When trying to learn a new skill, remember a name or just retain something important, we need to go through a process whereby the brain switches from short term temporary input of the new information into retained memory for recall, where it can effectively be stored as knowledge in the right parts of the brain.
Apparently, certain foods and supplements can also enhance brain function. Therefore, making beneficial lifestyle changes as well as creating life/mind-enhancing habits such as posting a personal mindful blog or writing a daily diary, will further improve our memory function. Having a daily recap on the day's events at the end f the day, will help to cement our memories. This daily practice of giving a 'work out' to our minds, will help us to improve the storage capacity for learning too.
We are not taught how to live in school. We are mostly left to figure things out for ourselves, with some additional help coming from the parents, peers & other wise elders. The rest and arguably best of the findings will come from answers found through investing the time carrying out our own research.
To learn about the fundamental factors that affect our wellbeing, either in a positive or negative way, we have to better understand ourselves and exactly what these factors are. Once we discover some essential facts about our personality types, we can strive towards living a longer, more healthy and fulfilling life.
Merely knowing what our personality types are, can in itself be a revelation (as I have found) that in turn means we'll be better equipped to manage ourselves and ensure the environment we're in is conducive for us to truly be the best we can be.
Type A+B
Understanding where I am today in regards to my current stress related state, where I'm still showing signs of both mental and physical symptoms after 6 months of active rehabilitation, I can see where an understanding of my personality type 'A' would been a benefit for me back at an early stage of my life. I would have surely made more efforts to keep a balance in my work life and definitely avoided staying in an environment where I've been stationed over the last 5.5 years - a place that goes completely against everything I would need for keeping a happy state of being.
Type B characters seem to have an easier time of things. They have less time urgency and are more chilled out in general. Their ability to relax and not worry about sitting around doing nothing means they can think, be creative and enjoy living in the moment more. They are also good at delegating. I can reflect back on a few type 'B's' that I've encountered whose time-keeping and laisse-faire attitude has meant there's been occasions where I've had to step in and pick up another person's job (overloading oneself is another type 'A' trait) to meet a deadline in time. So for a type 'A' it's important to also understand the dynamic with type 'B's' too if we're to avoid getting caught up in the trap of taking on more than we can chew!
Type A characteristics
– Having a strong inner drive to succeed
– Having a great sense of responsibility
– Being self-motivated and disciplined
– Being their own severest critics
– Being perfectionistic and compulsive
Type B characteristics
– Type B personalities are almost the opposite of Type A.
– This type of person is relaxed by nature and has no sense of time urgency
– Type Bs have got no problems relaxing or sitting around without doing very much
– Type Bs may delay the work they have to the last moment and they usually don't get stressed that easily.
– Type B could be an achiever too but their lack of sense of time urgency helps them much in not feeling stressed while doing their tasks.
Fear is a very powerful emotion. When fear rises up in us it can take over all other thoughts and render us helpless. Overcoming these fears can be very tough to face up to, but simply 'removing ourselves' from the thoughts, by using a breathing meditation technique, where we can observe the thoughts as they happen, we can then see them for what they are - just thoughts.
While driving down to the South of France this weekend, I became very fearful. I was about to compete in the Megavalanche race which is a crazy downhill mountain bike event full of multiple hazards and potential for injury or death. I have been in many situations before on mountains where there is potential for such injury - but I've been younger, fitter, stronger physically and more experienced. Mountain biking is something I understand the physics of, know what the equipment is capable of but something I have only a small experience of doing and certainly not in a competitive arena before. I was beating myself up. Why am I doing this at 43, what am I trying to prove, do I want to risk being out of work or paralysed, will my girlfriend leave me, where will I get the money to pay the bills, how will I look to my friends when I can't do the race or if I'm airlifted off the mountain?
Nobody knew I was having these thoughts. I was entertaining them coming and going as I engaged in other conversations with my friends. And when I got a quiet moment, I switched over to being the observer in my head and just witnessed all the fear, paranoia and misery fight for attention. I actually found it quite amusing seeing these multiple facets of my mind being so blindly assured of their states of being, yet here I was, completely calm hearing them out until they exhausted themselves and went quiet. How refreshing to see these thoughts for what they are. They aren't who I truly am and by rising above them, they don't define me but merely fire off for a bit and then disappear.
When it came to the day to qualify and race - I was completely calm and ready. My self confidence and trust in my abilities were restored to the point where I managed to gain a lot of ground on the others in my race. And had I not gotten a puncture, would have put in a really good time, I'm sure. It's likely I'll compete again in the future but even if I don't, I know I have what it takes and this mindset and the technique for tackling fear can be applied to anything we do in life.
Observation
There are many techniques for facing up to our fears. Understanding where they come from through getting to know ourselves better will really help. To really fight them takes a lot of courage. Practicing the technique of removing oneself from fearful thoughts by observing as a third person as Geoff explains in this video, was something I'd heard spoken to me before, but suddenly appeared as a revelation this time I heard it. Once again I'm amazed at the timing that Geoff's wisdom comes through to me.
This video arrived in my inbox the day after my races and confirmed what I already learned to be true. Hearing these wise words from Geoff, who has been spending many years training and learning these observation plus other self mastery techniques, made me feel really pleased at my progress over the last 6-7 months. I've grown as a person in such a short period of time. And this is something we are all capable of achieving if we desire and allow it to happen.
Fear should not be given the power to take a hold of us. But by being courageous and harnessing this powerful emotion correctly, we can use this force to make us stronger and elevate us towards further greatness.
We all have pressure on us to perform. Having enough pressure on us is a necessity if we want to reach our goals. We need it or we fail to achieve. Too much pressure and we break down. I've seen first hand how hard it can be to recover from having too much pressure applied over long periods and I'm just a regular guy, living a life like most other people. So it's looking at the immense weight that is put on our sports stars and music/film celebrities that's really highlighted how excessive pressure can affect us and how difficult that must be to deal with.
Criticism and Humiliation
Watching the beautifully crafted new films about Paul Gascoigne and Kurt Cobain - we see how self-destructive our most revered talented and driven people can be - especially when exposed to the media and the wider world to see warts and all. One thing I've drawn from this is how fragile the ego is. My partner and I see it in ourselves from time to time - a lower self-esteem. And whether we are under the spotlight from others or having internal inquisitions, we all still have these torments to face up to.
Our image is what we hold firmly on to for identifying with who we are. It's very fragile. Having confidence in our 'self', in our abilities and focussing on strengthening that 'image' is key for personal growth. If we rely on searching elsewhere for acceptance and appreciation, we risk placing the power in the hands of others. Even if they are our friends, family and loved ones. Because, at low points and without self-acceptance, it's the love from others that restores our confidence and identity, when self-compassion needs to come from within. And without having this shallow projection of 'self' re-affirmed, we lose track of it and what we believe we are.
This was certainly true of Kurt Cobain. Rejection and lack of appreciation or acceptance of his intensely creative talents coming from his family, contributed to a mindset that became destructive the more his image and identity was left to the critics and press to tear at. As the pressure mounted, the weakened Cobain turned towards a way out.
Great talents are nurtured in those driven to achieve success, through the right type of pressure. Sometimes this pressure, if mis-directed, becomes too much to withstand and can derail those without strong self-control and compassion from a positive path, to addiction and self destruction. How do some manage better than others to keep their heads?
Touched by the hand of God
Maradona, touched with a real talent for playing football, a crafty intelligence and charisma for dealing with the media, has somehow managed to keep his sanity and health, although being publicly disgraced for drug addiction and cheating. Under immense pressure at periods throughout his career, he never really had the assistance of management or a publicist like today's stars do, yet through all the negative publicity, press and widely seen footage from his darkest days, he has managed to recover from life-threatening addictions and lives a happy family life today - whilst still being revered as one of the greatest players in footballing history and widely recognised for scoring the greatest World Cup goal in 1986. Even strongly confronted with the fact that he cheated England with a hand-ball to score a game-changing goal - he still has no remorse and actually takes pride in his actions. He obviously has very strong self-belief. This I find amazing - as looking back at Paul Gascoigne in Italia World Cup 1990 at a period in English football when the pressure and dreams of success came to a sad end in the Semi-final penalty shoot out with Germany, you can see where this result weighed heavy on the nation's football stars - and very likely, the nation as a whole, even to this day.
I'm not really what you'd call a typical football fan - yet I still get emotional watching (and re-living) the games from the World Cup and the moment when 'the nation so nearly succeeded'. Incredible, the value placed on the outcome from this sporting event and the stars themselves.
In the years that followed, the pressure from the British media, injuries sustained and alcohol self-abuse that Paul endured (and still battles with), have taken him on a dark path. And watching accounts from other successful sports stars like Mike Tyson and George Best - all falling prey to addiction and lost identities - it's revealing to see how important self belief is for protecting ourselves from outside influences and just how damaging our inner demons can be if we don't take control of them.
Self belief for success
Taking action for bolstering our self-esteem, self-confidence and towards creating a tougher shell to better deflect unwanted criticism plus building a virtual volume control switch for muting that destructive inner voice, will make us stronger and more capable for dealing with those down days. It's amazing how something so small can linger in our minds and sub-consciously chip away at our confidence. Practising techniques like those mentioned by Leo Babauta in the link above or some of the helpful others mentioned here in this informative post, can help us to be strong.
The power of knowledge
Something I use daily, for increasing my power of self belief - is to focus on learning. Researching, reading, comparing what I've learned to what I believe as a way to either confirm or re-affirm what I already know or to glean something insightful and empowering anew and add this to my knowledge banks. This increases confidence. I accept my weaknesses and try to learn how I can improve on them. Writing down my learnings and affirmations every day - and using these to refer against, helps me to realise what I have at my disposal and keeps me focussed on increasing my potential and therefore my self-confidence for being better at dealing with pressure.
We place great significance on the tasks we perform daily. The actions we take are used as a gauge for determining our happiness and success. Small wins and easily fixed problems are like little boosters for our soul. They bring meaning and purpose to our lives.
Dealing with minor 'problems', leads us to believe we're being useful in some way. They come to define us. By becoming the 'solutions' finder, we feel important...necessary. If we can identify/fix these problems, and in the process, shift blame to take responsibility for someone else's alleged failings, it helps us feel like we're really tackling what life throws our way. In the process, we offload some pent-up frustration as we continue to divert our nagging attention away from the bigger issues.
Often, far higher levels of importance are placed on these adopted menial problems to better prioritise above and/or mask the real issues at heart. They get actioned first, when in fact they should feature way down the list or hold no significance at all.
Acknowledging what's really important in our lives and placing them near the top on the to-do list, will often uncover masked feelings of frustration and fear. These suppressed emotions keep us from facing life's realities and ultimately stop us from being our truer selves. The challenges can be tough - hence why we tend to sweat the small stuff instead.
Many people place far too much importance on the trivial. They build up strong fixed ideas of right and wrong. These fixations help distract their minds away from what they really should be thinking about ie. what's really important in their lives. The stronger the fixations, the more they are hiding the truth from themselves. Deep down, they are unhappy.
Focussing on the niggles & gripes or little wins & losses, may appear to be an easier mental state to be in. Stressing about the trivial rather than focussing on relationship health, personal growth, physical wellbeing and job/financial satisfaction, can be much easier to deal with in the short term. Busying ourselves with small stuff leaves little or no time to address the much needed life management.
Burden Management
Filling our days with distractions, will help hide the truth from us. It could be said that having children also moves focus away from the self. Having kids can nicely tie up the mind for 20+ years. It's possibly why so many chose to have them when their relationship is starting to wane, only later opting to separate when looking after children ceases to be such a strong distraction.
So having no children and fewer worries to tie up the brain, allows much more time to look inward. This makes for an uncomfortable mindset. It can feel like a heavy sack weighing you down. But, being mindful of this sack is far better than denying it's there. Acknowledging what we're carrying, stripping away what we don't need and managing the weight as best as we can - this will bring happiness. Because, if we allow it to happen, this baggage will become heavier over time and eventually wear us down - it will stop us from moving forward. This is where depression is rooted.
Lose the Mask
It's when we come up against people with such strong fixated ideas of right and wrong, obsessive attributes on matters like overly-strict time keeping or having strong emotional reactions to seemingly menial concerns, that we should be aware of possible underlined deep rooted issues placed at the heart of these controlling behaviours.
If we allow it, we can become these broken people. We need to face our demons to overcome them and not just block them out with trivia or create fixations on nonsense. These monsters break through at our lowest ebb, like when we're tired, numbed from too much alcohol or later in life when the burden of carrying the load becomes too much to take. Don't allow these gremlins to grow - be brave and start today. Drop the meaningless and focus on what's important instead.
There's some real-life X-Men/Women out there that have learned to harness the power of the universe to do great things. Through their focus and dedication to self mastery, they can use their body and minds to achieve seemingly supernatural feats. Monks practicing ancient energy harnessing techniques, appear to have these supernatural powers. They repeatedly train their minds and bodies to do some amazing physical acts through using Tummo breathing techniques and energy harnessing Qi Gong.
Meditation techniques have shown that we can raise our body temperature to withstand the cold. This isn't just exclusive to monks either. Anyone can do it through practice. Dutchman, Wim Hof has trained (and actually changed) his body over the last 20+ years to withstand extreme cold through using meditation. He's proven that we can obtain supper human powers through the practice & learning the techniques, focussed/applied training, and shown that we can even survive in extreme life-threatening temperatures, as his climbing mount Everest in just a pair of shorts and sandals shows!
These monks demonstrate the Tummo technique which is used to raise their core temperatures enough to dry a wet shirt - even in a cold environment:
Other masters have chosen different ways to harness and accomplish super-human feats. Take this real life ninja who can chop a pellet in half with his Samurai sword that's been fired from a gun:
There's many other examples of people with super powers out there - either inherited or developed through dedicated training. Some masters like Iron Shirt and other martial artists have closely studied different fighting styles to emulate the speed, balance and strength of animals like tigers, snakes, cranes and in this bizarre example, a praying mantis.
Whether it's in the realm of difficult to explain phenomena like telekinesis & echolocation, practiced feats of strength, endurance, speed, flexibility or just a dedication & focus for a longer life through eating/exercise for increased wellbeing, it's evidence that we all have the capabilities to learn how to absorb universal energy and potentially become super humans ourselves.
Last few days of the Paleo diet and I've just had the driest meal so far but possibly the purest in it's nutrients...
It was a roasted chicken breast with kale, broccoli, spinach and butternut squash. I steamed the veg and ate everything plain - ie. with no sauces or condiments. I accompanied it with a glass of water. It didn't look that appetising on the plate and as the chicken hadn't even been roasted in a glaze of any kind, there were no tantalising aromas coming from the meal either. Luckily, I was hungry. The first few mouthfuls were a bit of an effort because I'm used to a bit of sauce on my plate - and at least a bit of salt and pepper to get the tastebuds going. But once I'd got going into the meal, and took my time to appreciate and chew every mouthful, it actually started to be quite tasty...I realised I didn't actually need salt, pepper or any extra flavour enhancers.
Breaking The Habits
I've gotten so used to grabbing the salt and pepper at meal times - that it's become a habit. I also eat really fast. I'm trying to eat a little slower as a rule, so I can better assimilate and taste the food. This method aids digestion apparently, as the receptors on your tongue and in your mouth let the stomach know what is coming, plus your saliva mixes with your food, making it less alien in your gut, thus helping alleviate any stomach aches.
Drink your food, chew your water
My nan used to say chew every mouthful 24 times before swallowing - this was likely because they were very poor in her time and especially important to do this during the rationing throughout the second world war, but also because it makes sense. The Daoists have been saying this for hundreds of years and their teachings are very much focussed on knowing oneself. More reading required on this methinks...Paul Check (in the video) has taken many of these eastern teachings and implemented these beliefs into his C.H.E.K. principles for following a training program in corrective and high-performance exercise kinesiology - ie. treating the whole body system to find the root of a problem. It's well worth looking into Paul's methods in more detail on his website.
It's strange how differently I see food now. I've become super wary of everything I buy from the supermarket because everything I see that is packaged up is marketed so well to entice us to buy. Reading the ingredients and thinking a bit more about if it's really good for us or just as easy to make fresh has encouraged us to cook and try new recipes more. These are just companies at the end of the day, who are trying to sell us stuff and they know sugar, salt and fat are our Achilles heels, but we really don't need all these extra ingredients and should cut them out as much as possible.
It's a shame to pass up on the processed sauces, they're ingrained in my habits, convenient and so tasty - but fresh tomatoes and a bit of olive oil are just as great. I now stick to non-processed options (no more than two ingredients excluding water) and mix together fresh whenever I can.
Backup Reserves
I can't stress how important it has been having a few nuts on my person at all times. I'm currently sat in a patisserie over looking a counter covered with cakes and biscuits. I'm amazed at how my new conditioning has kicked in. I had an espresso and glass of tap water instead of a cappuccino, with my small fix of almonds instead of a cake.
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
I've taken on board a fair amount of knowledge over the years from reading and listening to advice from those that have achieved success. There's so much out there it seems - especially these days - so much inspiration from 'gurus' to be found on the internet. There's 100's of success stories and many opportunities to see what can be achieved: how greatness can come from humble beginnings etc. There's no excuses why we can't also be winners....but seeing all this info and looking at some of the footage (a bit of envy creeping in here?) of smug winners has almost the opposite effect for me. Having so much of it in your face can give you inspiration overload - there's just so much to take on, it can wear you down.
All About The Journey
The reading/listening to advice/wisdom is the easy part. It's applying the necessary action that's hard. Following in the footsteps of successful others can be easier to do if you take on board the sometimes omitted fact: attaining success can be a long and challenging journey of a 1000 steps. A few small steps can feel insignificant in the grand plans. But if there's a written journal, focussing on what's immediately in front of me, a way to tick off the small victories, there can be marked improvements seen over time. Geoff Thompson has been a real inspiration on this subject. Reading Warrior this morning, I can see it's taken many small steps over the years to attain the experience and wisdom for Geoff to evolve. It's been very hard work - and he makes no bones about it. And that's also what makes it worth doing! Daily assessments: discipline and focus morning and evening, to measure the small successes - following a routine for consistently ticking off the milestones and setting up the tasks for the following days ahead.
Geoff tells us to write down our fears and goals - then use the fears to motivate ourselves and to visualise the goals that help us stay on the right path. Anthony Robbins and other inspirational speakers preach similar strategies for personal growth and success - but, coming from Geoff, to me it feels more 'real' in some way - not preaching but like he's purely relaying learnings gleaned from his first hand experiences and resulting success - applied learning has integrity. His wisdoms back up some of the stuff I already know, give fresh insights and learning for the stuff I haven't yet learned and because he's been doing personal growth for a good 10 years or more longer than I have, he's going to have so much more of that first hand experience that I can learn from. Learning from others will help me get where I need to be so much faster.
Self Mastery Takes Discipline
Taking on something that requires commitment/focus and that is both physically & mentally tough - out of my comfort zone, will give me a sense of achievement and greater strength of character.
I don't want to plagiarise from Geoff by cutting and pasting from his book - you need to read it for yourself! I will get round to thanking him for his wisdom – I'm sure he won't mind me putting this one sentence in here - something fundamentally at the heart of what I've started.
So, here's an excerpt from Geoff's book, Warrior (free to download):
"The power base of the warrior is control of palate: What he eats, drinks, ingests, reads, listens to and is influenced by. This is the start."
Self mastery. I hear it spoken in the mantra by the teacher at the end of my yoga classes. I know this to be truth. I can already see and feel the results since starting the new year. Through my diet and exercise routine, I've lost 7lb (half a stone) or roughly 3.5k in just a week! From Tuesday I'll be stepping up the routine to include a weekly early morning boxing training session and working on a strength and stability routine for my injured shoulders to compliment the yoga and pilates sessions.
This is a phrase I heard Geoff Thompson say in one of his promotional videos that I watched again this morning. I was reminded of Geoff again last night when meeting up with a group of friends. My mate Chris, who found Geoff a great inspiration in his life, has encouraged me to look into Geoff's journey a bit more and he's lending me some of his books to read. I will make sure to give more money to homeless people, who need more help than ever at this time of year - doing charitable deeds is my way of giving back when I've taken something for free...
Geoff has come from humble beginnings and established himself today as a great inspirational speaker. I watched one of his videos again this morning and already there are lessons - along with some great positives that I've added to my thinking for the day and will come back to watch this video again and again to help really cement these learnings into my mind.
There is so much great wisdom contained in just this one short video clip - make sure you get a quiet moment to sit and watch this properly in order to really take in what he's giving us. This is a regular guy like you or I - someone who is constantly looking at himself and making improvements along the way - creating a new, improved life for himself and helping those around him. Unlike so many of the self-help gurus - who seem to make their fortune from being self help gurus...Geoff isn't just recounting others' ideas, he's a successful writer and master of martial arts - and by practicing what he preaches, has managed to make considerable changes in his life.
The other great thing is - if you join up to Geoff's newsletter - you get a free e-book too!
Two things that have stuck in my mind this morning: Cause & Effect. Every single thing we do has an effect on the world around us. Our positive actions are going to affect those around us and ultimately move us to a better place. If we take on negatives, we're going to be affected and that will in turn have a knock-on effect with everyone else. Expansion through contraction. Evaluating where we are and what's around us - stripping away everything that is not helping us to grow will enable us to get to our true selves. It will make people around us uncomfortable but those elements that are not part of our journey will fall away and others that are, will gravitate towards us.
The quietness in these early mornings, I'm contemplating where I want to go. I have my lists, my various tasks and reminders etc. - and they all seem very near to me in my present field of vision - but nothing here seems to point very far from my current position on or where I want to go. I already know the direction I want to go in - fulfilment through doing the things that I enjoy and ultimately benefit myself and others. I've made a decision to go on this adventure - but where am I going? The steps definitely feel like they are being made in the right direction, but not knowing where I will end up or have a clear journey of how to get there and when, has caused some concern and a bit of negative/cynical thoughts in the back of my mind. My horizons are not yet in view and I have no clear ultimate goal - so I'm taking blind steps...where?
The Steps To Self Mastery
Geoff says that when he looks at his former self, he doesn't recognise the person from where he is now. And that's because he's slowly shed his skin and formed a new identity. He's achieved this by going from A-B, from B-C etc. and not worried about where Z is or how to get there - he's taken steps to self mastery by working consistently and daily – and he has kept his imagination open. It's by recognising and facing up to his dark demons/fears - and using alchemy within to convert that energy for producing his best work. So, if by researching, learning and re-discovering - writing down a journal and retaining positive improvements (no matter how small they are), I'm making a small % change in the right direction - I too will be looking back at my former self in time, and from a place I've chosen to be in, by taking the many small steps in the right direction steps, that are required for making the change.
