CA087: Mind management

At a recent business event I had 30 seconds to introduce myself and what I did. This is the so-called elevator pitch and it’s not as easy as you might think.  Having seen how some people were struggling to get their description done in 5 minutes let alone 30 seconds it was suggested we use the quick little formula – I help …. To …. By….   I was the next one up so I sat there and said: “I help people make changes in their life or business by managing their minds”. It worked because everyone went ‘oooohhh’ and wanted to know what does that actually mean and how do you that. And it got me thinking that it's a long time since we've actually talked about what it is we actually do or rather the idea behind what we actually do. So today we're going to put that right because we’re going back to basics and thinking about what fundamentally underpins everything we talk about at Brilliant Living HQ.  It’s also the subject matter of my Changeability book and underpins the whole Changeability process and practice and Brilliant Living products. It is mind management!  What is mind management? The key question is what is mind management and why do we all need it. At it’s most basic level mind management is about managing your mind. Which maybe isn’t saying much – or more like it’s saying the same thing twice – there’s a nice word for that – tautology! But mind management is about managing your mind and we’re very keen on the whole idea of it. Our strap line here at Brilliant Living HQ is ‘Mind management for your best life and business’ or at least it was until we changed our site recently – we thought our logo looked better without it but maybe we should put it back somewhere so people know what it’s about! And the strapline to our podcast (and the Changeability book) is ‘Manage your Mind – Change your Life’. Why the obsession with mind management – what lies behind it? Mind management is the idea you can: ‘Harness the amazing power of your mind to help you get what you want in life.’  In other words you can reprogram or train your mind to create the right mindset to change what you don’t like into what you do like, and achieve your desires and live life to the full. “The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.” ~ Wayne W. Dyer. That’s a good start, but can we define it further and look at the individual elements of ‘mind management’ to get a better working definition?  How do we define mind management? The Business Dictionary defines management as: “The organisation and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary adds a useful extra dimension defining management as: “The act or skill of controlling and making decisions about a business.” If we take these definitions together and replace business with the mind we come up with: “Mind management - The act or skill of controlling, organising and coordinating the activities of the mind in order to (make decisions to) achieve defined objectives.” This does assume that you have already determined what you want from your life, and have a vision of your defined objectives (goals) and what you have to do to achieve them. And for us that’s where it always begins – getting clear about what you want – because there are clear mind management reasons for doing this and for using the power of your brain and mind to help you achieve those goals and the changes you want. It has to start with intention plus inspiration which equal your vision or goals.  If you want to know more about that go to brillliantlivinghq.com/goals to be one of the first people to find out about our goals challenge. So that’s the management bit. Now for the second part.  The Mind There are basically two major components of the mind - the conscious and the subconscious. The conscious which is the bit we’re aware of – e.g. as you’re listening to this, the thoughts you’re thinking about what you want to eat or drink or what you’re doing later or reacting to what you’re hearing.  This is what we think about and what we’re aware of.  We tend to think of it as us – ‘this is me’ – but there is a lot more to you than that.  Your conscious mind is like the tip of the iceberg because underneath it is what’s often called your subconscious, the bit below the conscious mind. We think of it below if thinking about an iceberg – but it’s sub (as in submerged or submarine) in terms of our not being aware of it.  The other name – which is probably more accurate – is the unconscious.  This is the part we’re not aware of – but keeps us alive because it carries out millions of actions every day without us even thinking about it. Taken together these two components of your mind create what is in effect an information processing system whose purpose is to keep you functioning and alive.  The brain and mind When we talk about our mind we’re really using the term to describe aspects of what goes on inside our brain.  People often use the two terms interchangeably but they’re not really the same thing. There are different physical elements to our brain, which you can easily see in any diagram of the brain, but our mind is what goes on within that physical organ. Your mind is where your consciousness and personality are. It’s a a bit like the software inside a computer. The brain is the hardware and the mind the software. But it’s not as straightforward as that as our thoughts are the result of our experiences and interpretations and feelings – so it’s more mixed. Essentially our brains contain nerve cells (called neurons) that are connected through synapses.  This is how thoughts are formed. These neural networks or pathways can be and are strengthened by repetition. Likewise, these pathways can be consciously and unconsciously influenced and strengthened by what we do, by the influences in our lives, by the previous experiences, beliefs and values we have stored in our minds. This is not only one of the facets or characteristics of how your mind works but is also one of the reasons why we need and want to manage our minds. Next week we’ll be exploring this further when we talk more about exactly why you really do want mind management to be an everyday part of your life.  Changeability If really can’t wait until next week to learn more – then you will find it all neatly explained in my book Changeability: Manage your Mind – Change your Life - together with a 10 step logical framework of ten practical mind management techniques, you can start using right away.  Get it here now (and it’s on special offer this week!) Episode 87 of the Changeability Podcast You can hear us talking about this and more in episode 87 of the Changeability Podcast.  Links: Join our free Changeability private Facebook group Like our Brilliant Living HQ Facebook page and keep up to date Get on our mailing list to find out what we’re up to Buy the book of our mind management program Changeability: Manage your Mind – Change your Life – on Amazon Thank you for reading or listening If you like listening to our show we would love you to leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher – like Alex did – thanks Alex – really appreciate it! alex 18 butterfly from the UK – October 23rd 2015 Brilliant Podcasts - 5 stars "I look forward to listening to these podcasts in the morning on my way to work. They really help me feel positive towards the day ahead! Thank you so much for making these podcasts and please don’t stop."