John Assaraf explains that goal achievement begins in the left prefrontal cortex, where positive anticipatory thoughts activate motivation and suppress worry/fear centers (right prefrontal cortex and amygdala). He gives a brief practical "innercise": write three actions toward a goal and take at least one, practicing this daily to strengthen neural pathways and increase motivation.
Chapters
Hey, this is John. And did you know that every goal that you have begins, obviously, as an idea and through thoughts, and a series of positive, optimistic thoughts are generated in your left prefrontal cortex, and specifically the thoughts that promise you a wonderful, pleasurable reward is what really activates the motivational center of your brain. You and I love the anticipation of achieving our goals that we've set. And when you activate this part of your brain, it actually turns off the worry centers located in the right prefrontal cortex of your brain and the fear centers in your brain that are governed by something known as your amygdala. So the key to helping you maximize the genius part of your brain, the left prefrontal cortex, is to set goals and then focus on how you can achieve them daily versus giving any attention or focus on why you can't. It's a subtle distinction, and one that you can learn with practice and. And do daily. So a simple inner size to activate that left prefrontal cortex, which is really your executive director, your CEO, it's the part of your brain that acts like a GPS system to help you find all the ways to achieve your goals. So just write down three things you can do to achieve a goal that you want to do or want to achieve, and then take action on at least one of them. So you have the anticipation, which is critical, and the behavior to reinforce it. And when you get into the habit of choosing your actions and then you direct yourself to do it, you strengthen the neural muscle and you develop the mental strength that you're going to take action towards, that which cultivates what more motivation that allows your prefrontal cortex to come up with even more solutions on how you can achieve your goals and dreams instead of why you can't or why you shouldn't. So, so activate the left prefrontal cortex, quiet the right prefrontal cortex, and you will be activating the GPS genius part of your brain.
