Just a few decades ago, the scientific community considered that the brain is fixed and programmed by nature. There was a consensus that the human brain can only deteriorate with age, but not improve. Today, the discovery of the fact that thoughts can change the individual’s well-being and psychological feelings is the most important achievement in the field of neuroscience over the past four centuries. Scholarly findings on the self-improvement potential of the human brain can now be used in everyday life, by ordinary people. The theory of thoughts’ influence can be transferred into its active phase by the integration of theoretical knowledge and practical action together to enforce and bring into reality the individual’s wishes and expectations.
Practical guidelines on how thoughts can influence the human psychological well-being and improve physical and even mental abilities are laid out in the book of psychiatrist and researcher Norman Doidge The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. From his book, it comes clear how a human mind is capable to improve any person’s well-being (Doidge 132). The example of the man who suffered the heart stroke and who physically exercised himself during one year inspired me to believe the unlimited human mind abilities (Doidge 22). That man healed himself and returned to teaching at the University, though he could not move and speak. This case proved me the high possibility of mental training and a firm belief in success.
Apart from importance of activity, imagination is essential to get the required results. I can use my imagination in the sphere of my professional growth to enforce the changes by means of planning and visualizing how my professional areas are positively changing. In addition, the imagination can be a potent tool for the intellectual growth and studies. Norman Doidge spoke about the important role of imagination used in learning process. The experiment with learning to play the piano by just imagining the piano-keys exemplified the astonishing opportunities of using imagination (Doidge 132): the participants, who had never studied piano, just imagined the process of studying showed advanced results in playing the piano during the post-intervention testing. One of the most advanced forms of mental practice, described by Norman Doidge (202) is “mental chess,” played without a board or pieces. Doidge reported a case of a computer specialist who spent four hundred days in prison playing mental chess. Such mind activity helped him keep his brain from degrading and increased his abilities so later he became cabinet minister and world chess champion G. Kasparov could not win him (Doidge 203).
I can use my imagination not only in my learning process but in my physical exercises also, though it can seem unusual or extraordinary. In my physical training of my body I can use the Doidge’s example of physical training my muscles by just imagining the process of training. Doidge wrote how it was possible to increase muscle strength by 22 percent (Doidge 204) by imaging the constriction of the muscles. This exercise can be useful to keep my body in a high tonicity and feel active and vivacious in my daily life and during my work. Hence, these cases regarding the importance of imagination can help me in my personal development such as studying, health improvement, or advancement of my career opportunities. Imagination can play a positive role in my professional sphere by helping me envision positive outcomes of my work, and it can help me to improve my psychological well-being through visualization of the desired goals and aspirations.
Combining the knowledge about importance of activity and opportunities of imagination, I can come closer to understanding of the mental nature and the principle of how to fasten changes in all spheres of my daily life. Norman Doidge, speaking about the activity patterns in human brain that is easily altered, referred to the metaphor about the similarity of the human brain and the “snowy track” (242). Sliding down the snowy surface, we steer and make the path, which is determined of how we steer. The next time we slide down, we steer the related path. It is not the exactly the same path, but close to the first one. If we spend entire afternoon sledding down, we will have some tracks, and it will be difficult to get out of these tracks as they are already fixed on the snow.
The same is with mental tracks that are the human habits. Once people have created these tracks, they became speedy and efficient, so changing the path is increasingly difficult according to Doidge (243). Though mental tracks are already laid down and fixed, to get out of those paths onto different ones is possible. Changing the fixed direction is easier if the barrier on the path is more massive. This information can help me in understanding the nature of my habits to successfully change it. My conscious steering of new tracks should interlay the new favorable paths. I can gradually change my wrong habitual patterns into a positive praxis in spheres like professional or private by intentionally constructing the restrictions or blocks. It can be the exclusion of the circum stances that provoke my wrong habits and creating new factors encouraging the growth of new habitude I desire.
The hard times that I face in my daily-life environment can improve my capabilities. The restrictions or blocks that I consciously erect for myself, create not only the new mental “paths” or positive habits, but also strengthen my abilities. Such strengthening can be connected to psychological well-being, learning process, my working abilities or physical training of my body.
The more hard times I suffer in my daily life experience, the stronger capabilities I have. It was also proven by Doidge with his example of settling rats in stimulated environments; at the end of the experiment, they had more neurotransmitters in their brain and a better blood supply than those from less stimulating environments (43). Acetylcholine, a chemical essential for learning, was higher among rats that were kept in difficult conditions. Constant mental training increased weight of brain by 5 percent in the cerebral cortex and up to 9 percent in areas that the training directly stimulates. Trained or stimulated neurons develop 25 percent more branches and increase the number of connections per neuron, their size, and their blood supply (44). Judging from this evidence, I can combine the data regarding the importance of activity, imagination opportunities and healing of the stimulating environment for strengthening my persistency abilities. Understanding the point that the circumstances that are free of difficulties do not develop me inspire me for more active and energetic practice.
Based on the findings of Doidge and Tykocinski (615), I may explain my urge to be active and constructively thinking for the achievement of success. Moreover, I am a person who not only tries to achieve the best possible results, but also thinks of the need to find the current activities pleasurable and satisfying. Schwartz et al. (1179) advised focusing on subjective feelings and positive objectives while not forgetting about the present. Besides the importance of activity, imagination is essential to get the needed results on one’s path to self-improvement. Speaking about professional growth, using imagination can help me to make the changes happen faster; moreover, the beneficial effects of positive imagination and visualization of desired objectives were discussed both by Doidge and Blackwell (246). Therefore, I can use my imagination for planning and visualizing how my professional areas are positively changing. At the same time, by using my imagination, I can improve my well-being through visualization of positive changes concerning my health.
A helpful trait of my character that may assist me in undergoing the mind’s change is that of willpower. Willpower is what Doidge referred to as a firm belief in the success, which I can visualize with the help of imagination, and pursue my goals of self-improvement through activity. Using willpower in my professional sphere helps me to act and improve my career status. At the same time, in other spheres of my life, willpower is an excellent method to reach psychological and physical well-being in the form of inspiration energy or readiness to act, as proposed by Villarica (2). In my career progress, willpower can be trained by taking additional workload and tasks, so enhancing my professional abilities.
As evidence presented in this paper suggests, human abilities are unlimited, and this knowledge can be successfully used in daily life in such spheres as art or relations, achieving professional goals, or learning. Doidge’s findings and recommendations on training one’s brain can help anyone to get to a new level of awareness of the possibility of self-healings, learning achievements, and physical health improvement. The main driving power of successful and positive changes that were presented in the paper is activity, imagination, a firm belief in success, and willpower. Using these important factors of mental self-improvement can change many spheres of my daily life experiences, in my professional career, psychological sphere, and personal well-being.
Works Cited
Blackwell, Lisa, and Kali Trzesniewski. “Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention”. Child Development, January/February, Volume 78, Number 1. 2007, p. 246 – 263.
Doidge, Norman. “The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science”. Penguin Books. 2007.
Schwartz, Barry, et al. “Maximizing Versus Satisficing: Happiness Is a Matter of Choice”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 83, No. 5. 2002, p. 1178–1197.
Tykocinski, Orit, and Thane Pittman. “The Consequences of Doing Nothing: Inaction Inertia as Avoidance of Anticipated Counterfactual Regret”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. vol. 75. 1998, p. 607-616.
Villarica, Hans. “The Chocolate-and-Radish Experiment That Birthed the Modern Conception of Willpower”. The Atlantic. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. ‹http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/04/the-chocolate-and-radish-experiment-that-birthed-the-modern-conception-of-willpower/255544/›.
