Mind over matter – the path to success

Anything is possible – provided you put your mind to it!

Speak to anyone who works in a hospital and they will tell you all about mind over matter. The patient’s will to heal is far more important than any medicine that a doctor can prescribe. Speak to anyone successful in any field and they will repeat the story from a different angle. There is little to dispute that in a war between the mind and the body or mind and matter – The mind always wins. So the question is how do you tame the mind.

The science behind this comes two fold:
a) Thinking about the end and not the means. Think about why you are doing something rather than the what, how or when. This fits in very well with having life goals and goals generally in life. It brings about focus and gives direction to your energy. Setting a goal has also been the subject of a previous blog entry on this site.
b) Affirmations. Reminding yourself of the why and the core values that you want to focus on help bring about the self control again. By using a bit of psychological techniques, you are also committing an refreshing things to your long term memory. This then helps the message become a part of your sub conscious mind and a part of you.

The road to mind control and success is easier than it sounds but it starts with a few basics.

1. Set a goal - First and foremost set a goal. What is it that you want to achieve. How detailed is your goal? Is it something vague like, I want to have a happy life or is it something more specific like you want to have your mortgage paid in 10 years.
2. Visualise it – You have to see the achievement of your goal and visualise it. Close your eyes. Meditate on it. Think it. Dream it. See it happening! You will be amazed what this does to the unconscious mind.
3. Surround yourself with like minded people. Become friends with people who want and are thirsty for the success. Get ideas from other people. Hear the success stories and use the ideas to further your cause.
4. Start the action plan. Start with the self control and the discipline needed for the success. Work on the detail but do not leave the big picture. If you followed the steps 1 to 3 above, you will have the picture in your head where you want to be. Great! You have a destination, now start planning the route that will get you there.

Make each day count
Start a routine for the morning that brings about your focus and starts the day off in a manner that you intend to continue. Make each day count. Somebody once said, “if you think a day of your life is not important – try missing one”. Think it and believe it. Now that you have your goal. Every morning, remind yourself the goal that you have set yourself. Make the day count towards your goal.

And the best way to do it – meditation! I bet you really wanted to hear that. Set aside 30 minuntes of your morning each day for your morning meditation on reminding yourself the goal and staying on the path. You are setting out on a journey and you need a navigator. You cannot have a navigator taking coffee breaks at crucial junctions en route this journey nor can you afford for this navigator to fall asleep. So use the 30 minute sessions each morning to give a sanity check and pep talk to the navigator and make sure it is prepared for the next leg. Also have a look at this book as a started guide 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life..

A 30 minute morning routine to re-align with your objective and focus your mind can change your life.

There is a nice article on self control on All Considering. which seems to go some way in explaining Katinka’s (the author) take on the subject.

To achieve something, you have to want it enough. If there is a desire to get there then the mind will take you there. SO, what is it that you want?