| A study in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, reported that a team of researchers from Emory University used fMRI to scan the brains of 15 dogs as their owners either praised them or fed them a piece of hot dog. As Science reported, for 13 of the 15 dogs, the areas of the brain responsible for reward and decision-making had equal or greater activity when the dogs were praised, compared to when they were fed. In a second experiment, the study authors put the dogs in a simple maze, with a bowl of food at the end of one path and their owners at the end of another; again, most dogs went for their owner, with the few that had preferred food in the scans as the only exceptions. And, although this aforementioned study is a small sample size, it’s not at all that surprising. The significance of the study is that dogs (I also include humans) are moved to action more by craving positive feelings than by life’s tasty treats. Whether we are Millennials, Gen. x, Gen. Y, Gen. Z or Geezers, the list of what moves us, still hasn’t changed much from the findings of psychologist, Frederick Herzberg, in the mid 1900’s, in the workplace (a microcosm within life’s larger macrocosm): |
| Sit! Stay! Down! Shake hands! Most of us who have shared our space and hearts with dogs have at least tried to teach them basic commands. Why? For safety reasons, to spend quality time with them, to have them become good citizens in human and canine company and for them to dazzle our guests with how brilliant they are (and by extension, how brilliant we are as alpha teachers). In most cases they do “tricks” for our purposes. At least that’s what we like to believe.But do they? What moves us to train them is the same motivating reason they allow themselves to be trained. Positive feelings. There is obviously a leap when comparing dogs to humans, but not so much when you consider that most living things are motivated by either pleasure or pain, the carrot or the stick. We salivate at the thought of a great dinner, just like Pavlov’s dogs did to the tease (the ring of a bell) of edible treats. A Golden Retriever’s tail will wag at the scratch of its head the same as our smile reaction to a well-earned praise. |
| 1. Achievement (accomplishment and a sense of contribution) 2. Recognition (support, praise, respect) 3. The work/lifestyle itself (purposeful, meaningful, stimulating,fulfilling 4. Responsibility 5. Creativity and growth (learning; giving of oneself to others)6. Economic benefits (reward; pay check, profit) |
| What our talents are, how we were raised, whether we play well with others, etc. may vary, but how we live is generally in the pursuit of happiness, joy, satisfaction, having purpose in our lives and being relevant by having positive impact. |
| The positive feelings or negative associations (what draws or repels us) that we create in our brains, as life happens every day, is mostly choice. Nurture not nature. Judgments like, “glass half full/glass half empty,” ” this is hard/this is easy,” “I can do this/this is impossible,” etc., often spin the activity to the negative or neutral. While we can’t control everything that happens in our lives, we can control how we choose to learn and grow from them — the old “lemons out of lemonade” thingie. For those who plan (read as visualize) their lives by meditating use hypnosis, self hypnosis, affirmations, dream, imagine, etc., be sure to add in the important final touch of creating a positive feeling of accomplishment, with each goal/affirmation/suggestion you think about or with which you are working. How would it FEEL if the deal was accepted, your golf game improved, you got a great night’s sleep, you functioned with a “do it now attitude” or you actually followed through on cleaning up the clutter that’s been mounting? If you feel good in your mental preparation (not just visualizing, but emotionalizing), you will look differently at whatever the goal or activity. Your feelings will positively influence your choices and actions. You will make changes and improve performance not because you want to, not because you need to, not because you have to, but because it FEELS good. Meaningful patterns change because we FEEL something, not because we know something. Use this positive Neurolinguistic anchor to set yourself up for success in every specific area of life. Toughing it out with will power and doing it “even if it kills me!” with resistance, constantly broken promises and wearing yourself out emotionally, makes life harder than most accomplishments or changes need to be. Here’s an option that can make transitions, growing and developing a lot smoother and more comfortable. Live smarter, not harder. |