Before diving into the ‘smorgasbord’ of words and links below, I am not an expert, these word combos below are opinion based, and at the same time I find them quite interesting to think about, maybe you will too.
In 2013, Penn Medicine conducted a study where researchers analyzed the neural wiring in the brains of around 1000 participants (ages 8-22). While one should always take article titles’ such as “How Men's Brains Are Wired Differently than Women's,” with caution, this study analyzed behavior and relationship differences between genders based on our contrasting brains. The rewiring is simple, but the Modern Man’s brain is not built overnight.
The rewiring is simple, but the Modern Man’s brain is not built overnight.
On Sunday, April 2nd, 2017, the Modern Man Project hosted its first event. Nine men who had no previous connection, defined the “modern man” as being emotionally intelligent, empathetic, authentic, a servant leader, and driven by his purpose. Upon further analysis, we realized that the majority of these valued characteristics and processes would fall under the right hemisphere of our brain. The ‘past man’ has lived through a left hemisphere manner, and in this short article, we hope to shed light on why we should attempt to correct cerebral asymmetries.
“Trust = Competence + Warmth” Rajkumari Neogy
The Modern Man MUST utilize both sides of his brain to be the happiest, healthy human he can be. Trust is essential in our daily life and is comprised of utilizing both hemispheres. When we are living from a space of action, control, and competence, our left hemisphere is activated; vice versa, when we are present, experiencing a moment of warmth, our right hemisphere is activated. Rajkumari summarized this concept when coaching her executive clients, “It is always more efficient to be in a relationship with someone, rather than to be right.” It is imperative that we learn to use our right hemisphere more, and if we identify as a man, then other hurdles must be processed. These hurdles include our brain’s wiring, the culture we were raised in, and the society that provided messages about our identity as a man.
“The left hemisphere activates for judgment, righteousness and doing. The right hemisphere activates for purpose, relationship and being.”
In the Penn study, it was shown that men have more fluid brain connection “front to back,” while women show more connection between “side to side.” Breaking the study down even further it explains that, “Females outperform males on attention, word and face memory, and social cognition tests. Males performed better on spatial processing and sensorimotor speed.” – Penn Study
The Modern Human believes in a life built on balance. The Modern Man has biological barriers towards balancing his left and right hemisphere as we saw in the studies above. We see this in men having less than significant peer friendships; we also see this within our intimate relationships. In order for today’s man to become the Modern Man, he has to utilize his human gift of neuroplasticity. He needs to challenge his brain’s comfort zone, and he needs to work more from a right brain perspective in order to build a life of balance.
The rewiring is simple, but the Modern Man’s brain is not built overnight.
“It’s a long road to an overnight success. Companies aren’t built overnight. Relationships aren’t built overnight. Families aren’t built overnight. Things take the time they take. It’s our investment that matters. When we make the investment of time, sweat, care, love or support, we do it because we’re communicating that this person or situation or experience matters. When we have the experience that we matter, we have the neuro-perception that we belong. From this place, safety and trust become inevitable.” - The WIT Factor by Rajkumari Neogy
I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. The general concept behind the messages above are common sense that we have heard, read and/or been told (if we were lucky) throughout our lives. But as a result of our past, the setting we live, the relationships we hold, these ‘game-changing’ facts remain but simply words floating in our daily routine. The Modern Man Project encourages you to create intentionally, transform yourself and internalize:
- Become more involved and harvest deeper, more meaningful friendships.
- Practice presence and mindfulness on a constant basis.
- Find ‘mentors, gurus, and leaders,’ constantly, and learn all you can from them.
“Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable and vulnerable, make those choices your default.” Damien Foord