We are living in an era of disruption and exponential change requiring innovation, adaptability, new and diverse skills for communication and collaboration. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) identifies stress, loneliness, and anxiety as epidemics of our modern world. These all directly impede innovation, connection, critical thinking, and achievement.
Technology is further changing daily life, societal norms, and the inner workings of the human brain, influencing attitudes, beliefs, and the geo-political landscape like never before. So how then, can we successfully develop the new skill set required for success in our rapidly changing, globally competitive, and tech-driven modern world?
We must rethink the previous paradigms of wellness, culture, and success. Research indicates several identifiable challenges and opportunities in our ever-changing world. Here they are and how the science of your three brains will help you navigate each one.
All humans are hardwired for health, happiness, adaptability, and peak performance. We must integrate more social emotional cognitive practices into our daily lives to move towards the deep, powerful, and innate utilization of our own incredible brains.
Global trend #1: Stress & burnout.
Solution: Emotional Skills for resilience & wellness
The human body has a “gut brain” that is sensitive to the primal emotion of fear and insecurity. That is why children get tummy aches when they are scared, and adults may experience nausea/loose stools before an important presentation. When we are stressed, too busy, or even just “multitasking” (which by the way, does not exist), our nervous system wonders what is wrong, why can’t we rest or focus and kicks our stress response into gear. Mindfulness activities such as observing nature, gratitude journaling, breathing practice, and meditation release endorphins and move our nervous systems from stress to growth. Simply valuing downtime, unplugging, taking a break from life, and specific practices to regulate stress, busyness and distraction are powerful effective life skills all humans immediately need to learn, master and practice daily.
Global trend #2: Disconnection & polarization
Solution: Social Skills for communication & collaboration
The heart has a brain! The human heart has specialized sensory neurites that are intelligent and the heart releases either adrenal under social stress/disconnection or the powerful neurohormone of love, bonding, and trust – oxytocin when socially connected. Our heart brain is our true “control center” as we humans are fundamentally social beings making the quality of our relationships vital to our wellbeing and success. We must remember that socializing, social status and social media are different from social bonding – true meaningful relationships with others. We must nurture vital social skills such as empathy, healthy assertiveness, perspective taking, and positive communication to strengthen and repair our own self-connection and bonds with others.
Global trend #3: Anxiety & perfectionism
Solution: Cognitive Skills of adaptability, and innovation.
Our big brain in our head loves to play! This means that our highly sophisticated prefrontal cortex is motivated, powered and strengthened through trying new things, exploration, and learning through trial and error. By adopting a “play mindset” we can combat rising perfectionism which is linked to anxiety, depression, and lower achievement. Play is about being comfortable with uncertainty, making mistakes, adapting, and innovating. We do this through brainstorming, experimenting, iterating. These activities release serotonin – our neurochemical of mastery, confidence, and creativity.
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