Thinking about my thinking

Yesterday was a day of fascinating conversations. First was breakfast with a group of female colleagues where we talked about everything from handbags and decision making jelly to the challenge of getting unbiased advice when you most need it - who can you go to when you need to hear it how it is...


I then had lunch with a wonderful lady who I was privileged enough to meet some years ago when she provided executive coaching to me. She opened my eyes and my heart to the science behind many of the beliefs that I had intuitively held but previously couldn't have credentialised - so important when you work in an organisation of expert leaders. This included the importance of happiness and the value of writing to unblock the unconscious thought to name but two.


The question of who we can each turn to in order to get the truth, whatever that is, without a personal agenda is a thorny one. Partnership is a wonderful principle of talented people working together towards a common purpose. Of course it also comes with the challenge that we are all individually measured and hence there is a strong risk of self serving behaviour. This becomes particularly acute when the going is tough and we live in uncertain times. We talked about this at some length and each agreed that it's difficult. We have the luxury of huge autonomy. With that autonomy comes more than enough rope to hang yourself with. Who is going to stop you if you are heading in that direction? Of course so much of this comes down to trust, and to trust you have to spend time building an understanding of them and them of you. This requires you to take time out and we are all so busy busy all of the time.


Being busy led neatly onto my lunchtime discussion. We were talking about reflection and the way the mind and heart are connected. The mind works on electrical impulses - this is essentially what our thoughts are made of. Practices of deep reflection, often through meditation, can supercharge these electrical impulses and stimulate the heart and mind and so creating new energy and creativity - fundamental for inspirational leadership and innovation. We talked about the importance of taking time out of our busy schedules to reflect deeply and unblock the unconscious thoughts within us. I shared that when I write I don't plan what I'm going to say beforehand - I start to type and it comes from within. Writing my thoughts down fuels my awareness and learning. By learning something new I'm making new neural connections in my brain, flexing a muscle and making it stronger.There's a whole body of science behind this which I love. I'm hopeless at remembering the scientific concepts in detail but even knowing enough to be able to say something is proven is helpful when sharing with others who need a more evidential approach in order to stimulate belief.


From this lunchtime conversation I have started exploring some new writers and thinkers. This morning it was Dr Joe Dispenza's TED talk on the 3 brains: thinking to doing to being. Simply put you start with an intellectual understanding of something new which encourages you to act in a different way (intention to behaviour) to create a new experience - both what you've done and how it makes you feel. The emotional response releases all kinds of chemicals in your brain which helps to rewire the synapses and creates a learning experience. By consciously repeating the action you hardwire the brain such that it becomes unconscious and you move from doing to being. The beauty of this is that it starts with Metacognition - thinking about what you are thinking about and making a decision to do something different. That takes some effort and requires you to consciously observe who you are being and who you want to be, then making steps towards it. I love that - it's such a simple but complex idea - I'm off to think about it!