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Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to attend 40 Years of Zen in Seattle, Washington. The five-day Master Program is designed to bring participants the benefits of forty years of advanced Zen meditation to raise intellectual and emotional intelligence, and creativity, increase productivity and decision making, and obtain clarity of mind. The end goal is to experience more happiness, better relationships and an upgraded life. In short, it teaches you how to hack your brain to maximize the impact you can have on all areas of your own life.
While hacking your brain may sound a little wacky at first, the five-day program of neuro and biofeedback is really about improving blood flow to the brain, which is a great defense against dementia and Alzheimer’s, and a number of other ailments. It also contributes significantly to creativity, which influences problem solving and many other skills we use in our daily lives.
While the brain is a “globular organ,” rather than a muscle, you still need to exercise it to keep it healthy and functioning. Otherwise, similar to our muscles, it will atrophy and diminish over time. The opposite is also true. When exercised, the brain can be strengthened, and the mind expanded. And for both our brains and our muscles, improved blood flow is key to how well they function.
How do you hack your brain?
Good question. Hacking the brain requires achieving a certain state called alpha, and sometimes gamma. To get there, you have to deal with real life issues and personal challenges, which actually turns out to be a bonus. Not only are you facilitating personal growth, but you’re dealing with a lot of baggage you’ve been carrying around at the same time.
For example, one of my favorite exercises focused on “good versus bad.” The challenge here was to look at some of the toughest things that have happened in our lives and examine “what was the gift?” What did we learn about ourselves or others from that experience? This exercise teaches us that even our worst experiences provide gifts.
What’s the worst that can happen?
A similar exercise examined “worst case” scenarios. That involved meditating and evaluating a particular problem or issue—something you’re afraid of—and determining what’s the absolute worst thing that can happen? I was a little skeptical about this one because the worst case rarely ever happens. However, the challenge, again, was to determine “what’s the gift?” It turns out that this is a really powerful exercise in freeing yourself to live a life without fear—one that is limitless, where you can do anything you set your mind to achieve.
I encourage you to take some time in the days ahead and write down several things that happened to you that you initially perceived as being bad and find the gift in them. You may surprise yourself.
The CEO of you
Another favorite exercise was examining the many ways we show up in life. Did you ever stop to realize that you’re the CEO of you? What I mean by this is that each of us is responsible for managing the myriad of different dynamics and personalities that exist within each of us—all of the different manifestations of our “selves.” For example, when I listed mine, I had 12 dimensions of “Ron.” These ranged from the no-filter Ron, to the wilderness Ron, philanthropist Ron, and sometimes the workaholic Ron, to name a few.
I also added something that wasn’t actually part of the exercise. I went through and listed the “Rons” that I wanted to be in order of priority, from 1 to 12. Initially, I wanted to focus on the top three Rons on my list, but when I looked at it, I expanded it to the top five. So I decided my top three would be my primary focus and the next two would be my secondary focus. However, I also wanted to focus on the dimension at the very bottom of my list—the Ron I least wanted to be. I thought it was just as important to understand how I improve on that version of Ron. For those of you who know me, you won’t be surprised to learn that the “no filter Ron” secured the number 12 slot. (My facilitator was much kinder, referring to this Ron as a “raw truth giver.”)
The goal here was to focus on the things that are really important to you, the things at the top of your list, to make them stronger. But you also don’t want to ignore your weaknesses—the things you like least about the way you show up. You want to improve those as well.
Don’t forget to “Bio Hack” into your finances
After going through these exercises, I realized that there’s good and bad in almost everything that occurs in our lives, and it’s up to us—and our attitudes—whether we pull the good or the bad from each experience. It’s not like one person is blessed with lots of “good” and another simply encounters lots of “bad” in life. Our attitudes are often what determines good from bad in the first place. The same can be said about our finances. Most of us are going to go through rough patches. As we weather the current storm (the economy during a pandemic), we have to remember to hack our brains a bit. This can mean evaluating our finances on a more regular basis, creating or building on an emergency fund, or meeting for the first time with a financial advisor.
Spending time finding Zen may expand the way you think about your personal investments. If you have challenges, I encourage you to dive in and understand why. If it’s hard to get started, check out these 12 tips.
The six or eight inches between our ears is what really matters and drives everything we are and can be in life. I urge you to avail yourself of the latest technologies, keep your mindset and finances in check and become aware of the knowledge that’s available to all of us, like hiring an advisor, to “bio hack” ourselves to have more meaningful, fruitful and enjoyable lives. You’ll be glad you did!
