WEBVTT 00:01.326 --> 00:04.076 (tinkling music) 00:11.213 --> 00:14.046 (energetic music) 00:32.490 --> 00:34.230 Speaker, author, neurohumorist, 00:34.230 --> 00:36.277 I know what you're thinking, 00:36.277 --> 00:40.767 "Another neurohumorist. Oh, Lord!" 00:43.650 --> 00:48.650 If I could show you how to build a healthier brain, 00:51.630 --> 00:56.630 and I could show you how to strengthen your relationships, 00:57.300 --> 01:02.300 and I could show you how to improve your business, 01:02.880 --> 01:06.060 to increase your sales, 01:06.060 --> 01:09.480 to make your leadership more significant, 01:09.480 --> 01:13.080 and to overall just be happier, would you be interested? 01:13.080 --> 01:15.000 Yes. Great. 01:15.000 --> 01:19.380 And if I could show you how to do that 01:19.380 --> 01:24.380 without breaking the bank, without breaking a sweat, 01:25.890 --> 01:27.933 without eating kale, 01:30.330 --> 01:32.790 and just having fun, 01:32.790 --> 01:36.930 would you be willing to make a commitment 01:36.930 --> 01:40.530 to make one small change in your life 01:40.530 --> 01:42.900 every day over the next 30 days? 01:42.900 --> 01:44.730 Would you be willing to do that? 01:44.730 --> 01:45.563 Yes. 01:45.563 --> 01:46.920 All right, then let's get started. 01:46.920 --> 01:50.613 Yes, I love, love, love talking about this topic. 01:52.770 --> 01:56.400 And let's see if we have... 01:56.400 --> 01:57.650 Let's try the next slide. 02:00.540 --> 02:03.843 I know, but it's not working. 02:06.157 --> 02:07.260 "I knew that!" 02:07.260 --> 02:12.180 Just recently, I was driving to an engagement 02:12.180 --> 02:14.017 and my driver said, 02:14.017 --> 02:16.710 "Oh, I understand you're one of the speakers. 02:16.710 --> 02:18.720 What are you gonna be speaking about?" 02:18.720 --> 02:20.670 And I said, "I'm gonna be speaking about humor." 02:20.670 --> 02:23.557 And in all sincerity, he said, 02:23.557 --> 02:26.697 "Did you know humor is good for you?" 02:28.830 --> 02:30.450 Really! Why don't you...?" 02:30.450 --> 02:32.010 And he went on and on. 02:32.010 --> 02:33.600 He started telling me all about 02:33.600 --> 02:36.600 the wonderful kinds of things about humor, 02:36.600 --> 02:39.607 and I was thinking to myself, 02:39.607 --> 02:44.607 "Why is it that almost everybody in here, in the world, 02:45.330 --> 02:49.980 knows that humor is good for them, 02:49.980 --> 02:54.980 but so often, we use it when it happens by chance, 02:55.650 --> 02:59.460 but we don't use it by choice?" 02:59.460 --> 03:01.290 And the difference between those 03:01.290 --> 03:03.600 who get an occasional benefit 03:03.600 --> 03:07.140 and those who can do the things that I talked about, 03:07.140 --> 03:09.150 changing your brain, changing your business, 03:09.150 --> 03:11.010 changing yourselves, changing your life, 03:11.010 --> 03:12.240 changing your relationships, 03:12.240 --> 03:14.670 changing your emotional wellbeing, 03:14.670 --> 03:18.810 the difference is that people who do it purposefully, 03:18.810 --> 03:23.430 intentionally, consistently, these are the people 03:23.430 --> 03:26.040 who can experience those benefits. 03:26.040 --> 03:29.520 There's lots of different ways we could address this 03:29.520 --> 03:31.110 in the amount of time I have. 03:31.110 --> 03:33.240 Dr. Heidi Hanna and many of the other speakers 03:33.240 --> 03:35.490 could tell you, we really would love to be up here 03:35.490 --> 03:37.080 for about six hours, 03:37.080 --> 03:39.060 because there still wouldn't be enough time 03:39.060 --> 03:41.310 to tell you all that we wanna talk about. 03:41.310 --> 03:43.860 But I'm gonna put this particular presentation 03:43.860 --> 03:45.180 in a framework that I think 03:45.180 --> 03:47.910 most of you would be able to relate to. 03:47.910 --> 03:50.070 Not too long ago, I was in Maine 03:50.070 --> 03:52.020 having my first lobster roll, 03:52.020 --> 03:53.880 and while I was seated waiting for them 03:53.880 --> 03:55.710 to bring my dish to me, 03:55.710 --> 04:00.420 I noticed this fishbowl up on the counter. 04:00.420 --> 04:01.920 And when I looked a little closer, 04:01.920 --> 04:06.920 I realized it was a blender with a fish in it, 04:07.620 --> 04:11.010 which is why it's called Mr. Chips. 04:11.010 --> 04:13.380 Now, to somebody who's a healthcare professional, 04:13.380 --> 04:16.110 we like body fluids, death, and dismemberment humor, 04:16.110 --> 04:18.363 so I thought this was really very funny. 04:19.800 --> 04:21.840 But the other thing that I thought about this 04:21.840 --> 04:23.880 in terms of most of us is, 04:23.880 --> 04:27.420 how many of you have ever felt like you're in that fishbowl, 04:27.420 --> 04:31.323 just waiting for somebody to hit that button? 04:32.790 --> 04:35.610 Just waiting for somebody to hit that button? 04:35.610 --> 04:38.580 And when we are experiencing this, 04:38.580 --> 04:42.990 whether it's subtly or whether it's in our face, 04:42.990 --> 04:46.230 certain things are happening in our brains 04:46.230 --> 04:48.150 and in our bodies. 04:48.150 --> 04:51.480 And we've studied through psycho neuroimmunology, 04:51.480 --> 04:54.120 one of the terms that's been thrown around here earlier, 04:54.120 --> 04:56.280 and we know that stress affects 04:56.280 --> 05:00.990 every single body system in a negative way. 05:00.990 --> 05:04.860 If you have too much stress, distress. A little is good. 05:04.860 --> 05:06.900 But stress and the brain... 05:06.900 --> 05:09.033 This is my lovely granddaughter, Ayla. 05:09.930 --> 05:13.950 Stress and the brain, the way that stress behaves 05:13.950 --> 05:17.880 is that first, it stimulates our autonomic nervous system. 05:17.880 --> 05:19.950 And I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail 05:19.950 --> 05:21.570 because I don't have a lot of time. 05:21.570 --> 05:25.260 But this, in addition, creates additional changes 05:25.260 --> 05:27.330 because the autonomic nervous system, 05:27.330 --> 05:29.100 which is from the adrenal glands 05:29.100 --> 05:31.530 and it produces certain chemicals and hormones, 05:31.530 --> 05:35.370 but one of the things it produces is cortisol. 05:35.370 --> 05:40.370 And according to an article that was in "Psychology Today", 05:40.950 --> 05:43.593 cortisol, Public Enemy #1. 05:45.490 --> 05:48.327 It is the underpinning of almost all 05:49.410 --> 05:53.820 of the negative diseases that we are here for today. 05:53.820 --> 05:57.750 Inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, 05:57.750 --> 06:01.593 heart disease, Alzheimer's, all of these kinds of things, 06:02.520 --> 06:07.520 the cortisol just fans the flames of making these worse. 06:08.580 --> 06:13.580 So the good news is that humor is the antithesis 06:15.390 --> 06:19.440 to almost every negative response 06:19.440 --> 06:22.260 that we experience in the brain. 06:22.260 --> 06:25.140 Our friend and colleague, Dr. Lee Burke, 06:25.140 --> 06:27.960 once said that "If we could take what we know now 06:27.960 --> 06:31.500 about laughter and bottle it, 06:31.500 --> 06:35.877 it would require FDA approval." 06:37.200 --> 06:41.670 I get so excited, I just wanna jump outta my skin, 06:41.670 --> 06:45.300 because the research is growing and growing. 06:45.300 --> 06:49.260 We are pioneers in a field 06:49.260 --> 06:54.090 that is showing us the power of humor. 06:54.090 --> 06:58.920 How many of you in here know a person with diabetes 06:58.920 --> 07:00.363 or is a pre-diabetic? 07:01.200 --> 07:04.260 Right now in the US, one in 10, 07:04.260 --> 07:08.283 by 2050, propose to be one in three. 07:09.240 --> 07:11.340 How many of you know of someone 07:11.340 --> 07:14.253 who has heart disease of some kind? 07:16.290 --> 07:19.830 How many of you have ever experienced 07:19.830 --> 07:22.027 a short-term memory issue? 07:22.027 --> 07:23.339 (audience laughing) 07:23.339 --> 07:25.051 I forgot. 07:25.051 --> 07:26.130 I can't remember. 07:26.130 --> 07:28.290 How many of you in here have ever experienced 07:28.290 --> 07:30.223 a short-term memory issue? 07:30.223 --> 07:33.510 (audience laughing) 07:33.510 --> 07:34.800 Just issue after issue after... 07:34.800 --> 07:37.500 We find that humor is power. 07:37.500 --> 07:39.810 Now I want you to think back, as a little exercise, 07:39.810 --> 07:42.593 when the last time was that you had a really good laugh? 07:43.500 --> 07:45.780 And I'm seeing a few blank faces here. 07:45.780 --> 07:47.280 So we're gonna do some research. 07:47.280 --> 07:50.910 This is a research-based symposium. 07:50.910 --> 07:52.500 And so what I'm gonna ask you to do 07:52.500 --> 07:53.730 is take a giant leap of faith, 07:53.730 --> 07:55.950 and if you are physically able, 07:55.950 --> 07:59.220 on the count of three, I want you to face me 07:59.220 --> 08:02.283 and put the shape of a smile on your face. 08:03.420 --> 08:07.020 Then I will give you one last set of instructions. 08:07.020 --> 08:09.480 You may groan loudly, sit down, 08:09.480 --> 08:13.350 and we will discuss the findings of our research. 08:13.350 --> 08:14.940 If you're not able to stand, 08:14.940 --> 08:17.040 feel free to do this from a seated position. 08:17.040 --> 08:18.510 All right, on the count of three. 08:18.510 --> 08:20.580 One, two, three, stand, 08:20.580 --> 08:22.893 and take a deep breath and let it out. 08:24.120 --> 08:27.210 And now put the shape of a smile on your face. 08:27.210 --> 08:30.000 For the purpose of our research, I need to see teeth. 08:30.000 --> 08:31.746 Don't care if they're yours. 08:31.746 --> 08:33.270 (audience laughing) 08:33.270 --> 08:35.550 Just wanna see a smile. 08:35.550 --> 08:37.680 And the last set of instructions 08:37.680 --> 08:39.660 is to turn and make eye contact 08:39.660 --> 08:42.065 with the victim who is standing close by. 08:42.065 --> 08:45.065 (audience laughing) 08:46.260 --> 08:50.259 Now you can take a deep breath, sit down, and groan. 08:50.259 --> 08:54.509 (audience laughing and chattering) 08:57.810 --> 09:00.000 I love doing this exercise for two reasons. 09:00.000 --> 09:03.180 One is if one of you just has to duck out before I'm done, 09:03.180 --> 09:04.530 and I hope that's not the case, 09:04.530 --> 09:07.320 but I wanted to make sure that every single person in here 09:07.320 --> 09:10.533 walks away with at least one skill. 09:12.360 --> 09:14.760 The next time you go back to your office tomorrow 09:14.760 --> 09:16.350 and you feel like if one more person 09:16.350 --> 09:17.790 puts one more thing on your desk 09:17.790 --> 09:20.520 and you have to just strangle them, 09:20.520 --> 09:23.430 I want you to face your doorway, entryway, or hallway, 09:23.430 --> 09:24.620 and just do this... 09:27.445 --> 09:30.445 (audience laughing) 09:31.830 --> 09:33.750 Because the next person that walks in 09:33.750 --> 09:35.670 and sees you looking like this is gonna know 09:35.670 --> 09:38.313 now is not the time to bother you. 09:40.470 --> 09:44.160 The second reason is you are now healthier than you were 09:44.160 --> 09:47.520 when you started this presentation 09:47.520 --> 09:49.320 from when you came in this morning. 09:49.320 --> 09:51.660 Different things happened in your body. 09:51.660 --> 09:53.820 You went from a fake smile 09:53.820 --> 09:57.870 to the majority of you went to an actual real smile. 09:57.870 --> 10:01.020 And for many of you who are the advanced group, 10:01.020 --> 10:03.153 you began to laugh. 10:04.140 --> 10:07.080 I didn't even ask you to smile, but you were laughing. 10:07.080 --> 10:08.910 Now, interestingly enough, with humor, 10:08.910 --> 10:11.490 there are components, different components in the brain. 10:11.490 --> 10:14.250 Humor is made up of a cognitive component 10:14.250 --> 10:15.840 in the prefrontal cortex. 10:15.840 --> 10:18.270 It's made up of an emotional component, 10:18.270 --> 10:20.280 which is mirth in the limbic system. 10:20.280 --> 10:23.040 And then there's the physiological component, laughter, 10:23.040 --> 10:25.950 which actually starts in the base of the brain 10:25.950 --> 10:28.230 and then spreads all over your body. 10:28.230 --> 10:32.310 So your entire brain is engaged. 10:32.310 --> 10:35.130 Some of the research that has come out has been so exciting, 10:35.130 --> 10:37.080 and I just wanna list a few, 10:37.080 --> 10:38.160 but for instance, 10:38.160 --> 10:41.310 some of the studies on persons with diabetes. 10:41.310 --> 10:44.610 Again, a very, very difficult disease to manage 10:44.610 --> 10:45.750 for some people. 10:45.750 --> 10:46.800 And they did a study, 10:46.800 --> 10:49.920 and it's been replicated on several occasions, 10:49.920 --> 10:53.680 that persons with diabetes and pre-diabetics 10:54.690 --> 10:58.350 were asked to watch funny videos. 10:58.350 --> 11:00.810 They also had a control group of people 11:00.810 --> 11:04.740 who did not have diabetes or were not pre-diabetics. 11:04.740 --> 11:08.640 The findings were that the control group, 11:08.640 --> 11:11.880 it really didn't change anything in terms of blood glucose 11:11.880 --> 11:15.030 or other related issues of diabetes. 11:15.030 --> 11:18.420 But for those who were diabetics or pre-diabetics, 11:18.420 --> 11:19.890 there was a measurable, 11:19.890 --> 11:23.550 significantly statistically significant decrease 11:23.550 --> 11:25.800 in their blood glucose, 11:25.800 --> 11:29.460 and in their renin and angiotensin. 11:29.460 --> 11:31.920 These are hormones and proteins 11:31.920 --> 11:36.480 that will damage kidneys over a period of time. 11:36.480 --> 11:38.730 And so this is really, really very good news 11:38.730 --> 11:40.140 for persons with this disease. 11:40.140 --> 11:43.290 And even better, and to our surprise, 11:43.290 --> 11:46.800 we found out at the epigenetics level, 11:46.800 --> 11:51.800 that we were seeing changes at the level of the DNA. 11:55.080 --> 11:58.290 If we're going to change the face of global health 11:58.290 --> 12:02.610 and we're looking at diabetes going to one in three people, 12:02.610 --> 12:05.100 we gotta think outside of the box, people. 12:05.100 --> 12:08.400 What if we could implement something like this? 12:08.400 --> 12:09.480 Dr. Michael Miller, 12:09.480 --> 12:11.490 another friend and colleague from Baltimore, 12:11.490 --> 12:15.150 did studies on people with cardiovascular disease. 12:15.150 --> 12:16.770 And what he found was that people 12:16.770 --> 12:20.160 who purposefully and intentionally used humor 12:20.160 --> 12:22.080 had an increase in the elasticity 12:22.080 --> 12:24.330 of their endothelial lining of their blood vessels. 12:24.330 --> 12:26.430 For those of you who are not healthcare professionals, 12:26.430 --> 12:28.890 that means their blood vessels got stretchier 12:28.890 --> 12:31.503 and it lowered their blood pressure. 12:32.580 --> 12:37.200 Cortisol causes inflammation throughout our bodies, 12:37.200 --> 12:39.690 whether we notice it or not, not necessarily painful, 12:39.690 --> 12:43.650 but in our blood vessels, when they become inflamed, 12:43.650 --> 12:46.080 what is our body's response? 12:46.080 --> 12:47.643 But to lay down plaque. 12:48.870 --> 12:51.600 By decreasing cortisol, 12:51.600 --> 12:54.960 which is one of the effects of humor and laughter, 12:54.960 --> 12:57.270 we can decrease that inflammation, 12:57.270 --> 12:59.820 and we can decrease the need for the body 12:59.820 --> 13:01.830 to lay down plaque. 13:01.830 --> 13:06.090 But he thinks that this is a wonderful, wonderful future 13:06.090 --> 13:08.910 for people who are suffering 13:08.910 --> 13:11.943 or facing cardiovascular disease. 13:13.050 --> 13:15.300 In a study that's been done but not yet published, 13:15.300 --> 13:18.330 but presented by another colleague of ours, 13:18.330 --> 13:21.330 they studied people who were over 50, 13:21.330 --> 13:23.820 but I'm going to generalize a little bit, 13:23.820 --> 13:25.770 but they found that when they intentionally 13:25.770 --> 13:28.020 and purposely watched humor, 13:28.020 --> 13:31.533 their short-term memory improved. 13:32.790 --> 13:34.200 And in another study, 13:34.200 --> 13:39.200 when they did brain imaging and they did control groups, 13:39.240 --> 13:42.120 one group who just watched a lecture, 13:42.120 --> 13:45.420 another group who watched "Saving Private Ryan", 13:45.420 --> 13:47.310 there's a relaxing movie for you, 13:47.310 --> 13:50.550 and then another group that got to self-select 13:50.550 --> 13:51.660 something funny to them, 13:51.660 --> 13:54.810 because what might be funny to me might not be funny to you, 13:54.810 --> 13:56.970 but they got to self-select humor. 13:56.970 --> 13:59.070 And here is one of the things 13:59.070 --> 14:01.830 that I think is the coolest thing I've heard all year, 14:01.830 --> 14:04.443 and that is that when they did brain imaging, 14:05.790 --> 14:10.260 they found that there was gamma waves 14:10.260 --> 14:13.983 across the entire brain. 14:14.970 --> 14:18.128 Gamma waves like we see in people 14:18.128 --> 14:22.440 who practice intentional purposeful meditation 14:22.440 --> 14:25.383 over years and years and years. 14:26.310 --> 14:29.550 We don't even know what to do with this information yet. 14:29.550 --> 14:32.850 But man, wouldn't it be cool if you could laugh 14:32.850 --> 14:37.380 and experience those gamma waves into better health, 14:37.380 --> 14:42.210 like that that we know to be true with meditation? 14:42.210 --> 14:43.590 Applied and therapeutic humor 14:43.590 --> 14:47.850 is very much where meditation was I think 20, 25 years ago, 14:47.850 --> 14:49.470 when we talked about meditation 14:49.470 --> 14:51.360 and people rolled their eyes so hard 14:51.360 --> 14:53.347 you could hear their head ring, and they were like, 14:53.347 --> 14:56.128 "Oh, but that's what the people in California do. 14:56.128 --> 14:59.520 That's those, you know, nuts and flakes and weird people." 14:59.520 --> 15:02.190 But what we're finding now is that this is so powerful 15:02.190 --> 15:06.033 and this is just, just the tip of the iceberg. 15:07.470 --> 15:10.110 I love this quote by Viktor Frankl. 15:10.110 --> 15:14.640 And if you have not yet read "Man's Search for Meaning", 15:14.640 --> 15:15.570 it should be on your list 15:15.570 --> 15:18.030 of top 100 books to read in your life. 15:18.030 --> 15:19.020 But I think what he said here 15:19.020 --> 15:21.187 was one of the most powerful things I've ever heard, 15:21.187 --> 15:26.187 "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. 15:26.190 --> 15:28.980 And in that space lies our freedom 15:28.980 --> 15:32.370 and our power to choose our response. 15:32.370 --> 15:37.370 And in our response lies our growth and our happiness." 15:37.950 --> 15:40.440 Stimulus, response, 15:40.440 --> 15:42.750 stimulus, response, 15:42.750 --> 15:47.573 stimulus, response, stimulus, response, in that space. 15:48.630 --> 15:50.910 So often we think, "Well, I don't have a choice. 15:50.910 --> 15:53.400 Somebody cut me off and of course I'm just gonna go 'Bam!' 15:53.400 --> 15:56.640 on the horn, because that's how I'm wired." 15:56.640 --> 16:01.260 But there's a space and you have a choice. 16:01.260 --> 16:04.170 And I'm not saying that humor is the only thing 16:04.170 --> 16:07.050 that you should put in that space, 16:07.050 --> 16:09.810 but now once you leave this room today, 16:09.810 --> 16:14.810 you will know too much, that you can no longer just say, 16:15.757 --> 16:18.540 "I'm at the mercy of other people. 16:18.540 --> 16:20.610 I'm at the mercy of my circumstances." 16:20.610 --> 16:23.160 Because you have a choice. 16:23.160 --> 16:24.750 And one of those choices 16:24.750 --> 16:28.860 between stimulus and response is humor. 16:28.860 --> 16:30.840 Powerful stuff. 16:30.840 --> 16:33.570 Hebb's Law, and we've talked about this already, 16:33.570 --> 16:37.350 neurons that fire together, wire together. 16:37.350 --> 16:38.850 So often, our brains... 16:38.850 --> 16:43.110 We've already been wired to have that negative response. 16:43.110 --> 16:46.650 The anxiety goes up, the fear goes up, 16:46.650 --> 16:48.300 the muscles get tight, 16:48.300 --> 16:51.780 and we just have this exhibited throughout our bodies, 16:51.780 --> 16:53.970 all sorts of bad things going on chemically, 16:53.970 --> 16:56.970 emotionally, socially, psychologically. 16:56.970 --> 17:01.230 But we can rewire our brains if we're intentional, 17:01.230 --> 17:05.610 and use humor not by chance, but by choice. 17:05.610 --> 17:09.450 Now, a lot of people go, "But you don't understand, 17:09.450 --> 17:13.410 there's nothing funny happening in my life. 17:13.410 --> 17:15.420 There's nothing funny happening where I work. 17:15.420 --> 17:16.920 There's no humor around." 17:16.920 --> 17:20.100 And let me tell you this, if this is your belief, 17:20.100 --> 17:22.143 then this is your truth. 17:24.120 --> 17:26.940 If you believe there's no humor in your life, 17:26.940 --> 17:28.533 you're gonna be right. 17:30.000 --> 17:32.257 But if you believe, 17:32.257 --> 17:37.257 "Well, maybe, maybe I'm missing something," you'll be right. 17:39.120 --> 17:42.450 Five strategies. I'm gonna give you five strategies. 17:42.450 --> 17:45.420 Now, pick one. 17:45.420 --> 17:48.810 I don't expect you to do all of these 17:48.810 --> 17:53.070 because you would not be able to do them consistently. 17:53.070 --> 17:54.870 But I'm gonna give you five strategies 17:54.870 --> 17:57.300 and I want you to think, 'cause you guys told me earlier, 17:57.300 --> 17:59.850 if I could show you how to make these changes, 17:59.850 --> 18:00.720 that you would be willing 18:00.720 --> 18:03.300 to make one small change consistently. 18:03.300 --> 18:07.020 So let's start with manipulating your mindset. 18:07.020 --> 18:11.193 How can you reframe your pain? 18:12.150 --> 18:15.450 Sometimes, it's just by posing a question to yourself, 18:15.450 --> 18:16.320 or a statement. 18:16.320 --> 18:18.270 I loved it when a social worker told me 18:18.270 --> 18:21.847 his way of reframing things was to ask himself, 18:21.847 --> 18:24.777 "Has this changed the Earth's rotation?" 18:26.280 --> 18:30.063 If it hadn't, he felt it would be safe to let it go. 18:31.740 --> 18:33.843 Sometimes, it's to catastrophize. 18:33.843 --> 18:35.430 Have you ever heard that word? 18:35.430 --> 18:40.380 Make it worse, and worse, and worse, until it's so absurd, 18:40.380 --> 18:43.387 that you can look at the original premise and go, 18:43.387 --> 18:47.430 "Okay, not that bad. Not that bad." 18:47.430 --> 18:50.070 Asking yourself, "How could this be worse?" 18:50.070 --> 18:51.750 And then ask it again mirthfully, 18:51.750 --> 18:54.630 and again, and again and again. 18:54.630 --> 18:57.930 To listen for different things that people say. 18:57.930 --> 19:01.350 Listen for different things that you will hear. 19:01.350 --> 19:04.020 If you raise your awareness, 19:04.020 --> 19:07.983 you will hear things that other people are missing. 19:08.880 --> 19:11.580 Once when I was working here in Colorado, 19:11.580 --> 19:15.690 there was a person there who represented the Colorado... 19:15.690 --> 19:19.410 Actually, it was Denver's Visitors and Convention Center. 19:19.410 --> 19:20.400 And they said there was somebody 19:20.400 --> 19:23.370 who wanted to come visit Denver, 19:23.370 --> 19:25.080 but before they came to Colorado, 19:25.080 --> 19:27.090 they wanted to know what time of year 19:27.090 --> 19:29.665 do your deer turn into elk? 19:29.665 --> 19:32.640 (audience laughing) 19:32.640 --> 19:36.603 You don't have to make this stuff up. 19:37.650 --> 19:41.910 So often when I share things, people go, "Is that true?" 19:41.910 --> 19:43.830 Heidi Hanna and others can tell you, 19:43.830 --> 19:45.690 I never have to make up stuff 19:45.690 --> 19:48.450 because this kind of stuff just happens, 19:48.450 --> 19:50.790 but I'm listening for it. 19:50.790 --> 19:54.000 You never have to be funny. 19:54.000 --> 19:56.790 Sometimes people go, "But I'm not a funny person. 19:56.790 --> 19:57.810 I'm not a funny person." 19:57.810 --> 20:00.240 If you can make someone else laugh, awesome. 20:00.240 --> 20:01.710 That is a skill. 20:01.710 --> 20:04.770 And I could teach every single one of you how to be funny, 20:04.770 --> 20:07.020 but it might not serve you. 20:07.020 --> 20:09.810 I know a lot of people who are funny, 20:09.810 --> 20:12.360 who have no sense of humor. 20:12.360 --> 20:16.710 I know a lot of people who are funny, who are very depressed 20:16.710 --> 20:19.233 and/or like Robin Williams, dead. 20:20.130 --> 20:24.840 I don't care if you're funny. I want you to see funny. 20:24.840 --> 20:27.570 An exercise that I teach a lot of my audiences 20:27.570 --> 20:29.130 is yellow car. 20:29.130 --> 20:30.720 It was an exercise that I learned 20:30.720 --> 20:33.600 from this wonderfully hysterical podcast. 20:33.600 --> 20:35.280 If you ever have the opportunity 20:35.280 --> 20:38.610 to listen to the BBC radio show, 20:38.610 --> 20:40.530 it's called "Cabin Pressure" 20:40.530 --> 20:43.740 starring Benedict Cumberbatch, be still my heart. 20:43.740 --> 20:45.787 And one of the people on there said, 20:45.787 --> 20:47.910 "Let's play yellow car." 20:47.910 --> 20:49.020 Well, how do you play? 20:49.020 --> 20:51.270 Well, every time we're in a car together 20:51.270 --> 20:52.590 and we see a yellow car, 20:52.590 --> 20:55.710 the person that sees it shouts, "Yellow car!" 20:55.710 --> 21:00.150 Well, how do you keep score? Well, you don't keep score. 21:00.150 --> 21:04.830 Well, how do you win? Well, you don't win. 21:04.830 --> 21:08.700 Well, how's the game over? The game's never over. 21:08.700 --> 21:11.073 You're always playing yellow car. 21:12.360 --> 21:13.620 And so I thought, "Well, I'm gonna teach this," 21:13.620 --> 21:16.470 and we were gonna videotape this for an exercise that I did, 21:16.470 --> 21:17.910 and we started driving around 21:17.910 --> 21:19.410 and my husband was videotaping me. 21:19.410 --> 21:23.040 And we drove around and it's like, "Oh! No yellow cars." 21:23.040 --> 21:26.527 And the next day we went out, "Well, there's one parked." 21:26.527 --> 21:28.830 "Well, there's another one, parked." 21:28.830 --> 21:29.910 And you know, after a while, 21:29.910 --> 21:32.040 the next day it was like, "Well, there's one." 21:32.040 --> 21:34.290 And then a couple days later, "Well, there's a couple." 21:34.290 --> 21:35.437 And by the end of the week, it was like, 21:35.437 --> 21:38.700 "Oh, look San Diego was getting more yellow cars." 21:38.700 --> 21:42.240 By the end of the month, I wanted to claw my eyes out. 21:42.240 --> 21:45.393 I cannot stop seeing yellow cars, 21:46.320 --> 21:49.473 because I rewired my brain. 21:50.310 --> 21:52.770 Neurons that fire together, wire together. 21:52.770 --> 21:56.220 I just had someone from a presentation that I did in Austin 21:56.220 --> 21:58.537 two days ago, she texted me and she said, 21:58.537 --> 22:00.897 "I can't stop seeing yellow cars." 22:02.310 --> 22:03.720 But once you raise your awareness, 22:03.720 --> 22:05.730 you will see things like this. 22:05.730 --> 22:07.350 Pull? Are you kidding me? 22:07.350 --> 22:09.543 No, there's no handles. You can't do that. 22:10.620 --> 22:14.190 This was in a a restaurant the other day, 22:14.190 --> 22:17.220 that I attended in San Diego. 22:17.220 --> 22:19.950 This is a garage with a sense of humor. 22:19.950 --> 22:22.350 It's just a few blocks from where I live. 22:22.350 --> 22:23.850 The top of it said, "Knock, knock." 22:23.850 --> 22:25.050 And I was like, "What's that?" 22:25.050 --> 22:26.580 But then the garage door lifted 22:26.580 --> 22:28.620 and underneath it said, "Who's there?" 22:28.620 --> 22:29.919 I was like, "Whoo!" 22:29.919 --> 22:32.407 (audience laughing) 22:32.407 --> 22:34.282 "Notice, this is a drug free workspace." 22:34.282 --> 22:37.317 (audience laughing) 22:37.317 --> 22:38.167 I don't think so. 22:39.450 --> 22:40.687 I love this. 22:40.687 --> 22:44.427 "I am: Republican, Democrat, having a glass of wine." 22:47.310 --> 22:49.560 Number two, manipulate your environment. 22:49.560 --> 22:52.860 What can you do to increase the likelihood? 22:52.860 --> 22:55.830 Surround yourself with things that will increase. 22:55.830 --> 22:59.317 On my smartphone, I have podcasts, I have videos, 22:59.317 --> 23:02.670 I have funny pictures, I have memes, 23:02.670 --> 23:05.040 I have things TVO'ed at home, 23:05.040 --> 23:08.250 I have things that I can go to, I have books. 23:08.250 --> 23:11.430 Anything that I can do to surround myself 23:11.430 --> 23:15.330 so that I can purposely, 20 minutes every single day, 23:15.330 --> 23:18.840 get some kind of humor, whether I'm on a plane, on a stage, 23:18.840 --> 23:20.760 or wherever I may be. 23:20.760 --> 23:24.450 So increase the likelihood in your environment. 23:24.450 --> 23:27.300 Find an accountability partner. 23:27.300 --> 23:31.020 Find someone that you can share with. 23:31.020 --> 23:34.350 I'm fortunate enough to have an accountability partner 23:34.350 --> 23:36.660 with a wonderful sense of humor. 23:36.660 --> 23:38.010 Dr. Hanna and I 23:38.010 --> 23:41.970 were putting on a 24 hour longest day seminar 23:41.970 --> 23:44.640 for people who were caregivers of Alzheimer's. 23:44.640 --> 23:46.770 I didn't realize that the screen capture 23:46.770 --> 23:48.060 caught me in the background 23:48.060 --> 23:50.910 doing a choke hold to something she was saying. 23:50.910 --> 23:53.220 However, here's the thing: 23:53.220 --> 23:54.240 We have a commitment, 23:54.240 --> 23:56.850 and every single day we send each other humor. 23:56.850 --> 23:59.790 And what I found was not only the gift for me, 23:59.790 --> 24:01.980 when I send her something, 24:01.980 --> 24:05.850 when I'm not feeling in a great mood, 24:05.850 --> 24:10.850 looking for humor to send to her changes my mindset. 24:12.210 --> 24:15.960 And when I send it to her, it makes me feel good. 24:15.960 --> 24:19.830 Two dopamine hits, and now I have a larger repertoire 24:19.830 --> 24:21.720 of material to send to somebody else. 24:21.720 --> 24:25.833 Three dopamine hits. So find an accountability partner. 24:27.090 --> 24:30.540 Four, schedule humor breaks. 24:30.540 --> 24:32.970 Schedule humor breaks. 24:32.970 --> 24:35.190 I make sure that every single day I do this. 24:35.190 --> 24:39.150 And now with smartphones, it's even easier. 24:39.150 --> 24:42.120 I'm pretty sure you can do this if you don't have an iPhone, 24:42.120 --> 24:44.910 but for those of you that have iPhones, 24:44.910 --> 24:46.830 you can schedule in your alarms. 24:46.830 --> 24:48.270 And I think the rest of you can figure this out. 24:48.270 --> 24:52.770 For instance, in my alarm, I can pick a time, 24:52.770 --> 24:57.540 and then where it says label, instead of just saying alarm, 24:57.540 --> 25:01.500 I write schedule a humor break, and that goes off. 25:01.500 --> 25:03.510 So my day looks something like this. 25:03.510 --> 25:04.980 I have all sorts of alarms 25:04.980 --> 25:07.770 to just give me mental cues to lift my mood. 25:07.770 --> 25:09.630 But if you look at 8:30 in the morning 25:09.630 --> 25:13.500 on this particular day, it's practice a humor strategy. 25:13.500 --> 25:16.890 So I don't miss a day. 25:16.890 --> 25:18.540 So schedule a break. 25:18.540 --> 25:21.750 Five, become a student of humor. 25:21.750 --> 25:24.150 There are so many resources out there, 25:24.150 --> 25:28.710 and on the webpage that I have created just for you, 25:28.710 --> 25:30.660 we have additional resources. 25:30.660 --> 25:33.840 It's karynbuxman.com/ida. 25:33.840 --> 25:36.360 So if you go to that, lots of resources. 25:36.360 --> 25:38.010 Number one that we love 25:38.010 --> 25:41.340 is the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. 25:41.340 --> 25:43.507 They have a three year immersion program. 25:43.507 --> 25:46.920 "Beyond Funny" is another program that Heidi and I created. 25:46.920 --> 25:47.753 It's a nonprofit, 25:47.753 --> 25:50.820 but lots and lots of resources for you out there. 25:50.820 --> 25:54.453 What strategies will work for you? 25:55.380 --> 25:56.910 I want you to think about one, 25:56.910 --> 26:01.717 what is one that you can pick to do consistently? 26:03.690 --> 26:06.067 My friend and colleague, Mark Leblanc says, 26:06.067 --> 26:11.067 "Consistency trumps commitment - every time." 26:14.490 --> 26:19.260 So I want you to either tweet, or text, 26:19.260 --> 26:22.470 or email me or your accountability partner, 26:22.470 --> 26:25.710 what's one commitment you're willing to make 26:25.710 --> 26:28.110 every day over the next 30 days? 26:28.110 --> 26:32.370 If you tweet it, put in #30DayHumor, #BrainIDEAS, 26:32.370 --> 26:35.550 and we'll follow and support one another. 26:35.550 --> 26:39.483 Humor is power. 26:40.740 --> 26:45.740 I know with every single fiber of my being, 26:46.380 --> 26:51.150 it can change our brains, it can change our lives, 26:51.150 --> 26:54.243 it can change our world. 26:56.490 --> 26:59.517 How many of you're familiar with the movie "Spider-Man"? 27:01.020 --> 27:06.020 There's a scene mean where Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, 27:06.540 --> 27:08.407 his uncle's talking to him and he says, 27:08.407 --> 27:13.407 "With great power comes great responsibility," right? 27:15.060 --> 27:19.680 So I ask you to join me in my mission 27:19.680 --> 27:24.680 to improve world health, global business, 27:24.960 --> 27:29.883 world peace through laughter, and heal the humor impaired. 27:30.810 --> 27:33.763 Thank you. 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