Keeping Your Brain in Mind: How Neuroscience Can Improve Coaching Outcomes

New discoveries in the field of neuroscience are being applied to the ongoing quest to develop improved personal and business skills, and to the coaching methods to impart them.

Breakthroughs in neuroscience in the past couple of decades have been so amazing the United Nations declared the 1990s to be “The Decade of the Brain.” Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), neuroscientists have discovered incredible new information about “neuroplasticity.” Essentially, the term means an ability for new neural pathways to form in response to brain enrichment of some kind. The discovery that at any age a brain can change for the better is probably the most astounding breakthrough in the history of neuroscience, ever.  Changing how we think can actually change our physical brains.

The May 2007 inaugural meeting of the NeuroLeadership Summit, founded by business coach David Rock, brought together business leaders, coaches, and neuroscientists to compare notes and plan ways to support one another. At that meeting, world-famous Neuroscientist Dr. Jeffery Schwartz stated, “I see what coaching is now…it is a way of facilitating self-directed neuroplasticity.”

Coaching has always been an exercise of the mind. With the more recent application of neuroscience breakthroughs, the coaching process has become even more effective at yielding positive results for our clients. Core activities of coaching, such as setting goals, making connections, becoming more aware, seeking breakthroughs, and taking action, parallel what neuroscientists tell us about how the brain operates.

The life or business coach who utilizes a neuroscience-based approach will convey an understanding of how to get the most out of your own mind. With the application of mental discipline, we can all change the way our minds operate at a fundamental level. Coaches who keep the brain in mind typically are familiar with several models of change and collaborate with clients to match model to situation.

Some brain-based coaching practices allow us to examine our own thoughts and emotions as if we were a neutral observer. These self-awareness practices typically lower the practitioner’s brain waves from the Gamma and Beta ranges to the Alpha range (8 to 12 Hz) and even to the lower Theta range (4-7 Hz). Lower brain waves allow us to process more information in a more intuitive and holistic way. This leads us to remain calmer under pressure and present a better response to pressing conditions by creating a considered approach versus a reactionary approach to a given set of circumstances.

Some people compare this observing of self to “mindfulness,” an ancient practice from Asia.  Without the ability to stand outside your experience, without self-awareness, you would have little ability to moderate and direct your actions. You need this capacity to free yourself form the automatic flow of experience, and to choose where to direct your attention. Otherwise, at best, you will spend your energy maintaining the status quo rather than moving yourself to the next level.

According to business coach David Rock, brain-based coaching guides “clients to learn to think in ways that change their capacity to feel, think, and act – and ultimately to shift who they are in the world.”

Coaching practices that guide the client to understand that all success in life or business is a function of their own mind will ultimately create better outcomes for the client. It follows to reason that coaching clients who have increased mental alertness and prolonged attention spans will do better than those who are mentally more sluggish.

Applying a neuroscience-based business coaching model has been shown to improve the position of major corporations in terms of profitability, efficiency and morale. Learning the focus of clear-minded critical thinking and communication for a group will allow them to work with greater synergy as they strive toward the common goal of success. A coach who is knowledgeable of neuroscience-based practices can steer members of an organization onto a path that facilitates clearer thinking and clarity of the common focal point which will be rewarding to any organization, large or small.

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What Does Fear Have to Do with Running Your Business?

By Sandi Smith
Fear must be somewhat of a taboo topic for women entrepreneurs. I learned this the hard way at a recent local networking meeting. I was delighted when my name was called to be in a hot seat for some coaching from the participants. I always have a topic I could use advice on, so I asked the group “how should I market my new tools that help women entrepreneurs deal with the fears that come up in the running of their businesses?”
What was interesting is I got eager comments about fear from all of the *men* in the room. The women just stood silent (except for two later in the conversation). Well, that’s telling, I thought. I’ve had similar brush-offs at NAWBO with a couple of the women who I know just had to lay off staff. Come on, now, who isn’t scared when something as dramatic as a layoff rips through the company you created with your bare hands?
So what’s going on here?

The only thing I can think of is that some women are too afraid to admit they’re afraid. Perhaps because some people perceive it as a weakness to display fear, they aren’t willing to admit it in public.
Whether you are willing to admit it in public or not, I want you to know right now that fear is normal (the lack of fear is abnormal, that’s for sure). What’s important is that you admit it to yourself.
A majority of the more than 100 women I am around in these pressure-packed, high-growth coaching, training, and mastermind programs are all freely, openly scared to death. They’re also growing like mad, taking on astounding business opportunities including TV, keynote speaking on a big stage, running their own events, and connecting with celebrities and millionaire business owners that are past the stage they’re at.
So what does fear have to do with running your business? The short answer is, just about everything. Fear is a sign of growth in both yourself and your business. If you’re not afraid, you’re stuck, and so is your business.
In future newsletters we’ll provide some tools for dealing with the fears every woman has in running her business. But the first step is to acknowledge that it’s there.

About the author:
©2010 Sandra L. Smith, Inc. Business growth and high performance expert Sandi Smith is a coach, public speaker, author, and scientist. She’s one of a handful of women who have co-piloted a single-engine airplane around the world. Sign up at www.sandismith.com to get her FREE newsletter full of business-building tips.

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7 Stress Relief Tips

By Edward Laing

Stress is a inevitable component of life. You have two options in dealing with it; you can either let it rust out and infect all the other aspects of your daily routine, or you can maintain it accordingly to have a smooth ride all the way to success. Nevertheless, no matter how much work you put into keeping things on course, it's almost impossible to avoid unwanted detours along the way! For that reason, here are 7 stress relief tips that you can utilize to get back on track.
1. Kick things off with 'The Relaxation Response'.
Since stress is unavoidable you need to learn ways to protect yourself from the 'wear and tear' scenarios. By simply relaxing into a deep rest you enable your whole system to go back to optimum functioning after having a gruelling battle with everyday stressors. Benefits include:
* Reduced stress hormones
* Lowered heart rate and blood pressure
* Relaxed muscles
* Increased energy, focus, and resistance
* Relief of aches and pains
* Improved problem-solving skills
* Increased motivation and productivity
2. Start your engine right.
Knowing stress management methods is not enough on its own. You have to learn the basics and build on them. You will need to devote some time and patience in order to perfect each skill necessary to make your sessions work. On average, 10 to 20 minutes can provide you with stress-busting experiences, but, if you are the type that is eager for maximum results, 30 minutes to an hour will prove very worthwhile.
3. Don't neglect the small stuff.
You have to make sure that no stone is left unturned so that continuity and maintenance of the program is certain. In terms of your daily routine, make sure you factor in enough time for your stressnrelieving sessions. An effective move will be to incorporate your practices in your everyday activities. Effective performance can be achieved during the hours of the day when you are active and alert. Do not push things when you are tired or sleepy.
4. This time you can be selfish.
In order to maximize each session you have to go with a technique that appeals to you. Take into consideration your particular needs, fitness level, perception, and beliefs. Decide on whether you want absolute solitude or interactive adventures. You will be able to achieve more with less effort if you execute each portion of the program wholeheartedly.
5. Hit it deep.
Deep breathing has long been a common tool for relaxation enthusiasts, but can only provide positive results when performed properly. The core of this method does not really rely on the position but more on the anatomical part that is utilized. Make sure that deep breaths are done via your abdomen. By doing so, you will get more oxygen resulting in reduced tension, shortness of breath, and anxiety.
6. Get a clear tension picture.
You can use progressive muscle relaxation to gain significant familiarity of how tension and relaxation produces sensations and feelings in various parts of the body. This is the reason why this technique is done systematically from the feet, going up to the face. Here is the basic sequence of movements from one muscle group to another:
* Right foot to left foot
* Right calf to left calf
* Right thigh to left thigh
* Hips and buttocks
* Abdomen
* Chest
* Back
* Right arm and hand
* Left arm and hand
* Neck and shoulders
* Face
7. Go for a trifecta of meditation.
Mindfulness is a method that can be done in three ways. 'Body Scan' offers the opportunity to feel out your body without the involvement of tension and relaxation which means you don't have to look at the good and bad side. 'Walking Meditation' lets you focus on the sensation of each step and the involvement of your interaction with the external factors involved such as the wind or the ground. Instead of aimlessly gulping on your food when you're stressed out go for 'Mindful Eating; and increase the taste, aroma, and satisfaction with each bite.

About the author, Edward Laing: CEO at pzizz technology limited , responsible for the creative development of pzizz, the bringing together and project management of the team, as well as the multi-million pound investment necessary to bring the project to fruition.

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Why Amish Businesses Don't Fail

(Excerpt from article by By Geoff Williams on CNNMONEY.com)

Want to find America's most successful entrepreneurs? Skip Silicon Valley and Manhattan; head to the rural Amish enclaves.

Amish businesses have an eye-popping 95% success rate at staying open at least five years, according to author Erik Wesner's new book, Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive.

It's a statistic he backs up with a variety of academic surveys, drawing particularly on a 2009 report by Elizabethtown College sociology professor Donald Kraybill. Studying several Amish settlements, Kraybill found failure rates ranging from 2.6% and 4.2%; interviews with loan officers, accountants and industry professions in other Amish regions yielded additional anecdotal evidence of closure rates significantly south of 10%.

Compare that to the average five-year survival rate for new businesses across the United States, which hovers just under 50%. So what's the secret? Click here to read the full article...

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