Do you judge me? I would say you do...

Ok so you probably don't judge me as such but judgement of one another comes so naturally (and quickly) that we make up our minds about someone before realising the effects that our own thoughts have on us.

"Judgement appears much too early and impedes the freedom of thought..."

'Unlock your Creative Genius by Bernard Golden, PhD, Prometheus Books, Amherst NY'

I read this sentence (now this is not the full sentence and I have taken it out of context) and I just had to write about the subject. Why we judge one another fascinates me. Why does it come so naturally? Why does it happen so quickly and why do we think we know who someone is just by looking at them? Surely we can only be basing our judgement on our own experiences? If this is the case, then are we all so completely illiberal?

From what I have researched so far, it seems that our perceptions are to blame. Our perception of our environment, including those who are in it, are created by our experiences so far. The only way we can view a person is to match what we see with what we know. This happens instantaneously and before we know it, we have a picture in our minds of who that person is.

Isn't it so narrow minded to think our 'scenario database' has every possible situation in it that we can make these conclusions about people. We are convinced we know someone just by looking at them.

I judge people, just like you do. If you are honest with yourself you will also admit that.

When we see someone new, it will always trigger thoughts of curiosity. Instead of automatically judging someone I am teaching myself to 'wonder' about them instead. It allows me to still think about the person but in a non-judgemental way. Instead of making a conclusion about someones life, I like to wonder what life they have led, what challenges they have faced and success they have had. I wonder what makes them happy, what they are passionate about and what makes them tick. I also like to wonder what is going through their minds.

Having judgemental thoughts about someone does not only 'impede our freedom of thought', it also affect how we interact with people. If we automatically feel negatively about someone before they even get to speak, we limit our interactions and therefore our own experiences in life. Limiting our experiences will limit our perceptions. Perception is what we use everyday to create who we are, what we have around us and our finite path. Do we really want to limit that? I certainly don't.

More food for thought.

Veronica Wood

What is your route to original thought?

Interesting concept don't you think?

 

How does one come up with a new idea, an amazing concept or creation of something so dynamic that it changes the course of their life or the lives of many? Is it by chance that we stumble across such things, are we inspired or is it purely hard work and effort?

 

I would put my money on it being a mixture of all.

 

I read an article recently in Scientific American Mind magazine (amazing mag by the way!) called 'The Science of Genius' and it discusses the notion of genius, how we become one, if we can at all.

 

The article discusses the theory of 'blind variation and selective retention (BVSR)' or to put it more simply, backtracking over failed attempts to discover new ways. How many times have we failed at something and just walked away telling ourselves 'well that just doesn't work' and not going back to try again? Many I am sure. The theory of BVSR proposed by psychologist Donald Campbell leads us to believe that geniuses use this form of research to come up with their 'genius' ideas.

 

"The blindness of blind variation and selective retention (BVSR) merely means that ideas are produced without foresight into their eventual utility. The creator must engage in trial-and-error or generate-and-test procedures to determine the worth of an idea. Two common phenomena characterise BVSR thinking: superfluity and backtracking. Superfluity means that the creator generates a variety of ideas, one or more of which turn out to be useless. Backtracking signifies that the creator must often return to an earlier approach after blindingly going off in the wrong direction."

 

Now I hope I didn't just lose you there. What this is really telling us is that if we want to create something new, we need to revisit our past failures, be open to creating new ideas without really knowing (or worrying about) where they will take us and allowing ourselves to investigate possibilities.

 

We cannot all be geniuses. It takes pure dedication to the research of new concepts and ideas and continuous questioning and backtracking. I don't know about you, but for me there are not enough hours in the day for this type of creative thinking! Although I would love to be a genius and spend all my waking hours researching and creating new ideas, that is not the direction I will take after reading this article. Instead what this says to me is that we can be the best person we can be by revisiting our past failures and trying, trying again.

 

Original thoughts..... how often do you have them? We need them to see different perspectives. When we see a different perspective, our lives instantly change. Our mind opens to new ways of thinking and we become different people.

 

Thought I would share.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Veronica Wood

 

 

 

 

 

 

What we miss purely by paying attention.

I would like to start this post by asking you to watch this clip. I would like to suggest that you play it at full screen, pay very close attention and follow the instructions.

I first saw this clip whilst watching a TV show called 'Test your Brain'. The documentary points out some very interesting facts about how our mind works and the things we miss whilst paying attention to other things.

How did you go with the clip? Don't worry if you missed it.  I was flawed at the fact that I completely missed it! I was so focused on counting and getting the number right (I can be quite competitive), that there really was no way I would have seen anything else.

 

I am a stickler for being focused and paying attention on the things that are important. But after watching the above clip I now wonder what I am missing around me in the mean time. Well I guess that is the price we pay to secure a memory.

 

"The more attention the brain pays to a given stimulus, the more elaborately the information will be encoded - and retained."
(Medina, J. 2008 brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school, Scribe, Melbourne)

 

That is great for those things we are paying attention to. How do we know what to pay attention to?

According the 'brain rules' we use previous experiences to predict where we should pay attention. This must mean that the more we experience, the better we would be at predicting where we should pay our attention to, right?

I do now wonder what I am missing each time I step outside my door. I wonder if I had actually paid attention to something, would it have changed my experience and therefore my perception of the environment around me? Something to ponder.

 

If you don't expect to see something, you probably won't see it. Remember that it doesn't mean it wasn't there.

Veronica Wood

Think your way to reaching your goals!

 

Do you want to 'think your way to reaching your goals'? I do!

Have you heard of the term 'visualisation'? I have and throughout my life have used it as a tool to get what I want by ensuring that I am as prepared (mentally) as I can possibly be. Visualisation is term used when you visualise (or think about) in detail, something you are preparing for. For example, if you are preparing for an interview (which I have had many!) you think about how you would like the interview to play out. A role play in your mind. I have previously visualised myself in the interview as being calm, that the answers will come naturally and that I come across to the interviewer as confident and capable of the job. The last time I was looking for a job, I had one interview and got it.

It really does work and I am now understanding why.

Get this:

"With mental rehearsal, if we can stay focused, the brain does not know the difference between physically doing the activity and remembering the activity."

(Dispenza, J. 2007 Evolve your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mindc, Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida)

 

So your mind cannot tell the differnce between the actual interview (discussed above), and a mental rehearsal of the interview - but it does take a bit of effort in learning how to do this effectively.

There have been numerous studies from psychologist and scientists to find out exactually what is happening and how this actually works. Below is an experiement which demonstrates it perfectly.

 

Experiment
4 groups of individuals. These groups were asked to participate in a 5 day study where they were to practise the piano. Here is how the groups were organised:

Group  1 - learned, memorised and physically practiced 2hrs a day, a one handed, five finger sequence;

Group 2 - physically played the piano with no instructions and randomly practiced for the same period of time;

Group 3 - never physically touched a piano. This group observed group one until they understood what was being learned, and then mentally rehearsed it for the same length of time (2hrs each day);

Group 4 - was the control group - this group did not learn, practise or observe the lessons. They did nothing at all.

 

At the end of the 5 day study (and some intense testing), they found that the group that mentally rehearsed only (Group 3), "showed almost the same changes, involving expansion and development of neural networks in the same specific area of their brain, as the group who physically practised the sequences on the piano." Group 2, even though they practised the piano, showed very limited changes to their neural networks.

 

The below image shows the new neural circuits being established. The top level - Physical practice (Group 1) and the bottom level - Mental practice (Group 3):

 

 

This demonstrates the close relationshiop between doing and thinking an activity. This really is mind blowing! To know that we can change our actual mental capacity just by thinking about it is amazing.

 

For us to benefit from this however, we need to educate ourselves on what it is we want, and how we can achieve it. We need to give our minds the right instructions before it can do the work for us. Think about just how better we could be at something, if we were using both our mind and our body to achieve it.

I will be using what I have learnt about mental rehearsal in the next 10 to 12 months as I will be competing in the Australian Masters Games in 2013.  Here are the steps I will take (and steps you can take to reach your goals) :

Step 1 - Decide on a goal:
I have decided on and set a goal of running the 100 mtrs at the Masters Games;

Step 2 - Educate  yourself on what you need to do:
I will watch loads of videos and educate myself on sprint techniques and running a 100mtr race to show my mind how I want my body to perform. I can then mentally run the race over and over and over exactly how I want it to turn out;

Step 3 - Physically practise:
I will pysically train to teach my body how to run a 100 mtr race so it is familiar with it;

Step 4 - Believe in yourself:
I will tell myself  the following "I am fast", "I will train hard enough to be competitive" "I will do what ever it takes to acheive my goal".


That is my goal (well one of). What is yours? Do you know?

When was the last time you asked yourself these questions

 

"Who do I want to be?"

"What do I have to change about myself to get there?"

"How can I become better?"

"How can I modify my behaviour?"

"What do I have to change about myself to achieve my goals?"

 

Some big questions and quite confronting if you are not used to asking yourself these things. These types of questions are 'open ended' which allows our brain to think outside the square. They create more neural pathways (compared with survival type questions like 'when am I going to eat next?') and without getting too technical, these questions help us to be open to see new possibilities and opportunities. 

 

It is time to get real and get on with what we are really capable of by using our minds to get the most out of this life.

Some more food for thought.

Veronica Wood

Smile.. It really is contagious!

Wouldn't you love it if smiling really was contagious. How easy it would be to surround yourself with happy people! Just smile and everyone is smiling with you.

Well it may really be that easy. Try it! Smile at someone, anyone, and see what happens. You can be pretty well guaranteed that you will get a smile back! We can actually transfer our moods to others.

Have a read of this:

"Emotions are contagious. We catch feelings from one another as though they were some kind of social virus....How does this magical transmission occur? The most likely answer is that we unconsciously imitate the emotions we see displayed by someone else, through an out-of-awareness motor mimicry of their facial expression, gestures, tone of voice and other nonverbal markers of emotion. Through this imitation people re-create in themselves the mood of the other person."
'Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ'

 

This is really cool stuff! We all have the ability to make someone else's day just by smiling. How? Psychologists have proved that smiling can instantly lift your spirits, and if we lift our spirits, we are lifting those around us.

Now to the technical stuff. I am really fascinated with how the body actually does this. It does this through an unconscious release of dopamine when we smile:

"When we smile, fake or real, the contractions of the facial muscles slightly distorts the shape of the thin facial bones.  This slight distortion in their shape leads to an increase in blood flow into the frontal lobes of the brain and increases in the release of dopamine (Iwase et al., 2002, Neuroimage 17:758).  As a result, walking around all day with a smile on your face will bias your mood to be happier. Not only will you be happier but your smile might spontaneously induce the release of dopamine in someone else's brain—now that truly demonstrates the power of a smile."

© Gary L. Wenk, Ph.D. Author of Your Brain on Food (Oxford, 2010)

How amazing is that! We don't even have to think about it. We all know how to smile! We just have to do it.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Smiling is a universal sign of happiness and is the most easily recognisable facial expression. There really is no excuse for not communicating this way.

Smile - this simple physical change will brighten your mood and the moods of others around you.

~Veronica Wood~

Subconscious Influences...

Are we influenced by things even when we are not aware of it? Do we take on board characteristics, traits and/or personalities of the people we surround ourselves with? Absolutely.

I live by a saying I heard a long time ago - 'You are who your friends are'. If you surround yourself with people who drag you down and drain you of energy, you will start to feel the same.

As you know, I am reading the book 'Emotional Intellegence' by Daniel Goleman and as with most of my posts, I read something that inspired to me write. The chapter discusses the social behaviour between two brothers, one 5 and one 2.5. The basic gist of this part of the chapter is that when the eldest brother gets into trouble with his Mother, the youngest tries to console him, using techniques he has learned from experiences over his short 2.5 years. When the Mother has had a gut full, she says to the 5 year old "Do you want me to smack you?"  The 2.5 year old (also not getting anywhere with his own techniques) says to his older brother "Stop crying Len. Smack your bottom!" Hmmm I wonder where he got that from?

The 2.5 year old "is able to draw on a large repertoire of tactics, ranging from a simple plea, to seeking an ally in his mother (no help, she), to physically comforting him, to lending a helping hand, to distraction, threats, and direct commands."

 

From such a young age, we are like sponges, learning from what we see, hear, feel and experience. The young child above has used what he has seen and experienced in his extremely short time on this planet, and has already used this to console his brother. Amazing for a 30 month year old!

 

As we grow older, we are still influenced by everything around us. We may respond differently then others due to our own experiences, but we are being influenced whether we like it none the less.

 

Take this as an example. Have you ever noticed that if you spend a lot of time with someone who always says "like", you actually start to say it? Sometimes you don't even notice you are doing it until someone else picks you up on it. It has somehow got into your mind and into your English repertoire without you consciously thinking about it. It just gets in there!

 

There are so many things that can influence us as people. Take a look at the below diagram:

 

 

This diagram shows us a number of different social circles whereby we interact. We are all involved in most of these circles and therefore are influenced by them. Our interactions from these social circles build the experiences we store in our minds and are later used to create our perceptions in future interactions and experiences. Therefore the way we are influenced in these settings will dictate how we react in later situations. That is how important it is.

 

 

We are all a work in progress. It is never to late to build on the person you are to better yourself. It just takes conscious consideration to choose with whom we interact with and who and what we surround ourselves with.

 

As humans we are incredible mimickers. I think the lesson in this one is to surround yourself with people you look up to, can learn from and are happy to mimic subconsciously.

 

 

Veronica Wood

 

Pandora's Box

Do you know the story of Pandora's box? To be honest, I have never really known what is with that box but have heard that opening it is never a good thing!

I read the following paragraph which gave me inspiration for this post:

"As the familiar legend has it, Pandora, a princess of ancient Greece, was given a gift, a mysterious box, by gods jealous of her beauty. She was told she must never open the gift. But one day, overcome by curiosity and temptation, Pandora lifted the lid to peek in, letting loose in the world the grand afflictions - disease, malaise, madness. But a compassionate god let her close the box just in time to capture the one antidote that makes life's misery bearable: hope."

'Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ'

The chapter this came from is all about the power of positive thinking and the difference between optimists and pessimists. Optimists are the forever hopeful and positive, and achieve their goals more often than pessimists.

On reflection of this, I would really like to know if you can motivate a pessimist the same way as an optimist? An optimist is more likely to seek answers and alternatives to problems, however if this is not they way of the pessimist, how does one encourage change?

Another question that comes to mind - 'Are people hardwired one way or the other?' If we are hardwired as a pessimist, is change possible? Can a pessimist learn to incorporate hope into their world and see life as an optimist? I would hate to think that once a pessimist always a pessimist.

So how will I find this out? Something for me to ponder a little while.

Veronica Wood

Wisdom Literature

Wisdom Literature.... hmmm

I was reading through some notes I had scribbled down, ideas and motivations, and I had written down the phrase 'Wisdom Literature'.

I am looking for a classification for my book and I think this just might be it.

So what is Wisdom and what is Wisdom Literature. Here is a start:

"Wisdom is the conscious understanding of how we can create any experience at will. Wisdom can also result when we learn from an undesirable experience by understanding what we did to produce that outcome, so that we no longer create that event over again. Evolution is the wisdom from understanding the feelings we have created, based on what we have learned, demonstrated, and then experienced."

(Dispenza, J. 2007, Evolve your Brain: The science of changing your mind, Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida)

So is knowledge and experience the highway to wisdom? Or do we need to be hardwired to be wise?

What will be important for me when writing my book is to communicate that we have the power (now) to achieve anything at will, regardless of our dispositions. Our minds are malleable and with each new thought and experience we create a new way of thinking and with a new way of thinking, comes a new you.

I imagine my book explaining how this works from a scientific cellular level but in layman's terms. I want to write in a way that everyone can understand, learn from and enjoy.

To gain wisdom you need to take risks. Risks create experience - experience creates knowledge - knowledge with experience creates wisdom. Next time you are wondering whether to or not - take the risk.

~Veronica Wood~



Being inspired is thought provoking!

Firstly the title of this post came to me about two nights ago in bed. I have my phone next to me and when I have a thought that will promote inspiration, I write it down in a little note pad app. This one is perfect for this post.

I had no idea what I would write about next, until I was reading on the tram on the way home and read this paragraph:

"...The sadness that a loss brings has certain invariable effects: it closes down our interest in diversions and pleasures, fixes attention on what has been lost, and saps our energy for starting new endeavours - at least for the time being. In short, it enforces a kind of reflective retreat from life's busy pursuits, and leaves us in a suspended state to mourn the loss, mull over its meaning, and, finally, make the psychological adjustments and new plans that will allow our lives to continue."

'Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ'

Now you may wonder how the title of my blog and this quote actually fit together and I guess that is the beauty of inspiration. It can come from anywhere.

The paragraph above inspired me to write and inspired me to think.

The mind is incredible. It has it's own agenda and control when it really needs to. When we lose someone for example, the mind takes over the body and gives us the tools we need unconsciously to deal with the situation. We are born with survival mechanisms which take over instinctively when needed. I love that.

As much as I learn how to control the mind to get the most out of life, I am happy to allow my mind to guide me when I really need it.



Allow yourself to feel what you feel. A little insight to you - a bit of self awareness. Only then can you challenge your thoughts and feelings and begin to create that person you really inspire to be.

~Veronica Wood~

Aristotle - he made so much sense!

 

You know what? I really like this man. He just makes sense to me.

My book will probably have a bit to say about Aristotle - a few phrases and sayings - he really does inspire me. He can come across pretty intense, but he provokes thought and that is what I like.

One of my favourite quotes:

"Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy."

~Aristotle~

 

 

I think we can all learn something from this.

 

How do we control our emotions so we are only angry with the right person, at the right time in the right way?

 

One way is by being self aware. Self awareness can be difficult, and this will definitely be a topic in my book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veronica Wood



 

 

Where to start....

So, I have writers block and I haven't even started!

Ok not really. What I really meant was WHERE DO I START?
 

I have spent a bit of time thinking about the title and structure of this book so I will start there. I know that these things will all be worked out in time, but I thought I would jot some ideas down nonetheless.
 

My blog is titled Colour your Canvas. I love this title and to me has plenty of meaning but is this a good enough title for my book? You know what? I don't think so and here is what I have learnt:
 

Firstly, the title does not clearly state what the book is about. I know what it means, and it is obvious to me, but we can never assume that anyone else can interpret it the same way (or if they can interpret it at all). We all come from different backgrounds, have had different experiences and therefore relate to most things differently. Hence that title would mean very little to most people. Damn!

Secondly, human beings are attracted to things they can easily recognise, understand and things that provoke feeling. They are also attracted to what is familiar and comfortable. The title Colour your Canvas would not provoke any of this for most people.

Therefore the title will definitely take some work.
 

Now the title is only one part (a very important one) but the book needs to be attractive and demand someone's attention when they pick it up. It needs an image! What sort of image? What is appealing? Apparently we pay attention to many different things:
 

"We pay a lot of attention to colour. We pay lots of attention to orientation. We pay lots of attention to size. And we pay special attention if the object is in motion."

(Medina, J. 2008 brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school, Scribe, Melbourne, pg 237)

 

 

I can definitely add colour, orientation and size. Not too sure I could have a moving title page but hey - if it can be done, I will probably look into it :)

I have been thinking about starting this book for over 2 years, but I feel this is now the beginning. I have worked out where I will draw my creative inspiration from - the research books I read - and then write the content based on scientific research, my own intuition on the subject and offer motivational guidance drawn from all this information. Biting off more than I can chew? ABSOLUTELY!

 
 

“Goals are there to challenge us, not to limit us”

~Veronica Wood~

 

Let the journey begin...

It has been a long time between posts. I have changed jobs 3 times and moved twice since I posted last. Never a dull moment in my life let me tell you!

Hubby and I now live in Melbourne. We moved from the Sunshine Coast, a very sleepy part of Queensland to the food (and culture) capital of Australia! This is where the energy is and it brings inspiration to everything you do.

I believe your surroundings make you or break you. I want to inspire, and to do that, need to be inspired :).

We have been in Melbourne now since the 15th August (2012) and are feeling really settled. Love our little apartment and our jobs and I can now focus more on writing.

The first part of writing my book will be to research. To read books on the mind and psychology and to analyse and create thought based on what I read. I have read two books so far - Evolve your Brain by Dr Joe Dispenza and Brain Rules by John Medina. I am onto my third (Emotional Intelligence - Why it can matter more than IQ) but decided to start analysing the first two in the meantime.

I will be using my blog as a bit of a writing pad, to jot thoughts down, and to use as scribble paper as the beginnings of my book.

It will either be interesting reading or a little hard to understand as I fumble my way through writing my first book.

Welcome to my journey.

My personal best is all I expect from myself. Why would I settle for anything less.

~Veronica Wood~

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog... Colour your Canvas. This blog is here to inspire you, the reader, to learn how to create great things for your life. I also intend on using this blog as a way to assist me in writing my book, a book that will be truly motivational on many different levels.

My book will be a collection of my own aphorisms (motivational sayings) together with scientific explanations on how the sayings can actually change your life (for the better) if you believe in them. The mind is an incredible tool, when you know how to use it.

This book will be different to all other motivational books out there. It will combine my passion to inpsire and motivate others, with my passion of psychology, the mind and its gift to us when we know how to tap into it. There is reason behind everything and this book will explain how believing in these things can actually physically and emotionally change your life.

My book will have a scientific approach but will be written for all to understand and enjoy.

This will be a challenging task but one which will provide inspiration both to you and me.

My goal is to have my book finished and published (self published at first) by the time I am 40. I have 3.5yrs! I do not underestimate how long this will take and there is a lot of research to do and a lot of reading to do (and I am no speed reader!).

 Thank you for joining me in this journey :)

Your happiness is entirely up to you. Don't wait for or rely on anyone else to provide this. It takes just one action - expect nothing else... but happiness.

~Veronica Wood~