The Sharp Solution E-Book

Heidi Hanna

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 230

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Train Your Brain to Energize Your Life In The Sharp Solution, Heidi Hanna introduces readers to a brain-based approach to realistic, sustainable energy management that supports a healthier brain, and as a result a healthier, happier body. By engaging our brain, we can strategically re-wire how we operate, creating more energy and improving productivity while simultaneously reducing stress. As a result, we become more focused and productive, flexible and resilient, and able to sustain higher levels of health and performance over time. These critical aspects of "cognitive fitness"--mental strength, flexibility, and endurance--allow us to function at our best and enjoy life to the fullest. * Breaks down complicated concepts into easy to understand stories and applications * Walks readers through a step-by-step process of designing a personal action plan that can be utilized to decrease stress, balance hormones, increase energy, and improve overall health, happiness, and performance * Heidi Hanna, PhD, is a performance coach and keynote speaker who has trained thousands of individuals on practical ways to incorporate positive psychology and wellness strategies to improve productivity and performance We all know what we should be doing to create a more optimal life--eating better, exercising regularly, sleeping more, taking time to relax, and having more balance in our life. But The Sharp Solution enables you to actually make those changes to your habits.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Understand Your Operating System

The New Vision of Fitness

The Stress Story

Taking it Easy is Hard

Stress and Health

Boost Your Brainpower

Avoid Multitasking Disasters

Changing Pathways: Improving Habits

The Training Plan: Hitting the Target

Chapter 2: Balance Your Brain

The Relaxation Response

Reasons to Recharge

The Sharp Brain Recharge Process

Pause and Relax

Ready ... Set ... Recharge

Advanced Practice

Recharge Tools and Strategies

Chapter 3: Engage Your Heart

Creating a Clear Vision

Your Purpose Statement

What's Your Story?

Chapter 4: Focus Your Mind

Multitasking and Our Monkey Brain

Mindfulness Matters

Turning Mindfulness into Mindsight

Makeover Your Mindset

Cross-Train Your Brain

Cultivate Creativity

Chapter 5: Energize Your Body

Balance Blood Sugar

Maximize Your Return on Investment

Be Prepared

Optimize Blood Flow

Prioritize Rest and Recovery

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

Oscillation Improves Sleep

Sleep Strategies

Chapter 6: Strengthen Your Community

Connection is Based on Perception

Quantity versus Quality

Building Better Relationships

Lead by Example

Set Yourself Up for Success

Chapter 7: The SHARP Solution Plan

Training for Success

Final Thoughts

Notes

For More Information

Index

Cover images: Brain © Baris Simsek/istockphoto; Background © Jenny Horne/istockphoto

Cover design: Wiley

Copyright © 2013 by Heidi Hanna. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hanna, Heidi, 1974-

The sharp solution: a brain-based approach for optimal performance/Heidi Hanna.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-45739-9 (pbk.); ISBN 978-1-118-50669-1 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-50668-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-50661-5 (ebk)

1. Achievement motivation. 2. Brain. I. Title.

BF503.H366 2013

158–dc23

2012030193

SHARP: Having an edge; precise, extremely clever or astute; keen, intelligent, sensitive, alert; having a penetrating quality; observant, incisive, vigorous, active.

In memory of Amy.

Foreword

The SHARP Solution is a well-written, science-based approach to incorporating sustainable behavior change to reduce stress and increase overall wellbeing. Dr. Hanna guides you through designing a personal action plan to decrease your daily stress and live a longer, healthier life. The book provides an inside-out perspective of how the body functions on a physiological and psychological level when under stress. The focus is on building resilience through mindfulness, meditation, balanced nutrition, and dedicated relaxation time.

The book is organized into five phases: brain, heart, mind, body, and community. The focus is not on what you should be doing to relieve your stress and be healthier, but how to take the knowledge that most of us have heard repeated throughout our lives, and actually make small sustainable changes to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Hanna emphasizes nutrition, physical activity, rest, and most importantly cognitive fitness. The book guides you through various aspects of brain training through her SHARP Brain Recharge technique.

The process is simple by design. It offers a variety of short, effective methods to help you shift out of a stress response into the relaxation response in just a few moments. Dr. Hanna provides a toolbox of simple techniques that you can practice and incorporate into your busy life without adding more stress and strain as you struggle to find time to relax. Through this book, Dr. Hanna represents the essence of our mission at The American Institute of Stress—to provide evidence-based information and simple-to-follow techniques to reduce stress and improve your quality of life.

Dr. Daniel L. Kirsch, President,The American Institute of Stress

Introduction

For most of my life, I thought I had a broken brain. By the age of 12, I had already been diagnosed with my first stress ulcer and experienced my first panic attack. It was well understood by scientists and doctors at the time that the brain was hardwired from an early age-that our mental maps had been secured soon after adolescence and could not be changed. So I accepted the fact that I would need to learn to manage my broken brain and try to control the symptoms, without any hope of fully healing.

A few years ago while writing my dissertation on stress and weight management, I began to learn a great deal about how the brain works. (I also learned that stress leads to weight gain, as I put on 10 pounds without changing my diet or exercise habits—but that's fodder for another book). I was burning out, completely exhausted from traveling across the globe for work. After being hospitalized with severe fatigue and crippling panic attacks, I was unsure of how I would ever return to a normal life. My greatest fears—those that cause the biggest spikes in my anxiety—are flying and public speaking; so I definitely didn't make the best choice for a career path if I wanted to live conservatively. I had pushed myself to the limit and wasn't taking care of my personal energy the way I knew I should—and my brain let me know it.

Around this time I also found out that a third grandparent of mine had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This prompted me to begin a deep dive into research to see if there was any way to try to prevent such a fate for myself or my other family members—and what I discovered changed my life. I found out that not only were there things we could do to possibly delay the development of symptoms caused by Alzheimer's disease and natural cognitive decline, but also that they were the same things that were being recommended to reshape and rewire the brain for optimal functioning. Simply put, the things that can help you have a better brain today will help you have a better brain tomorrow. Of course, it made perfect sense, but why hadn't I heard about this before?

Thanks to advances in technology that took place about two decades ago, scientists have discovered that the brain isn't actually “hardwired” after all. Pioneering neuroscientists demonstrated that through the right type of training, people could relearn abilities they'd lost through severe brain damage, with different parts of the brain taking on new roles in the operation of the body. This discovery, known as neuroplasticity, means that the brain is radically adaptable when given the right stimulus, and allotted an adequate amount of recovery.

The existence of neuroplasticity doesn't just mean that we can heal the brain. It also means that we can potentially rewire existing mental maps—which are the connections between brain cells—so that they function in a way that best serves us, thereby leading to optimal health, happiness, and performance. I have undertaken this process myself, and implemented strategies in my own routine to make sure that my brain and body support me in the midst of challenging circumstances so that I can continue doing the work I love without burning out or breaking down. While I won't introduce any new or particularly groundbreaking concepts, we will walk through them in a systematic way that is designed to give you maximum benefit with minimum investment. This will help you build a toolbox of strategies to boost your brainpower—strategies that won't require a great deal of your time or energy.

One of this book's key premises is that the brain tends to pull us away from anything that might be new or challenging to our system when it becomes overwhelmed. Therefore, giving you a lengthy list of requirements would completely defeat my purpose. You will not see exercises that demand pages of explanations, software programs to buy, or supplements to take. While some of these might be helpful, you can't possibly do everything that might be helpful for you—if you did, you'd have a new full-time job!

The important thing to remember is that very small changes, those upon which the brain can tolerate spending energy, can slowly rewire and retrain the connections in your brain to improve your operating system. It's critical that we move one small step at a time to make these changes significant, not superficial. I wrote this book to share with you the most efficient and effective ways to train—or retrain—your brain to energize your life, even if you have the busiest of schedules.

There are many excellent books documenting the science of neuroplasticity, and I have listed some of my favorites in this book's resources section. I will share some of the most exciting studies with you throughout our discussions, and I encourage you to explore the recommended texts if you are interested in reading more about the details and fascinating discoveries. My goal here is not to overwhelm your brain with more data, but rather to provide you with some very simple tactics you can use daily to bring the power of neuroplasticity into your life and create a better brain both today and for your future.

The SHARP Solution

This new understanding of how the brain works clearly shows us that taking on too much at one time is perceived as a neurological threat. It consequently causes the brain to lead us away from new supportive habits and back into old ones. Therefore, once you create a healthy, energized brain, you provide the necessary foundation for resilience and sustainable change.

The SHARP Solution provides a brain-based approach to realistic, sustainable behavior change that supports a healthier brain and, as a result, a healthier, happier body. This includes a step-by-step process in which you'll design a personal action plan to decrease stress, balance hormones, increase energy, and improve overall health, happiness, and performance.

This book will teach you specific techniques that have been shown to help relax the body, quiet the mind, and reduce symptoms of stress imbalance, which have been proven to play a role in all of the major health concerns of today, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and dementia. By setting the right foundation for nutrition and physical activity efforts, you also enable the body to reduce unnecessary weight while functioning more optimally—a nice side effect of bringing the body and brain back into balance. Considering the fact that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, and that excess fat can be toxic to both the body and the brain, sustainable weight management must be considered part of our overall health and wellness strategy.

The SHARP Solution is broken down into five phases, working from an inside-out perspective, from brain to heart, mind, body, and community.

Phase One (brain): Balance brain chemistry with strategic relaxation and recovery.

Phase Two (heart): Create a clear vision statement that incorporates passion, purpose, and motivation.

Phase Three (mind): Increase awareness, master mindfulness, and develop your ability to focus attention on the things that matter most to you.

Phase Four (body): Nourish the body and mind appropriately with nutrition that provides a consistent, high-quality fuel source; establish a routine of general physical activity to improve metabolism; and develop sleep habits that enable you to fully recover and repair.

Phase Five (community): Strengthen social support, build a sense of connection, and boost accountability by teaching the techniques you'll learn in this process to others.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling more calm, optimistic, and downright joyful as a result of this program. You will have more mental clarity, be more creative, and be better able to focus your attention on the people and things that matter most to you. You will feel more physically energized throughout the day and will restore a healthy balance that includes simple, sustainable weight management.

In order to help you experience the shift towards a healthier brain and a more effective operating system, I will guide you through the process as we go through this book. By the time you finish reading, you will already have trained your brain for more optimal health and performance.

SHARP Science

As I initially prepared this manuscript, I included a few of my favorite studies that support the practical applications and guidelines in this book. I didn't want to fill the pages with an overabundance of scientific jargon, because I recognize how important it is not to overload your brain with unnecessary statistics and data—especially considering how much you already have on your mind! However, I still want to highlight the incredible research that has been conducted on the brain and how it works, and explain key studies in simplified language so that it's not only easy to understand, but also to apply. You can find them in SHARP Science boxes, which allow you to read some of the most recent research. In fact, all of the studies highlighted in these boxes were published during the final editing process of this book throughout the first part of 2012. This reinforces the fact that we learn more about the brain every single day—and that it's a truly marvelous adventure into one of the most amazing and complex systems known to man.

As we gain new insight into how the brain works, it's easy to see that we have only begun to scratch the surface. For example, a recent study showed that plaques and tangles in the brain once automatically associated with brain disease might actually be a normal part of the aging process. Considering the inflammation that occurs as a natural response to daily wear and tear on the brain, it seems logical that these brain disruptions or “injuries” could develop over time. It's the same as overusing a damaged muscle; if we continue to add chronic stress and pro-inflammatory factors like processed sugar, alcohol, or certain types of fat, we can speed up this natural deterioration, making the symptoms of aging much more intense and disruptive. While we can't stop the aging process from happening, we can certainly make it more enjoyable, not only adding more years to our lives but more life to our years!

I attended a neuroscience boot camp at the University of Pennsylvania last year. At the end of the first day, we were asked to share what our biggest takeaway had been. I answered that my attempts to learn more about the brain were actually helping me understand how little we really know. I will never forget the comment from the instructor: “If the brain were simple, we'd be too stupid to figure it out.” Our operating system is indeed complicated—and what makes things even more difficult to study is the fact that each one of us is uniquely designed in many ways. Therefore, what works for one person will not necessarily work for another.

That said, I've learned something as I've continued to develop my own understanding of the human condition: as unique as we all are, there are many more similarities than differences. My “broken brain” isn't actually all that different from your brain. Most importantly I've learned that our brains can be our biggest ally or our worst enemy when it comes to moving us towards our most important goals.

In the chapters that follow, I will share with you the tools and techniques that I have gathered from personal experience, client stories, and experts across industries that study human behavior such as physiology, psychology, neuroscience, and sociology—or what I lovingly refer to as nutriphysioneurosociopsychology (my favorite response to give people on the plane when they ask what I do—I get some pretty interesting looks). Let the adventure begin!

1

Understand Your Operating System

Despite the fact that your personal energy is your most valuable resource, most of us fail to manage it efficiently. As a result we often find ourselves running on empty. More often than not, this energy shortage causes us to function in survival mode, thereby limiting our productivity and engagement while taking a toll on our health and happiness. The human operating system depends on our ability to allocate resources to give us the energy we need to meet demands. Fortunately, we are designed in such a way that we can quickly make adjustments to reduce the demands on our energy that threaten our survival. We exist today because our ancestors were able do this effectively in times of an energy shortage, such as a famine, or a spike in demand, such as a predator attack. However, the antiquated system that once served us so well in times of trouble is now actually the source of much of our trouble. It can lead to chronic levels of toxic stress in our system, thereby undermining our health, happiness, and performance. The good news is we can use a few techniques to re-wire our operating system and design a more effective solution to deal with the demands on our energy, which will allow us to once again thrive, even in the midst of the most challenging circumstances.

There are two primary leaders that oversee the operations of your human system: your heart and your brain. Imagine that your heart functions as the CEO of your system; it's responsible for your passion, purpose, and motivation. It navigates you towards your most important goals in life, those related to your core values and beliefs. Your brain functions as your CFO; its job is to make sure you have enough energy resources to meet demands. It is the brain's responsibility to make sure that your system doesn't take on more than it can handle, and that when demands do increase the necessary adjustments are made to compensate.

As you well know if you've spent much time in business, sometimes the CEO and CFO don't see things from the same perspective. However, this partnership is essential to the survival of the organization, because if either were left alone, we could find ourselves either running around in circles or not running at all. On the one hand, the CEO is typically more emotionally driven and inspired by the big picture, and feels incredible passion to lead the organization toward its ultimate mission. Perhaps this is one of the barriers for entrepreneurs who try to take on too many roles; it's hard to be conservative about spending and investing when the passion of your heart is leading you.

On the other hand, the analytically natured CFO keeps a laser focus on resources and can often appear overly conservative and cautious, seeming distant from the heart of the organization. Sometimes this feels restricting to the CEO and slows down the growth process. Without a clear strategy in place, the CEO might chase after every inspirational idea that came its way; and conversely, the CFO could conserve resources too vigilantly, keeping the system from doing anything at all. But by working together, the CEO motivates and the CFO regulates, allowing them to meet their goals without running out of steam.

Thankfully, our CFO brain is wired to protect our energy reserves. It's constantly monitoring situations to make sure that we have the resources we need to keep the system operating. While it is the CEO's job to get the engine running, it is the CFO's responsibility to make sure that engine keeps going over time. And if the human system runs out of resources, we don't get a chance to declare bankruptcy; it's lights out, for good.

Without our key energy resources, oxygen and glucose, our cells cannot generate the energy we need. Our bodies literally begin to shut down—which is what we see happen physically during a heart attack or stroke or mentally with fatigue and burnout. Knowing all of this, our CFO keeps a close watch on the balance between the energy we have and the energy we need. It communicates constantly with the body's many systems, which report back via hormones to let the CFO know how well they are operating and the status of their energy demands at any given time.

Unfortunately, sometimes the CEO and CFO have competing interests. This often happens when you know what you should be doing but yet can't seem to find a way to do it. Your heart may believe that a new behavior—such as eating healthier or exercising more—would be of great benefit to your system. However, your brain might recognize that both of those strategies limit the amount of energy you have available at the present moment and talk you out of it—especially if you're operating on an empty tank.

Do you ever notice how tough it is to make good decisions at the end of the day? That's because the energy that fuels your brain to think, make judgments, evaluate options, monitor your attention, and multitask is put to use all day long. So expending all of this energy making decisions at work and then trying to make a healthy choice might compromise a major energy investment. In other words, your brain will be quick to talk you out of the salad and grilled chicken and into a hamburger, fries, and chocolate shake.

Sharp Science: Is Obesity All in Your Head?

Scientists at the University of Turku and Aalto University, both in Finland, have found new evidence for the role of the brain in obesity. Researchers determined that the reward system in obese individuals’ brains responded more vigorously to pictures of foods, whereas responses in the frontal cortical regions involved in cognitive control were dampened. Their results suggest that obese individuals’ brains may constantly generate signals that promote eating, even when the body doesn't require additional energy.1

I was sitting in a hotel lounge just the other night when I overheard a very common conversation between two guests who were enjoying the free dessert buffet. Carrying a plate with a piece of pie, the woman said, “I'm on Weight Watchers and I'm counting points, but I'm starting tomorrow.” If I only had a nickel for every time I've heard that statement! No matter how much you want to make healthy choices, when you're running on empty at the end of the day, you have no energy to support necessary willpower. Your brain convinces you that you'll start tomorrow because your energy will be replenished and discipline will be easier to fuel.

When we reach for poor sources of energy, we must evaluate the behavior's desired outcome and determine if there are other, more beneficial ways to get there. For example, when physical energy levels are low and you have the option to either eat a Big Mac or go for a run, your energy-hungry brain will make the obvious choice: invest, don't spend. You'll therefore find yourself drawn to the food as a smarter energy investment.

Even knowing that exercise will make you feel better in the long term isn't enough if you're running on fumes at the end—or even in the middle—of the day. You may be better off looking for another energy investment strategy in this case, such as watching a funny video, connecting with a good friend, or utilizing the Brain Recharge process we'll be discussing later in this book. These investments in your personal energy can help get you back on track without putting you into conservation mode, and ultimately fuel your progress towards your goals.

Anytime we ask the brain to help us change, it's not as simple as pleading the case that something needs to be done simply because we want to do it. We have to prove to the brain that the energy we need to make the change is worth the cost. If we demand too much of the brain at once, it may let you try something out for a few days; however, you'll soon find yourself returning to old habits that have been ingrained over time, and therefore require less effort and a much smaller energy investment.

Many of my high-achieving perfectionist “type-A” clients, tend to find themselves in this situation, trapped in an all-or-nothing mentality. Feeling a strong motivation to change, their minds can quickly drift back to the way things used to be. I was speaking to a large group of financial advisors when I met a former football player from my alma mater. He told me he was feeling like garbage about letting the business wear him down, so he was going to get back to his playing weight once again by incorporating the strategies I had mentioned in my talk.

I quickly asked him to tell me about his life back then to find out exactly what he'd be returning to. His days were filled with classes (when he felt like going), a steady social life, and a few hours in the gym. He loved his life, was in fabulous shape, and felt energized all the time. Then I asked what his life was like now. He told me that he'd spend up to 16 hours in the office or meeting with clients and prospects, had a young family who wanted his full attention when he got home, and was sleeping about four (mostly interrupted) hours a night. He still loved his life, but didn't feel like he had the energy to keep up with its demands.

To get back to his previous physical conditioning would require the same type of commitment, if not more due to his aging body. It was reality-check time. I asked him if he felt comfortable quitting his job, leaving his family, and moving to an island somewhere for peace and quiet. While his heart was saying, “I can do this, I've done it before, and I know how,” his brain was saying, “Yeah, right