Tuesday 30 April 2013

How To Develop A Sound Mind


There are a number of diverse issues that could alter our wellbeing / contentment — entailing aliment, standard of living, workout routines, anxiety, family, and line of business et al. However, the principal aspect that frequently gets ignored is the strength of the mind. Sound mind is the gateway to form / sustain an active and cheerful life.
Your beliefs are exceptionally influential and can direct all phases of your life comprising your health. Most of us are only to some extent conscious of the reasonings that run through our mind. To truly concentrate and have knowledge of all ideas that you sense can be draining and not to point out, kind of intimidating too.
Thoughts can develop into routine and many people have been disciplined from early days to have unconstructive ways of thinking / making certain assumptions. Those harmful thought patterns get trapped within the subliminal intellect and can actually outline who you are and how you respond to your situation. But there is nothing to fear of and such patterns are meant to be weakened, and it is very likely to conquer your thoughts and forge them help you.
Here are 5 vital headways that have established to assist transform your ways of thinking, develop a sound mind besides trigger a more poised and optimistic view on being.
1. Be purposeful and make a commitment
Modifying downbeat and making room for new constructive routines is a straightforward but not an effortless procedure and requires a solid dedication from you. It is essential that you put together the resolution and be obvious about your intent to actualize transition. Believe it and put it down in writing(either on a notebook/piece of paper or on a computer text file  or on whichever thing you can see) as well as declare it aloud to yourself. Thus, you are making an assurance to yourself to accomplish what it calls for to get your goal done and develop a sound mind condition.
2. Your thoughts shape your life
As revealed earlier, thoughts are chronic and it can be rather tricky initially to intentionally know about every ideas / visuals that crosses your mind. Before you adjust them for the good, you ought to be alert of precisely what you are conceiving. Make it a precedence to concentrate on what reflections traverse within as your day progresses. Pay attention to the intuitions arise as you are managing with contrasting    individuals and circumstances. Be cautious not to evaluate your thoughts, for the time being just acknowledge them.
3. Initiate the U-turn
Now that you are responsive of your thinking patterns, you can then proceed to transform them to your favor and you have the control to switch a gloomy thought into a well-convinced one.
When you perceive a disconfirming thought in your mind deliberately, choose to take U-turn at it. Don’t be anxious if initially you don’t trust your new positive thought, as eventually that will reverse. By changing your colorless thought to an affirmative one, you will ultimately build new thought patterns and customs. You will also be establishing a positive force contained by yourself as pitted to an unenthusiastic.
This process is clear-cut yet not effortless, but it influences just fine. It is an issue of fusing with your beliefs all the time. After a phase, your contradictory thought patterns will no longer have the command shape or restrict any outlook of your life implicating your feelings. These positive thought patterns will unleash a unique energy and develop a more confident way of being which will sequentially draw more such awesome power in your life.
In due course with sheer sense of pursuing, you will observe that when a weak thought creeps up you will consistently toggle it instantly to a positive. Then by the time you recognize it, the disapproval will be vanished and it will be swapped with a genuine and self-asserting consciousness, a definitive path to have a sound mind..
4. Enhance mind power
All right, so far we saw — how to be purpose-driven and make commitment to achieve the goals, importance of thought patterns, and how to spring up positive thoughts. Now to keep on doing this, we need to enhance our mind power. Here are some simple / effective / practical methods to do so.
a. Deep breathing: More air intake means more oxygen in the bloodstream and so in the brain.
b. Meditation: Nothing fancier close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Relax your muscles. When your mind roams, just get your awareness back to your breath. 5-10 minutes of this will be enough and commonly unwind you, unclutter your mind, and prepare you for any rational chore.
c. Solve a problem – use 5 Whys technique: Take a problem that has been bugging you for a long time and ask “why?” and “what is the cause of this problem?” which will lead to another why and so on. You’ll probably figure out the solution within few whys. The 5 ways technique is a straightforward method that can assist you rapidly get to the cause of a problem. Make problem solving a habit and no problems will bother you! At least, your mind is tuned to think so. By the way, Sudoku / crossword puzzles brainteasers will be of some great help too.
d. Learn a new language / culture. As you learn fresh things a lot, your mind will be in top shape.
e. Writing: Don’t just store your thoughts. Write it out. Whether it’s a poem / story / short idea / blog post inspiration or whatever, write it on appropriate medium to boost your mindpower And don’t be shy to show it to your friends.
f. Sleeping: Give your brain required rest. Don’t stress yourself to work. Minimum 6 to maximum 8 hours of sleeping is required for optimal brain functioning. To enhance it further take a 10 minutes power nap in the afternoon. Never average out your sleeping hours. Say for example, 20 hours workdays and sleeping 20 hours on weekends won’t do it!
g. Simple workouts: such as brisk walking, aerobic exercises skipping/roping, swimming, riding a bicycle will improve both your physical and mental health. Pick at least one and do it daily. Can’t you allocate 10-20 minutes/day for such fruitful activities?
h.Food For Thought: You’re what you eat. Avoid junk food, alcohol, and smoking. Drink plenty of water, milk. Moderate intake of coffee is O.K. Add spinach, blueberries, nuts and seeds, tuna, salmon, avocados, whole-grain products, dark chocolate, dry fruits — to supercharge your brain.
And there are plenty of other ways exist to enhance your  mind power which deserves another separate article itself. So watch this space!
5. Visualize what you need/want
Visualizing what you need / want, consequently turning your life’s forthcoming events into your favor is a remarkable workout to develop a sound mind.
Thoughts, if influential enough are asserted by our subliminal mind, which then transforms our attitude as a result with our inclinations and deeds, and this puts us across into get in touch with new people / circumstances we would have never believed possible before.
Positive mental picture (aka vizualising) is an exceptionally rewarding and trouble-free means of quickening the course of action by tricking the intuitive into conceiving that you have, by now, through something before you have. Certainly this in and of itself will not roll you into an overnight success, you do truly have to work hard at it, implement the visuals on top, but in the end it will prop you achieve something more promptly. All you require to do to be thriving at this is to picture yourself doing something incredible, as you would need / want to do it. Is it sound like some heavy matter? Sincerely, not at all if youmake your mindup for it.
Beliefs are empowered with an innovative power that shapes our life and captivates what you sense. Thoughts pass through from one consciousness to another, and if they are firm enough, they can be reflexively discovered by people who are in a viewpoint to guide you reach your needs and ambitions.
*Title picture credit: stock photo © unknown.
Conclusion:
It’s hard to make up your bed while you’re still sleeping in it.  Hard to make up your mind for the same reason.  – Robert Brault
Concisely, to develop a sound mind, you should practice these steps: Set a goal and commit to achieve it — Make your thoughts count — Turn the negative thoughts to positive ones – Exercise your mind muscles to keep growing — Visualize the success, or whatever thing you need / want.
Developing and always keep on working to have a sound mind is very crucial and it can be beneficial to improve many aspects of our life, can make a positive impact.

Thursday 11 April 2013

Wake Up You Can Change The World


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

-Marianne Williamson 
Greatness is not what you think. It's yours for the taking — really.
After numerous articles on narcissismI’ve decided to leave phoniness aside and focus on the greatness each of us has within. It's not narcissistic to want greatness in your life. Human beings are on this planet for a very short time. And, many of us yearn to be important in some specific way.



So, how is it done, if you’re not rich or famous?
The Celebrity Route to Greatness: We look at celebrities and see specialness. As in Tom Cruise must live an interesting life. Do Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood really understand politics more than you? We look at all these stars, read about their loves, losses, children and more. They become a proxy for greatness.
The Sporting Route to Greatness: Nowhere are people admired more than in sports. We may love a recording artist or a movie star, but the All Star in baseball, basketball or football is our ticket to greatness – by proxy. For instance, Morgan Freeman does not “belong” to Boston, but Tom Brady certainly does. That's why cheating is so problematic. We need sports clean so we can idealize. Like the great A-Rod, once they cheat, the most admired athlete falls.
The Money Route to Greatness: America is the land of capitalism, and we do admire (and resent) people with money. The big house, the expensive car, the leisurely vacations, the way they are treated in public and at charity events; all this adds to their “greatness.” It's probably why colleges have produced too many finance majors in the past fifteen years. But, make no mistake, you may want more money in your pocket, but remember - the rich have problems and worries too.
This Greatness by Proxy is Malarkey: Enjoy a good athlete, or a great performance, but keep greatness as a project unique to you. Each of us can be great. It is deeply human to find that path. It's a crazy and confusing world. There are five billion people here and we are all, ultimately, wisps of protoplasm passing from birth to death. How can any of us achieve greatness? What does it mean and why does it matter?
The human drive for dignity – for greatness – is sidetracked when we idealize others like celebrities, or when we feel special for dysfunctional reasons. Let’s look at how you or someone you love can discover their greatness.
We Don't Need to Idealize: One of great psychoanalytic thinkers of the last century was Heinz Kohut, an Austrian Jew who barely escaped Hitler’s rise to power.
Kohut tells us that all small children naturally idealize their parents. After all, they are small and helpless – and their mom and dad are huge and capable. Soon, they feel comforted in the “greatness” of mom and dad. Healthy children idealize their parents and feel bigger and safer by proxy.
Soon, they grow into school age children. They gain strength from the continued idealization of their mother and father. When this gets stymied, like in abuse or neglect, development can be injured. In adolescence, the teenager begins to see the cracks in his or her parents and criticizes. But, he or she has already internalized a sense of specialness through proxy. Parents are that important.
For better, and often for worse, we take that need to idealize into adult life.
We project it onto our mentors, our coaches, our athletes, our artists and our politicians. While it’s natural to look up to someone, we also are devalued when we do so. It is two sides of a coin. They are great/We are not so great. We gain a sense of greatness by proxy by admiring them.
For Kohut and the world, this process went tragically awry when a great industrial country – Germany – chose to idealize evil. I often wonder if his interest in idealization had it's source in this trauma.
Greatness Redesigned: Greatness is not synonymous with fame. That is an ancient and false equation. Yes, there were great leaders like Churchill, Lincoln, Jefferson, Ben Gurion, Mandela, Walesa and others. While their greatness was defined in the public arena, most heroic acts are infinately more private. They're found in small lives that are elevated out of the human will to do better. It is true nobility.
The religious traditions may make your eye roll. There’s too much idealization and exploitation in these institutions. But, the religious impulse came not from empire building, but rather from the discovery of human greatness.
  • The Bible tells us to take care of the poor and the widow. It pushes us to reach out to those outside our kin and take care of those in need. That’s revolutionary.
  • The Buddha tells us to center our minds – and that so much pain is a result of our own creation.
  • And, the ancient teaching of the Kabbalah claims that the world is a broken place, filled with fragments of Divine presence. According to this teaching, it’s up to each of us – each moment – to heal this place we inhabit.
Find Greatness in Your Life: Unfortunately, religion often misses out on its potential by encouraging us to idealize its institutions as if we’re children. We need to be adults, with the spiritual goal of being a better person tomorrow than we are today. Our priests and rabbis; our athletes and statesmen; our actors and ourselves – each person has their own challenges.
Where do we find greatness?
We do this in the nitty-gritty of living.