The Mental Fitness FORMULA

Your Brain is Wired for Fight-or-Flight Responding

First, what are fight-or-flight responses? What do we usually call them? How does our body tell us they are happening? What do you use to calm yourself down? Are these reactions helpful in solving the problems that trigger them?

Let’s look at how your brain develops these fight-or-flight responses. The much simplified model in the website video is offered to help you learn to manage your brain during your everyday life. You don’t need to remember more to cope better. Your Executive Brain developed last as we evolved and is proportionately much larger in humans than in any other animals. It has two tasks, to look inward to manage what the rest of your brain is doing and look outward to study and cope with what’s happening in relationships, your finances, the grocery store, and the rest of your outer world.

The next part of your brain I’ve named the Monkey Brain because it’s similar to that in other mammals. Its job is to receive all incoming data from your senses and Executive Brain, process it into associations and then store it. According to a 2008 article in The New Scientist by Douglas Fox, its main focus is to identify any threat and signal your third brain part to send your body into fight-or-flight. I’ve named the third part the Crocodile Brain because it’s similar to a reptile’s brain. It triggers fight-or-flight via the Vagus nerve when your Monkey Brain signals.

Which brain part doesn’t question before sending your body into fight-or-flight? Which brain part may overreact and signal for unnecessary fight-or-flight? Which brain part is not focused on setting off fight-or-flight? Only your Executive Brain can decide whether fight-or-flight is needed.

The FORMULA acronym can help you learn and practice the art of mental fitness. Your Executive Brain must act quickly to manage your fight-or-flight tendencies. Otherwise your Monkey and Crocodile brains can quickly flood it with chemicals that interfere. As you journey through life you must develop improved coping skills. Mental fitness is only possible when you’ve mastered skills like these represented in the FORMULA.

Overview of the FORMULA

Persist in this practice and be creative as you revise your beliefs. Gradually you’ll be able to cope well with more difficult situations. This process will bring you deep self-confidence and more respect from others. You’ll laugh and feel light-hearted more often. In time your revised beliefs and brain habits will replace the toxic beliefs and habits that kept triggering you into fight-or-flight and you won’t have to work so hard to be at peace.

F ocus inward to identify the mental obstacles you face as you try to achieve mental fitness.

O bserve what beliefs and habits are in play.

R evise any toxic beliefs and correct any child brain habits occurring.

M onitor in this way often, especially when you feel stressed.

U tilize feedback from your body to identify fight-or-flight tendencies early.

L ighten your inner Child’s heart with frequent calming and happy moments.

A pply the formula to reduce stress and improve your ability to cope indefinitely.

Three Child Brain Habits

These are examples of the simpler ways a young child’s brain sorts and evaluates things. The mature brain can view things with more complexity, but the underlying tendency to oversimplify remains available.  These can cause you to assume things are true without realizing you need to evaluate them more carefully to find out what’s really valid.

• Black and white thinking – when you sort things into just two opposing categories; A person is either good or bad; either I trust you or I don’t; you’re either a patriot or you’re not; these tires are either good or bad.
• Personalization – when you assume that another person’s behavior is in reaction to you and “take it personally.” Your young son is rude to you and you get angry, assuming it’s due to disrespect. But he’s just been bullied by another child and feels too upset for polite interaction.
• Over-generalization – when you judge things or people based on experience with a small percent of them. All McDonalds’ foods are bad for you; all Arabs are terrorists; all women are best at being homemakers.

Twelve Toxic Beliefs

Here are common beliefs to memorize for quick recognition as you monitor:

1. You must have the approval or love of one particular person or most other people.
2. You can feel proud of your efforts only if you perform better than others.
3. People (including you) should be blamed or punished when they don’t measure up to the standards you set.
4. If something threatening might happen, it’s helpful to worry about it frequently.
5. Your past is responsible for most of your present behavior and emotional adjustment.
6. A kind and compassionate person must get very upset over other people’s problems.
7. It’s unbearable when you work hard for something and you don’t get it.
8. Happiness depends on what life gives to you.
9. It’s more comfortable to avoid than to face problems or responsibilities.
10. If you love others, you have a right to be very dependent upon them, and they on you.
11. If you’re special in some ways, you’re entitled to recognition and an easier path.
12. If you’re very clever, you have the right to find shortcuts around the frustrating rules in our society.

Avatars to Represent Your Mind

Eric Berne’s model of the mind provides avatars to represent your Executive, Monkey and Crocodile brain parts. They don’t include all your brain functions, but represent the parts that your Executive Brain must manage for mental fitness. These avatars simplify the task, allowing your Adult to act quickly in preventing fight-or flight. They also make it easier to keep in mind the list of Toxic Beliefs and Child Brain Habits that your Adult needs to identify.

Each avatar represents characters that have traits like those of an Adult, Parent or Child. This model helps you get to be friends with your mind. It’s easier for your Adult to take charge when it doesn’t view your mind like a scary, out-of-control alien. Your Adult corresponds to your Executive Brain, with its mature capacity to observe and interpret what’s going on. Your Child represents how you feel and your creative impulses.

Your Parent is divided into two avatars. Your Critical Parent holds and expresses the first six Toxic Beliefs. Your Indulgent Parent holds and expresses the next six. Occasionally a belief can be used by both Parents. Take Belief # 10, for example. Your Indulgent Parent may insist that your Child has the right to depend heavily on another person. Your Critical Parent may scold your Child because you don’t let someone else depend heavily on you.

Posts in the blog, Exploring the Mental Fitness Formula will illustrate how you can use these avatars.