“You can’t change what’s going on around you until you change what’s going on within you.”
~ Zig Ziglar
Subscribe
Subscribe to Dr. Bill’s “Quotes and Wisdom from the Top of the Mind” Newsletter
Click Here
Quote & Video Gallery
How To Change What Is Going On Around Us
I’m sure you have heard quotes like this from speakers like Zig Ziglar and others, but what does it really mean? Is this about “positive thinking,” telling yourself over and over again how smart and successful you are, or the “secret” of just holding an image in your mind and having the universe bring you what you want? For me, the answer to these questions is, “No!”
Changing what is going on around us (or life) by changing what’s going on within us, from my perspective, is about understanding the brain’s role in creating our experience of life and learning how to influence this process. For those of you who follow my “Life from the Top of the Mind” philosophy, you know that this means influencing how our limbic system (the middle brain) interprets the data it receives from our five senses, and how this interpretation results in our being thrown into the fight-or-flight part of the brain (the brainstem) or the clear, confident, and creative part of the brain (the neocortex).
Of course, the challenge here is that the limbic system is unconscious, and therefore, is making “decisions” about what part of the brain is engaged based upon experiences from the past and what we have learned growing up… in other words, not by choice, but by chance.
Therefore, I suggest that we change what’s going on within us by taking charge of this process and training this scanner, processor, router part of the brain to interpret data in such a way that it regularly engages the neocortex versus the brainstem. In doing so, we will put ourselves in the best position to change what is going on around us because we will have access to our knowledge, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving skills that are located in this upper brain.
Plus we also have access to the ability to accept the things we cannot change because we are no longer reacting to them with feelings of powerlessness and resentment.
Bottom line, to become more influential in our lives and the lives of others, we must do more than just think positively and imagine success. We must harness the power of the brain and apply the best of who we are to the process.
For those of you who would like my help in accomplishing this for yourself and/or your organization, feel free to contact me, as helping people change what is going on within them and around them is my highest purpose.
Take care and God bless, Dr. Bill