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How To Mind What You Think

Your mind is an amazing tool. When used properly, it can make some of the most incredible things happen – that’s just how powerful it is.

Take a look around you – everything that you see came from a seed of thought in someone’s mind. From the book you’re reading to the chair you’re sitting in, it all started in the mind of a determined person.

The mind can also be tricky. Some people come up with devastating ideas and put them out into the world. As you can see, it can be used in a constructive or destructive manner.

How Do You Think?

Most times, we allow our mind to run rampant. We take in so much stimuli every second, that we become unaware of the things we’re taking in.

The way you think can lead you to certain results. Exactly, where do you want to go? What do you want to do? These are the questions you need to ask yourself in order to produce the type of day (or life) you want.

Getting to your goals takes the right mindset. If your mind is clouded with distractions and resistance, it can be difficult to push through the mess to any type of achievement. Like a diet, you must feed your mind the right thoughts to get the maximum outcome you want.

Of course, you can only control so much of what goes on around you, but the good thing is, you can control how to respond.

What’s In Your Control?

Your environment may not be as positive as you want it to be, but it’s not the end all, be all. There are certain things you can do to control what goes into your mind.

From the music you listen to, to the images you see on TV and the information you read/see on social media, it all has an effect on your brain, which has an effect on your productivity.

With technology, we are bombarded with so much information at one time, it has become distracting. If you’re not careful, it can make you a master procrastinator. You become so interested in someone else’s life, you forget about living your own.

There’s access to positive information, but you have to tune into it. Celebrity gossip, the news and even social media influencers (hence the word, “influence”) have one thing in common – they want to grab your attention.

What grabs attention? Negativity and negativity produces procrastination.

Creating Your Mindset

All of these negative mediums make it possible for you to become distracted in under a few seconds – that’s all it takes to hook your attention. They make it even harder to look away.

Before you know it, you’ll look up and half the day has gone by and you weren’t productive at all. Where did the time go?

It’s important to plan out what you listen to and what you see. There are many ways you can feed your mind in order to be more productive with your day.

As the saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out”. Whatever your mind takes in, it’s likely to give you the same output. There’s a better chance of you being more productive if you don’t scroll through social media every chance you get.

Even though your mind can be easily distracted, you can create ways to become more focused. What you put into your mind at certain times will allow you to be effective with your work and habits.

By limiting your “garbage” intake, your mind will be more clear and capable of uncovering those bright ideas and solutions. Listen to a podcast that will benefit you or watch the NASA channel – something different. If you scroll through social media, make sure that your feed only contains positive and constructive posts – things that inspire you to create and become your best.

Use Your Mind

It’s up to you how you will use your mindset. Will you use it to numb your way through life or to become a better version of yourself?

Don’t trick yourself out of living a magnificent life. Things will happen (that’s life), but you do have a choice in how you respond. Your mind will either allow you to wallow in self-pity or it will encourage you to stand up and push forward.

The choice is yours.

#TBT: Emotional Discipline

Having emotional discipline is important. Anyone can say anything to push your buttons, but you must recognize when they are doing so, in order to respond accordingly.

This is what catches most people off guard. They get so wrapped up in what others are saying, that they quickly react without thinking. Before they know it, the situation grows out of control.

When you have discipline over your emotions, it allows you to think from a calm place. You can respond instead of reacting, while your mental energy remains intact.

Some Things Don’t Deserve A Response

Realize that no response, is a response. There are some things that don’t deserve your emotional energy.

If you react to everything that happens to you, your energy will be wasted. You will tire yourself out mentally before the day is over with.

Pick your battles. Learn to stay calm and respond from a place of peace. Everything doesn’t deserve your power or acknowledgement. As soon as you give in and react, it’s out of your hands – they win.

Responding vs. Reacting

Some may think that responding and reacting are the same thing, but they carry different meanings.

Reacting is when you answer back to something instantly – it’s your first reaction to what someone has said or done to you.

The first reaction is not always the best reaction. When someone criticizes you, you instantly want to criticize them back. Now, you are in their control because you’ve given your power to them by reacting.

When you respond, you take a second to think. If someone criticizes you, you either ignore them or quietly reply with a smile. It shows that you are not bothered and no matter what they say or do, you won’t stoop down to their level.

When you are in charge of your emotions, you maintain your sense of control. As soon as someone can get you to react, they are in command of the situation.

You Don’t Have To Win Every Argument

Believe it or not, there are some people who like to argue, just for the sake of arguing. It’s like a sport – whatever you say, they will say the opposite, just to spark a reaction.

When we get into heated debates and arguments, our immediate objective is to win. We have to prove ourselves and show that we are right and they are wrong.

When you come across people who like to play ‘devil’s advocate’ for sport, let them win, or don’t participate at all. They will not let go and it will drain the energy right out of you. When they’re done, they walk away with a smile, while you are left feeling defeated, for no good reason.

Discipline Yourself

You may not have the ability to control others, but you can surely control yourself.

Remember, you don’t want to give up your control to anyone else through letting go of your emotions. Letting others successfully push your buttons is a way to break your emotional discipline.

Remain calm and hold your position. Know that some people will say things just to make you angry, but you don’t have to accept their foolishness. Learn to let it go and keep your mental energy in a positive place.

#BeGoalden

Turn Your Panic Into A Plan

Some things can be an inconvenience, like an unexpected bill or a flat tire. You might complain, get over it and you move on. Every once in a while, we come across a global inconvenience that puts the world on the edge of panic. We know what’s going on, but it feels weird because we don’t know exactly how to react or respond.

With the coronavirus, or COVID-19, its not that easy – we can’t be angry, complain, make a payment and go on with our lives. What started out as a distraction in another land, has turned into a disruption in our own homes.

When Panic Sets In

When we’re not familiar with an obstacle, our first reaction is to panic. There’s no plan, we’ve never seen it happen before and we have no idea where things are going.

We simply panic because we don’t know what to do. When everyone around you is just as afraid as you are, it causes confusion and anxiety. People begin to make up false information and conspiracies. Like the coronavirus, panic is contagious and spreads easily.

You see it when you go grocery shopping and everyone is filling their carts with tons of items and when you turn on the news and it’s plastered all over the television. It’s hard to ignore, so most of us join in, because if everyone else is panicking, something must really be wrong and we don’t want to be the oddball.

That’s how panic works. We see other people stockpiling groceries, so we do it too because we don’t want to be left without. The news keeps spewing statistics that may be close to true, so we allow it to put a halt on our daily lives.

When panic sets in, it causes us to not think for ourselves. We go with the crowd and panic along with them. Yes, the situation needs to be handled, but inviting panic into the equation doesn’t help you or the people around you.

Have A Panic Plan

How can you plan for the impossible? Is there a way to manage your life when life-altering events occur?

When things happen that you aren’t used to, remain calm and think. There’s no need for you to join the panic club and spazz out with everyone else.

Things may be different now – you may have to work from home, practice social distancing or quarantine yourself. These are actions that we’re not used to doing on a regular basis. It can be a scary time, but you still have control over how you respond in these types of situations.

Keep some sort of routine. Things are being done differently now, but that doesn’t mean to stop living your life. You still have goals to reach and obstacles to overcome. New challenges may present themselves during this time, but you want to practice being productive, as opposed to sitting in fear.

Even if you should become ill, you don’t want to just sit there, panic and be sick. You want to do what’s necessary to become healthy again. Taking charge and being worry-free is the first step.

Even though things are changing, stay consistent with your underlying goals. Don’t start making excuses, just because the virus is here. Keep practicing your public speaking, keep up with your diet, keep working on your business, etc. Whatever habits you had before, keep doing them and improving.

One of the most important keys to success is how well you can adapt to change.

Stay In Control

Although things are changing around us, we still have power over our productivity. There may be a global pandemic going on around us, but before you panic along with everyone else, think it through and see what you’re able to do.

Watch just enough news to get information and do your own research – when you have the knowledge, you can plan and respond, accordingly. Don’t watch it all day and allow it to feed your fear of what’s going on. That’s when it becomes worthless and you become paralyzed with panic.

Use your energy to focus on becoming well or doing something worthwhile. Keep or create your routine. Maintaining a sense of normalcy will save time and stress.

When you don’t know what to do, it’s best to do what you know. Don’t sit and panic – keep up your habits and continue moving forward, doing the best you can do.

#BeGoalden

Emotional Discipline

Having emotional discipline is important. Anyone can say anything to push your buttons, but you must recognize when they are doing so, in order to respond accordingly.

This is what catches most people off guard. They get so wrapped up in what others are saying, that they quickly react without thinking. Before they know it, the situation grows out of control.

When you have discipline over your emotions, it allows you to think from a calm place. You can respond instead of reacting, while your mental energy remains intact.

Some Things Don’t Deserve A Response

Realize that no response, is a response. There are some things that don’t deserve your emotional energy.

If you react to everything that happens to you, your energy will be wasted. You will tire yourself out mentally before the day is over with.

Responding vs. Reacting

Some may think that responding and reacting are the same thing, but they carry different meanings.

Reacting is when you answer back to something instantly – it’s your first reaction to what someone has said or done to you.

When you are in charge of your emotions, you maintain your sense of control. As soon as someone can get you to react, they are in command of the situation.

You Don’t Have To Win Every Argument

Believe it or not, there are some people who like to argue, just for the sake of arguing. It’s like a sport – whatever you say, they will say the opposite, just to spark a reaction.

When we get into heated debates and arguments, our immediate objective is to win. We have to prove ourselves and show that we are right and they are wrong.

Discipline Yourself

You may not have the ability to control others, but you can surely control yourself.

Remember, you don’t want to give up your control to anyone else through letting go of your emotions. Letting others successfully push your buttons is a way to break your emotional discipline.

#BeGoalden

What To Do When Life Sucks

We all have these elaborate ideas of how we want life to turn out. There are goals that we’re after and dreams that we want to fulfill.

What happens when things don’t go our way? Is it a sign to stop? Should we ignore it and keep going? Or, do we cut our losses and move on to something easier?

Everyone has a different response to life. Every challenge is unique, but there are two main things you can do to remain stable and see it through.

2 Things To Do When Life Sucks

Believe in yourself. It sounds corny, but it’s true. People say it so much that it has lost it’s true meaning. When things don’t go your way, instead of letting it happen, think about how to respond in a positive manner. Know that you can handle it, because you’ve handled things before. This may be a little different, but you have to fix your mind to believe that you can overcome it. The first thing we normally do is get down on ourselves and our ability to face it. Change your perspective and have the confidence to know that you will be fine and do your best. The only thing that’s stopping you is the negative story you tell yourself in your mind.
Take responsibility. Whatever happened may have not been your fault, but take responsibility for how you respond. Things happen all the time, but how you respond is key. Some people let things happen and they end up somewhere they don’t want to be. Take control and guide the situation in a favorable direction. At the very least, attempt to make things better. Do your part by figuring it out and taking the appropriate action. If it doesn’t work, be responsible and do something else. Giving up won’t help at all, but if you hold yourself accountable, the results could work towards the improvement of your situation.

The Outcome

If you do these two things, you’ll be putting yourself at an advantage. While it may not be fair, life will suck at some point and the best thing you can do is respond to it in a way that will benefit you.

That’s not to say that things will turn out exactly the way you want them to, but it’s definitely better to drive the situation than to let it drive you. If you let it drive you, there’s no telling where you’ll end up. Then, you’ll wish you exerted more effort and energy into controlling the outcome.

Be Mentally Strong

Above all, don’t let it get you down. It’s so easy to let the pieces fall where they may, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Know that you have the choice to make things better in your life.

Sometimes, we forget that we even have a choice. We’re so used to our circumstances that we become complacent and fall into a non-productive routine, where we just let things happen. Your effort still counts, even if you have made numerous attempts.

You have the power to change your position. When life happens, believe that you can handle it and take responsibility for how you respond. Step in and be a part of driving the solution, as opposed to giving in to the issue. Knowing how to manage life when it sucks, can make all the difference.

#BeGoalden

Why Worrying Won’t Work

When unpleasant challenges arise, the first thing most people do is worry. It’s a reaction that lives on autopilot in your mind, ready to go when needed. Not only does worrying affect you on the inside, it affects how you perceive things on the outside. Let’s see why worrying won’t work.

Don’t be a Worry Wart. What is a Worry Wart? As soon as something out of the basic routine happens, you begin to stress about it.

“What’s going to happen?”
“Why did it happen?”
“Who did this to me?”
“What am I going to do?”

All types of questions, along with several negative emotions, start to run rampant in your mind.

This raises your stress levels. You begin to attempt to answer those questions in your mind. Nothing is working out in your favor. Is there a number to call? Is there someone you can speak to about the situation?

You want answers because you simply don’t know why this is happening to you. Therefore, you just continue to worry because you don’t know what else to do.

Sometimes, it’s simply something that you, the Worry Wart, did to yourself that caused the issue. After that, you can’t be mad and stressed about it anymore. Take responsibility and deal with the consequences.

On the other hand, it may have been a mistake that needs to be corrected. You follow instructions on how to fix the flaw and it’s done. No more worrying because you resolved it.

In both cases, your mind went into a frenzy because you didn’t know what was going on. There’s a way to save yourself from the stress of worrying, but it takes practice.

When you receive bad news or something happens out of your control, talk to someone or simply do the research. Spazzing out doesn’t help and most of all, it won’t solve your issue.

When you get emotional about things you can’t control, it affects your surroundings, as well. You may take it out on the kids, friends, and you’re unpleasant to be around. You’re just an all around grump until you figure out what’s going on.

That’s the thing – figure out what’s going on. That’s what needs to happen. You’re only making it worse for yourself and those around you.

Learn to respond, instead of react.

When you let your emotions get the best of you, it normally doesn’t end well. Not only does being emotional make it worse, you’re also not solving anything. Nothing gets done.

It’s normal to have an initial emotional reaction. Don’t let it overtake you into worry world. Start thinking about what you can do to help the situation or to solve the issue. Do what you can. If you can’t control it at the moment, leave it alone until you’re able to figure it out.

When you respond, you come out with better results. It works out for you and those around you. Sometimes, you’re unable to do anything about certain situations until a period of time has passed. There’s no need to put yourself and others through hell because in the end, you could be worrying about nothing.

Worrying won’t help. It only takes up your precious time and for some, can even lead to health problems. Do what you can and be calm enough so you can resolve the issue. Decide to respond around your emotions and not in your emotions. If you do this, you’ll have a better handle on taking care of what needs to be done.