How to increase your brain size and learn how to make optimal decisions

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Perhaps the most common myth in Western culture is that we are born with a fixed personality that does not change until we die.

This view is incredibly popular among the baby boomer generation. They were raised by parents who adhered to a value system based on "character traits."

Let's take a look at the dominant leadership theories from the past 180 years in chronological order.

1840s - The Great Man Theory suggested that only men can be great leaders. If you were not a man, you were not destined to become a leader. Your nature is fixed and you are unable to overcome problems or grow towards your goals. This theory remained a popular cultural belief system for nearly 100 years.

1930-40s - "Trait Theory" assumed that people are born with a certain set of qualities that allows them to take on a leadership role.

The obsession with "character traits" continues

And while the prevailing theories have changed over the past 80 years, common practice shows that most companies were stuck in the 1930s and 40s. According to the Harvard Business Review, personality tests are becoming more and more popular.

The dominant view is that people are who they are - they cannot be changed. Most companies still largely ignore the impact of circumstances, the environment, and the human capacity for radical transformation.

However, the results of psychological research show the opposite. To quote Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer: “Social psychologists argue that who we are at any given time depends to a large extent on the conditions in which we find ourselves. But who creates these conditions? The more conscious we become, the more our ability to create the necessary conditions develops. When we succeed, we are more likely to… tend to believe that change is possible.”

Who we are depends on the situation in which we find ourselves.

You gain strength when you realize that you are able to create certain situations and change your environment. In the words of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith: "If you do not create and control your environment, it begins to create and control you."

Few people are capable of managing their conditions. Realize that you can change your environment and inner state. These two things are related.

Few companies deliberately develop their culture - instead, they build their businesses around “personality” types … who subsequently unconsciously create a culture that has no power. This is because it was not designed with intent.

When you create situations, you realize how much power you actually have to change yourself. According to what psychologists call the "Pygmalion Effect," you either rise up or fall down to meet the expectations of those around you. Jim Rohn once said, “Don't join an easy crowd; you will not grow. Follow those with high expectations and performance requirements."

Your brain is changing - and you can do the same

The author of the Harvard Business Review article mentioned above says it is a bad idea to take a personal approach to assessing a potential employee when hiring. A person's integrity or cognitive ability cannot be measured because they are changeable rather than permanent. They can change dramatically, which will influence behavior.

For example, the cerebellum (the area of the brain responsible for its functioning and mental abilities) makes up only 10% of the cerebral volume, but it contains more than 50% of the neurons. Neurons are the tools by which your brain changes; they are able to form new bonds that form habits associated with thinking and behavior.

According to Psychology Today, neuroscientists are baffled by this disproportionate proportion of neurons in the cerebellum. Simply put, you have the ability to alter your brain's ability to function and process information.

Brain plasticity is a general term that neuroscientists use to refer to the brain's ability to change at any age - for better or worse. Changing your brain accordingly affects your personality.

Research shows that exercise can improve brain function by literally increasing brain volume, blood supply, and hormone levels.

Mental development strengthens the connections between neurons (synapses), improving their ability to survive and improve cognitive functioning.

Simply put, if you regularly exercise your mind and body, your brain will literally change in terms of volume, size, and connections.

Interestingly, routine activities do not challenge the brain; it, on the contrary, slows it down. Repeating the same day after day is not optimal for growth. As Napoleon Hill said, "A good shock often helps a brain that has been atrophied by habit."

Good habits will keep you growing until they become routine. And then you will be stuck in place. You need to constantly move to the next, more difficult level.

As you move forward, you need to take on new roles and constantly rethink your personality.

Take what you already know and use it to rise to new heights. As Leonardo DiCaprio said: "With each subsequent level of life, you become different."

What made the Beatles so popular? They never hit a plateau. They never got into a routine. They have always reinvented themselves and added new influences from different cultures to their music.

Excessive pain or excessive curiosity

What makes most people change? Typically, this is either excessive pain or excessive curiosity. The best option is both.

The problem with most people is that their lives aren't all that bad to make them face the truth. As technology advances, our lives become more and more comfortable.

People are not necessarily happy. But they get a lot of dopamine due to their addiction to technological advancements, processed foods, and self-destructive behaviors.

Moreover, very few people are extremely curious. This is the type of curiosity that forces you to constantly ask difficult questions - in order to question general assumptions, get to the bottom, understand that everything is interconnected, and so on.

Most people don't want to face the truth. They prioritize comfort. They don't want to deal with other levels of understanding.

Striving for perfection requires an intimate relationship with both pain and curiosity. Growth cannot happen without pain and an insatiable desire to see how far things can go.

The amount of time spent on the activity does not matter.

Some people can spend 10,000 hours doing something, but they never get better at it. They are in their usual mode. They are not subject to pressure. They don't feel pain. They are not curious enough to root out their current beliefs and replace them with larger ones. According to learning theory, true learning is a "disorienting dilemma" because replacing limited beliefs with new ones can be confusing. But this only happens when you are faced with unknown information and experiences.

If you are not seeking to question your own belief system, then you are not willing enough to become a master in your craft and master of your own life.

The question is: Are you willing to intentionally create pain in your life? The pain that promotes growth. In the words of poet Douglas Mallock: “Wood doesn't just get good; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees."

Moreover, are you interested in life enough to become curious? Are you ready to acquire a curiosity that will lead you to higher truths and broader connections? To quote Brené Brown: "It is much more difficult to take a subtle position, but it is very important for your true belonging."

You don't have to agree with everything someone says to get something. You don't just focus on a small chunk of ideas or people. You are open to science and religion (and everything else) and as a mature thinker you see the pros and cons of each side. You are open and honest in your communication. You know how to deal with clutter and emotions. You are discerning. Your worldview is expanding, not just spinning in a circle.

Every decision counts

There are countless choices you can make and information you can absorb.

However, you have a limited amount of time.

Who you become as a person is directly related to your ability to decide what choices to make and what information to receive. What you consume determines who you become.

What you consume - food, information, experience - determines what you produce and how you act. It determines the impact that you have on the world and the lives of the people around you.

Actions, in turn, directly affect your personality. Your personality is not fixed and unchanging. Your personality is something that is constantly evolving. It develops when you change your brain. It develops when you change your environment. It develops when you release the repressed emotions and trauma that freeze your personality and make you stagnate.

There is one popular phrase that says: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now. While this expression makes sense, it ignores the fact that 20 years ago you were planting something.

You planted a tree 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, a year ago, and last week. This tree expresses itself in your current conditions and personality.

Your past matters a lot. It manifests itself in the person you are and the life you are living. What did you plant then? Do you want to change anything? If so, sow other seeds. Make a choice in favor of something else.

But be that as it may, your past is not fixed. You can change it. Memories are inherently flexible and constantly change based on new experiences. When you embrace a new experience of curiosity, your memories change … forever.

Become the master of your past. Take responsibility for it. Then change it, deliberately aiming for the highest level today and tomorrow. Don't get stuck in the past. Don't let him define you. Change it.

As you become aware of how powerful your choices are, you will become more mindful of each of them. Every little decision determines who you become.

Every book you read matters.

Why?

What you consume determines your personality.

Each choice has one or another impact not only on you, but also on the people around you. Your decision to work another hour or spend that time with a friend or child has consequences. The same goes for helping the needy or playing video games …

You can spend your free time playing with the kids or by burrowing into your smartphone.

This decision determines who you are, your relationship, your environment, and your environment. Are you consciously creating your environment or, on the contrary, is your environment unconsciously creating you?

If you deliberately approach your decisions with full awareness of their seriousness, then you can become who you want to be. You have the ability to create conditions that allow you to change yourself. Your life will not be full of regrets. You will become the master of your past. You will follow the trees that have been planted and control the current reality.

What's more, your curiosity and imagination - combined with your honed ability to create and act intentionally - will give you the confidence to plant whatever trees you want to plant in the present so that you have complete control over your own future. And if you own your own future, you can influence the past, because your new experience can change it.

What do you prefer?