Episode #477: The Science Behind Positive Thinking, with Robb Zbierski

 Your brain is like a bank account — you don't want to be in the negatives! Make deposits and do it often. And to teach you the science behind positive thinking, Kirk Behrendt brings back Robb Zbierski, a best-selling author and personal coach from Freedom Personal Development, to help you maintain a positive state of mind. If you want to learn how to create habits for healthy, positive thinking, listen to Episode 477 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Robb’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robb.zbierski
• Robb’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbzbierski
• Robb’s social media: @robbzspeaker
• Freedom Personal Development: https://freedompersonaldevelopment.com/trainmybrain/
• Subscribe to the Best Practices Show Podcast
• Join the To The Top Study Club
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Main Takeaways:

• Don't be stuck in negativity, urgency, and complacency.
• Learn ways to raise your energetic state of mind.
• State of mind is 70% of generating any result.
• Understand high and low energetic values.
• Get in the habit of small “wins”.
• Choose happiness.

Quotes:

• “You've got your brain’s unhelpful default settings. Your brain is naturally focusing on and looking for some version of negativity, urgency, and complacency. And the things you benefit from focusing on that are designed to overcome that are heightening your awareness on what's most important, creating energizing goals, designing a schedule that gives you space, and then having an ongoing system for feeding your mind.” (9:32—9:56)
• “As human beings, we want to revert back to old ways. And those old ways are focusing on negativity, urgency, and complacency.” (10:17—10:24)
• “It’s how you start your day. And actually, it starts the night before. But what you do in the first 30 to 60 minutes of your day, that determines the day you're going to have.” (14:43—14:55)
• “When you get yourself in the habit of doing things that feel like wins, that raises your energetic state of mind.” (15:04—15:12)
• “Different energetic states of mind carry different power and energetic values . . . You've got things like shame, despair, humiliation, and blame. And hopelessness and guilt sit on the bottom. And then, way at the top, you've got peace, serenity, love. And so, what happens is you’ve got an energetic value to each of these states of mind. And it’s a nonlinear relationship.” (15:35—16:09)
• “When you're down in shame, despair, humiliation, you have very, very low energetic value. And moving to a place of neutrality is an exponential jump in your energetic state.” (16:29—16:42)
• “Forgiveness is a very high energetic state of mind, [as well as] love, understanding, reason, serenity, peace. But so many of us, you mentioned the stuff you're willing to tolerate, it’s mainly tied to energetic states of mind like desire, craving, anxiety. Like, ‘Oh my god, I've got to get the bills paid. I've got to pay the rent. I've got to pay the salaries. I've got to pay the insurance.’ And that creates a high level of anxiety. So, any tools that you have at your disposal that, when you use them, will elevate that energetic state of mind, you're going to have a better experience. You're going to get better results.” (17:05—17:40)
• “People at the top of their game, the people who are the thought leaders, CEOs, Olympic athletes, they understand that state of mind is 70% of generating any result. And I don't mean like closing the sale. I mean like the workout. I mean the relationship. I mean date night. I mean the conversation. Anything can be a result. And so, knowing that 70% of what you put into that is tied to your emotional state of mind, anything you can do to elevate that state of mind is going to enhance your experience and the results you get in that experience.” (18:45—19:23)
• “The state of mind you're in when you set the intention, when you say, ‘Okay, I want to go out and do this,’ you have the idea, the blueprint, the dream, whatever, when you set that intention from a more positive state of mind, that's the difference maker.” (19:43—19:58)
• “Comfort zones serve a purpose, but they don't allow you to grow.” (25:17—25:20)
• “There are comfort zones, but then there's a buffer above and below the comfort zone. And it’s usually to the tune of about 10% to 20%, in my experience and the experience of our clients, where when you're operating in a way that's 10% to 20% either above or below what your brain knows is comfortable, it'll start to do compensating behavior.” (25:22—25:39)
• “Comfort zones, they limit us in our ability. And so, what happens is we experience the goodness, and our brain gets uncomfortable. Specifically, our subconscious mind, which is the big, powerful, results-producing part of our brain, gets uncomfortable and it’s like, ‘Whoa. Let's go back to the old way, because I was on autopilot the old way, and I like the old way.’” (26:23—26:45)
• “Any stress or frustration or setback you've ever had, you could tie it back to some version of negativity, urgency, or complacency.” (26:59—27:09)
• “Decide to be happy. Decide what happiness looks like. Have a clear picture, an idea in your head for what happiness looks like, and then anchor to that image and that concept and that picture over, and over, and over again and train the big, powerful, results-producing subconscious part of your mind to go work on chasing it down for you.” (29:19—29:39)
• “Most people, when I meet them, they are in reactive mode. They're on the hamster wheel, they're under water, or just barely got their lips above water. All of their best energy goes towards keeping their head above water, and they can't actually make progress and move forward. They don't even have the mental bandwidth to get their head wrapped around what's important to them, or even know how to start the conversation. This is why working with a coach is so valuable.” (32:02—32:33)
• “Not everybody needs coaching. But everybody deserves it.” (32:43—33:46)
• “When you are crystal clear on your core values, when you are reconnecting with these, reinforcing these on a daily basis, it trains your brain. It trains your big, powerful, results-producing subconscious part of your mind to put you in a situation where you have no choice but to always operate in alignment with those.” (35:14—35:32)
• “Sometimes, we have negativity, urgency, and complacency that happens to us all day, every day. We've got a problem patient that shows up. Somebody popped in with an emergency. We’ve got the spouse calling and going, ‘When are you coming home?’ There's stuff that happens. You've got a bill that shows up, whatever. And being anchored to your core values, it allows you to realize when you're off track faster, and then course-correct faster so you stay moving towards your goals, your vision, and dreams.” (35:44—36:14)
• “You know that every day you're purposeful in getting towards where you want to go. But it starts with understanding where you want to go first.” (36:16—36:25)
• “Your brain, your attitude, it’s kind of like a bank account. You've got to make deposits every single day. Sometimes, it’s a penny. Sometimes, it’s $100,000. Make deposits in that bank account. Because you don't wake up and go, ‘Gee, what's going to suck today?’ But inevitably, in the course of our day, our week, our month, our year, we’re going to have a turd of a situation. And that's a withdrawal. And as long as you have more in the bank than is trying to be withdrawn, it’s going to be a great day. So, think about your brain like a bank account and make those deposits. And listen, pennies add up. You don't have to save the world. Make mental positive deposits so that you have the resources you need when you need them.” (37:10—38:03)

Snippets:

• 0:00 Introduction.
• 2:47 Robb’s background.
• 8:53 The science behind positivity.
• 10:29 Robb’s system for feeding his mind.
• 13:08 Different energetic states of mind.
• 17:41 The Anatomy of Results by Eric Plantenberg.
• 20:55 Have quick wins throughout your day.
• 24:22 Why your brain reverts to negativity.
• 27:18 Decide to be happy.
• 29:39 Be clear on what's important.
• 30:50 The value of a coach.
• 33:17 Core values are like lane-keeping assist.
• 36:40 Last thoughts on the science behind positivity.
• 38:05 How to reach out to Robb.

Resources:

Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins: https://bookshop.org/books/power-vs-force/9781401945077

The Anatomy of Results, Eric Plantenberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxnT6q_XK84

Make Your Bed by William H. McRaven: https://bookshop.org/books/make-your-bed-little-things-that-can-change-your-life-and-maybe-the-world-9781478976561/9781455570249

Master Your Mind by Roger Seip and Robb Zbierski: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Master+Your+Mind%3A+Counterintuitive+Strategies+to+Refocus+and+Re+Energize+Your+Runaway+Brain-p-9781119508175

Robb Zbierski Bio:

Robb Zbierski is a professional speaker, trainer, and personal coach with Freedom Personal Development. Working with companies across a broad spectrum of industries, he helps clients develop professional skills and positive mindsets that let them discover their potential and maximize their results.

Robb's purpose is to inject excitement into everything he does. This purpose provides him the means to guide others (and himself) to become more effective in what they do while enjoying every minute of doing it. Because when you can more effectively accomplish the things you feel like you NEED to do, it lets you have way more fun when it comes time to doing the things you WANT to do!

With a history of success in Product Management, Sales, and Marketing roles within the Outdoor, Bicycle, and Fitness (aka "Passion Pursuit") industries, Robb was notorious for bringing fun to the forefront while also encouraging people to embrace their passion and energy to get the job done. A dynamic and engaging speaker, he makes every effort to connect with the audience to help them understand what can be accomplished with the right attitude and work ethic.

An avid cyclist, runner, fisherman, and beer enthusiast, Robb has completed the infamous Triple Bypass bike ride, the Chicago Marathon, and is in the midst of a multiple decades run of never getting skunked on his annual fishing trip. He currently lives with his wife (Kate) and their twins (Effie and Charlie) in Arlington Heights, Illinois.