You Are Not Your Mind
Written by: Paul Corke, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not the thinker.” – Eckhart Tolle
Based on our perception when we travel on a train everything within the train happens at our normal speed of interaction. The train itself might be going at 70 miles per hour but as I move to pick up my book in front of me there is no difference in the relativity of speed. For the person on the outside looking in, they will see the train moving at high speed and you along with it when picking up your book. Einstein’s theory of relativity explains this but why would I use this as an opening gambit?
Because how we perceive our minds is very similar because we may believe that every thought that we think is who we are. In fact, we believe that those random thoughts much like the train are part of us in motion at that particular time, but they are not they are separate like the train and are moving just as fast if we fail to dissociate from them.
Right now, it is time just like with the train to step off the platform and realize you are not your mind!
I’m a massive believer in cause and effect.
When we think about cause and effect, the causes we create in our life will ensure we get the right effects in our life at some point in the future.
It is very similar to compound interest when it comes to putting money into a savings account. Done consistently over time what seems like not a lot of money will eventually add up to much greater sums.
A massive secret when it comes to our mind is our brain can’t distinguish between visualization and reality so it means we can program our brain for success. How do we know this because experiments have proven that the mind triggers the same when using visualization as it does when taking action i.e. when you imagine running compared to actual running.
This is so powerful because it means we can put the right causes in motion by playing the right programs in our minds!
We are conditioned by every experience that we have default settings.
These default settings mean we run programs in our minds and if we let them run free, they will help us to survive and thrive, or they can also hinder us if left unchecked.
This is why it is so important that we take control of the programs we run.
If the mind is left unchecked, it will run programs from our conditioning and if we don’t pay attention to those programs, they will have massive negative impacts on our life.
Do you know them?
‘I’m not good enough'
‘I’m an imposter'
‘I’m not good at what I do’
‘I can’t present’
‘I’m not fast enough'
‘I don’t have the ability'
Then those programs and thoughts wreak havoc in our lives and can create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This is why it is so important to run your own programs which are empowering programs.
But a secret we need to understand is that ‘You are not your mind.’
If you sit quietly and listen to your mind, you will notice that you can differentiate yourself from the endless chattering.
Here is an experiment was taken from the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle:
“Try a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: “I wonder what my next thought is going to be.” Then become very alert and wait for the next thought. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. What thought is going to come out of the mouse hole? Try it now.”
Your mind left unchecked can have massive negative effects on your life.
But what we can do is program our minds through psychological intelligence.
We can control it by running the right programs to be who you want to be at any given time.
Putting It into Practice
Here are a few ideas to help program your mind:
Sit in a quiet room and listen to your mind and the thoughts that pop up. Let your mind wander and let your thoughts roam freely and start to witness the difference between you and your mind.
Take a piece of paper and write down the thoughts that come into your mind and let them flow freely from your mind and start to bear witness to the workings of your mind as the objective observer.
Let your mind wander and start to identify those negative thoughts you want to change and start to identify the empowering thoughts you want to start thinking.
Accept unwanted thoughts knowing that they are not you and the workings of your inner mind that are allowed you to chatter will eventually dissipate so you can think more empowering thoughts.
Meditate to allow thoughts to roam freely but then also to condition your mind with the programs you want to run.
Change perspective to run the program of who you want to be each and every day the 'best version of you' program.
“To let life, happen to you is irresponsible. To create your day is your divine right.” ― Ramtha
Paul Corke, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Paul Corke is an author, a keynote speaker, and considered to be a leading expert on mindset, innovation, and leadership. He is currently recognized as the No. 1 Health and Wellness Thought Leader & Influencer with @Thinkers360 and is also the Managing Director of Leadership Innovators an innovative leadership consultancy. He previously spent 25 years in the corporate world with award-winning results specializing in organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, talent management, and leadership development with experience in the UK, Ireland, Europe, the US, and the Middle East.
Paul is the author of Reframe Your Mindset: Redefine Your Success, has a podcast series to support the book and has created The Mindset Journal all based on what he calls ‘The Mindset Equation for Success.’ Paul uses his research into the mindset and positive psychology along with the thinking from his books to provide thought leadership, leadership model design, leadership assessment, and solutions to help organizations build their leadership capability.
Paul has successfully built a leadership development strategy and provided solutions in the industries of Financial Services, Retail, Automobile, Charity, Information Technology, Education, and Local Government. His mission is to develop leaders the world now wants to see whilst also making a difference through B1G1working towards the UN Global Goals to help those in need across the world.
