium or low level of importance for you to focus on this year. REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Before we cover Chapter 8 today on Expectations, let’s review where we left off, since this is a good reminder for me, to make the connections from these prior episodes. It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, (from Grant Bosnick’s book) connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to our daily life. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast and it’s the application of what we are learning that contains the magic. REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are we doing to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are we improving our mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter? Just the fact that you are here listening to this episode, and I’m writing it, is a good indication we are all building this skill. What have you noticed with the momentum you’ve built with your goals this year? Are you on track? How can you narrow your focus more? REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are we using people or places that inspire us, to take our results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to our physical and mental health. What else can we all do to take more action in this area? I recently connected with someone who caught my attention over 20 years ago, when I worked with athletes at ASU. I remember sitting in front of this one athlete, and just knew he was going somewhere. We are working on the details to have him on the podcast right now, but stay tuned for a future episode on “Diving into the Mindset of a D1 College Athlete, Turned Pro” with Nigerian-American professional basketball player, Ike Diogu. Who are what is inspiring you these days? REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Think about where we are in our Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 4 of Grant Bosnick’s book.  How is mindfulness helping us with our physical health? What’s interesting to me with this topic, is that the more I continue to study, and look to improve my own areas of weakness (right now I’m looking at how to optimize sleep which is currently my weakest link) and am diving deep into this topic with Dr. Matthew Walker’s most recent 6 PART podcast series with Dr. Andrew Huberman.[iv] Mindfulness is a topic that Dr. Walker lists as integral for improving sleep. I’m curious how you are implementing this skill to improve daily results. REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are we practicing “getting into our flow?” When do we notice we are in flow the most?  Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are we practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity this year? This is a hard one, as getting into this flow state requires practice for me. A month and a half away from this podcast, really did take me out of my flow state here. After recording an interview, and editing, I made many mistakes, or flat out forgot what to do next on the production side. I was rusty, and not in flow. I’d been producing episodes for 5 years, without taking a break, and this break revealed that the skills I’d developed need to be practiced. Use them, or lose them type of idea. This is exactly how my daughters explain what happens to them when they take time away from their sport with an injury. I learned that when we lose this flow, the best way to get it back is to get back to work, as best as we can. One step at a time. What about you? How are you using flow in your daily life? REFLECT BACK to Chapter 6 on The Science Behind our Physical Health: Where we narrowed our focus from a wide and complex field, to something we can implement immediately with “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance.” Midway through the year, I’m thinking “How am I keeping my brain hydrated?” Do I know how much water I’m drinking every day? This is something I’ve put more emphasis on recently, as we have now introduced an Infrared Sauna to our daily routine, and this requires more water to help eliminate toxins. They recommend drinking 20 ounces of water before using the sauna, since sweating can cause dehydration, and drinking at least a liter (or four 8 ounce glasses of water) afterwards. I did think it was interesting that one of the products I’ve also been wearing since our interview last year with Dmitri Leonov, who taught us about the Taopatch[v] nanotechnology that also requires an increase in water intake to eliminate toxins. Do you know about how much water you are drinking every day? REFLECT BACK to Chapter 7 on “AHA Moments, Creative Insight and The Brain” where we looked at the book, The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman. They wrote this book to “explain how these Eureka experiences happen—and how to have more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success.” (The Eureka Factor).  We also went back to PART 4 of The Silva Method[vi] on “Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” where we tapped into (once again) to Dr. Andrew Huberman’s research on creativity here, thinking about how we can have more insight to solve problems in our personal and work lives. It’s definitely a balancing act, working on implementing ALL of these strategies for an improved 2024. Some of these I’ve got the hang of, and others (like sleep) are continual works of progress for me. For Today, EPISODE #333, we are moving on to Chapter 8, covering “The Neuroscience Behind Expectations” where we will dive into a topic that I mark as high importance in my life, right up with breathing. When I took my self-assessment, the topic of expectations showed up as low priority for me to focus on this year. Not because it’s not important to me, but because I’ve already made this topic of high importance. Expectations came out for me in the RED category, with a low score of 8% along with goals and time management, that I also put high importance with on a daily basis.  If you’ve taken the self-assessment, look to see if Expectations are of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. Before looking at Grant Bosnick’s thoughts about the topic of expectations, where he begins chapter 8 by asking us “what did you expect?” I had to do some research first, to see what is already out in the world, and there was a lot out there, on the science behind expectations. I first looked at the definition. What does it mean when someone has expectations? Collins Dictionary defined this term to mean “your strong hopes or beliefs that something will happen or that you will get something that you want.”[vii] When I typed “expectations” into Pubmed.gov (a free database of more than 37 million research articles) I saw over 95,000 entries for how expectations can help a person to improve their health and behavioral outcomes, and noticed topics like “unmet expectations[viii]” or even “how expectations modulate pain.”[ix] Before going down the rabbit hole looking to understand the science behind expectations, I found a book called The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World[x] by David Robson that I highly recommend. He covers a “journey through cutting-edge science of how our mindset shapes every facet of our lives, revealing how your brain holds the keys to unlocking a better version of you.” It was in the first few pages of Robson’s Expectation Effect where I began to piece together past podcast episodes where we’ve talked about how “expectation hooks us up to what we want.” I saw the word “expectation” then BOOM, I could hear my mentor, Bob Proctor talking about this exact topic, back in the late 1990s. Who knew there was a science to this! We will get there, but here’s what I remembered learning on this topic, 20 years ago. When Proctor talked about the importance of “expecting” what it is that we want, I remember highlighting it at the top of my notebook with an ORANGE highlighter, and never thought I would years later share these notes with anyone, (sorry they aren’t neater) but look what I wrote. “Expectation hooks you up to what you want, and brings it to you.” Then further down the page, wrote “you can be hooked up to what you want (you’ve read Think and Grow Rich a billion times, and even listened to our 6 PART Series Think and Grow Rich Series,[xi] and you know EXACTLY what you want) but you DON’T EXPECT to ever get it, for some reason, that only you would be aware of. If you don’t expect it, you won’t bring it to you. I remember Proctor explaining this concept with goals, and he said it could also work with something we expect that we don’t want, like a winter cold when we say something like, “Oh, I usually get a cold right before Thanksgiving, so let’s not meet up until after this time.” Have you ever had someone tell you they were expecting to become ill? My mind goes straight back to the orange highlighter, and how I knew it was important to highlight that what we “expect” to happen, is brought right to us. Robson writes in his book that: Now I really did believe in these concepts I learned back in those seminar days, (because I saw first-hand how many people achieved results from this way of thinking) but I’m sure many others thought these ideas were superstitious or something. Fast forward 20 years, and now, I see this exact concept written in the 2022 book by David Robson, called The Expectation Effect, illustrating that what scientists are learning about the connections between the human brain and performance, are nothing short of amazing! Many of us have heard of these concepts, we might have even written them down, and highlighted them in orange, but now, science reveals something new about how our brain responds to the things we “expect” to happen. David Robson shows us in his book exactly “how those beliefs, in themselves, shape your health and well-being in profound ways, and that learning to reset our expectations (about these issues) can have truly remarkable effects on our health, happiness and productivity.” (David Robson, The Expectation Effect). So, I’m reading David Robson’s book, excited to make a scientific connection to the word I highlighted in ORANGE in those seminar days, and here I come across the author warning us about New Age self-help books, like Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, that Bob Proctor starred in, saying these concepts to be pseudoscience. I will say that many people misunderstand The Secret and Proctor[xii] himself said “You can’t just THINK and GROW RICH, you’ve got to DO SOMETHING with those thoughts.” So with an open mind, let’s see what Grant Bosnick has to say about The Neuroscience of Expectations. I did mention that Grant opens up chapter 8 by saying “What did you expect?” and he gives examples in the beginning of this chapter ways that expectations are created in our minds whether it’s with an expensive glass of wine we taste, that we “expect” to taste good based on its price, or even the credibility that we “expect” from doctors verses the doctor’s assistant. What Grant Bosnich Says About The Science of Expectations: Grants explains that “in neuroscience, dopamine is the neurochemical in our brain that makes us feel good and is associated with feelings of euphoria, bliss, motivation, concentration and reward. If we meet our expectations, then it generates a slight increase in dopamine, and a slight reward response. If we exceed our expectations, it generates a strong increase in dopamine, and a strong reward response. And if our expectations are unmet, it generates a large drop in dopamine, and a strong threat response.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85). Grant explains that when our expectations are met or exceeded, this “increases our dopamine levels, which leads to increased happiness and well-being, which helps maximize our performance by setting up the conditions of flow and insight. This leads to more productivity and increased confidence.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85). But here’s the kicker! Grant shares that “if our expectations are not met, (however) that it dramatically decreases our dopamine levels, we feel disappointment and stress, resulting in poor performance and decreased confidence.” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85). Grant asks us some questions around what we expect of ourselves and others, and it’s here that I thought about how I have high expectations for myself, and the goals I’m working on, but I’ve noticed that in order to avoid disappointment, I work on not having expectations of others. Except of when I go to the doctor for something important, I except that he will look after whatever it is that I’m there for to the best of their ability. There is this one doctor that I drive over an hour to see him, because his services exceeded my expectations. His office experience was not the best, but when I get to see him, I have a high level of care, that I expect, and I’ll look past the poor experience in his offices, to get to the high level of care when I reach him. Grant addresses this by saying that we can influence our own, and other people’s expectations by “delivering higher than expected” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 87) which is exactly what happened to me with that doctor. Grant explains the importance of “setting the expectation low, then delivering high” to avoid disappointment. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #333 on Chapter 8 on “The Neuroscience of Expectations” DID YOU KNOW: That when our expectations are met or exceeded, this “increases our dopamine levels, which leads to increased happiness and well-being, which helps maximize our performance by setting up the conditions of flow and insight, which leads to more productivity and increased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick) Conversely, did you know that “if our expectations are not met, that it dramatically decreases our dopamine levels, we feel disappointment and stress, resulting in poor performance and decreased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85). I go right back to Grant’s opening statement “What did you expect” and then my ORANGE highlighted notes from 20 years ago where I learned that “expectation hooks us up to what we want.” HOW TO USE THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EXPECTATIONS IN OUR DAILY LIFE: 1. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M EXPECTING (of myself and others): Understanding the science, helps me to keep my expectations tied to myself, and not others, to avoid disappointment and stress.  I expect to achieve my goals, (by putting in the necessary work) keep myself in good health (physical and mental) and will not just THINK about these expectations, but will do the hard work, take the action necessary to achieve them. This way, I’m not just “thinking” of what I expect to occur, I’m actually doing something with those thoughts, like the quote from Bob Proctor from the beginning of this episode. If I’m ever feeling “disappointed” with something in my life, a good question to ask is “what did you expect?” and see if I can backtrack to my thoughts. Was I using the science to flood my brain with dopamine, (with something within my control-that I could take action towards) or not. 2. USE A POSITIVE EXPECTATION TO BUILD RESILIENCE FOR A HEALTHIER VERSION OF ME: Understanding the science behind our expectations, and especially David Robson’s work, where I learned that “people with a more positive attitude towards their later years are less likely to develop hearing loss, frailty, and illness—and even Alzheimer’s disease—than people who associate aging with senility and disability” (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) marks a strong case for expecting exceptional mental and physical health in the future. Again, it goes without saying that we can’t just “think” ourselves into good health. We need to do the work here in order to expect results to occur. 3. CONTINUE TO EXPECT GOOD THINGS (for myself and others) AND DON’T WORRY ABOUT SUPERSTITIONS LIKE CREATING MY OWN LUCKY CHARM. Knowing that “expectations and beliefs can influence—indeed are already influencing your life in many other surprising and powerful ways. (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) makes me believe in some of the rituals I’ve heard of over the years, like lucky charms. I learned from David Robson’s The Expectation Effect, that “superstitions and rituals can boost perseverance and performance across a whole range of cognitive tasks, and (that) the advantages are often considerable.” (Page 198, The Expectation Effect). Whether you are a professional athlete, singer, public speaker, or someone like me who just wants improved results in your life, there is a science to having a lucky charm, or something that brings you the promise of success, to help you to create a feeling of control during high stress. Don’t dismiss the power of a lucky rock with a goal written on it, or whatever it is that holds significance to you with your future goals, or something that has meaning to you, that you expect to occur in your future. FINAL THOUGHTS ON OUR EXPECTATIONS: Some final thoughts, before closing out this episode, when we are working on our expectations, it’s highly important to be honest with whether you believe them to be possible, or not. This is an important part of this. David Robson mentioned in his book, The Expectation Effect that: THINK ABOUT HOW YOU RESPOND TO DIFFICULT LIFE CHALLENGES: Imagine yourself going for a new position at work, and you are talking to your close family members about where you are in the interview process. They say to you “this sounds good, it looks like you are in the lead for this new position” and you reply “I’ll let know IF I get the job.” How you speak about your expectations (or as Robson said “our responses to difficult situations” (internally in your mind), or out loud to others, is extremely important. Keeping brain science in mind, the best way to talk about your expectations is with certainty and our reply with this brain science in mind could be along the lines of “I’ll let you know WHEN I get the new position” to keep the dopamine flowing to your brain. This response will help you to “feel good (and is associated) with feelings of euphoria, bliss, motivation, concentration and reward.” (Grant Bosnick). If for some reason, you don’t believe what you are expecting, or that the leap might be too far of a jump for you, you will feel what’s called cognitive dissonance, and you’ll need to do more internal work to get yourself to the place where you can think “truth rather than appearances”[xiii] and speak what you expect out loud, (or think it internally) and feel the alignment of this expectation in your life. Only then will we get to this place where our expectations and beliefs can influence our life in many astonishing and powerful ways, leaving us mind-blown by our own potential for personal change. We’ll see you next episode for The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation.  REVIEW In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “Aha Moments and Creative Insight”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-self-leadership-and-the-neuroscience-of-goals/   [iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iv] 6 PART Series on Improving Sleep with Dr. Walker and Dr. Huberman https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/guest-series-dr-matthew-walker-the-biology-of-sleep-your-unique-sleep-needs   [v]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #318 with Dmitri Leonov on “Understanding Nanotechnology for Health and Wellness of the Future”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dmitri-leonov-on-taopatch-understanding-nanotechnology-for-health-and-wellness-of-the-future/   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 264 “The Neuroscience Behind The Silva Method: Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/   [vii] Expectations Definition https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/expectation#:~:text=Your%20expectations%20are%20your%20strong,get%20something%20that%20you%20want.   [viii] Unmet Expectations at Work at Age 62 and Depressive Symptioms https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34173825/   [ix] How Do Expectations Modulate Pain? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37369088/   [x]The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World by David Robson Feb. 15, 2022  https://www.amazon.com/Expectation-Effect-Mindset-Change-World-ebook [xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/   [xii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #196 PART 6 of our Think and Grow Rich Book Series https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-15-success-principles-of-napoleon-hill-s-classic-boo-think-and-grow-rich/   [xiii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #315 and PART 2 of our REVIEW of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-2-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-chapter-4-thinking-and-acting-in-a-certain-way/        

In the 332nd episode of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, we have an informative discussion with the distinguished authors of the 'Wisest Learners' series, Dr. Wallace and Dr. Artyom. We delve deep into the intersection of neuroscience, social and emotional learning, and its implications for personal growth and productivity. Listeners will discover invaluable insights on learning strategies, the role of emotions in cognitive control, and how environmental regularities shape memory and attention. See this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/lk7jJZDqrPo Our conversation explores the significant developmental transitions children undergo around the age of 12 and the bewilderment many parents experience during this time. By discussing the principles laid out in their book, our guests illuminate the importance of a holistic approach to child development from an early age and its profound impact on academic performance and lifelong learning. Specific focus is given to the concept of 'automaticity', which simplifies complex cognitive functions in children. Moving on to practical application, the discussion underscores the critical role of granting children autonomy in their learning journey. Real-life examples highlight how granting autonomy in choices, like book selection, can inculcate a lifelong love for reading and writing. However, an important balance is emphasized to avoid stifling a child's natural curiosity with excessive parental control. A notable part of our conversation is an analogy comparing essential life skills to multivitamins, emphasizing the necessity for multiple principles in education rather than relying on single solutions. The role of parents in a child's education is underlined with varied involvement approaches and their effects. The interaction concludes with important practical suggestions for parents, emphasizing the importance of role-modelling and consistent communication with children. This enlightening episode provides a unique fusion of theoretical understanding and practical guidance, making it essential listening for anyone seeking to better understand how to nurture resilient and joyful learners. Whether you're a parent, educator, or just interested in the fascinating world of cognitive neuroscience, buckle up for this insightful journey into the art and science of parenting based on neuroscience and social and emotional learning. EPISODE #332 with Dr. Wallace Panlilio and Dr. Artyom Zinchenko “The Wisest Learners: Unleashing Neuroscience, Education, and Athletic Ability” we will cover: ✔ How a Cognitive Neuroscientist from Germany, met an experienced School Administrator in the Philippines, to create “The Wisest Learners” book series. ✔ How can we use an understanding of our brain, to bring the joy back into learning for our children and students? ✔ What KEY take-aways should we know about using our brain to be “wise” learners? ✔ How to apply these scientific principles in your school, workplace or sports environment to take your students/children to greater heights? On today's episode #332, we meet Dr. Wallace Panlilio II and Dr. Artyom Zinchenko, the authors of the Wisest Learners[i] Book Series. Dr. Artyom Ph.D is an accomplished author and cognitive neuroscientist with extensive experience in the field. He earned his Doctorate in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Max Plank Institute for Cognitive Human and Brain Sciences in Germany and is now a researcher and a faculty member at LMU in Munich. He’s also a father of 2 children. Dr. Wallace is an experienced educator and entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Philippines and has served as a headmaster (school administrator) for 14 years. He holds 2 master’s degrees in entrepreneurship and educational leadership and is always looking at ways to further optimize the results of the students in his schools.  Without further ado, let’s meet the authors of The Wisest Learners and see how they connect the most current brain research to the future success of our next generation. Welcome Dr. Wallace Panlilio and Dr. Zinchenko. Where have we reached you today? Thank you for meeting with me to share the vision of your Wisest Learners Book Series to help parents and teachers Unlock the Secrets for our next generation, using the most current neuroscience research. Before we get to the questions, I wonder if you could tell me more about who you are, and where this vision for youth began…especially as helping our youth has also been my life’s mission.   Can you describe the inspiration behind "The Wisest Learners: Parents Edition" and how did you intend this series to impact parents and educators? Q1: How can we all use the principles from your book to help our children not just excel academically but also find joy in learning? Q2: In a world filled with information, how does your holistic approach benefit parents/educators to nurture well-rounded learners who can thrive in diverse situations that we know (ad adults) they are going to face? How does your research-based approach give your readers the confidence that the strategies you recommend are backed by science and can truly make a difference in their child’s education? Could you discuss the long-term benefits of wise learning for children as they grow into adulthood, not just academically but in their careers and personal lives? Q3: In terms of practical application, how can we begin implementing the book’s strategies with our everyday interactions with our children? Can you share an anecdote from the book that illustrates the impact of unconventional connections in learning? How does the book propose to challenge conventional wisdom in education and parenting? The book discusses the integration of technology in learning. What are your views on balancing digital tools with traditional learning methods? Q4: I’m interested in your forthcoming book, Wisest Learners to develop a child’s athletic potential. Can you tell me more about what you cover in this book? Dr. Wallace, Dr. Artyom, I want to thank you both for your time and sharing your vision for your Wisest Learners Book series that I think is a critical tool for all of us to read, and implement. For people to reach you, what is the best way? Through your website wisestlearners.com? Q10: Finally, what is the one message you hope every reader takes away from “The Wisest Learners Series?   CONNECT WITH DR. WALLACE PANLILIO AND DR. ARTYOM ZINCHENKO     www.linkedin.com/in/artyom-zinchenko-417021170     www.linkedin.com/in/dr-wallace-panlilio-77490649/    Official Site: www.wisestlearners.com  Instagram: www.instagram.com/wisestlearners    Facebook: www.facebook.com/wisestlearners  LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/wisest-learners    RESOURCES: "Wisest Learners (Parent Edition): Unlock the Secrets to Your Child’s Academic Success" is a Mom’s Choice Awards Gold Recipient and a winner of the National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA) 2024. This book is available on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats. Simply search for "Wisest Learners Parent Edition" or use the links provided below. 🔗 Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMQ7V69H 🔗 Paperback: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRBBSXFZ 2. "Wisest Learners (Teacher Edition): Unlock the Secrets to Your Students' Academic Resilience" is launched on Amazon in both ebook and paperback formats this month of May. Simply search for "Wisest Learners Teacher Edition" or use the links provided below. 🔗 Ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1JRPYM   🔗 Paperback: www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZKKVD5N   You can also get more information about the program by visiting www.wisestlearners.com.  REFERENCES:  [i] https://wisestlearners.com/      

In this transformative episode, join us as we engage with renowned pediatric occupational therapist and founder of Zensational Kids, Allison Morgan. Learn how yoga and mindfulness integrated into her therapy sessions have improved her clients' physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral wellness. Discover her motivation for writing curriculums for pre-K through high school students and the unique challenges that come with it. Dive into the importance of balancing the human nervous system and its impact on children’s functionality. Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/mtj4zuuirbc  Uncover our conversation concerning the urgent need for increased mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools, especially in light of the post-pandemic stress faced by many students. Learn about Allison’s incredible journey as a pediatric occupational therapist and her vision to alleviate the struggles of today's students, teachers, and parents through innovative solutions. Delve into the profound significance of social and emotional learning in an educational setting. Gather valuable insights on the teaching and learning dynamics and the vital role educators play in creating their classroom's atmosphere. Learn how to utilize mindfulness and self-awareness strategies to revolutionize the classroom environment and the importance of educators' mental and emotional well-being. Discover practical ways you can begin incorporating these strategies into your classroom or homeschooling routine today with our plethora of free resources. Subscribe to Allison's free video program for more resources, empowering discussions, and actionable strategies for your personal and professional growth. On today's episode #331, we have our final interview before the summer months. Today we will be meeting with Allison Morgan, the Founder of Zensational Kids.[i] She is a pediatric occupational therapist, author, international public speaker, and educational trainer driven to empower youth and the adults that care and serve them. She is passionate about training educators, parents, mental health professionals, and allied health professionals, giving them effective techniques to develop skills such as self-awareness, management skills, compassion, and resilience so they can model and authentically teach these skills to children. EPISODE #331 with Allison Morgan on “Making the Neuroscience, Mindfulness and SEL Connection” we will cover: ✔ Where Allison made the Mind, Body, Neuroscience Connection with her work as a pediatric occupational therapist. ✔ Allison’s Vision for the Schools of the Future.  ✔  Uncover the urgent need for increased mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools. ✔  Learn how yoga and mindfulness integrated into her therapy sessions have improved her clients' physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral wellness. ✔ How to Access Allison’s work for a free to implement NEW strategies immediately. Allison began integrating yoga and mindfulness into her therapy sessions with children in 2007. Discovering the multitude of physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral benefits these practices offered her occupational therapy clients and recognizing the need for more mental health and social-emotional learning programs in schools, Allison began writing curriculum and developing teacher training programs to help others share these practices. For those who have followed our work over the years, you’ll know that when I came across Allison, I was thinking I wish I had known Allison in 2014 when we launched our curriculum into the school market, and got to see first-hand just how difficult that would be. She is the author of curriculums for pre-K through high school-age students: (which is not easy to be focused on both elementary and secondary students at the same time. They are both vastly different, requiring completely different strategies). Young Explorers: Yoga and Mindfulness in Early Childhood Education EDUCATE 2B: Mindfulness and Social-Emotional Learning for Educators and students in the K-5th grade Classroom EVERYDAY Mindfulness: Techniques for Teens to Develop Compassion, Calm, Focus and Resilience I had to be sure to connect with Allison before we take a break from interviews prior to the summer months, because of the importance of addressing the stress our kids are facing in the classrooms, especially post pandemic. I look forward to meeting Allison, and sharing her knowledge and expertise that this podcast was built around. Let’s meet the CEO of Zensational Kids, Allison Morgan! Welcome Allison, it’s wonderful to meet with you after our email exchanges.  We do have a lot in common, don’t we? Gymnastics, SEL and Neuroscience! That’s quote the combo! Can you walk us through your career as a pediatric occupational therapist, and orient us to your background? Q1: I’ll never forget the moment I saw just how impactful these important SEL skills are for students (in school, sports and in life). It was like a brick hit me in the stomach. What was it for you that made you take notice of these important SEL skills, (That back in the day were called soft skills and not given the merit they deserve) for you to create your own curriculum for mental and emotional well-being in the classroom? What made you put your hat in this field? Q1B: I loved to see Understanding the Brain AND Understanding the Nervous System in the beginning of your Educate 2B book. I can guess that it was your background as an occupational therapist that made you make the mind/brain/body connection, but tell me when this connection began for you? Q2: Before you had your eye on releasing your own curriculum, especially on Mindfulness, did you look at what other Mindfulness Curriculum was out in our schools? What did you notice was missing perhaps from what you saw? When was it that you decided to put your work out into the world? How did you differentiate yourself? I ask this because I remember looking and seeing Goldie Hawn and Dr. Dan Siegel’s program[ii] that almost deterred me from trying. Q3: When I was a teacher in the classroom in the late 1990s, we had zero training in working with behavioral students. It was the main reason I left the classroom. Now we look in our classrooms and especially since the Pandemic, we’ve got learning loss now to add to this equation. What should we know about the health and wellness of children today? Q3B: What’s the difference between the feeling of anxiousness, and the feeling of excitement? How can we differentiate the two?  Q4: I love your worksheets that have PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) and RTI (Response to Intervention-that aims to identify and support struggling students early on)! As someone who has worked from the publishing side of education, I always saw a need to integrate SEL skills into our classroom, starting with the day to day work we are doing with our students. How do you integrate this important information into the day-to-day workings of a classroom? What is your philosophy/approach around the fact that we cannot support the well-being of students without first addressing the well-being of educators?  I can go off on a tangent here with Dr. Bruce Perry’s work. Q5: How are you identifying the major pain points that schools are facing right now (mental health, behavior, academic loss, teacher’s leaving at an extraordinary rate) and how shifting from typical top-down programs to  bottom up approaches that will actually address most of their issues? Q6: What’s the difference between a “curriculum” and the development of daily habits/practices to create internal mind/body change.  Q7: How have we adapted from requiring full-day and 3 day mindfulness trainings for educators to downloadable videos for direct student instruction where we lead all of the practices? Q8: Where are you based out of, and what Districts are you currently working with? Any success stories to share? Q9: What is your vision for your programs? Q10: What have I missed? Thank you, Allison, for reaching out to me, to share your vision for making a difference with mental health and resilience in our classrooms. This is important and critical work. If people want to learn more about you, is the best way through your website? https://zensationalkids.com/ RESOURCES: Free Video Tools to Try https://zensationalkids.com/freestuff/ Best Practices for Yoga in School   REFERENCES [i] https://zensationalkids.com/   [ii] https://www.kidstherapyfinder.com/videos/brain-health-goldie-hawn-and-dan-siegel-at-tedmed-2009-58        

Welcome to Episode 330 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, a part of our 18-week series on self-leadership. Join host Andrea Samadi and author Grant Bosnick as they explore the neuroscience theory behind creating solid health habits, establishing goals, and increasing productivity for greater achievement and well-being. Tap into the power of the AHA moment, and learn how to foster these spontaneous occurrences for instant performance improvement. Bosnick shares insights from his book "Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership" and offers strategies for organizations to solve problems creatively using innovative thought processes. Uncover the crucial role physical and mental health play, particularly the significance of adequate hydration for brain health and daily water intake recommendations. Learn about the concept of neuroplasticity and see examples of creative problem solving applied in real-life situations. Listen as we bring to light interesting perspectives from Professor Hod Lipson from Columbia University on AI and innovation, discuss the Silva Method, and recall our first series on creativity and innovation. Take inspiration from figures like Albert Einstein and learn about hypnosis from the work of Dr. David Spiegel. Cultivate self-awareness and personally tailored plans using our practical five-step method to foster more 'aha' moments. Experience the magic of wisdom acquisitions drawn from a poignant poem by Stuart Edward White. Ready to supercharge your personal and professional growth? Listen to our exciting and educational podcast that delves deep into the interaction of neuroscience and social and emotional learning. Don't forget to subscribe for more insightful episodes. On today's episode #330 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] a few weeks ago.  Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. We can even map out our “Journey of the Mind” as we go along the way. REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to our daily life. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast and it’s the application of what we are learning that contains the magic. REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are you improving your mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter? REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to your physical and mental health. What else can you do to take more action in this area? REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 4.  How is mindfulness helping you with your physical health? REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are you practicing “getting into flow?” When do you notice it the most?  Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are you practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity in this state? REFLECT BACK to Chapter 6 on The Science Behind our Physical Health: Where we narrowed our focus from a wide and complex field, to something we can implement immediately with “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance.” Are you keeping your brain hydrated? Do you know how much water you are drinking every day? Grant reminds us that “everyone is unique and needs different amounts of water per day (but suggests) an adequate intake for men is roughly around 3 liters (100 fluid ounces) a day, (and) for women it’s about 2.2 liters (74 fluid ounces) a day. This is one area I know I can do better with, especially living in the desert, I know I can improve this one with some focused effort. We will cover the remaining 6 chapters (Agility, Resilience, Relationships and Authenticity, Biases, Trust and Presence) after we take a break for me to navigate a new work schedule in my personal life. As soon as I have my footing here, and Dr. Shane Creado from EP 72[ii] reminded me the other day of our brain’s neuroplasticity, so I should be able to find the balance in a few weeks, and once I’m in the groove, and I’ll be back to finish this series. In the meantime, this will be a perfect time to put some serious thought into where we began this year, and where we are going. Think about the areas where we know we can improve, and get to work on these areas. I’ll be using this time to strengthen my own mindset and be sure I’m applying each of these episodes that guarantees the strongest version of myself this year. REMINDER: In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[iii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year. For Today, EPISODE #330, we cover Chapter 7, “AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain” we will look at what Grant Bosnick covers on this topic, as well as a deeper dive into John Kounios and Mark Beeman’s fascinating book The Eureka Factor[iv] so we can all have a clear understanding of how these AHA Moments occur in the brain, and how exactly we can foster our own creative insights for unique and immediate improved performance. ✔ Tap into the power of the AHA moment, and learn how to foster these spontaneous occurrences for instant performance improvement. ✔ 5 Simple Steps for Illuminating our Personal and Professional Life with AHA Moments of Creativity. ✔ What Does Neuroscience Say About These AHA Moments of Creativity? Today we dive into Chapter 7 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Science Behind Insight” which came out as MEDIUM importance (orange score) for me, alongside mindfulness and flow.  If you have taken the self-assessment, you’ll know it’s how you answer the questions, based on what’s of high priority for you, that determines the lessons that are important to begin now, or ones that you might think you have a handle on, so they show up as lower priority, or medium,  like this topic did for for me. I do block out time every day for mindfulness, and am working on getting into “flow” with my work, but insight is a new skill for me. I’ve never sat down to see “what insight” will come into my mind today, as these types of moments happen spontaneously, like Alexis Samuels mentioned on EP 328[v] when he made the connection with financial literacy and gamification, in the shower. What I loved about Grant Bosnick’s book Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership is that he opens up chapter 7 with a story of how insight was used by an organization to help solve the problem with the high number of babies that die within a month of their birth, specifically in developing countries.  This organization solved this specific problem using a thought process that took insight using “materials and human resources that could be used to address this issue” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) by building incubators made out of Toyota cars that were readily available in these developing areas. Instead of using their analytical mind and thinking “how do we get more incubators to these areas” someone on their team used insight and creativity to come up with the best solution. So how do we think up these creative ideas? Grant asks us to ponder where we have our best ideas. In the shower (like Alexis Samuels)? While exercising? At your desk while doing work? Just before falling asleep or waking up? While walking or hiking? While taking with a friend? Grant suggests that few people will come back with “at their desk while working” since this type of creativity involves breaking away from the analytical, thinking mind, and tapping into our “nonconscious” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) part of our brain. It was here I had to look deeper into how this type of thinking happens, and I found the fascinating book, The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman that Alexis Samuels mentioned during our interview, and I mentioned I had just started to read it. If you want to dive deeper into the science behind insight and creativity, I highly recommend this book. I wanted to know HOW to create these “AHA” Moments at will, not by chance and this is what these two cognitive neuroscientists who wrote this book, set out to do. Their goal of writing this book was to “explain how these Eureka experiences happen—and how to have more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success.” (The Eureka Factor). In the very beginning pages of The Eureka Factor, we learn that “insight is creative” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman) and when the authors went on to define “what creativity is” they suggest to not define it (yet) since “everyone intuitively recognizes creativity when he or she sees it” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman). I thought back to when we covered “Improving Creativity” on PART 4 of The Silva Method[vi] on “Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces” and we tapped into Dr. Andrew Huberman’s research on creativity here. Dr. Huberman explains that “when we see something that’s truly creative, it reveals something to us about the natural world and about how our brains work….It must reveal something that surprises us” for it to be truly creative. So, going back to The Eureka Factor, John Kounios suggests that “creative insight is not an exotic type of thought reserved for the few. In fact, (he says) it’s one of the few abilities that define our species….most humans—have insights. It’s a basic human ability.” (Page 11, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman). HOW CAN WE BE MORE CREATIVE TO HAVE MORE INSIGHT? So now I want to know how we can we all have MORE insight to solve problems in our personal and work lives? How can we be more creative on purpose? Grant Bosnick has an exercise in his book to help foster this ability, and it begins with quieting the mind, and letting it drift.  Next, he suggests having a positive mood, and then be open to pattern completion, allowing new connections to form. Finally, he reminds us to NOT directly focus on the problem. In The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman cover this concept of “pattern completion” and explained that we be open to unique solutions to our problems, letting the brain do what it was designed to do. They reminded us with a few fascinating discoveries in health, as well as an Oscar Winning Character that was created while the film writer was at a baseball game, that sometimes the answer we are looking for is opposite to what we commonly think to be true. I remember the advice that the Legendary speaker Bob Proctor[vii] would give to people every time they would have a problem they were looking to solve. He would say “go somewhere quiet and think” which covers Grant Bosnick’s first suggestion. I remember people coming to me when I worked with Proctor, saying “OK, I did that” I went somewhere quiet, and I’m still stuck” and I always wondered what else I could suggest to someone who really was stuck in this process. After reading Grant’s book, I can now connect the understanding of neuroscience to this equation. Having a positive mood is important, while you are quietly thinking, and also understanding that the brain doesn’t like incompleteness. When you are quiet, thinking of a solution, your brain will do the work to make the connections where you might never have thought before.   While reading The Eureka Factor, I came across an image that helped to explain this idea so we can ALL improve our ability to generate new and creative insights that will empower our personal and professional lives. IMAGE CREDIT: The Eureka Factor (Kounios, Beeman) Page 24 If someone were to ask me “Where do I begin to improve my ability to create NEW insights in my life?” I would say, start here: STEP 1: Go somewhere quiet and think.  We’ve mentioned a few times on this podcast that “Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to think, but it requires more effort to do so”[viii] (Wallace D. Wattles). I recently heard Professor Hod Lipson[ix] from Columbia University, speaking about the future with AI, and while his whole presentation was forward-thinking, eye opening and brilliant, what caught my attention the most was when he mentioned that while working with students with AI and robotics, the hardest part for them was to come up with a name for their robot, because he said “it takes a lot of effort to be creative.” Take the time needed for this process. STEP 2: You might think you are stuck, and might see a brick wall in front of you, metaphorically speaking, but know that there is always a solution to every problem. You just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s here that I share ways I’ve moved past where I’m stuck, and that’s by using The Silva Method. I’m reminded daily that many of our current listeners found us from the first episode we did in this 4-part series[x] that ended with an episode on “How to Be More Creative and Innovative”. I just heard from Fatima Kahedi this weekend that she found our podcast through Spotify, just by searching for The Silva Method. Then, this weekend, I was listening to a recent episode Dr. Andrew Huberman did an “Ask Me Anything[xi]” Episode from Melbourne, Australia. On this episode he reminded us of the work of Dr. David Spiegl on Hypnosis[xii] saying that there is a simple way to tell if someone is hypnotizable or not. It has to do with what Dr. Spiegl called an “eye roll” at the beginning of the test where he asked Dr. Huberman to look up, and then close his eyes. If the whites of his eyes showed for a certain amount of time, as his eyes were closing, (which they did) he would score a 4/4 on this test and be highly hypnotizable. I heard this and thought “That’s the Silva Method!” Jose Silva gets us to relax somewhere quiet by going to the alpha state (by counting backwards) and then by rolling our eyes upwards in our head while relaxed. It’s here he asks us to practice seeing things on the screen of our mind. Now that I’ve heard the science connected to this practice, I can see that by using The Silva Method, we are relaxing ourselves deeply enough to begin to “see” things more clearly. Or in essence, we are practicing self-hypnosis. STEP 3: Keeping your mood positive, break away, and do something that makes you happy. It could be going for a walk, or a hike, or playing tennis like the image from The Eureka Factor. Just break away and divert your attention away from the problem. If you are in a meditative state, just be sure to have positive, elevated emotions flowing through you. Looking at the image in the show notes from The Eureka Factor, we see a person playing tennis. You can use whatever method you want here (The Silva Method of Meditation, your own mindfulness practice, going for a walk or hike) whatever it is for YOU where you feel calm, rested and at peace. STEP 4: Be open to new ideas that might pop into your head. Be prepared for ideas that might be completely opposite to how you were originally thinking of solving the problem. We are all different here. Think back to the beginning of this episode, when Grant Bosnick asked us to consider where our creative ideas flow into our minds. Mine come in that time just before I go to sleep, or just before I wake up. Others might come in the shower, or while exercising. Be open to NEW ideas coming into your mind, and be ready to write them down. STEP 5: Know that there is much work going on from your unconscious mind. You’ll will become more self-aware in this process. Grant Bosnick lists a few inventions that were developed this way, in chapter 7 on Insight, and I found an article that lists “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, (where) inspiration arrived suddenly”[xiii] to help them with their famous AHA Moments. DID YOU KNOW that when Albert Einstein created his masterwork on the theory of relativity that he was “taken aback” when his breakthrough came suddenly? His mind kept wandering as he pondered the thought “if a man falls freely, he would not feel his weight.” It was “by linking accelerated motion and gravity (where) Einstein eventually created his theory of relativity.” (Dan Falk) John Kounios also lists some “concrete examples that illustrate the steps and features of the insight experience itself—in particular, their expanded perspective, sudden occurrence, reinterpretation of the familiar, awareness of the unforeseen relationships, subjective certainty, and emotional thrill.” (Page 18, The Eureka Factor). REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #330 on “The Neuroscience of Insight” DID YOU KNOW that “the moment a solution pops into someone’s awareness as an insight, a sudden burst of high-frequency EEG activity known as “gamma waves” can be picked up by (EEG) electrodes just above the right ear?” (Page 70, The Eureka Factor). “Gamma waves represent cognitive processing in the brain, such as paying attention to something or linking together different pieces of information.” (Page 70, The Eureka Factor). John Kounios recalled in Chapter 5 of The Eureka Factor with excitement after years of work that they “had found a neural signature of the aha moment: a burst of activity in the brain’s right hemisphere. Almost literally (he says) this is the spark of insight” but he did add to this conclusion that “in the world outside the lab, insights may need to be evaluated, verified, refined and applied, and this requires contributions from the more analytic left hemisphere” (Page 82, The Eureka Factor). Just like when Einstein came up with his famous AHA Moment of The Theory of Relativity, “it took him 8 years (using the analytical left hemisphere of his brain) to work through the mathematical details.”[xiv] So while we need both the left and right hemispheres of our brain to come up with these insightful AHA moments, there was another important key finding that they discovered with a patient who had a stroke that damaged the right part of his brain more than the left. The stroke didn’t interfere with this particular patient’s ability to speak and understand the spoken language, but the patient himself knew he was missing something important. This discovery led to an important finding that takes place in the right hemisphere of the brain, and is important “for filling in the gaps to make sense of things” (page 75) and that is the ability to “read between the lines” (Page 76, The Eureka Factor). Which is essentially what the brain is doing when it’s “filling in the gaps” and solving our problems with our AHA Moments. We covered 5 STEPS for How to Have MORE AHA Moments to Enrich our Personal and Professional Lives: STEP 1: RELAX: Go somewhere quiet and think.  STEP 2: LOOK PAST THE BRICK WALL: You might think you are stuck, and might see a brick wall in front of you, but know that there is always a solution to every problem. You just haven’t figured it out yet. STEP 3: KEEP POSITIVE: Keeping your mood positive, break away, and do something that makes you happy. It could be going for a walk, or a hike, sit somewhere quiet and meditate, or play tennis like the image in the show notes illustrates from The Eureka Factor. Just break away and divert your attention away from the problem. STEP 4: THE MAGIC HAPPENS HERE! Be open to new ideas that might pop into your head. Be prepared for NEW ideas that might be completely opposite to how you were originally thinking. If you decide to read The Eureka Factor, on top of the suggestions that Grant Bosnick suggests, you will learn how the left hemisphere of your brain and right must work together to “fill in the gaps.” This is where we open up our minds to NEW creative ideas. This concept is exactly like when someone tells you a joke, or uses sarcasm, or irony. Our brain that doesn’t like “gaps or incompleteness” taps into the right hemisphere to interpret language in this way. This is a prime example that demonstrates just as our “ability to use language requires two intact hemispheres, so does effective, practical, creative performance” (Page 82, The Eureka Factor) and it’s within “the right hemisphere (of our brain that) where the spark that ignites the creative fire” begins.  (Page 82, The Eureka Factor).  The magic happens when we can relax, with a positive mindset, close our eyes, and see what messages come “in-between” the lines. STEP 5: Know that there is much work going on from your unconscious mind. EPISODE #295 on “Unleashing the Power of our Subconscious Mind” is a good place to revisit as we peel back the layers and uncover who we truly are. Self-awareness is at the root of this process. To close out this episode, I’ll end with a poem that reminds me of how the AHA Moment is formed that we covered recently.[xv]   Isn’t it amazing how we acquire wisdom? When we suddenly “see” something that escaped us for so long. Stewart Edward White explains how AHA Moments of Learning can change us, in his poem where he writes: “Curious how we acquire wisdom! Over and over again, the same truth is thrust under our very noses. We encounter it in action; we are admonished of it; we read it in the written word. We suffer the experience; we gradually assent to the advice; we approve, intellectually, the written word. But nothing happens inside us. Then, one day, some trivial experience or word or encounter stops us short. A gleam of illumination penetrates the depth of our consciousness. We see! Usually it is but a glimpse; but on rare occasions a brilliant flash reveals truth fully formed. And we marvel that this understanding has escaped us so long.”   I hope you’ve enjoyed a deeper dive into the Neuroscience of Insights. We have one last interview to release this weekend, and we’ll see you in a few weeks (once I’ve got my footing) when we return to finish our review of the final chapters of Grants Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.         REFERENCES:   [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #72 with De. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-shane-creado-on-sleep-strategies-that-will-guarantee-a-competitive-advantage/   [iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iv] The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman Published April 14, 2015 https://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Factor-Moments-Creative-Insight/dp/1400068541   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #328 with D. Alexis Samuels  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/exploring-neuroscience-and-gamification-in-financial-literacy-education-with-d-alexis-samuels/     [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 264 “The Neuroscience Behind The Silva Method: Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/   [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 66 with The Legendary Bob Proctor https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/   [viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 315 “Thinking and Acting in This Certain Way PART 2 Review of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich book https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-2-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-chapter-4-thinking-and-acting-in-a-certain-way/   [ix] https://www.me.columbia.edu/faculty/hod-lipson   [x]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 261 PART 1 of our Deep Dive into Applying The Silva Method https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-deep-dive-with-andrea-samadi-into-applying-the-silva-method-for-improved-intuition-creativity-and-focus-part-1/   [xi] Dr. Andrew Huberman “Ask Me Anything” Melbourne, Australia  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-event-q-a-dr-andrew-huberman-question-answer/id1545953110?i=1000650096634   [xii] Dr. Andrew Huberman is Hynpotized by Dr. Spiegl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlTzVB6TGT0   [xiii] “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, inspiration arrived suddenly” by Dan Falk, Published September 2, 2005 https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/great-eureka-moments-in-history-famous-inspirational-moments/ [xiv] IBID [xv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 314 PART 1 of our Review of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-1-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-prosperity-consciousness/    

Join us in the riveting Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast as we delve into the exciting world of neurotechnology. Our featured guest, Nolan Beise, is the CEO of Circl, a path-breaking Canadian neurotechnology company, whose pioneering strides in brain-computer interfaces and brainwave-sensing technology are reshaping our understanding of the human mind. Raised in Toronto, Nolan’s academic pursuits led him from a secluded town in Northern Vancouver Island to become a top academic at the University of Toronto and later found companies like Suva Technology and Circl. In this episode, we discuss the scientific insights behind brain health, cognitive performance, and the possible applications of neurotech in various sectors from dementia care and first responder training to professional sports. Watch our Interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/J78FZ9CTHTg As mental health issues surge globally, innovative technological advances offer a new spotlight of hope. From detecting early signs of cognitive impairment to managing the brain's capacity for a 'mental garbage can', this episode touches upon personalized intervention strategies, monitoring brain health, and enhancing treatment efficacy. We also delve into the associated health risks that may arise from mental burnout, such as sleep disruption and reduced cognitive prowess. With an aim to offer affordable and accessible brain health technology, Nolan envisions a future where tools akin to Fitbits for the brain can help people understand their brain's evolution and proactively tackle changes detrimental to their mental wellbeing. This episode is a must for anyone interested in exploring neuroscience, brain health, technology, and optimizing human potential.   EPISODE #329 with the CEO of Circl.com Nolan Beise, we will cover: ✔  Nolan Beise’s vision to help the world to improve their brain health and cognitive performance in the future. ✔ How his Circl Headset takes older brain scan tools to new heights with measuring our brain’s function as it relates to our health, detecting early signs of cognitive impairment.  ✔ Why we should be paying attention to our brain health TODAY to prevent major neurodegenerative diseases in the future and the health risks associated with burnout. ✔ Where Nolan’s focus is with this headset today, and his vision for this device in the next 5-10 years. Today, we meet with someone who is from my hometown, Toronto, Canada, but now is in Victoria, British Columbia. Our next guest, Nolan Beise is the CEO of Circl[i], a Canadian neurotechnology company pioneering brain-computer interfaces designed to understand the human mind by producing research-grade brainwave-sensing headbands and related software applications. Before Circl, Nolan founded Suva Technology, a company specializing in mobile EEG research software. He also brings a wealth of experience from his time as a Senior Advisor at Mitacs. In addition to these, Nolan holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Victoria. With his extensive background in both science and business, Nolan is dedicated to advancing neurotechnology and shaping the future of brain-computer interfaces. When I see someone like Nolan, dedicating his career to helping the world to improve brain performance using brain wave tracking technology that he has pioneered, I want to have a conversation with him. I have some questions for Nolan that I hope will spark some innovation in our thinking as it relates to the future of health and wellness. Let’s meet Nolan Beise and see what we can learn together about ways to improve our mind and brain health in the future. Welcome Nolan! Was I correct that while you went to school at the University of Toronto, you are now in British Columbia?   INTRO: I went to Teacher’s College in Toronto, at U of T back in the late 1990s. I remember all of dreams I had back then, of how I would change the world. Can you share where your mindset was when you were a student, walking around those streets in downtown Toronto? What was your vision for the world back then? Q1: I’ve said this over and over again on this podcast, where our goal is to connect the most current brain research to our daily life (whether we work in our local schools, sports environments or modern workplaces). Back in the day, no one EVER asked me “what are you doing for your brain health.” When did you FIRST start to consider the importance of your brain, and think that the world needs help with optimizing this important, yet complex organ? Q2: What have you invented, how does it work? Q2B: How are regular people using this headset that measures brain performance? I can guess there would be an interest from the sports world? How does tracking how our brain processes visual stimuli help us? Q2C: How would the headset help our first responders? Q3: I became interested in Alzheimer’s Prevention strategies around the time of the Pandemic, and have focused a few episodes on this topic. I even took my husband to Dr. Daniel Amen’s clinics[ii] to get our brain scanned to see if either of us showed signs of any disease, since I know that our brain health is what would drive our future success. Not everyone can get a SPECT image brain scan, (they are expensive and not covered by insurance). Tell me how most people gain access to your headset. I know your headset costs significantly less than a SPECT image brain scan for those who also want to look at their brain. Q4: I saw that your company was founded recently, in 2021, consisting of a team of neuroscientists, mathematicians, engineers, and designers. Who is your team, and tell me about this award you won for creating such innovative technology? Q5: Why did you want to create something that allows us to see our brain performance? What’s YOUR WHY behind your work? Q6: What makes your headset stand out from the crowd? What are you hearing from those who use it? Q7: Where would you like to see this technology go in the next 5-10 years? Q8: What stumbling blocks do you face with your goals? Q9: What have I missed that’s important? Nolan, I want to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. Who knows, we could have walked past each other in the streets of Toronto back in the day. You never know. I’ve always got my eyes wide open to learn more about what’s innovative in the world, and I look forward to seeing more from you in the future. For people to learn more about you, is the best place https://circlbrain.com/? SOME FINAL THOUGHTS:  I learned so much for speaking with Nolan Beise! He emphasized that while people can go to his website and purchase a headset, that wasn’t his main motivation for meeting us today. His goal was just to let the world know about his vision, and let others know about him. I did connect him to Dr. Shane Creado, and think that when 2 powerful like minds come together, they form a third mind, with potential to take creativity and innovation to greater heights. If you want to connect with Nolan, you can visit the Contact Us page of his website https://circlbrain.com/pages/contact Most importantly today, I hope we all have a renewed vision for the importance of our brain health. I’ll see you next week!   CONNECT WITH NOLAN BEISE   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolanbeise/   Website https://circlbrain.com/   Learn More About the Circl Headset https://circlbrain.com/products/circl-headset   REFERENCES: [i] https://circlbrain.com/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP #84 PART 3 “How a SPECT image Brain Scan Can Change Your Life” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-a-spect-scan-can-change-your-life-part-3-with-andrea-samadi/  

Join us in episode 328 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for an insightful discussion with D. Alexis Samuels, the founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FineLitX, Global Corporation, and Prosperity Nation. Discover how he integrates neuroscience and gamification to educate and uplift underserved communities, with a special focus on financial literacy, socio-emotional learning, and legal and ethical understanding. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/R8FUuCR403o Alexis Samuels uses game-based learning systems rooted in neuroscience to make complex topics accessible and enjoyable. Here, you will learn how his innovative approaches are not only educating but altering behaviours and perspectives, instilling hope and inspiring success in individuals and communities. You will get a glimpse into the founder's journey, from his humble beginnings to his endeavours to tackle financial illiteracy and fear, and why he believes financial literacy is vital for mental well-being and socio-emotional learning. We delve deep into the workings of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX, and Prosperity Nation, explaining how concepts from neuroscience are incorporated into games and curriculum. Hear how the companies collaboratively tackle challenges of poverty, targeting school systems and non-profits alike, and partnering with institutions like Notre Dame University on groundbreaking research studies. This episode provides a unique look into the link between neuroscience and financial literacy, shedding light on the role of dopamine in learning and the effectiveness of rewards and affirming feedback in education. As a major takeaway, experience how the combination of neuroscience, gamification and financial literacy can create compelling, immersive, and educationally-rich experiences, with potential to greatly impact cognitive and social development in societies. We also talk about real-life applications of these techniques through a credit score-based game, showing how such innovative approaches can reduce fear and anxiety towards adult responsibilities, and spark much-needed conversations. Get ready to transform the way you view education, financial literacy, and neuroscience, and begin to see the game-changing potential when these fields intersect. Lastly, we touch on the broader societal relevance of neuroscience today, underlining its potential for personal improvement and the urgent need for more active discussions to raise awareness. Join us in unpacking how neuroscience can hold the key to unlocking a world of possibilities in cognitive and social development. EPISODE #328 with D. Alexis Samuels on “Making the Neuroscience and Money Connection for our Next Generation” we will cover: ✔ Discover how Alexis integrates neuroscience and gamification to educate and uplift underserved communities, with a special focus on financial literacy, socio-emotional learning, and legal and ethical understanding. ✔ Learn about his game-based learning systems rooted in neuroscience to make complex topics accessible and enjoyable. ✔ What BIG NAMES have taken notice of Alexis Samuels and his work on ending generational poverty? ✔ Learn how his innovative approaches are not only educating but altering behaviours and perspectives, instilling hope and inspiring success in individuals and communities. ✔ Look closer into the link between neuroscience and financial literacy, shedding light on the role of dopamine in learning and the effectiveness of rewards and affirming feedback in education. ✔ How you can get involved with D. Alexis Samuels to help him reach more people with his noble mission On today's episode #328 we meet with someone who caught my attention through LinkedIn. He sent me a direct message, like people do often (I do appreciate these messages), and he was letting me know he was enjoying the podcast, highlighting that his passion was to help bridge the gap with the latest discoveries in brain science and mental health interventions to underserved populations. He went on to explain how he was doing this, and I was captivated. First because I still find it difficult to bridge this gap with science that we were not taught in schools, but come to find out it’s really important for us to understand. ALL of us, not just as teachers, educators and members of society, but this understanding is coming to be as close to what oxygen is for our survival.  It’s of critical importance that we understand this organ that controls everything that we are, and everything that we do. And I know what it takes for me to work on grasping this knowledge, breaking it down so that I understand these concepts first, and then work on a way to explain it to others, so we can all work on implementing these powerful ideas for change in our lives. I find this difficult work, but something I’m dedicated to doing, and then while talking with our next guest, I come to find out that he has created something to help us with this understanding-- a game, curated in neuroscience, that educates and addresses mental wellness in a way that we all can understand, using gamification.  Our next guest has a vision of evening out the playing field, using neuroscience with a game, that teaches economic power, specifically towards our underserved populations. I can’t wait to see what we can learn from our next guest, D. Alexis Samuels, the Founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX (Fine-Lit-X) Global Corporation and Prosperity Nation to help us to all open our eyes to new ways we can bridge this gap with making neuroscience more applicable for all of us in our day to day lives, especially those in our underserved populations, who need it the most.   Welcome Alexis, it’s wonderful to meet you! Let’s start from the beginning, Who is D. Alexis Samuels? You are the Founder of Brain Game Learning Systems, FinLitX Global Corporation, and Prosperity Nation. That’s a lot! What are these companies and what motivated you to found them? Have you worked with any science or research institutions? Tell me more about the societal issues that form your missions’ focus. Specifically, what aspects of neuroscience do you incorporate in your service, and what results have you achieved? Do you have case studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of introducing neuroscience in learning environments? What do you feel is the future of neuroscience adapted curriculum in general education? Others write books, but you create games. Is that intentional? Speaking of neuroscience, what’s next for D. Alexis Samuels? Where can we learn more about your games, online curriculum, and platform? If someone wanted to speak with you, partner or collaborate, how can they reach you? Thank you very much for reaching out to me. You did stand out from the crowd as you offered ways to make my understanding of this complex topic to greater heights. I’m grateful to have had this time with you. CONNECT WITH Alexis Samuels LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-alexis-samuels/ Website https://finlitx.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/d.alexis.2330/?hl=en Get on the Road to Prosperity Board Game https://youtu.be/2Dq88VoDlrk   REFERENCES   NBA Kenny Smith Endorsement https://youtu.be/YJjz7PsJvHk   John Kounios and Mark Beeman The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain Published 2015 https://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Factor-Moments-Creative-Insight/dp/1400068541    

Join us as we revisit episode 327 of the "Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast", where we hone in on the critical relationship between hydration and brain health. Host Andrea Samadi delves into the sixth chapter of Grant Bosnick’s book during an 18-week self-leadership series, elucidating how focusing on our physical health can sharpen our cognitive performance. This episode is a paradigm shift, captivating listeners with the powerful impacts of nutrition and hydration on the brain. Andrea explores the benefits of water for our brain health and productivity, explaining how adequate hydration can improve concentration, cognition, mood and memory. The episode also explores other aspects of physical health like exercise, sleep and mindfulness, and how they contribute to overall wellness, well-being, achievement and productivity. Welcome back to SEASON 11 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives. On today's episode #327 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] just a few weeks ago.  Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I do encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[ii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year. For Today, EPISODE #327, Chapter 6, “The Science Behind our Physical Health” we narrow our focus from a wide and complex topic to something we can implement immediately: Today we will consider “The Hydrated Brain for Improving Our Cognitive Performance” ✔ A Review of the Top Health Staples that we have covered on this podcast over the years, specifically since the Pandemic. ✔ How Dehydration Affects Our Cognitive Performance ✔ Tips Grant Bosnick Suggests for Keeping Our Brain Hydrated ✔ Focusing on One Area of Your Physical Health at a Time Today we dive into Chapter 6 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Science Behind Our Physical Health” which came out as LOW importance (red score) for me, alongside emotion regulation.  If you have taken the self-assessment, you’ll know it’s how you answer the questions, based on what’s of high priority for you, that determines the lessons that are important to begin now, or ones that you might think you have a handle on, so they show up as lower priority like this topic did for for me. Not that physical health, or emotion regulation is of low priority for me, it’s quite the opposite, but I block out time in the day for both of these topics, and this time is non-negotiable. I will say that while the broad term of physical health (that Grant covers in Pathway 4 of his book) is extremely important to me, it is a very complex topic and one we’ve been focused on since the pandemic geared us into looking closer at our physical and mental health. We created the Top Health Staples[iii] That Are Scientifically Proven to Boost Our Physical and Mental Health where we’ve now added a 6th with stress reduction, for Podbean’s Wellness Week back in 2020, when I was asked to cover this topic. It was here where we shifted our attention to be equally as focused on the health of our mind (our mental health) in addition to our physical health. You can’t have one without the other. When guests have approached me over the years to join us on the podcast, if they fall into these health staples with an angle I’ve not yet covered, it’s easy to say yes, so we can keep moving our physical and mental health forward. We are always looking for WHAT’S NEW and INNOVATIVE in this area. How many times have we seen Dr. Gregory Kelly[iv] from Neurohacker.com who is focused on pioneering systems for human optimization and longevity? Twice so far and he’s on the schedule the middle of April to cover Qualia NAD+ where we will learn more about NAD+ that is often called the “aging” molecule due to its profound influence on how well (or how poorly) we will age. We recently met Dimitri Leonov[v] with a new nanotechnology I’ve been wearing since our interview the end of this year, that’s been spotted on celebrities like Robert Downey Jr. We are always looking for what’s new to take us to new heights with our physical and mental health, with some exciting and NEW innovators who we will be covering in the next few months. So what does Grant Bosnick say about physical health is his book “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership?” He begins with the importance of looking at what we eat and asks “what is it doing to your brain?” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). What I like about Grant’s book, and why I wanted to cover EACH chapter over the next 18 weeks, is because it’s a paradigm shift for us to think about how ANYTHING we do impacts our brain. THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MINUTE: 25 years ago, when I was setting goals for my future, no one said to me “Hey Andrea, think about how your brain will tie into the goals you are setting” or “what foods are you eating for your brain health” or even “Did you know that exercise will build a stronger, more resilient brain?” I didn’t even begin to consider my brain until 2014 when Jeff Kleck, an Arizona School Administrator that we met on EP 246[vi] shared all his notes, books and resources with me, urging me that understanding how our brain operates, will be of critical importance in our future. Boy was he ever right. I still keep in touch with him, and let him know all the time just how grateful I was for the time he spent explaining what he had learned about the brain with me.   Grants goes over foods that are important for our brain health and productivity, specifically foods that have a low glycemic index “which means they release energy slowly into the bloodstream.” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). We’ve covered this topic on various episodes, specifically with “The Damaging Impacts of Sugar on the Brain and Body”[vii] and we’ve even used a glucose monitor to test what happens to our body with too much sugar, and how it can tank our overall health and productivity. While reading this chapter, Grant echoed many of the experts I’m sure you’ve heard us mention, like Dr. Daniel and Tana Amen, from their Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast who reminded us to always make decisions with our brain in mind by thinking or saying out loud with everything that we do “Is this decision GOOD for my brain, or NOT” Dr. Amen said many things that caught my attention while listening to his podcast years ago, and I often took his words of wisdom and created graphics to keep his thoughts close. While talking about our daily habits and aging (which I know we all want to do gracefully) he reminded us that “your everyday habits and decisions are either boosting or stealing your brain’s reserve and are either accelerating the aging the process (which none of us want to do on purpose) or rejuvenating your brain.” It was Dr. Amen[viii] who first caught my attention with the importance of loving my brain, this organ that controls everything that I am and everything that I do. Finally, it was when Dr. Amen mentioned that “Your competitive advantage or disadvantage is the actual physical functioning of your brain.” (Dr. Amen from The Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast) This statement made me take a good look at whether I was boosting my brain reserve and rejuvenating the aging process, or accelerating it. Grant covers many of the Top Health Staples in chapter 6, highlighting what many experts have been hitting home for us over the past few years, like the importance of sleep, taking power naps and adding in ideas for relaxation with mindfulness, and massage, but it was his focus on breathing that “helps with emotion regulation and memory recall” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) that caught my attention in Chapter 6. I remember watching Stanford Professor Dr. Andrew Huberman demonstrate how to “Self-Regulate Your Brain in Less Than a Minute”[ix] on one of his podcast episodes and it was so impactful to me that I use his method all the time now. I love how Grant covers how to use pranayama breathing for “emotional recognition and memory” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) as well as for “increasing concentration.” This topic of Physical Health is complex, and we can go into many different directions, which is why we created the Top 6 Health Staples to stay focused on moving the needle towards physical health with one idea at a time. I noticed that I would work on one area, like sleep for instance, and could see improvements here, but another area would suffer. It’s a balancing act for sure, requiring focused attention. So today, to keep it simple, I want to focus on something that we might forget about our brain, and our physical health and that is that “our brain is 75% water. (And) When our brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, we will be able to think faster and be more focused and experience greater clarity and creativity.” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). Grant reminds us in Chapter 6 of the importance of hydration, and says that “water is essential for delivering nutrients to our brain and for removing toxins. When our brain is fully hydrated, the exchange of nutrients and toxins will be more efficient—thus ensuring better concentration and mental alertness.” Grant mentions that our brain is “75% water” (Chapter 6, Bosnick) and of the importance of hydration, and I remembered learning that “90 minutes of sweating can temporarily shrink the brain as much as one year of aging does.” From Deane Alban’s 72 Amazing Brain Facts. This brain fact brought home for me, just how important hydration is for our brain health. You will need to read Chapter 6 of Grant’s book to receive all of his tips, but he does cover the many BENEFITS of drinking water. He says that keeping our brain hydrated helps us with: Improving concentration and cognition Helping to balance our mood and emotions Maintaining a good memory Boosting our brain’s reaction time Increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain Preventing and relieving headaches Reducing stress REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #327 on Chapter 6 on Physcial Health, we narrow our focus to “Our Hydrated Brain.” DID YOU KNOW: “That our brain is 75% water and when our brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, we will be able to think faster, be more focused and experience greater clarity and creativity?” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). Grant reminds us that “everyone is unique and needs different amounts of water per day (but suggests) an adequate intake for men is roughly around 3 liters (100 fluid ounces) a day, (and) for women it’s about 2.2 liters (74 fluid ounces) a day. THINK ABOUT THIS? Knowing how important water is for the brain, do you know how much water you drink?  I’ve definitely started paying more attention to this, especially knowing how “sweating can temporarily shrink the brain.” I’ve been using an infrared sauna, and another health device that calls for an increase in water intake, and I can tell with 100% certainty that when I’m not drinking enough water, it shows up with my ability to think with clarity. What do you think? Could you improve your water intake? Just by thinking about ways to improve our brain health, we will over time begin to move the needle in the direction of physical health and wellness, which was the concept that Grant wanted us to uncover in Chapter 6. I hope you learned something new, perhaps a new angle for your physical health, as you think about ways to stay hydrated as we all look for new ideas to improve our health in 2024. REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5 It’s here I’m hoping we will take the information we are learning, connect the dots to form knowledge and then apply this knowledge to become wise. This is where we go from theory to practice with this podcast. REFLECT Back to Chapter 2 on The Neuroscience of Goals (and Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory): What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance this year? How are you improving your mental and physical health to gain the momentum we talked about in this chapter? REFLECT Back to Chapter 3 on The Neuroscience of Inspiration: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights? Think about this as it relates to your physical and mental health. What inspiration do you need to take more action in this area? REFLECT Back to Chapter 4 on The Neuroscience of Mindfulness: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey? Mindfulness, and breathing was listed often in Chapter 6.  How is mindfulness helping you with your physical health? REFLECT Back to Chapter 5 on The Neuroscience Behind Peak Performance: How are you practicing “getting into flow?” When do you notice it the most?  Is it during physical exercise, or meditation? Are you practicing this state to gain 5x more productivity in this state? I’ll close out this episode with a quote that I’m hoping will urge all of us to grab a glass of water as we THINK about how we will implement this powerful concept into our week. Loren Eisley said “If there is Magic on this planet, it is contained in water” and I’ll have to agree.  Grant taught us how drinking water helps us, improving our concentration, cognition, mood, emotions, memory, reaction time, increasing oxygen to our brain, preventing head aches and reducing stress. So go grab a glass of water, and I’ll see you next week with Chapter 7 on Insight.  REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE Recorded for Podbean’s Wellness Week “The Top 5 Health Staples” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #285 with Dr. Gregory Kelly on “How to Beat Aging and Stress with Qualia Senolytics”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-gregory-kelly-from-neurohacker-collective-on-how-to-beat-aging-and-stress-with-qualia-senolytics/   Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #305 with Dr. Gregory Kelly on Qualia Synbiotics https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/returning-guest-dr-gregory-kelly-on-qualia-synbiotic-optimizing-digestion-and-mood-with-prebiotics-probiotics-and-postbiotics/   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #318 with Dmitri Leonov on Taopatch, Nanotechnology for Health and Wellness of the Future https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dmitri-leonov-on-taopatch-understanding-nanotechnology-for-health-and-wellness-of-the-future/   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #246 with Jeff Kleck on “Using Neuroscience to Inspire Thinkers in our Schools, Sports and the Workplace”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jeff-kleck-on-using-neuroscience-to-inspire-thinkers-in-schools-sport-and-the-workplace/   [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #275 “The Damaging Impacts of Sugar on the Brain and Body” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-the-damaging-impacts-of-sugar-on-the-brain-and-body/   [viii] The Daniel Plan by Dr. Amen https://www.danielplan.com/change-your-brain-change-your-life-2/   [ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #273 On Self-Regulation  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-self-regulation-using-neuroscience-to-regulate-automatic-negative-thoughts-emotions-and-behaviors/   Click here for more episodes of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast

Welcome back to the 11th season of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast. In today's enlightening episode, we unfold the phenomenon of 'flow'—a state of profound immersion leading to peak performance. Our exploration is rooted in the teachings of Grant Bosnick and psychologist Mike Csikszentmihalyi, as we look at how strategies like rigorous self-awareness, customized planning, and potential improvement assessment contribute to achieving this state of blissful productivity. We delve deeper into the neuroscience of flow by understanding the brain changes that occur during this state. This discussion is enriched with insights from neuroscientist Arne Dietrich. We learn about the shift from conscious to subconscious intrinsic system that results in heightened creativity and enhanced mood—making tasks appear effortless and enjoyable. The episode also sheds light on the key neurochemicals responsible for inducing and sustaining the flow state - dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and endorphins. This understanding paves the way to comprehend the ecstasy felt during flow, accompanied by an absence of pain and hunger, resulting in a beautifully enhanced mood. Flow is reported to multiply productivity and happiness. It accelerates learning and creativity while improving problem-solving skills. We conclude the episode with practical tips to help you understand better, induce and maintain flow and thus multiply productivity, reach your goals, and experience profound joy in your efforts. On today's episode #326 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] just a few weeks ago.  Now that we have started this series, I hope you can see how practicing and strengthening the skills we are learning each week, is cumulative. Each week, we are learning something new, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. There is great power and self-awareness that comes along with mapping out a plan designed specifically for YOU and I encourage everyone to take Grant Bosnick’s Leadership Self-Assessment[ii] so you can see the areas for you that score a high, medium of low level of importance for you to focus on this year. EPISODE #326, Chapter 5, “The Neuroscience of Flow” we will cover: ✔ A Review of Peak Performance and Using Flow for Increased Productivity in the Workplace with EP 27 with Friederike Fabritius. ✔ What is the Flow State? ✔ How to prepare for the Flow State. ✔ What does the Flow State feel like? ✔ Getting into Flow ✔ The Neuroscience of Flow ✔ The Benefits of Flow in the Workplace and Beyond ✔ 4 TIPS for Getting into the Flow State to Increase Productivity     Today we dive into Chapter 5 of Grant Bosnick’s book as we cover “The Neuroscience of Flow” which came out as MEDIUM importance (orange score) alongside the topics of Mindfulness[iii] that we covered last week. Flashback to Friederike Fabritius on Peak Performance What I loved about seeing this topic included in Grant’s 18 chapters was that I remember watching Pioneer in Neuorleadership, Friederike Fabritius presenting on “The Recipe of Peak Performance and Flow” that I shared on our first interview together back on EPISODE #27[iv] in October 2019.  When I watch some of these earlier interviews I remember what life what like before I had invested in a high-tech recording system. You will hear some bugs that today, AI can erase, taking our peak performance to new heights. Talking about Peak Performance, these days, I record as usual, (using a Rodecaster Pro Recording System) and then after production, AI cleans up every recorded for me. It’s new, and still ironing out some bugs with it, but mind-boggling to see where we started out, and where we are today. We can always strive forward and improve where we were yesterday. What I remember loving the most about Friederike’s first talk that I found back in 2017 that she did for high level executives in Barcelona, Spain, was that she accurately described what the psychologist, researcher and “father of flow”[v] (known in his work environment as Mike C) that he devoted his entire lifetime to. And that is, what constitutes a happy life. “Mike C,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (from Claremont Graduate University in CA) along with Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania (who we’ve mentioned before on this podcast “set out to develop a focus on happiness, well-being, and positivity with a goal to create a field focused on human well-being and the conditions that enable people to flourish and live satisfying lives.”[vi] Friederike explained this concept of “flow” or “peak performance” as an optimal state that occurs when our brain releases three chemicals: noradrenaline (released with a challenge), dopamine (released with anything that gives you pleasure), and acetylcholine (released when you have focused attention). She reminded us about learning to find our “optimal level” of performance by knowing thyself. Some people she says, need challenge to perform optimally (I’m like this for sure), and other people, you must take the challenge or pressure away for them to perform at their best.  One person performs better with an element of “threat” that they perceive as a “reward” and this motivates them, while another person shuts down with this “threat.” To reach peak performance levels with YOUR work, it helps to know how you reach your optimal levels best. Take This Understanding to Create Flow in the Workplace How can we create this “flow state” with our work? If you are working in an environment that’s too easy, or not challenging, you will be under challenged, and reaching peak performance in this scenario is difficult as you will be bored. Or, be careful if you are in a workplace with too much challenge, where you are over aroused, constantly putting out fires, and under high stress or pressure, all the time. Over time, without balance, this person will burn out. At the brain level, their amygdala grows bigger, and they will begin to see threats where there are none. Friederike reminds us to find a workplace where we can reach optimal levels of challenge, (if you look at the image in the show notes, it’s at the peak of the curve). Boredom or too easy on the left of the curve, and stress/anxiety at the right of the curve, with optimal levels, or our sweet spot for peak performance at the top.  It’s working here where we can access peak performance or flow where we are able to get into the zone with our work, and lose track of time. [vii] (Image credit: Achieving a flow state) You can see why it’s important to find your optimal level of performance for this magical brain state to occur. THINK ABOUT THIS! When have YOU accessed flow? What were you doing? Maybe you’ve lost track of time reading an enjoyable novel, or while writing, or running? There are two activities where I’ve experienced this state: hiking in the mountains, or writing these podcast episodes. I can be running through the mountains, and hours can go by before I look at my watch and decide to turn back before darkness hits, or I run out of time, or I can sit down at my desk in the early morning, to write one of these episodes, and find myself still there, and the whole day has gone by. I can easily lose track of time in both these scenarios, and feel exactly what the research supports, that this state of mind “is accompanied with a sense of accomplishment, meaningfulness, and positive mood.”[viii] So what does Grant Bosnick say about flow in his book “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership?” He mentions the “father of flow” in the second paragraph, and defines flow as “the mental state of being fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of an activity we are doing. In essence, it is characterized by complete absorption in what we do, performing at the edge of our capabilities, peak performance. In this state, it feels effortless, as if things are flowing together.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).  Grant mentions that “we are in micro flow all the time. When we look for it, we can ride it into jacked flow. We can train ourselves into flow. And heighten our performance.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). Now we are talking. I’ve only noticed flow AFTER it has occurred, and have not been in the habit of training myself into flow, so this is going to be a new practice for me this year. PREPARING FOR THE FLOW STATE: Grant prepares us for flow, just like Friederike, who suggests that we find the right amount of challenge, and then says that “it’s something that we make happen; it is not something that happens to us.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). “Flow depends on our ability to control what happens in our consciousness moment by moment. Each of us has to achieve it on the basis of our own individual efforts and creativity. We are in control of consciousness when we have the ability to focus attention at will, to be oblivious to distractions, and to concentrate for as long as it takes to achieve a goal, and not longer.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). We have talked about ways to develop our higher faculties of our mind[ix], like our will, on recent episodes, which is one way to help us to focus our attention, moment by moment and block out distractions, and Grant brings us back to chapter 4 on Mindfulness that he mentions helps us to control our attention at will. See how all of these chapters work together? Developing Mindfulness, will help us to strengthen our ability to access the flow state. HOW DOES THIS STATE FEEL? Grant gives some examples from a dancer who describes flow as “your concentration is complete” or a rock climber who says “you are so involved in what you are doing that you aren’t thinking of yourself as separate from the immediate activity.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick).  Grant shares that he feels this state while drumming, or designing a presentation saying that “his body and mind are one, working together.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick. When I’m running in the mountains, in this state, it’s like me and the mountains are one. I don’t see what’s around me, just the small area of pathway right in front of me.  Or when I’m writing at my desk, it’s just me, the keyboard and the computer screen. All sounds are blocked out, and it’s difficult to break me away from the desk, mid-thought. I have to finish writing, or the flow is gone, and my family knows when I’m in this state, and not to knock on the door, which will break this state of deep focused concentration. GETTING INTO FLOW: Grant has a reflection activity to help us to practice getting into this flow state.  He suggests: THINK: When have hours passed by without you realizing it? THINK: When did things just click into place and felt effortless? OBSERVE: Once you know what flow feels like for you, notice the type of activities you were doing to obtain this state in other areas of your life. The Neuroscience of Flow DID YOU KNOW that in flow “as our attention heightens, the slower and energy-intensive extrinsic system (conscious processing) is traded off for the far faster and more efficient processing of the subconscious, intrinsic system?” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). Grant quotes Arne Dietrich, a neuroscientist from the American University of Beirut who says “It’s an efficiency exchange of the energy in our brain—trading the energy we normally use for resource-intensive conscious thinking activity for (resource-efficient) heightened attention and awareness. The technical term for this exchange is transient hypofrontality.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). Grant also explains the changes in our brain waves. “When we are in flow, we transition from the faster-moving beta waves of normal waking consciousness to the slower, deeper alpha waves and even borderline theta waves. Alpha waves are like a day-dreaming mode…theta waves are the ones we experience during REM or just before we fall asleep, where ideas combine in amazing and unique ways.” (Chapter 5, Bosnick). When I got to the part of this chapter where Grant wrote about the neurochemistry of flow, I stopped and remembered Friederike’s presentation from 2014 and the graphic I created with the three brain chemicals she listed that were important for getting into flow; noradrenaline, dopamine and aceylcholine. Grant sited the research from Neuroscientists at Bonn University who determined 5 neurochemicals present during this flow state. They found that endorphins (that help with pain and stress relief), norepinephrine which is the same neurochemical Friederike mentioned, noradrenaline (not sure why scientists have two words that mean the same neurochemical…maybe they couldn’t agree on this name and so now we’ve got two words for the same thing (that’s released with a challenge), anandamide (that regulates pain, anxiety and hunger) and serotonin (that plays a key role in our mood) that are all present during the flow state. Understanding the functions of these neurochemicals helps me to understand why during this state of flow I don’t notice aches and pains I have, hunger and thirst disappears, and I’m happy for hours at a time.  WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FLOW? When you are in flow, I’d say it feels almost dream-like, or trance-like as our brain waves slow down, allowing us to access higher levels of creativity. In Chapter 5, Grant points out that “In a ten-year study at McKinsey, top executives reported being five times more productive in flow.” “Flow helps us to learn faster. Recent research says somewhere between 400% and 500% faster according to research by Advanced Brain Monitoring and DARPA, subjects had a 490% increase in skill acquisition in the state of flow.” “Flow enhances creativity and problem solving. The University of Sydney tested flows impact on creative problem-solving abilities…in a flow state, creative problem-solving increases by 430%” The father of flow, Mike C “Csikszentmihalyi also found, through his research, that the people on earth who have the most flow in their lives are the happiest people on Earth.” “When we are in flow we forget the unpleasant aspects of life.”   I knew that the flow state was powerful, but until reading the research that Grant put into this chapter, I didn’t realize just how powerful the flow state really is. Now I’m thinking I want to use this state to make life more enjoyable and help me to develop new skills at a faster rate. HOW TO GET INTO FLOW You’ll have to read chapter 5 for all of Grant’s tips. I liked his tips on Getting into Flow Through Mental Stimulation, since this is what I’m doing while writing this episode. I’ve been sitting at my desk, writing this episode since early this morning, and I just looked at the time and it’s well into the afternoon. I’ve been in flow, writing for at least five hours. How can I use Grant’s Tips to ride myself into what he calls “jacked flow” that will help me to 5x my productivity and accomplish more with less effort? Grant suggests: PICK A GOAL: Think of whatever it is you are working on a decide on the goal. Finish the presentation, or write the proposal or for me, finish writing this episode so I can record it tomorrow. PRIME YOUR BRAIN FOR FLOW: Next he suggests bringing in mindfulness, that takes us back to our last episode where we learned about PQ reps. Use mindfulness to filter out your distractions and maintain control with your attention. I found it does help to let others around you know you’ve blocked off a time where you cannot be interrupted. THINK ABOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE GOAL: Why do you want to complete the thing you are working on. For me, with each podcast episode I write, record and release, it helps me to not only implement these new ideas into my own life, but I know I’m gaining skills that help me far beyond the content. Hosting this podcast, writing and recording these episodes, helps me to improve my presentation skills, communication, which improves my overall levels of confidence, let along what I’m gaining from implementing these ideas myself. What benefits do YOU receive from whatever it is that YOU are working on? PUT YOURSELF ON THE EDGE: Ask yourself, is this challenging me? If it’s not, it might not get you into the flow state. If it is, then keep working, and see how far you can get. How long can you stretch your flow state. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #326 on “The Neuroscience of Flow” we asked the question: DID YOU KNOW THAT “When we are in flow, we transition from the faster-moving beta waves of normal waking consciousness to the slower, deeper alpha waves and even borderline theta waves” and “we are five times more productive in this state.” (Bosnick, Chapter 5).  We reviewed an early episode with Friederike Fabritius where she taught us about Peak Performance and How to Create Flow in the Workplace. We dove deep into how to prepare for the flow state, what it feels like, urging us all to think about WHEN we access this state ourselves. We looked into The Neuroscience of Flow, the neurochemicals that are present in our brain during flow, with some additional ones that were new for me. We covered the benefits of flow, that opened my eyes to how important this brain state is for workplace productivity, creativity and innovation. The research from McKinsey mentioned productivity soared by 5x while using the flow state, making me decide it was time to work on inducing flow more often in my work week. We ended with 4 STEPS to getting into “jacked flow” as Grant calls it, to give ourselves 5x more productivity, with less effort. Grant tells us to: PICK A GOAL: With what we want to accomplish is this state. PRIME YOUR BRAIN FOR FLOW: By using PQ reps from our episode on Mindfulness, and blocking out all distractions. KNOW THE BENEFIT OF THE GOAL: Which takes us back to the deeper meaning of “why” we do what we do. PUT YOURSELF ON THE EDGE: You must be challenging yourself. This made me think of something my mentor Bob Proctor would say all the time. He’d say “If you aren’t sitting on the edge, you’re taking up too much space” and I used to think about this. What exactly does he mean? Don’t slouch in our chairs? He meant always lean in, take on difficult, challenging work, or you are wasting valuable time.  It’s here I want us to think back to where we began on the map of Grant’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.  REVIEW Chapters 2, 3, 4 EPISODE #323, Chapter 2, “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Your 2024 Goals” ✔ What is Kurt Lewin’s “Field Theory” and how can we use it to improve our performance towards our goals in 2024? REFLECT: What are you doing today to gain the momentum needed to reach NEW and HEIGHTENED levels of performance? EPISODE #324, Chapter 3, “The Neuroscience of Inspiration” ✔ Uncover WHO or WHAT inspires you. ✔ Learn what happens to our brain when we are inspired (by a person or a thing). ✔ Apply the Neuroscience of Inspiration to our life in 3 steps: WRITE, THINK and LEARN to Level Up Our Results in 2024. REFLECT: How are you using people or places that inspire you, to take your results to greater heights? EPISODE #325 Chapter 4 “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” ✔ A review of our past episodes where we covered the topic of Mindfulness. ✔ Defining Mindfulness and where many people begin their practice. ✔ Putting Mindfulness into practice using PQ Reps, coined by Positive Intelligence Founder, Shirzad Chamine, to build our mental muscles over time. ✔ My challenge to you to keep working on Mindfulness for improved productivity in our personal and work lives. REFLECT: Where are you in your Mindfulness Journey? Which leads us to connect the dots to chapter 5 on The Neuroscience of Flow. REFLECT: When do you experience this brain state, and how can you use it intentionally to reach 5x your usual levels of productivity in your work life? With that thought, I’ll close out this episode, with a quote from the “Father of Flow” Mike C, who reminds us The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen. No one is going to do this work for us. I’ll see you next week for our review of Chapter 6 on Physical Health. See you next time. REFERENCES: [i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #325 on “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insight-from-grant-bosnicks-tailored-approaches-to-self-leadership/   [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #27 with Friederike Fabritius on “The Recipe for Peak Performance”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/pioneer-in-the-field-of-neuroleadership-friederike-fabritius-on-the-recipe-for-achieving-peak-performance/   [v] https://www.cgu.edu/people/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/   [vi] IBID [vii] Achieving a flow state by Allaya Cooks-Campbell March 7, 2022 https://www.betterup.com/blog/flow-state   [viii] The Neuroscience of Flow: Involvement of the Locus Coeruleus Norepinephrine System by Dimitr van der Linden et al Published April 14, 2021 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.645498/full   [ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #294 “Beyond our 5 Senses and Using the Six Higher Faculties of the Mind”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/beyond-our-5-senses-understanding-and-using-the-six-higher-faculties-of-our-mind/