The most important person to influence

Much is written about influence: how to use it, who is impacted by it and how to get more of it. 

Of all the people you focus on influencing, do you put effort into influencing yourself? 

Do you know what to do to change your state, how you’re feeling, or what you’re doing? 

Rather than just accepting things for how they are or ‘going with the flow’, a more deliberate practice is to be able to influence yourself. 

To shift and change how you think and respond to things. 

For example, if you have times when you’re anxious or overwhelmed, what do you do? Do you have a go-to list of remedies and reliefs? 

Sniff an orange. 

No, that’s not a typo. It’s one of the suggestions in this neat list of 28 ‘little’ things to do in times of anxiety. 

There are some we might have heard of before like writing things down, exercising or being grateful, but there are some wonderful new tips too 

Bookmark it if it’s something you - or someone you love, live or work with might benefit from. 

It could help you be more influential. 

Do the switcheroo on your thinking

How readily and easily might you be able to change your mind? What would it take? 

The more cognitive flexibility you have, the better able to respond and adapt to change you’ll be. 

It makes sense, right, but still we see people ‘dig in’, ‘stick to their guns’, ‘hold the line’. But in these times of crazy change and uncertainty, convicted beliefs may be more practical if they loosened up a little. 

Rather than being hung up on building your smarts and clever, are you cognitively flexible?

This article from The Conversation UK by Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Christelle Langley and Victoria Leong shares more detail. 

In essence…

“Cognitive flexibility provides us with the ability to see that what we are doing is not leading to success and to make the appropriate changes to achieve it.”

How easily can we switch between concepts and adapt our behaviours? 

Or do we defend, resist and stay? 

Perhaps we could trick or hack ourselves to try some different ways of thinking. 

What would it take for you to try?

The truth about feeling bored

I remember as a child I’d call out to my mum, Shirl, and say ‘I’m bored!’ She’d give me a sweet list of things I could do to occupy myself, entertain myself and stimulate my mind.

But here, author Pietro Minto, in his Italian book ‘How to get bored better’ reveals some interesting thoughts, claims and insights about our boredom. 

Apparently we have a warped notion of time and time management ... and the pandemic has exacerbated the warp. 

In this great interview with Minto, we get new perspectives on what we do when we’re bored and how we’re spending a lot of time on things that may not matter so much. 

Oooh that’s a big call isn’t it. 

Aren’t we all so busy? 

This quote: “It’s irrelevant how many stimuli we have – the core of the issue is about how little we are conscious of how we use our time, be it free time or otherwise.”

He says that boredom has carried negative connotations but instead, “it’s a plot of land no one has built on yet.” 

Bookmark this one to read maybe when you’re bored! 🤣

It’s a great prompter of thought about what we do, why we do it and how else we might spend our precious time. 

You know that ‘cooked’ or fried brain feeling ...

When we’re overloaded with too much information, our response might be to say, ‘I can’t take anymore, I’m done.’ 

The ‘I’m done’ statement sounds like we are cooked, roasted, ‘done’ 
and baked. 

And in a way, we are. 

Our brain feels fried and full and there isn’t any more space to take in more content, information or learning.

Whatever we try to add in, seems to overflow and doesn’t stick or stay there. This is cognitive overload. 

Like the overflowing of a dam wall, rising river waters in times of flood, a monster tide on the full moon or a 
glass overflowing at the kitchen sink: all of these situations show 
us what is happening in our brains with information. 

There’s too much information for the space available.

Our brain doesn’t seem to have evolved to cope with the huge amounts of information we’re expecting it to today. 

We don’t help ourselves by doing these 3 things: 

1. trying to just ‘soak up’ information 
2. multitasking with more than one device or source of information 
and
3. repeatedly switching between the sources. 

Look out for when you’re feeling cooked and ‘done’. It’s a clear signal to try a new or different way of handling information. And we don’t have to suffer this. 

Check if you’re doing any of the 3 things listed above. As you reduce these and bring in contrasting behaviours that help with cognitive load coping, you’ll feel better ... quickly. 

Read more in my book:
‘Argh! Too much information, not enough brain: A practical guide to outsmarting overwhelm’. 

So smart ... but making silly decisions

As we try to cope with the overwhelm of daily information, our brains work to protect us ... from ‘over-arousal’. 

When it’s all too much, we create oversimplified ways of thinking. It’s easier. But this means we can slip up in our decision making. 

WATCH OUT for ways of thinking that are: 
1. Binary (yes/no)
2. Intuitive (based on the past)
3. Confirmative (aligned to our biases)
4. Primary Effect (we overlook the ripple effect). 

If we can ‘overwrite’ these easy, existing pathways in our brains, we’ll make better choices and smarter decisions. 

How to ‘overwrite’ the brain? 
🏃‍♀️ Exercise. 
💤 Sleep. 

And this has huge implications for when you’re trying to learn new things

Read more in this great article from Worth Media and work on overwriting those simple pathways to progress towards better thinking and decision making. 

Now, when can I take a nap? 💤