How to make your brain work for you

Some scientists also call the reptilian brain the “ancient brain.” According to one theory, this part was formed before the others, and the very first amphibians had it.

The task of the ancient brain is to satisfy our primary needs related to safety and survival. This part of the brain is where our instincts are stored. Hormones allow the brain to control our behavior. For example, the limbic system gets the maximum happiness hormones (serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, and oxytocin) and studiously avoids stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline). In other words, if you eat a chocolate bar in any stressful situation, your brain associates it with neutralizing stress, so it will push you to do so. Eating chocolate as a stress reliever will sometimes become unconscious — you have eaten the chocolate and didn’t even notice it.

I wish our brain would unconsciously encourage us to learn foreign languages or play sports, don’t you agree? I am happy to let you know that it is quite capable of it! Of course, the brain cannot control our development, but it can guide it. But to do that, you must tune up your brain first.

“Habit is a formed pattern of behavior.” I did not come up with this; you can find this definition in the professional literature. This is where I suggest beginning a new stage of your journey to becoming a leader. You, I, or any other person have an established pattern of behavior and a need to act according to this model. Thus, it is challenging to make any changes to this model. Nonetheless, complicated does not mean impossible. You just have to make some effort.

I have developed this habit of setting unrealistic goals and not being afraid of them. I believe that my job is to create the impossible; others will do the rest. And I have to create something that other people cannot even imagine. So when I meet some limitations, I think: “Why only 10? Why not 100, why not 1000? Let’s plan for 1000, even though everyone around us thinks that even 10 is the maximum.”

Another valuable habit of mine is my attitude towards money. I tell myself: if you are not going to help this world, don’t expect the world to help you. This realization unleashes your energy and creates a force of attraction that draws everything from the cosmos. And when I feel sorry for giving, my energy stream closes up when I shrink back. So, to release it, I have to say to myself: I don’t expect anything in return because I’ve most likely already received it. If I help someone, I never expect gratitude in return. Why? Because I have this philosophy: the world has already given it to me, and if I can do it, it means that I’ve already received it beforehand. If I have this money, these opportunities, these thoughts, these abilities, it means that somebody gave it to me before, or it came down to me from above. But I have it, and now it is my turn to thank you. And if I have an opportunity to give something back to the universe, I do it, and I am used to this way of thinking.