Have you ever been asked the question “What’s on your mind?” What was your answer?

You might mention something that just happened to you that you found perplexing or enjoyable. You might talk about something that happened in the past that you can’t stop thinking about. You might mention a project or assignment you have been working on. You might talk about some future idea or plan that you are contemplating that has fired your imagination. Whatever your answer would be, it would involve what Bill refers to as ‘self-talk’. That inner dialogue that we are having with ourselves at any given moment.

Bill says, “We all talk to ourselves. If we do it out loud, people would worry! But that discussion we have in our heads is always on-going and if it’s a healthy discussion we do okay, if it is unhealthy, then we run into trouble.”

This keynote What’s On Your Mind? is all about this self-talk that we all engage in; that constant chatter that is our ‘thinking’. It’s about how to learn what’s “really” on your mind, where it came from, and whether it is valid or not. It is about learning what is useful and what is harmful.

Robin Williams once said “Reality, what a concept!” In a deep exploration of this statement, Bill starts to unpack the neuroscience about the everyday experience we have of the life around us that constitutes our ‘reality’.

From his readings of ancient philosophies and theologies through modern psychology and interpersonal neuroscience, Bill assembles a set of accessible ideas that help each of us to better answer the question “What’s on Your Mind?” It isn’t about controlling the mind, as much as it is about learning how to work with the mind in a healthy and productive way.

Bill talks about the skills needed to ‘focus your attention on your intention’, a key phrase Bill uses to help address the mental dissipation we so often fall prey to. Bill explores such things as; the value of creativity and its dark side, the simple technique of critical thinking, nurture versus nature, and the use of deliberate perception - all are illustrated and laid out to help in our understanding of how the mind works for us or against us at any given moment.

Hot and Cold thinking, the neuroscience of mirror neurons and neural pathways, the ancient practice of Epoche’ and its modern applications, entrainment, empathy, rumination - all these ideas and more will be explored as ways of being and thinking that make our lives and the lives of those around us richer and more joyful. The neuroscience, ancient ideas and a vast number of humorous anecdotes make for a fun and informative journey towards answering the question “What’s On Your Mind?”