Brush Your Behavior WIth Your Other Hand

from the desk of Ron Sukenick


Ever since I learned about BDNF, I've begun brushing my teeth using my left hand.
BDNF, I found out, stands for brain-derived neurotrophic factor. That’s a protein which stimulates the growth of neurons which are linked to long term memory and mood. Until recently, I had no idea that, when we're depressed or stressed-out, our BDNF levels go down. The most interesting part of all this is that anything unexpected, from an unusual smell or taste, to using the "wrong hand", can reactivate the BDNF protein and relieve stress.

As a relationship coach, I find this new information dovetails nicely with what I teach about the Ultimate Discovery System and the Four Main Personality Styles. My whole purpose in studying about the different personality styles was to understand what motivates different people so that I can help them (and, in the process, help myself) move beyond traditional networking to Connection and Relationship.

As I explained in my earlier blog Going Beyond Networking, In Style, we each use all four behavior styles in different settings and different situations. What almost all of us have, though, is one dominant or "fall-back" style of behavior, a way of being that feels most natural and comfortable, and which we tend to try first.

Can you see the parallel between our dominant hand and our dominant behavior style? Just as force of habit has us picking up the toothbrush with our dominant hand, force of habit can keep us locked into one style of behavior. And what I'm concluding is that, just as continually using our dominant hand for routine tasks does nothing to stimulate growth neurons in our brain, continually using our dominant behavior style limits our ability to generate and sustain relationships.

Now that I know the secret to stimulating the production of BDNF lies in change, in varying the way we do everyday tasks, I'm thinking that becoming more aware of how we relate to other people, and then being open to varying our responses, might be the secret of discovering new things - in others and in ourselves.