“Executives are all about taking action,” countless bosses told me early in my career. “The big bosses don’t earn the big bucks for sitting around; they decide and delegate,” another boss emphasized.

For years, this “bias toward action” attitude seemed more benign than harmful. Yet as Marshall Goldsmith’s classic 2007 book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There warned, past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. So if you assume that earning stellar performance ratings, acquiring new skills, and other impressive actions will earn you a promotion and more pay, think again.

That’s why if you’re serious about becoming a better leader and a better human, you need to reconsider your approach. Rather than add more certifications and credentials to your resume, do this instead:

Look inside yourself and upgrade your internal operating system. This system includes your brain-body connection, especially your nervous system, as well as your mindset and mental processes. The latter involve your thinking, feelings, and awareness that arise from your brain’s activity.

Author/consultant Dr. Ryan Gottfredson calls the internal operating system your “being side,” as he explains in his new book, Becoming Better: The Groundbreaking Science of Personal Transformation. By contrast, your “doing side” is  the combination of your talent, knowledge, skills and abilities. Generally, individuals are more focused on “doing” rather than “being” – if they’re even aware of the extent of their “being” side. Yet, when you work on enhancing your “being” side, you can make huge positive impacts on your work and personal life. This includes being able to manage your emotions in healthy ways. (Spoiler alert: Leaders who demonstrate poor emotional regulation are at greater risk for hurting or even destroying their careers.)

First some background info about your internal operating system. It runs 24/7, functioning automatically without your conscious awareness. The system is attuned to ensure your survival. It’s designed to keep you safe, avoiding pain and directing you toward pleasure. The system sends constant messages from your senses to your brain. Your brain processes the messages it deems important and then interprets and assigns meaning to them. Then your operating system activates a response in your brain and body.

Second, recognize that the responses you have vary depending on your life experiences, circumstances and other factors. In other words, your internal operating system develops patterns of processing that are unique to you. That’s why individuals, even those who are closely related, can have extremely different interpretations to events, especially when you add into the mix how brains function and the level of trauma individuals have experienced to date.

The Becoming Better book is a helpful comprehensive guide to understanding your “being side,” including how it differs from your “doing side.” The book also explains how to elevate your “being” side so you can become your ideal self, or if you’re more inclined, a better version of your current self. (The word “elevate” goes well with Ryan’s earlier book, The Elevated Leader: Level Up Your Leadership Through Vertical Development.)

The ways you can elevate depend on the current state of your internal operating system, your preferences, and your intentions. The book’s closing chapters describe several ways you can boost your “being” side. (As an aside, as a Master Neuroplastician, I wish Ryan had included more fundamental steps, such as working on improving your sleep, diet and exercise and making efforts to add more joy into your daily life. These practices can have a positive effect on your internal operating system as well as your overall wellbeing.)

Ryan also introduces two valuable concepts – “self-protection” and “value creation.”   They help you understand how your internal operating system is wired and its impact  on you, especially for enhancing your “being” side.

If you’re wired more for “self-protection,” your body automatically and non-consciously tries to protect you from negative feelings. The result is that you’re feeling safe and secure in the moment as well as in the short term. You are also more “me-focused” because your wiring operates to make you feel good and doesn’t support you taking the well-being of others into account. This can limit you in the mid-to-long term, especially if you want to lead others and/or be a role model.

By contrast, if you naturally need self-protection less or if you’ve already rewired your internal operating system, you’re able to focus on “value creation.” In this case, your body automatically and non-consciously can tolerate negative feelings in the short term. As a result, you have a wide “window of tolerance.” You’re able to regulate yourself and your emotions, which means you can continue to function well when you face stress, discomfort and other difficulties. This state of “being” supports you in creating value for yourself and others, now and in the mid-to-long term.

Also, if you have experienced trauma or have neurological challenges, including ADHD, Ryan explains how you’ll need to devote time and energy to address your neuro-functionality first. Then you can upgrade your internal operating system to elevate your “being” side. While these steps may seem daunting at first, this approach will help you make progress. If you focus on your “doing” side, you won’t be able to sustain your changes until you get your internal operating system, especially your nervous system, working well.

Becoming Better is a terrific guide to help you go inside yourself and learn how to deepen your self-awareness, improve the quality of your mindsets, and manage yourself more effectively. You’ll be rewiring your internal operating system to support you to act more intentionally and create more value for yourself, others, your organization, and society.