{"id":226475,"date":"2024-02-08T23:14:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T23:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danacorey.com\/?p=226475"},"modified":"2024-02-08T23:14:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T23:14:57","slug":"the-neuroscience-of-achieving-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danacorey.com\/the-neuroscience-of-achieving-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Neuroscience of Achieving Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo by Michael Dziedzic<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Monday morning, and you\u2019re on the way out the door, coffee in hand, when you reach for your keys by the door – and they aren\u2019t there.<\/span><\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t in your pockets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or your purse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your typical morning routine descends into a frantic quest to find your damn keys already, and you and your home are looking more disheveled by the minute.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you finally find them on the kitchen counter, you\u2019re running late and feeling more than a little frustrated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You could\u2019ve sworn you already looked there, yet, there they are, in plain sight.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Secret of the Not-So-Lost Keys<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s the real culprit behind your missing keys:<\/span><\/p>\n

Your brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your brain receives an overwhelming amount of sensory information every second of every day, but not all of it is useful. It\u2019s too much to process, so <\/span>your brain creates default maps of your routines and the places where you spend the most time to decrease the amount of attention and energy you expend on everyday details.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Like your home and where you put your keys when you get there.<\/span><\/p>\n

You may not even be aware of it, but you tend to move around these places and spaces in habitual patterns. When you break those patterns, say <\/span>because your phone rang while you were carrying the groceries in, so you put down the bags and dropped your keys on the counter to answer your cell<\/span><\/i>, your brain isn\u2019t paying attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re in a familiar, safe place, those default maps are one of the primary ways your brain saves energy. <\/b>\u00a0It expects you to follow the map like you do every other day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially, you couldn’t see your keys because you weren\u2019t expecting them to be there.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Default Maps and Business Blind Spots<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

The same thing happens in your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From that initial flash of inspiration through the hustle and grind of the start-up phase and every day after, you create and reinforce ideas and beliefs about \u201cwhat it means to be a successful business owner\u201d and \u201chow to run a business.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unbeknownst to you, those beliefs and narratives are training your RAS to build filters that act like blinders until those perceptions become all you can see.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes time to grow your company to the next level, you can\u2019t see beyond your preconceived notions. <\/span>You miss the solutions that are right there under your nose because your brain is operating out of habit and routine<\/b>, to the exclusion of all the unexpected possibilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Seeing Through the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s also why it can be so incredibly difficult to change someone\u2019s mind, including your own. <\/b>Your RAS is conditioned to find and deliver information based on your values and priorities, which means it is constantly seeking evidence that reinforces your existing beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it isn\u2019t only reinforcing the beliefs that you\u2019re aware of; it\u2019s working to reinforce your unconscious beliefs, too, like:<\/span><\/p>\n