Your Brain Is Wired to Evolve — The NEWS Compass® Shows How

How the Brain Is Naturally Wired to Process and Work in the Four Directions of the NEWS Compass®

By: Aviad Goz

Human beings are designed for transformation. At our best, we are navigators of uncertainty, creators of new realities, and masters of our inner world. But in today’s rapidly changing environment, many people struggle to find direction or tap into their full potential.

The NEWS Compass® — North (Creating Future Reality), East (Connecting to Inner Drivers), South (Overcoming Obstacles), and West (Planning and Execution) — provides not only a powerful coaching framework but also a mirror of how the human brain is naturally organized for adaptive action and growth.

By understanding the brain’s deep architecture and how it aligns with the compass, trainers, coaches, and facilitators can help individuals and teams consciously activate their innate capacity to evolve, innovate, and thrive.

The Four Directions and the Brain’s Design

⬆️North — Creating Future Reality: The Brain’s Visionary Network

Key Brain Areas:

  • Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC): Strategic thinking, future planning, innovation
  • Hippocampus: Mental time travel — imagining future scenarios and building pathways
  • Default Mode Network (DMN): Creativity, introspection, envisioning new possibilities

North engages the brain’s future-oriented networks, empowering us to transcend present limitations and imagine bold, meaningful futures. The ability to “see” a new reality is a critical starting point for transformation.

➡️East — Connecting to Inner Drivers and Motivations: The Brain’s Motivational Core

Key Brain Areas:

  • Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC): Personal relevance, valuation of goals
  • Amygdala: Emotional salience, intensity of motivation
  • Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): Emotional alignment, effort allocation

East connects us to the deeper “why” — the personal values, emotional drivers, and intrinsic motivations that fuel authentic action. Without this internal compass, even the most brilliant plans remain inert.

⬇️South — Overcoming Fears, Blockages, and Obstacles: The Brain’s Emotional Mastery System

Key Brain Areas:

  • Amygdala: Threat detection, fear response
  • Insula: Interoception, emotional self-awareness
  • vmPFC & DLPFC: Emotional regulation, reframing
  • ACC: Managing resistance and internal conflict

South enables us to work with — not against — our fears, emotional blocks, and self-imposed limits. Coaches can help clients engage these systems to move beyond paralysis and activate courage and resilience.

⬅️West — Planning and Execution to Reach North The Brain’s Action-Execution Network

Key Brain Areas:

  • Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC): Sequencing, working memory
  • Basal Ganglia: Habit formation, initiation of goal-directed action
  • Premotor & Motor Cortex: Motor planning and execution
  • Cerebellum: Fine-tuning, feedback integration, continuous learning

West brings ideas into the world. It transforms vision into action through structured plans, disciplined execution, and iterative learning. This is where potential is realized in practice.

The Brain’s Natural Compass in Motion

The four directions are not separate silos — they function as an interconnected, dynamic system:

  • DLPFC bridges vision (North), motivation (East), emotional mastery (South), and execution (West).
  • vmPFC constantly evaluates and prioritizes actions based on inner values and changing emotional states.
  • The amygdala-vmPFC-ACC circuitry enables us to maintain forward movement in the face of fear and uncertainty.
  • Hippocampus + DLPFC update our mental maps as new experiences reshape our understanding and strategies.

Unlocking Human Potential — The Power of Alignment

When trainers, coaches, and facilitators guide individuals to activate the NEWS Compass® holistically, they unleash a process of continuous growth:

✅ Envision bold futures (North) ✅ Align with authentic inner motivations (East) ✅ Master fears and break through inner barriers (South) ✅ Take purposeful, learning-driven action (West)

This approach resonates with the very design of the human brain — an organ built not for static survival, but for dynamic evolution and higher achievement.

When we align with this natural flow, human potential is no longer theoretical — it becomes reality.

The NEWS Compass® is not just a coaching framework; it is a gateway to awakening what lies within us all.

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Key Scientific References & Literature:

North — Creating Future Reality

  • Schacter, D. L., Addis, D. R., & Buckner, R. L. (2007). “Remembering the past to imagine the future: The prospective brain.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 8(9), 657–661. → On hippocampal and prefrontal contributions to mental time travel and prospection.
  • Beaty, R. E., Benedek, M., Silvia, P. J., & Schacter, D. L. (2016). “Creative cognition and brain network dynamics.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(2), 87–95. → Default Mode Network’s role in creative ideation.

East — Connecting to Inner Drivers and Motivations

  • Bartra, O., McGuire, J. T., & Kable, J. W. (2013). “The valuation system: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of BOLD fMRI experiments examining neural correlates of subjective value.” NeuroImage, 76, 412–427. → vmPFC’s role in subjective value and goal selection.
  • Etkin, A., Egner, T., & Kalisch, R. (2011). “Emotional processing in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex.” Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(2), 85–93. → Emotional conflict resolution and motivation.

South — Overcoming Fears, Blockages, and Obstacles

  • Phelps, E. A. (2006). “Emotion and cognition: Insights from studies of the human amygdala.” Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 27–53. → Amygdala’s role in fear and threat detection.
  • Craig, A. D. (2009). “How do you feel—now? The anterior insula and human awareness.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(1), 59–70. → Insula’s role in interoception and emotional self-awareness.
  • Goldin, P. R., McRae, K., Ramel, W., & Gross, J. J. (2008). “The neural bases of emotion regulation: Reappraisal and suppression of negative emotion.” Biological Psychiatry, 63(6), 577–586. → vmPFC, DLPFC in emotional regulation.

West — Planning and Execution

  • Miller, E. K., & Cohen, J. D. (2001). “An integrative theory of prefrontal cortex function.” Annual Review of Neuroscience, 24, 167–202. → DLPFC in cognitive control and planning.
  • Graybiel, A. M. (2008). “Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain.” Annual Review of Neuroscience, 31, 359–387. → Basal ganglia in habit formation and action selection.
  • Doya, K. (2000). “Complementary roles of basal ganglia and cerebellum in learning and motor control.” Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 10(6), 732–739. → Cerebellum’s role in motor learning and performance fine-tuning.