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1-Page Summary of The Leading Brain
Knowing more about your brain can help you achieve moments of peak performance.
Many recent discoveries from neuroscience can be applied to business and leadership. This wealth of new insights from brain science can guide more effective organizational decisions, whether in personnel, finance or other areas. It’s important to know how your brain works so that you can reach peak performance more often or even at will. When you experience just enough stimulus to narrow your focus on a task, but not too much that it causes extreme fear or anxiety, then you’re ready to enter the zone.
Your brain has about a trillion neurons that communicate chemically through neurotransmitters. These neurons can rearrange themselves and create new pathways for learning.
To perform at your best, activate the three neurotransmitters; they are the “DNA of peak performance.”
Three neurotransmitters are essential to your performance. They form the acronym “DNA,” which stands for dopamine, noradrenaline and adrenaline. Dopamine rewards you for working hard and makes you feel good about your work. To trigger that feeling of satisfaction, incorporate fun into your work by choosing interesting tasks or challenging yourself with new things.
Noradrenaline – This neurotransmitter makes you alert, strong and confident. Setting a challenge that stretches your skills will make you feel excited and slightly fearful or stressed out.
Acetylcholine is a chemical that helps with concentration. It’s triggered by noradrenaline and dopamine, which are both activated by novelty and challenge. To trigger your acetylcholine, set yourself up for success by finding an interesting task at the edge of your abilities. The right level of challenge depends on you; if you need to be stimulated in order to function well, then you might find day-to-day office work tedious. You might manufacture urgency or a sense of crisis just to get yourself into your peak productivity zone. Others who don’t require much stimulation do research they find exciting, their DNA spiking with each new discovery as they focus intently on the problem at hand.
Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Make a list of the conditions, circumstances, and environments that are ideal for you to perform at your best. Recognize when those situations arise so you can take advantage of them in the future. Don’t try to do too many things at once because it will distract you from your goal and leave you feeling overwhelmed. Take time out for yourself when needed but don’t let it become an excuse not to get work done on time or with quality.
To maintain a good health, one should exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Exercise helps you manage stress and perform better. Also eat healthy food which is balanced. Smile to stimulate positive feelings and strike powerful poses to gain confidence. Hug someone to release oxytocin which reduces stress levels in the body. Breathe deeply, flex muscles of your body, meditate on things that make you happy or think about something pleasant while breathing deeply for some time; this will relax your mind and reduce stress levels in the body allowing you to stay calm even during stressful situations.
You should be grateful for what you have. Think about your past accomplishments and don’t worry about being found out as a fake. Don’t hold in stress, because that will hurt your performance. Recognize and release stress so it doesn’t hurt you.
Don’t multitask. Focus on one complex job at a time.
If you are doing something that requires focus, don’t do anything else at the same time. Multitasking reduces your productivity by 50% and lowers your IQ temporarily by 15 points. It is the enemy of focus because it distracts you from what you’re doing. Your prefrontal cortex (PFC), which controls rational thinking and logic, becomes easily distracted if it’s not focused on one thing. The PFC contains DNA chemicals that help to keep your mind focused when there are distractions around you or when something novel catches your attention.
