Why You Are Not Your Thoughts

Most of us don't undertake our thoughts in awareness. Rather, our thoughts control us. We are all consumed about our own past and future. We study the past and vision the future. Yet we are confused, - why the world doesn’t work as we would like it to work? This thought makes you a martyr. The world is not here for you. You are here for the world. When you make this switch in your mind, you shall see the world opening for you. There is a flow in your life. This gives you the gift of now.

Imagine that you swim in a strong, steady river. Your try to swim against the stream. This is your past. You cannot win over the past. It is useless to swim against the stream. Then you decide to hurry with the stream. You swim fast. But eventually you have consumed all your energy and the river takes over. What you need to do is to swim with the river. To take some strokes, enjoy the scenery and occasionally, correct the course. You are part of the flow. Your life becomes gracious, elegant and light. You are part of the others, world and universe. You have the clarity, energy and direction. You have mastered your life.

“The only thing that ultimately matters is the current you.”

-Max Noble

You need to understand this: Your brain is a machine and like any machine, it needs to be controlled. The first step to gain the control of your thoughts is to understand that there is no past and no future. You exist only in the present. You exist only in now. The only thing that ultimately matters is the current you.

According to Freud, your super-ego aims for the perfection. And it’s approach to world is to analyze. To make you feel guilty. To punish you. You need to stop punishing yourself.

Your machinery, - your brain does not know this. It supposes that analyzing your past is more important than learning from now. Your brain is also obsessed about projecting your future. This constant pulling back and forth inside your head drains you. It makes you weak. It makes you sick and stressed. And it makes you egoistic. You think of you. And you stop experiencing the power of now.

“You see the reality. And you control it. Because you are probably the only one who is not consumed about past and future, but being present.”

 –Max Noble

Truth of First Impression. Remember that the only thing you can control is the now. The current. You must live in now and see the things and people and their actions with clarity. You must see the life as it is. And thus you shall control it. Because you are probably the only one who is not consumed about past and future, but being present. You are part of something bigger and you can influence it. You control it and your mind is clear. You become stronger by each moment you are present.

“There is no perfection. There is only current.”

–Max Noble

Question: How to live in the moment?

Max Noble: Most of us need to live more in the moment. There are two techniques, or rather conducts that strongly I recommend practicing in order to reach awareness and harmony in life: mindfulness and minimalism.

Mindfulness is the basic human power to be present, aware of where you are and what you are doing, and not overly reactive or stressed. Mindfulness is instinctive, children do it all the time when they just become completely present while playing or learning. The master minds, the most talented and creative people practice it continuously. Some people call it living in flow or being in touch with inner self. Mindfulness can be cultivated through proven techniques, particularly seated, walking, standing, and moving meditation. My favorite method is to have short pauses along the day, just one to three minutes, and merging meditation practice with daily routines. Mindfulness meditation connects me to the present moment and allows me to be at my best, no matter what the day brings. It brings awareness and caring into everything I do—and it cuts down stress.

Minimalism is another concept that I have recently started to practice. It is about minimizing the noise in life. The noise can be material such as possessions that require my time, money, focus in my life. While I see some of my possessions necessary, such as my computer and clothes, most of the things that I have, require more than they bring in to my life. I find myself frequently asking myself, what is the real value of this possession? Does it make me happy or does it have a practical, real need that it fulfills? If not, it can be removed away from my life. Every time I do this, I feel a relief. It is a slow process, but it really pays off. We sold our second car and now bike and walk more. As a consequence, I have become leaner, healthier and happier. In fact, I am thinking to sell our remaining car too.

“Minimalism is about removing the noise in your life to have the capacity to experience the life to the fullest.”

-Max Noble

The noise can be also social noise, old acquaintances that occupy our minds without bringing any positive value to our lives. Or news. Nearly all news are negative and without consequences to my life. And when there is a consequence, it is most often beyond my power to influence over it. This leaves only very tiny fraction of the news that are really relevant to me and I have realized that the news with relevance will be anyway told me by other people. I see news as a burden. News are noise to fill empty lives. Why do you see news? Really why? To be a good citizen? To entertain yourself? In general, - ask yourself, what is the outcome of this action. What is the purpose of this possession? Do I really need it? Will it make me happier or better person? If you are honest with your answers, you will find out that you can and want to live much leaner life. More purposeful life. Minimalism is about removing the noise in your life to have the capacity to experience the life to the fullest. Be more with less.

“Your life purpose is not about you. It is about the world around you.”

-Max Noble

Final Note. The following thought is important. The following thought decides if you are able live in peace and harmony. The following thought is the ultimate key to mastery of living life and the paramount First Impression. Understand this: Because your ego is a warzone between your past and future, you need to let your ego go. There is no past or future. There is only present. Fall in love with present and become whole. Moreover, your life purpose is not about you. It is about the world around you. This allows you to experience the world and the others to the fullest. Also, while meeting new people and making First Impressions. Being fully present gives you not only holistic overview of your life, but it also makes you deep, authentic and whole persona. And when you are fully present, you have taken the ultimate control over your life. Let it happen and the world is yours.

My name is Max Noble and I am authoring a book titled “The Laws of First Impression – How to Master the Power of First Impressions”, which this article will be part of.