The Power of Our Minds

I’m always struck by the defining principles of the program that I teach and one that’s standing out to me this week is that…we become what we think about most. Our minds are incredibly powerful yet we don’t realize just how much power they have over our lives. What if you had the ability to turn a negative thought into something positive? If you could have the mental strength and agility to not let your boss’s bad day impact your productivity. Or you could focus on the area of opportunity or how something could be improved, rather than the poor results alone. 

When I say the word “car” what comes to your mind? For me, it’s a picture of a red car. When I say the word “tree”, do the letters “TREE” come to your mind? I highly doubt it. Instead you’re likely seeing a picture of a big green tree. The truth is, we think in pictures which explains the fact that the image of the tree and the car jumped into your head. So, when I say the word “mind” – what image comes into your head? For most people, it’s a picture of our brain - BUT our mind is not our brain. Our minds have so much power over our lives yet we don’t actually know what the physical image of our mind looks like. Consider this… 

This image of a stickman changed the way I act every single day. Our mind is divided into our conscious and our subconscious mind. The conscious part of our mind is connected to our senses and the world around us, in other words the information we’re exposed to every single day. It’s our subconscious mind that holds our habits and ideas and the things we get emotionally invested in. The thing is, as humans we have the choice which thoughts to become involved with and whether we want those subconscious thoughts to affect us positively or negatively. When you understand that we think in pictures and you understand how the mind processes events in our everyday lives, you’ll be able to take this image with you everywhere.

So if your day has spiralled, take a step back and ask what thoughts you’re allowing into your subconscious mind because those are the ones that will be impacting your behaviour and ultimately, your results. Conversely think of those days where you are happy and productive, it’s because something good has happened and you’re emotionally invested with the right idea. I admit that it’s challenging to remain happy all the time but if you’re conscious about the power that you have to make a change, it’s liberating.