I can control your mind

At 2:30 am, I woke up and stumbled to the bathroom.

"Ugh. I have to be up in 3 hours." I was thinking.

I needed sleep. Desperately.

My brain was mush. My cortisol was through the roof.

I wasn't sleeping well at all. I was a few weeks removed from getting that FTC letter. My body was so jacked I would easily need 9 hours of sleep plus naps.

I was taking my pops fishing early that morning. We had a departure time of 5:30 am.

I finished my business and stumbled back to the bed.

As I tried to go back to sleep, there was a problem.

My brain started running in a million directions all at once.

I tossed and turned. I'm only thinking about all the "what ifs."

I lay there until it was time to get up. I almost felt tormented by all the possible terrible scenarios.

My mind was out of control.

Because my mind was out of control, my emotions were unregulated. I was a mess.

I allowed every negative thought imaginable to swirl around my head. The result was stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, exhaustion, depression, and overall unhealthy.

I want to share some insights I've gained that have dramatically improved my quality of life.

This brief treatment of the topic will help you live more peacefully and joyfully.

Control your mind, and feel great.

"As a man thinks, so is he."

If we aren't intentional about directing our thinking, our thinking will direct us. Thinking is always happening, whether we want it to or not. As I've discussed in previous emails, this is built on how we've been programmed.

If you feel anxious or in a continual state of angst or stress, it could be traced back to what I just proclaimed.

Once I started directing my thinking and talking to myself intentionally, things began to improve dramatically. Once I started telling myself how I would think, my emotions and body began to align.

This is simple. Not easy.

I've made it a practice to:

1. Allow myself to feel and notice the feeling without** judging myself.

2. I ask, "Hmm, what are you trying to tell me?"

3. Then I work to source the feeling back to the thoughts happening.

4. Then I work to change my thoughts, i.e., Direct my mind.

Establish my thinking boundaries.

I used to let my mind run around like a bag of stray rabid cats. I started to stop once I realized that this had no value and that it took from my life.

Going back to the "noticing" part. I noticed I was entertaining all sorts of horror stories. No wonder I felt awful.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, who wrote Psycho-Cybernetics, a revolutionary book on how the brain and mind work, said, "Your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a ‘real’ experience."

Yikes. So I think it (imagine it), but my body can't separate that it's not a real experience. Oof.

So if thinking about the worst-case scenario helped me feel crappy, then my thinking about good things would help me to feel a lot better.

When a thought doesn't serve me, I grab it and force it into submission. How? I will intentionally think about something good.

This is what the Jewish Scholar Paul talked about... "Think about what is good and noble."

Create my new programming.

It's estimated that 95% of our functions (emotions, actions, and thinking) stem from our subconscious minds.

That means we must program our minds according to who we want to be.

How?

Create new habits of thinking.

I do this by writing and reading what I want to shape me. I've written beliefs and identities that I consume repeatedly to rewire my subconscious to new patterns. The body was created to be renewed.

Write out what you currently think that isn't good thinking. This could be self-judgment, criticism, or limiting belief.

Then, write out a new, better truth.

Now read that, meditate, and visualize it repeatedly; you'll be renewed if you don't know what to write, read something good. I read and meditate a lot on Psalms and Proverbs.

You can be proactive in controlling your mind! [If not…]

• Donald Trump wore blue swim trunks with a beer and an American flag in one hand.

• The other day, I saw a pink sheep cross the street.

• What’s your favorite color?

Did you think about anything I said? Did you get a mental image, memory, feeling, etc.?

If we’re not directing our thoughts, others will.

[cont.] Others will. 😉 

Think about your thinking!

Don’t let your mind wander off a cliff of crazy and “what ifs.”

Metacognition is when you have an awareness of what you’re thinking about. We must arm ourselves every day.

When you understand your propensities of thinking, you’ll know how to arm yourself daily.

Over the last few years, I've realized how much I suffer unnecessarily, all as a result of my conscious and subconscious mind.

If you want to reduce the chaos, overwhelm, suffering, and anxiety... renew your mind daily.

Much love,

C