Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome back to the sweet spot. You did it. It's win it all. Wednesday. You're in the middle of your week and you have done it. You have made it to the middle of determining how we're going to face uncertainty. How are we going to master the unknown? How are we going to take the unknown and the uncertain and let it win for us, make it win for us?

Speaker 1: 0:40

So look, in my work with gold medalists and Fortune 500 leaders, I've had the opportunity to observe how these folks' brains work, and I can tell you their brains function differently than most, and it's backed by research as well. Search shows and what I've seen personally is that when these champion level individuals, these elite performers in business or in sport, have to deal with a challenge, their brains, the prefrontal cortex region of their brains, that's the CEO of the brain, the part of the brain that's really involved in active planning and organizing, is upregulated, it goes to another level and it stays highly active. It lights up. And the other part of the brain that handles fear, called the amygdala, that's the fear center of the brain. It shows reduced activity in pressure situations. It's amazing. So these champions, these winners and this has been a little wednesday, that's why we're talking about them. They have rewired their neural circuitry and rewired their brains so that their brains can actually do well in pressurized situations. And guess what? You and I, we can do the same thing. The neuroscience doesn't care who you are, it's going to work if you apply the principles. So, as we have been tackling the whole idea of facing the unknown all week, let's throw in some neuroscience around winning.

Speaker 1: 2:28

The first thing great winners do is that they identify the fear, and again, that's the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. They face it and then they apply a tool that helps them function really well when they're under pressure, because they practice, and they practice rational planning, thinking and executing. Part of the brain predominates in situations where there's pressure, anxiety and tension. And then they create a daily ritual and by practicing and having these rituals and doing the same thing over and over again, they are actually strengthening the neural pathways in the brain. Remember yesterday, on Take Action Tuesday, we said that you would create a path once you keep walking on the same spot over and over again, that the path doesn't just appear, that it appears when you walk on it. Well, that's what these champions do. That's the secret to many people facing the unknown and facing fear. They go with what they know and what they've practiced and their little rituals and their practicing and their neural pathways are all organized so that their prefrontal cortex the part of the brain that does planning, thinking, organizing and executing is really functioning well. Well and the amygdala is not as activated, because they're not just emotionally reacting, they're not moving in fear.

Speaker 1: 4:13

You know what's also interesting Prayer does the same thing. In some ways. When we pray, literally our amygdala starts to quiet down. But that's a whole other thing. So I've just given you some of the signs of neuroplasticity to show us something remarkable that each time you practice a new response to fear. Every time you practice singing instead of running away or you practice facing it, you strengthen a specific neural circuit in your brain and if you keep practicing it and you make a ritual of practicing it, it's like upgrading your brain's software. And the studies show this everywhere, like these functional MRI scans that they do on folks show that consistent practice you could be playing the piano, I don't care what it is right Actually increases the density of the neural connections or the brain cells in areas that are associated with how you regulate emotion and how you make decisions. So practice, practice, practice not being afraid. Right In the scriptures they say you know, walk through the valley, keep walking through the valley of the shadow of death and fear nothing right. And you keep doing that. Enough, your neural pathways begin to develop, your prefrontal cortex sort of takes over and the amygdala doesn't sort of run the show. So let's break down a ritual building practice for you.

Speaker 1: 5:43

I want you to start small, with five minutes of visualization every morning to activate your motor cortex. This is what we do with the athletes. I'm giving it to you point blank. Every morning, for five minutes, you're going to visualize how you want this day to go, or how you want that speech to go, or how you want this practice to go, or how you want to play or perform. And I want you to stay consistent with that, same time, same place, every morning. And that's going to strengthen a part of the brain that's involved in memory, that's the hippocampus, so that your hippocampal memory is going to be strengthened and formed. And then I want you to track your progress. So notice that one win daily. And when you figure out okay, this is where I got a win, oh, man, this is where I did this.

Speaker 1: 6:31

Well, just think of one thing you've done really well. You know what that does. It triggers this release of dopamine. That's the pleasure neurotransmitter dopamine and when that gets released, it reinforces the positive pattern. So so you're going to start small five minutes of visualization every morning. You're going to stay consistent same bad place, same bad time. You're going to track your progress. You're going to reinforce the fact that you're doing this well. You're going to get that dopamine rush and, wow, those neural pathways that we're talking about are going to be strengthened. And when you keep repeating this action, my friend, your brain will not only release the dopamine, it will release myelin, which is this other substance that just sort of insulates the nerve fibers and keeps the nervous system humming and things moving fast. And that's why champions, even if they don't understand neuroscience, this is how their brains work. They have super highways in their brains because their myelin-coated neural circuits are optimized for peak performance.

Speaker 1: 7:39

And so can yours be, with practice, with fearlessness, with prayer, with meditation, whatever it is that you need to do as you face the unknown, and it starts by seeing yourself as a winner. So I want you to create your championship ritual. Pick the one tool that we talked about. Put it in your calendar, commit to seven days and next Wednesday, wow, let's see where we are. And you don't have to do everything. Trust in something bigger than you. Trust in the divine Trust in God. The word says the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory rests with God. Right, so be like what Mahavadali said. You know, champions are made in gyms. They're not made from something outside, they have to be made from something that's deep inside of them, and that's a desire, it's a dream and it's a vision. Wow, all right now. So I want to leave you with that. I always leave you with a book.

Speaker 1: 8:39

This week we've been pushing books. The book I have for you this week is called Mindset the New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. It's a great book that aligns perfectly with the neuroscience that I've been talking about, about brain plasticity and how that connects to winning. She talks about the idea that talent is not a fixed thing. It's developed. It's developed through effort. Everybody can be a winner, right? So you've got to develop your talent and develop your skill through effort. Learn from your setbacks is what she says in the book and also embrace the challenges. This is how we're going to face the unknown, and right now in the world, there are a lot of unknowns, my friend. There's a lot of uncertainty, so you've got to really be good at what you do, you've got to learn from setbacks and you've got to embrace the challenge. So have a growth mindset, be ready to change your brain's activity and get stronger in your neural pathways. Today you had a great neuroscience talk on Win it All Wednesday. You now are armed to face the unknown and you're a winner.

Speaker 1: 9:46

All right now, this is Dr Sweet. Thank you so much for listening. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Thursday is called Trust Yourself Thursday. If you can't make it and you missed some of this, check us out on YouTube for previous episodes and check us out on Twitter YouTube for previous episodes and check us out on Twitter. You can also check us out on Threads, and where else are we? I think LinkedIn as well. All right now, take care, be blessed, and I'll see you tomorrow.