When we do things we build up neural pathways in our brain. The stronger the neural pathways in our brain the easier and more natural we find doing the things they are associated with. Thus the more we practice something, the stronger we make the associated neural pathways, and the easier it is to do it again in the future.

Our brains are far more flexible and malleable than most people think. Our brain reconstructs itself, rewires itself, as a result of our learning experiences. Our brain changes in response to what we practice doing. As you learn or practice a skill your brain rewires and makes more room for it.

Even mental practice contributes to this rewiring of your brain, though not as strongly as with physical practice.

The ability of the brain to make new connections and to rewire itself continues as long as we live, no matter how old we are. We may not learn as fast as a child but we can still learn.

The key to rewiring our brains is self-awareness.

Because of the existing neural pathways in our brain we have an automated tendency to do the things we have done in the past and which has led to the existing neural path landscaping. We thus have a natural and ‘instinctive’ tendency to behave in certain ways in response to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

But through self-awareness we can consciously do things that go against these automated responses. This is because there is a part of our brain, the frontal lobe, where our sense of self-awareness sits, which has the ability to override our natural tendencies and automated responses.

And when we exercise this ability, through focused conscious effort, we are rewiring the other parts of our brain that dictate our automated behaviors and responses. If we do this often enough, and persist with our conscious efforts, we eventually create new pathways in our brain which give rise to new automated behaviors and responses.

Thus when we wish to change existing habits, at first it requires significant amounts of conscious effort to do so. But the more we succeed in doing so the easier it gets until after a while our new habits become themselves automated requiring little effort to implement.

This wiring, or re-wiring, of our brain with regards a given habit can take between a couple of weeks and 6 months, though often about a month is enough.

Once you start to think of the world in a different way you forget what it was that you believed before.

Our willpower diminishes during the day, and diminishes the more we use it or make decisions. Thus be wary of making important decisions later in the day, or putting yourself into positions which have a greater reliance on the application of willpower.

Intellectual effort or prolonged physical or emotion exertion leads to what is termed ego depletion, and a weaker willpower. In this state you more likely to be susceptible to advertising and to make impulsive purchases.

The application of self-awareness uses a lot of energy, which your brain gets from glucose.

A steady but moderate supply of glucose will help keep your brain alert and able to apply the self-control necessary to override your automated responses to circumstances.

A poor supply of glucose or wildly fluctuating levels will lead to you feeling tired and unable to think things through or apply self-control.

Note that it is the glucose that occurs naturally in foods such as fruit and vegetables and fish and meat that helps generate a moderate supply, whilst the glucose in sweets and cakes leads to spikes that then bring you crashing back down.

How well your brain is able to convert glucose into energy is dependent upon how tired you are, and it is much harder to maintain self-control later in the day. It is best to develop habitual behaviors for later in the day rather than rely on willpower to do the right things.

Over millions of years of evolution our brains have developed strategies intended to increase the chances of our personal survival. These strategies include a large number of ‘cognitive biases’ which are instinctive ways we think and see things, and thus behave, which whilst they may be appropriate in many circumstances are sometimes inappropriate in particular circumstances. They are a major source of poor thinking in both ourselves and others and are exploited by scammers and people looking to take advantage of us. By being better aware of cognitive biases we can significantly improve the quality of our thinking and be less susceptible to being fooled or taken advantage of.

See page on Cognitive Biases under ‘The World About Us’ sub-heading.

Our instinctive brains have not evolved to make us happy. Our instinctive brains have evolved to increase the likelihood we would pass on our genes to the next generation. Our instinctive brains do not care about us. Only our rationale self aware brain cares about us.

Cognitive Dissonance is that uncomfortable feeling we have when faced with contradictory information or feelings. For example someone we have respect for may behave in a manner we consider to be wrong. Or a group we are a part of may express some belief we don’t hold with. Faced with cognitive dissonance our brain generally adopts a strategy of seeking to remove or minimize it through for example, refusing to believe a piece of information, finding an ‘excuse’ for a behavior, or changing a belief. Often in so doing we adopt one or more cognitive biases.

Cognitive Ease is a state of mind where we are running largely in automatic and not thinking too much. When in a state of cognitive ease we are particularly prone to cognitive biases since we let our instincts dictate our thoughts. Cognitive ease results when there is nothing to challenge our thinking, and is a state we are more likely to be in as a result of familiarity or being in a good mood.

Our brains instinctively looks to take easy options. Thus, for example:

◦ We have a tendency to judge people based upon a single characteristic, such as attractiveness;
◦ We form quick first impressions and then focus on confirming this impression, often ignoring evidence which might contradict our hastily formed impression;
◦ We far more readily believe evidence which confirms our existing beliefs and ignore or down play that which contradicts them.

Given the complexity of the world around us we tend to place objects and people into categories and do so quickly without giving it much thought. Once we have placed something or someone into a category it is difficult to recategorise it or them.

Different parts of our brain light up when we’re thinking of ourselves as opposed to when we’re thinking of other people. However when we think of our future selves it is often the part of our brain that relates to thinking of other people that lights up. This in part explains why it is often difficult to make sacrifices in the short term for the benefit of our long term.

In order to be better able to make short term sacrifices for long term gains we need to feel a stronger connection with our future selves. Explicitly envisage your future self in a similar manner to how you see yourself in the present. Or find a photo app that will enable you to create a picture of how you will look when you are older and look at it from time to time or when you are faced with choices of short term pleasures versus long term gains.

Our brains have an ability to mimic other people, through what are termed ‘mirror neurons’. These are parts of our brain that fire when we see or think about other people and fire in the same way as our neurons would fire if we ourselves were behaving the way we are observing or thinking of the other person behaving. They thus create in us an empathic ‘feeling’ for how the other person is feeling.

Mirror neurons help us understand what other people are feeling. This is why people who spend a lot of time together often start to mirror each other’s postures. Usually this mimicking is subconscious, though in some professions people are trained to do this as an influencing technique. This explains why seeing someone else doing something we are tempted by, such as smoking or eating sweets, triggers a desire in ourselves to do likewise. It also leads to us experiencing other people’s emotions, good or bad, which enables us to empathize with them, but can also lead to a triggering of such emotions in ourselves.

Your subconscious is primed by your environment, by whatever you are sensing at a given moment in time. Though you are rarely aware of it every physical object you are encountering is triggering associations in your mind. This is continually going on at a subconscious level and your feelings and thoughts are influenced by these subconscious associations. Thus you can find yourself getting in to certain mental states directly as a result of your environment. For example you will find it more difficult to get into a productive focused state of mind if you are surrounded by clutter and reminders of other things you should be doing.

Our brains get into different states and we can, with practice, learn to change the state we are in. The different states are labeled as brain-wave states, namely:

◦ Gamma wave state: generated during situations of extreme stress. Sometimes able to transcend usual abilities and perform incredible feats;
◦ Beta wave state: generated during active conscious thinking and concentrated problem solving;
◦ Alpha wave state: generated during a relaxed alert state;
◦ Theta wave state: generated during drowsiness, when daydreaming, or during light sleep. Unusual ideas can often pop into our heads;
◦ Delta wave state: generated during deep sleep. Physical healing is accelerated.

We have been evolutionary programmed to want social status, to want more of everything, to feel anxious. These instincts had survival benefits during our long ancestral gestation, but they are mostly counterproductive to our happiness today and we would do well to weaken their hold on us.

If we walk fast we suffer a sharp deterioration in our ability to think clearly.

Adaptation to a new situation, whether good or bad, consists in large part of thinking less and less about it.