Psychology

We talk about the steps to take to get in the right gear. 5th gear is in the flow of focus mode. 4th gear is being in task mode! 3rd gear is about being social 2nd gear is having deep relationships. 1st gear is about that pure rest mode. Find out how to identify the modes and get them in the right spots.

Learn why being awkward has special powers and tips on getting better at difficult things.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/04/awkwardness-why/524385/

See how hormones in your body affect your mood and sleep. Find out when they are out of normal ranges.

Dopamine Disorders – The wrong levels of Dopamine can cause lethargy or addictions. Drug addiction can also work against the dopamine system, making them even more addictive. 

Serotonin – Serotonin has to do with well-being, gastric systems, and the production of Melatonin. 

Melatonin – Melatonin releases when your body starts to prepare for sleep and is responsible for the sleep clock and schedule. 

Cortisol – Cortisol pumps out during the morning to wake you up and when danger is around. It produces energy via sugar release to allow you to wake up or run away from danger. I can improve the immune system because, in the past, the threat was also dangerous to our physical health. Keep stress in control to keep this hormone at the proper levels.

Challenge

Consider how some of these hormones may affect your daily life, for example, if you’re having trouble sleeping, have high-stress levels, or are just fatigued. Think about those hormones and decide if it’s time that you talk to your doctor about them because there are treatments for low levels or high levels of all these hormones.

Creativity is not just about the Arts – People think creativity is about arts or acting. Still, creativity is about all sorts of actions like troubleshooting, science, or even problem-solving. 

Creativity is Not Born – Anyone can be creative and learn. However, people are not born with it but get better and better with practice.

We are Unsure About the Unconscious – We are unsure about the unconscious. But that does not prevent us from using it. We don’t know how many things work, but it works to our benefit. 

We Learned it Young – We learn at a young age from school to only think with our conscious mind. But unfortunately, we are only taught how to use it; therefore, we are terrible at problem-solving with our unconscious minds. 

Solving Problems Without Trying – Have you ever solved a problem by just taking a walk, napping, or doing something else?  The unconscious brain keeps working on issues when we do other activities. 

The Fast Hare Brain – The conscious brain is the hare. It speeds a long and tries to solve answers. It thinks in words and math and solid thoughts that are easily reachable. 

The Tortoise Brain – The unconscious brain is slower. It doesn’t use words or tangible things, so you must learn how to hear it. You need both brains to solve problems. 

Never Force a Decision – Never force a decision before you need to. Give your brain more time. Give your unconscious mind time. You will also allow time for more data or changes in the problem. Waiting is only beneficial to you. 

Stop Interruptions – Interruptions break up your creativity and your unconscious thoughts if the interruptions are coming inside your brain by telling yourself that you are wrong or other thoughts that destroy your creativity. 

Let Ideas Gel – Let ideas roll around in your unconscious a bit. Then let the “hare brain,” the conscious brain, take what the unconscious brain solved and structure the idea. The two brains working together will develop the best ideas. 

Play – Play will increase your creativity and let you think outside the boxes your conscious, uncreative brain establishes. 

Start with Creativity from Others – If you use the work of others as a starting point, it will help you learn about creativity from professionals. Then make it your own. On top of other creativity, your creativity will bring a great idea.  

Edit and Keep it Short – if you are bored reading your work, then it is boring and will bore others. Good editing will make your work better. 

Challenge

Take a problem you have this week, then sit in a quiet room and play in your mind. Think about it. Think about tinkering with the idea, turning it over in your head a bit. Maybe even go for a walk with that notepad in hand. Then see after this creative, uninterrupted time if you found a better solution to your problems, or maybe at least a more creative solution. Then, if you found it worthy and it was helping you, incorporate that path into your innovative thinking and then incorporate it into your creative thinking.

Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g

• People Can’t Drive Your Crazy If You Don’t Give Them the Keys by Mike Bechtle

• People are Full of Drama – When we have relationships, they can be full of drama and can make us feel upset. But how do we decide if we stick to the relationship or leave it. 
• Everything is Emotional, Shocking, Personal – When we get upset it is because something happened that is emotions involved in the situation. If something is shocking, it can upset us as well. When conversations become personal, they can make us upset or feel threatened. 
• We Think We Can Control People – We think we can control others and fix their thoughts and decisions. But we can’t really change anything. 
• We Can Change the Situation – If we can’t change others, we always have the option to change circumstances. If people stay too long when we invite them others to our house. We can limit the time or change locations. 
• Are We Always Right? – We think we are always right and always think things for the right reasons, but we are blind to our own mistakes. Ensuring that we leave room in our thinking for the possibility we are wrong will help us get along with others. 
• I am an Angel; they are the Devil – We also think we have the best of intentions and others who disagree with us have bad intentions or listen to people with bad intentions. 
• Relationships are Important – In the end other people are important and we need connections to others. We must stick to them if we can. 
• We Don’t Have to be a Victim – Staying with relationships that have drama must not mean we are to be victims of other people or victims of our own emotions. We need to find a place where we can be in control and not taken advantage of yet still have others in our lives. 
• There is Hope – We have hope that with a few steps we can have both other people and control. 
• We Can Only Change Ourselves – In the end we can only change ourselves and our own actions. 
• We Can’t Make Others Change – Other people make their own decision. We can’t change them or their actions. 
• Everything is Viewed Through a Lens – We can’t tell when we are looking at others or our options through the filter of our own biases and bad decisions. 
• Be an Influencer – The best we can hope for is to be an influence to others. We can encourage people to get along or not fight with us. We can praise people when they act in a way that doesn’t. make us upset. 
• Expectations and Expectancy – Expectations get us in trouble because we can expect others to change or decide we are right. Expectancy instead allows us to hope for a better relationship with others without expectations. 
• Stop Acting on Autopilot with People – If we react automatically to others, we will have bad relations because we aren’t thinking about others and what they are thinking or if what they are saying has value. We just react without thinking about what our actions will do to others. 
• Family is Important – We need other people, and we need family. They are important and protecting those relationships is worth the work. 

Challenge

• Identify one relationship that could use a little attention and see, is it possible you can change the circumstance of how and where, and when to take the punch out of the situation? Write down that relationship and write down three things you could do that might mitigate some of the annoying drama that you have between you.

Links

• http://www.mikebechtle.com/people-cant-drive-you-crazy-if-you-dont-give-them-the-keys/

The Power of Negative Thinking by Bob Knight

• Why Negative Thinking? – Bobby Knight was a basketball coach who always told the truth. He felt the positivity moment does not prepare people for winning your goals or anything wrong that might happen. Is that negative or realistic if you bring a raincoat to a picnic? Negative thinking helps us prepare for what could go wrong and prepare for it.
• Learn Not to Lose  – If you don’t learn to lose, you can’t win. Can you beat the other team by making so many baskets, or do you have to know how not to make mistakes? Do you have to understand what could go wrong? Or what the other team will try to do against you. How will your own plans fail because of something you will do? Again, knowing what could go wrong will make it work.
• Give Up Hollow Platitudes – You can do everything!!! Can you? How helpful is something that tells you something untrue? Or does knowing what you can do or can’t do help you even more? Being honest and staying away from fake ways to cheer you up will help you win.
• Have Discipline – Being disciplined means knowing what needs to be done,
• Luck Won’t Help – Luck cannot help you achieve your goals if you don’t have the plans and talent to do it.
• Have the Right Confidence – Don’t be overly confident. Being pessimistic and realistic can help you be at the right level of confidence.
• Always Do Better – Always look for ways to make your efforts better. Nothing should be left as it is.

Challenge

• Look for something that needs a little attention. Something you’ve been saying if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Instead, think if it isn’t broken, what can I do to improve it and find that one thing you could improve right now, with some honesty?

Links

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRk38CdgEDE

Second part about the book Think Like Sherlock: Creatively Solve Problems, Think with Clarity, Make Insightful Observations & Deductions, and Develop Quick & Accurate Instincts by Peter Hollins.

• Sherlock Holmes and Observational Skills – Sherlock was able to solve crimes and problems with his keen observation skills and the power of deduction.
• Five Observational Skills
  • Become a more detailed person, which also means remembering what you observe.
  • Give 100% of your focus which is hard to do in our busy world.
  • Notice the difference from baseline or the last time you saw it.
  • Understand people’s self-perceptions and what is important to them. What are they saying or wearing that pushes that perception? What goes against it?
  • See the big picture.
• If we want to become more detail-oriented, that we just have to do a better job of paying attention to the little things that we tend to overlook
• Start with small quizzes about people in the room with you
• Once you have the big observations down, look to more minor details.
• Being observational before a crisis can save your life.
• Pay More Attention to Others – Notice what they are wearing and any clues about them. What are they saying clearly? What are smaller and more hidden messages they might not want you to see?
• Be Better at Deduction – Deducationis reverse storytelling. What you can you read into the observations you made?
• Be Impartial with Distance – When you are involved in the object of your observations, you can bias your own judgments.
• Do your own research to understand a situation properly.

Links

• Think Like Sherlock: Creatively Solve Problems, Think with Clarity, Make Insightful Observations & Deductions, and Develop Quick & Accurate Instincts (Think Smarter, Not Harder Book 3) – Kindle edition by Hollins, Peter. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/madeleine-albright-on-her-life-in-pins-149191/
  • https://www.amazon.com/Survivors-Club-Secrets-Science-Could/dp/B004TE6O2G

Challenge

• Spend 10 minutes observation a room or a zoom chat and write a list of things you observe. What can you deduce from these observations?

Solve problems With Sherlock and some out-of-the-box thinking. Use SCAMPER and creative problem-solving methods to get out of ruts.

Breakout with SCAMPER Thinking – SCAMPER helps us think about problems with a method that allows use for out-of-the-box. It also can be used for complex issues.

• S is for Substitute  – Can you replace a problematic person or material to fix the issue. For example, does your bathroom need a new sink so you can avoid a common annoyance?
• C is for Combine – Combine one solution for multiple problems.
• A is for Adapt – Change the situation so solve a problem
• M is for Magnify or Minimize – Enhance, embolden, magnify or shrink and reduce aspects to find a solution.
• P is for Put to Another Use – Use something working to solve a different problem.
• E is for Eliminate – Remove items or processes which are causing problems.

The Creative Problem-Solving Method

• Identify Messes – What is the mess that you need to solve? For example, there is a puddle on the floor.
• Look for Facts – What facts are related to the mess? The puddle is by the sink.
• Find the Problems – There is a hole in the pipe.
• Find Ideas – Some divergent or brainstorming ideas you can think of to solve the problems.
• Solutions – Converge on the best ideas that cause fewer problems and solve the problem the best.
• Actions – Develop the plan to make the solution happen. Ensure you think about the long-term and root causes.

Challenge

Find one problem you are trying to solve and use of the mentioned techniques to solve it.

Links