Your mind is your most powerful tool for personal transformation.
Not your diet, not adopting “good” sleeping practices, not some wonder drug and not changing your habits.
Don’t get me wrong, all of the above are important but, when it comes to making a shift that will render you, and your life, unrecognisable to someone who knew you 10 years ago, it’s your mind that’ll have the biggest impact.
This is because, by mastering your mind (with the 10 rules I’m about to give you), you’ll be altering the cause of your environment, circumstances and present bodily conditions, not just dealing with the symptoms.
The following 10 rules have been created from my 20-year journey into exploring, and understanding, the workings of the mind.
This journey began, and was inspired by, some seminal works on the subject (the following are recommended reading if you want to explore further – The Power of your Subconscious Mind, As a Man Thinketh, Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Now, Psycho-Cybernetics, Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting, Becoming Supernatural), over 15 years of working with clients as a hypnotherapist and, most importantly, my own experiments into using this power to change my life.
Starting today, think only about the outcomes you want to achieve.
Are you preparing for an important speech, pitch or presentation?
See your audience being wowed. Imagine your words flowing and the information you’re sharing having the desired impact. Think about people coming up to you at the end, or emailing you, and telling you how good your presentation was and how much inf0rmation they gained.
If ever you think about forgetting your lines, how much pressure you’re under or what you stand to lose if the pitch isn’t successful, then banish these thoughts. Instead, focus firmly on one of the positive outcomes above.
Apply this rule to anything you want to achieve.
Every day, take time out of your hectic schedule to focus on either achieving the outcomes you desire or living the life you want.
How much time?
Five minutes is sufficient (but you can spend longer if you want).
At present, all I do is repeat seven goals, 3 times over, upon waking up in the morning and going to bed at night.
Here are three of these goals;
This particular approach may, or may not, work for you. It doesn’t matter. There are many different ways you can focus your mind.
You could;
Choose whatever method works best for you (or create your own).
Alongside your daily mind focusing routine, use the moments when your mind isn’t actively engaged to focus on the outcomes you want to achieve or the life you want to live.
Obviously, this doesn’t apply when working, engaged in a conversation, playing a sport or taking part in a hobby. On these occasions, and many more, your mind should be focused on the task, or person, at hand.
However, at all other times (see list below), you can return your thoughts to the contemplation of the outcomes you want to achieve and the life you want to live;
Whether you’re completing your daily mind focusing routine, or channelling your thoughts when your mind isn’t actively engaged, keep it simple.
Whenever you focus your thoughts, you’re giving an instruction to your subconscious mind. This part of your mind responds best when fed with clear, concise directions.
For example, if you want to recover from any kind of ailment, or disease, then you would repeat, over and over again (until you receive the outcome you desire) instructions and affirmations like,
Alter your instructions depending on the objective you want to achieve.
To make a greater impression on your subconscious mind, create a visual accompaniment to the thought you’re thinking.
For example, with the mind focusing routine mentioned in Rule 2, I link each outcome to a visual image.
All of these images are meaningful to me. Find the ones that trigger a similar reaction in you.
There must be an emotional connection with the thoughts you’re thinking and the images you’re visualising. Without this vital ingredient, your thoughts are powerless and will lack the ability to influence your subconscious mind.
It’s estimated that we think around 6,000 thoughts a day. Very few of these have any impact on the direction of our lives. However, if you can inject a thought with a powerful positive emotion then it can bring you the outcome you desire (BEWARE: This works just as well for powerful negative emotions).
In his book, Becoming Supernatural, author Dr Joe Dispenza tells his readers to, “continuously fall in love” with their vision for the future. This is how powerful your emotions need to be.
For peak performance, and to prevent anxiety from holding you back, learn to live in the now.
If ever you find yourself distracted by mindless mental chatter, or worrying about the possibility of something going wrong, ask yourself this question, “Where am I now?”
And then answer it.
Notice everything around you and describe it, either out loud or in your head.
This simple practise forces you out of your head and into the world. As a result, you’ll be able to give all of your attention to whatever it is you’re doing and perform at your best. Furthermore, your fears won’t escalate and prevent you from taking the action necessary to move your life forwards.
Over the course of an average day, your critical voice is going to throw all kinds of negative statements at you in response to what you’re doing.
It’ll tell you that;
ALL OF THESE STATEMENTS ARE A LIE.
In his book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle explains that there are two competing forces in our minds.
The first is the “I,” which is our essence, represented by our personality, emotions and dreams.
The second is the “self,” which is artificial, represented by our internal dialogue.
Tolle teaches us to separate these two entities. Understand that your “self” isn’t who you are. It’s just a very annoying voice, attempting to sabotage the good you intend to create.
Therefore, you must NEVER listen to this voice. Instead, ignore it and, eventually, it’ll weaken and go away.
We live in an age where it’s possible to avoid any type of silence or deeper thought.
We have podcasts, the radio or Spotify to listen to. We have Netflix, YouTube or the cinema to watch. And, if we ever need to be distracted, we have social media or the internet, to browse through.
It’s now possible to continuously jump from one information stream to another without ever having to engage in the practise of disciplining your mind or focusing your thoughts.
This isn’t healthy. While there’s nothing wrong with doing any of the above, you must set aside time every day (in addition to your daily, mind focusing routine) to be alone with your thoughts and direct them towards your higher purpose.
You don’t have to do all the heavy lifting.
For the occasions when you’re struggle to motivate yourself, use inspiring songs, movies and books to provide the boost you need.
Do whatever you can (excluding becoming dependent on drugs) to get yourself in an inspired, high-energy state.
Follow all 10 of these rules and something incredible will happen.
Your subconscious mind will respond by providing you with the ideas, chance encounters and peak states that will enable the realisation of your dreams.
The power to change your life is within you. Your mind can either set you free, or cage you through the forces of fear, confusion and self-doubt.
Faithfully follow the rules above, and give yourself enough time to master them, and there’s no force in the universe that can prevent you from getting to where you want to go.
If you want to discover a passion you can make a living from and overcome the fears that are holding you back, check out my free course 30 Days to Escape The System. Click here to get the course right now! (You’ll find the tips on developing belief and self-confidence fascinating!)
I’m glad I have managed to come across you somehow? I feel that you are part of the process and the way for myself that started some time ago and now must continue with more learning and vigour.
Very pleased to hear that Martin and great to have you here. Just in case you didn’t already know, I have a book called “Escape The System” which, if you enjoy my blog posts, you should find a good read. All the best with continuing the process.