The Process of Change: Prefrontal Cortex Edition

Welcome to This Daring Adventure podcast, where we work on bridging the gap between where we are and where we want to be in order to live a bigger and bolder life.

In this podcast, we will provide inspiration, tips, and skills you need to make your life the adventure you want it to be.

Here's your host, mindset mentor and life coach Trista Guertin.

Hey everybody, welcome back to This Daring Adventure. I am very happy to have you here.

Today I wanted to talk a little bit about our brain and in particular the prefrontal cortex. I am not a neuroscientist. I'm not trained or have a degree in neuroscience and anything to do with the brain. but as I have embarked on this journey of life coaching, first getting coached, and then as a coach myself, I've come to understand a tiny bit, just a tiny bit, of how our brain works and why it's important to understand different aspects, different sections, different functions of our brain. And having this understanding It not only helps me to have greater self awareness and compassion for what's going on inside my head and why I do some of the things I do, but it is also the gateway to making changes and understanding what needs to be done in order to make sustainable change happen in my brain.

So that it's not just me trying to be disciplined and motivated to take certain actions and Just hope to repeat and repeat and that it will stick. In truth, our ability to change exists. It is possible. We are not fixed. We do not have a fixed mindset.

We have neural pathways in our brain that can be rewritten and changed, but it takes effort and it takes work and it takes an understanding to, to know what needs to happen in order to make those changes. And when you start to make those changes, If it's at that level, the level of your brain, in the level of your neural pathways, then that's when the change is more, it's sustainable, it's lasting. You have rewritten what's going on in your brain. And even just having that awareness can help you to make, create new habits and to change your behavior.

So what I wanted to do was just go over a little bit about the prefrontal cortex and its significance and what it does and what it does for us and what we can do for it and then why this is especially in relation to making changes in our lives and overcoming or using it as a tool to overcome some of the more primitive urges that we have that keep us stuck in a pattern or in habits and actions that we want to change. The prefrontal cortex is like a master planner of your brain. it sets goals, it sets dreams, it is what you use to make plans for the future. And it is the part of the brain where conscious decisions are made. And it will require a lot of energy to function. It's basically like the CEO of your mind overseeing executive functions. It is at the front of our brain. I usually, if you see me when I'm doing presentations or teaching, my hand will come to the front of my head. And so if the prefrontal cortex is at the front, now we also have the primitive part of our brain. And some people refer to it as the survival part of our brain, the lizard part of our brain. And that's the part of the brain that we use to survive. And which is designed to keep us alive and to keep us functioning on a day to day basis. It is an important part of our brain because it literally has been in charge of our physical safety for thousands of years. And this was really important when we were living in caves and out in the bush and trying to just survive every single day.

Whether it was threats from a saber toothed tiger, or illness, or some sort of danger, hunger, thirst, whatever it might be, it was functioning in a way that it was scanning for problems, defaulting to the negative, and basically using fear in order to keep us alive. It functions on a motivational triad. of seek pleasure, avoid pain, and be as efficient as possible. this is the survival part of our brain, and it is fairly basic. It just wants to keep us alive.

This is important because the prefrontal cortex has evolved in order for us to plan ahead. Be rational, think about what we're thinking about. And while we still have that primitive part of our brain, which is functioning exactly the same way that it did thousands of years ago, we can use the prefrontal cortex to override it because for the most part, our physical safety is not, an issue. Today, I have food, I have water, I have shelter, I'm part of a tribe. I'm okay, for the most part. But my brain is still acting like I'm under threat. And I need to use my prefrontal cortex in order to override that part of my brain.

As long as I have a human brain, my, my survival part of my brain is going to be like danger, look out for this is scary, be careful here, don't do that, don't put yourself out there, don't try that, it's dangerous for you. But, nowadays, some of what it's trying to prevent me from doing isn't in my best interest. Because some of the scary things are posting on social media, public speaking, doing a podcast, starting my own business. And those are things that are actually things that are going to take me to the next level.

Now they're scary, yes, and there's an element of risk and vulnerability that's included, but it's not going to harm me. But my survival brain is not differentiating between that and what is actually good for me. And if we allow the primitive part of our brain to continue to rule some of these aspects of our lives, then that's when we stay stuck.

That's when we start holding ourselves back. That's when we're playing small because we're giving into the fear and the idea that it's dangerous and that we have to expend so much energy and that there could be pain involved or whatever.

But in order for us to evolve now, We need to use the prefrontal cortex in order to put ourselves out there, to take risks, to be vulnerable, to learn new things, to take chances. Otherwise, we will just allow the fear to consume us.

Now, the prefrontal cortex, as I said, is at the very front of our brain, just behind the forehead. It is extremely complex. highly interconnected region of the brain and serves or provides many distinct functions. Mainly it has specific roles in cognitive and emotional processing. It helps us with decision making, planning, and working memory. It also plays a crucial role in social cognition, self awareness, and emotional regulation.

As I said, for executive function, for instance, it includes a number of processes that are involved in goal directed behavior. This can include decision making, We're assessing options, predicting outcomes, selecting appropriate actions. It includes planning, so formulating and organizing strategies in order to achieve goals or solve problems. It includes working memory, so it's holding and manipulating information to guide behavior. It includes inhibition.

So suppressing irrelevant or inappropriate thoughts, actions, or emotions. And this is what we see when we start, when we're drinking, that the prefrontal cortex is affected in our brain and it lowers our inhibitions. And then it also includes social and emotional regulation. So it plays a critical role in social behavior and emotional regulation, contributing to self awareness. which is our ability to recognize our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It includes empathy, so understanding and responding to others emotions and perspectives.

It includes emotional control, regulating emotional responses and managing stress. and personal expression and flexibility. So it's involved in shaping personality traits and adapting behavior to changing circumstances, which helps with our flexibility in order to adjust goals and strategies in when we receive new information or feedback. It's really important for making decisions.

When you have to make a choice between, do I want to take this job or stay in my current job? Do I want this relationship or do I want to leave in my relationship? Or do I want to leave my relationship? This is how you use your prefrontal cortex. It helps you to weigh options and pick what you want most. It helps with problem solving. If you are trying to figure out a puzzle, or some sort of math problem for instance, this is how you use your prefrontal cortex to puzzle it out and to find a solution. It helps with impulse control. Instead of just, slapping the person in front of you, say if you get an urge, it helps you to control those and make better choices.

So it really does play a big role in how we act around others and how we handle our feelings. And this can include personality expression.

Your personality is unique to you, and it is shaped by or within the prefrontal cortex. And it helps you to define how you show up in the world. It also helps to define social behavior. Your prefrontal cortex helps you to understand how to act and react in different social circumstances or situations. And it helps with emotional regulations. Our feelings can be overwhelming at times. But our prefrontal cortex will help us to manage our emotions, regardless of how intense or powerful they are feeling. And the reason why, other than all those reasons it's important to ensure that our prefrontal cortex is functioning well on a day to day basis. And it will act as a guide helping us to plan every step of the way. So if you want to set a big goal for yourself, if you want to go to the next level, if you want to expand your life you use your prefrontal cortex to set that goal. and it will help you to think about what you want to achieve. Then once you have that goal, it helps you to plan. It helps you to navigate how you will get there and guide you in what actions to take. It helps you to figure out the path there. It also helps with long term objectives.

Your prefrontal cortex is what you will use to remind yourself of your goal and help you to stay focused. Even when things get difficult, even when you get frustrated, even when things aren't working out the way you thought they would, you use your prefrontal cortex in order to help you stick to your plan and to keep going until you achieve what it is you want to achieve. So using the prefrontal cortex is key.

If you want to build a bigger life for yourself, this is the tool that you are going to use. And it is important to override that primitive part of your brain, because it's a primitive part of your brain that's going to say, it's easier to lie on the couch and watch Netflix.

You don't have time for this. It's not working. Your life is good enough as it is. I'm too busy. Whatever it is that it offers you, to try to get out of the risk, the vulnerability, and of doing the work. One of the key things is to make sure that you are taking care of your prefrontal cortex on a day to day basis. And this can conclude mindfulness practices.

You can meditate or do body scans, go for walks, anything that helps you to take care, give you some space, get some calm into your life that just aids and enhances your prefrontal cortex function. It's also possible to do some cognitive challenges and brain training. This helps to strengthen and enhance the prefrontal cortex. It stimulates it. And of course, when you're doing something demanding, when you're giving it something challenging it's like taking your body to the gym, right? Like training your muscles. giving it heavy loads to do the work.

The same thing happens with your prefrontal cortex. So engaging it in some challenging activities, learning, a new language, doing puzzles, anything that has it challenged and having to learn and adapt. And of course, healthy lifestyle habits, exercise, sleep, diet will help you to support optimal brain function. And I know Jim Kwik quick does a lot of work. Dr. Daniel Amen does a lot of work on how you can really take care of your brain so that it is functioning in an optimal level. And this will help you to think clearly, that if you're drinking alcohol, if you're not getting enough sleep, your brain isn't functioning. You can't think clearly. This is your prefrontal cortex. And so making sure that you take steps to take care of it will help you both in the short term on a daily basis and in the long term when you're planning and working to achieve goals in your life. the brain. is very complex.

And again, this is not meant to be a dissertation or a thesis on how it's functioning. This is very simplistic, but it does help us to understand how we can override that survival part of our brain that is trying to keep us safe. and that means well, but that will have us hiding in the cave and will have us lying on the couch watching Netflix in order or instead of going after what we truly want in creating the life that we truly desire in going after those big goals and creating a bigger and bolder life for ourselves using the prefrontal cortex to plan, to set goals is key.

Knowing that your primitive part of your brain is going to challenge you. And when you go to take action, When you make a plan, let's say you decide tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM you're going to get up, you're going to go to the gym, and you need to develop this awareness and this understanding that your pre your primitive part of your brain at 7:00 AM is going to tell you that it is easier, it is warmer, to stay in bed, just stay for another 10 minutes. It's not a problem. Or we can go to the gym later, or tomorrow is a good day to start.

This is what your primitive part of your brain will offer you. It will try to get out of doing the work. It will try to keep you as efficient as possible, which means low energy expenditure. It will also use fear. So the fear of failure, the fear of ridicule, of awkwardness, of vulnerability. It will use that because it sees it legitimately as a threat to your survival.

Putting yourself out there, maybe saying something at work, maybe public speaking, coming up with a new idea, publishing a blog post. It sees as a threat because we are meant to be a part of the tribe. And if you put something out there and you face ridicule, you face criticism, it brings up that fear that you will be pushed to the outside and no longer a part of the tribe, you'll be ridiculed, you'll be ostracized. This was a huge problem when we were back in our cave days. If you didn't, if you couldn't be a part of the tribe and rely on others for your survival, it meant death.

So we very much want to fit in, we very much want to conform because there's safety in that. understanding that you have to override that intrinsic need and desire to fit in, to be safe, to conform because it's not serving you today as well. And you also want to use your prefrontal cortex to plan ahead.

You want to be clear that this is your plan. And this is what you're going to stick to. And you use your prefrontal cortex as the adult supervision in this relationship with your childlike toddler, primitive brain. You have to override that. You have to not listen to that primitive part of your brain that wants to just stay in bed and not do the work. It's the same way that if your child needs to brush her teeth before bedtime, it's that same sort of authority that you take with that primitive part of your brain when it's time to go to the gym, or it's time to write that blog post, or it's time to write that email. Same thing.

You have to think of yourself in that relationship the same way you would as a parent, or if you had a pet. You have to manage that part of your brain and take the authority. Understand and anticipate what is going to happen, what your primitive part of your brain is going to offer you, and prepare for it. You can prepare responses ahead of time that you know would be in response to what your primitive brain might offer you. know that the brain likes to be efficient. This primitive part of our brain really loves efficiency.

So it's going to want to stick to what's familiar and what's comfortable. And we've all developed attachments. In reality, our brain accepts certain behaviors and preferences as a survival mechanism, but this is also no longer serving us. And many of our desires and preferences are actually learned behaviors from part of our programming, part of our socialization, rather than inherent traits. These neural pathways can lead to behaviors like overeating or excessive drinking or over shopping, which may not align with your true desires.

And in order to change these automatic responses, because they're happening like when it's a well worn neural pathway in your brain it's like a groove. Or a pathway in the dirt. It's well worn. It's easy to go through. And this is what your brain likes to use. It's very quick. It's automatic. You don't have to think about it. So in order to change these responses, you need to work consciously to rewire your brain. And you need to pay attention to what your thoughts are. and what behavior is coming up for you and then consistently repeat new patterns until when they become unconscious and effortless. Being aware of, like I said, what your brain is going to offer you when you set your alarm to go to the gym at 7am In order to change that behavior, you need to be aware that this is what's going to happen, that this is what your brain is going to offer you.

You need to pay attention to that. And then you need to use your prefrontal cortex to override that, to say, we're going to the gym no matter what. And it's like a muscle that you're building with your prefrontal cortex, creating a new pattern. That it will become easier and easier to go to the gym, to do what you said, to do what you said you were going to do. In order to live intentionally, in order to design your life with purpose, you need to use your prefrontal cortex.

Otherwise, the primitive part of your brain will keep you hiding. It will keep you playing small. You will be at the mercy of its desires to avoid playing, to avoid pain, to seek pleasure, to be as efficient as possible. And this will not help you to go to the next level. It will not help you to build a bigger life. You need to plan ahead. You need to make decisions. You need to take control of your behavior in order to create the life you want. Be the adult supervision in that relationship with the primitive toddler part of your brain. And this is the key to going after whatever you want.

So that's a brief, basic simple explanation of what's going on in your brain.

But I think it's really helpful and it's really changed things for me. It's just created this level of awareness of what's going on and that there's nothing wrong with me. this is being a human with a human brain. This is very normal. People come to coaching all the time and think there's something wrong with them because they can't follow through on what they said they were going to do. They start and they stop. They give up. They start again and then they fail. And they think there's something intrinsically wrong with them. And it's just a part of our human nature. It's just a part of our brain. But it is possible to understand it and start to override it. Once you have that awareness of what's going on, you don't have to use it against yourself. You have some compassion. You have that awareness. And then you start to do the work to override it and change it. And that's literally what you need to do to change your life. It's very exciting. And it's, it works. That's the amazing thing is that it really does work. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes persistence and consistency, but it is possible.

And this is the work that we do in coaching.

This is the work that you can do with a coach on a regular weekly basis, ideally, to sit and to talk through some of these things and see Where your primitive part of your brain is overriding your prefrontal cortex and keeping you from achieving what you want. And we talk through this and we get that understanding and we get that awareness and we come up with ways to override that. And to keep going.

If you want to learn more about coaching, if you want to try coaching for yourself, the link to my calendar is in the show notes. I offer a free 45 minute session.

Come get coached on any issue that you wish. Learn more about what it would look like to work with me and have some fun because coaching is fun.

Thank you everybody for joining me today. I hope you found that helpful and I will talk to you again soon. Take care. Bye bye.

Thank you for listening to This Daring Adventure podcast with your host Trista Guertin. We hope you enjoyed the tips and conversations on how to get excited about life again.

As always, you can head to tristaguertin.com for additional resources and to book a one on one coaching session.

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