PILOTed

Who doesn’t want to live a happy life?

Based on scientific studies, happy lives are built on a foundation of equanimity powers.

Equanimity is the capacity to be nonreactive and nonjudgmental to one’s experiences. The practice of equanimity is developing awareness of one’s state of mind, including stress, and then learning the methods to better manage one’s internal response to stressors, including physiological, emotional, and physical responses. When we learn these for ourselves, it's part of learning self-regulation, and we can also learn how to help others through coregulation.

Equanimity is not accepting a situation, equanimity is about accepting your experience of the situation, learning how to work with your own experience and reactions to the situation. By learning these skills, one becomes more agentic.

For over 120 years, we have known about the physiological, cognitive, and emotional effects of stressors. These take root deep in the brain, in the amygdala, and trigger the stress hormones. Long term stimulation of the amygdala and long-term exposure to stress hormones increases incidences of depression, antisocial behavior, cognitive decline, and a whole host of undesirable sequelae.

In the last 15 years, there has been an exponential increase in scientific studies on cognitive stress reduction practices. These work by lowering the amygdala’s stress response and strengthening the connections and signals emanating from the prefrontal cortex. The direct results are an increase in feelings of wellbeing and curiosity, and surprisingly also increased function of the immune system, lower chronic pain, increased happiness, and higher resistance to trauma, PTSD, and addiction.

You can learn more about the scientific studies in the Mind & Life Podcast episode with David Cresswell of Carnegie Mellon University.

You can read about the techniques of equanimity and self-regulation in the book Self-Reg by Stuard Shanker.

You can learn the practices that lead to equanimity and self-regulation, and also techniques to teach these capabilities to others in the Mastering Your Resourceful Brain online course that starts June 4.

Expectations

I subscribe to Rachel Botsman’s Rethink with Rachel Newsletter. I find it makes me think (hmm, maybe that explains the eponymous title of the newsletter) about my own reflections on her ideas.

The March 2, 2024 article was “6 steps to becoming a better expectation setter.” Her premise is that we are disappointed or upset when our expectations exceed what really happens (or reality). One could certainly lower expectations to avoid being disappointed. Being happy, she says, is not so much as lowering your expectations so that reality won’t disappoint, but that you’ll be happier if you ensure that your expectations are realistic and crystal clear to both you and others through her six steps.

The post triggered two additional thoughts:

1. the importance and ramifications of attachment. It’s attachment to outcome that drives anxiety
2. what can you do when your expectations weren’t unreal, they were as clear as you could make them, they were important to you, and then reality crashes them?

Yes, there is water in the Atacama dessert

Attachment to outcome

Let’s say you have an expectation that you will go outside today and it will be warm and sunny. The weather report said it would be nice, you planned, you built your expectations. You were attached. And then it rains. Brains are designed to be in negative first. You wanted to go outside and have fun, but it’s raining. Go ahead, sulk and be angry. That reflects your attachment to your plans and expectations.

Being detached means you can enjoy reality, whatever reality turns out to be.

You can expect that the weather is going to be warm and sunny and that you will be able to go out and play. And you can also be detached from the expectation, so that when that expectation is not met, you can still be resourceful. Without attachment, we can discern what is and live fully in reality. No need to sulk. No need to stay angry. Just adapt and live. Maybe play a game or see a movie or read a book. Or even go out and play in the puddles.

Whether you enjoy the rain or don’t, it’s still the same amount of rain. That's what's real. You can be attached to your expectations (which weren't realized) or find enjoyment in reality. That's your choice.

Reality crashes reasonable expectations

Weather is relatively easy to avoid attachment. Life sometimes throws us much more difficult situations where expectations are unmet. Here is a personal one.

I was in a business web meeting in my home office.

My phone rings, and since it’s my dad, I put the web meeting on mute. My dad said his computer is not working and he needed it fixed right away so I should come right over. I had already solved his computer problems three times in the last week. I explained I am in a meeting and will see him tomorrow and look at it then, got off the phone and went back to my meeting.

Twenty minutes later, my dad comes into the house bringing his computer and demands I get off the meeting and look at his computer. I put the meeting on mute again. Luckily his aide, who had driven him and followed him into the house, intervened and the three of us worked out that he would leave the computer, I would fix it after my call, and then I would drive it back to his place, and they left. I unmuted the call and went back into the meeting. But I was steaming.

Instead of any of the other things I’d planned for the afternoon, over the next 90 minutes I reset his computer, found his missing files, reinstated his passwords again, and then brought the computer back to him. And I was still steaming mad.

How many of my expectations had been busted in those interactions? I am not sure in a similar situation how many would have been unattached to their expectations about what was reasonable in helping their (elderly) parent, being able to finish business meetings uninterrupted, or having their work plans for the day turned upside down. I certainly wasn’t.

Sometimes we can be unattached to our expectations and just ride through events with ease and flow. This is probably optimal.

For all of us sometimes that’s not possible. Events can shatter our expectations and trigger us. But eventually we reset. Time heals (almost) all wounds. Certainly, a year or two later, no one would have still been upset about disruptions or disappointments along the lines of what happened to me.

Why wait a year, or a month, or even a week to feel better? What becomes valuable, then, is the ability to reset as quickly as possible.

Maybe there should be another post: How do we reset rapidly after severe disappointment of expectations? Or maybe you have some thoughts you can contribute.

And maybe your expectations will be fully fulfilled with a Mindshifting Course.

Cognitive Dissonance and Cognitive Bias

Here is a recap of cognitive bias and cognitive dissonance from the Mindshifting: Mastering Your Resilient Brain course.

How does the brain work?

We've talked before that the heuristic and emotional parts of the brain are located in the limbic system, which acts quickly, and that consciousness. Critical thinking, and creativity reside primarily in the prefrontal cortex, which acts a lot more slowly.

By default, our limbic system comes up with our actions and makes decisions to do something, react a certain way, say something, or maybe buy something. Our conscious thinking parts of the brain then create a rationale or justification or story for whatever decisions and actions we're taking.

The limbic system makes a determination based on our biology and how we are conditioned to react. The prefrontal cortex can be where we're resourceful. You know, when activated, it can allow us to connect with others, to explore and evaluate information to innovate, to align actions to our goals, to focus on some plan of action.

When our limbic or lizard brain senses danger, it focuses all of our senses on action and reaction and inhibits our prefrontal cortex. With our prefrontal cortex inhibited, we're not thinking critically, nor are we creative, and that is why we all have cognitive dissonance and cognitive bias.

In the words of Dr. Cornelia Walther, who I think I brought up in the last two sessions, “Heuristics are mental shortcuts to automate and thereby accelerate decision making. It was a necessary survival strategy in view of the limited capacities of the human brain, which needs to cope with and react to an abundant number of external stimuli. A heuristic that consistently leads to an erroneous decision is called a bias. Bias is the disproportionate weight given in favor of or against an idea, person or thing. It may be innate, or it may be learned. Awareness to inbuilt defaults enables us to overcome them, and consequently change.”

Let's talk a minute about cognitive dissonance and cognitive bias. Cognitive dissonance is when we say we believe in some things, and then our actions do not align with those beliefs. We say we believe in conservation, yet we drive places we could easily walk to, for example. I'm sure you've seen cognitive dissonance in schools. We say we want our students to be open to experimentation to try new things and not be afraid of failing and yet, we grade them so that if they're not perfect, they get points taken away.

Do school systems want students to be free to explore, or maybe school systems just want them to comply? You know we can't push both. What we measure, reward and punish takes precedence over what we say.

And then there are many types of cognitive biases. a cognitive bias is a systemic error in thinking. And it results from our brain’s efforts to simplify this incredibly complex world we live in.

One cognitive bias is confirmation bias, which means that information that confirms what we already know, gets noticed and processed. But we don't fully take in new data that might contradict what we already believe is true. Our unconscious parts of the brain are blocking any analysis that the conscious brain would perform.

Let's say you believe a certain person is lazy. As you observe what this person does, whenever that person is late, or makes a mistake, or doesn't measure up, your brain will use that as confirmation that the person is lazy. And every time that person does something well, your brain won't even notice it. And this is unconscious.

People who believe Fox News is biased will look at stories that Fox News reports which run counter to their beliefs as proof of bias. And people who believe that New York Times or CNBC is biased, look at stories which run counter to their beliefs as proof of bias.

Confirmation bias is a form of following a script and believing a story. Confirmation bias makes us less willing to accept others’ ideas. And it rules out creativity, innovation and diversity. That's a good part of the reason that we primarily use our analytic reasoning to rationalize the decisions and acts and actions we've heuristically devised and emotionally decided upon.

In your lives, look at how people act and react. When do people's actions not match what they say that they believe? And I'm sure you'll find quite a few examples of cognitive dissonance in yourself and other people. that they've seen either and other people or themselves? How many people say that they want to eat healthy, and yet they eat junk foods? How about a male who says he believes in equality of the sexes, and doesn't share household labor?

And then, when you sit back and you start thinking of examples of cognitive bias when people ignore facts that contradict what they believe to be true. How many times have you seen people ignore a fact that is standing right in front of them.

Most of us rarely realize that we're doing this also. And yet we all are doing this.

When we see cognitive bias and cognitive dissonance in others, we often dismiss them as being difficult or defensive. But it's just really part of being human.

When we really believe something, our limbic system shuts down our ability to take in new information and think critically. And until the limbic system is calmed down, or the saboteur is silenced, feedback, suggestions, or alternative actions will just never get through.

It kind of changes the way we look at people who aren't responding to feedback, whether it's our advice or results of their actions, that should be getting them to change.

Now you know, the reason is that the emotional or limbic parts of the brain are blocking them from thinking about thinking. It’s not personal, it’s not a character flaw, it’s what we all do.

Cancel Culture and The Folly of Crowds

There are four blogs/newsletters that I pay for, and Rachel Botsman’s rethink is one. A few weeks ago I responded to her post on the Power of learning to unlearn, and her current post, Cancel culture through a trust lens is what inspired this post.

In cancel culture,

1. Someone says something
2. Somebody objects
3. The objection goes viral (I’d even say goes cancerous)
4. The results are “absurdly harsh consequences including getting shamed by digital mobs or fired from a job.”

We seem to have lost the ability to play with ideas with which we disagree, instead we often attack the person. As a result we a) are ourselves unwilling express our thoughts out of fear of the backlash, and b) we lose out on gleaning whatever we can from these ideas because we are locked into a limbic fight/flight mode and the playful and resourceful parts of our brain are shut down.

These issues are further compounded by our mirror neurons, which mushroom to collective illusions. We all know about the wisdom of crowds, but collective illusions are the folly of crowds. As Todd Rose wrote in his book Collective Illusions,

Collective illusions are social lies. They occur in situations where a majority of individuals in a group privately reject a particular opinion, but they go along with it because they (incorrectly) assume that most other people accept it. When individuals conform to what they think the group wants, they can end up doing what nobody wants.

My recommendations

1. Everyone should have the skill to recognize when they are in fight/flight mode, and so not thinking resourcefully, especially when those reactions are amplified by the folly of crowds
2. Everyone should learn the skills of intercepting their primal reactions and switching to their resourceful parts of their brains
3. Everyone should learn to become comfortable in liminal states, in those times when we don’t really know the answers and we are exploring, even when we are surrounded by people demanding we adhere to some group norm
4. Everyone needs to learn the techniques of connecting with others, especially people with whom we disagree; techniques like motivational interviewing and nonviolent communications.

These just happen to be the skills that the course, Mindshifting techniques for collaboration, conflicts, and opposition focuses on. That’s an online course that starts Tuesday, January 16, consisting of 6 90-minute sessions.

Hope to see you there.

Unlearning

The power of learning to unlearn, a recent article by Rachel Botsman, caused me to think about some of the material in the Mindshifting classes.

One of the observations in Mindshifting 1 is that we can’t remove a habit (or belief, or value, or methodology, or skill) we replace it.

There is a tried and true 4 step model towards building fluency:

1. Unconscious incompetence: when we don’t even realize that something is wrong.
2. Conscious incompetence: this actually has three components.
   1. Realization that there is a gap between what we are doing (or thinking, or saying) and the results we desire.
   2. Observation that there are other actions which do lead to the results we desire.
   3. Selection of some action, but, because we are not skilled in it, the desire to learn those skills.
3. Conscious competence: improvement in the skills, probably through a combination of research, instruction, practice, and feedback with the understanding that we can perform them but only if we consciously and actively perform them.
4. Unconscious competence: fluidity in using the skills, so that we do not have to think about them and that they become our new habits.

Botsman emphasized that our own minds will often fight like the dickens to defend what is already known and familiar. This is one of the reasons that organizations and people who yearn for a growth mindset or learning culture find it much harder that expected; getting to that third part of Conscious incompetence is really really hard, and progressing to unconscious competence is equally fraught.

Our minds have a lot of weapons to resist change, to fight unlearning, using fear and anxiety to unleash cognitive biases and collective illusions. The deceptively simple answer is to act with a sense of curiosity and exploration, especially when success seems inaccessible.

During the unconscious incompetence phase, it’s being curious about whether there might be other or better ways. When we start realizing our incompetence it means searching for alternatives, synthesizing what we are learning, and consciously choosing a path even when our own minds and others question our sanity for designing change. While we are experimenting, and often failing, to acquire competence, it means looking at how far we have traveled, what we are learning, and what we might practice.

Our minds and our colleagues might call on us to give up. Progress is through curiosity and exploration, to exemplify what Arianna Huffington said, “Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”

What I learned about education while in Portugal

Here are the five big takeaways:

1. When there is joy in school, there is deep learning, and when the main focus is standards and tests imposed by “authorities” there is neither.
2. Companies that develop internship programs gain access to talented and loyal employees while also advancing the entire industry.
3. Joyful learning occurs when the entire school community integrates music, art, sports, problem solving, and collaboration into their daily schedules, and when academic subjects are covered as if they were detached from all the above, neither the students nor the educators are served.
4. Angela Maiers can motivate teachers in any location and in any country, her message resonates and inspires.
5. We all need to listen to the teachers; they are the ones who best know their students, and if we do, we can propel Education 5.0.

Last year, a group of us visited Finland and embedded ourselves in the Finnish education system for three days, and here was my post and video of  reflections from Tammie Schrader and me.

This year, Marco Bento, Celestino Magalhaes, and José Alberto Lencastre hosted Angela Maiers, Nancy Mangum, Tammie Schrader, Kristin Zeimke, a team from Brazil, and me for three days in Portugal. We participated in the SuperTabi education technology conference, and visited schools, a video game development company, the largest education publisher in Portugal, and interacted with Edtech providers to the Portuguese education system.

The two schools we visited were Colégio Santa Eulália (birth through high school plus a retirement community) and Colégio Alfacoop (PreK-12). How many schools do you know feature a Frank Zappa quote for their students and teachers?

Or have students who are so engrossed in their work that they don’t even know they are learning or that 10 adults just entered their classroom?

Imagine a school with abundant intelligently designed outside facilities so children of different ages can play, burn off steam, and integrate what they are learning.It’s no wonder that the students end up with great lives and when they themselves have children, send their own children to the school.

Here was a great example of the effect education can have on a young life. A 14 year old boy had developed disruptive and damaging habits. His uncle was a bus driver at Alphacoop. As the driver explained, “I was afraid we were going to lose him, he was on a path to prison, drugs, or worse.” Alphacoop gave that boy a chance and the respect and guidance to help him turn himself around and now he is attending university. Listen to this story.

Look at the energy and enthusiasm in these students’ faces. Isn’t that why we all went into education? These were all students who had taken robotics and coding from Celestino and insisted on having their picture taken with him.

Visiting these schools made us feel forever young (yes, even me, especially as I got a chance to participate in a gym dancing class, sing, and tell a dad joke and riddle) and wanting to come and experiment, just like the sign says.

We also visited two companies. Saber is a state of the art video game development studio. They develop their own games as well as develop for all the large game developers, especially scenes involving cars and racing. Porto Editora is one of the two largest print and digital education publishers in Portugal, and has been charged by the ministry of education with creating a full digital curriculum.

Saber stands at the leading edge of technology, and so like all tech, faces a challenge finding workers who can step in to produce to their specifications. When software, graphics, or sound engineers graduate from university, they are not equipped for the higher standards of quality work or schedules. 

Saber is overcoming the school to work gap by offering a free Saber Academy to recent graduates. A typical attendee spends three to six months producing the same types of projects as actual workers, but under the mentoring of top quality developers. At some point, generally in their 4th to 6th project, they create some module that matches industry expectations, and they are certified and immediately get snapped up by Saber or another game developer.

Porto Editora demonstrated how old line manufacturing companies can adapt to the threats and opportunities of new technology. In print publishing and distribution, we saw how manufacturing companies can streamline operations through mechanized equipment and artificial intelligence, and by walking through their rapidly growing digital publishing arm, we saw how established companies can be nimble and create highly effective teams to pounce on new opportunities, capitalizing on their experience and resources.

Our very first activity was watching Angela Maiers kindle the fire in the hearts of Portuguese educators.

We all need to be able to comprehend digital content, create digital content, and unite others around our digital messages. Every child today needs to feel that their message is needed, and that they have the capability to get their message across, and only teachers can give that to children. That’s one reason why our whole society needs teachers. Here is her session and here was our session.

There is a (hopefully) growing Portugues movement in education around Education 5.0:

1. Technology to understand, create, and communicate.
2. Space to encourage inquiry, curiosity, community, and learning.
3. Pedagogy based on meaningful projects, games, digital storytelling and cooperative and collaborative models.
4. Engagement that involves students in their own processes of learning interacting with teachers and families in a joyful environment.
5. Emotion which determines the way the mind and brain learn and builds empathetic, curious, and motivated students and adults.

We are already planning our summit for next year. It should be epic.

Episodic Future Thinking

I first heard of Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) in Jane McGonigal's book Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything, and I've incorporated it into the MIndshifting Courses and Problem Solving game. Here is a conversation I had with the AI engine GPT4 about EFT; my questions are in bold.

What should I learn about Episodic Future Thinking?

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) is a cognitive process in which individuals imagine or simulate experiences they might have in the future. It involves constructing detailed, vivid mental representations of specific events, which can help in decision-making, planning, and self-regulation. Here are some key aspects to learn about EFT:

1. Definition: EFT is the ability to mentally project oneself into the future and imagine personal experiences or events in a specific context. It is closely related to episodic memory, which involves recalling past experiences.

2. Cognitive components: EFT engages various cognitive processes, including memory, imagination, and prospection. These processes help individuals to mentally construct and explore future scenarios, evaluate potential outcomes, and make choices based on these simulations.

3. Importance: EFT plays a crucial role in everyday life. It aids in goal-setting, decision-making, and problem-solving, as well as enhancing motivation and self-regulation. By simulating future events, individuals can better prepare for potential challenges and navigate complex situations.

4. Relationship with episodic memory: EFT shares neural and cognitive mechanisms with episodic memory. Both processes rely on the brain's ability to flexibly recombine elements from past experiences to create new simulations or memories. The hippocampus is a key brain region involved in both episodic memory and EFT.

5. Benefits and applications: Research on EFT has found various benefits, including improved self-control, better decision-making, and enhanced psychological well-being. It has potential applications in clinical settings, such as addressing addiction, obesity, and mental health disorders, as well as in educational and professional contexts to improve planning, goal-setting, and motivation.

6. Limitations: While EFT can have many positive effects, it is not without limitations. Overemphasis on negative future scenarios could contribute to anxiety or excessive worry. Additionally, some individuals may struggle with EFT due to cognitive deficits or neurological conditions that impair their ability to imagine future events.

7. Improving EFT skills: There are strategies to enhance EFT abilities, such as mental time travel exercises, mindfulness meditation, and cognitive training. These practices can help individuals develop a richer and more flexible capacity for imagining future experiences, which can lead to better decision-making and planning.

What are some examples of episodic future thinking?

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) involves mentally simulating specific future events or experiences. Here are some examples of EFT across various domains of life:

1. Personal life:

   • Planning a vacation: Imagining the sights, sounds, and activities you'll engage in during a trip to a new destination.
   • Envisioning your wedding day: Picturing the venue, your attire, the guests, and the emotions you'll experience during the ceremony and reception.
   • Anticipating a social gathering: Mentally rehearsing conversations, interactions, and potential challenges you might face at a party or event.

2. Education and career:

   • Preparing for an exam: Simulating the testing environment, the types of questions you'll encounter, and the strategies you'll use to answer them.
   • Considering a job change: Imagining the work environment, responsibilities, and potential outcomes of switching careers or accepting a new position.
   • Planning a presentation: Mentally rehearsing your delivery, anticipating audience reactions, and preparing responses to possible questions or objections.

3. Health and well-being:

   • Forming exercise habits: Visualizing the process of going to the gym, engaging in your workout routine, and the feeling of accomplishment after completing a session.
   • Anticipating challenges in weight loss: Imagining situations where you might face temptation (e.g., parties, holidays) and planning strategies to maintain your diet.
   • Coping with stress: Mentally preparing for an upcoming stressful situation, envisioning potential obstacles, and developing coping strategies to manage the stress effectively.

4. Financial planning:

   • Saving for retirement: Imagining your future lifestyle, financial needs, and the steps you'll take to ensure financial security during your retirement years.
   • Preparing for a major purchase: Visualizing the process of researching, comparing, and negotiating for a new car or home, along with the potential benefits and consequences of the purchase.
   • Managing unexpected expenses: Anticipating future financial emergencies and simulating strategies to handle them, such as building an emergency fund or adjusting your budget.

These examples demonstrate how EFT can help individuals mentally prepare for future events, anticipate challenges, and make more informed decisions across a wide range of life situations.

How could a teacher use EFT with her class in elementary school, middle school, or high school?

A teacher can incorporate Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) into their teaching strategies to help students develop goal-setting, planning, and self-regulation skills. Here are some ideas for using EFT with elementary, middle, and high school students:

1. Goal-setting and planning activities:

   • Ask students to envision a specific academic or personal goal they want to achieve by the end of the school year. Have them create a vivid mental image of the moment they achieve the goal and then develop a step-by-step plan to reach it.
   • Have students imagine their future selves and write a letter from their future selves to their current selves, describing what they've achieved and the steps they took to get there.

2. Enhancing learning and memory:

   • Encourage students to imagine how they will use the knowledge they're currently learning in real-life situations, such as applying math concepts to manage a budget or using language skills to communicate during a trip abroad.
   • Before studying for an exam, ask students to envision themselves in the testing environment, recalling the material they've learned and answering questions confidently.

3. Developing problem-solving and decision-making skills:

   • Use hypothetical scenarios or case studies to have students mentally simulate potential solutions and their consequences, enabling them to make informed decisions.
   • Encourage students to imagine themselves in challenging social situations (e.g., dealing with peer pressure or resolving conflicts) and mentally rehearse appropriate responses and coping strategies.

4. Building empathy and perspective-taking:

   • Ask students to imagine themselves in the shoes of a character from a book, historical figure, or someone from a different culture, and consider how that person might think, feel, and act in various situations.

5. Promoting self-regulation and self-motivation:

   • Teach students to use EFT as a tool for managing procrastination. Have them envision the consequences of not completing a task on time and the satisfaction of completing it promptly.
   • Use EFT to help students anticipate and overcome obstacles they may encounter while working on a project, such as time management challenges or resource limitations.

6. Career exploration and planning:

   • Encourage students to envision themselves in different careers, considering the work environment, daily tasks, and long-term goals associated with each profession.
   • Have students research and present on a future job they're interested in, incorporating EFT to imagine the steps they'll need to take to enter and succeed in that profession.

By incorporating EFT into various classroom activities, teachers can help students develop important skills and strategies for academic success, personal growth, and long-term planning.

How could an organization use EFT to come up with potential solutions to complex or complicated problems?

Organizations can use Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) to generate potential solutions for complex or complicated problems by encouraging employees to mentally simulate various future scenarios, evaluate potential outcomes, and devise creative strategies. Here are some ways organizations can incorporate EFT into their problem-solving processes:

1. Scenario planning:

   • Organize brainstorming sessions where employees envision different future scenarios related to the problem, considering various factors such as technological advancements, market shifts, and potential challenges.
   • Encourage employees to develop detailed mental images of these scenarios, emphasizing the potential consequences and opportunities each one presents.

2. Mental simulations and role-playing:

   • Have employees imagine themselves in the shoes of different stakeholders (e.g., customers, suppliers, competitors) and consider how they would perceive and react to potential solutions.
   • Use role-playing exercises to simulate critical situations, allowing employees to practice their problem-solving skills and evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies.

3. Reverse planning:

   • Ask employees to envision the desired outcome or solution to the problem and work backward to identify the steps required to reach that outcome.
   • Encourage them to consider potential obstacles and devise strategies to overcome these challenges.

4. Encouraging creativity and innovation:

   • Foster a supportive environment for creative thinking and risk-taking, encouraging employees to imagine unconventional solutions and explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of these ideas.
   • Use EFT to help employees envision the long-term impact of their innovative ideas, considering both the potential risks and rewards.

5. Collaborative decision-making:

   • Facilitate group discussions and workshops where employees can share their mental simulations, discuss potential solutions, and collectively evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of these ideas.
   • Encourage employees to consider the perspectives of their colleagues and integrate different viewpoints into the decision-making process.

6. Continuous learning and improvement:

   • Encourage employees to use EFT to reflect on past experiences and project lessons learned into future situations, helping them adapt and improve their problem-solving skills over time.
   • Use EFT to anticipate potential future problems and proactively develop strategies to mitigate or prevent these issues from arising.

By incorporating EFT into the organization's problem-solving processes, employees can develop a deeper understanding of complex issues, generate creative solutions, and make more informed decisions that account for potential future challenges and opportunities.

Summarize three case studies of EFT in schools

While specific case studies on EFT in schools might not be readily available, I can provide you with three hypothetical scenarios that demonstrate how EFT can be applied in school settings.

1. Enhancing students' academic performance and motivation:

In a middle school, a teacher noticed that some of her students were struggling to stay motivated and engaged with their coursework. She decided to implement EFT exercises by asking students to envision themselves successfully completing a challenging assignment or acing an upcoming exam. The students were encouraged to create vivid mental images of themselves experiencing the satisfaction and pride that comes with such achievements. Over time, this practice led to increased motivation and self-confidence, resulting in improved academic performance and a greater sense of ownership over their learning process.

2. Promoting empathy and perspective-taking in a diverse classroom:

A high school social studies teacher wanted to promote empathy and understanding among her culturally diverse students. She introduced an EFT activity in which students were asked to imagine themselves in the shoes of individuals from different cultural backgrounds or historical periods. They were encouraged to think about the challenges, emotions, and experiences these individuals might have faced. This exercise not only helped students develop empathy and perspective-taking skills but also led to more respectful and inclusive interactions among classmates, fostering a positive learning environment for all students.

3. Building problem-solving and decision-making skills through project-based learning:

In an elementary school, a teacher implemented a project-based learning curriculum that required students to work in teams to design and execute a community service project. The teacher guided students through EFT exercises to envision the successful completion of their projects, anticipate potential challenges, and devise strategies to overcome these obstacles. Students were encouraged to mentally simulate the entire process, from initial planning to implementation and evaluation. By practicing EFT, students developed critical problem-solving and decision-making skills that not only contributed to the success of their projects but also prepared them for future collaborative endeavors.

These hypothetical scenarios illustrate how EFT can be integrated into various educational contexts to enhance students' motivation, empathy, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, ultimately contributing to a more positive and effective learning experience.

If I wanted to initiate a session to improve problem solving skills with middle school students by using EFT, what steps would I follow?

To initiate a session aimed at improving problem-solving skills with middle school students using EFT, follow these steps:

1. Set clear objectives: Begin by defining the specific problem-solving skills you want the students to develop or enhance, such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, or decision-making.

2. Introduce EFT: Explain the concept of Episodic Future Thinking and its benefits, particularly in relation to problem-solving. Provide examples of how EFT can help them mentally simulate future scenarios and generate potential solutions.

3. Present a problem or scenario: Choose a relevant, age-appropriate problem or scenario that the students can relate to and find engaging. The problem should be complex enough to require creative problem-solving but not so difficult that it becomes discouraging.

4. Guide students through EFT: Instruct students to mentally simulate the problem scenario and imagine themselves successfully solving it. Encourage them to create vivid mental images of each step in the process, including potential obstacles and strategies for overcoming them.

5. Facilitate group discussions: Divide students into small groups and have them share their mental simulations, discussing the different solutions they've envisioned. Encourage them to consider the pros and cons of each approach and collaboratively refine their ideas.

6. Encourage reflection: After the group discussions, ask students to reflect on the experience, considering what they learned about problem-solving, the role of EFT, and how their thought process evolved throughout the activity.

7. Provide feedback and support: Offer constructive feedback on students' problem-solving strategies and their use of EFT, highlighting areas of success and areas for improvement. Encourage them to continue practicing EFT in their everyday lives to enhance problem-solving skills.

8. Assign follow-up activities: To reinforce the concepts and skills learned during the session, assign follow-up activities that require students to apply EFT and problem-solving techniques to real-life situations or academic challenges.

By incorporating EFT into a problem-solving session, you can help middle school students develop the ability to mentally explore various solutions, anticipate potential challenges, and make more informed decisions. This skillset will not only benefit them academically but also in their personal lives and future careers.

And if you've made it this far and you're interested in the courses, the next MIndshifting 1 course will start on May 4: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mindshifting-1-growth-mindset-and-habits-of-mind-tickets-568188887257

Building Schools that Work for All

In the last post, you saw examples of an educational environment where the entire community, children, teachers, and administrators felt at home actively learning and teaching. Probably my favorite quote was one teacher, who was asked how she knew the students were learning in the absence of high stakes summative testing, replied, “at the end of the day, when I see the children’s eyes are smiling, I know I am doing my job.”

As I’ve talked to people back home, the immediate reactions were, “that’s great, but it can’t work here.” Here were some representative reactions, and my responses.

That works in Finland, but Finland is a monoculture.

The first school we visited was a neighborhood school in a diverse low SES community. There are migrants, there are students who are not fluent in Finnish.

Finland is small, that won’t work in urban settings.

Both schools were in Helsinki, which has a population over 600,000, and the greater metropolitan area’s population is over 1.3 million.

That might work if you were starting a school, but you can’t expect to change existing schools.

The second school was new, and was designed with this type of instruction in mind. The first school was over 30 years old and started its transformation about five years ago and was just as remarkable.

We have schools like that here, but only in schools where they can shuffle off non-performing students. We don’t have that luxury in public schools.

These were public schools. In fact, virtually all education is public education in Finland, and even private schools need to meet the same requirements and standards as public schools. When students encounter learning obstacles, the school works with the students to overcome them.

What if our first thoughts weren’t, “let me figure out why that won’t work here,” but,” what would we love to build?” What if our questions were vision-based instead of fear-based? In education, that would probably entail constructing an education system whose goal is to prepare students to be adults and that’s designed to operate the way people naturally learn and teach.

There seem to be three pillars foundational to the Finnish type of system: Humanism, Trust, and Fun.

Humanism values the worth of each person. The Deputy Mayor of Helsinki told us that their goal is to make Helsinki the most equitable and effective place to learn in the world. She herself was a refugee from Afghanistan. The Ministry of Education said that their goal was to help children become optimistic adults who find solutions to the problems they and society face. HAMI and Kiipula Vocational schools said there goals were to honor and value every single person by helping them find out how they can contribute.

The word Trust came up in each conversation. You saw in the last post what this looks like. Students working together without direct supervision, both in and out of the classroom. Teachers learning and trying new things and using the results as feedback for progress regardless of whether they matched, exceeded, or even fell short of expectations. Administrators and policy makers not knowing what exactly students and teachers were doing but confident that the system was working and everyone would adjust to whatever happened because the end goals were clear and the different actors could obtain help if and when they needed it.

Fun was evident in that administrators, educators, and students enjoy what they were doing to such an extent that they were internally motivated to work hard and excel.

These three pillars are not just lofty goals, they are guidelines for planning and practice. Here is how HAMK, an Applied Science University that prepares teachers, benchmarked education systems in order to target areas for continuous improvement:

Basing their focus on these priorities, here is how HAMK then grows their expertise and capabilities:

In the schools themselves, teachers across the school work together to create learning opportunities for children through Phenomenon-based learning, or inspiring students through problems that interest them.

And this is  the framework for how to guide students through learning activities: the children setting their own learning goals, self-assessing what they already know, obtaining the knowledge and skills they need, and then sharing their results.

In this way, children aren’t learning by artificially dividing their time into “subjects” like biology or geometry or literature, and groups of students aren’t being segregated or solely working individually, children and teachers are holistically and inclusively learning together.

Despite our immediate reactions of “this won’t work here,” the Finnish Educational framework can work in any country or society.

1. Begin with the end in mind
2. Value each person
3. Build and reinforce mutual trust
4. Learn through activities inspired by our natural curiosity

Isn't this a path worth considering? 

Considering this is possible is a mindshift. If you want to learn how to Mindshift, consider joining educators from Washington and New York State taking the Mindshifting class starting on November 1.

Is This the Way a School Should Operate?

Let’s say a school divided their school year into five parts as follows:

All learning took place in the context of one of these general phenomena, and the children (students) learned through solving problems in these areas. That type of learning might look like these pictures.

First graders working on their projects:

2^nd graders working on a wearable project

Students working outside of the classroom:

Fifth graders building and programming robots

Even a 2^nd grade math class looks different:

Where are the teachers in these pictures? The children are busy learning, the role of the teacher is to facilitate not to “teach”. This type of learning works when teachers trust the kids to come to them when they need them, so the teachers can stay in the background coaching when needed. Kids naturally tend to rise to whatever you expect them to do.

How do you set up schools for this type of learning?

That will be in the next post.

Uh oh, I think we have a problem

People ask me, “What is the benefit of learning how the mind makes decisions?” 

Persistence, self-initiative, critical thinking, creative thinking and innovation, collaboration, communication, and their opposites all begin in the mind. When you learn to recognize how the mind operates in each of these spheres, and learn how to move minds into resourceful mindframes, you will accomplish more and you will recover faster from conflicts, unanticipated obstacles, and detrimental emotional responses.

Here is an education example from real life.

A district was evaluating digital textbooks for science, and they asked for teacher volunteers to review a few offerings from respected publishers and make a recommendation. Each textbook was already in use at hundreds, or even thousands, of districts.

The teachers pull together and after a few weeks of reviewing the materials and sharing insights, they are close to selecting textbook A.

Just at that time, the district’s curriculum director realized that the district had received a grant for teaching science, and that the grant included purchasing textbook B. He cannot in good conscience pay for a different textbook when the district would be receiving copies for all students, support materials, and even PD for this one at no charge.

He informs the teachers, takes responsibility for the mistake, and says he is sorry.

The teachers are angry. They aren’t buying the apology.

Here is how a mindshifting practitioner would look at the situation.

At this moment the teachers are angry. Anger emanates from the more primitive areas of the brain, the limbic system. When the limbic system activates anger, it also secretes the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisone which focus the brain on reactions to the threat that is causing the anger, shuts off the innovative and critical thinking parts of the brain (which tend to exist in some of the more recent areas to develop, the prefrontal cortex) and direct those areas to generate reasons or stories the justify the anger.

These stories are phrases like:

• The district doesn’t respect teachers
• The district took advantage of me
• I’m going to show them that this textbook isn’t going to work
• They never listen to us
• That’s the last time I put in extra time or effort for them
• It’s always just about the money, they don’t really care about the children at all, only we teachers care about the kids and look where that gets us

While the teachers are angry, and while their critical thinking, creative, and resourceful parts of their brains are shut down, the teachers will not be receptive to anything that administration says or does to justify the decision or to move on; in fact those efforts are likely just to reinforce the negative stories that their brains are feeding them.

What can’t people just move on?

Before the teachers can move on, their limbic anger has to dissipate, and their limbic brain must reset.

There are three ways to reset the limbic brain and give access to calmness, resourcefulnes, or playfulness.

1. A person can be aware of when their limbic brain is controlling their reaction. Sometimes just realizing that you are angry (or afraid, or anxious, etc.) is enough to reset.
2. Mindfulness, or focusing on sensations such as breathing, sounds, the environment, meditation, trees, or the bodily sensations of the emotion may open up enough space to reset,
3. Positive internal chatter, talking to yourself in positive terms such as, “maybe this is really for the best,” “what does this now open up for me to best live my life,” “of course I am disappointed but I wonder how I can make the best of this now.” Note that this is internal chatter, no one wants to hear this from someone else, it has to be internally generated.

Along with the three ways of resetting the limbic brain, there are only two ways of getting over a past disappointment or negative outcome.

1. You can decide that this outcome was not really that important, choose to dismiss any slights or anger, and move on. In fact, over time, this often happens. In ten years (probably less), virtually all of the teachers will likely have moved on from this event; we all do.
2. You can find a gift or opportunity in this outcome. For example, the district will now have hundreds of thousands of dollars that they can spend on other things, can those actually be more beneficial than using textbook A? Or, in the process of reviewing the textbooks, the teachers were exposed to many different tools and teaching techniques, can any of them be incorporated into teaching along with textbook B?

When teachers are trained in mindshifting

they learn the skills to reset their own limbic systems and to move past disappointments. This significantly reduces the chances situations like this turn into crises. Imagine listening in to the internal thoughts of a mindshifting teacher:

• What? All that work for nothing?
• Wait, that’s my lizard brain working up to anger.
• Let me take a few minutes to calm myself.
• Okay, in the grand scheme of things, this really isn’t so terrible, what can we salvage from this?

These teachers were not.

If the administration had been schooled in MIndfulness

They would have recognized that the teachers would regard this as an empty apology; all form but no substance, or what behavioral psychologists might call a “denial” apology: “I’m sorry but it wasn’t my fault.” They would have either formulated their initial communications to the teachers in a form that would connect better with how the teachers would likely feel and react, or, if they overlooked that step, they would have quickly realized the situation and reacted in a way to restore the teachers’ sense of connection and value.

These administrators were not.

So either the teachers remain in anger mode until their anger dissipates over time, or the administration needs to use some mindshifting techniques to coach the teachers.

Here are two mindshifting techniques that could be used in coaching

Someone can coach the teachers. A good coach could connect with the teachers and help them move forward, perhaps with mindshifting techniques such as motivational interviewing.For example, one possible coaching technique would be starting a discussion of other times each of us has been angry, and times when when we were able to move out of anger and into calm and action. The process of recalling and recounting those instances would be a way to trigger a form mindfulness, and provide space, and then recalling instances when they diminished the anger on their own might give them access to their own resourcefulness.

The administration could provide a “gift or opportunity” to the teachers. For example, they could talk about their error, and that since the district has this extra money and since the teachers have been so helpful, they would like to give the teachers the opportunity to determine how some of that money would be spent for the students.

It’s not that these different possible solutions couldn’t be arrived without Mindshifting, but

1. With Mindshifting, if one understands the dynamics of how the brain is operating and the mechanisms for controlling the mind’s operation, the problem is framed in a way that naturally leads to possible interventions such as these.
2. If the teachers and administration were already skilled in Mindshifting, the recovery from issues such as this would be much quicker and likely autonomous.

Want to learn these techniques for yourself or your students?

The next class, Mindshifting 1: Growth Mindset and Critical Thinking for Educators will start on October 18 and run for 8 sessions. More info and register here.