Peak Performance Mindset (PPM) training is based on leading edge neurological discoveries which have changed the way we think of the brain. Used by top executives and world class athletes alike, it may also provide a way boost overall health too. Researchers have long known that simply improving your mood and laughing can boost your immune system, and professional athletes combine these two, seemingly unrelated areas, of targeted focus with body performance all the time. Which only makes sense because the body and mind are inextricably linked in an ongoing dance.
Neuroscience and cognitive psychology can also help you lead a happier life by teaching you to look beyond everyday problems to see the true opportunities often hidden from sight. PPM can also help change habits and behaviors to help reach goals. Obviously, these could include eating a healthier diet, exercising or reaching other life and health related goals, but it may go much further than that. In fact, they may be the key to a longer, more active and happier life overall.
The startling effects of mindset on aging and health related issues has even been addressed by no less than the New York Times, which ran a feature ,story about groundbreaking research thought/behavior patterns and aging.
In the referenced study, researchers curious to see how much of human health is related to mindset, made use of a converted monastery in New Hampshire. Inside the living laboratory where volunteers would live during the study, they created a world set in the 1950’s.
Vintage music, clothing, television shows, books and decorations were all specially selected to evoke the very era when the volunteers, all men in their 70’s, would have been young and strong. Volunteers were advised to think and act as if they had been taken back in time. No outside news or interactions were allowed that might break the illusion of the 1950’s.
Instead, they were to talk about old sports games and events as if they were currently happening. Volunteers watched black popular black and white movies on 1950’s style TV sets, played games, listened to old radio broadcasts and read articles from the same period. In every way possible, researchers deliberately recreated the experience the senior volunteers associated with being young.
Upon arrival, many of the volunteers required assistance getting off the van. Some were using canes. Doctors gave them all physicals, measuring their flexibility, grip strength, mental sharpness, memory and other accepted aging markers to determine overall health. All the volunteers had to do was to enjoy it and pretend.
The results were stunning. By the end of the study, some of the seniors, who could barely walk when they arrived, were playing touch football and dancing. One senior had arrived in a wheelchair and left at the end of the study, using only a cane.
When tested again, their reflexes, coordination, memory had all improved. Basically, they were acting and becoming younger, simply by changing the way they thought about and interacted with their surroundings. The actual mechanism for their dramatic improvements is not fully understood, but may be related to the placebo effect, in which the mind changes the way the body responds. Other studies have had similar results.
While researchers are still trying to pinpoint the causes, one thing is certain: how you think has a direct impact on your mood, body and overall life. PPM training helps in that regard by teaching you that the glass in not half-empty or half-full, but rather refillable. You are not so much at the mercy of your circumstances as you are your mindset. And mindset, thankfully, can be changed.
Jamie Crosbie is CEO and founder of ,ProActivate, LLC, and has 20 years of experience in sales leadership and the talent acquisition industry. Previously, she served as vice president of sales at CareerBuilder, where she successfully led a team of 80+ people and exceeded her revenue goals on a quarterly and annual basis. Her sales business experienced 50-85 percent revenue growths annually. Join her at the ,Sales 2.0 Conference in Philadelphia on November 14, where she will participate in a panel discussion, “Innovative Ways to Help Reps Reach Peak Performance Levels.”
Grierson, B. (Oct22,2014), What if Age is Nothing but a Peak Mindset? New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html