RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD: UNDERSTANDING AND COMBATING THE NEGATIVITY BIAS

The Negativity Bias

What is the negativity bias and how is it affecting us at work?

It’s likely that in school, we were all taught that your brain develops until your early 20s and at around the age of 25 your brain just stops growing. From 25 onward, you slowly start to lose brain cells and it’s all downhill from there. This is actually not true.   

 
Over the last 40 years, we’ve discovered that the brain has the ability to grow new neurons, to learn and to restructure for our entire lifetime. This is neuroplasticity: the brain is in fact, not hardwired, but able to change and develop well into our later years. ‘Neuro’ comes from the word neuron (aka brain cell) and ‘plasticity’ comes from plastic, meaning ‘changeable, malleable, modifiable’. 

What prompts our brains to change? Research shows that our brains change in response to thought, experience and mental activity: so pretty much everything! In fact, our brains are changing at every moment of the day. Every single experience and thought that we have changes the structure and functions of our brain.  

Let us think of this concept in terms of work. Within the work ecosystem you are being reshaped with every one of your interactions, positive or negative. The type of work you are choosing to do and the amount of variety you have within your work tasks is reshaping your brain. The quality of relationships you have with your work colleagues and managers is rewiring your brain. 

You have the choice of reshaping who you are at every moment. Thanks to our knowledge of neuroplasticity, we know that it is possible to become more creative, more innovative, reduce our self doubt, become more positive.. the list goes on. Turns out, you can teach an old dog new tricks after all

So, how can we use neuroscience to counteract this negativity bias?

The first step to reducing anxieties and ruminations is becoming aware of your negativity bias. Don’t berate yourself for thinking negatively – this will only keep you in a negative mindset.

Becoming aware of your natural tendency towards negativity comes from being more mindful about your experiences, your behaviours and your thoughts. Research shows that mindfulness not only heightens our awareness of negative and self-limiting thoughts but actually decreases frequency of these thoughts. Becoming aware of this ‘negativity’ allows us to separate ourselves from the thought or behaviour, creating space between us, and the negativity. 

Mindfulness doesn’t just mean sitting cross legged, meditating and focusing on deep breathing with incense burning somewhere in the background. You can bring mindfulness into anything, whether it be mindfully walking to work, mindfully observing your daily commute, mindfully eating, mindfully cleaning the dishes.

Mindfulness is all about being present in the moment and simply noticing what’s going on in your environment along with the thoughts and emotions that may come and go. By doing this you create some space between you and ‘the thought’. The more space you can create, the less these thoughts and feelings will affect you.

Bring a little bit of mindfulness into your day, every day. Spend 5 minutes of your morning commute observing the train or bus carriage. What do you see? Feel? Hear? Taste? Notice the thoughts that come and go. Notice how your body feels, is it tense? Relaxed?

By incorporating just 10 short minutes of mindfulness into your daily routine, you will begin to rewire your brain away from the negativity bias. If you have trouble deciding how to start, there are plenty of great apps out there to help you. We recommend downloading Smiling Mind (developed by psychologists and based on research).

How can I start my journey today?

At Altitude Minds, we use neuroscience to help our clients rewire their brains for success. This means building on mindfulness and rewiring your thinking and behaviours for positvity. 

The first step of the rewiring process, is to understand how you currently think and behave. We do this by mapping your current thinking patterns to give you an objective assessment of the mechanisms working beneath the surface that may be causing you to self-sabotage your own success or take you closer to your goals. 

Our thinking patterns are a reflection of the choices we made yesterday, in the last week, the last month and even the last few years. Most people are unaware of their thinking patterns because all of this thinking happens so quickly and automatically. We see it as our job to help you to develop better thinking patterns so you can work smarter and not harder. 

Research has shown that human thinking patterns primarily fall under 4 different key thinking styles. Do you want to learn more about the different thinking styles?

Enter your email below to access our exclusive free downloadable eBook.

Subscribe to receive your free downloadable Thinking Styles eBook

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THE CHANGING BRAIN: WHAT EXACTLY IS NEUROPLASTICITY AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

The Changing Brain

What exactly is neuroplasticity and why is it important for you and your team?

It’s likely that in school, we were all taught that your brain develops until your early 20s and at around the age of 25 your brain just stops growing. From 25 onward, you slowly start to lose brain cells and it’s all downhill from there. This is actually not true.   

 
Over the last 40 years, we’ve discovered that the brain has the ability to grow new neurons, to learn and to restructure for our entire lifetime. This is neuroplasticity: the brain is in fact, not hardwired, but able to change and develop well into our later years. ‘Neuro’ comes from the word neuron (aka brain cell) and ‘plasticity’ comes from plastic, meaning ‘changeable, malleable, modifiable’. 

What prompts our brains to change? Research shows that our brains change in response to thought, experience and mental activity: so pretty much everything! In fact, our brains are changing at every moment of the day. Every single experience and thought that we have changes the structure and functions of our brain.  

Let us think of this concept in terms of work. Within the work ecosystem you are being reshaped with every one of your interactions, positive or negative. The type of work you are choosing to do and the amount of variety you have within your work tasks is reshaping your brain. The quality of relationships you have with your work colleagues and managers is rewiring your brain. 

You have the choice of reshaping who you are at every moment. Thanks to our knowledge of neuroplasticity, we know that it is possible to become more creative, more innovative, reduce our self doubt, become more positive.. the list goes on. Turns out, you can teach an old dog new tricks after all

So, how exactly can I use neuroplasticity to think and behave in new ways?

The first step is to discover your current ‘thinking patterns’ which are determining your decisions and actions. Exploring your thinking patterns can give you an objective assessment of the mechanisms working beneath the surface that may be causing you to self-sabotage your own success or take you closer to your goals. 

Our thinking patterns are a reflection of the choices we made yesterday, in the last week, the last month and even the last few years. Most people are unaware of their thinking patterns because all of this thinking happens so quickly and automatically. We see it as our job to help you to develop better thinking patterns so you can work smarter and not harder. 

Research has shown that human thinking patterns primarily fall under 4 different key thinking styles. Do you want to learn more about the different thinking styles?

Enter your email below to access our exclusive free downloadable eBook.

Subscribe to receive your free downloadable Thinking Styles eBook

* indicates required

HOW MEDITATION HELPS YOUR BRAIN WHEN YOUR STRESSED

How Meditation Helps Your Brain When You’re Stressed, According To Experts

"Meditating is kind of like tidying up or KonMari-ing your brain." We know everyone is talking about meditation right now. It's having a moment, and for good reason! Studies are coming out in force demonstrating that meditation reduces stress. How does it help the brain? Check out the full article here to find out:

Do you want to find out more ways you can rewire your brain to be less stressed? Check out our services:

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN TRYING TO MOTIVATE YOUR TEAM

What Not to Do When You’re Trying to Motivate Your Team

Are you a leader trying to motivate your team? It can be a daunting task at times. Here's what NOT to do:

Do you want more tips on how you can be a better leader? Check out our services:

LEADERSHIP: BEING COMFORTABLE WITH UNCOMFORTABLE

Leadership: Being Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

"Leadership development is as much about learning as it is about developing skills. But to learn and grow, we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable." How do we do this? by developing new mindsets, accepting failure and suspending the ego. Click below for the full article.

Do you want to learn more about diving into the 'uncomfortable' to be a better leader? Check out our services:

MUSIC MAKING PROMOTES BRAIN PLASTICITY ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

MUSIC MAKING PROMOTES BRAIN PLASTICITY ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

Want to keep your brain healthy? Learn a new instrument. Making music is proven to promote brain plasticity across your lifespan. Check out this study for the evidence.

Do you want to learn other ways that you can increase your neuroplasticity? Check out our services:

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