mental health Archives - Page 2 of 9

why you probably have been doing meditation all wrong — Shot of a young man meditating at home

Have you ever thought meditating is difficult and not for you?

I have too had my up and downs with meditation. The feeling of uncertainty that I’m doing it all wrong. Puts me off doing it further and I feel most people who try meditation have these feelings too.

For me, I imagined meditation as clearing all my thoughts away and being in stillness. Hoping to be transcended to higher consciousness.

Furthering my research on the subject of meditation I have come to the conclusion that meditation is made up of two practices.

Being consious of thoughts and sounds that are around you
Rewiring your brain through visulisation

I hope by sharing my findings in more detail it can help you on your meditation journey.

Using The Meditation Forse For Good

When I think of meditating. Yoda always comes to mind. When I was 8 I wanted to be a Jedi Knight and use the force for good. Unfortunately, meditation hasn’t given me Jedi mind powers yet.

But research has proved that meditating is a great way to exercise the brain. Every time you meditate and you are conscious of sounds or a thought. You have just done 1 rep which equates to meditation being the biceps of the mind.

Over time the part of the brain that’s self-aware gets stronger. This helps you to be more disciplined with anything you want to focus on. From food cravings or noticing when you get distracted. It can even help identify negative thought patterns that hold you back.

By understanding that when you meditate hearing sounds of cars going by the window or worrying about a job interview is exactly what meditation is for. To be engaged and conscious of everything around you.

I used to be annoyed by this and made meditating like pulling a seat belt too hard again and again. When I realised that sounds and thoughts are part of meditation it became an enjoyable experience. I started hearing morning bird sounds more clearly and any fearful or worrying thoughts I could let pass by or address later with journalling.

Be Consious Of The Now

The world we live in today is full of distractions like never before. Hours, days, months and years can pass by like a flash without any change in our circumstances due to the distraction we face.

The time for self-reflection, ideas to flourish and new paths to pave is blocked by the constant noise from the outside world. What meditation can help with is not blocking out all the noise but being aware of it. By being aware you can now start thinking. When you start thinking you are one with yourself.

The distractions we have around us is like being hooked up to the matrix. When we meditate it’s like taking the red pill where we see our life clearly for what it is.

This is life-changing and affects people on all different levels. For me, meditation helped me become a less reactive person, more productive and increased my self-belief.

When I understood meditation is just about being conscious of the thoughts and sounds that are around me. It allowed me to be present every day.

Train The Brain Muscle Daily

When it comes to meditation I hear a lot of people say it’s not for them after just doing it once or twice. It’s like they expect something spectacular to change for them in that one sitting. Like anything worthwhile, it takes time and consistency.

Developing a meditation routine is the most important thing you can do. Just like exercising or learning a new skill, it takes practice with highs and lows along the way.

I choose to do mine upon awakening where I can focus on the quietness of the morning sounds and shape my thoughts for the day.

But as long as it gets done is all that matters.

How Meditation Can Shape Your Future

Dr Joe Dispenza has taken meditation to another level. Where you can utilise meditation for visualisation of your future self.

This focus on creating the experiences you want to come true is explained by accessing the quantum zone. For further detail on accessing the quantum zone through meditation. His book Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself is a must-read.

Entering a meditative state where you can visualise how a skill is developed or how you will entertain your guests at an event. Has been proven to shape the brain to perform this task just as effectively as if you practised it in real life.

Understanding our body is just a vessel and utilising meditation to work on the skill we want to develop and the experiences we want to have. Is a proven technique that can be highly utilised through meditation.

I have many experiences myself of picturing the future I want for it to come true. Meditating via visualisation techniques is like a director creating a movie.

What I Understand Now

I understand now that meditation is for everyone and it’s easy to get started. It felt like it was for a certain type of person and really hard but understanding that this is not true helped me enjoy meditating.

For anyone on their meditation journey here’s some of the things I do to get started and help myself make the most out of meditating.

Ask yourself what you want out of meditation
Set out a daily routine you can easily do every day
Be conscious of the sounds and your thoughts around you and embrace the good and release the bad
Utilise journalling straight after to get your thoughts onto paper to forgive, release, create or remember
Pick a separate time of the day to meditate on your future self.

Finally, mediation is not about being perfect or stopping all noise from outside and inside your mind. Meditation is about being conscious of our past to learn lessons and let go of unwanting emotions. The present to feel them now and create the future you feel and believe to be true.

Any questions or help just ask away in the comments or more personally contact me at adam@thefuturemindset.com

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How Planning Ahead Can Build Mental Strength

Whenever I’m journaling I want to create the best possible daily outcomes with the ideas that flow through my writing. By planning ahead it allows my mind to prepare emotionally and physically for what’s needed.

I call it the pre-emptive strike effect.

I first learned the skill when I did face to face sales straight out of university. It has helped me to strengthen my mind for possibilities that could try to derail my day.

The mindset behind it is to attack the negative before it attacks you. I use it with my parenting before we head out the door with their behaviour and I use it while journalling each evening of all the pitfalls I can think of that will set me back.

I want to share this skill with you so you can become more prepared for your day. Life becomes much smoother because of it.

How To Use A Pre-Emptive Strike

To be able to pre-emptive strike effectively someone needs to have had a scenario that didn’t go as planned. Then by learning from the lesson you can avoid the same outcome next time.

So you either have to go through the experience yourself or you can utilise mentors and the wisdom of others to plan ahead.

The easy way is definitely listening to people who have already been through the struggle. The hard way of course is through trial and error. This is my 20s in a nutshell. I was once called a bull through a china shop for the will to learn it the hard way.

To anyone reading don’t try and re-invent the wheel. Learn from others mistakes so you don’t have to. That’s the smart way of moving forward in life.

Planning Ahead Is Never Perfect

No matter how great you are at planning for the future. It will never work out exactly how you imagined it. There are too many variables to consider plus you are not an all-knowing being.

Preparing my mind to know this is important. It has allowed my mind to understand that there will be curveballs in life.

I’m now more open to change and get excited when it comes my way. This is important because it creates an opportunity to learn something new and show how I can deal with the situation.

Too many people at the first sign of difficulty crumble. It’s not because they can’t preserver through adversity. It’s because they haven’t prepared their mind to deal with and overcome the obstacle in front of them.

That’s why preparing your mind in advance Is important.

The best people at dealing with unplanned events will have a system set up within the mind that allows them to do this naturally and seek adversity with a cool mind. For me, the best way to teach anyone is through journaling.

Below is how I effectively plan my days, weeks and months ahead.

Three Ways To Plan Effectivily

Write anything. First, you have to let the mind flow onto the paper with all your ideas and possibilities. Even write down all your fears as this is the great obstacle from executing a plan from its beginning. When your fears are on paper you are prepared for them and now you can plan how to deal with fear. Anything can be written down that helps you plan ahead for the next day, week or month. As well as a project you’re working on or planning how to expand your business. Whatever it is just write anything that comes to mind until the mind is clear.

Master Sculpture. Next, It is time to become a master sculpture and create a plan of execution. For example, if you’re planning for your week you can create a schedule, a checklist and whatever is needed. With all your knowledge at your disposal, you should be able to create an effective plan that can help you win. It doesn’t matter if the plan is not 100% effective but planning helps to create between 60% to 80% of what’s needed to execute your vision. Making it easier to make adjustments on the fly later.

Don’t forget you. Most importantly you will use the pre-emptive technique to prepare your mind for setbacks, tiredness, procrastination, mistakes and failures and anything you know about yourself that will harm your progress. I have planned from a list of the many emotions that will affect my performance from fear to overconfidence. By writing down these emotions I was able to focus on when fear starts to appear. I then prepare my mind when fear pops up it’s a sign that I’m on the right track. When I feel overconfident I prepare my mind to know a mistake is looming. By preparing and analysing myself it allowed me to control my emotions more effectively.

Focusing On You Builds Mental Strength

The true control we have is not the events of the external but of the internal. The person we know best of all is ourselves. That’s why planning ahead of our habits and emotions will help create a new pathway in our minds to overcome our own shortcomings.

When I was coaching people early on I was very direct in my message. I learned that one approach does not fit all and a coach should be able to communicate effectively with many different hats.

When I prepared my mind to be conscious of my approach to different people it allowed my coaching to become more effective and listened to.

By planning ahead to focus on what’s in your control which is you. Helps you improve and overcome obstacles.

When Planning Ahead

Here are the simple tips to help you plan ahead more effectively.

Clear your mind on paper of all possibilities
Become a sculpture and create your plan
Expect it to fail and prepare the mind for that
Focus on you as you are the key to it all
Enjoy the ride