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The Brain Believes What You Tell It So End Negative Thinking Improve Focus Clarity and Be Happier
- Steven Campbell
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Hello and welcome to Healing From Withing I am your host Sheryl Glick Reiki Master Energy Teacher medium and author of the newest book in a trilogy A New Life Awaits: Spirit Guided Insights to Support Global Awakening which shares stories and messages from Spirit showing us soul wisdom. I am delighted to welcome Steven Campbell author of Making Your Mind Magnificent Flourishing At Any Age.
As listeners of Healing From Within have become aware of during the many years Sheryl and her amazing guests share a love for understanding human nature, evolution, and Universal Source energy to assist us in finding out more about the truth of our eternal human and divine nature for as we use this awareness to improve ourselves, our communities and find greater passion for living amazing lives filled with unending potential to create rejoice in and love all that is.
In today’s episode of Healing From Within Steven Campbell who spent twenty years in hospital administration and then went on to pursue his greatest love teaching, shares his latest research on how our brains conform to the messages we give it and understanding this reality opens the door to create success in our health, personal relationships and in business. Life becomes so much better!
When Sheryl asks Steven to think back to his childhood and remember a person place or event that might have signaled to him or to others the life he might pursue and the interests work or lifestyle he would create as an adult Steven tells us he became a Christian at ten years of age and had thought he would be a physician but at 19 years old he was in a horrific car accident and his friend died and he was in a body cast for many months. He began to realize his negative self talk and unhappiness about the situation were doing him harm so he changed that thinking to something positive and began to heal. He met his wife Mary and they have been married for fifty years and he has enjoyed teaching and writing and helping others find great meaning in living lives of purpose and happiness.
Steven tells us why he wrote Making Your Mind Magnificent and how he discovered what will improve life no matter how hard the challenges. Understanding how the brain and self talk influence everything we create and manifest into our lives is shown by what Steven wrote, “In fact, as recently as 30 years ago, the brain was still considered a “black box” and there was little hope of ever determining how it worked. What has changed? Through the explosion in technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), we have discovered astonishing insights about the brain and learning. Plus, there are simply more of us studying the brain as well. In 1969, the International Society of Neuroscience had 400 registered neuroscientists. As of 2006, its membership numbered 37,000! Jeri Janowsky, a top memory neuroscientist at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, says, “Anything you learned two years ago is already old information…Neuroscience is exploding.”
Why teach how your brain works? Because if you cannot understand your brain, you cannot guide it, so instead of shaping your own life, your brain ends up doing most of the shaping. And then you end up feeling like a victim or passenger in life, instead of the driver of your own distinctive existence and untapped potential. So, through the wonderful discoveries that fill this book, you now have a guidebook in your hand that teaches how to make your mind your greatest motivator and mentor; your wise and trusted counselor and friend. In other words, your brain can now consistently work for you, not against you!”
The human brain remains the most complex structure in the known universe. Eric Kandel is the scientist mostly responsible for determining how the brain changes. For his work, he shared the Nobel Prize in 2000. He showed that when people learn something, the wiring in their brain changes. He demonstrated that acquiring even simple pieces of information involves the physical alteration of the structure of the neurons participating in this process. Talking broadly, these physical changes result in the reorganization of the brain. This is astonishing. The brain is constantly learning things, so the brain is constantly rewiring itself. This is called plasticity, and it is a startling departure from the old concept of the brain as a self-contained, hard-wired unit that learns from a preset, unchangeable set of rules.
Sheryl shares with Steven her fascination in understanding the origins and spiritual nature of psychology as she has always been most fond of Carl Jung along with Sigmund Freud who are the founders of the practice of Psychology. Sheryl goes on to say that Carl Jung was a spiritual psychologist while Freud was more of the physical world and its influence on human behavior. Carl Jung is known to have had a near death experience and as such had a great awareness of higher consciousness and how we are more than our body mind or physical life, always moving towards awareness and higher consciousness. As a spiritual psychologist he believed you could create change, rewire your thoughts and mind, to create a life of peace purposefulness and love and did not have to focus as Freud did on only the traumatic imprints during childhood that were rooted in sexual modes of appraising yourself and others. Jung believed in being in the moment and not reliving the past creating further trauma and staying in the energy of what was now only a memory. Sheryl as a Reiki Master Energy Teacher during a healing session helps through the channeled energy that flows from her to others to release blockages fears false thinking and trauma to remember the depth of our magnificent soul energy and our magnificent potential to create life in any way our thoughts allow.
Steven shares with us that “Your brain believes what you tell it.”
We have learned two primary principles.
They are:
- The brain has an almost infinite capacity to learn, grow and change.
- The human brain is the most complex structure in the universe.
The brain consists of two parts the conscious and subconscious mind.
The conscious mind is easiest to understand because we are aware of it all day long. One of its functions is called perception through your senses—sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing. However, you store this information on the subconscious level, not the conscious..
We do NOT record the actual event, but OUR version of the event, and then we call it the “truth”—not “our” truth, but “the” truth. We think that what we experience must be the way life really is. You say, “I see the way life really is!” And I say “No…I see the way life really is!” We’re both wrong;
We behave and act not according to the truth, but the truth as we believe it to be! Let’s me say it again: We behave and act not according to the truth, but the truth as we believe it to be
It seems we have Infinite numbers of self-images.The brain is an amazingly subtle and sensitive pattern-detecting apparatus. It detects, constructs, and elaborates patterns as a basic, built-in, natural function. It does not have to be taught or motivated to do so, any more than the heart needs to be instructed or coaxed to pump blood.
You will want to remember this information forever, because it will have a significant affect on your success as a person who is growing, and a life-long learner. When we look at something, our eyes do not recognize it. That is not their job. Their job is simply to perceive light bouncing off of objects. That light is then sent to the brain, and the brain must then go to work. If I were to display before you a coffee pot, or a paint brush, you would instantly recognize them effortlessly. However, you were not born knowing what these objects are. You learned what they were sometime between your birth and the present. All learning has taken place in the same way.
Steven gives the following example to show how this works, “Let’s look at one isolated illustration to understand the steps it takes to do so. It is Only an Image We raised our two daughters in Rohnert Park, a little enclave 50 miles north of San Francisco. As a result, when they were young, my daughters had no clear concept of what was meant by the word city. Their brains knew about the ‘city.’ Absolutely nothing. They started with a clean slate. If my wife or I tell them that a city is a place where many people live close together, they may fail to see why Rohnert Park is not a city. If they visit San Francisco, they will be impressed by the Golden Gate Bridge, traffic noise, the tall buildings, and all the stores. A trip to the shopping center may also impress them as being a city, since they experience crowded sidewalks, many stores, and our multiplex theatre. Yet Rohnert Park is definitely not a city.
To clarify their concept of the ‘city,’ let’s imagine that I sit with our daughters when they are six and three and read them a book about the city. When I do, their brain records this reading (because it records everything) as an ‘image.’ If they watch Sesame Street, the brain records another image Now if that is all I do because I have erroneously decided that a book and Sesame Street should be sufficient to learn about the city, the brain will keep these images for a while, but over time they will become more and more fuzzy, and they will not become a part of my daughters’ long-term memory. In other words, they will not be learned. As a result, if I ask them to explain a city after I read the book to them, or we watch Sesame Street together, they will be able to explain very little. From an Image to a Pattern However, in addition to the book and Sesame Street, let’s imagine that we provide them with many other experiences regarding a city.
All of these experiences provide input.
- As we drive to a circus, we look at a road map before and they notice “City Limits” for the first time. They see that a city has boundaries.
- They hear a news broadcast that the city population has fallen, and exact figures are given. They have never had a clear idea of what a ‘population’ meant, but they get the hint that a city has a lot of people.
- A family friend works for the Santa Rosa Fire Department, and another works for the San Francisco Fire Department so cities might have fire departments.
- They watch a documentary on skyscrapers, so they learn that a city might have very large buildings.
- They visit a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s China Town, and see that a city has smells, along with street lights and a lot of noise. All of these images are recorded in your brain. At this point, the images are just images. They are simply recorded in their memory (and we are not yet quite sure how that happens…we think it involves a chemical change in the brain). They were input into my daughters’ brains randomly through my reading a book to them, going to San Francisco, or watching Sesame Street. They are recorded in the same way.
In time, the brain begins to see relationships among the images. There were buildings in the image of a book, just as there were buildings in the image of Sesame Street. It therefore lays down an actual connection (called neural connections) involving axons, dendrites, and synapses—the components of a neuron—between the image of a book and the image of Sesame Street
We learn where our self-images come from. We behave and act not according to the truth, but the truth as we believe it to be. This “truth” is based on how we see ourselves,. This “truth” about ourselves is wrapped up in our self-image, of which we have thousands, all stored in our subconscious. The brain is an amazingly sensitive pattern-detecting apparatus that detects, constructs, and elaborates patterns as a basic, built-in, natural function. It does not have to be taught or motivated to do so, any more than the heart needs to be instructed or coaxed to pump blood.
Thinking is really a process of “Making sense of the world.” It is your brain’s attempt to make sense of the mass of information that reaches you throughout the day through what you hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel.
Learning takes place in this chaotic world incessantly and in each individual in a purely individual way. We all learn differently, so comparing ourselves to others is not only silly, but unrealistic. My world is incredibly different from yours
Virtually all of our feelings come from personal evaluations. For instance, a statement such as “Dr. Smith is my personal physician” is simply a fact, with no evaluations or feelings attached. However, “I am glad that Dr. Smith is my personal physician” is more than a fact; it is an evaluation, and this evaluation causes feelings. So, “I regret that Dr. Smith is my personal physician” or “I love Dr. Smith being my personal physician” are all evaluations, and all of these trigger feelings.
Some feelings obviously are quite strong, others not strong at all. In fact, the strength or feebleness of your feelings can be theoretically scaled, where 0 percent means that you have no feelings at all about Dr. Smith being your personal physician, where you feel that “Dr. Smith must be my personal physician or you feel that you will absolutely die!” The feelings which land around the middle of this theoretical scale are called preferences; you could describe these as “appropriate and reasonable.” For instance, “I like Dr. Smith being my personal physician” is a certainly appropriate and reasonable. In contrast, “Dr. Smith must be my personal physician or I feel I’ll absolutely die!” seems rather extreme. It is close to the top of the scale, and is no longer “appropriate and reasonable.” In other words, preferences can become demands when their strength reaches the top. When this happens, the “musts” and “shoulds” can cause some problems
A key to healthy thinking is to realize that having preferences, even strong preferences, is perfectly normal. It is one of the traits of being human. However, turning them to demands puts undue stress in our lives. In fact, the majority of emotional problems arise when individuals believe that something or other MUST be, or not be 100 percent.
Earlier in the show we discovered how Steven helped himself heal after a bad car accident by learning to Control or Change his Self-Talk and indeed improve the content of our thoughts and actions so we can change difficult situations or challenges improving ourselves and our lives.
In learning to change your Self-Talk you will discover that what we believe about ourselves is far more important than what we do. It is for this reason that all meaningful and lasting growth must start on the inside…with our mind. And we have just learned that your brain has almost limitless potential for change and growth…and the more we discover about its capacity, the more we are able to use it as our motivator. So…your very simple assignment is to immediately throw away any notions that you are too old, or too young, or too uneducated, or too stuck in your ways to change. You can grow and change as much as you want to! How exciting!!! We no longer need to think of ourselves as limited in terms of how much we can learn, grow, and change. We simply need to know how to do so.
Change Is so hard because the brain is wired to not change. Learning usually takes time and does not happen overnight. Change takes time to adapt so be careful about listening to your brain’s thoughts. When your brain whispers little innuendos such as, “I am too old” or “I am too slow,” it could usually not be further from the truth. It is simply trying to make sense out of what it has been given, and when it does not make sense, it becomes very defensive. However, because learning can at times take so much time, it sometimes becomes very impatient. When this happens, it often feels “slow” or “dim” or “thick.” We all learn differently, so never compare how you learn with someone else. In large part, how we learn is based on what we already know. Many negative thoughts come in every day and we must learn to dismiss or delete them and embrace only that which we think will bring us an outcome we would benefit by.
Steven tells us of self-images. Every one of the thousands of self-images you have was learned; you were not born with them. Most of them were based on three elements:
What others said to you, how others reacted to you, and what you have said to yourself (i.e., your own self-talk). And as we have learned in this book, the brain accepts all of these unquestionably as the absolute truth.
But you now want more than that. You want to choose how you see yourself. You now want to proactively create your own self-images, rather than wait around for others to tell you who you are and what you can or cannot do. It is for this reason that what we believe about ourselves is far more important than you could possibly imagine. And it is also for this reason that all meaningful and lasting growth must start on the inside…with how you see yourself…with your self-images.
Let’s again review the Principles that show us how.
Principle 1: Your brain is a literal mechanism that accepts what you tell it without argument. This first principle is the foundation of everything that follows. However, with every principle there are both positive and negative elements, the negative is that when you say “I can’t do that!” your brain not only agrees, it blocks out possibilities for you to “do that.” That’s the negative. When you say you can do something, your brain agrees just as quickly. Not only that, it also provides the creativity and the energy to get it done.
The first step then to creating new self-images is to know this: Whatever you tell yourself about yourself and your capabilities, the brain accepts without argument.
Principle 2: Your brain fastens onto what you deem as important. This is another principle of such importance that if it was not true, what follows would be no good to you.
Principle 3 : Our feelings come from what we believe which comes from how we were raised.
One of Steven’s favorite story in this book is the one about the young boy learning to ride his first bicycle. If you remember, just before his father lets him go on his first ride, he points out a rock 50 feet ahead, and warns, “Now don’t run into that rock!” The little boy agrees, and with his hands clinging to the handle bars, he begins peddling like mad with his eyes fastened on the rock so he won’t run into it. And what happens? BAM! Right into the rock!
Our brains are the same way. Rather than the rock, however, our brains continually hone in on the pictures in your life that you deem as the most important. Our brains are like a guided missile continually correcting itself to follow that strongest target. And what are those targets? They are our own self-images.
This is one of the many reasons why change is so difficult. Some of the strongest pictures in your life are the way you see yourself right now, wrapped up in the thousands of self-images you already have. We must create new self-images in order to continue writing our fabulous life stories. The possibilities are infinite.
We can change the way we think and it goes back to your self-talk. Learning to be optimistic is not a rediscovery of the “power of positive thinking.” It does not consist of simply saying positive things about everything. In fact, in the decades that Dr. Seligman and his colleagues have been doing their research and working with their clients, they have found that simply making positive statements to yourself has little, if any, effect. What is crucial is what you say to yourself when you fail. In fact, changing all those destructive messages we often give ourselves after experiencing setbacks is the central skill behind learning optimism
We thank Steven Campbell for showing us how to use new brain science to transform life, end negative thinking, improve focus and clarity and make our daily life experiences more positive, productive, and happier.
In summarizing today’s episode of Healing From Within Steven Campbell author of Making Your Mind Magnificent has described and helped us learn how our mind works and the secret to success and happiness in life which is found inside your brain or in the thinking you create as you mature and realize the personal power to create your own thoughts and realities. Based on the science of cognitive psychology we have discovered how to end negative thinking while increasing positive thinking, how to solve problems more easily, how to use the power of affirmations and self -talk to improve results, and how to experience a growing sense of confidence and improved self-image.
Steven would like us to remember how self- images are created and how they can be changed for greater efficacy and a more fulfilling life journey.
Steven writes, “You began this book to change how you see yourself, change some of the things you do, change some habits you have, and change you. You have discovered, however, that your mind often becomes your greatest obstacle. In fact, its job is to keep you from changing; to keep you in your comfort zone; to keep you where you are. And yet—and this is the enigma—your mind is the most satisfied, excited and creative when you are changing! ……Every one of the thousands of self-images you have was learned; you were not born with them. Most of them were based on three elements: What others said to you, how others reacted to you, and what you have said to yourself (i.e., your own self talk). And as we have learned in this book, the brain accepts all of these unquestionably as the absolute truth. But you now want more than that. You want to choose how you see yourself. You now want to proactively create your own self-images, rather than wait around for others to tell you who you are and what you can or cannot do. It is for this reason that what we believe about ourselves is far more important than you could possibly imagine. And it is also for this reason that all meaningful and lasting growth must start on the inside…with how you see yourself…with “your” self-images
Steven and Sheryl would have you remember that allowing accepting surrendering to all aspects or challenges in your life begins with your perceptions awareness and growing higher conscious of Self and how we are all connected and similar in wanting to live a happy productive life. Our mind our thoughts our self -image and our desire to grow are the keys to using our mind and thoughts most effectively. It can be done for as we think and act in more positive ways, accept ourselves, allow for change, we grow aware of the magnificent souls we have always been.
