When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.Įxecutive State is the optimal state for problem-solving and learning. By doing this, we help children who are physically aggressive (survival state) or verbally aggressive (emotional state) become more integrated so they can learn and use problem-solving skills (executive state). With this ability to self-regulate, we are able to teach children to do the same. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions. The Executive State is the optimal state of problem-solving and learning.Ĭonscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. With these considerations in mind, our definition of state of mind is our moment-to-moment experience of life as generated by our thinking and feelings.Executive State asks the question, “ What can I learn?” What we observe, and what leaders report, is that patterns of thoughts and feelings can vary greatly even in a short period of time. At the same time, state of mind indicates a temporary condition, a state, that can change from moment to moment-unlike a more lasting disposition or temperament. This is important because the phenomena we’re looking at with leaders combine both emotional and cognitive aspects. Unlike mood (which is mainly used to refer to emotion) or mental state (mainly used to refer to cognition), the term state of mind can encompass both thinking and feelings.

We deliberately use the term state of mind in our work because of its unique connotations and the accessibility of the concept. These observations inspired us to conduct more systematic research to validate and explore the patterns that seemed to be emerging. In particular, we’ve repeatedly witnessed the positive impact of higher states of mind and the adverse impact of lower states of mind. Throughout this work, we’ve observed a consistent link between leaders’ states of mind and their effectiveness, relationships, and performance. We’ve spent nearly three decades, across five continents, coaching and consulting to leaders who are experiencing intense professional challenges-from extreme competitive pressures to mismanaged mergers and acquisitions.

Emotional state of mind download