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Your Health, Wellness and Performance?

                                                            Dr. Faiez Kirsten

What does it really take to enhance your level of health, wellness and performance and even take it to the best you are capable of?

The answer is ‘knowledge and application’ of six subjects. What six subjects? I'll get straight into them.The first body of knowledge you need to acquire and apply in your life is that of the Subconscious Mind. Why the subconscious? Because your subconscious mind controls more than ninety-five percent of your life! So even though it’s not necessary to be a guru or specialist on the subconscious, given the importance of this part of our mind I’m sure you’ll agree that at least some knowledge, and application of this knowledge, is necessary in order to enhance your health, wellness and performance. In fact it is necessary in order to lead an effective life overall. Now I know you may be thinking hey, I don’t need to know how the engine of a car works in order to be a good driver! So why would I need to know anything about my subconscious mind in order to enhance my health, wellness and performance. Good point! However in my opinion, if you understand how the engine of your car works you are more likely to drive according to how the engine works and even drive in the most effective way in keeping with how the engine works. In fact if you know how the engine works you are less likely to drive in a way which makes the engine operate less effectively and efficiently. You are less likely to drive in a way which damages the engine and shortens its lifespan. Agree?

Okay, so what is the subconscious mind? Now the following definition is entirely my own. And it is this:                                                             The         The subconscious mind consists of all involuntary (generally) processes & functions including thoughts, beliefs, emotions, memories, skills, instincts and behaviours that are generated by and occur in the living brain and body and which we are unaware of. As you will see beliefs are an inherent component of the subconscious mind. In fact subconscious beliefs are vitally Important because it is they which ultimately determine our destiny and control our lives. It is they which ultimately determine our level of performance and our level of health and wellness.

So what are beliefs? Beliefs are instructions which are coded and stored in the cells of the nervous system and body. Similar to a software programmer who writes instructions into a computer program on how the computer should run or operate so beliefs are instructions as to how we should feel, act or behave or how our lives should run or operate. And beliefs do this by influencing our feelings or perceptions and the selection and expression of our DNA. A good example of how beliefs influence our behavior and performance is Roger Banister who on May 6, 1954 ran the mile in under 4 minutes. Before this feat it was a commonly held belief that such an achievement was not possible. But on this day Bannister’s belief instructed his entire being to do whatever was necessary to achieve this goal. And amazingly what happened after that was that several more people achieved the same goal because they now also believed that it was possible. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay, the first people to summit Mount Everest is another great example. And I am sure you can recall many others.

So can beliefs be changed? In this example it is of course obvious that they can. We are not victims of heredity or genetic control. So if you hold
beliefs that are not working for you then this does not have to be the case for as long as you live. If you are experiencing health and wellness
problems due to limiting beliefs for example, neutralizing them and installing new health and wellness-enhancing beliefs is what is necessary. This process of reprogramming the subconscious mind is the starting point on the highway towards enhanced - even optimal - health and wellness. And of course for many other aspects of life where problems are being experienced. For more information on the subconscious mind get my FREE report and 3-Part video presentation on the subconscious mind entitled:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    "The Subconscious Mind – What it is and How to Reprogram it Using  Advanced Technologies"

                                                                                                Below is a snippet of the presentation                            

                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Great, so let us move on to the next subject which you need to know about and understand in order to enhance your health, wellness and
performance viz. the discipline of Goal Setting and Goal Achievement. Enhancing health, wellness and performance is ultimately about setting and achieving goals. And the ultimate goal of course is your destination of optimal health, wellness and performance. Now in order to maximize your chances of achieving your goals you need to be familiar with the right tools, techniques and practices and how to use them to go about setting and achieving those goals in a scientific way. Now you may be wondering why it is necessary to know anything about the science behind goal setting and achievement in order to realize your goals. And the answer of course is that a greater understanding of the discipline of goal setting and achievement and especially its scientific basis is more likely to lead to people actually doing what is necessary i.e. utilizing and applying the various tools, techniques and practices which will assist them in reaching those goals more effectively.My book "Achieve Whatever You Want” describes 16 revolutionary discoveries about the human brain with respect to goal setting and achievement and also 18 techniques and practices in this regard.

I will share with you one of these revolutionary discoveries in this discussion. And it is the most important one made in the past ten years by brain scientists. In fact the discovery of brain neuroplasticity is so important it is referred to as the ‘Discovery of the Decade’ by brain researchers. Until recently scientists thought (and taught) that the brain was unchangeable i.e. that we were all born with certain genetic predispositions, habits and characteristic traits based on the patterns and combinations of neural connections we inherited from our parents. It was thus believed that we humans were totally at the mercy of our genetic makeup with respect to who we are as a person (habits, character etc). However it is now known that the brain is not as hardwired or unchangeable as was previously believed. For example it has been found that stimulation of the brain, regardless of age, causes new connections to be formed between brain cells via synapses i.e. stimulation of the brain in the form of acquisition of new knowledge or having new experiences causes new synaptic connections to be made between neurons in the brain. This is how learning occurs – through the process of forming new synaptic connections. The same applies to our character, personality or temperament. It can be changed.

Now it has also been found that repetitive thoughts strengthen the synaptic connections and affect the way in which the brain works And that….just thinking repetitively i.e. over and over again, about doing something creates the same changes in the brain as that created by the physical act itself! In addition the body itself becomes modified in a similar fashion by this mental rehearsal as it would be by the  physical act itself! For example if a surgeon repetitively rehearses in his mind the steps to a surgical procedure the same changes will occur in his brain (motor cortex, sensory cortex etc) and body (muscles of his hands etc) as those resulting from the repetitive performance of the procedure. However it is the actual doing of the procedure i.e. the physical experience, which enables the synaptic connections to remain in place on a more long-term basis.

Thus research has now found that each new thought we have, each new experience we have and each new thing we learn causes the brain
to change. This changing or re-shaping of the brain in terms of the formation of new synaptic connections and the weakening and  discarding of old unused connections is termed neuroplasticity. And the ability of the brain to reshape or remold itself does not depend on age. The brain has this neuroplastic ability throughout life. A person at the age of sixty-five for example is just as capable of learning computer skills as is a sixteen year old. Without a doubt brain neuroplasticity has been an absolutely profound discovery.However an equally profound discovery was also made. And it is that, contrary to previous thinking…the brain can also generate new brain cells! This process by which new neurons are formed in the brain is called neurogenesis. And the brain also continues this activity throughout life – and on a daily basis. Stem cells in the brain generate thousands of neurons every single day!

One type of activity that leads to the formation of new brain cells is meditation. This practice not only alters the functioning and brain-wave patterns of the brain but also causes a thickening or increased volume of its grey matter. This increased volume is a reflection of an increased quantity of brain cells – and is associated with an improvement in the abilities of the brain such as an enhanced level of intelligence for example. Neuroplasticity in fact makes it possible for us to increase both our IQ (Intellectual Intelligence) and EQ (Emotional Intelligence).

Now the human brain consists of more than 100 billion neurons which are interconnected through a few trillion existing synaptic connections. However the potential number of new synaptic connections that the brain is capable of forming is so large it can be regarded as infinite! Thus given this capability, the brain really has the capacity to achieve anything. It has no limitations! Scientists in fact agree that human potential is unlimited. And thanks to this potential your brain’s performance can match that of increasingly younger people (e.g. enhanced intellectual or cognitive ability) despite you becoming older in time i.e. your chronological age increasing. Amazing!

Thus since the brain’s capacity or potential does not depend on age…it is never too late to teach an “old” brain new tricks! In fact it has also been discovered that it is possible to build up a reserve of neurons earlier in life which can replace those lost due to  Alzheimers disease later in life thus maintaining or improving brain function as one ages. Fascinating!

"Achieve Whatever You Want" is available here (with bonus videos)

Alright, so now it's on to Leadership. In order to perform optimally and to achieve and maintain optimal health and wellness it is vital to possess the necessary leadership skills, specifically those skills which enable effective self-leadership. However the achievement and maintenance of optimal health, wellness and performance often also requires the effective leadership of others too. Of course this is a non-negotiable for the achievement and maintenance of optimal health, wellness and performance at an organizational level. But what is leadership? What does a leader do? A leader is a person who knows and understands what his or her personal goals are and which is the right path to go down to reach those goals. And he or she then actually goes down that path. This is self-leadership. However leaders often need to show others the path that leads to their goals and how to go down it. This is of course leadership of others.

But what determines whether a person who is leading himself or herself towards a certain destination will actually be successful in reaching that destination? The possession of self-leadership skills. The possession and application of this set of emotional skills or competencies is vital for leading one’s self effectively. However it is not only possession and application of self-leadership skills which are necessary for successful self-leadership but also strength in these skills. Similarly in order to lead others effectively strength in another set of social and emotional skills is required. But how would it be known how strong a leader’s skills are? You measure them of course. In fact in order to perform successfully in the arena in which they operate (work, social, parenting, marriage etc) it is vital for leaders to have their leadership skills measured so that they can be improved if necessary. Why? Because it is these skills which are ultimately going to get them to their destination! It is through leading themselves effectively along the road to this destination that they will in fact reach the destination. But a shortcoming in these emotional competencies will severely diminish their chances of doing so.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    What does strength in leadership skills mean? It means the percentage of time which the leader displays the characteristics related to the skill. The less this percentage, the weaker they would be in a skill. The Institute for the Enhancement of Health, Wellness and Performance’s ESSA-360 is a 360-degree on-line assessment which measures twenty different emotional and social skills which are vital both for leading one’s self and others more effectively. Many leaders, although intellectually very skilled, are emotionally unfit or unhealthy, and consequently cause much destruction, not only to themselves, but also to their organizations. By completing the ESSA-360 they will obtain an actual measurement of their status with respect to these various skills in graphic format graphic. format.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  What then are these leadership skills? They include emotional self-awareness, self-confidence, conscientiousness, trustworthiness or integrity, adaptability, empathy, conflict-resolution and developing others amongst the many others. Strength in these skills produce leaders who do the right things, who know themselves well, who value their employees, who are caring and humble, who are ethical, who listen well and who possess many, many more of these positive attributes of excellent leaders.

Now the next body of knowledge you need to be familiar with is that of Corporate Culture. Corporate culture? “What does corporate culture have to do with my health, wellness and performance?” you ask? Alright this may not be immediately obvious and I will address it shortly. Before I do though it is important to highlight the fact that most people who work do so from within the ambit of an organization, whether that organization consists of two people, two thousand people or twenty-thousand people. Okay, back to the question of what corporate culture has to do with your health, wellness and performance.  Now I am aware that many people working in companies or organizations are not really sure what corporate or organizational culture actually is let alone how it impacts on their health, wellness and performance – and that of their organization as a whole too. Or they may just have a vague understanding of this subject. So let me cut to the chase by explaining what corporate culture is. At the deep, unseen or subconscious level it is the shared and collective mindsets of the people of a company or organization. It is in fact their shared frameworks of thoughts, beliefs, values and feelings or perceptions pertaining to their organization, their shared subconscious paradigms. It is the collective or shared understanding that people have about their organization, what is expected of them, how they are expected to behave and do things in the organization. And this collective mindset of the members of an organization then of course results in shared ways of interacting and behaving with each other and even with non-organizational members. Culture is a consequence of the group’s experiences over time, specifically with respect to external and internal problems and challenges it has faced and its responses to them. An organization’s culture is its personality and it is the leaders of organizations, specifically their founders, who create their cultures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Now culture can be viewed from the perspective of its various types or from its various components or dimensions. The different types of cultures that prevail include the Control or Power Culture (aka Autocratic Culture), Role Culture, Achievement Culture and Support Culture. The components or dimensions of culture include management style, emphasis on performance, employee inclusion, compensation tendency, value of human resources and tendency towards change amongst the many others. These constitute the paradigm of the organization, with each dimension incorporating a set of beliefs or values of the organization. These of course translate into the attitude and behavior of the organization with respect to each dimension.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
So how then does the culture of an organization impact upon the health, wellness and performance of its people? In order for the people of an organization to minimize or eliminate any negative impact that their organization’s culture may have on them, it is vital that their values be in alignment with that of their organization’s. Those individual’s who hold a different set of dominant values or beliefs and who have different attitudes and styles or patterns of behavior than those expected of them by the company or organization in which they work, will feel that they do not fit into, or are not an integral part of, the enterprise. Failure to achieve such an alignment can have dire consequences, the most common and destructive of which is ongoing or chronic stress experienced by these individual’s. And since chronic stress is the most common cause of illness and disease and also impacts negatively on performance, it is not surprising then that people who are a poor fit with their organization’s culture experience deterioration in their health, wellness and performance. And if this poor fit, or even complete lack of fit, is not resolved timeously, a clash is bound to occur, with usually the ‘poorly fitting’ individual coming off second best. He or she will not only feel, but will also be, increasingly marginalized from the greater organization thus often resulting in a cycle of unhappiness and conflict. The final outcome is often dismissal from their job – although being dismissed from a company with a weak or dysfunctional culture is often a reflection of that dysfunction. And leaving such a company is no doubt a good thing, from a health and wellness perspective at least. On the other hand organization’s with strong cultures with well-fitting people are populated by happy, healthy and high performing people. Such organizations usually outperform their competitors by far. Sadly such strong-cultured, high-performance organization’s are the exception rather than the rule. It seems stress-filled organizations are the order of the day, which is why the subject of stress and how to eliminate it is so important. So let me discuss this very subject now.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
To discover more about organizational culture. Read

It is a sad - and alarming - fact that up to 95 percent of people who present themselves to a doctor’s surgery, clinic or hospital emergency room for medical care do so because of one or other stress-related condition that is causing them some level of discomfort or concern. In fact persistent stress and poor nutrition are two of the commonest causes of illness and disease plaguing humanity. But what exactly is Stress, this phenomenon that causes so much illness in humans across the planet? Stress is the experience we have in response to exposure to one or more stressors. And a stressor is anything that brings on or activates a specific response - called the stress response - within our brains and our bodies. This response is characterized by physiological changes such as a change in our heart rate, blood pressure, pupil size and chemical balance amongst others. Stressors can be categorized as either “tangible” or “intangible”. In either case - or whatever the stressor - the reason that the body and brain respond the way they do to the stressor is due to the perceived threat that the stressor poses to the survival or well-being of the person exposed to it.

The two tangible stressors include physical and chemical stressors while the intangible stressors are also referred to as emotional or psychological stressors. There are of course many physical stressors that human beings can potentially be exposed to. They include things such as exposure to extreme cold (e.g.  immersion in icy water) or heat (e.g. burns from exposure to flames from a fire), a multitude of different injuries, overexertion of the body resulting in exhaustion or injury, insufficient food and water resulting in hunger and thirst etc. Similarly we can be exposed to potentially numerous chemical stressors also. They include, amongst others, things such as environmental pollutants, toxins or poisons and allergy-inducing chemicals and substances in the air or in our food. And finally most of us are quite familiar with (since we have all been exposed to one or more of them at some or other stage in our lives) the often-devastating, emotional or psychological stressors. They include worry or concern about difficult financial circumstances, conflict situations at home or at work, relationship difficulties, real or perceived threats to our careers, death of someone close to us and time pressures amongst others. A closer look will reveal that these stressors are actually the thoughts associated with (or that we generate or how we think about) the situations just mentioned. Thus it is important to realize that our very thoughts alone can induce the stress response and thus cause us to experience stress! However, this is not the end of the story. Also included in the category of emotional or psychological stressors are memories which are stored in all the cells of our bodies. These are implicit memories (memories which we are unable to consciously declare) and there are specifically three types of these memories which are in fact responsible for most of the stress and consequent illness and disease which afflicts the majority of human beings across the globe. They include memories which are inherited from previous generations (Inherited memories), memories acquired during early childhood and memories related to traumatic experiences. Early childhood memories refer specifically to memories acquired during the ages of 0 to about 6 years when language and cognitive or thinking skills are underdeveloped. During this period experiences are not processed through the logical, rational -thinking conscious  mind but are “downloaded” or hardwired directly into the subconscious mind to become implicit memories which are referred to as Pre-verbal, Pre-rational-thinking memories. The third type of implicit cellular memories of course refer to memories which are formed as a result of traumatic situations experienced at any time during a person’s life. They are known as Trauma-related memories. Now these memories become our subconsciously-programmed stimulus-response protective belief system. When anything in a person’s environment reactivates a negative inherited memory or a negative pre-verbal, pre-rational-thinking memory or a trauma-related memory, the stress response is activated.

I have previously indicated that a stressor is anything that brings on or precipitates a specific response - called the stress response - within our brains and our bodies. To be more specific, a stressor is anything that disrupts the normal homeostatic or physiological balance of our bodies. Once this balance is thrown out of whack, so to speak, the body and brain then respond in a way that attempts to restore the balance. This response is what is known as the stress response. And I have indicated that this response can be triggered by physical or chemical stressors and even by our memories, our beliefs and our thoughts of past, present or future experiences or situations. 

In attempting to restore our physiological balance the brain and body respond in two ways – the fast way and the slow way. The fast response to a stressor largely involves nerve pathways and is thus a neurological response while the slow response largely involves the production of chemicals and is thus a chemical response. The stress response is thus conducted via two different routes – the fast neurological route and the slower chemical route. The fast route takes place extremely rapidly, within a few seconds in fact ,and results in the production of the hormone, adrenaline. Once adrenaline hits the blood stream it causes immediate chemical and other physiological changes in the brain and body. We immediately become aroused and alert, more energized and aware of our surroundings and more blood flows to our legs and arms and away from our gastrointestinal system for example. The slow chemical route takes places over a few minutes to a few hours. It operates through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and results in the production of a set of hormones known as glucocorticoids, especially cortisol. The adrenaline produced via the fast route and glucocorticoids produced via the slow route are responsible for all the chemical and physiological changes which occur in the brain and body during the stress response. Now when the stress response kicks in as a result of a real or perceived threat we do one of three things. We stick around and fight the threat, we get the heck away from it (flee from it) or we remain frozen on the spot, doing nothing at all. In other words threats to our survival causes us to either fight, flee or freeze.

Now it is important to know that stress can be either short-lived or on-going. Short-lived stress, also known as acute stress, occurs when we experience the stress response over a short period of time, minutes or hours. An example would be when we are walking along a road and suddenly come upon an aggressive dog which starts to come at us, growling threateningly. Thanks to the stress response we take off and seek out the nearest safe location where the crazy animal won’t be able to harm us. If we are lucky we get away from the animal and find such a location. We then realize that the animal can no longer harm us and pretty soon our rapidly thumping heart, fast breathing, fearful feeling and all the other symptoms of the stress response start to dissipate. We now start to feel calmer and more relaxed as our body returns to the normal physiological state that it was in before our scary encounter with Cujo. On the other hand when we are continually exposed to stressors such as continuous thoughts or anticipation about some possible future stressful event or the frequent reactivation of trauma-related memories then the stress response is turned on all, or most, of the time resulting in the continuous production of stress hormones, especially cortisol. Since we humans have not  been built to withstand such a persistent  onslaught the inevitable outcome of a persistently turned-on stress response is damage to our brains, our minds and our bodies. In other words we become emotionally and physically ill. This is the unfortunate result of chronic or persistent stress which occurs due to a stress response which remains activated over a period of days, weeks, months or years.  People who find themselves in such a situation are not only plagued by recurrent illness and disease but also by chronic underperformance. It is impossble to maximize one’s potential in the face of chronic stress.      

Relationship between Stress and Optimal Performance  

The tragic thing though is that many people do nothing or very little to counteract their on-going stress and consequently pay the ultimate price – they succumb to the ravages and destruction wrought by chronic stress on their bodies and minds. Yes, untreated stress causes people to die! But even if sufferers of persistent stress do not die the following are just some of its consequences they experience, consequences such as:
                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Brain damage. Chronic stress damages and kills off nerve cells in the brain causing sufferers to have difficulty remembering things and have
difficulty concentrating and processing information. It generally makes them less intelligent.

Depression. This very common mood disorder is largely caused by the negative impact that the chemical changes associated with stress has on the brain. Depressed people, besides feeling deeply sad of course, often have difficulty concentrating, become irritable and angry often and sleep poorly - besides the many other symptoms they experience. Stressed-filled people are unhappy people.

Anxiety. Anxious people are also unhappy people who more often than not are dependent on harmful medication to keep their unpleasant anxiety symptoms at bay. Anxiety-ridden people who are dependent on these drugs often experience a difficult uphill battle when they try to stop using them.

Premature Aging. Persistent stress causes you to get old before your time your.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       So if you want to live a happier, healthier, high-performing life and even regain your intelligence, then eliminating persistent stress from your life should be a non-negotiable priority. tim                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
There are a number of tools, techniques and practices which you can use to eliminate stress from your life.  These are described in
my book “Goodbye Stress – How To Live A Stress-free Life” The above discussion on stress contains excerpts from this four-part book.

Learn more about “Goodbye Stress – How To Live A Stress-free Life” here

                                                                                      

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