Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of your Brains Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brains Coach and also Executive Coach, with 15 years of experience helping leaders on all levels to dial in their mindset, their biology, their systems for effective execution so they can get out there, so we can all get out there and do our best job at creating the life that we want to live and the impact that we want to create in the world. Guys, today we are going to be talking about switching brain gears. We're going to be talking about different speeds or states of operation that your brain can oscillate between to deliver the best possible outcomes for the job at hand. Guys, so this morning, after I finished my workout and I came back home and I needed to get back to writing. Usually it depends on the day, but usually after my workouts my brain is a little bit in that fuzzy state, ramped up and wired, and it's not always the perfect state for writing, where you want to be creative and open and still focused and alert, but on a softer side. So that's not exactly the same state you could imagine, probably, especially if you are into fitness, into working out. So it's not exactly the same state as you'd want for something like writing, where you need to be if I were to come up with the word softer and so I use breathing. Today I decided to use physiological sigh Professor Andrew Huberman if you don't know who he is, you might be living under a rock because he just got so popular with his message trying to popularize science and help science improve our lives. So, anyhow, physiological sigh Andrew Huberman popularized it and it's double inhale and long, long exhale and it seems to be and you do it two, three times to be effective and it seems to be one of the best tools to use when you want to down-regulate your nervous system, when you want to shift gears into this softer, calmer state, also very good for stress regulation and not feeling tired and wired and optimize recovery a lot of things. But I use it when I need to shift into that softer, more open state, perfect for creativity. So I did my physiological side.
Speaker 1Sometimes there is a different case. Sometimes I wake up and I want to get into writing or into work right away and I might be a little bit on a sleepier side, just coming out of this restful state of sleep and not exactly primed yet to be delivering work that requires a little bit more precision and focus and sometimes analysis. Then I need to upregulate my gears. I need to shift gears into higher ones, and that's where you wouldn't use something like physiological side to downregulate your system, because it's quite downregulated already. Instead, you would use other tools that are effective at upregulating your brain's speed, your brain's gear, and those tools are movement. For example, you can do a few cycles maybe 10, 20 of jumping jacks. You can do a few burpees. You can also switch on music loud, rhythmic music, you know. Pump up music will also upregulate your brain gears.
Speaker 1What else? Caffeine will work. I personally don't like to use caffeine right after I wake up because I kind of want my circadian biology to work its way out through all of the biochemical signals that it does when we wake up and getting ready for the day. So I try to leave at least 90 minutes between my wake-up time and my coffee. But I do use other tools, like movement, like music. Also, I might use hyperventilating breathing, like when you breathe in forcefully and faster, definitely less focused on breathing out. So it might sound like you know, like you would breathe when you run or you're out of breath. That actually upregulates your brain's gears through activating certain stress systems that release adrenaline and release cortisol. That again brings everything up to speed faster. So you can use these tools to get into more focused, alert, ready toto-go state when you're coming out of this sleepiness, either in the middle of the day or right when you wake up. So the whole idea, guys, and you probably already know that you are better at delivering results in specific situations when your brain, your mental emotional state, is at the right gear, whether that's a crucial conversation you want to deliver on tough negotiation at work, brainstorming session or running numbers or coding each activity and you know that needs a very specific gear. If you're more self-aware, you probably know how it feels in your body, in your brain, to be in that specific perfect state to get the job done in that specific situation. And so these tools of down-regulating or up-regulating your brain's gears basically shifting your mental emotional state fast and consistently and on demand so these tools will allow you to get into that perfect state to deliver a great job, to deliver the outcomes that you seek easier and faster when you need to Also reminds me of this state story strategy framework that Tony Robbins popularized.
Speaker 1If you don't know who Tony Robbins is, again might be under the rug, but number one coach, executive, life coach, self-transformation coach out there who's been in the arena for several decades and popularized the whole field. So Tony Robbins has this very popular and very effective framework State Story Strategy. What it's basically about is, before you can deliver the best possible outcomes in any situation again like tough negotiation conversation, closing a deal, brainstorming session, coding, running numbers, getting very analytical Before you can deliver on all of these scenarios you need to be in the right state and also telling yourself the right story and then coming up with the right strategy or action plan and then executing on that Kind of imagine, like if you are a professional athlete, let's say a tennis player, and you're about to play at one of the top tournaments, and you need to be in that flow state but also dialed in with your whole physiology. So you need to bring yourself into that state out of your thinking, analyzing, over-ruminating on things that happened in the past, and you need to be very present, very focused, but also relaxed in the flow to respond to each ball as it flies at you. And you need for that to create right kind of mental, physiological state and then have the right kind of story to come up with the right kind of strategy and be able to effectively execute on that strategy. So, state story, strategy and this idea of shifting gears fits nicely into this framework, making it even more scientific and more consistent, something you can rely on. So how do we implement? How do we combine these two frameworks? Very easily, so, state First think about what state exactly do you need to be to execute effectively on the job at hand, whether that's writing or giving a talk at a panel, like I did yesterday.
Speaker 1There are different states. So think about how do you want to show up for this specific situation, for that specific activity? How do you need to feel? What energy do you need to have? Super energized or a little bit on a calmer, softer, relaxed side? Story See it to feel it in your mind's eye, create the right kind of picture that will create the right kind of mental emotional state downstream, and then use brain gears, switching tools to dial it in even more. Okay, do you need to be a little bit more relaxed or a little bit upregulated and energetic? Do you need to be on a calmer side, regulated and energetic? Do you need to be on a calmer side? Do you need to be on a softer side or do you need to be greedy and firm and bold? So tell yourself different stories. Story is another brain gear switcher that helps you to get into the right mental, emotional state. Then do breath work, whether hyperventilation or the slow down exhale, one which down regulates, which calms you down.
Speaker 1Music Do you need to listen to some pop-up music that always puts you into this motivated, bold and ready-to-go state. Do you need a little bit of caffeine? Like a lot of my friends' speakers use a little bit of caffeine to get themselves into the right state, especially if the timing of their talk is not right. A little bit of water and let's continue. And then, once you're in the right state with all of these brain gear switching tools, once you have the right story to visualize that, to stay in that right state, then you can figure out well, your brain actually will figure out the best strategy and you will get into the zone, this flow, ideal for performing in that specific situation. And the whole idea, guys, is to have this toolkit, which we know from neuroscience research. By the way, if you want to dive deeper into the science of brain switching. Pick up the book Hyper-Efficient by neuroscientist Dr Mitho Storoni. Optimize your brain to transform the way you work. It's all about creating more of the work that matters. So pick up the book Hyper-Efficient if you want to do a deep dive.
Speaker 1So many tools that I'm probably never going to be able to mention on all of our podcasts. There are so many of them, but the basic idea you got it here. The basic framework, the basic tools you got already here. And why would you want to do that? Because you can get so much more of everything that you do if you're in the right state. As easy as that. Just like that professional athlete playing at the highest ranking tournament In the right state you can get gold and in the wrong state you can be thrown out of it and never have a chance to play again in the higher tournaments.
Speaker 1Right state matters a lot. It's also the difference between having a lot of conversations, doing a lot of talks or presentations and never getting anywhere, or lending your client one after another For sales calls. You need to transfer the right kind of certainty, the right kind of energy, the right kind of state so people buy in when you're trying to move forward. So that matters for absolutely everything you do or in your personal life Are you effective at delivering the kind of conversations and emotions and transformations with the people you care about? To do that effectively, you also need to be in the right mindset, in the right mental, emotional and shifting gears. These tools breathing, music, movement, stories, caffeine. This helps you to get into the right gear, up-regulating it or down-regulating it, so you can get so much more out of everything you do.
Speaker 1To recap, what did we learn today? Your brain exists or oscillates or shifts between these different states, from calm, relaxed or getting out of that sleepy state where you're creative and soft, to that more dialed in, greedy, bold, ready to go very analytical, very narrowly focused. So your brain oscillates between these two and sometimes it goes into the highest gear. When you're under conditions of stress and you need to perform like an automaton, like a robot, your brain has this gear as well, but it's only activated. Well, in ideal life, it's going to be activated when you just need to get through a very stressful situation and you need to survive. So your brain also has this gear and you have the ability to switch between these gears on demand so you can deliver, on any occasion, the best possible outcome. So that's what it's all about, and we also talked about, popularized by Tony Robbins, framework state story strategy. When you do create the right state, with shifting gears, with the right kind of visualization, and that flows into storytelling. That's the type of visualizing what are the stories that serve you to perform your best in this situation, and then your brain comes up with the right strategy and then you stay in the state and you show up with the right actions to create the outcome that will move your life, your business, your purpose forward. That's it for today, guys.
Speaker 1I hope you found this podcast very useful and you're going to take some action on it and put into practice, because everything you know has absolutely no capacity to change your life or your business unless you take action. So stop for a moment. Think about how you will put this into practice, when you're going to when, where, how you're going to practice it One of the most effective tools to build new habits, when, where, how you're going to put it into practice and, guys, to amplify it, to accelerate the adoption of everything that you learned here. Don't forget to share this podcast episode with at least another high performer so you could commit to each other to start practicing. This we call it and it is called social learning and it accelerates learning, creation of habits, adoption of anything new that you discover in life, so share it. To learn together, to practice together so you could improve and grow faster to create the life that you absolutely love living faster.
Speaker 1Thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you for your attention. Faster. Thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you for your attention. Use the brain gear shifting tools. Be the most impactful you can possibly be at each moment when it matters and shine bright today. Shine bright and you'll hear from me very soon.