Go Outside the Mind for Real Performance

Of the mind, body, and spirit, the mind is the weakest link.

I recently hurt my buttocks falling off my surf board in shallow water. After a couple days I wanted to resume my physical regime. As I ran on the beach with a little pain, my mind said I was tired and should stop.

I wanted to run and so I heard what my mind was saying and checked in with my body. My body was fine, so I kept running. My mind immediately stopped its chatter.

We do have a mind that witnesses our mind. In mindfulness it is called being aware of being aware. It’s the seventh sense.

Yesterday I woke at my usual  5 a.m. to begin my first writing session. It was a rarity, but my mind said why don’t I forget it for the day. I checked in with my will and started a rational conversation of whether I needed to write

The argument for was that I have been writing everyday for months and my traffic keeps climbing 20% to 25% a month. Why stop now. The argument  against was that it wasn’t necessary to do it everyday.

I checked with my will and listened to my mind and got up to write. In a few minutes with coffee in hand, I was busy and happy at work.

The mind is the devil’s playground. The mind swirls in and out of the brain observing and ordering the brain to perform desired functions. The reptilian brain takes care of the automatic functions like heartbeat and breathing.

The mind orders simple tasks like let’s brush our teeth. Unless there is a decisive decision, the brain won’t go to work. If I asked should I brush my teeth, the brain would wait an instruction.

The will can override the mind and order an instruction to the brain. If the mind said brushing teeth wasn’t important and the will or spirit says we need to brush our teeth, the mind powered by the will would activate the brain.

This happens with quitting. The mind says, let’s not do this anymore. The other day I was pushing my body way past normal and the mind brought up a safety concern.  I considered what the mind had to say and evaluated what was going on in my body and decided to keep pushing.

We can get scared in attempting social or work related tasks as well. It is important to listen to what the mind has to say but consider the mind is the weak link in taking risks for success.

Courage is the will to take risks for greater rewards desired by the will. Mindfulness training is where meditations of various sorts are incorporated in creating a more powerful mind/brain synchronicity.

The frontal lobes of the pre frontal neo cortex can unite the rational, emotional, and creative centers of the brain to create more focus and reduce fear induced decisions.

Paying attention to the here and now and avoiding continuous distractions and brain draining activities is a start on the right path.

It is in everyone’s power to achieve their goals.

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