If you find yourself stuck in a rut, you’ve likely defaulted to your basal ganglia. No need to stay there, once you see how your brain can create neuron pathways beyond these potholes. Probably you’ve observed how static lives come from dull daily routines where people settle into status quo, and no longer seek adventure.
But have you recognized the brain’s way to surf new waves to a better place?
Here’s how it works. At the center of most ruts, lies your brain’s basal ganglia. Experts call it your mental storehouse for habits, routines and every lifetime experience you’ve encountered. It’s also a place to promote and prolong annoying ruts.
Risk-takers and people who surf the cutting edges of possibilities, simply override the brain’s basal ganglia default daily. In surprisingly straightforward ways, they engage in mental finess within their working memory which is the brain’s tool to override mental ruts. How so?
Use more working memory and you’ll also keep your brain fueled and rolling forward. Whenever you engage your multiple intelligences in new ways, for instance, you also override your basal ganglia’s ruts.
Basil Ganglia Routine Working Memory Adventure
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1 |
Play familiar music or attend a familiar band’s concert |
1 |
Select new music to enhance your work |
|
2 |
Sit more than move |
2 |
Park away from doors and climb stairs daily |
|
3 |
Discuss work related problems |
3 |
Propose change to solve one key problem |
|
4 |
Read daily paper |
4 |
Read an unfamiliar trade magazine |
|
5 |
Dress in conventional ways |
5 |
Wear new colors and styles for a different look |
|
6 |
Take advantage of nature after work |
6 |
Retrofit workspace as nature friendly |
|
7 |
Enjoy lunch with good friends or family |
7 |
Invite a person of another culture to lunch |
|
8 |
Lead with your strengths at work |
8 |
Develop a weaker intelligence as you solve workplace problems |
It’s quite phenomenal if you think about an average brain’s ability to rebound from ruts, and reboot for rejuvenation.
The working memory’s capacity is tiny, and holds fewer details than you can count on one hand. It can grow in size, but your working memory displaces current facts with newer details as fast as doughnuts disappear in Monday morning staff rooms. It’s a terriby uncomfortable place, that keeps one alert while always unfamiliar and rarely competent since details constantly change.
Interestingly, it was discovered recently that working memory, small as it is, can literally expand with use. Consider the following facts about basil ganglia and working memory, before you chart new neuron pathways beyond their reach - toward success today.
Compare the basal ganglia’s much larger capacity and see how easily it stores lifetime habits, regular routines, and experiences that last a lifetime there. You likely see why basal ganglia workers remain quite comfortable in this seemingly secure place.
Can you also see how new neuron pathways can help to bridge the difference between rejuvenation and stubborn ruts. Will the fact that your brain’s working memory could default to and override basal ganglia ruts, make any difference to your day?
on Sep 15th, 2008 at 8:45 am
[...] top leaders, without added expenses of so much travel. Here at MITA Brain Based Center, our brains default quickly to travel, since regular flights fit naturally our usual routines. It’s been that [...]
on Sep 16th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Ellen,
What exciting possibilities you’ve presented in this post! Good-bye, basil ganglia ruts; hello, working memory overrides! From now on, it’s new neuron pathways, all the way!
What an inspiring post!
Jeanne
on Sep 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Jeanne, thanks for gracing my new site with your comments and encouragement! Wow — you really tipped my busy day in the direction of a few new neurons too!
Funny how encouragement works — and no wonder it’s so effective! May it continue to circle back to your brain and mine.
on Sep 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Oh, by the way, I meant basal ganglia — not basil ganglia (much as I love Italian food)!
Which reminds me…Humor is another great way to get out of a mental rut! Though, I guess it might be more accurate to say that humor is one manifestation of a working memory override in action, since it requires us to create new associations and look at old information in a brand new way.
Love your new site! And love your eternal-circle-of-encouragement concept! May it always be active on your blog and in your life!
on Sep 16th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Thanks for your kind and generous words, Jeanne, and for your WISDOM on this one! I am quite excited about the connections you made between humor and the working memory.
I’d quite frankly never seen it in that light — but usually refer to humor’s ability to create enzymes into the brain, and to open wonderful avenues for learning that otherwise remain shut.
Interestingly - with humor you get one result from the brain when you laugh at self, and a very opposite brain result when you laugh at others. Have you noticed humor’s many outcomes in your circles?
on Sep 17th, 2008 at 10:03 am
[...] other’s impressions of your work or character. Have you ever wondered how some people dance past human hurdles that shut down others at [...]
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Ellen,
How fascinating that laughing at ourselves and laughing at others give different results! Hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it, it would seem to make sense. It just serves to illustrate the intricacy of the human brain!
I have indeed noticed how different the reaction to humor can be in different circles and at different times! But, that’s a whole area of inquiry all it’s own!
Your posts definitely inspire thought and invite analysis–both of which I love to be involved in!
on Sep 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Thanks for your deep dives Jeanne into topics that really do make a difference from the brain’s perspective.
Your post makes me think of the concept of writing to know a thing — and that is one of the side benefits of blogging daily. Thanks for that reminder. Some people write because they “know.’ I tend to write to “know.’
You?
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I understand just what you mean, Ellen! So often, writing a blog post can become a journey of discovery — not only about our topics, but also about ourselves and about others.
Blogging is so much more personal than many other types of writing that, even when we set out to impart knowledge, so much exploration, self-reflection, and personal association are involved (and even inherent) in the form that we’d never find in a more structured medium that we end up learning as much as — if not more than — our readers do. This ability to explore even as we communicate our thoughts and share our knowledge and experiences with our readers — and to continue that exploration outside our post via comments — can add vastly to our own personal store of knowledge and make us the richer for it.
Writing to know is a wonderful concept! Thanks so much for sharing it!
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I like the idea of discovery that reaches into and yet beyond. Therein lies the wonder of self-reflection as well socially constructed meanings. Both teach — and both look to curiosity for their fuel:-).
on Sep 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Amen to that!
on Sep 26th, 2008 at 3:45 am
I follow you always, this post is excellent.
on Sep 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
[...] are more susceptible to ruts than most realize, because of basal ganglia [...]
on Sep 27th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
This is the best observation i have ever seen for this subject
on Oct 1st, 2008 at 8:49 am
[...] Not one person questioned this shocking statement. Yikes! No wonder schools and universities remain in ruts while brilliant minds and innovators tend to leave them [...]
on Oct 5th, 2008 at 6:06 am
[...] the stressful, fearful, or anxious brain pulls you in many directions. Similarly, the brain that defaults back to its basal ganglia ruts, rarely targets new or cutting edge priorities without written targets as a visual impetus to move [...]
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 8:57 am
[...] doom and gloom tends to proliferate these days too, and we find ourselves defaulting to the ruts of broken money systems, more than we like. It doesn’t need to be that [...]
on Oct 9th, 2008 at 9:03 am
[...] at times your slave master. Unless you understand the brain at work, you can easily fall into a basal ganglia’s propensity for ruts and miss its zest for rejuvenation. How [...]
on Oct 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
[...] This miracle drug fuels tone for winning communications as it allows people to disagree without attacking the person who offers a different perspective. It’s often a matter of choice or default. [...]
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
[...] Rewire your brain’s plasticity by investing a buck a day and with each dollar’s growth record your [...]
on Oct 26th, 2008 at 10:08 am
[...] not about liberals and conservatives, but it’s more about tired systems and emerging minds who’ve discovered the power of the human brain to create and invent a better way. How [...]
on Oct 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
[...] 2. Inquiring minds spark more working memory less available to those who settle for age or revert to ruts that shape old socks. [...]
on Nov 2nd, 2008 at 8:48 am
[...] For you? Human brains rewire for excellent adventures beyond perfectionism through risks taken on an otherwise ordinary day. How will you nudge that exciting idea you’ve been holding back, to cultivate an innovative place beyond ruts of perfectionism? [...]
on Nov 3rd, 2008 at 7:15 am
[...] Barriers to letting go, can come from amygdalas that heats up faster in some brains to create hurt or emotional reactions. It’s also related to learned patterns of behavior, that takes time to rewire habitual defaults that land you back into old ruts. [...]
on Nov 10th, 2008 at 9:27 am
[...] Takes risks to stand for truth and boldly challenges ruts and broken traditions. The greed that sank Wall Street and the markets will be replaced with a [...]
on Nov 15th, 2008 at 11:35 am
[...] may lead to ruts and boredom, but to develop mental capacity in any area, is to redesign the human brain for expanding what you [...]
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[...] you get the picture. Simply put, you deserve far more, and research shows how to rewire your brain past the ruts of hectic routines, for the focus that sparks innovation and adds new feet to your best [...]
on Nov 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am
[...] Your brain stores messages such as: That guy is out to get me. Each time you replay the scene where he did you wrong the brain goes to work storing more permanent false realities about his hurtful character. Did you know the human brain has a natural propensity for ruts where flawed assumptions live, and that we daily make choices to either default back to - or override mental ruts? [...]
on Dec 3rd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
[...] when your brain determines what good looks like - and leapfrogs you over bad habits, new neuron pathways are created to lead toward that action. Ethics engages the basal ganglia, and [...]
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 8:04 am
[...] How do you override your brain’s default for ruts? [...]
on Dec 10th, 2008 at 9:36 am
[...] problems. Have you seen it happen? Act on this one solution created, and your brain builds new neuron pathways beyond negative ruts toward further [...]
on Dec 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
[...] at ruts from inside your brain, you’ve likely defaulted to your basal ganglia. Experts call it your mental storehouse. Less sensitive people may remind you it’s where every [...]
on Jan 12th, 2009 at 10:12 am
[...] to keep moving forward once you start in the race to peak performances through. Remember, the brain is equipped with a default for ruts. Have you seen it happen where you [...]
on Jan 17th, 2009 at 8:15 am
[...] could you do today to reboot your brain back onto a healthier highway forward, when regret tries to shut out a refreshing wind of [...]
on Jan 25th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
[...] makes sense that progress is rather rare when you consider how the brain’s equipped to default to ruts. If you consider mental realities, and still accept a challenge for progress, a few dynamite tools [...]
on Jan 31st, 2009 at 10:28 pm
[...] reflect is to shuffle the human brain out from its daily ruts, rouse it from from routine resting places and compel it into wider reaches. Reflection often [...]
on Feb 2nd, 2009 at 9:20 am
[...] Resist the brain’s pattern to default to ruts or blame others, by reflecting solutions that reframe failures as stepping stones to a way that [...]
on Feb 7th, 2009 at 8:32 am
[...] 5. Inability of leaders to facilitate so thoughtful people are silenced, rather than helpful. Effective leaders facilitate more brainpower by asking 2-footed questions, rather than talking at people. They target improvements in briefly stated goals that generate new neuron pathways to higher peaks. They move change along through multiple intelligence challenges. And they facilitate reflections that stoke create innovation to reach the next levels, in ways that override the brain’s default for ruts. [...]
on Feb 12th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
It is kinda common sense, isnt it!? Breaking away from routine, trying out and learning new things keeps you motivated and energetic ! Also helps in thinking out of the box !
Life and brain is not about routines.. its about breaking away from it !
on Feb 15th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Thanks for stopping by and for the interesting thought. So true, yet even common sense is up for grabs with neuro-discoveries:-) Why so? It’s really a part of intrapersonal intelligence which comes in diifferent mixes and can raise or lower by what we do:-) Thoughts?
on Feb 16th, 2009 at 6:12 am
[...] expected to perform like a race horse, and head from the gates with the brain of a slug. People who override the brain’s default for forgetting, tend to remember more when they reach into memory for names, keys, or directions. Do [...]
on Feb 16th, 2009 at 7:10 am
[...] is to change, even change that creates friction at times! Apply novel approaches and you encounter ruts inside the human brain. Have you seen it happen? Transformation takes risk! To move stagnant mental eddies into rushing [...]
on Feb 20th, 2009 at 10:12 am
[...] quite miraculous when used. How so? Tiny as a thimble, it’s in tug-of-war with your basal ganglia which stores boring routines and ruts. Don’t get me wrong, without your basal [...]
on Feb 21st, 2009 at 8:39 pm
[...] learning, pretend you understand long before you do, and watch those you lead default back to ruts because you failed to speak sincerely, and so could not apply new facts [...]
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 11:00 am
[...] eludes me, much like an ice creams melt away under a noonday sun. Somehow, my brain’s basal ganglia defaults me back to ruts and I slog through the mire of routines that simply go with my [...]
on Mar 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
[...] way only - led by dominant voices - with little facilitation ability to draw out the other side? Human brains default back to ruts, (part of basal ganglia patterns) without hearing or considering fresh possibilities on the other [...]
on Mar 24th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
[...] Tedious toxins can lower your levels of dopamine. Brain based tactic -observe people who produce more natural [...]
on Apr 4th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
[...] instance, it still takes risk to tackle even the most tired traditions. Toss in the fact that most brains default to ruts. Then when a lifetime dream topples seeming security, and when the time is right you cross the [...]
on Apr 20th, 2009 at 9:25 am
[...] they easily moved toward peaceful resolutions, since it takes brainpower skills to move past the ruts that brains default to based on past behaviors and habits. In fact the human brain acts as a compelling force against [...]
on Apr 24th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
[...] brimming over from courage and zip - fueled by sheer curiosity. That landing where fresh ideas replace rusted ruts. Does that describe your [...]
on Apr 26th, 2009 at 11:56 am
[...] rather than in forward motion. Comfortable traditions or routines can cause your brain to default to ruts, that only reverse brainpower can surpass. How [...]
on May 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 am
[...] To rethink old approaches is also to take a stand against Hebbian hardwired thought that defaults back to ruts and routines. [...]
on Jun 5th, 2009 at 6:09 am
very good information.thankyou
on Jun 14th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
[...] 1. Learners and leaders look to a bright future within lessons that tap brainpower linked to current challenges. In that setting they step beyond the brain’s default for ruts. [...]
on Jul 2nd, 2009 at 5:01 am
[...] more important for revolutionary change than consensus building, yet your brain’s basal ganglia works against collaboration and locks you into comfort zones. Faced with innovation, your [...]