Mental and Thinking Skills Coaching in the Workplace

Mental Skills Coaching in the Workplace

Mental / Thinking Skills Coaching for Professionals -Some Research & Benefits:

According to Dr Kimball (Director of UPMC); “Mental training is basically learning to use your mind to help you consistently perform at your best,” and adds “Whatever the situation, the more mentally prepared you are, the more likely you are to make the most of your skills.”

Latest research from Harvard Medical School reveals that mental skills exercises benefit the brain by improving the blood flow and spurring cell growth. A recent report by the Mayo Clinic also concluded:
           "Just as physical activity keeps your body strong, mental activity keeps your mind sharp and agile. One way
              to do this is to continually challenge yourself by learning new skills. If you continue to learn and challenge
              yourself, your brain continues to grow, literally." -Mayo Clinic

Some Benefits of Mental Skills Coaching include:

Improves mental acuity
-better memory, reaction time and concentration levels

Improves confidence
-improves mental strength, stamina, and emotional well-being. This inturn improves self-image and boosts self-confidence.
Increases mental energy and endurance
-'mental workouts' can also make the participant feel much more awake and energized afterward. People who work out their minds regularly have more energy, strength and endurance to get through their positional task activities than non-exercisers.

Helps a person sleep better
- can help a person fall and stay asleep more easily, and increase the amount of time they spend in the deepest stage of sleep.

Reduces stress, depression and anxiety
-helps reduce stress and anxiety by diminishing wasteful mental activity. In addition, mental workouts boosts mood and
promotes relaxation.

Reduces the risk of many diseases
-regular 'mental workouts' reduces the risk of many serious and potentially deadly diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure etc
Prevents professional 'burn-out', slows the aging process & reduces the risk of premature death
-can reduce the risk of many age-related diseases, the slowing down of the mind, memory loss etc and even dementia, parkinsons disease, stroke etc

This phenomenal ability to literally change our minds..
In the early part of the 20th century, behavioral scientists theorized that people were born with their brains fully intact, with a fixed intelligence that never changed by more than a few IQ points throughout one's life. We now know, thanks to recent development of brain scanning technologies like PET and fMRI, that our brains change throughout our lives. Behavioral neuroscience has only now just begun providing clues as to how everyone can enhance their mental capacities to become more effective and efficient learners and performers -to fulfil our potential and purpose.

                        The mind is like a sailor in a small one person sailboat. The sailor is the mind, the boat is
                        the brain, and the wind is our surrounding environment. If the sailor isn't alert, the wind will
                        guide the boat (his brain) wherever the wind takes it. However, if the sailor is alert as to how
                        to best control the boat he/she can navigate it wherever he/she wishes. All of us can influence
                        and even create physical changes in our brain through enhancing our mental capacities/thinking
                        skills. Focus and attention to the development of our minds is critical --otherwise we risk being
                        blown off our true course and being guided by the wind.

Some Frequently Asked Questions about Thinking Skills:

What are Thinking Skills?

Why are thinking skills considered to be important?

Why are we are compelled to be “life long learners” –what does that mean exactly?

What is Behavioral Neuroscience?

What are Thinking Skills?

‘Thinking skills’ is an ambiguous term. Some argue that mental processes cannot accurately be described as skills in the
same way one would describe a motor skill. There is also no consensus as to what should be included in the category of
‘thinking skills’. However, the term generally includes ‘higher level’ activities such as problem solving, decision making,
critical thinking, logical reasoning and creative thinking Most definitions include some or all of the following:

• collecting information

• sorting information

• analysing information

• drawing conclusions from the information

• ‘brainstorming’ new ideas

• problem solving

• determining cause and effect

• evaluating options

• planning and setting goals

• monitoring progress

• decision making

• private reflection

All are based upon the assumption that thinking (cognition) goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge (ie; 'knowing that’) and
includes the process(es) of knowing about thinking (metacognition) ie; being able to reflect on the processes by which learners
process information.

Why are thinking skills considered to be important?

Most educators, around the world, are currently concerned with raising educational (business and life) standards. But it is also
argued, as the OECD points out, that the minimal requirements of , ie; mastery of the ‘basics’ (personal and professional) skills

required to adequately perform a set of tasks, however well taught, are not sufficient to meet the demands of an increasingly
demanding labour market. It is now recognised that a broader range of competencies, redefined as ‘higher order’ thinking skills,
is required because:

• The ‘banking theory’ of knowledge based upon rote learning has been discredited as it is recognised that individuals cannot
‘store’ sufficient knowledge in their memories for future use.

• Information is expanding at such a rate that individuals require transferable skills to allow them to address different problems
in different contexts at different times throughout their lives.

• The complexity of modern jobs requires staff who demonstrate comprehension and judgement as participants in the generation
of new knowledge or processes.

• Modern society assumes active citizenship which requires individuals to assimilate information from multiple sources,
determine its veracity and make judgements.

Today's demanding world assumes that all individuals, not just an elite, can become 'competent thinkers’. This cognitive
approach suggests that learners must develop an awareness of themselves as thinkers and learners and practice the

approaches and strategies for effective thinking.

The exciting challenge for all educators, trainers, coaches etc (in the corporate world, in the education system, in health-care etc) -is to harness the new developments in 'brain science' to provide the tools so everyone can best help their brain maximize its potential.

Why are we are compelled to be “life long learners” –what does that mean exactly?

While some parts of our brains are “hard-wired” from birth and responsible for the survival and maintenance of our bodies, a significant portion of the brain can be “re-wired” or is able to restructure itself in response to internal or external influences. This is only a recent important discovery, as the medical technology that enabled the first living brain to be observed in action was only built 30 years ago.

Biologically speaking, humans are born to learn. Our brains evolved to have an extraordinary capacity for restructuring themselves, which is what “learning” actually does. However, most animals don't have much capacity (or need) for learning as their brains are “hard-wired” which is to say they function instinctively.

There is no definitive explanation as to why brains evolve to have different restructuring capacities (i.e. learning abilities). However, environment and physiology must have significant roles in the matter. An adult's brain is 300% to 500% larger than an infant's. Of course, unlike say; cows or even chimpanzees, human babies are entirely helpless at birth. They have a lot to learn right from the start. Environmental and societal factors are tremendously influential throughout their entire lives.

The issue isn't to become “life long learners,” that's our genetic heritage. The issue is what we do with our capacity for restructuring our brains—how effectively we learn and what we do with our learning.

In the last decade, behavioral neuroscience has been challenging myths about how people think and learn and has only just begun providing clues as to how we can enhance our mental capacities to become more effective and efficient learners and performers. Dr Skiffington's Certified Master Coach Course translates this new proven science into fun and invigorating exercises available for coaches to use and significantly enrich people's personal and working lives.

What is Behavioral Neuroscience?

Neuroscience is a large discipline that encompasses an extremely wide variety of scientists and scientific interests. However, all neuroscientists are interested in the brain and how the brain works. Behavioral neuroscientists are interested in the relationship between the physiological processes that occur in the brain and behavior. The Behavioral Neuroscientist is likely to be interested in the answer to the question: What types of altered communication between neurons are responsible for dramatic changes in behavior and cognition?

One of the greatest frontiers In modern science is the study of the functions of the human brain. From this delicate mass of biological cells spring the complex qualities of the human mind. Our thoughts, our emotions, our perceptions, and our behavior all originate in the intricate chemical interactions of the brain. This organ created Homer’s Odyssey, Donatello’s David, Leonardo’s Mona Lisa, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and all the miraculous technological achievements of the twentieth century. It is this magnificent organ that took us to the moon and back. Over hundreds of thousands of years, the brain has enabled our species to survive against incredible odds here on earth. Today, the human brain, through scientific inquiry, is now on a mission to understand and improve itself. This mission is called neuroscience.

The Next Step >>

Coaching practices have evolved dramatically over the last few years and now leading-edge, industry-proven processes, tools and skills practice are available for both part-time and full-time coaches to become far more effective in helping people change themselves and enhance their performance.

Dr Skiffington's invitational, fast-tracked, 4 Day, Very Small Group Certified Master Coach Course (conducted in N.Y., London, Sydney etc) meets the critical needs for business and executive coaches to be trained and mentored in the use of validated, reliable psychology-based tools and techniques to enhance mental / thinking skills.
Read More >....

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