MINDSET

— L I S A W I M B E R G E R

3 Keys For Managing

Your Mindset

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W H AT I S YO U R

M I N D S E T ?

Let’s take a step back and ask “what is

mindset?” A mindset is the lens through

which we perceive the world. It is the habitual

frame the brain defaults to in order to

interpret life. It is the entrained beliefs,

thoughts, patterns, expectations, optimism,

limitations, momentum, and stories that

prime our approach to life.

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H OW D O P E O P L E H AV E

D I F F E R E N T M I N D S E T S ?

Our mindsets are developed over a lifetime

of personal experiences through our

upbringings, our formative stories, and

our mental and emotional habits.

Through our nature, nurture, and personal

histories, we develop a lens through which

we view both the world and ourselves.

The experiences we have evolve into stories we

tell ourselves and repeat to ourselves either

consciously or subconsciously over a lifetime. It is

the evolution from failing a test to the belief “I am

a failure” which may dictate our actions, attitude,

and motivation in the future.

Well-rehearsed patterns - that is, beliefs or stories

we often revisit - become entrained maps in our

neurology. The more focus, time, and repetition we

give these beliefs, the more resources are allocated

to them automatically. Our neurology does not

discriminate between good & bad or healthy

& unhealthy when it develops and activates

entrained patterns.

Our brains function on two foundations:

efficiency and predictability. In an effort to be efficient, the brain will pull up whatever it has been trained to retrieve. It makes predictions on what

to activate based on what has been previously

trained, regardless of its perceivable ‘goodness’

or ‘badness’.

So if we typically revisit or have a strong emotional

connection to the belief “I am a failure,” our brains

will retrieve that belief for us more easily and at

a lower threshold. It doesn’t take long for a well-

rehearsed story to become a pattern of thinking

and, ultimately, a mindset. Soon, this story -

whether rehearsed a thousand times throughout

our lives or once with great emotional intensity

- may evolve into our attitudes about ourselves

and our world and determine whether or not we

act or even dare to dream in the future.

H OW D O O U R

M I N D S E T S D E V E L O P ?

L E T ’ S TA L K A B O U T

T H E B R A I N ’ S

O B S E S S I O N W I T H

P R E D I C T I O N

The brain is obsessed with predictability for two

major reasons.

Efficiency and Safety.

Not only does the brain rely on predictability in

its quest for efficiency, but the fear and stress center of the brain relies on predictability for its

sense of safety. The fight/flight/freeze center, the Limbic brain, assumes that as long as its inputs

are familiar, we must be safe.

Even if in reality what is familiar is unsafe or

unhealthy, familiarity satisfies the Limbic brain’s search for a sense of certainty and is interpreted

as safety.

This is why leaving our comfort zone, developing a new habit, or trying to improve our mindset

can be so difficult. Change is unfamiliar and can trigger a stress response in our neurology even

when it’s an improvement.

Simultaneously, from its basis in efficiency, the brain is determined to give us what it thinks we

want based on what has been rehearsed enough

to become predictable and we must battle the

efficiency of a well-trained mindset we may have spent years practicing.

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“The secret is in

utilizing the same

tools that naturally

entrained our

mindset in the first place....”

So that explains why it’s been difficult to improve our mindsets. But do we have control over it? Absolutely!

If our mindsets became so deeply embedded without

our focused attention, imagine how we could design

our mindsets if we utilized these same subconscious neurological systems on a conscious level!

The secret is in utilizing the same tools that naturally entrained our mindset in the first place: focus, time, and repetition.

Many of us have gotten frustrated with ourselves because

we feel like we “should know better” when we fall back on

personally outdated ways of thinking. But understanding

that the brain is looking for what we’ve practiced tells us

that whatever we give focus, time, and repetition to will

become our brains’ new default pattern over time.

This is the neuroplastic nature of our brains and the power

of self-directed neuroplasticity.

D O W E H AV E C O N T RO L OV E RO U R M I N D S E T S ?

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So we know we can influence substantial changes in our mindset and we know

how. But what changes?

Let’s continue with our example of an

anticipatory failure mindset and look

at changing it to a success mindset.

A success mindset may help us make

major movements toward our goals,

create goals to strive toward, and

improve our perception of ourselves.

But “success” can look and feel incredibly

different from person to person. Some may define “success” as an amount of wealth, others as a level of freedom, still

others as simply spending more time in

a feeling of contentment.

H OW T O D E S I G N A N E W M I N D S E T

In order to develop a mindset that will

feel natural and productive for you,

consider your own definition of success. Knowing there is no single correct

answer, spend some time writing down

a definition of what success would feel like to you.

These are the elements of success that

would register as a reward for your brain

to pursue. You may find momentum easier to gather when you are striving

toward your right kind of personal

success rather than a perceived should.

Now let’s take a look at how to activate

and support motivation and goal-setting

in the brain.

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MOV I N G T H E B R A I N T O R E C E P T I V I T Y ,

MO T I VAT I O N , A N D G OA L - S E T T I N G

Where do motivation and goal-setting

primarily live in the brain? The Prefrontal

Cortex! Along with our ability to project future timelines, creative problem-solve,

comprehend multiple perspectives,

access compassion and empathy, recall

social norms, practice patience, prime a

mental dynamic for learning, and more.

So how can we train our brains to spend

more time here rather than in the limiting

beliefs we may spend an unnecessary

amount of time in? On a neurological

level, this question is really asking: ‘How

do we move resources from the Limbic

brain (the fear and stress system) to the

Prefrontal Cortex (the social and higher development system)?’.

The first step is to downregulate the Limbic brain so resources can be

reallocated elsewhere. The Limbic

brain’s job is to monitor for perceivable

threats and, as we now know, it registers

predictability and familiarity as safety.

So in order to calm the Limbic brain and

free its resources, we can focus on the

predictable and familiar. This could be

noticing the reliability and constancy of

our natural breath or gravity.

By acknowledging the familiarity and

predictability of these sensations or of

other elements of current safety, we can

quiet the Limbic brain and free up its

resources to be redistributed elsewhere.

With these freed up resources, we

can turn to step two: upregulating the

Prefrontal Cortex. What is the PFC’s favorite food?

Novelty.

Novelty is something slightly unusual,

but not so unfamiliar that it could register

as an unknown threat. This could look

like brushing your teeth with your non-

dominant hand, writing your name

upside down, or changing your route

to work or the order of your morning

routine.

By activating the PFC by giving it something to be curious about, we can

access its qualities such as motivation,

goal-setting, higher learning, etc. By

introducing novelty as part of our daily

routine and throughout the day, we can

practice spending time in the part of the

brain that will support a success mindset

or any healthy changes to our mindset.

Now let’s introduce some tools that

incorporate what we know about our

neurology to support a healthy or

improved mindset.

3 GREAT PRACTICES

TO MANAGE OR

CHANGE YOUR MINDSET

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1 . P H Y S I C A LL I N K A S O M AT I C C U E

Associating a physical experience with a

mental practice helps to mark the experience

as important in our neurology. By creating a

somatic link with a new experience, we can

strengthen its accessibility in our neurology

and make it easier for our brains to retrieve

later. In this way, we can support and even

expedite the development of a substantial

improvement to our mindsets.

WHY:

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Create a somatic link to your desired thought, pattern, or habit to mark the

experience as important and increase

its retrievability.

Add an additional layer of importance

to the link by activating your Prefrontal

Cortex simultaneously with the incorporation of novelty into this

practice.

Try brushing your teeth with your

non-dominant hand or mixing up the

order of your morning routine while

practicing your new thought, pattern,

or habit.

Later in the day, give some thought to

the new pattern again while carrying

your keys or your coffee, typing, tapping a part of your body, or making

an interesting gesture with your non-

dominant hand. Later, take a different route home while practicing your new

mindset again.

The incorporation of a physical

experience with mental entrainment

highlights the full experience in your

neurology, increasing its retrievability

later.

The bonus of activating the PFC during this practice not only primes the brain

to pay attention to the experience even

more, but increases the accessibility of

qualities such as motivation, goal-setting,

creativity, problem-solving, timeline

projection, perspective, compassion,

empathy, patience, and primes the brain

for a learning experience.

Once you establish a somatic link to

your new pattern, you can also access

that pattern throughout the day on

a conscious or subconscious level by

practicing that link.

Now when you are standing in line or

driving your commute, you can tap with

your non-dominant hand and retrieve

the mental association of your desired

experience throughout the day.

The more you access the new thought,

pattern, habit, or mindset - even in small

ways - the more retrievable it becomes

and the easier it is to access and repeat

over time.

1 . P H Y S I C A LL I N K A S O M AT I C C U E

HOW:

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2 . M E N TA LP R AC T I C E T H E 5 - S T E P

N E U RO S C U L P T I N G ® MO DA L I T Y

The 5-Step Neurosculpting® modality

incorporates what we know about our

neurology into its structure.

The established 5-Step process was

developed around our neurobiology

and seamlessly integrates practices

for downregulating the Limbic brain,

upregulating the Prefrontal Cortex, supporting self-directed neuroplasticity,

and including somatic and mental

associations for increased retrievability.

WHY:

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Whether you are attending a class,

following a guided exercise, or self-

directing at home, the Neurosculpting®

5-Step modality is accessible and easy to

follow along with.

Step 1: Quiet the Limbic Brain

By focusing on our sense of safety,

predictability, and familiarity, we can

quiet the stress response and reallocate

those resources to other parts of the

brain. This may include focusing on the

familiar, consistent, and effortless nature of our natural breath or of gravity or the

acknowledgment of our current level of

safety.

Step 2: Activate the Prefrontal Cortex

By bringing our attention to something

novel or curious, we can activate our PFC and create access to the abilities housed

here including goal-setting, creativity,

problem-solving, motivation, patience,

empathy, social norms, the ability to

perceive multiple perspectives and

project future timelines, and more.

This could look like doing a familiar

activity with your non-dominant hand

or in a slightly unusual way, trying to

imagine a completely new color or shape,

or listening to your favorite comedian.

Step 3: Create Cross-Talk Between the

Hemispheres

Toggling between the left and right

hemispheres distributes the experience

across the brain and creates a whole-

brain approach to the practice. This may

look like spelling words out or listing items

numerically for the left hemisphere and

creating imagery or relationships for the

right hemisphere.

Step 4: Create a Somatic Link

Using the physical body to create

an intentional association marks an

experience as important and increases its

future retrievability. This could be tapping

a part of the body or making an interesting

gesture with your non-dominant hand.

Step 5: Name the Meditation

Naming or labeling the exercise adds

an extra layer of mental association and

further increases its ability to be easily

retrieved on a conscious or subconscious

level. This could be a word you are likely to

hear during the day and be reminded of

the experience or a completely made-up

word that the PFC gets to play with.

2 . M E N TA L P R AC T I C E T H E 5 - S T E P

N E U RO S C U L P T I N G ® MO DA L I T Y

HOW:

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3 . S O C I A LJ O I N A L I K E - M I N D E D C O M MU N I T Y

Becoming involved in a community or

with individuals with similarly desirable

mindsets or goals increases our exposure to

a new mindset and supports the repeated

access to a new pattern. It also provides an

opportunity for accountability to practicing

the new mindset.

WHY: HOW:

Join a group of like-minded friends, a social

media page or group, hobby enthusiasts, or

the Neurosculpting® Institute membership

community. Be sure to tell someone in your

new community or a loved one about your

new practice. Some say you are the average

of the people you surround yourself with.

Give yourself the opportunity to have people

to practice your new mindset with and to

support your personal development.

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Additional resources for this endeavor can be found across the publications of the Neurosculpting® Institute, including books, CDs, audio class downloads, online learning events, our memberships, as well as the NSI Learning Store and blog.

HOW TO BEGIN

YOUR PRACTICE

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Consider becoming a member of the Neurosculpting® community with any

of our premium membership programs. More details on our website:

www.NeuroSculptingInstitute.com

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Foundational Neurosculpting®: Intro Audio Class- 3hr

Enjoy this audio capture of most versatile class, Neurosculpting® for

Beginners. You’ll learn the basic brain dynamics of a stress cycle and

how to navigate those patterns. You’ll discover the basic neuroscience

of neuroplasticity and learn was you can enhance your brain’s learning

and focus.

The Neurobiology of Goal-Setting and Motivation –1.5hr

In this introductory audio class, you’ll explore the neurobiology respon-

sible for those moments when you’ve motivated yourself to reach your

goals AND the process behind those moments of self-sabotage and lack of motivation. Discover the amazing process of neural communication and learn ways to influence that chemistry and physiology.

Warrior One: Immersion into Practical Neurosculpting®

Consider this a BOOT CAMP experience! This program is the direct curriculum outlined in, NEW BELIEFS, NEW BRAIN: Free Yourself from Stress and Fear. Neurosculpting® is a cutting-edge modality integrat-

ing mindfulness and neuroscience into a simple five-step whole brain approach to heal trauma, rewrite limiting beliefs, and find wholeness.