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Wired that Way
5-Hour Workshop
Our brain creates a stripped-down, customized version of the world for us, which means each of us really does inhabit our own world. Other people’s worlds—even your own world—can seem mysterious to you. But there’s less and less mystery about the process. It really is (almost) all in your head!
- You aren’t wired to perceive reality “as it is.”
- Distinguishing perception from reality isn’t as easy as you may think.
- The conscious part of your brain (System 2) imagines and desires change.
- But the part of your brain that’s running you (System 1) actively resists it.
- Your mental model of the world is based on what’s normal for you.
- It helps your brain predict the future.
- And it allows you to operate on autopilot most of the time.
- Predicting the future and operating on autopilot maintain your status quo.
The good news is that you can rewire your brain, change your status quo, create a more consistently satisfying and meaningful life, and make the difference you want to make.
Wired that Way 2.0 will change the way you see yourself—and your world.
Note:The terms System 1 and System 2 were first used in 2000 by Professor Keith E. Stanovich of the University of Toronto and Professor Richard F. West of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
What Do You Want?
8 Sessions
When someone asks you what you want, do you draw a blank? Is it easier for you to identify what you don’t want? If so, you’re not alone.
If you don’t know what you want, you’ll end up with what System 1 wants for you, which is more of what you already have.
- It will keep “correcting” you back to the very well-worn path you’re trying to get off.
- It would rather pacify you than satisfy you.
- It wants you to survive but not necessarily thrive.
The What Do You Want? course can help you stop spinning your hamster wheel. It will guide you through the process of identifying your Big Picture Wants (also called higher order wants)—the things that matter most to you and that make your life juicy, enlivening, and deeply satisfying.
Once you’re clear about what really matters, you can stop wasting time on what doesn’t. You might uncover some surprises, and as a bonus, you can get off the hedonic treadmill and stop searching for the life-purpose cheese.
Thank you for the work you facilitated in our What Do You Want? class. It was so thought provoking. It really made me examine my core beliefs and allowed me to see outmoded patterns that I’d grown too comfortable with. I also value the sharing that took place because verbalizing one’s feelings and perceptions is transformative. —M.M.
I’d recommend this course highly to anyone wondering why they are stuck. —M.O.
For the first time in my life I can clearly see what motivates me–what I truly want. I have a much better metric for making decisions. Knowing what I really want means I don’t have to muddle through what doesn’t really serve me. —A.C.
This has not only been helpful for me personally, but it has helped me professionally. —J.D.
Goals, Habits & Intentions
13 Sessions
Instead of allowing your brain’s hardwired tendencies to hold you back, use them to help you get what you want and to support your higher aspirations.
Goals: Find out what a goal really is, what separates a good one from a bad one, and how to set—and achieve—goals that connect with your Big Picture Wants.
Habits: Learn how the habit loop works so you can change the habits that don’t work for you and create new habits that move you in the direction you want to go.
Intentions: Stop trying to “make a different choice.” Master the I.A.P. (Intention/Attention/Perseverance) process so you can get ahead of System 1.
& More: Tame your monkey mind! Self-talk radio is always on the air. Discover how to tune into it and what to do (and not do) about it. Develop self-observation and mindfulness skills. Find out why affirmations usually aren’t effective. Learn writing exercises that help you gain clarity.
It’s giving me so much insight into how my brain is working. Everything I do I now pay attention to see if indeed I’m going where I want to go. —V.S.
I love the tools it’s given me to tackle some of my big goals. I’m doing things I probably would not have tackled before this. —J.S.
It has shiftend how I view things like world events, things that my kids do, things that my husband does. And the internal shift—we’re talking 9.9 magnitude. —E.C.
Outstanding! Great combination of brain theory, influence of personality type, reading material, lectures, and exercises. —J.G.
GHI Mastery
Guidance | Support | Accountability
13 Sessions
You know what you want, and you’ve learned the tools that can get you from where you are to where you want to be. GHI Mastery offers you the opportunity to engage in the deliberate practice that will train your brain to take you there.
This is a practical, results-oriented course designed to help you make the specific changes you want to make to create a more satisfying and meaningful life. You will:
- Develop your ability to use the tools not just effectively but effortlessly.
- Enhance your success rate in following through on all of your goals, habits, and intentions.
- Recognize and learn how to utilize your strengths, while overcoming your stumbling blocks.
- Create and sustain positive—lifelong—change.
I don’t think I could have gotten through my move without this class. It’s been grounding for me. It’s helped change my mindset about what’s going on in my life and the value of tracking. I’m more aware of pitfalls and have more ammo to avoid some of them. –L.M.
I have bigger goals that are going to be hard and I don’t think I can do it just on my own. I could…but would I? Having other people to support me is really helpful. –S.T.
I appreciate having the space to practice what we’ve been learning in a concrete way. –A.C.
Curiosity Lab
10 Sessions
If we started over, curiosity would be the most vital part of both
demolition crew and reconstruction crew. —John Medina, Brain Rules
What is curiosity? Why was it considered to be Leonardo da Vinci’s defining trait? What was the message the story of Pandora’s Box was intended to convey—and why? What is the purpose of curiosity? How does it work? Are you born curious? Can you develop or cultivate curiosity? Should you?
Curiosity lab provides an opportunity to explore not only the nature of curiosity, but also one’s self and the world. We begin at the beginning and then go where interest and exploration take us. New material and new topics are constantly being added to the web page, which participants have ongoing access to. Current topics include:
- Context: Pandora’s Box and other Warnings
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Dimensions and Theories
- Information-Seeking
- BEing Curious
- Questions
- Attention
- Practice
- Beginner’s Mind
- Boredom: The Flip Side of Curiosity?
- What You Don’t Know
Note: There are no prerequisites for this course.
I’m looking at how does this relate to my days, how I respond to things, my relationship to people. It’s all fascinating. I’m going to get my notebook and start asking questions. —V.W.
I never really thought about types of curiosity before. —L.V.
I’m interested in the difference between novelty and curiosity. —L.C.
I had never really thought about how curiosity killed the cat is a warning and Pandora’s Box is a cautionary tale. When society cautions everybody about something, that’s probably a good reason to look at it. —A.S.
I’m curious to see what comes next. This was fun! —S.M.
Create Your Own Story*
Four Parts: 13 Sessions each
- Part One: The Universe Is Made of Stories, Not of Atoms
- Part Two: Trickster Makes the World
- Part Three: Architects Translate Desire into Reality
- Part Four: Harmonize
Part One: Learn how your Inner Narrator imposes narrative structure—complete with characters, conflicts, and plots—on the experiences you have. The purpose of this ongoing narrative is to maintain The Story of You, generating a sense of self and maintaining the status quo. Antonio Damasio described how our brains build our autobiographies in an interview.
You can listen passively to the stories your inner narrator whispers in your ear. Or you can discover the elements of story and learn how to use them to actively and intentionally create your future.
Part Two: Meet your Inner Trickster, the part of you that resides at the crossroads and on the threshold–in the liminal space between where you are now and where you want to be. You may know Trickster as Coyote or Raven from Navajo tales, or as the Greek god Hermes, or as the Norse Loki.
In The Trickster Brain, David Williams writes, “The human trickster, like the mythic one, can be a rapscallion of multiple dimensions or a cultural hero, serving numerous functions in the society in which he or she emerges.” If you want to create something or undertake a daunting task, you need to access your Inner Trickster. Better yet, choose “the path of the trickster,” as Elizabeth Gilbert has done.
Part Three: Your Inner Architect is the planner and designer of your life, maintaining focus and direction. But the Architect does more than design standalone plans; it considers the impact of each individual element on all the other elements. It allocates resources. It maps the territory you want to travel.
The Architect is committed to your desired outcome, yet responsive to circumstances and the environment, adjusting course as necessary. As Lisa Feldman Barrett says, “Your personal experience is actively constructed by your actions. You tweak the world, and the world tweaks you back. You are, in a very real sense, an architect of your environment as well as your experience.”
Part Four: You are more than the sum of these three inner aspects. You are the protagonist in the story your brain is narrating about you. Learn how to get all three parts of yourself to harmonize on your behalf. “Only notes that are different can harmonize.” —Steve Goodier
Harmonize: (1) bring several things into consonance or relate harmoniously (e.g., harmonize different interests); (2) cause to change, make different, cause a transformation.
It’s so important to recognize our own story—and how to intervene. —S.M.
The feedback about my story (from others) about what they heard—the surprise and the insight of that—was really powerful. That’s that shared conversation. When you’re in your own neighborhood, you’re not going to hear that stuff because it’s all you. —L.C.
You can become aware of your reaction to a story and view your reaction as a way of understanding. —A.S.
It’s exciting and interesting! I’m going through my day and all of a sudden, I get insights. —V.S.
[Identifying the story] was empowering. I was surprised at the things that came up and that there was a theme. —A.C.
Note: No writing skills are required.
*Story: An account of connected events, actual or imaginary, told in a sequence of written or spoken words, still or moving images, or a combination thereof.
9 Models of the World
8 Sessions
We see things not as they are but as we are because each of us is looking out from within our own model of the world. Our model of the world influences what we pay attention to, how we interpret and react to events, the meaning we assign to them, and much of what we think, feel, do, and say.
The Enneagram not only offers a window into our particular model of the world, it can help us develop the self-awareness that’s essential for creating positive and sustained change.
9 Models of the World can help you:
- Increase your self-awareness.
- Find out how you get in your own way—and what to do about it.
- Learn how to communicate more effectively with others and understand them at a deeper level.
The topics covered include:
- The 9 Types
- Stances: Aggressive, Withdrawing, and Compliant
- Centers: Doing, Thinking, and Feeling
- Triads: 2/5/8, 1/4/7, and 3/6/9
- Coping Styles: Competency, Positive Outlook, and Reactive
- Wings
- Levels of Development: Healthy, Average, and Unhealthy
- Balance Points: Stress and Security
- Getting Along with Others
- Relationship with Community
- Suggestions for Recognizing Your Automatic Responses and Expanding Your Range of Options
I think understanding this is expansive and really healing to a person’s psyche. —M.H.
I’m enthralled by the Enneagram. I love the way it was presented, and I want to continue exploring it. —V.R.
It’s really been helpful to me to learn more about myself and accept things about myself. It’s great information!—J.H.
Find out more about the Enneagram at NinePaths.com.
Brain, Perception & Reality
15 Sessions
What you see is not all there is. No matter how confident you feel about them, your perceptions, experiences, memories, and interpretations of events are less rock solid and accurate than you believe them to be. The world is not as it seems and neither are you. In this course you will find out some of the things your brain is doing behind your back and what you can do about it.
As you learn more about System 1 and System 2 and how the two parts of your brain interact, you will encounter your Experiencing self, your Remembering self, your Autobiographical self, and your inner Interpreter. You will find out just how unreliable your memories are and what an excellent spin doctor your unconscious can be.
You will discover the enormous role stories play in your life—and in everyone else’s. You will begin to question the automatic cause-and-effect connections your brain makes. You are likely to end up much less certain about many things but also much more aware, attentive, curious, and awake. You will definitely have a greater appreciation for what has been called the most complex object in the known universe: your brain.
Find out how much of your reality—or anyone’s—is real. See the Reading List for some of the sources of information presented in this course.
Brain, Perception & Reality is an investigation into how the brain really works as opposed to what conventional wisdom has led us to believe. —J.H.
I have used almost every piece of this course in my everyday. It has been very helpful. —M.O.
This course is a way of cracking open the brain, shaking out all preconceived beliefs and ideas, and then starting from a new slate. —Z.L.
The homework assignments to actually apply a concept/tool to our individual situations and then discuss it at length in the next class is really powerful. It builds skill and provides insight into one’s self. —J.G.
Personal Impact!
15 Sessions
The question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you, or if you choose to let it go on as if you had never arrived. —Ann Patchett
What is the difference YOU want to make in the world?
The Personal Impact course will help you clarify what you are up to at this point in your life, what you want to accomplish, the steps you will need to take to make that happen, and how those goals connect with your Big Picture Wants.
The course will guide you through the process of creating a Personal Impact Declaration and completing a Personal Impact Master Plan. You will have a clear, well-defined context in which to determine not only what actions to take (or not take), but also how to respond to feedback and adjust course.
Move up to the next level in mastering the art and science of change and creating a consistently satisfying and meaningful life. Be empowered to make the difference you want to make in the world.
I’m thankful for the spark this has rekindled. I knew it was there, but I didn’t quite know what to do with it. The structure has helped me pull things together. And I love the interactions and the connections–the consistent cohort. –R.A.
You finally reach a point in your life when you realize you don’t have a whole lot of time left, probably. Can I use my life’s experience to make this a better place before the final curtain falls? –J.S.
[In my writing] things always keep coming back to the same place in terms of what I’m looking for and what’s important to me. I understand that’s how the process works. All the work we’ve done and that we’ve brought to this is meant to do that. Otherwise I wouldn’t be thinking about these things—or at least not in the same way. So that’s really compelling. —J.M.