Posts Tagged ‘cortisol’

Yesterday,  on a walk in the woods with a gifted young leader, I once again saw his ethics, openness and willingness to become vulnerable in order to learn new skills. Without notice a mountain biker appeared on our winding path and startled my friend’s dog Jack, who in return snapped at the bikers feet. The [...]

Imagine a climate of peace, with language that inspires, and people who cheer on your talents. Would you agree that peace would have been a better plan than war in most cases you’ve observed? Not a passive peace, but a robust plan where many angles from different viewpoints move forward together on common ground. Have [...]

If you listened lately to the media’s constant streams of financial fears, you likely failed to shop much for loved ones over Christmas. Not that buying less detracts from the magic of Christmas. Yet, sadly, the gloomy news turned into poor proceeds for stores, just as fear blocked winning opportunities from your own brain. Why [...]

During my two years on Baffin Island, up near Greenland, while teaching for McGill University, I both slept more and ate more during dark months where we saw no sunlight at all. Likely your shifts from light to dark are less extreme, but nevertheless, the brain’s reactions to daytime darkness cause intense problems for many [...]

Your hardest hitting efforts fall short of others’ expectations.  Fun melts away like ice cream on a scorching afternoon. It’s too cold, or too hot for, but rarely right. Health suffers and anxiety spikes. Would peers describe you as perfectionist? If so, you’re likely habitually late, and likely armed with excuses that could set death [...]

We’ve all been there. You wake up feeling full of energy – with mental resources and a will to conquer the world. Then out of the blue, your fate shifts, and you lapse into anxiety that douses your flame and snuffs out any zest for living with it. Has it happened to you lately? Luckily, [...]

How we situate images of war affects how our brains wire to support or reject it. Replace words such as war on terror with expressions that grow stronger communities, and our brains shift from expectations of violence to proposals for peace across differences. Imagine a place of prosperity where no brain is left behind, and [...]

Today, I arrived home late to discover a bill marked OVERDUE PAYMENT from Verizon Wireless for their broadband service I tried at their request and then returned a few days later. Yikes! The free trial ad had clearly touted an invitation to try their service free of charge for 30 days – and I tried [...]

If you find yourself defaulting to ruts or stuck in rigid routines, try asking, “What more could today offer through a different approach at work?” Or rather than worry over failed finances,  it’s worth chasing a question that sparks your brain’s capacity to hit reverse. Ask, “What hidden or unused assets can be put to [...]

It’s no secret that teens drop out of secondary schools at alarming rates, or that parents complain about wasted tax dollars in broken schools, or that faculty vent about lack of relevancy and low standards. Yet, while most agree that secondary schools stomp out the very mental resources teens bring to class daily, far fewer [...]

For a tiny sac of neurons,  it zaps an ordinary day into havoc – like lightning strikes an iron rod, long before you’re aware it hit. Whenever your day jolts you off reliable tracks, it’s likely the seething culprit, and in some brains it burns like fury just below the surface.
Want to tackle hot topics [...]

Long before you realize the problem, your brain may be wired to fail in ways that might surprise you. How so?
Let’s say you find yourself crankier than normal.  You may suffer anxiety, or fear taking that risk that will move you forward at work. When this happens, you’ve likely stirred up a chemical hormone in your brain that pushes [...]

While many people bolt from conflicts, it’s also true that disagreements  blast open  doors to life-changing ethical insights,  when people differ with the brain in mind. How so?
If you’ve ever benefited from unique insights, you’ve likely also seen opposing viewpoints from high-performance minds,  that beg to differ. So why then, do disagreements also break up [...]