Frequent travels globally (Pre covid) and recent travel to the U.S. to stay with my children for four months allowed me to unlearn and relearn. These transformative journeys help me foster empowerment, focus, and motivation, thus helping me on my path to mental betterment and the key to real learning. Change rather than stability is what I prefer most of the time. It testifies that my cognitive Health is superior, and I am a functional human who is extraordinarily resilient, creating space for hope, personal growth, and flexibility.
Cognitive Health? It is Brain Health that helps each one of us to think, learn, and remember aspects in performing everyday activities. It includes the Motor function — how well we control movements, including balance; the Emotional quotient — how well we are capable of interpreting and responding to emotions – both pleasant and unpleasant and the Tactile function how we feel and respond to sensations of touch like temperature, pressure, pain, etc. Social Isolation, Poor Diet, lack of physical activity, smoking, Drinking, and Physical and mental health problems could pose risks to cognitive Health.
Have we ever observed that “Cognitive distortions “developed and practiced by us are our inside patterns, and we lead our lives according to them? The thoughts are stubborn and become ingrained within us, refusing to budge. If we are aware of such thoughts, we can combat the distortions. It is Changing your Cognitive Distortions to Change your Life. The best word in my vocabulary is “Cognitive reconstruction.” I examine myself and others in my profession through Cognitive Restructuring methods, which help me identify, challenge, and replace faulty thinking with more accurate, helpful, and positive ways of thinking. Psychologists use this method to examine our ability to view a situation from different perspectives. They say, “How we feel emotionally is not the result of what happens to us, but instead, it’s the result of how we think about what happens to us.” This means that “we can change the way we feel by changing the way we think’ Cognitive restructuring encourages people to halt and seek the evidence for their belief. If there is no evidence, then it shows that not every thought or emotion is not necessarily true.
A thought follows every situation a person undergoes, chased by emotion, and shows in the behavior. There are many techniques in Cognitive restructuring. I want to cite real cases as examples and how we can adapt to cognitive restructuring.
The first situation: Freshers from colleges say, “The Job Market is not open to Freshers as they demand experience.”
Situation: A fresher does not get a job
Thought: Rationalizing lack of Experience, Reactive.
Emotion: Angry, Anxious, Sad.
Behavior: Withdrawal symptoms, negative feelings about the market, Hopeless,
Alternate Thought/ Action:
- Maintain good social media Profiles.
- Identify companies that require the freshers’ skill sets.
- Get job referrals.
- Get Experience through internships and freelancing.
The second situation:
Situation: My 4-and-a-half-year-old grandson had to change to another branch of his Montessori school in Chicago because of his Parent’s new house change.
Thought: Losing his batch of 5 dear friends
Emotion: Sad, angry
Behavior: Refused to go to School every day, refused to eat, threw tantrums, and cried frequently.
Alternate Thought/ Action: Parents Encouraged play dates with old friends by maintaining Friendships, sleeping over during weekends with his old friends, Facilitated making new Friends in the School and neighborhood, Parents spoke to the child about their Reasons for Moving and that, as Parents, they care about his feelings.
I have witnessed experienced employees in organizations responsible for stagnating and creating a non-stimulating environment. They often kill ideas under the guise of fostering the organization. Rather than having Experience inform their choices, Experience has defined their options. Oh boy! I started contemplating. I quote a writer who says, “Experience is one of the main obstacles to Cognitive Health. The ability to unlearn determines our success more than our ability to learn.”
Edward De Bono in Lateral Thinking suggests that when asked with YES or NO answer, we might respond with PO means possibility. Hundreds of options turn out with the term PO. Mind is our ally. In Sanskrit, we use Devta for mental structures. We can use the Devta aspect of our mind to build and keep on building. Our creativity will never cease. Experience has to wage battle against Routine, Repetition, and Boredom. Why dread when “Each moment offers you a choice”? Let us refresh our brains with new neural networks so we don’t stagnate.
“Put on a Learner’s mind when you get dressed every day, and your life will change for the better.”
References:
a. The complete guide to Cognitive Restructuring https://nickwignall.com/cognitive-restructuring/
b. https:// theperformatist.com/psychological skills