I was fortunate to have received my B.S. from Western Michigan University in Behavioral Science. You may not know this, but Western has one of the best programs for someone passionate about behavioral psychology due to the emphasis placed on applied learning.
I chose to do my practicum at Croyden preschool, which gave me the life altering opportunity to serve preschoolers with autism ranging from age 2-6. It was super important to begin intervention during this time frame because the brain has the most neuroplasticity during those years.
I spent an entire semester working with two students. One student was considered to be high functioning while the other was lower functioning. To say that I learned a lot is an understatement. The experience I had with those two little guys went on to shape me and my life.
While there are umpteen stories I could share with you, the message I’m here to deliver today is an important one about how to rewire your brain so you get to start putting down those self sabotaging patterns.
Each 2 hour blocked I worked with the kiddos was energizing and exhausting. The reason why I, often, left exhausted is because I had a graduate assistant following me around to ensure I was providing my students with positive or negative reinforcement every 30 seconds.
Yep, you read that right — every 30 seconds.
You see, all of our thoughts, words, and actions come from neurological pathways in the brain. Whether we’re dealing with autism or self-sabotaging procrastination, behavioral psychology is at the root of bankrupting old patterns.
Breaking this junk up requires an intense level of interruption that can occur from having your coach reflect it to you every time it shows up to you playing the noticing game so you can see it and pause vs. power through in your autopilot mode.
If having more examples would support you, I’ll share a couple of the ways I supported my cuties to interrupt their behaviors.
- One of my little ones engaged in a great deal of self stimulation. He took great pleasure from rocking back and forth while crossing his elbows and holding his hands. I would first begin with a verbal prompt, “Demetrius, quiet hands.” If he listened, my job was to get ecstatically excited and shout, “Good quiet hands, Demetrius! Good quiet hands!” This interrupted the pattern and lit up the reward center in his brain making him more apt to move away from the awkward behavior and into something more aligned with his peers. If he didn’t listen, I would get more commanding and say something such as, “Demitrius, stop!” I’d also be making a stern face so he understood it was play time. If that didn’t do it, I’d give a light physical touch. If this was to no avail, I would take his hands and hold them in his lap ensuring he was making eye contact with me while telling him, “This is quiet hands, Demetrius. This is quiet hands.”
- When I was teaching my higher functioning dude how to pair pictures with words, I had to intervene immediately when he make the connection or didn’t make the connection so the brain could get that feedback on the spot.
Why am I sharing this story with you when it comes to understanding more about how to rewire the brain?
I want you to know that you must be a maniac about noticing the behaviors that aren’t working for you.
I invite you to find a tribe who will be a relentless stand for you to see your stuff.
I’m here to say that the game of transformation is a “whatever it takes” kind of game. If it takes intervening in your thoughts, words, and actions every 30 seconds when you’re working with a powerful pattern, then that’s what it takes.
What is one structure you’re willing to put in place so you get to free yourself from your fear and have an amazing relationship with yourself?
For me, it’s working with a coach! Shocker… lol
If you’d like to have a visual diagram illustrating how your relationship with yourself impacts your self care pattern, you will want to be with us for Release. Relax. Restore. this fall.
We won’t change anything until we’re brutally aware of what’s so, and this is exactly why Sarah and I are back for round 2 — we are so committed to standing for you to have everything you want in the realm of self care.
I asked Sarah if she would align with extending our $200 discount through April 12th so I had more time to connect with people like you who may some support in order to make an empowered choice. She said YES!
Now through April 12th, save $200 when you register for our fall retreat for balance and release. Put your deposit down today and watch the universe swoop in to help you make it happen.
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Jenn Shull is an ontologically trained life and leadership coach and certified yoga teacher who combines coaching, neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and yoga principles to support her clients in shifting their mindsets, so they can transform their businesses, jobs, and lives. Jenn created her business, The Bold Thing, to help people bring their visions to life in a sustainable way. The Bold Thing is: a thought to think, a conversation to have, an action to take, a way of life and an opportunity to experience deep fulfillment as you get paid to share your gifts.
Ways To Work With Jenn:
- 1:1 Coaching
- Overwhelmed Entrepreneur Package
- Untapped Intrapreneur Package
- 90 minute Deep Dive Session
- 1:1 Coaching and Yoga
- Bold Practice for a Busy Brain Session
- Yoga Off the Mat Session
- Speaking and Workshops
- Bold Practice for a Busy Brain: May 19th, 1 – 3 pm at Be Yoga South
- Wild West of Entrepreneurship
- Recipe for ROI (entrepreneur version)
- Recipe for ROI: Wellbeing & The Workplace (September 25th, corporate client)
- Entrepreneur Envy (Speaker at the 2019 Voxy Summit!)
- Sales: From Dirty Word to Delight
- Retreat – Release. Relax. Restore. Boone, NC. November 7-10, 2019
- Team – Customized coaching and workshops
- 1:1 yoga – customized restorative and mindful flow yoga sessions
- Group yoga
- Tuesdays at Ebb and Flow Movement Studio 4:30 pm
- Thursdays at Okra 12:30 pm Deep Stretch
- Fridays at Be Yoga (South) 4:30 pm Slow Flow
Let’s chat about which option is the right one for you.
