Total Brain Coaching

A Holistic System of Effective Habit Change For the Individual, Team, and Organization

Ted Wallace, Robert Keith Wallace, Samantha Wallace

• Publisher: Total Brain Foundation
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780999055885
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Mentoring & Coaching
• Index: Business

Total Brain Coaching is an effective system of habit change to help individuals, teams, and businesses. It is based on 7 principles presented in its companion book, The Coherence Code. Each principle has a number of potential tools that can be organized into specific protocols for habit change. Total Brain Coaching is the start of an open source document for the transformation, improvement, and evolution of the mindset and habits of individuals and organizations everywhere.

PART 1

THE INDIVIDUAL

CHAPTER 1: PART A

DISCOVER YOUR ENERGY STATE

Self-awareness is empowering. The more people learn about who they are, the more they will naturally excel, even in a demanding environment. Total Brain Coaching personalizes your client’s habit change journey according to their individual Energy State. Many businesses today use tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Kolbe, and Strength Finders, to help create a more open corporate environment by educating employees to become aware of the effect of their personality on their relationships. There is one specific tool especially effective for habit change—the Energy State Quiz of Total Brain Coaching.

The Energy State Quiz

The Energy State Quiz is derived from the time-tested mind/body/gut assessment used in Ayurveda, one of the most effective systems of natural health. This method has a huge advantage over all other assessment tests because it is based on the underlying psychological and physiological differences among individuals. A growing body of scientific research reveals a correlation between the three main Energy States and distinct genetic, biochemical, and physiological markers (see Resource Material 2).

Ayurveda determines how different factors influence each person’s Energy State, either positively or negatively. One of the most important factors, for example, is diet, which can create either balance or imbalance in the individual’s Energy State. Modern science has only recently discovered that different foods turn genes on or off. Each one of us is different and we react differently to environmental triggers. Ayurveda can be considered to be an ancient science of epigenetics, explaining how environmental factors affect our DNA without changing its basic structure.

The Energy State Quiz identifies specific environmental triggers that cause your client to go out of balance and perform poorly. By understanding your client’s particular Energy State, it is much easier to help them adopt and maintain new, positive habits. It is also essential for you, as a coach, to understand your own Energy State and triggers.

Let’s briefly consider the three main Energy States:

1. The V Energy State, which Ayurveda calls Vata (vah´tah), we call simply “V”. V Energy State individuals can be enthusiastic and inventive creators. In business they are open and sensitive to the customer’s needs, ready to explore new options, and often producing innovative campaigns.
2. The P Energy State, which Ayurveda calls Pitta (pit´ah), we call simply “P”. P Energy State people are dynamic and purposeful achievers. They are highly motivated to help employees, teams, and the entire company fulfill their specific goals.
3. The K Energy State, which Ayurveda calls Kapha (kah´fah), we call simply “K”. K Energy State people are usually steady and good-natured organizers. They can make trustworthy and high performing administrators, who are able to carefully optimize procedures and business practices, increasing harmony and productivity.

There are a number of ways to assess a person’s Energy State and the simplest is the quiz below, which we have adapted from the book Dharma Parenting. You will also find it in Total Brain Coaching’s companion book, The Coherence Code. For more detailed versions of the quiz go to doshaguru.com, dharmaparenting.com and docgut.com.

Energy State Quiz

The short quiz below, adapted from the book Dharma Parenting, gives you an idea of your Energy State.

Compare your three scores. Whichever total is higher, V, P, or K, is your primary Energy State. It is common for people to have two high scores and one lower score. This indicates that you are a combination of two main Energy States, with a minor influence from the third one. In some cases, you may have three similar scores, which indicates that you have a Tri-Energy State.

CHAPTER 1: PART B

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENERGY STATES

As a coach, it is important for you to understand the interactions between your own Energy State and that of your client or employee. The following examples include interactions between the three main Energy States.

Situation #1: The P Coach with a P Employee or Client

P coaches and P clients are well suited to each other and tend to enjoy a symbiotic relationship. You both love competition and have no problem with discipline. You both are goal-oriented and will probably consider the challenge of habit change to be a fun endeavor.

Advice: If either of you is out of balance, fireworks may ensue. You both want to be right and neither of you will shrink from a heated argument.

• Be sure to schedule your P coaching sessions after you have both had a meal.
• Meet in an air-conditioned room.

Situation #2: The P Coach with a V Employee or Client

P coaches are good at structuring a routine that helps to keep a V client grounded and in balance. The routine, however, must be attractive to the creative nature of your V Client.

Advice: P coaches can be controlling and overbearing and may be willing to achieve results at any cost. This will not work with a V client. As a P coach, you must be able to empathize rather than dominate your V client. Be considerate. For instance, ask your V client if you are speaking too loudly or forcefully and really listen to their thoughts and ideas!

• If you become frustrated, do not try and correct them, even if you are right.
• “Feelings” is the operative word with a V Energy State person.

Situation #3: The P Coach with a K Employee or Client

P coaches and K clients can work well as a team, with one providing dynamic energy to the combination, and the other contributing stability and patience. The K client usually appreciates the energy of their P coach.

Advice: Again, the P coach needs to be in tune with the different nature of their K client. Slow down. Listen. And don’t worry about how long anything takes.

• Enjoy the easygoing nature of your K client, and allow them to come to their own conclusions in their own time.
• Remember that encouragement and a little direction will greatly benefit the K client, as long as you are not intense or pushy.

Situation #4: The V Coach with a V Employee or Client

Since the V coach and the V client have similar inclinations and sensitivities, they will probably enjoy each other’s company. The V coach will appreciate the creativity and imagination of the V client’s style as long as it doesn’t meander in too many wild directions.

Advice: The V coach needs to recognize the changeable V nature of their client and help to keep them focused. If the V client becomes imbalanced due to stress or fatigue, the session will require extra skill and finesse.

• First, allow your client to talk and get everything out.
• Then gently help them focus and direct their attention to the topic at hand.

Situation #5: The V Coach with a P Employee or Client

This is an interesting pairing. V and P go well together, unless the P client gets out of control. The V coach must be especially careful to remain in good balance. The enthusiasm and creativity of the V can help a tightly wound up P to relax and move forward.

Advice: Listen carefully and your P client may do a lot of work for you. They love goals and a challenge, and enjoy making precise plans and being accountable. However, you must always be prepared in case your P client goes out of balance. Do not engage. Calmly and respectfully end the session and wait for a better time to coach.

• Do not let the P client’s overheated emotions overwhelm or imbalance you.
• Be well rested, centered, and prepared to stay at least one step ahead.

Situation #6: The V Coach with a K Employee or Client

The easygoing nature of K clients can make coaching simple, but remember as a V coach, you are operating at a very different speed than your client, and you will have to be extra patient, which is not always easy.

Advice: Above all, you must be rested. Your creative powers and imagination have to be fully charged in order for you to be able to help your client move towards positive habit change.

• Go slower!
• Maintain focus on the goal and allow your K client to share your energy and enthusiasm.

Situation #7: The K Coach with a K Employee or Client

K coaches and K clients are usually happy together, as long as neither is overtired. One problem may be that progress toward habit change might move at a snail’s pace. Slow and steady does win the race, but how long do you want to wait?

Advice: If your K client is out of balance, extra energy will be needed on your part. If both of you are out of balance, the best thing will be to enlist outside help from a friendly P coach or knowledgeable friend.

• Keep moving!
• Create new and stimulating approaches.

Situation # 8: The K Coach with a V Employee or Client

This combination works well because the natural qualities of a good K coach have a grounding and supportive effect on the V client. More than any other Energy State, the K coach has the patience and stability to be able to successfully handle a changeable and emotional V client.

Advice: If you, as a K coach, go out of balance, your anxiety-prone V client will certainly suffer.

• Do whatev...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Introduction
• PART 1: THE INDIVIDUAL
• PART 2: THE TEAM AND ORGANIZATION
• PART 3: LIFE
• PART 4: RESOURCE MATERIAL