Rewiring Your Brain for Growth Pt # 1

We explore how understanding brain function can unlock a growth mindset and enhance spiritual resilience, beginning with five brain basics that affect our thinking patterns.

• Our brains are naturally negative with a "negativity bias" that makes us Velcro for bad experiences and Teflon for good ones
• The brain constantly scans for danger, which helps survival but can create unnecessary anxiety
• Worry becomes habitual when we allow our brains to amplify stress and focus on what could go wrong
• Our minds dislike uncertainty and fill in knowledge gaps with assumptions based on past experiences
• We crave predictability and need strategies to handle unexpected situations effectively
• Romans 12:2 offers a biblical framework for transforming our thinking patterns
• Philippians 4:6-9 provides practical guidance for managing anxiety and directing our thoughts positively

Link to Blog: How to Build a Growth Mindset Pt# 1

Join me next time as we continue this series on developing a growth mindset. If you'd like to learn more, visit johnthurman.net or covertmercy.com or email me at john@covertmercy.com.

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Transcript

Introduction to Growth Mindset Series

Speaker 1 0:00

Resilient Solutions, Season 4, Episode 11, Building a Growth Mindset. Part 1, 5 Brain Basics. Did you know that what you think will shape how your life turns out? That's right. The scripture says as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Well, beginning today, we'll be doing a three a four-part podcast to help you unlock your mind Really. What I hope we'll be able to do in the next few weeks is release you to experience a growth mindset and to do that today we're going to start off by talking about five brain basics. If you will, Embarking to unlock your mind is a significant step in spiritual growth and developing resilience and developing a growth mindset.

Brain Basics: Our Natural Negativity Bias

Speaker 1 0:53

Our brain is not just an organ. It's a complex system that governs our thoughts, emotions and behaviors and as you and I grow in how to understand how our mind operates, we'll experience personal growth and we'll enhance our own spiritual life and growth. We're not going to solve all the mysteries of the brain in three or four sessions, but I will give you some practical tools you can use. Hey and welcome to my podcast, John Thurman's Resilient Solutions Shortcast, where I help you become more resilient in your personal life, your relationships and in your faith. I'm so glad you joined me today. If you'd like to learn more about me, just go to CovertMercycom. Let's jump right in today. Glad you joined me. Hey, John Thurman here, I'm so glad you joined me today. We're going to have a great time as we talk about some predispositions that our brains have.

Speaker 1 1:51

Part of this series is really designed to help you develop a growth mindset, a mindset that's set on opportunity, growth and really a mindset that can help you expand your faith. But we need to understand how the mind operates. So today I'm going to briefly cover five presets, if you will, to our brains. If you want to read more about this, check the show notes or check out my blog. So first of all, we have to realize that our brain is kind of like a nervous gardener, always worried about weeds growing in the flowerbed of your thoughts. Unfortunately, it often focuses on weeds or other negative thinking Instead of being positive and looking for opportunities. It tends to be more defensive. There's actually a scientific name for this and it's called negativity bias, and it's like an alarm, always looking for problems. But, like in a garden, you can grow a more positive mindset and we'll talk about how to do that, but first I want to review these five things we understand about the brain real briefly, so hold on to your seats and let's jump right in.

Managing the Brain's Danger Scanning

Speaker 1 2:56

First of all, the brain is naturally negative. Our brains are designed to pay more attention to negative experience. This truth might be because it helps us to survive. We go back to the old fight or flight response that we've read about over man's experience on earth, being fearful of saber-toothed tigers, bears, fire, things like that. Dr Rick Hansen, a brain expert, says that our minds are like Velcro when it comes to bad experiences and like Teflon when it comes to good ones. His research discovered it takes just a nanosecond to imprint a negative event, but it can take up to five to ten seconds to imprint a good event. Understanding this can help us learn to control our thoughts and filter things better and make a choice to focus on the future. Thoughts and filter things better and make a choice to focus on the future.

Speaker 1 3:48

The second thing about our brain is that our brain is constantly, constantly scouring for danger. That helps us stay safe, but this can also make us anxious, make us to overthink and to really get fretful and worry and freak out about stuff we really don't need to freak out about. So learning how our brain works helps us actually manage, how it watches out for danger and keeps us from wasting valuable time and resources on fear and anxiety. Now, the third thing the brain loves to do is it loves to make a habit of worrying. Everyone worries, we all do it. Just think of a worried parent. Our brains can amplify stress, especially when we hear a lot of negative news, and instead of worrying about what could go wrong, we should train our minds to focus on what is going well, what is positive, so that we might can have a future, we might experience a joy-based faith and an optimistic outlook.

How Our Minds Fill Uncertainty

Speaker 1 4:49

The fourth thing the brain tends to do is it tends to jump to conclusions. That's right. Our minds do not like uncertainty, so when in doubt, they fill in the gaps with guesses based on past experiences. Now, I could spend a lot of time on that today, but it just might make you more worried. The point here is to realize that our brains just tend to do this. That's kind of how they're hotwired. Our brains just tend to do this. That's kind of how they're hotwired, and you and I, once we have this awareness, can begin to do some positive, proactive things to not be so confused, scattered and worried, but instead to feel faithful, steady and strong.

Biblical Transformation of Thinking

Speaker 1 5:26

The fifth predisposition, if you will, for our brains is that our brains need predictability. When we're under stress or in tough times or hard times, we might feel overwhelmed and confused. But by practicing this, by understanding how we need predictability and how we can kind of plan better, but also not just plan better for predictability, but also have a plan for what happens when we have some of those predictability, but also have a plan for what happens when we have some of those, shall we say, unwelcomed or surprised opportunities. By doing this we can balance out our instincts and prepare to face life's challenges more efficiently and more effectively. You haven't got to walk around all dialed up and kind of halfway crazy and panicked. You can learn to slow your brain down, take some positive measures to be more proactive and thoughtful, living in a faith-filled environment as opposed to a reactive, fear-based environment. Well, let me just give you a couple of tips. You can try here to work on this, as you and I learned to understand how our brain works, we can have more of a positive. To understand how our brain works, we can have more of a positive, future-oriented focus that's based on faith and trusting God, as opposed to being reactive. Once you begin to understand this, you realize that you can control your thought life a whole lot better. You can really learn to live and act out scripture in a very practical way.

Speaker 1 6:50

Let me just share with you one verse to think about here, and you can find more about this in the blog site, where I actually have a little Bible study tied in. But Romans 12, 2 in the New Living Translation says don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Did you hear that? Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think? Did you hear that? Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think? Then you will learn to know God's will for your life, which is good, pleasing and perfect. So as long as we're on the subject, let me ask you a couple of questions to think about today. What does it mean to let God transform you by changing how you think? Have you ever thought about that? What does it mean when you and I choose to allow God to transform our thinking? Can you identify specific patterns or thinking styles that you have that might need some transformation.

Speaker 1 7:48

Well, get into the scripture, Understand that God wants to help you transform your mind. I'd like to share something with you at this point just to kind of break things up a little bit for you and give you a point of focus, if you will. Philippians 4, 6 through 9, to me, is one of the best scripture passages. That deals with anxiety, our thought, life and things like that. And the Apostle Paul is writing in this book to help people kind of settle down, and I'm going to read it to you from the New Living Translations. This is Philippians 4, 6 through 9. Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything, Tell God what you need and thank him for all he's done. Then you'll experience his peace, which exceeds anything you can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. He further qualifies that in verse 8, and he really steps it up here and now.

Practical Scripture Application & Conclusion

Speaker 1 8:50

Dear brothers and sisters, one final thing Fix your thoughts, that is, be intentional. Focus on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise. You see that he doesn't just throw some platitude, he gives them an assignment. And so as you and I learn to develop a growth mindset, as you and I begin to understand kind of how our brain is hardwired and we're grateful for that we can begin to take active, kinetic measures to change the way we think. That's right.

Speaker 1 9:31

One other scripture I'd like to remind you of today, as I get ready to close up, is Ephesians 4.23. And it basically says this Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. You see, when you and I begin to grab a hold of the fact that we are responsible for the input that we give our brains and if we put good things in, the good things come out we can begin to manage that negativity, we can manage those depressive thoughts, we can get a handle on anxiety and we can learn to think biblically. Just to wrap things up, remember the brain has five basic presets and that it's naturally negative. It's on the lookout for danger, it tends to jump to conclusions and it needs predictability. The good news is that, with the Lord's help and with the Word of God, we can learn to manage that.

Speaker 1 10:25

My name's John Thurman and you've been listening to my shortcast, or my podcast, John Thurman's Resilient Solution Shortcast, where I help you become more resilient in your personal life, your relationships. Resilient in your personal life, your relationships and in your faith. To learn more about me, go to my website, johnthermannet or covertmercycom, If you need to reach out to me. I respond to my emails and my email address is john at covertmercycom. That's J-O-H-N at C-O-V-E-R-T, M-E-R-C-Y dot com. Reminding you, this is the day that the Lord has made and I'll make a choice to rejoice and be glad in it. God bless, See you next time. Take care.