Smashing Mindset: Train your brain to reboot, recharge, reinvent your life (Miggi Matters) - Softcover

Bartlett, Selena E

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0999099701 ISBN 13: 9780999099704

Publisher: Thrive Publishing, 2017

Synopsis

You can beat the genetic lottery.

No matter who you are, where you were born, or how you grew up, you have one thing in common with everyone else: You started life with a ticket in the genetic lottery. Some people definitely hold winning tickets: born into the arms of two loving, stable parents, in a safe country, with no worries about food or shelter or access to a good education.

Many others, of course, start life in a far less promising way -- carrying the genes of unstable, unhealthy, or unloving parents, born into a world of poverty, prejudice, lack of opportunity. For many, this random beginning becomes the middle and end of their life story as well. And yes, our genes, our environment, and our experiences do shape who we are -- but they don't have to define who we become.

Picture rolling a rock down a hill. It will keep going until something stops it, right? That's your mindset: your habitual, unconscious ways of living and thinking. Like that rock, your mindset keeps you eating too much, or believing you're unworthy of love, or dwelling on past pain, until something causes it to change. Or rather, until something causes you to change your mindset.

You might believe that you can alter the effects of your environment but are stuck with your genes, and in one sense, you're right.

You'll always have those brown eyes or that curly hair. But just as you can use colored contacts or straighten your hair, you can overcome your family's predilection for, say, addictive behavior or gaining weight. You can replace the things that are holding you back with things that will move you forward.

How? You have the power to change your mindset: to let go of past ways of being and thinking and to shape your future. Think of people who were born into deprivation and yet succeeded in creating rich, healthy lives for themselves and their children. Think of people who overcame bad habits and lost weight or cut back on their drinking or got out there and got a better job. People we admire as resilient or strong simply have a drive or a mindset to succeed. You can develop one, too.

We can't change our ticket in the genetic lottery, but we can control what we do about it. It takes daily work and practice, but it gets easier. Consider this book a roadmap--a user's manual for taking charge of your life. Learn how your brain works; how to recognize the patterns that keep it locked up, repeating the past; and how to apply simple strategies to change it.

It's never too late to change your future by smashing your mindset.

Stress has a way of leaving its imprint on our brains and bodies. We know that, in a learned, habitual, unthinking reaction to stress, it is the emotional part of the brain--what I've called MiGGi--that's encouraging us to eat all those cookies or the rest of the bag of chips, or drink or smoke or do whatever we've found makes us feel better, at least in the short term. MiGGi locks us into unhelpful memories and feelings, too, such as the pain of betrayal or divorce. The brain is a wonderful thing, though. By applying the principles of neuroplasticity, we can change the way our brains work.

Remember, if this were easy, everyone would be fit, trim, happy, and loving, and the world would be a peaceful place. We can start by drawing a line in the sand, crossing over it, and not looking back. This is why it is so important to understand how your brain works to get a smashing mindset.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Selena Bartlett studied mathematics and then followed in her father's footsteps by completing a pharmacy degree in 1989 and becoming a pharmacist in her native Australia. Her life took another direction when her sister was hospitalized with mental-health problems. The impact this had on both her sister and their family led Selena to realize how little we knew about the brain. She completed her Ph.D. in neuropharmacology in 1995. She continued studying the brain for the next twenty-five years, first with a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, in Canberra, Australia. From 2004 to 2012, Selena directed the Preclinical Development Group at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, a top alcohol- and addiction-research institution, at the University of California at San Francisco. Here she focused on turning basic research discoveries into treatments for neurological problems such as addiction, pain, stress, anxiety, and depression. Selena is now a group leader in addiction neuroscience and obesity at the Translational Research Institute at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, as well as a research capacity building professor in the School of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, at the Queensland University of Technology. In 2014 she presented her findings on brain fitness and the neuroplasticity revolution in a TEDx Talk. An ambassador for the organization Women in Technology, Selena received the organization's Biotech Outstanding Achievement and Biotech Research awards in 2013. She has written more than eighty scientific papers and presented her findings to many government institutions, companies, institutions, high schools, and community organizations. Selena presents lectures and seminars, and has designed programs to help government, business, and other organizations improve innovation, decision making, and performance; aid children in learning; assist women and men in strengthening brain health to trim the body; and help retirees in having more vital lives. Her most-requested speaking topics are on how to manage stress to grow mindset, embrace change, and trim the body; growing leadership mindset; improving team performance; and how adverse childhood experiences shape the brain and what to do about it. Selena understands that knowing one's brain drives compassion for other brains. This is the culmination of her efforts to help people understand the importance of the brain's plasticity and apply practical neuroscience tools to their lives. A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to the Francesca Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness about the brain to improve the lives of children.

Review

This book is an amazing read, particularly the chapter about will power. In five well written chapters Dr Selena Bartlett suggests ways how to shed unhealthy habits and how to train our consciousness for lasting improvement of our physical and mental state. It is key to live truly happier, better lives. Iris Assing, Kenilworth, U.K.

With Selena's help I retrained my brain to over-ride my amygdala which occasionally threatened to ignite my fight and flight response bringing panic before a presentation. I regularly thank and acknowledge Selena in my coaching programs, sharing stories about the brain's plasticity, power poses and positive affirmations and how understanding these concepts can make you be a better presenter and communicator. Selena explained why and how my home-spun tips and techniques worked by sharing her knowledge of the brain and how it functions. Helen Besly, Managing Director, Rowland, Brisbane, Australia.

Dr. Bartlett gave me the confidence I needed to make significant changes in my life. Her dedicated efforts as a neuroscientist and firm understanding of how the brain works provided me the link that I had always been searching for -- explaining the "Whys" of so many common diet tips. Armed with a new clear grasp of what I needed to do and how, and with her positive, helpful scientific approach I have been able to move forward with confidence and success. I recommend to anyone wanting change in their life to allow them selves to be guided by the research, teachings and science-based approach Dr. Bartlett provides. Ira Kargel, CEO and President, Gears Bike Shop, Toronto, Canada.

I am a cancer survivor and take tamoxifen as post treatment to secure the odds that the cancer won't come back. I was surprised to discover that the exercises in MiGGi Matters (1st Ed) helped me coach my brain to manage stress which helped me sleep better. Who would have ever thought that you could train the MiGGi monster to help with insomnia! I truly feel that brain training could help anyone. I highly recommend reading MiGGi Matters and doing the easy exercises. Robin, mother, professional dancer, entrepreneur, Berkeley, California.

Selena Bartlett has a wealth of knowledge about resilience and the inner workings of the brain. Her years of experience as a neuroscientist allow her to leverage this knowledge for the layperson. My experience of her presentation that I attended two years ago was to walk away with my eyes open and questions percolating. The information I gleaned has allowed me to continue to look at my life and that of my family's through a different lens. Christine Mattson, Senior Partner, Hilburn, Berkeley, California

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for being an inspiration in my adapting new Life Style Behaviours after reading your book. Your passion and role modelling together with scientific research helped me on my journey to a happy & healthier life. I have used many of your strategies and words of wisdom to assist me with previous unhealthy lifestyle choices. I saw my doctor the other day and the 22 kg weight loss I have had over the last 18 months has seen my pathology return to within normal ranges and most importantly a decrease in my BGL. I am still on this new path but know I will succeed to achieve my goals and make this new lifestyle just that my normal lifestyle and not a series of fad diets that don't work. Joanne Cupples, Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thrive Publishing
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0999099701
• ISBN 13: 9780999099704
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 234