How to Hack Your Brain - Adam Dachis - Article Summary

How to Hack Your Brain

 Adam Dachis

Article Summary

Our personality is more adaptable than we think. In this article the author, Adam Dachis cleverly explains the various tricks to hack one’s brain; to exploit our brain’s ‘innate functionalities’. Our individuality is not ours alone, rather it is a product of several external influences. The longer we let these influences affect us, the more difficult it is to for us to change. But the point Adam stresses upon here is, how we can actually change who we are by trying something new, which is not always a pleasurable experience.

We’re a combination of who we are and how we’re cultivated. If Stockholm Syndrome (The feeling of trust/affection felt in hostage towards their captor) can make a victim warm up to their kidnapper/captor by adapting to his/her poor situation, we can make positive changes in our life too by adapting to positive changes around us and putting in some efforts. Adam Dachis explains few tricks which might be uncomfortable but can work a great deal in making the hacking of our brains a possible and feasible feat.

Priming your Brain

An absurd yet simple technique which involves talking to one’s self and is very similar to ‘self-affirmation’. It involves declaiming to ourselves a set of words which can alter our mindset. It is successful in putting people into a mindset which is useful in apt situations.

It combines the power of our memory, using certain words which can trigger emotions like ambition, happiness or sadness.

Using Your Emotions

We often let out emotions lead us towards poor judgements– be it binging on ice cream after break ups or binge-watching the most melancholic movies; worsening our state of mind.

But this irrational behavior can be eradicated if we learn to engineer our emotions, as strange as it may sound, it is very effective in altering our mood.

But to do that, first we need to get in touch with how we feel, when we feel and why feel. Only when we learn about our emotions, we can learn to control and fabricate them.

Taking an Acting Class

If we don’t know our emotions, we can’t control them. Acting is one of the ways in which we can get the opportunity to learn how and why we feel certain emotions. One of the most effective techniques is the Meisner Technique (The focus of the Meisner approach is for the actor to "get out of their head", such that the actor is behaving instinctively to the surrounding environment.), which can bring out the emotions which we don’t realize we already have.

Make Yourself Uncomfortable

When we are put in an uncomfortable situation, our emotions come out in full force. We generally resist uncomfortable situations but these situations stimulate emotions which we can analyze and understand better later.

Keep Track of How You Feel

Writing down our emotions is one of the best way of dealing with them. In this way, not only we pay attention to how we feel, we can also analyze situations which incite those emotions within us. It is an easier way of managing our negative emotions.

Emote in Front of the Mirror

Faking expressions is difficult but the easiest way to learn is to practice in front of a mirror. We can learn to distinguish fake from genuine if we look into the mirror and see ourselves doing various expressions of different emotions.

It sure is strange and a bit awkward but once, mastered we can easily ‘create authentic expressions on demand.’

Fake it till you make it – the easiest way to change the mindset and the mood.

Consider Your Health

The above-mentioned methods are only useful, if one is both physically and mentally fit. The methods can be especially tedious if one is depressed, and impossible to carry on if suffering from lack of sleep or physical activities. The methods are not a cure-all or an elixir to all life problems, they only work when self-care is reasonably exercised. To trick your brain, you have to be healthy first.

Ruchika Verma

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