The Clifton Review
The Clifton Review is a tri-weekly column that examines the question of the Clifton project along with the evolution of the war between two billionaires. We covered the start of this war with articles describing the battle over easement rights, the mysterious burning of a home, the blocks to rebuilding, and countless questionable court filings.
While the 2018 series salutes fashion mogul Peter Nygård’s Golden Jubilee detailing his rags to riches story, his incredible business success over these past fifty years and an inside look at how he did it, The Clifton Review will also continue to address current affairs as they relate to the good of The Bahamas.
Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks
By P.J. Malone
If you are someone that feels that it is impossible to force your brain to think differently, then here’s some news for you. Studies show that you can in fact successfully change your thinking.
It’s not surprising that it would seem like an impossible feat. All of our lives, most of us have been socialized to think ‘an old dog can’t learn new tricks’ or ‘bend the tree while its young’. So some may be concerned that they can’t become solution oriented in their thinking about their business, as we discussed previously.
What ever your thoughts, it is worth the effort to make a shift since it can have a major impact on your profits like this strategy continuously does for fashion mogul Peter Nygard.
The business magazine Inc published an online article, “How to Train Yourself to Think Differently and Permanently Rewire Your Brain, According to Science,” that contends you can in fact make a mental shift.
It’s author, Amy Morin, asserts that training your brain to think differently physically changes your brain and many therapists use cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to help people create long-lasting change.
She cites three studies where researchers achieved physical changes in brain activity with the use of cognitive behavior therapy.
So what does this mean for someone who wants to shift from being a problem-solver to solution oriented thinking? Well, it means you can.
The article offers a few suggestions on how to train your brain to think differently. Though they appear elementary, it might be the way to start:
Three ways to train your brain to think differently:
- Reframe your unhelpful thoughts: Thinking things like “This will never work,” or “I’m such an idiot. I just ruined everything” isn’t helpful. Negative predictions tend to turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. And exaggeratedly negative thoughts prevent you from taking positive action. But the good news is, you can reply to unhelpful thoughts with more realistic statements…
- Prove yourself wrong:Your brain lies to you sometimes. So when it tells you that you can’t possibly get a promotion or that you’ll never be able to lose 10 pounds, look at it as a challenge…
Each time you successfully prove your negative predictions wrong, you’ll train your brain to see yourself in a different light. Over time, your brain will start to view your limitations, as well as your capabilities, in a more accurate light.
- Create a personal mantra:Take stock of your negative thought patterns. Do you call yourself names? Or do you talk yourself out of doing things where you might fail?
Then, develop a personal mantra that you can use to talk back to the negative messages. Repeating things like “Make it happen” or “Do your best” tunes out the negativity. And over time, you’ll grow to believe those statements more than the unhealthy things you’ve been telling yourself. (Amy Morin. “How to Train Yourself to Think Differently and Permanently Rewire Your Brain, According to Science.” Inc.com)
Morin makes a good point in that training your brain to think differently takes time but continuous practice helps you to keep building mental muscle that could create physical changes that can become permanent.
The important thing to note is that if you truly want to transform your business and make it more successful, any efforts in doing what it takes can make a world of difference—especially with something like becoming solution oriented in your thinking, which has no down sides.
