Thinking about your mind

The mind is a powerful tool at our disposal; the key is knowing how to use it.

When unpacking ideas around mindset, a natural place to investigate is the mind itself. It is funny isn’t it? This article is basically asking you to use your mind to understand your mind!? The very notion of exploring your mind is something we do without really examining how we do it.

Anatomy of the mind

Generally speaking, we can understand the mind to have four aspects: Unconscious, Subconscious, Preconscious and Conscious. These are their traits:

1.???? Unconscious: Patterns, deep seated memories and drivers.

2.???? Subconscious: Values, attitudes, personality and habits.

3.???? Preconscious: Insights, instincts, intuition/gut feelings.

4.???? Conscious: Feelings, thoughts, moods, will power.

Many of us recognize, at a basic level, the idea of consciousness as “being aware” while the subconscious is supposed to house all the information that needs to be processed and shaped, for example: many believe the subconscious to be the source of dreams. Either way, looking at the above traits we can see how no matter where you think the mind is found or how it was generated, it definitely affects key aspects of an individual’s being.

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Feeling your way through

Feelings or emotions are an equally interesting part of the human experience. I could even venture to say, it is at the core of being human. Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes is quoted to have once said: “The passions of men are commonly more potent than their reason.” Emotions like fear, jealously and love are incredibly powerful motivators. Which is why understanding their root, or why we feel the way we do? about a situation, is critical to our growth as human beings.

Thoughts create feelings. Think about it. An event is neutral, and then we decide how we interpret it. In other words, how we think about an event determines how we feel about it.? It’s called the ABC Theory.?

??????????? A = an activating event. Which leads to:

??????????? B = belief/thought about that event. Which leads to:

??????????? C = consequent emotion

I had a young woman tell me that she wasn’t too excited about getting a promotion. She felt it was too much responsibility. Her bosses had recognized her potential and hard-work. They trusted and rewarded and yet she felt this was a bad thing? She was feeling so down about her promotion she was now messing up on the simplest tasks.

When we were able to finally have a conversation, I asked her a simple question: what were your initial thoughts when you received the news? “I don’t think I deserve this promotion.” Turns out she believed she wasn’t truly qualified, and convinced herself she would fail before she even began. Then she carried that belief with her as she worked. With all that negativity playing in her mind, she couldn’t help but feel negatively towards her situation.

If your mind is full of negative thoughts, the natural result is a negative outlook. ?Said differently: changing your thoughts about a situation can change how you feel about it.

Tapping into your subconscious

Scientists believe that around 95% of behavior comes from our subconscious mind. Why? Because it is a permanent memory bank storing everything that has ever happened to you. Imagine the capacity it has! Yet, most of us live as if we have no say in what we can feed it. If we want different outcomes, the inputs must also differ- and dominate.

Here are a few ways you can shift the tone in your subconscious:

1.???? Affirmations. It takes 7 times the effort ?to override a negative thought. A daily practice of speaking lovingly and encouragingly to yourself will go a long way in changing your thoughts. Ask yourself what would I have loved to hear more growing up? Or what do I really need to hear/believe right now? Make a list and then say it daily, seven times to yourself while you look in the mirror.

For example: I am worthy of good things, I am beautiful just as I am, I am capable of making difficult decisions, I receive the abundance God has in store for me, I love you.

2.???? Spiritual practice.Many people find time in prayer or reflection to be very calming and peaceful while achieving the effect of bringing them closer to the source of their beliefs.?

3.???? Visualization. This involves finding a method where you can visually create the changes you would like to see in yourself and your life. This could be making a vision board, where you use images (physical cut outs or digital pictures) to represent the goals you desire to achieve. This could be a picture of your dream house, launching a new brand/business or eating healthy food. The idea is to put? the board somewhere, in your office or as your screen saver, where you can see it daily to keep you inspired and focused.

Being able to master your mind goes a long way to mastering your emotions.

Unlock your mind

On the road to empowerment and self-awareness aiming to get an understanding of how we? are wired helps us get closer to who we want to be. Your mind can be your friend on your journey to living the life you desire, you just need to understand how to unlock the vast potential it-YOU- hold.