Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning

• Unlocking the Power of Persuasion, Time Management, and Change: PART 3 Chapters 10-13 (Grant Bosnick)

  Welcome back to Season 13 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! In this episode, we explore Part 3 of our review of Grant Bosnick's book on self-leadership, focusing on Chapters 10 to 13. Discover how the latest neuroscience research can enhance your skills in persuasion, time management, change, and agility. Dive deep into the nuances of persuasion and influence, learn effective time management techniques, understand the brain's response to change, and enhance your mental and physical agility. Join us as we uncover insightful strategies to apply in your leadership journey. And we will now resume PART 3 of our 4-PART review, to sum up last year, 2024, and our entire year studying one book, Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year. We began with PART 1[ii] and the first 5 chapters of the book. PART 2[iii] we reviewed chapters 6-9 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, and today, PART 3, today, we will review chapters 10-13. We will finish with PART 4, Chapters 14-16 after we release our FIRST interview of 2025, coming next weekend.                                                                                  ((On today's EPISODE #357 PART 3 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we will cover)): ✔ EP 336 Chapter 10[iv]“The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” ✔ EP 337 Chapter 11[v] “The Neuroscience of Time Management” ✔ EP 339 Chapter 12[vi] “The Neuroscience of Change” ✔ EP 342 Chapter 13[vii]    “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility” If you have not yet taken the leadership self-assessment, or if you would like to re-take it to see if the results are different for you than last year, you can click the link here to find the quick test. I re-took the assessment for 2025, and did notice some similarities and some differences. See what you notice about yourself. I noticed that pathways 2 and 3 are my high areas of focus this year, and that I can drop pathway 6 from my focus. What about you? If you have a few minutes to spare, take this leadership self-assessment again, and see if you notice any changes in your areas of focus for 2025. Did any of your pathways shift for you, since last year? This is an incredible way to be laser focused on pathways that will move the needle of success for YOU this year. ✔ EP 336 Chapter 10 “The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” On this episode, we looked at Jack Carew’s classic book from 1987 called You’ll Never Get No For an Answer that was covered on EP 176.[viii] Carew looked at the unique strategies that American Author and Salesman Og Mandino encouraged us all to read to improve our communication and influence with others and I noticed that Strategy 2 was to stop looking out for number one and always look for how you can help others first. So, after noticing this, I went straight to Chapter 10 of Grant Bosnick’s book, on “Persuade and Influence” to see what he had to say on this topic. Right off the bat, in the opening of this chapter, Bosnick asks us to think about how we would persuade someone else to do something, like give you a pen you would like to have, for example, or ask for a promotion, or ask someone to do something you would like them to do. Then he differentiates the word persuade that he says “we can think of as quick, more direct, more for short-term or immediate gain” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) while influence he says “is softer, more subtle, much more for longer term and lasting gain.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) Persuasion Bosnick says is “more tactical, whereas influence is strategic.”  He gives us the history of persuasion, explaining its origin from the early Greek Philosophers, and that Aristotle wrote about three modes of persuasion: logos (that’s about logic and reason), pathos (that’s about emotion and inspiration) and ethos (that’s about the speaker’s own character and credibility). Thinking of Jack Carew’s second tip in his book to improve our influence with others (by putting other people first) I think is a good example of a strategy that builds this concept for long-lasting gain (influence) versus persuading someone to give me something that I need for short-term, or immediate gain (like, to pass me their pen, so I can write down something important that I’ll need to remember).  I want to build influence with others, that’s long-term, that I think includes logic and reason (logos), emotion and inspiration (pathos) and a person’s character and credibility (ethos). All 3 of the modes of persuasion, to me, make up longer term influence with someone. We learned on this episode that “There are 6 short cuts to increase the chances that someone will be persuaded or even better, influenced by us” (Robert Cialdini) We covered the first three is Robert Cialdini’s book: 1. Reciprocity: We are obliged to give back, if we have been given something. Use the neuroscience of influence and persuasion, and think of ways to help others first, instead of thinking what you can gain from other people, think of what you can give to them. Always be the first to give and take the time to make sure what you are giving is actually useful to that person. This way, what you will give will have meaning to that person. 2. Scarcity. If something is scarce, we want it more. Use this by highlighting the Benefits, Uniqueness and Possible sense of Loss. Take the time to find out how what you are offering to someone else, will help them. You will need to find out what they are looking for to do this, by asking questions, and listening. Then you can “frame what you are saying/offering, so others will find it to be valuable”[ix] especially if it is something that is difficult to come by, or scarce. 3. Authority. We are more likely to comply with a request if it is coming from a perceived authority/expert. Being introduced by others FIRST is a fast way to have others learn about your expertise, making you instantly more influential and persuasive, rather than you introducing yourself. My take-away from this episode: If I want to improve my influence, it begins with understanding the wants and needs of others first (how can I help them) and then being able to say what I mean, and mean what I say. The words I speak do matter when I’m working on gaining influence.  If I’m speaking with someone, and not being completely honest, or not meaning what I say, I know that this can be felt by the other person, and it will hurt my ability to gain trust, rapport and influence. Our brains really can detect “benefits and threats”[x] and I want to be sure that I’m drawing those I want to interact with towards me, not away from me. Once I have gained influence with someone I am speaking with, then I can take my persuasion skills to the next level, and we can begin to work together on our common goals. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH ✔ EP 337 Chapter 11 “The Neuroscience Behind Effective Time Management” This topic we covered early on our podcast, with a video from author Kent Healy, who wrote Success Principles for Teens[xi] that he co-authored with Jack Canfield. Kent created a video for me (many years ago) that we used with students in the classroom, and I featured this video on EP 33[iv] of our podcast that was called “Time Management, the Greatest Asset We Have” and Kent gives a perspective to the amount of time we have, in a way that 15 years later, I’ve still not forgotten his words in this video recording. You can watch Kent’s explanation of “time management”[xii] with the visuals that he provided, reminding us that “we all have the same amount of time” and he even breaks it down and tells us how many seconds we have every day (84,600 seconds to be exact) every day. While ALL the experts agree that we can’t create more time, or change this number, some will say we can use our time to generate more of something else (like energy) but Kent’s message was about using this time (these 84,600 seconds we have each day wisely) and focus on what we can control, and that’s our personal growth. He gives an example of adding just 15 extra minutes a day towards learning something new, and that adds up to 3.8 full days a year, and asks us to think of what value we put on 15 minutes of time. I loved Kent’s point of view, and always respect people who use their time wisely. Then we looked at the Neuroscience of Time Management and learned that our chronotype “the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time or what people understand as being an early bird versus a night owl”[xiii] should be factored into our Time Management Strategy. We learned that “For those people who go to bed around 9:30pm-11:30pm and wake in the window of 6am-8am that there tends to be an increase in (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, 0-8 hours after waking, which leads to increases in alertness, attention and focus that are great for analytical work, great for implementation of strategies that you already understand.” Dr. Andrew Huberman with Guest Dr. Adam Grant As we are thinking about the best strategies to manage our activities, projects, the extra time that Kent Healy thinks should go to self-improvement, or even the roles we have in our personal and professional lives, in order to have access to this extra energy, and creative thinking, we will want to plan our “deep” work 0-8 hours after waking (if our chronotype is the wake up early type). So, be sure you understand your own chronotype, and factor the science into your time management strategy. This made me think of Grant Bosnick’s Top Energy Drainers: Procrastination Saying Yes to Everything The Perfectionist With this extra energy, and creative thinking, (from better managing our time) I suggested to put it all into creative prolific quality work (the perfectionist in me). I thought, why not use the extra energy to combat against procrastination, while protecting our time by saying no to everything, (at first). I know we can always come back to projects that you would like to do, that have meaning to you, but by truly managing our energy and activities, we are protecting this commodity that we all have in the same amounts: time. This episode also make me think that those 84,600 seconds that Kent Healy reminded me that we all have each day, and how 15 minutes a day (that adds up to 3.8 days/year) can be used even more wisely with this understanding of The Neuroscience of Time Management. Think About These Questions: Do you value your time? Do you value other people’s time? Do you think 15 minutes of time really matters? I will also add, have you ever thought of the impact of counting time, down to the amount of seconds that we have each day? How important is 20 seconds of your time? OR, 20 seconds of someone else’s time? REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 339 Chapter 12 “The Neuroscience of Change” On this EP we looked at two examples of what happens to our brain when we see something our brain wasn’t expecting, like a breathtaking view, or when we land the promotion we worked so hard to achieve, Bosnick explains “we feel like we got a reward. It’s a rush. We get a sensation in our brain and a hit of the big neurochemicals” dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, norephinephrine, adrenaline.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). However, on the other hand, when we see a bear in the woods, (or snake on the hiking trails), or we are overlooked for a promotion at work, our brain actually sees this “like it’s a threat. We feel tense, stressed, pressure…our body physically feels it.” We learned that “Neuroscience has shown us, that the feeling we get from a social or emotional threat (like being passed over for the promotion) is the same as the feeling we get from a physical threat (like seeing a bear or a snake). When we see how our brain interprets “everything and everyone we meet as either a reward or a threat” we can better understand “how our body reacts, (and) our brain and mind think, (leading) to the decisions, behaviors and actions we make.” (Page 132, Ch 12, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). Next on this EP, we reviewed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that led to “Self-Determination Theory” around the year 2000 where researchers found that there were “three physiological needs: the need for Competence (feeling valued for our knowledge, skills and experience), the need for Relatedness (collaborating, connecting or serving others) and the need for Autonomy (being able to exercise self-regulation…to achieve our goals.” (Page 133, Ch 12, Bosnick). We learned that when our ACRES are being met, (our autonomy, competence, relatedness, equity, and sureness) it will put us in a toward state and we will fully embrace everything ahead of us; (but) if our ACRES are threatened, it will put us in an “away state” and will then resist or block things ahead of us. Looking at Bosnick’s ACRES example, we examined a work experience in our past, that we did not enjoy, to see where it went against the ACRES Model of Needs. With brain science in mind, we can gain more understanding of why we either enjoyed, or didn’t enjoy this experience. It all led back to how our brain either interprets the experience as a reward, or a threat. We also looked at triggers to be aware of to mitigate threat, during times of change. Finally, we looked at how to change our nervous system, to change our actions and behaviors, so we can leave behind a legacy (or fossil record as Dr. Huberman calls it) that we are proud of. We learned that “Agitation and strain is the entry point to neuroplasticity” Dr. Huberman This is when lasting CHANGE is happening at the brain level, and impacting our entire nervous system. So when we are working on something, (like trying to learn something new…like understanding the neuroscience of change for this episode) and that limbic friction feeling comes up, (and I’m annoyed or agitated) when something just doesn’t click.  I now have a deeper understanding of what’s happening at the brain level after this EP. I will now push forward, stay positive and lean into the change that I know is happening in my brain, as I embrace the change that comes with doing difficult work. The Neuroscience of Change is an exciting topic, and it’s only going to be strengthened with the next two topics, Agility and Resilience.   REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 342 Chapter 13   “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility” Which leads us to the final EP of our review today. “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility” Before I even review this EP, I thought of something I saw on Twitter/X this morning that caught my attention. It was a post from Chris S Cornell whose handle is @BiggestComeback and he was talking about his first attempt to run a mile, with a kettlebell. He faced some criticism for this post, as some said it was “dangerous” but mentioned that he thought that “spending your life on the couch with a remote in one hand and a beer in the other is far more dangerous.”[xiv] (Chris Cornell) While this pathway came out as a low priority for me last year, and this year, I have to say, it’s definitely NOT an area I leave off to the side. I’m always looking to see how I can push my mind or body, just a bit past where I’m comfortable, and when life is difficult, this is actually where I thrive. While I don’t think I could run a mile with a kettle bell, I did run 7 miles today with a 16 pound weighted vest. I really do believe in the mind/body connection and that by doing things that are difficult, we strengthen the brain. We did dive deeper into this concept on EP 344[xv] with “The Neuroscience of Resilience” that we will review next time, but we uncovered that by doing difficult things, we increase the size of a part of our brain called the anterior midcingulate cortex. (Dr. Andrew Huberman). I do difficult things because I want to improve my mental and physical strength, and in turn, increase the size of this important part in my brain that Dr. Huberman says “is not just the seat of willpower…but scientists think it holds the secret in the will to live.” If you are like me, and enjoy doing difficult things, you will enjoy when we looked at three terms from the book Antifragile by N Taleb[xvi] where the author says there are three types of systems, organizations or people. The fragile: which is like an egg and breaks under stress. No one wants to be labeled as fragile. The robust: which is like a phoenix, when destroyed comes back exactly as it was before. This is a step in the right direction, but who wants to emerge from challenge the same as before? The antifragile: gets stronger from uncertainty—like the Hydra from the Greek myth where you cut off one head, two grows back in its place. It gets stronger from the sudden change. We learned that when we face challenges, changes and stressors, we want to become antifragile in the process so that we grow from adversity, and become stronger in the process. While we did go deep into the stressors and triggers that can stop our course of action, Bosnick suggested that we rate our stressors (from a list he provided to jog our minds), on a scale of 1-5. Then he reminds us of the three types of people, showing us how we can and most definitely will grow from adversity, sustaining our peak performance, and finally what we want to take away from this chapter is how to “train our brain to be antifragile in order to be more agile in the moment when we face challenges or stressors.” (Chapter 13, Bosnick, Page 149) I don’t think that running a mile with a kettle bell is for me (even if a part of me wonders how far I could go before I would lose the grip of something that heavy), I will continue to challenge my mind, as we learned from our most downloaded series, The Silva Method that “Once we learn to use our mind (to train it) it will do some astounding things, as you will soon see.” REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH   REVIEW and CONCLUSION: To review and conclude this week’s episode #357 on PART 3 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we covered a review of the strategies that can help us to implement each concept, from chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13. EPISODE #357 PART 3 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we will cover: ✔ EP 336 Chapter 10[xvii]“The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” ✔ EP 337 Chapter 11[xviii] “The Neuroscience of Time Management” ✔ EP 339 Chapter 12[xix] “The Neuroscience of Change” ✔ EP 342 Chapter 13[xx]     “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility”   We will see you next time, with our PART 4, our final part in this review. Stay tuned as we launch our interview series, with NEW inspiring interviews with experts who are working deeply with the most current neuroscience research. See you next week!   REFERENCES:   [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #355 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 1 (Grant Bosnick) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-self-leadership-with-neuroscience/   [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #356 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 2 (Grant Bosnick)https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-secrets-of-self-leadership-chapters-6-to-9-review/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-science-of-persuasion-and-influence/   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #337 “The Neuroscience of Time Management”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-time-the-neuroscience-behind-effective-time-management/   [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 339 “The Neuroscience of Change”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/embracing-change-the-neuroscience-behind-thriving-in-2024/   [vii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 342  “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-mental-and-physical-agility-strategies-for-self-leadership/   [viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #176 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-communication-why-our-brain-doesn-t-like-the-word-no/   [ix] The Neuroscience of Influence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5CZ2AXT1o   [x] The Neuroscience of Influence Leadership Coaching by Dean Newlund https://mfileadership.com/2021/01/27/the-neuroscience-of-influence/   [xi] Success Principles for Teens by Jack Canfield and Kent Healy April 15, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Success-Principles-Teens-Where-Want/dp/0757307272   [xii] Author Kent Healy on “Time Management: Our Greatest Asset” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ibHzu751I   [xiii] Chronotypes Definition https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes#:~:text=Chronotype%20is%20the%20natural%20inclination,bird%20versus%20a%20night%20owl.   [xiv] https://x.com/BiggestComeback/status/1895906308785615336   [xv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #344 “The Neuroscience of Resilience: Building Stronger Minds and Teams” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-resilience-building-stronger-minds-and-teams/   [xvi] Antifragile by Nassim Taleb Published Jan. 28, 2014 https://www.amazon.com/Antifragile-Things-That-Disorder-Incerto/dp/0812979680   [xvii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unlocking-the-science-of-persuasion-and-influence/   [xviii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #337 “The Neuroscience of Time Management”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-time-the-neuroscience-behind-effective-time-management/   [xix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 339 “The Neuroscience of Change”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/embracing-change-the-neuroscience-behind-thriving-in-2024/   [xx]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 342  “Mastering Mental and Physical Agility” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-mental-and-physical-agility-strategies-for-self-leadership/  

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• Unlocking the Secrets of Self-Leadership: PART 2: Chapters 6 to 9 Review (Grant Bosnick)

  Welcome to Part 2 of our in-depth review of Grant Bosnick's 'Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.' In this episode, we delve into the significance of hydration for brain health, discovering 'aha' moments through creative insights, and the influential power of expectations on our well-being and success. We also explore the neuroscience behind staying mentally strong and regulate emotions effectively through improved sleep patterns. Join us as we unravel these fascinating research-backed strategies to enhance your self-leadership skills. Welcome back to SEASON 13 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives. And we will now resume PART 2 of our 4-PART review, to sum up last year, 2024, and our entire year studying one book, Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year.  Last week, we began with PART 1[ii] and the first 5 chapters of the book. Today we will review chapters 6-9 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership. ((On today's EPISODE #356 PART 2 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we will cover)): ✔ EP 327 Chapter 6[iii] “The Hydrated Brain” ✔ EP 330 Chapter 7[iv]“Aha Moments, Creative Insights/the Brain” ✔ EP 333 Chapter 8[v] “Exploring the Power of Expectations” ✔ EP 335 Chapter 9[vi] “The Neuroscience Behind Staying Strong and Clear-Headed” If you have not yet taken the leadership self-assessment, or if you would like to re-take it to see if the results are different for you than last year, you can click the link here to find the quick test.   Self-Assessment Results 2024 vs 2025 I re-took the assessment for 2025, and did notice some similarities and some differences. See what you notice about yourself. I noticed that pathways 2 and 3 are my high areas of focus this year, and that I can drop pathway 6 from my focus. What about you? If you have a few minutes to spare, take this leadership self-assessment again, and see if you notice any changes in yourself for 2025. Did any of your pathways of focus shift since last year? REMEMBER: We are either moving forward into growth, or backwards to safety. (Abraham Maslow). EP 327 Chapter 6 “The Hydrated Brain”   For this episode, I remember wondering how on the earth can we narrow the focus of this topic of health and wellness that Bosnick covers thoroughly in Chapter 6? Dr. Peter Attia[vii], a Canadian-American physician, known for his medical practice that focuses on the science of longevity, says that “exercise might be the most potent “drug” we have for extending the quality and perhaps quantity of our years of life.” He created a rule that he thought would help narrow this focus and it was called “Attia’s Rule”[viii] where he suggests that can’t even talk about this topic, unless you have reached a certain level of health yourself. I agree, as this is one area we have been focused on this podcast, and I notice that as I strengthen one area, I lose sight of another. It’s an ongoing quest for balance, and I wouldn’t say I’ve mastered the balance yet. We dove deep into Attia’s Rule on our EP back in October 2022, “Using Neuroscience to Improve Fitness, Longevity and Overall Health.”[ix] Dr. Attia says that nutrition and health arguments are a waste of your time until you’ve completed a certain set of criteria. He says don’t bother defending this topic unless you can: Dead hang for a minute (try this! I honestly thought I was going to die when I did this 2 years ago). I’m not sure I could do it today with the signs of osteoporosis showing up in my fingers (and noticeable when I type). Wall sit for two minutes. (This wasn’t difficult for me the fact that I regularly hit the hiking trails). Have a VO2 max of at least 75th percentile for your age group. (Mine is showing 37 right now which was the same as it was in 2022. Interesting that I’m hiking less these days, but have kept the same VO2 max). I think it’s important to notice just how vast this topic of health and wellness really is. We mentioned the Top 6 Health Staples[x] on our last episode, that we created back in 2020 when our podcast took a turn towards mental and physical health and wellness, (that we just can’t escape) and I wasn’t surprised to see Stanford Professor Dr. Andrew Huberman post on Twitter/X that he would like to see a Superbowl Commercial promoting healthy habits. The time for mental and physical health is here, and we cannot deny the connection between the two. We met Dr. Bruce Perry on EP 168[xi] where we dove into his famous book What Happened to You, that he co-authored with Oprah, and the last Kindle book I purchased was Gabor Mate’s When the Body Says No: The Hidden Costs of Stress[xii] When I look back at why I chose to highlight “The Hydrated Brain” I honestly think it was because this topic is so vast. Hydration is something that might be emphasized with athletes, but it wasn’t something anyone had emphasized with me (unless they were connected to the sports world). To narrow this topic of health and wellness down a bit, did YOU know that keeping our brain hydrated helps us with: Improving concentration and cognition Helping to balance our mood and emotions Maintaining a good memory Boosting our brain’s reaction time Increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain Preventing and relieving headaches Reducing stress Grant Bosnick shared with us in this chapter: “That our brain is 75% water and when our brain is functioning on a full reserve of water, we will be able to think faster, be more focused and experience greater clarity and creativity?” (Chapter 6, Bosnick). Grant reminds us that “everyone is unique and needs different amounts of water per day (but suggests) an adequate intake for men is roughly around 3 liters (100 fluid ounces) a day, (and) for women it’s about 2.2 liters (74 fluid ounces) a day. What do you think? Could you improve your water intake? Just by thinking about ways to improve our brain health, we will over time begin to move the needle in the direction of physical health and wellness, which was the concept that Grant wanted us to uncover in Chapter 6. This is just one small idea, (in this HUGE topic) but if we can tackle one idea at a time, we will move in the direction of health and wellness. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 330 Chapter 7 “Aha Moments, Creative Insights/the Brain” This pathway #3 came out as MEDIUM importance (orange score) for me, alongside mindfulness and flow last year, but this year, this is my second highest pathway of focus. Look to see where pathway 3 showed up for you last  year, and if it’s different for you this year. What I loved about Grant Bosnick’s book is that he opens up chapter 7 with a story of how insight was used by an organization to help solve the problem with the high number of babies that were dying within a month of their birth, specifically in developing countries.  This organization he wrote about, solved this specific problem using a thought process that took insight using “materials and human resources that could be used to address this issue” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) by building incubators made out of Toyota cars that were readily available in these developing areas. Instead of using their analytical mind and thinking “how do we get more incubators to these areas” someone on their team used insight and creativity to come up with the best solution to use the resources they had readily available to them, locally. So how do we think up these creative ideas? Grant asks us to ponder where we have our best ideas. In the shower? While exercising? At your desk while doing work? Just before falling asleep or waking up? While walking or hiking? While taking with a friend? Grant suggests that few people will come back with “at their desk while working” since this type of creativity involves breaking away from the analytical, thinking mind, and tapping into our “nonconscious” (Chapter 7, Bosnick) part of our brain. It was here I had to look deeper into how this type of thinking happens, and I found the fascinating book, The Eureka Factor: AHA Moments, Creative Insight and the Brain by John Kounios and Mark Beeman. If you want to dive deeper into the science behind insight and creativity, I highly suggest reading this book. I wanted to know HOW to create these “AHA” Moments at will, not by chance and this is what these two cognitive neuroscientists who wrote this book, set out to do. Their goal of writing this book was to “explain how these Eureka experiences happen—and how to have more of them to enrich our lives and empower personal and professional success.” (The Eureka Factor). In the very beginning pages of The Eureka Factor, we learn that “insight is creative” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman) and when the authors went on to define “what creativity is” they suggest to not define it (yet) since “everyone intuitively recognizes creativity when he or she sees it” (Page 9, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman). I thought back to when we covered “Improving Creativity” on PART 4 of The Silva Method[xiii] on ((“Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces”)) and we tapped into Dr. Andrew Huberman’s research on creativity here. Dr. Huberman explains that “when we see something that’s truly creative, it reveals something to us about the natural world and about how our brains work….It must reveal something that surprises us” for it to be truly creative. So, going back to The Eureka Factor, John Kounios suggests that “creative insight is not an exotic type of thought reserved for the few. In fact, (he says) it’s one of the few abilities that define our species….most humans—have insights. It’s a basic human ability.” (Page 11, The Eureka Factor, Kounios and Beeman). While reading further into The Eureka Factor, I came across an image that helped to explain this idea so we can ALL improve our ability to generate new and creative insights that will empower our personal and professional lives. IMAGE CREDIT: The Eureka Factor (Kounios, Beeman) Page 24 If someone were to ask me “Where do I begin to improve my ability to create NEW insights in my life?” I would say, start here: STEP 1: Go somewhere quiet and think.  We’ve mentioned a few times on this podcast that “Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to think, but it requires more effort to do so”[xiv] (Wallace D. Wattles). I recently heard Professor Hod Lipson[xv] from Columbia University, speaking about the future with AI, and while his whole presentation was forward-thinking, eye opening and brilliant, what caught my attention the most was when he mentioned that while working with students with AI and robotics, the hardest part for them was to come up with a name for their robot, because he said “it takes a lot of effort to be creative.” Take the time needed for this process. STEP 2: You might think you are stuck, and like the image suggests in the show notes, you might see a brick wall in front of you, metaphorically speaking, but know that there is always a solution to every problem. You just haven’t figured it out yet. It’s here that I share ways I’ve moved past where I’m stuck, and that’s by using The Silva Method. I’m reminded daily that many of our current listeners found us from the first episode we did with this 4-part series that ended with an episode on “How to Be More Creative and Innovative”. When you feel stuck, take a break. STEP 3: Keeping your mood positive, break away from where you feel stuck, and do something that makes you happy. It could be going for a walk, or a hike, or playing tennis like the image from The Eureka Factor. Just break away and divert your attention away from the problem. If you are in a meditative state, just be sure to have positive, elevated emotions flowing through you. Looking at the image in the show notes from The Eureka Factor, we see a person playing tennis. You can use whatever method you want here (The Silva Method of Meditation, your own mindfulness practice, going for a walk) or whatever it is for YOU where you access those feelings of calmness and peace. STEP 4: Be open to new ideas that might pop into your head. Be prepared for ideas that might be completely opposite to how you were originally thinking of solving the problem. We are all different here. Think back to the beginning of this episode, when Grant Bosnick asked us to consider where our creative ideas flow into our minds. Mine come in that time just before I go to sleep, or just as I’m waking up. Others might come in the shower, or while exercising. Be open to NEW ideas coming into your mind, and be ready to write them down. STEP 5: Know that there is much work going on from your unconscious mind. You’ll will become more self-aware in this process. Grant Bosnick lists a few inventions that were developed this way, in chapter 7 on Insight, and I found an article that lists “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, (where) inspiration arrived suddenly”[xvi] to help these inventors move forward with their famous AHA Moments. I personally think it’s amazing how we acquire wisdom. When we suddenly “see” something that escaped us for so long. I can only imagine the room from Grant Bosnick’s opening story when that one person said “why don’t we make incubators out of Toyota cars?” completely shifting what EVERYONE was thinking. We ended this EP with one of my favorite poems from Stewart Edward White who explains how AHA Moments of Learning can change us forever. He writes: “Curious how we acquire wisdom! Over and over again, the same truth is thrust under our very noses. We encounter it in action; we are admonished of it; we read it in the written word. We suffer the experience; we gradually assent to the advice; we approve, intellectually, the written word. But nothing happens inside us. Then, one day, some trivial experience or word or encounter stops us short. A gleam of illumination penetrates the depth of our consciousness. We see! Usually it is but a glimpse; but on rare occasions a brilliant flash reveals truth fully formed. And we marvel that this understanding has escaped us so long.” REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 333 Chapter 8 “Exploring the Power of Expectations” where we will dive into a topic that I mark as high importance in my life, right up with breathing. When I took my self-assessment last year, the topic of expectations showed up as low priority for me to focus. Not because it’s not important to me, but because I’ve already made this topic of high importance. Expectations came out for me in the RED category, with a low score of 8% (last year) along with goals and time management, that I also put high importance with on a daily basis.  This year, pathway 1 came out as an area of MEDIUM focus for me, and I can tell right now, that the area I need to work on is “time management.” If you’ve taken the self-assessment, look to see if Expectations (in pathway 1) are of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. Before looking at Grant Bosnick’s thoughts about the topic of expectations, where he begins chapter 8 by asking us “what did you expect?” I had to do some research first, to see what is already out in the world, and there was a lot out there, on the science behind expectations. DID YOU KNOW: That when our expectations are met or exceeded, this “increases our dopamine levels, which leads to increased happiness and well-being, which helps maximize our performance by setting up the conditions of flow and insight, which leads to more productivity and increased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick) Conversely, did you know that “if our expectations are not met, that it dramatically decreases our dopamine levels, we feel disappointment and stress, resulting in poor performance and decreased confidence?” (Chapter 8, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 84/85). On the EP we went deep into the Science of Expectation, and we looked at a book by David Robson called The Expectation Effect where this author showed us how “our beliefs, in themselves, shape your health and well-being in profound ways, and that learning to reset our expectations (about these issues) can have truly remarkable effects on our health, happiness and productivity.” (David Robson) SOME TIPS ON HOW TO USE THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EXPECTATIONS IN OUR DAILY LIFE: KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M EXPECTING (of myself and others): Understanding the science, helps me to keep my expectations tied to myself, and not others, to avoid disappointment and stress.  I expect to achieve my goals, (by putting in the necessary work) keep myself in good health (physical and mental) and will not just THINK about these expectations, but will do the hard work, take the action necessary to achieve them. This way, I’m not just “thinking” of what I expect to occur, I’m actually doing something with those thoughts. If I’m ever feeling “disappointed” with something in my life, a good question to ask is “what did you expect?” and see if I can backtrack to my thoughts. Was I using the science to flood my brain with dopamine, (with something within my control-that I could take action towards) or not. USE POSITIVE EXPECTATION TO BUILD RESILIENCE FOR A HEALTHIER VERSION OF MYSELF: Understanding the science behind our expectations, and especially David Robson’s work, where we learned that “people with a more positive attitude towards their later years are less likely to develop (certain age-related diseases)” (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) making a strong case for expecting exceptional mental and physical health in the future. Again, it goes without saying that we can’t just “think” ourselves into good health. We need to do the work here in order to expect results to occur. CONTINUE TO EXPECT GOOD THINGS (for myself and others) Knowing that “expectations and beliefs can influence—indeed are already influencing your life in many other surprising and powerful ways. (David Robson, The Expectation Effect) makes me believe in some of the rituals I’ve heard of over the years, like lucky charms. I learned from David Robson’s The Expectation Effect, that “superstitions and rituals can boost perseverance and performance across a whole range of cognitive tasks, and (that) the advantages are often considerable.” (Page 198, The Expectation Effect). Whether you are a professional athlete, singer, public speaker, or someone like me who just wants improved results, there is a science to having a lucky charm, or something that brings you the promise of success, to help you to create a feeling of control during those high stress times we all face. Don’t dismiss the power of a lucky rock with a goal written on it, or whatever it is that holds significance to you with your future goals, or something that has meaning to you, that you expect to occur in your future. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 335 Chapter 9 “The Neuroscience Behind Staying Strong and Clear-Headed” Chapter 9, covering “The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation” which showed up on my leadership self-assessment (in pathway 4 last year AND again this year) as a low, RED score, of 20%. This is not because it’s not something I don’t need to pay attention to, this is something I pay attention to daily, right up there with physical health that’s also listed in Pathway Four of Grant’s Self-Leadership Map. Look to see if Emotion Regulation (pathway 4) is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. EMOTION REGULATION AND SLEEP: In a world where we are hit daily by external stimuli, how on the earth can we be proactive to stay mentally strong and clear-headed so we have improved executive control to manage our emotions and regulate them? This took me straight to the work of Dr. Andrew Huberman, and Dr. Matthew Walker who recorded an episode called “Improve Sleep to Boost Mood and Emotion Regulation.”[xvii] It was here where I learned just how important sleep is for keeping a strong, clear mind, so we can use this strength to acknowledge and regulate our emotions, like Bosnick suggested in chapter 9 of his book. Dr. Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and the host of The Matt Walker Podcast, gave example after example that proved that when you’ve NOT had a good night’s sleep, things that wouldn’t bother you (when you’ve slept well), begin to aggravate, or grate on you more. Here’s what I found to be remarkable on this topic, something I had not ever heard before. DID YOU KNOW THAT “the greater amount of REM sleep you are getting, (where our dreams occur) the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day.” Matt Walker and Dr. Andrew Huberman. Dr. Walker went on to explain that “the brain chemical noradrenaline (that’s responsible for our stress reaction) completely shuts off during REM sleep, and serotonin (that plays a role with our mood) decreases, while acetyl choline (that carries messages from our brain to our body through nerve cells) increases by up to 30% in some parts of the brain (and can be even more active than when we were awake).  Dr. Walker concluded that the decrease of stress related brain chemicals is what makes “REM sleep was the perfect condition for overnight therapy.” If we want to improve our emotion regulation, the science is pointing directly to improving our sleep. On this episode, we dove deep into the 4 stages of sleep and suggestions to improve our sleep is something I’ve been working on for the past 5 years. There is a lot to this, and I’m still working on improving ALL the macroingredients of a good sleep (suggested by Dr. Walker), that include QQRT, or knowing the quantity (amount of sleep), quality (fragmented vs continuous), regularity (sleeping/waking around the same time) and timing (sleeping in alignment with my chronotype).  Dr. Walker explains these areas with Dr. Huberman, and if you do wonder where you can improve, I highly suggest their 6-part series on sleep. TIPS FOR IMPROVING EMOTION REGULATION BY IMPROVING OUR SLEEP: Here are three tips that I took away from the neuroscience of self-regulation, that I’ve been working on, to see if improving my sleep in these areas, could possibly improve emotion regulation. 1. KNOW HOW MUCH DEEP RESTORATIVE SLEEP WE ARE GETTING EACH NIGHT:  We all know the importance of knowing how much sleep we are getting to be well-rested the next day, (how many hours or the quantity) but it’s also important to keep an eye on the QUALITY or amount of DEEP RESTORATIVE sleep we are getting each night. When I looked at the graphic I included when I wrote this EP back in June 2024, using the WHOOP wearable tracker, I can tell you that with focus and effort in this area, I’ve been able to improve the number of hours of restorative sleep I was getting last year, to this year, by 14%, hitting most nights with sufficient restorative sleep. Do you know how many hours of restorative sleep you are getting each night? 2. KNOW HOW MUCH REM SLEEP WE ARE GETTING: Keeping an eye on how much REM sleep we getting, is my next tip, since we know it’s important for consolidating new memories, learning and motor skills. We also just learned that the more REM sleep we are getting, we can say we are getting some good overnight therapy, restoring ourselves mentally. You can find sleep trackers that can help you to measure and track these important ingredients of a good sleep for yourself, and see how much REM sleep you are getting each night, while keeping in mind that “the greater amount of REM sleep you are getting, the greater amount of emotional detox you will get the next day.” (Dr. Walker) Remember, we are working on ways to help with our emotion regulation, and it seems to me, that an easy way to do this, would be to see how we can improve our REM sleep.   3. APPLY THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP TO IMPROVE EMOTION REGULATION: Since “during REM sleep the stress chemicals are turned off” helping us to “strip away the emotion from the memory” we can take this understanding a step further, and see if we are able to solve any of our problems during sleep. Dr. Huberman and Dr. Walker went into great detail about this concept[xviii] that I’ve actually witnessed first-hand. They described what happens in REM sleep to be like “Behavior-Desensitization” and I had the opportunity to see the stages of this process, done by someone skilled and trained in trauma and the brain, working with someone I know well, who has experiences significant trauma in their life, starting at an early age. Using a series of techniques, the trained therapist took the client safely from talking about a traumatic memory from their childhood, (with extreme emotion attached) to where they could say out loud that the memory had lost its emotional load and no longer gave them an emotional reaction. This is exactly what happens to our brain during REM sleep and why it’s mentally restorative. Putting these tips all together, and knowing that improving the quality, and quantity of sleep is linked to improving emotion regulation, I’m working hard to improve restorative sleep and REM sleep, each month.  It’s all just a balancing act, though, and working on one part of our health at a time. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH REVIEW and CONCLUSION: To review and conclude this week’s episode #356 on PART 2 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we covered a review of the strategies that can help us to implement each concept, from chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9. ✔ EP 327 Chapter 6[xix] “The Hydrated Brain” ✔ EP 330 Chapter 7[xx]“Aha Moments, Creative Insights/the Brain” ✔ EP 333 Chapter 8[xxi] “Exploring the Power of Expectations” ✔ EP 335 Chapter 9[xxii] “The Neuroscience Behind Staying Strong and Clear-Headed” While listening to each episode can be a helpful review, so can revisiting your leadership self-assessment to see what might have changed for you this year from last. I hope this review of chapters 6-9 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership have helped you to think of NEW ways of thinking and taking the necessary action, that will drive you towards whatever it is that you are working on this year. With that thought, I do want to thank you for tuning in, and we will see you next time, with a review of the next 4 chapters. See you next time. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES We were grateful to be featured as a Top 30 #neuroscience #podcast and Top 20 #sel podcast for 2025!   https://podcast.feedspot.com/neuroscience_podcasts/    https://podcast.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/   FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/      Thank you to all who listen!   REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #355 Mastering Self-Leadership REVIEW PART 1 (Grant Bosnick) https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-self-leadership-with-neuroscience/   [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #327 “The Hydrated Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/neuroscience-meets-social-and-emotional-learning-podcast-episode-327-recap/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “AHA Moments, Creative Insights and the Brain”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-self-leadership-and-the-neuroscience-of-goals/   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #333 “Exploring the Power of Expectations” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/exploring-the-power-of-expectations-in-episode-333/   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #335 “The Neuroscience Behind Being Strong and Clear Headed” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-emotion-regulation-the-neuroscience-behind-staying-strong-and-clear-headed/   [vii] Peter Attia https://peterattiamd.com/   [viii] Attia’s Rule https://miloandthecalf.com/2023/02/08/the-attia-rule-some-tests-of-strength-for-longevity/#:~:text=Awhile%20back%20longevity%20expert%20Peter,a%20person%20fit%20for%20longevity.   [ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast “Using Neuroscience to Improve Fitness, Longevity and Overall Health.”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-using-neuroscience-to-improve-fitness-longevity-and-overall-health/   [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE Recorded for Podbean’s Wellness Week “The Top 5 Health Staples” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/   [xi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EP 168 “Dr. Bruce Perry and Steve Graner: What Happened to You?”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-bruce-perry-and-steve-graner-from-the-neurosequential-network-on-what-we-should-all-know-about-what-happened-to-you/   [xii] Gabor Mate When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection Published https://www.amazon.com/When-Body-Says-No-Hidden/dp/178504222X   [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 264 “The Neuroscience Behind The Silva Method: Improving Creativity and Innovation in our Schools, Sports and Modern Workplaces”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-behind-the-silva-method-improving-creativity-and-innovation-in-our-schools-sports-and-modern-workplaces/   [xiv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE 315 “Thinking and Acting in This Certain Way PART 2 Review of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich book https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/part-2-review-of-wallace-d-wattles-the-science-of-getting-rich-on-chapter-4-thinking-and-acting-in-a-certain-way/   [xv] https://www.me.columbia.edu/faculty/hod-lipson   [xvi] “Great Eureka Moments in History: From Issac Netwon to Sir Paul McCartney, inspiration arrived suddenly” by Dan Falk, Published September 2, 2005 https://magazine.utoronto.ca/research-ideas/culture-society/great-eureka-moments-in-history-famous-inspirational-moments/   [xvii] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM   [xviii] Dr. Matt Walker: Improve Sleep to Boost Mood & Emotional Regulation | Huberman Lab Guest Series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_SrHS8FvMM   [xix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #327 “The Hydrated Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/neuroscience-meets-social-and-emotional-learning-podcast-episode-327-recap/   [xx] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #330 “AHA Moments, Creative Insights and the Brain”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-self-leadership-and-the-neuroscience-of-goals/   [xxi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #333 “Exploring the Power of Expectations” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/exploring-the-power-of-expectations-in-episode-333/   [xxii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #335 “The Neuroscience Behind Being Strong and Clear Headed” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mastering-emotion-regulation-the-neuroscience-behind-staying-strong-and-clear-headed/  

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• Mastering Self-Leadership with Neuroscience REVIEW PART 1 Chapters 2-5 (Grant Bosnick)

  Welcome back to Season 13 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. In this episode, join Andrea Samadi as we delve into practical neuroscience applications for self-leadership in 2025. Discover how to balance various aspects of life through insights from Grant "Upbeat" Bosnick's book, 'Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership.' We explore strategies from four key chapters, focusing on leveraging neuroscience to level up your goals, the inspiration behind motivation, the benefits of mindfulness, and the art of achieving flow states. Learn actionable steps for overcoming obstacles and using positive forces to drive personal growth. Whether you're implementing new habits or seeking motivation, this episode serves as a guide to harnessing the full potential of your mind and achieving greater heights. Welcome back to SEASON 13 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives. Now, we are well into 2025, and if you are listening today, I want to congratulate you. Not everyone chooses to do the work that is needed for self-improvement. It’s something I’m dedicated to working on each year, and like you, those who tune in each week, implementing the ideas we write down in our notebooks, and even the ones we highlight in yellow, this is the hardest work in the room. I just want to recognize you for showing up here, and tuning in to grab some ideas, do this difficult work, and take the ideas that you learn from the research, and put them into action. Like you, I am doing this as well. We interviewed Kristen Holmes, the VP of Performance Science from Whoop.com back in May 2021, on EP134[i] when I had first started using the wearable device to measure my sleep, strain and daily recovery. She told me something I already knew, and that was that my sleep needed work. She said it much sterner than this, but I heard it, loud and clear, especially since my brain scan from Amen Clinics, that we reviewed on EP 84[ii] came back and showed that I was sleep deprived. Changing behaviors, habits and daily routines, and changing the trajectory of our health is all possible, but actually sustaining the change—this is what I’m looking for. This is why I am doing these podcast episodes, and sharing what I’m learning along the way. It took me 4 years to finally improve my sleep, but to do this, I had to sacrifice something else important to me, and that was my early morning workouts. I’m sure if you are listening, you would understand and know exactly what I am saying here. While making improvements with one area of our life, we tend to do this at the expense of another area. I’m determined to prove that we can have it all, and hopefully, at the end of this review, we can all find a way towards improving the balance in the important areas of our lives. REMEMBER: “Mastering others is strength; mastering oneself is true power” - Lao Tsu Now wouldn’t it be great to have a tool (like a map) that tells us what is important to focus on each year, based on what we say is important to us in our work or personal lives? Now sleep is not on the map we are covering today, as we will review the 19 chapters from Grant Bosnick’s book, but I would put sleep right at the top of the list, along with the Top Health Staples that we covered back on a bonus EP we did in 2022[iii] where we first covered the importance of daily exercise, good quality sleep, eating a healthy diet, understanding how to balance our gut-brain axis, how to listen to our hunger cues with intermittent fasting, and the importance of stress reduction (that I think we could cover more in depth this year). ((If you took the leadership self-assessment[iv] last year, go back and take it again, and see if any of the areas have changed for you.)) SELF-ASSESSMENT LINK HERE And now we will begin PART 1 of our 4-PART review, to sum up last year, 2024, and our entire year studying one book, Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[v] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year. Today we will review chapters 2-5 (the first chapter was an introduction to the book). ((On today's EPISODE #355 PART 1 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we will cover)): ✔ EP 323 Chapter 2[vi] “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Your Goals” ✔ EP 324 Chapter 3[vii] “The Neuroscience of Inspiration” ✔ EP 325 Chapter 4[viii] “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” ✔ EP 326 Chapter 5[ix] “The Neuroscience of Flow” We will go through each of the 19 chapters, and cover the action steps in this review. EP 323 Chapter 2[x] “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Your Goals” What I loved the most about this chapter on goals, was learning about Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory that says “there is a force that drives us towards our goals.” (Chapter 2 on goals). The idea is that we learn to use this force to push us towards whatever it is that we want. Here’s a REVIEW of 3 steps to implement Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory to push us towards our goals this year. STEP 1 RECOGNIZE THE NEGATIVE FORCES THAT PUSH US AWAY FROM OUR GOALS: Know that whenever we are moving towards a goal, there will be a force that pushes us down from our current state of attaining that goal, (a negative force) and there’s also a force that helps us to change (a positive force). Identify the forces that are pushing you down as you move towards your desired end result. In our schools: it could be limited time to study for a test. (as a negative force). In our sports environments: it could be our competition, or whoever is at the top of the league. Finally, in our workplaces: it could be a competitor charging lower pricing, and taking all the business in your area. STEP 2 RECOGNIZE THE POSITIVE FORCES THAT PUSH US TOWARDS OUR GOALS: Recognize that just as there is a negative force pushing us down, there are also positive forces that pushes us up, and can assist us to change. It’s this force pushing us up that Grant talks about in his chapter on goals. He says that “the closer we get to our target (or perception of being closer to the target) the strength of the force increases.” (Page 20, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Leadership). STEP 3 FIND THE MOMENTUM THAT TAKES YOU TO A NEW LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE:   It’s here in the diagram where I drew a RED arrow, showing a person moving from their current state, leveling up to a new, heightened level of performance, when there are MORE positive forces pushing us up, than negative pushing us down. BEFORE we can get to our new heightened level of performance, we must overcome the forces against whatever it is we are moving towards, (like by overcoming our competition) and create as many positive forces to help us to move towards our NEW end result. Revisiting this concept this year, I suggest we all create a plan for how we will overcome our resistances, while building up positive forces for change (like through study, identifying ways to improve our mental and physical health so we can use these forces to push up against the negatives, or from understanding our “why” so this internal force drives us forward when times are difficult.      Another thought here, is to find ways to increase our capacity to handle stress. I recommend listening to EP 228[xi] where we reviewed “HRV (heart rate variability) The Most Important Biomarker for Tracking Health, Recovery and Resilience” as this episode gives examples of how to build more capacity to handle these day to day negative forces, and create healthy ways to push us towards our goals.          REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH EP 324 Chapter 3[xii] “The Neuroscience of Inspiration” This chapter on inspiration and motivation came up as a high level of importance for me last year, and I’m always looking to deepen my understanding on where I find inspiration from, and why, with the idea that “what we find inspiring (people or things) produces oxytocin (that facilitates trust)in the brain while also producing dopamine the neurotransmitter that’s associated with motivation and reward.” There’s a lot at play when we find what motivates and inspires us day to day. PUTTING THE NEUROSCIENCE OF INSPIRATION INTO PRACTICE: WRITE: Write a list of: Who inspires you, and why? Do you feel trust with this person that could be a performance multiplier? Think about this. Why, or why not? What inspires you, and why? Do you feel motivation from places that we know can rewire our brain and make new neural connections? THINK: Think of your brain being bombarded by oxytocin (the neurochemical that facilitates the feelings of trust) and then dopamine (the neurochemical associated with motivation and reward) and then the NEW neural pathways that are being rewired into your brain with whatever it is that you are drawing inspiration from. LEARN: What does this mean to you? Does it help you to make sense of your world in a new way?  Does this connection to science help to motivate you in a NEW way, perhaps pushing you past some of the obstacles that once held you back? Does this NEW understanding energize you in some new way, or give you more self-awareness towards your goals? My goal with these bite-sized chapters connecting Neuroscience and Self-Leadership to our daily practice, is that we begin to see how simple it is to connect an understanding of how our brain works, to our best practices, that we tap into daily, taking us to new heights. Applying the Neuroscience of Inspiration to my life, I can clearly see what’s most important to me, why I’m drawn to certain people or places, and how important it is for me to keep learning, and applying what we uncover together on these episodes.   EP 325 Chapter 4[xiii] “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” I loved this episode because I learned something new, and made a deeper connection to our past episodes. I learned: That there is a concept called PQ Reps, coined by Positive Intelligence Founder, Shirzad Chamine who used fMRI scanners to discover that by doing these PQ Reps we can actually build our mental muscles by activating this PQ Region in the Brain.  For those who have a mindfulness practice in place, putting PQ Reps into practice helps to reaffirm the benefits that come along with building your mental muscles, and for those who have found it difficult to begin a mindfulness practice, PQ Reps is a proven way to bridge the gap for you to begin. HOW DO WE PRACTICE THESE IMPORTANT PQ REPS? By rubbing our finger and thumb together, and involving any of our 5 senses for 10 seconds. I suggest that we feel the touch of our fingers on each other. By doing this, we are shifting our attention to our body and focusing on the sensation. It is this activity, that build up the PQ Area of our brain, while the survival part goes quieter. If you next listen to Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness Meditation[xiv] you will see how Dr. Siegel’s Mindfulness Practice is essentially teaching you to do PQ Reps involving every part of your body and feeling the sensations from your head to toe. Start small, practicing PQ Reps one day at a time, and eventually you will learn to focus your attention for longer periods of time, building your mental muscles and resilience in the process.   REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH   EP 326 Chapter 5[xv] “The Neuroscience of Flow” I learned that “when we are in flow, we are 5X more productive” and of course, who doesn’t want to be 5X more productive? We covered this topic back on EP 27[xvi] with Friederike Fabritius who first taught me the recipe for peak performance. What I remember loving the most about Friederike’s first talk that I found back in 2017 that she did for high level executives in Barcelona, Spain, was that she accurately described what the psychologist, researcher and “father of flow” (known in his work environment as Mike C) that he devoted his entire lifetime to. And that is, what constitutes a happy life. “Mike C,” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, (from Claremont Graduate University in CA) along with Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania (who we’ve mentioned before on this podcast “set out to develop a focus on happiness, well-being, and positivity with a goal to create a field focused on human well-being and the conditions that enable people to flourish and live satisfying lives.”[xvii] Friederike explained this concept of “flow” or “peak performance” as an optimal state that occurs when our brain releases three chemicals: noradrenaline (released with a challenge), dopamine (released with anything that gives you pleasure), and acetylcholine (released when you have focused attention). She reminded us about learning to find our “optimal level” of performance by knowing thyself. Some people she says, need challenge to perform optimally (I’m like this for sure), and other people, you must take the challenge or pressure away for them to perform at their best.  One person performs better with an element of “threat” that they perceive as a “reward” and this motivates them, while another person shuts down with this “threat.” To reach peak performance levels with YOUR work, it helps to know how you reach your optimal levels best. In Chapter 5, Grant gives us tips for getting into this flow state. PICK A GOAL: Think of whatever it is you are working on a decide on the goal. Finish the presentation, or write the proposal or for me, finish writing this episode so I can record, edit and release it today. PRIME YOUR BRAIN FOR FLOW: Next he suggests bringing in mindfulness, that takes us back to our last episode where we learned about PQ reps. Use mindfulness to filter out your distractions and maintain control with your attention. I found it does help to let others around you know you’ve blocked off a time where you cannot be interrupted. THINK ABOUT THE BENEFIT OF THE GOAL: Why do you want to complete the thing you are working on. For me, with each podcast episode I write, record and release, it helps me to not only implement these new ideas into my own life, but I know I’m gaining skills that help me far beyond the content. Hosting this podcast, writing and recording these episodes, helps me to improve my presentation skills, communication, which improves my overall levels of confidence, let along what I’m gaining from implementing these ideas myself. I also hear from listeners like Tor Carberry from LinkedIn, who let me know he was looking forward to this episode. I don’t want to let others down, so this also motivates me to do my best work. What about you? What benefits do YOU receive from whatever it is that YOU are working on? PUT YOURSELF ON THE EDGE: Ask yourself, is this challenging me? If it’s not, it might not get you into the flow state. If it is, then keep working, and see how far you can get. How long can you stretch your flow state. I’ve stretched my flow state this morning from the minute I sat down at my desk. There’s always lots of distractions, but with practice, it becomes easier to block them out, and keep moving forward, with your end goal in mind. There’s nothing like the feeling of knowing you gave something your full attention, and effort. REVISIT THIS EPISODE TO REVIEW THIS CONCEPT IN DEPTH REVIEW and CONCLUSION: To review and conclude this week’s episode #355 on PART 1 of our review of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, we covered a review of the strategies that can help us to implement each concept, from chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5. ✔ EP 323 Chapter 2[xviii] “Using Neuroscience to Level Up Your Goals” ✔ EP 324 Chapter 3[xix] “The Neuroscience of Inspiration” ✔ EP 325 Chapter 4[xx] “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” ✔ EP 326 Chapter 5[xxi] “The Neuroscience of Flow” While listening to each episode can be a helpful review, so can revisiting your leadership self-assessment to see what might have changed for you this year. I did notice the leadership self-assessment link was not working for me to retake it this year, so I have reached out to Grant Bosnick and will update it as soon as he shares it with me. LINK IS HERE  In the meantime, I hope this review of the first 5 chapters of his book have helped you to think of NEW ways of thinking that will drive you towards whatever it is that you are working on this year. With that thought, I do want to thank you for tuning in, and we will see you next time, with a review of the next 5 chapters. See you next time. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES We were grateful to be featured as a Top 30 #neuroscience #podcast and Top 20 #sel podcast for 2025!   https://podcast.feedspot.com/neuroscience_podcasts/    https://podcast.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/   FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/  REFERENCES:   [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #134 with Kristen Holmes from Whoop.com  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kristen-holmes-from-whoopcom-on-unlocking-a-better-you-measuring-sleep-recovery-and-strain/   [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #84 “ How a Spect Image Brain Scan Can Change your Life PART 3” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-a-spect-scan-can-change-your-life-part-3-with-andrea-samadi/   [iii] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/   [iv] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/ [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #323 on “The Neuroscience of Goals”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-season-11-of-the-neuroscience-meets-sel-podcast/   [vii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 “The Neuroscience of Inspiration”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/   [viii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #325 “The Neuroscience of Flow”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-peak-performance-and-happiness/     [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #323 on “The Neuroscience of Goals”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-season-11-of-the-neuroscience-meets-sel-podcast/   [xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #228 “HRV: The Most Important Biomarker for Tracking Health, Recovery and Resilience” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-review-of-heart-rate-variability-the-most-important-biomarker-for-tracking-health-recovery-and-resilience/   [xii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 “The Neuroscience of Inspiration”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/   [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #325 “The Neuroscience of Mindfulness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insight-from-grant-bosnicks-tailored-approaches-to-self-leadership/       [xiv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #60 “The Science Behind a Meditation Practice with a Deep Dive into Dr. Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-science-behind-a-meditation-practice-with-a-deep-dive-into-dr-dan-siegel-s-wheel-of-awareness/   [xv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #326 “The Neuroscience of Flow”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-peak-performance-and-happiness/   [xvi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #27 with Friederike Fabritius on “The Recipe for Peak Performance”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/pioneer-in-the-field-of-neuroleadership-friederike-fabritius-on-the-recipe-for-achieving-peak-performance/   [xvii] https://www.cgu.edu/people/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/   [xviii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #323 on “The Neuroscience of Goals”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-season-11-of-the-neuroscience-meets-sel-podcast/   [xix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 “The Neuroscience of Inspiration”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/   [xx]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #325 “The Neuroscience of Flow”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-peak-performance-and-happiness/      

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  20:05
• Unlocking the Power of Presence: Neuroscience Meets Self-Leadership

  Welcome to Episode 354 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast! Join host Andrea Samadi as she concludes the 18-week self-leadership series with Grant Bosnick's revolutionary insights into the neuroscience of presence. Discover how your internal thoughts, external behaviors, and interactions shape your presence, and learn practical strategies to enhance your mindfulness and connection with others. This episode dives into Dr. Dan Siegel's 'Wheel of Awareness' meditation, offering three actionable tips to strengthen your presence in daily life. Uncover how to elevate your relationships and productivity by integrating mindfulness practices into your routine. Whether you're striving to be the most interesting or the most interested person in the room, this episode provides valuable guidance. Prepare to close the year with heightened awareness and step into 2025 with a new perspective on leadership and personal growth. On today's episode #354 we continue with the final topic of our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year. Our final topic today, will be the neuroscience of presence, and then stay tuned for a review of the entire series to help us to move forward in 2025 with a new lens.  ((On today's EPISODE #354 “The Neuroscience of Presence” we will cover)): ✔ Chapter 19 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership with the topic of presence. ✔ Grant Bosnick’s Presence Framework with examples of subtle and direct presence. ✔ The Neuroscience of Presence using Dr. Dan Siegel’s book Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence ✔ Three Tips to Develop More Presence in our Day to Day Life. ✔ Reflections for using Mindfulness and Meditation to Improve Our Presence. If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Presence (in Pathway 2), along with inspiration and motivation, persuade and influence, is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. I was not surprised to see this pathway is a high area of focus for me as I’m always looking for new ways to motivate, inspire and influence, and presence is something I know I need to work on daily, bringing my attention back to the present moment or you might catch me daydreaming. It made me laugh when Masati Sajady mentioned he noticed this with me, back on EP 348[iii] last year. Our presence is something that can be felt, that’s for sure. Now let’s take this deeper with Grant’s book. Grant opens up chapter 19, his final chapter, by saying that presence “is a product of our internal thoughts, external behaviors and interactions with others. It’s something (he says) that we carry with us at all times, whether we’re walking into a meeting room (or walking anywhere I might add) or sitting at a bus stop.” (Ch 19, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 252). I can demonstrate this one easily because we have all been there. I’ll never forget Dr. Dan Siegel, who we interviewed way back in our early days of this podcast, on EP 28[iv] talking about this topic, as he watched a mother with a young child walking, and the mother was on her cell phone, not present at all. He talked about the many opportunities for connection that were lost in this instance, and I never forgot it, as I’ve been guilty of doing exactly the same thing and potentially losing out on opportunities to make meaningful connections with others. Or think about this. In a conversation, someone is talking to you, and you notice the void. They’ve left the conversation. They are standing right in front of you, they could be looking you straight in the face, but they are no longer present mentally. You don’t need to ask them where they have gone, you can just feel it, and they eventually come back, but you know they gave you half of their attention. Has this ever happened to you? Of course, it has. Bosnick says that our presence “can be direct or subtle presence; and it can be controlled or uncontrolled. With direct controlled presence, we can be the most interesting person in the room—being assertive, measured and engaging (he says). With subtle controlled presence, we can be the most interested person in the room—being observant, connected and attentive.” (Ch 19, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 252) and he says “both add value in different situations.” Whether you're striving to be the most interesting or the most interested person in the room, this episode provides valuable guidance. Prepare to close the year with heightened awareness and step into 2025 with a new perspective on leadership and personal growth. Bosnick says that our presence “can be direct or subtle presence; and it can be controlled or uncontrolled. With direct controlled presence, we can be the most interesting person in the room—being assertive, measured and engaging (he says). With subtle controlled presence, we can be the most interested person in the room—being observant, connected and attentive.” (Ch 19, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 252) and he says “both add value in different situations.” IMAGE CREDIT: Chapter 19 Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership When I think about the most interested person in the room, my mind goes to our company Zoom meetings, where there is one person, Nikki, who always has her camera on, and she is always listening to the conversation actively, showing she is truly interested. She’s an incredible role model for the rest of us, and I find her attention to be motivating. This past Christmas holiday, we did a Secret Santa at our work, and Nikki was one of the organizers. I thought it would be fun to participate, so I signed up for this chance to get to know some of my work colleagues in a different way. When my box arrived at my house, and we all met on a call to open our gifts together, I was blown away with the items that were bought for me. The person who was my Secret Santa knew me well! They found out I enjoy hiking in my spare time, and bought me some items that I can really use, when I’m out on the hiking trails. This person demonstrated they were “interested” in me, with a subtle presence, by being observant, connected and attentive. Wouldn’t you know it, that my Secret Santa was Nikki! And her presence made me want to do the same thing for others. What about the most interesting person in the room? We all know this one. With direct, controlled presence, they become “assertive, measured and engaging” and it’s hard to take your eyes off of them. They are impossible to miss. I’m sure we can all close our eyes and think of an example of someone who uses their direct, controlled presence, really well. No one wants to be “invisible” or on the other hand “overwhelming” so this idea of presence takes practice. Bosnick says that while “some people are naturally skilled at controlling and flexing between levels of presence (like my coworker Nikki), “most of us need to consciously work at it to bring it into our control and use it to our best advantage.” (Ch 19, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 253) So how can we improve our presence?  Let’s go straight to the expert on this topic, Dr. Dan Siegel, whose book, Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence,[v] dives deep into a meditation practice, called The Wheel of Awareness, that uses science and psychology to “strengthen your capacity for presence.” (Aware, Dan Siegel).   What is the Neuroscience of Presence? This is what Dr. Dan Siegel helps us to understand in his book, Aware that outlines why the meditation he created (The Wheel of Awareness) begins with helping us to become more mindful, but the byproduct of this mindfulness, is that “people seem interested in exploring how they might cultivate more presence in their lives so they can be healthier, happier and kinder to themselves and others.” (Dr. Siegel, Aware). Of course at the end of our interview, 6 year ago now, Dr. Siegel asked me what I was learning from doing his Wheel of Awareness Meditation every day. I shared what I learned in an extensive review of Dr. Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness Meditation, on EP 60[vi] “The Science Behind a Meditation Practice with a Deep Dive into Dr. Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness.”  It took me some time to uncover what I learned, but not only does this scientifically proven meditation change the structure and function of the brain in these fascinating ways: There’s an integration of structure and function of the brain (integration means well-being). There’s a reduction of the stress hormone cortisol. There’s an enhancement of immune function. Improvement in cardiovascular risk factors. Reduction in inflammation via epigenetic changes. An optimization of telomerase—which is fascinating as it repairs and maintains the ends of chromosomes which slows aging. In addition to these brain changes, I noticed an increase of ability with my 5 senses, also, with increased sensations within my body, and most importantly, what Dr. Siegel was looking to see if I noticed, was that it helped to increase my connection to people around me, expanding my “presence” far outside of myself, and into the world around me. If you type the word “presence” into Dr. Siegel’s book, Aware, you will find it’s listed 85 times. Within his Wheel of Awareness Meditation he shares “is about monitoring with stability whatever is arising as it arises (when you do this practice day after day). It’s this awareness that (he says) we are calling presence.” (Aware, Siegel, Page 29). How to Develop More Presence in Our Lives? “How can we become more mindful (or present) in our day-to-day living so that we are aware of what’s happening?” (whatever is arising day to day)? Dr. Dan Siegel suggests that we “do a regular practice that trains the mind…That training of the mind is sometimes called meditation. (Where he says) we learn to strengthen (our) focused attention.” (Aware, Dr. Siegel, Page 14). Here are three tips to start to become more present (with whatever it is that arises) in our day to day life: MEDITATE TO STRENGTHEN OUR MIND: Find a meditation where you must be active (not just sit, listen and drift off). It could be Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness[vii] or even our most downloaded episode series of all-time, The Silva Method.[viii] Find the best time of day to practice strengthening your mind, and stay consistent. NEXT PRACTICE BEING MINDFUL: Once we have strengthened our mind, now we’ve got to put this mental strength into practice. Like Nikki on Zoom calls, she increased her presence by being the most interested person in the room. Or what about when we are in a conversation with someone else, and our mind wanders. Are you able to mindfully bring it back? Dr. Siegel reminds us that “mental presence is a state of being awake and receptive to what is happening, as it is happening in the moment, within us, and between the world and us.” ( Aware, Siegel, Page 14). FINALLY, NOTICE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THIS INCREASED PRESENCE: As we work on strengthening our own presence in the world, and as we are observant, connected and attentive to others (or present) Dr. Siegel would say that we go from the state of “I” to a more integrated self that he calls “MWE.” This is where you/me connect together and like I noticed with the Wheel of Awareness practice, it increased the importance of expanding my presence outside of myself, to include others around me, in the world. When we can be truly present in our work or personal lives, we will begin to notice the connections around us, and how important they are. It takes some time though, to put this into practice, as we are bombarded with distractions daily, that take us away from this much-needed presence. In chapter 19 of his book, Grant Bosnick asks us to reflect on his Presence Framework, image 19.1 and asks us: Have you ever felt uncontrolled, direct presence where you might be overdoing it and unintentionally overwhelming others? How to use empathy and emotional intelligence to direct yourself back to being more mindful of how you are showing up to others. Think of someone who has controlled direct presence, making them the most interesting person in the room. Think of someone who has controlled subtle presence who appears to be the most interested person, on a consistent basis. Once you know which quadrant you typically show up in with Bosnick’s Presence Framework, you can begin the work to train your mind to become more present in your daily work and personal life. I guarantee this will help you to build stronger, more effective relationships with others. You will start seeing how your connections go from thinking about ME…to MWE (or you and me together). To review and conclude this week’s episode #354 on “The Neuroscience of Presence” we covered: ✔ Chapter 19 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership with the topic of presence. ✔ Grant Bosnick’s Presence Framework with examples of subtle and direct presence. ✔ The Neuroscience of Presence using Dr. Dan Siegel’s book Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence ✔ Three Tips to Develop More Presence in our Day to Day Life. ✔ Reflections for using Mindfulness and Meditation to Improve Our Presence, and expand our connection with others in the world. I hope this episode has been as helpful to you as it was for me. Being more present in my daily life (work and personal) is something that takes effort for me, even after implementing Dr. Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness Meditation. Distractions come fiercely, every second of the day and it takes a trained mind to divert our attention to what matters the most for us. This takes practice, and effort, but the results are well worth it. With that thought, we will close out this episode, and next time, we will review ALL 19 chapters of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, in one place. See you next time. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES We were grateful to be featured as a Top 30 #neuroscience #podcast and Top 20 #sel podcast for 2025!   https://podcast.feedspot.com/neuroscience_podcasts/    https://podcast.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/   FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/    REFERENCES:   [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #348 with Masati  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/unveiling-exponential-intelligence-transform-your-life-by-shifting-frequencies/   [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #28 with Dr. Dan Siegel   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/   [v] Dr. Dan Siegel, Aware: The Science and Practice and Presence (Published August 21, 2018) https://drdansiegel.com/book/aware/   [vi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #60 “The Science Behind a Meditation Practice with a Deep Dive into Dr. Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-science-behind-a-meditation-practice-with-a-deep-dive-into-dr-dan-siegel-s-wheel-of-awareness/   [vii] https://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness/   [viii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #322 A Deep Dive into Applying The Silva Method for Improving Creativity, and Innovation  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/transforming-minds-and-paving-the-future/  

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• Unlocking Empathy: The Neuroscience Behind Understanding Others

  Join Andrea Samadi in Episode 353 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast as we explore the intricacies of empathy, guided by Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches to self-leadership. Delve into the foundation of empathy as a vital leadership tool, capable of strengthening relationships and achieving better outcomes. Learn about the neuroscience behind empathy, focusing on the role of mirror neurons and the three different types of empathy: cognitive, emotional, and empathetic concern. We also reflect on personal experiences where assumptions led to misunderstandings, highlighting the importance of seeing through another's eyes. Discover practical tips for deepening empathy, cultivating empathetic concern, and applying these insights both personally and professionally to make meaningful connections. This episode calls us to consciously choose empathy, fostering trust and compassion in our interactions. Prepare for our final chapter on the Neuroscience of Presence in the upcoming episodes as we continue to enhance our understanding and application of neuroscience in our daily lives. Welcome back to SEASON 13 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives. On today's episode #353 we continue with the second last topic of our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January 2024. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) tied to the most current neuroscience research, that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights this year. It honestly shocked me that this series took the entire year. Our final topic will be the neuroscience of presence, and then stay tuned for a review of the entire series to help us to move forward in 2025 with a new lens.   Now we have not yet covered empathy as an entire topic on this podcast, (yet) but we did mention it on EP 340[ii] with mediation expert John Ford on “Navigating Workplace Conflicts” with his “The Empathy Set”[iii] Card Program. I also included the topic of Empathy within the Character Education program I created for schools, so I know why Grant would think this topic to be important enough to include on his “roadmap” for success. When I looked back to what I had written over 15 years ago on empathy, I found an image that said “empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another” which is right in line with how Grant Bosnick opens up Chapter 18 of his book. Grant reminds us that “empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from their frame of reference, the capacity to place ourselves in another person’s position, to put ourselves in their shoes, see it from their eyes, their perspective, their way of thinking and feeling.”. ((On today's EPISODE #353 “The Neuroscience of Empathy” we will cover)): ✔ A review of previous episodes where we covered empathy. ✔ The Neuroscience of Empathy ✔ Three Kinds of Empathy (Cognitive, Emotional and Empathetic Concern). ✔ Tips for becoming more empathetic in our daily life to deepen our relationships and improve our outcomes personally and professionally. If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[iv], look to see if Empathy (in Pathway 6, our final pathway in this book study) along with biases, relationships/authenticity and trust is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. I was not surprised to see this pathway is a high area of focus for me. I often think “I wonder what this person is thinking and feeling” and try to see a situation from their viewpoint. Do you do this? Think and feel from another person’s point of view? That’s the first step at putting empathy into action in our daily life. Now let’s take this deeper with Grant’s book. In Chapter 18 of Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, he asks us to remember a time we felt conflict or tension with another person, and asks us to look at the problem from the other person’s perspective. I remember Dr. Maiysha Clairborne from EP 289[v] talking about the “3 Positions of Listening” where she informs us we can look at the conflict through our own eyes first, and then step out of our shoes, and into someone else’s (she calls this position 2 to see what they see, hear what they hear, and feel the feelings they might be feeling. And finally, the third position, which she says is the most valuable, is the observer position where you can go above and look down at the conflict, outside of each person involved, to see the entire dynamic, or bigger picture. Grant talks about the importance of stepping into another person’s shoes, the minute we sense tension or frustration coming up with another person. Feeling empathy for others is an important leadership tool Grant reminds us, as it will help us to “build trust, develop relationship(s) and achieve better outcomes” but he cautions us against making assumptions that can influence our decisions and actions. (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 235) REFLECTION QUESTION: Grant asks us to reflect on when we might have been wrong about the thoughts or motivations of another person, and what behavior did you take, intentionally, or unintentionally?  I always go back to an example that I would share in the classrooms, working with teens on this topic, as this has happened to all of us in some capacity. I’m going back now to when I was in high school, (Don Mills Collegiate in Toronto, Canada) and I was walking along a pathway, outside of my school, and saw my good friend Yolanda (real name). I waved at Yolanda, and looked forward to catching up with her on our way to our classes, but Yolanda didn’t wave back to me. I went straight in my head to “hmmm…I wonder why Yolanda is angry with me” and I went another route, so we would miss each other and didn’t end up walking together. I had made the assumption that Yolanda was angry with me, and the action I took, was that I avoided her. I can think of countless other times in my life where I’ve made assumptions like this, and missed opportunities with friends. At a later date, Yolanda asked me why I was avoiding her, ( I was surprised she noticed) and I told her about how I had waved and that she hadn’t waved back, and it was then that she told me she wasn’t wearing her glasses that day, and never saw me. In fact, she didn’t see anything at all that day (the chalkboards included)! I was disappointed that I had made this assumption, and it was a valuable lesson to see through Yolanda’s eyes, with how incorrect I was when I made this assumption. The Neuroscience of Empathy So how does empathy work in our brain? Grant reminds us of “the activation of mirror neurons in our brain which help to explain the process of empathy.” In our brain, “empathy is a spontaneous sharing of a person’s feelings or thoughts by witnessing and being affected by their emotional state” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 236) and that “we mirror or mimic the emotional response that we would expect to feel ourselves if we were in that same context.” I always think of those emotional Hallmark Card commercials that get me every time, or movies where I relate to the character, and wipe away tears, reminding myself “it’s just a movie.” The movie Ghost with Whoopi Goldberg, comes to mind, with a memory I’ll never forget, from many years ago. As the movie ended, one of my friends wasn’t ready to leave the theater, and I remember him not wanting to talk about it, as he wiped tear away from his eyes, hoping none of us would notice. The movie had triggered his mirror neurons and like Grant Bosnick mentioned in his book, movies can do this to us! Grant gives us the origin of these mirror neurons by sharing that “they evolved in the human brain to facilitate and understand the actions we need to take in response to others as, at least in human history (he says) our survival would depend on it.” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 237). My friend didn’t want to “feel” what Patrick Swayze was feeling in the movie, Ghost, but his mirror neurons wouldn’t give him much choice. I remember reading in National Geographic, about the origin of our “mirror neurons” and learned that “humans communicate through facial gestures. Control of these expressions lies in the brain stem and amygdala, beyond consciousness.”[vi] This makes sense to me, since when you try to control it, or not feel these emotions, (like my friend in the movie theater) it’s very difficult, and almost impossible. Do you relate to mirror neurons, and feeling empathy for others in this way? Three Kinds of Empathy Bosnick goes on to share that there are three kinds of empathy: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy and empathetic concern. Cognitive Empathy is “taking another person’s perspective and understanding the situation as they see it” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 237) like we learned from Maiysha Clairborne with the three positions of listening. “Through their words and body language, we process it logically, taking their perspective, without experiencing it.” The mirror neurons do not fire here. Emotional Empathy is “feeling someone’s pain or emotion by seeing it in them and simulating/sensing it in ourselves.” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 237). In this case, mirror neurons fire as we experience the situation like it were our own, like my friend in the movie theater. Grant points out that “different parts of the brain are activated during emotional empathy and cognitive empathy. As a result, we process it differently within our brain. It has also shown (that we just mentioned from the quote from National Geographic) that we can control cognitive empathy much more than emotional empathy because it uses a logical part of our brain rather than an emotional center.” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 238). He does urge us to work on using both at the same time “to understand the other person’s perspective AND experience their emotions” to come at the most accurate conclusion to how they are thinking and feeling. Grant pointed out that in the workplace, he usually defaults to using more cognitive empathy, and just by adding more emotional empathy, he is able to truly understand those he works with, and empathize with them on a deeper level. Empathetic Concern is “the feeling that if I can do something that can help you, I will…when I see you are in trouble, I want to help you out…It is being genuinely concerned with others and experiencing other-oriented emotions to help them.” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 240). This is “when we express care, tenderness, compassion…about another person, supporting them, showing trust, allowing them space.” Bosnick says empathetic concern takes “emotional empathy” to a deeper level. REFLECTION QUESTION: When have you experienced empathetic concern? Think of one personal and one business example where you have genuinely felt concern for another person and wanted to help them. Reflect on what how empathetic concern deepened the levels of trust, helped to develop a better relationship, with improved outcomes. Bosnick warns us that “although empathy is a natural biological process within our brains, it is not automatic” and shares that “feeling empathy is a choice we make.” (Chapter 18, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 241). His book does dive deeper into situations where people may consciously, or unconsciously choose not to be empathetic with tips on how to develop habits for effective empathy that include listening to others, standing up for others, reading more books, and even how to raise empathetic children. You can dive deeper into the topic of empathy in chapter 18 of Grant’s book. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week’s episode #353 on “The Neuroscience of Empathy” we covered: ✔ A review of previous episodes where we covered empathy (John Ford’s episode and also with Dr. Maiysha Clairborne) that are excellent to review. ✔ The Neuroscience of Empathy, our mirror neurons, and a warning to watch making assumptions in this process. ✔ Three Kinds of Empathy (Cognitive, Emotional and Empathetic Concern). ✔ Tips for becoming more empathetic in our daily life, and practice Empathetic Concern where we can, to deepen our relationships and improve our outcomes personally and professionally.  I hope this episode has provided you with a deeper understanding of ways to practice being more empathetic in your personal and work life. I know that the world can be a better place if we all can learn to think and feel from another person’s point of view, and finally, if we have solutions that can genuinely help others, to lean in and offer some ideas to support those that are close to you. It can only work to bring you closer. With that thought, we will close out this episode, and we will see you next time with our final chapter, The Neuroscience of Presence, before reviewing the entire book. Have a great week. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES We were grateful to be featured as a Top 30 #neuroscience #podcast and Top 20 #sel podcast for 2025!   https://podcast.feedspot.com/neuroscience_podcasts/    https://podcast.feedspot.com/social_emotional_learning_podcasts/   FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/  REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #340 with John Ford  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/navigating-workplace-conflicts-insights-from-a-mediation-expert/   [iii] https://www.empathyset.com/about   [iv] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #289 with Dr. Maiysha Clairborne on “Getting to the Roots of our Doubts, Fears and Beliefs” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/maiysha-clairborne-md-on-what-holds-us-back-getting-to-the-root-of-our-doubts-fears-and-beliefs/   [vi] National Geographic “Your Brain: 100 Things You Never Knew” (4/19/19) https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Your-Brain-Things/dp/B00AO70YGO          

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