Words Can Change Your Brain Read Online Free PDF Page A

principle in your life. And when it informs the other words you say, it will both protect you from being knocked off balance in verbal conflicts and help you to stay focused on achieving your personal and professional goals.
    The question that will help you identify this word is an essential one in every person’s life, and yet one we rarely ask ourselves. In fact, it’s so rare that if you enter any variation of it as a Google search, it brings up fewer than fifty results. Yet a question like “What makes me happy?” can bring up as many as twenty-eight million hits.
    For this exercise, we’d like you to have a pen and a piece of paper handy, and as we’ve done in most of the previous exercises, to start by taking a few minutes to ground yourself. When you feel fully relaxed, ask yourself: what is mydeepest,innermost value?
    Close your eyes for at least sixty seconds, listening to your inner voices and paying attention to whatever thoughts and feelings float through your mind. Then open your eyes and write down a single word or brief phrase that captures your deepest value.
    If nothing occurs to you, close your eyes again and stay focused on the question for another couple of minutes until a word comes to mind. Write it down, and repeat the question: what is my deepest, innermostvalue? If a different word comes to mind—and it often does—write that one down as well. Repeat this step several more times, to see if other essential values rise into consciousness.
    Now look at your list of words, and circle the one that feels the truest for you at this moment. Close your eyes once more and repeat the word or phrase to yourself, silently and then aloud. Notice how it feelsto say it, and then compare it to the other words you wrote down.
    What is the point of doing such an exercise? According to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, “Reflecting on personal values can keep neuroendocrine and psychological responses to stress at low levels.” 1 This is truly amazing: by simply pondering and affirming your deepest values you’ll improve the health of your brain, you’ll protect yourself from burnout at work, you’ll reduce your propensity to ruminate about failure, and you’ll be less reactive and defensive when someone confronts you with uncomfortable information. 2
    The Ten-Day Experiment
    Try doing this “inner values” exercise for the next ten days. It’s the first assignment Mark gives to his students on the first day of class in the Executive MBA Program at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, one of the top-ranked business schools in the world. This specialized program is designed for full-time managers, executives, and business leaders who need to learn advanced skills for maintaining a growing and successful company.
    Here’s what we’d like you to do. Each morning, shortly after you wake up, take a few moments to stretch, breathe deeply, and relax. Then ask yourself, what is my deepest, innermost value? Create a log and record your words, along with any feelings or reactions you have relating to doing the exercise. Do this for ten days, and on day eleven briefly answer the following seven questions, using only a single sheet of paper. Be spontaneous in your responses, and remember that there are no right or wrong answers to these questions. They’re only designed to deepen the self-reflective process.
     
1. What was your initial reaction to this exercise?
2. Was the exercise enjoyable, boring, interesting, annoying, etc.?
3. How long did you spend, each day, contemplating your inner values?
4. Did the exercise have any effect on other aspects of your day, work, or life?
5. How do you define the word “value”?
6. Did you discover anything about yourself?
7. Did the exercise influence the way you think about your work and business values?
    In Mark’s class this homework assignment was optional, and the students who completed it were asked to submit their daily logs, along