David W. Zierk, PsyD

Optimize your thinking brain.

The human brain is designed to impress. It built the seven wonders of the world, uncovered medical miracles, and, going back to first grade, discovered the ocean blue. The brain truly is amazing when it’s optimized.

Unfortunately, not every human brain performs at the highest level. Welcome to the world of individual differences and neurodiversity.

Like fingerprints, no two brains are alike. Some people are geniuses in math, others play Chopin's Etudes at seven, and others can throw a ball with velocity and accuracy. These are obvious examples of giftedness. While your gifts and talents may be more subtle and nuanced, what we all have in common is an executive center in the brain.

The Executive Suite

Executive functioning is governed by the frontal lobes, the home to where everything comes together. Problems are solved, decisions are made, emotions are regulated, personality shines, memories are stored, and self-control slowly comes online. We can thank our frontal lobes for distancing us from our ancestors and separating us from other primates, you know, the monkeys, lemurs, and apes. While jumping from tree to tree would be cool, it’s much cooler to do math, play piano, and throw a ball in the long run.

The highlighted portion of the brain picture below shows the location of your prefrontal cortex (PFC). It lies behind your forehead and eyes at the front of the brain.

Your PFC makes up over 10 percent of the volume of your brain. A medley of mental processes enables humans to control behavior and perform various complex activities. When you make sensible decisions, calculate the pros and cons of a situation, and predict the future, it is your PFC that you can largely thank. While brain regions are astonishingly interconnected, your PFC takes top billing when awards are handed out for writing the great American novel, landing astronauts on the moon, and setting the record for solving the 9x9x9 Rubik’s cube.

Seven critical processes are identified when we take a bird’s eye view of what executive functioning is helping us do. Grouped together, this is what is referred to as the “executive suite.” Based on the stellar research completed by Russell Barkley, PhD, as described below, each executive function is critical when optimizing efforts and maximizing outcomes.

1. Self-Awareness—This may appear to be self-explanatory, but it’s the critical first step in controlling your behaviors instead of your behaviors controlling you. Without awareness, we behave impulsively and automatically. Being aware of what you’re doing in real-time allows your actions to move toward the future you desire. Self-awareness occurs when you actively bring things to mind. It’s an intentional process, one that requires tapping the brakes of your automatic thinking.

2. Inhibition—Inhibition is a fancy term for stopping. This refers to your ability to restrain an impulse by showing self-restraint. Slowing down or stopping your actions allows you to consider options and choose wisely. But if you don’t stop, you’ll keep doing what you always have done.

3. Non-Verbal (Visual) Working Memory—This is a fancy term for remembering things by keeping them in mind. You do this most effectively when you picture something things mentally. By visualizing, you are creating an imprint of your thoughts, experiences, and memories.

4. Verbal Working Memory—You may have anticipated this one. This refers to your self-talk, the chatter in your mind that tells stories and helps you make sense of things.

5. Emotional Self-Regulation—This involves using all executive functions just listed to manage your emotions. Since emotions show up rapidly and intensely, having a process that helps keep your emotions in check prevents you from doing things you will later regret.

6. Self-Motivation—It can be challenging to do what you need to do when you don’t want to. Putting things off and doing something you prefer sounds much better. But you will never reach your goals, such as crossing the finish line in a marathon if you can’t turn on your inner booster rockets.

7. Planning and Problem Solving—This last one is big. How you plan to do something is key to being successful. As you activate your plan, being able to problem-solve along the way allows you to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. These processes incorporate your ability to mentally maniplate information in your mind to discover new combinations. The shorthand for this executive function is mental play.

Having control of your life is like keeping the rudder in the water. The rudder stabilizes the boat and steers it in the direction of choice. Steering and navigation is the rudder’s job. In this way, your executive functions let you move in a planned direction, stay on course and, when needed, get back on course, and maintain stability. When operating together, your executive functions improve the odds of you crossing the finish line with a personal record or playing a piano recital that makes you proud.

Summing Up and Moving On

Remember, your mind struggles with an attention deficit disorder. Your mind knows what to do but doesn’t always do what it knows. So, this is where your challenge begins. Ask yourself, “Who’s in control – you or your mind?”

Press the button below to learn more about how your mind works as described in Dr. Zierk’s book, Mind Rules: Who’s in Control, You or Your Mind?