From the course: Banish Your Inner Critic to Unleash Creativity

Using neuroplasticity to silence the inner critic

From the course: Banish Your Inner Critic to Unleash Creativity

Using neuroplasticity to silence the inner critic

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- The first power tool is something that our brains do all the time naturally. It's neuroplasticity, our brain's ability to change and adapt in the face of new or different kinds of stimuli. In other words, it's learning. This is great news for our intention of banishing the inner critic. The brain's capacity for neuroplasticity means that we have the power to intentionally change habitual negative thought patterns for the better. When we have a regular thought pattern, it creates a well-worn path in the brain, much like a path in the woods. The more we think a thought, the stronger the mental pathways and networks become, and the more easily those thought patterns get triggered, whether it's positive or not. But when we recognize a negative thought pattern, we can start directing our brains towards different thoughts. With time and practice, your new thoughts will get stronger and the old thought patterns will start to fade with disuse. Because what you think about is determined by what you pay attention to, the really cool thing about neuroplasticity is that it can be directed and managed through attention and focus. In fact, training your attention has been called the gateway to neuroplasticity. Brain imaging shows that when we pay attention to something, not only are the neurons involved activated, but the neuroactivity in other areas is suppressed as a result. Let me give you an easy technique to see the power of attention and focus, which I call shift focus. Hold both hands up in front of your face. Now put all of your focus on one hand. And also, while you're doing that, I want you to imagine that that hand is holding a whole constellation of negative thoughts that you don't want to be thinking, like, "I'm not good enough," or "I don't know enough," or "They're going to find out that I'm a fraud." Hold all of those thoughts in that hand and then really focus on it for a few more seconds. Then slowly shift your attention away from that hand to your other hand. Imagine that this hand is holding all of the self-supportive thoughts that you would rather be thinking, like, "I'm excited that what we're working on will touch so many lives." And focus all of your attention on the second hand. Now, is your first hand still there? Do you care about your first hand now that you're so focused on your second hand? Okay, you can drop your hands now. Can you see how what you pay attention to regularly really does determine the content of your thoughts? When you're in a place of thinking thoughts that are unsupportive and negative, you can use this tool. Just put your hands up, focus all of your attention on one hand and then shift focus and place your attention on the other hand. You'll show your brain just how in control of your thoughts you actually are.

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