Did you know that there are at least two brain types that each of us have? There is an Animal Brain and there is a Human Brain. I think that this is fascinating as you look into this topic and I want to at least give you a small glimpse into how these different brains work and how we can improve our lives when using the correct brain for the correct function. Let’s start by looking at the two brain types:
The Animal Brain – This brain is about one thing and one thing only: survival! It is born in fear, lives in fear and dies in fear. Its only job is to keep us alive and out of danger. If you have ever heard of “fight or flight” discovered by Walter Cannon, this is the hardwired system in our brain that will protect us from bodily harm.
The Human Brain – This brain is what makes us operate from love, acceptance, peace and understanding. With it, we volunteer to help others, respect and honor others and are open to learning.
So think about the last time that you communicated to a client or team member. Which brain were you using? If any of these words describe your communication, then you were acting from your animal brain: critical, judgmental, upset, arrogant, lying, frustrated, destructive or selfish. Think about how difficult it would be for you to have a discussion with someone that had these words attached to them. Worse yet, think about if you have ever been this way to any of your clients.
Now, let’s look at the words that describe communication from the human brain: accepting, concerned, open, optimistic, gentle, inspired, patient, helpful, humorous, encouraging or thoughtful. What a great list, eh? Wouldn’t you love to deal with a person who displayed these qualities to you?
Many people believe that they are not able to change from one brain to another. Both logic and statistics don’t agree with this thinking. You can change from one brain to another anytime that you want to. If a call from a client comes in and you feel attacked, the animal brain typically will kick in and you will begin to defend yourself. How do you think that fights start? They start when two people are communicating from their animal brain. Back and forth it goes, both looking to stay alive and win the argument. What generally happens? One or both parties are injured and the communication stops. I recently was travelling and watched an employee of an airline make a passenger cry as she was operating from her animal brain. Critical, upset and frustrated, the ticket agent beat down the passenger to tears. I would not have believed it if I would not have been there to witness it.
But what about you? When is the last time that you battled a client from your animal brain? Or a team member? Complaining about the work load, the company, your boss or the working conditions? Well the good news is that you have a choice! You can operate from your human brain at will and change the situation from bad to awesome, and the best part is that you only need one of you in the conversation to be operating from their human brain, so it might as well be you. If you want to learn the secret of how to do this, please Contact Us today and I will send you a couple of exercises to help you transition from the animal brain to the human brain. It is awesome how well it works.
In the meantime, watch others around you today and see which brain that they are operating from. I would love to help you more if needed.