
Philippa Perry
It’s amazing that the degree of fulfilment and joy we experience – including in our work and productive tasks – is wholly determined by the way our brains are wired. And what’s more amazing is that we can improve these experiences by changing this wiring!
While there isn’t a foolproof prescription for making yourself a happy person, says psychologist Philippa Perry, you can always improve your self-experience. This is possible because your brain can make new neural connections, even as a grown adult.
It is true that most pathways in your brain develop during the first years of your life, but Perry says you can create new neural connections by attending to “underlying structures for positive change”. In this way you can “teach” your brain to make yourself more happy.
Consider taking these steps as a way of teaching your brain to create new ways of experiencing your world:
- Have support through a trust relationship with someone who can assist you with your “re-form”. This could for instance be a partner, teacher or coach.
- Create enough positive stimulation to get you to learn new things. This you can do by setting new challenges for yourself, which are neither too easy, nor too difficult.
- Teach yourself self-observation. This you can achieve by keeping a diary or through meditation.
- Make a point of viewing you life from fresh perspectives so that you challenge your “inner-beliefs”. Identify what you could change in the fixed way you define yourself, then “re-write” you story by asking different questions to unlock new perspectives on your experiences.
While Perry observes that these four processes are a “framework for change”, she also notes that the “content of change” will always be different for each individual.
You must find your own best way to change!