What I'm reading
This week I am reading «The Mind and the Brain» by Jeffrey M. Schwartz. He was one of the pioneers in humanizing psychiatry by understanding and promoting the plasticity of the mind. He created the OCD center at the University of California for the study and support of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In it, he revolutionized treatment, demonstrating that brutally subjecting a person to their phobia was less effective and more harmful than teaching them to see, understand, and manage it.
I'll explain. Before, when a person suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder related to handwashing, as was the famous case of millionaire Howard Hughes, the patient would be forced to get their hands dirty with feces and not allowed to wash them, hoping in this way to cure them of what they classified as irrational behavior.
Schwartz wanted to get to the root cause of the disorder by looking at the affected brain region through MRI scans. And with the evidence of the disorder in hand, he would present the image to the patient and explain why their brain was hijacking them. And how, by recognizing that it was an irrational impulse, they could take control of their brain through their mind, applying what is known as mindfulness.
To do this, I'm developing a 4-step process to face and overcome it:
Reclassify: tell yourself, this is not me. It is simply my compulsion caused by an irregularity in my brain.
2. Remark: Since it's not me, I can use my mind to redirect my brain.
Refocus: Direct your mind to a more productive activity.
Re-evaluate: Realize that we have much more control than we imagined.
This is about using this process consistently to create new neural networks that help us not succumb to impulse and gradually begin to regain our ability to take more and more control over our minds and emotions.
Brilliant! and effective.
Collecting Beautiful People
This week, Alejandro Ureña joined me for my bi-weekly live stream. He is recognized as a LinkedIn «Top Voice,» and I hired him as a mentor a couple of years ago.
An interesting fact is that Alex, before becoming an executive consultant, was an acupuncturist. He says that his technique for helping companies improve is to identify where they are energetically blocked and works with them to improve the flow of energy and achieve better integration. Super concept.
You can watch the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/
The daily struggle
Part of this week's daily struggle has to do with the fear and attraction to the threatening news with which we are bombarded. For example, all this talk of a third world war. And for that, I wrote myself the following note:
«We live in a world of parallel universes. Each one is shaped by different energies, visions, and values.
«You decide which universe to live in. One of fear, problems, violence, and misfortune. Or one of abundance, opportunity, unity, and hope.
«Both exist and both are within reach. All you have to do to go from one to the other is to tilt your thinking five degrees and connect with a new reality.
You decide the world in which you live. Choose wisely.»
Without a doubt, if a third world war comes, we will have to adapt to it. But, I decide today not to participate mentally in it and to focus my mind and energy on things that encourage me and that I can control. And you?
Have a great week. Sending you a big hug.