Author: JonathanH

In the TedX talk, Tali Sharot takes us through various ways that we change our own behaviors, and those of others in a positive manner to make us better within ourselves. This text describes how we can motivate ourselves to change our behavior.

Action & Awareness

We believe that if we scare people into an action we can influence their behavior. However in reality this has little or no impact as we usually decide to shutdown from the information told to us and make excuses in our minds. We seek positive actions wherever we can. We will always accept a better view on our futures over the negative. The first thing to understand about behavioral change is that it’s hard. In a recent TedX talk by Mel Robbins, an author, life coach, TV host and CNN commentator, she introduced the concept of activation energy as being the primary ingredient for behavioral change. In chemistry, activation energy refers to the least amount of energy required for a reaction to take place. Her point was, to create any kind of behavioral change requires more energy than to stay the same. She used the example that if you want to face activation energy head-on, start your day one hour earlier than you normally do. It takes effort and energy to create new habits to replace old ones that are routine.

Progress, Competition and Goal

We like to be a part of what everyone else is doing, and we can use this to influence people into the right actions. Competition allows people to satisfy the need to win, a rivalry provides the opportunity or reason for improving their performance, and motivates them to put forth greater effort. Also, we can highlight the progress of others to keep them on the right track. People like to move forward, and showing them this can build the up in the right ways. Define why the goal is important to you . Be clear on your motivation that you can draw upon during those moments when you don’t feel like doing anything

Immediate Reward

If people are rewarded they are more likely to do something they otherwise would not. This can help build better habits as they associated the positive actions of the future with getting something in return. An immediate reward strengthens the association between the activity and the goal of the activity, making people feel like the task is rewarding in and of itself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to motivate yourself to Change Your Behavior. With these things we can feel more in control of our lives and motivate us correctly.

Behavior

Social behavior includes how an individual’s thoughts, feelings and behavior influences, and is influenced by, other people. Creating social relationships is central to human well-being, and not just due to the pure joy of being with friends, or when learning social norms. It is argued that experiencing social behavior, and engaging in social interaction, is vital during childhood development. However, many children, for various reasons, are not able to participate in, or experience, the social behavior that is crucial for their well-being, mental health, and development.

The absence of social relationships and behavior have been shown to affect child development in various ways. For example, previous research has revealed that socially isolated children tend to have lower subsequent educational attainment, be part of a less advantaged social class in adulthood, and are more likely to be psychologically distressed in adulthood. This text will focus on how long-term social isolation is closely related to loneliness and physiological illness, and how it affects a healthy development of the brain.

Stress response

If a person is not able to experience the necessary level of social contact and behavior, they can experience social isolation. Social relationships are critical to the maintenance of health, and a lack of them often correlates with feelings of loneliness . Loneliness, in turn, has been linked to higher levels of stress.

The primary function of the human stress response is to protect the body from the environment. When a person is socially isolated, as it is a basic human need, the body will perceive the situation as a threat. The body cannot release stress hormones and protect the body from stressful situations for unlimited time. Having an active stress response over an extended period has been proven to increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, elevated blood pressure, infectious illness, cognitive deterioration, and mortality. These are some results from being prone to stress over time, and they are typically experienced in adulthood. High levels of stress are therefore regarded as a threat to a socially isolated child’s health, not only in their early years of life but also in adulthood.

Brain development

As argued, socially isolated children are at increased risk of health problems in adulthood. Furthermore, studies on social isolation have demonstrated that a lack of social relationships negatively impacts the development of the brain’s structure. In extreme cases of social isolation, studies of mice and have shown how the brain is strongly affected by a lack of social behavior and relationships

Early on in their development, the mice were socially isolated for several weeks to further investigate the relationship of social isolation. The researchers found deficits in the communication chains in a type of cell called oligonucleotides. In other words, these cells had impaired neuron-to-neuron communication in the prefrontal cortex. The function of these cells is dependent on social interaction to develop the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain which is associated with a variety of cognitive functions, such as planning, higher-level thought, and social interaction. The researchers argue that if the development of these cells and areas of the brain are disrupted, children can also possibly develop deficits in these areas of the brain.

Social support

The studies described in this text demonstrate the importance of social interaction, and how social isolation damages not only the physiological functions of the body but also the development of the nervous system’s support cells, which in turn affects the development of cognitive functioning. However, there are reasons to believe that the human need for social interaction is not only the risk factor but is also the “lifesaving factor.” When the human stress response is activated, multiple stress hormones are activated. One of the hormones that are released has the function to force us into social contact. As the need for social connection is important to everyone, in a vulnerable situation, this contact is so important that our body forces us to socialise.

Previous research has investigated how social support affects people who are prone to stress. Studies show children can cope more easily with high levels of stress. Research has also shown that social support is strongly associated with feelings of mastery and the ability to deal with stressful situations, as well as strongly associated with increased quality of life. Thus, by increasing the amount of social interaction, support, and contact they receive, children who experience social isolation avoid the potential harm of physiological illness, cognitive impairment, and feelings of loneliness.

Summary

This text has described how social behavior can be a risk factor for health if there is lack of it, but also how it can be a lifesaver to those struggling with social isolation. This demonstrates the fundamental need of human beings for social support, care, relationships, and behavior.

The grandmother tries to convince her son, Bailey, and his wife to take the family to east Tennessee for vacation instead of Florida. She points out an article about the Misfit, an escaped convict heading toward Florida, and adds that the children have already been there. John Wesley, eight years old, suggests that the grandmother stay home, and his sister, June Star, says nastily that his grandmother would never do that.On the day of the trip, the grandmother hides her cat, Pitty Sing, in a basket in the car. She wears a dress and hat with flowers on it so that people will know she is “a lady” if there’s an accident. In the car, John Wesley says he doesn’t like Georgia, and the grandmother chastises him for not respecting his home state. When they pass a cotton field, she says there are graves in the middle of it that belonged to the plantation and jokes that the plantation has “Gone with the Wind.”

The family stops at a restaurant called the Tower, owned by Red Sammy Butts. Red Sammy complains that people are untrustworthy. Red Sam’s wife says she doesn’t trust anyone, including Red Sam. The grandmother asks her if she’s heard about the Misfit, and the woman worries that he’ll rob them. Red Sam says, “A good man is hard to find.” He and the grandmother lament the state of the world. Back in the car, the grandmother wakes from a nap and realizes that a plantation she once visited is nearby. She says that the house had six white columns and was at the end of an oak tree–lined driveway. She lies that the house had a secret panel to make the house seem more interesting. Excited, the children beg to go to the house until Bailey gives in. The grandmother points him to a dirt road.The family drives deep into the woods. The grandmother suddenly remembers that the house was in Tennessee, not in Georgia. Horrified at her mistake, she jerks her feet. Pitty Sing escapes from the basket and startles Bailey, who wrecks the car. The children’s mother breaks her shoulder, but no one else is hurt. The grandmother decides not to tell Bailey about her mistake.

A passing car stops, and three men get out, carrying guns. The grandmother thinks she recognizes one of them. One of the men, wearing glasses and no shirt, descends into the ditch. He tells the children’s mother to make the children sit down because they make him nervous. The grandmother suddenly screams because she realizes that he’s the Misfit. The man says it’s not good that she recognized him. Bailey curses violently, upsetting the grandmother. The grandmother asks the Misfit whether he’d shoot a lady, and the Misfit says he wouldn’t like to. The grandmother claims that she can tell he’s a good man and that he comes from “nice people.” The Misfit agrees and praises his parents.

The grandmother asks the Misfit whether he ever prays. Just as he says no, she hears two gunshots. The Misfit says he used to be a gospel singer, and the grandmother chants, “pray, pray.” He says he wasn’t a bad child but that at one point he went to prison for a crime he can’t remember committing. He says a psychiatrist told him he’d killed his father. The grandmother tells the Misfit to pray so that Jesus will help him. The Misfit says he’s fine on his own.Bobby Lee and Hiram come back from the woods, and Bobby Lee gives the Misfit the shirt Bailey had been wearing, but the grandmother doesn’t realize it’s Bailey’s. The Misfit tells the children’s mother to take the baby and June Star and go with Bobby Lee and Hiram into the woods.

The grandmother starts chanting, “Jesus, Jesus.” The Misfit says he’s like Jesus, except Jesus hadn’t committed a crime. He says he gave himself this name because his punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime people said he committed. A gunshot comes from the woods. The grandmother begs the Misfit not to shoot a lady. Two more gunshots come from the woods, and the grandmother cries out for Bailey.The Misfit says that Jesus confused everything by raising the dead. He says that if what Jesus did is true, then everyone must follow him. But if he didn’t actually raise the dead, then all anyone can do is enjoy their time on earth by indulging in “meanness.” The grandmother agrees that perhaps Jesus didn’t raise the dead. The Misfit says he wishes he had been there so he could know for sure. The grandmother calls the Misfit “one of my own children,” and the Misfit shoots her in the chest three times.Bobby Lee and Hiram return, and they all look at the grandmother. The Misfit observes that the grandmother could have been a good woman if someone had been around “to shoot her every minute of her life.” The Misfit says life has no true pleasure.

Most people have problems with their memory on some days and not others. When you are feeling alert, well rested and healthy, you are less likely to have problems with everyday remembering. But if you have been having a bad day, or are tense or depressed, you may experience problems with your memory.

Since memory is part of your thinking and learning process, it makes sense that anything that interferes with optimum brain function can affect how well you retrieve and store information. Both your body and your mind – hence your memory – are influenced by diet, medications, stress level, exercise, smoking, and relaxation.

Your mood affects your ability to remember. When you can’t remember something, you can get even more frustrated and create even more stress, which in turn affects your memory. Anxiety and depression are the two major causes of memory problems at any age. When you are deeply depressed or overstressed, you tend to turn inward. You do not record information the way you normally do and your thoughts are occupied with negative emotions. It is important to relax and de-stress so your memory function can get back to normal. Practice breathing and visualization techniques every day so that when you need them, they will be second nature to you.

Not eating a balanced diet can also have a negative impact on your memory, as it can impair the nervous system. Too many food additives and too much sugar contribute to memory malfunction. You need a healthy diet full of vitamins, minerals, iron, and protein.

You also need to drink plenty of water. Have you ever felt tired and disoriented in the middle of the day, and perked up after having some water? That is because dehydration can lead to confusion and other thinking problems.

Getting enough sleep is also essential for a good memory. This gives your brain some needed rest and relaxation. During certain periods of deep sleep that occur about every hour and a half, the brain disconnects from the senses and processes, reviews, consolidates, and stores memory. To interfere with this crucial time of sleep will seriously affect how your memory functions.

Alcohol, smoking, and caffeine are all memory inhibitors. Consuming too much of these will impair your ability to store new information and cause short term memory loss.

It may not be easy at first, but moderating your lifestyle and living in a healthy, balanced way can have a tremendous impact on you and your memory.