Coping with Change - The One Mindset Shift you Need

1. 0:00 – 0:30

   Calling out the “change is hard” myth (and the cellphone test)

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai0:00

      Whenever a professional comes to me and says, "Change is hard," I say, "Okay, show me your, your cellphone." And unless they show me a Nokia 6110, I call BS. We have gone through a tremendous amount of change in our lifetimes, and we've been quite open to it, especially when it's around technology. This position, this posture did not exist 10 or 15 years ago. And final point on the topic of technology, these have become the greatest fears of our

2. 0:30 – 1:01

   Humans are built to adapt—so why denial happens

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai0:30

      generation. [laughs] Now, this is just a little bit of fun and games to get us thinking differently about change because the reality is we have all experienced a huge amount of change in our lifetimes, and we've been very good at adapting. Because as humans, we've evolved to be adaptable to change, to just embrace change. So when we say change is hard, we're actually denying that we're inherently very good at managing change. But of course, I'm not gonna be naive.

3. 1:01 – 1:31

   Threat framing: the inner narrative that sabotages you

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai1:01

      I know that some change is tough. When you perceive change as a threat, what are some of the things that you start telling yourself? "I can't do this. I don't have what it takes. My business will never survive. All of my competitors are going to outrun me." And you don't realize what you're doing is you're creating a visual in your mind that your subconscious is embracing, and it primes your body to respond to that. But what's more, when we look at the neurochemistry, when

4. 1:31 – 2:01

   The neurochemistry of threat: noradrenaline, narrowed blood flow, worse thinking

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai1:31

      you perceive something as a threat, it increases your self-doubt. It reduces your energy because it saps you of any energy that you have. It inhibits your ability to think clearly because what's happening is your body is producing noradrenaline. Now, we have this smooth lining around our, uh, blood vessels, and when our bodies produce noradrenaline, that smooth lining vasoconstricts. It gets really tight, which means less blood flow is able to get through. We

5. 2:01 – 2:31

   Opportunity framing: adrenaline, lower cortisol, better performance

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai2:01

      get less oxygenated blood to the parts of the body that need it, less oxygen to the prefrontal cortex. This completely sabotages you. Now, on the other side, if we think about change as an opportunity, and again, bear in mind, this is entirely what we're telling ourselves about change. If we think of it as an opportunity, instead of noradrenaline, we get a boost of adrenaline. Cortisol goes down. We can think clearly. We have more determination,

6. 2:31 – 3:01

   Cognitive appraisal: the mindset switch that changes biology

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai2:31

      more motivation, more clarity to achieve what we need to achieve. Instead of vasoconstricting, that smooth muscle dilates. We get more blood flow, more oxygenated blood going to the tissues and the muscles that need it, and then we can perform. This is called cognitive appraisal, how you appraise a situation, how you explain a situation, and it starts here. Henry Ford tells us, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." And now

7. 3:01 – 3:10

   Henry Ford’s quote—now backed by brain science

   1. SZDr. Shadé Zahrai3:01

      we know that there is a biological, neurological, brain-based reason for that. [gentle music]

Episode duration: 3:11