Mind Magic
Rewiring Success: How Neuroplasticity Shapes Our Brains and Futures
What if you could find happiness on demand? What if the success you desire was 100% within your mind and ability to act out what your brain tells you?
What if you found out today that the real magic of life and the source of your well-being and success is nothing other than the power of your mind? Suppose you discovered there is science, facts, and evidence proving the power of your mind to produce changes in your life that may at first appear impossible.
This can be great news if you are intelligent, professional, and show strong communication skills. This can cause your eyebrows to go up if you have been operating on the unfounded path that a guru, guardian angel, winning lottery ticket, or force from somewhere in the universe is the magic you are waiting for.
Four professionals, in particular, have shaped the thinking and evidence in this look at neuroplasticity and how we can use it to rewire our brains for success. Many others who study highly intelligent adults are among our readers and include neuroplasticity in their books, articles, and professional practice.
Today we’ll honor the work of these professionals, all of whom are authors with best-selling books and something practical to say about human behavior, success, happiness, personal growth, and neuroplasticity.
Understanding Neuroplasticity
The lead-off batter in this discussion is Dr. David Eagleman, author of Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain. He teaches brain plasticity at Stanford University and created the Emmy-nominated television series The Brain.
All creatures on earth, except for humans, are born with programming in their brains—to survive and to function. All human programming happens at the hands of the environment into which we arrive at birth. Everything, everyone, every sensation and piece of knowledge programs our brains at speeds faster than we’ve yet to measure. That’s right. Our brains are not yet evolved enough to understand absolutely everything. Here’s the better news. Because of neuroscience, we know far more today than even 10 years ago and way more than our previous generation or hundreds of humans before that.
Eagleman writes at a level that makes for a fascinating and practical understanding, maybe for the first time, of exactly how 100% of all experiences you will ever have, from birth to death, modulates every measurable detail of the brain, from the molecular scale to overall brain anatomy.
The brain is an information-seeking machine and a prediction engine that is the driving engine behind its constant reconfiguration.
In order to bring happiness on demand and the life we desire, we must go deeper into our understanding of the brain’s adaptability and resilience.
So, now, Eagleman just hit a line drive and made it to first base. The next batter up is Dr. James Doty, author of Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything
Understanding Neuroscience Manifestation
Doty explains, “Manifesting, at its heart, is a practice of well-being, engagement with the world, and living a good life.” This is something you can practice.
To learn the six steps of neuroscience manifestation which Doty delivers in detail and with practice swings, it helps to unlearn areas that have messed with our ability to take charge of our brains. Most of the misunderstandings and misdirection come from that desire to think the answers are external, such as the Law of Attraction.
“Manifesting is neither a get-rich-quick scheme nor a misguided wish-fulfillment system but is part of the brain’s extraordinary ability to change, heal, and remake itself, known as neuroplasticity,” Doty emphasized.
Manifestation is an equal opportunity. This is not limited to the 5% of the world that is gifted. This works for 100% of each human who can think and learn.
The detailed discussion of each of Doty’s six steps cuts through pseudoscience and mysticism to show the brain mechanics that underlie relaxation, detachment, compassion, visualization, intention, and removing the obstacles blocking our goals and movement—tiny and large, to our desires.
Doty hit a line drive and made it to first base with Eagleman safe on second. The next batter up is Anne-Laure Le Cunff, founder of Ness Labs and a Ph.D. researcher in the neuroscience of education at King’s College London.
The brain chemicals of joy and happiness
In her recent weekly post in Ness Labs on Joy Triggers: How to Find Happiness on Demand, Le Cunff covers the basics, included in every neuroscience book. While there are millions of moving parts of the brain, it’s important to learn the four main neurochemicals that provide pleasure and well-being. In combination, these chemicals create emotions and sensations we associate with joy and happiness.
Dopamine. This neurotransmitter plays a major role in motivation and the anticipation of reward. When you achieve a goal, accomplish a task, or hit a target, you receive a pleasurable hit of dopamine. It’s your brain telling you that you’ve done a good job.
Serotonin. While serotonin has a complex biological function, it’s popularly known as the molecule of happiness. A variety of antidepressants called Serotonin-Specific Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) work by interfering with the normal reabsorption of serotonin after it’s done with the transmission of the signal, therefore augmenting serotonin levels in the synapses.
Oxytocin. Often called the molecule of bonding, it’s associated with close relationships, skin-to-skin contact, affection, and loving touch. This is what makes you feel good when you receive a hug or play with a pet.
Endorphins. Short for “endogenous morphine”—which means self-produced morphine—they are produced by the central nervous system to help us deal with physical pain. Even though endorphin molecules seem to be too large to pass freely across the blood-brain barrier, some researchers think they are associated with the runner’s high—the feeling of euphoria people get when exercising.
All four professionals informing the points of this article agree there are two ways to work with your joy triggers: retroactively or in the moment.
The first one consists of sitting down, remembering all the times you felt happy, comfortable, relaxed, joyful, or positively excited, and writing them down. Because we tend to not remember everything, Doty provides specific steps for the second approach so that we can learn, and then practice for the rest of life to improve mindfulness and attention. By writing things down as you are reprogramming your brain, you learn that it’s always been you who is in charge and determining your future.
Le Cunff hit a line drive and all batters advanced. No outs and bases are loaded. The clean-up batter is Ryan Holiday, author of 12 best-selling books including The Daily Stoic, Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness Is The Key.
The Best Career and Life Advice You Can Get
Before we get to the action items and six steps you can master to tap into all the health, wealth, wisdom, and opportunities already in your mind—possibilities so vast you’ve not come close, yet, let’s look at some bits of wonder and wisdom of the ages from Holiday.
As you understand more about your brain, what it will do, and what you can do to program it to stay strong and healthy, then you find yourself in a better place to decide what is truly worth wanting and what will bring true happiness.
“In life and your career, you have to be the driver of your own advancement. When conditions aren’t ideal, you can’t just sit around waiting for things to happen. If you do that, they never will. There is always something you can learn, always some opportunity to take advantage of,” Holiday wrote.
In The Obstacle is the Way, Holiday encapsulates the idea of using obstacles as opportunities to take control and move forward, turning challenges into stepping stones. "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."
In Ego is the Enemy, Holiday highlights the importance of perpetual learning and improvement as a path to notable achievement in any field. "It’s about realizing that the best way to pursue greatness is to improve continuously, to refine endlessly, to never be satisfied with merely 'good enough'."
In Daily Stoic, Holiday focuses on what you can control — your thoughts and reactions — rather than waiting for external circumstances to change. "You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."
In Stillness Is the Key, Holiday encourages a reflective approach to life, urging us to take charge by understanding and often reducing our dependencies on external factors. "If we want to be steady, stable, and in control, we must first reflect deeply on what we cling to, what we depend on, and learn to see that maybe we don’t need those things after all."
Holiday hits a home run and drives everyone across home plate.
Homerun! Here’s Your Six Steps of Neuroscience Manifestation
Reclaim Your Power To Focus Your Mind. Aligning goals with personal and professional visions.
Clarify What You Truly Want. Cultivating. Enhancing leadership by understanding and managing emotions.
Remove The Obstacles In Your Mind. Practicing. Improving focus and decision-making through present-moment awareness.
Embed The Intention In Your Subconscious. Neuroplasticity – The brain's ability to adapt and evolve with new challenges.
Pursue Your Goal Passionately. Building influential networks through empathetic leadership.
Release Expectations And Open To Magic. Establishing routines that foster innovation and growth.
The back of Doty’s book features a six-week program to master manifestation. It’s nearly 60 pages of exact detail through each one of the six steps. I found it to be better than a cookbook with pictures and no way to fail. If you can read, think, breathe, and write, you can achieve clarity and possibilities—all without any judgment or pressure for perfection.
As much as I already have learned about the marvels of the brain, there is no end to this. The six steps flow and inform each other like a wheel instead of a straight line.
“As long as we are breathing, hoping, struggling, and persisting, we are manifesting our lives,” Doty said. “These techniques will bring you the safety, peace, connection, and resources you need to take care of yourself, open your heart, and allow your own mind to manifest its magic.”
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Learning, unlearning, and neuroplasticity!! Yes, yes, and yes!!
Very impressive, Georgia !!