I attended a training course at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development in London recently. The trainer of the course (Dr Paul Brewerton from Blue Edge Consulting – who was brilliant by the way) repeatedly banged on about “self-directed neuroplasticity”.  He provided a little background on the course that made me curious to learn more. Anyway, since then I have done some reading on the subject and to help my learning and provide you with something of use and interest I wanted to share my take on it with you. If you are interested in any kind of personal change then please read on….

Think about the stuff that you do and the way that you think and behave on a daily basis. For all of us there are things that seem fixed. For example, at work we may take a similar approach within meetings. We may be say hello to people in a particular way, spend a similar amount of time listening versus contributing and exhibit similar behaviours. You will also find lots of personal examples of this. For example, if you have kids, you may do similar things with them. You may interact with them in a similar way, take them to similar places and engage in similar activities.  The examples of this are endless.

Anyway, neuroscience leads us to believe that this is as a result of the brain being frozen into a particular way of thinking. Doing something repeatedly physically fixes the brain into a certain shape and structure, which then creates habits and routines for us. The brain creates pathways between neurons (our brain’s cells) at a physical level.

Now on the face of it, it sounds a little scary that our brains can become fixed like this. However, the good news is that we can make changes. This is where the concept of “self-directed neuroplasticity” comes in. If we change our routine and do different things (which ideally makes us more effective and fulfilled) we create new pathways between the brains neurons that literally reroute us around the old ones. The old pathways are there in the background, but the new pathways take precedence. The new pathways then become fixed if the way of thinking and behaviour are reinforced.

“Self-directed neuroplasticity” sounds complex, but when you break it down it’s really quite simple for you to understand:

·         “Self-directed” means that you initiate the change

·         “neuro” refers to the concept of cells in our brain

·         “plasticity” refers to the fact that the brain can be shaped or formed

Get it? This sounds depressing, but if we do not work on creating these new pathways and remain fixed we increase our chances of developing brain diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. On the flip side, if we create these new pathways we become naturally more creative, life can become more interesting and we get better at changing things.

So, what has changed for me after learning more about “self-directed neuroplasticity” ? I like the idea of being adaptable, stepping outside my comfort zone and becoming inherently more creative and innovative. So on that basis; I am going to continue to generate plenty of self initiated change. I also think that this is a useful model for changing behaviours. We all have old habits, but by changing and doing something different, by doing it in a new way and repeating it again and again the new change sticks.

I hope that you have found this article interesting and I invite you to have a think about how much self-directed change you create in your brain and whether you can use this concept to break free from something that you want to lose and create something that is new and exciting. In fact, as your coach I will actively encourage you to initiate these changes in your brain. I’ve always worked on the assumption that people can change just about anything by making changes in the way they think. So now I have a fancy name for it, which makes me sound more intelligent than I really am: “self-directed neuroplasticity” – fantastic J

Darren

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