Bill Crawford, Ph.D. | Keynote Speaker, Psychologist, Author, Consultant

For those of you who have seen me present in the last year or so, I'm sure you will remember that I have been addressing the value of coming from the upper part of our brain, or our neocortex, in deciding how to deal with life. In fact, this "Top of the Mind" perspective is about to replace the concept of the "Top Dog" mindset which has been a personal brand of mine since 2004.

While this neocortex model has been very well-received by the vast majority, a few have been concerned that I am advocating a way of life that is driven only by pure logic and devoid of emotions. Therefore, I have chosen this quote and this forum to address these concerns.

It's certainly understandable that some would question the overall thrust of my philosophy, partly because I encourage such questioning, and partly because I do emphasize the value of coming from the part of our brain that most associate with logic. As you can see from this week's quote, however, I actually believe that the concept of "dual citizenship," combining logic and emotion or coming from both the head and the heart, holds the most potential for success.

Of course, in this case, "the heart" is really the limbic system, or the part of our brain where our emotions reside. However, the point is the same, which is that if we are to be successful, we must engage all aspects of our consciousness. In fact, what I am advocating in my presentations on "Life from the Top of the Mind" is not becoming devoid of emotions, but actually engaging our emotions in a very purposeful manner.

You see, it is really the emotional part of our brain (the limbic system) that determines whether the data we receive from our five senses is sent down to our brainstem or up to our neocortex. If we allow this decision to be made unconsciously, then whenever we encounter anything we don't like, or anything we have seen in our past as problematic (or a threat to our happiness or peace of mind), our old, protective, evolutionary response will kick in, and the fight-or-flight portion of our brain (the brainstem) will be engaged. Given that most of the challenges we face on a daily basis don't call for a fight-or-flight response, this almost guarantees that we will become less effective in dealing with life.

My suggestion, therefore, is that we interpret the data we receive in a very purposeful, conscious manner so that it (the data) is sent up to our neocortex, and thus is processed by the most purposeful part of our brain. In order to accomplish this, we must be willing to interpret all data as "good information." Of course, this is easy when the information is positive. The challenge is to become skillful at seeing all data as valuable... especially those aspects of life that in the past we may have interpreted as problematic. For example, traffic is much heavier than we expected . . . good information... our flight is canceled and we are stuck at the airport . . . good information... we get pulled over for speeding . . . good information... someone is cheating on us in our relationship . . . good information!

What is it good information about? Well, it could be many things... choices we have made in the past, how we might want to do this differently in the future, the fact that our significant other doesn't share the same vision about a relationship as we do, etc. Regardless,it is only by interpreting this as good information that we are able to use it to make the necessary changes in our life. Remember: "Stress is a signal that something needs to change . . . Suffering is when we don't make the change." In this statement, both stress and suffering seen from a "Top of the Mind" perspective are good information!

The bottom line is that we will interpret all data in one of two ways... "ain't it awful?" or "good information!" Ain't it awful engages our brainstem (increased heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure, etc.) while good information engages our neocortex (interpersonal skills, confidence, creativity, ability to choose, etc.) Now, when the data is truly awful, someone is threatening us with bodily harm, we lose a loved one, etc., then an emotional response of anger or grief is exactly what is called for. However, when we are reacting to all the less than positive situations that we encounter on a daily basis (traffic, difficult people, problems at work, etc.) with ain't it awful, then '"awful" will become our experience of life.

So you see, far from advocating a "non-emotional" perspective, I am actually suggesting that we use the emotional part of our brain to become more influential in how we experience life. (This is similar to the work of Daniel Goleman in his book "Emotional Intelligence.") It's just that in order to interpret data in this very purposeful manner, we must first decide that this act of deliberate interpretation is worth our efforts, and this sort of decision comes from the neocortex.

Therefore, I am suggesting that rather than living exclusively in the land of either the head or the heart, we take up dual citizenship so that we have access to all of our powers of influence. In this way, we will not only be drawing from both hemispheres of the brain, but all latitudes and longitudes as well.