Challenge the Status Quo and Get Out of Your Own Way with Dr. Eric Bean, PhD
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a rut, with your learning?
Whether it’s about your career or a new topic, we’re all trapped sometimes. Maybe you have felt as though you’ve learned the best way to do something without ever considering there could be a better or faster way to achieve the same results. We become biased. It’s natural to be biased. We are creatures that must survive and oftentimes perfecting our current ways is where our attention should be, right?
But why are we biased? Largely because uncertainty stresses us out. We crave comfort. We crave the way it’s always been done. And that’s a recipe for disaster when it comes to learning anything new.
So, what makes people more likely to adapt to change? How might the environment influence our ability to adapt? And how can we improve our ability to adapt?
In this episode, Dr. Eric Bean, Ph.D. shares a story of Hansel Emmanuel, an elite basketball player who, at a young age, experienced a fatal accident. But despite this adverse event, he did not stop from pursuing his dream; he simply learned to adapt to the change in his life. Eric also shares how you can grow your awareness in your adaptability with the AQai assessment and gives listeners a challenge for becoming more adaptable today!
Key Points:
- Mental flexibility is the brain’s ability to adapt and change to new, changing, or unplanned events.
- Voluntarily choose to get out of your comfort zone to become more adaptable.
- Do one thing each day this week that is outside of your comfort zone to become more aware of how you react when you are asked to get outside of your comfort zone.
Episode Highlights
- [01:55] Hansel’s fatal childhood accident and how he’s able to adapt in this change
- [02:43] Hansel pursuing his dream to be a basketball player despite physical disability
- [05:22] What exactly is mental flexibility?
- [06:29] Recent research study on adaptation: monkeys vs. human
- [08:37] Why are we biased?
- [10:14] How to improve your mental flexibility and adaptability
- [10:45] The secret to mental toughness
- [13:16] The importance of mindfulness meditation
Resources Mentioned:
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