Reprogramming The Mind For Success

Todays meditation was really distracted. Yesterday I returned from 6 weeks offshore and had just finished an important business meeting 30 minutes before I sat down to meditate. Therefore, my mind was very work orientated. I was constantly drifting off thinking about contracts and things that still needed to be finished at work. It really was at the forefront of my mind. Each time I brought myself back to the meditation I found I was drifting again within seconds. It took me longer than usual to realize how distracted I was each time, but when I did I used my breathing to bring me back to my inner self. It’s amazing to start to realize how distracted my mind gets. Trying to cope with so many things all at the same time, can be very stressful and also mean that you are only putting a little bit of effort into a lot of different things. If I can start to focus my mind on the specific task that I am performing at that time, then surely I will have much better results.
Once again, I finished this meditation feeling  a lot more centered.  I can see how this works to keep me focussed on the present and how it is used to reprogram the mind. Whilst I am very tired at the moment, it does leave me feeling very calm and peaceful. My stress levels are lower after each session and I am more in tune with who I am as a person. Perhaps a sleep rejouvination plan is in order too.

Yours truly,

Stuart Ginbey

One of my daughters has a turtle, and one day while watching her swim around the aquarium, I noticed her want to get out or to go beyond the glass walls. The back glass wall has a picture of green underwater plants, however the picture only takes up some of the wall, and as the turtle reached the edge of the picture, I could sense her desire to go around the edge and beyond, as if the edge of the picture was actually a corner.

It got me thinking about the other animals we have. One of my other daughters has a blue fish; we have a dog and also three chickens. All of these pets live within physical boundaries, from which they can’t really escape. The chickens have the ability to fly out if they really wanted to, and on two occasions one of them has, only to want to get back in to the pen knowing that this is where its food is. Our dog has also had many chances to run away (thanks to kids leaving gates open etc), and every time she has come back.

With all of our pets, it is our duty to keep their needs met, with food, water, a clean environment and tending loving care. I realized that when given the chance, although some of them could leave permanently, their ‘needs’ and the security of always having those needs met, was the main driver behind their actions.

But watching the turtle made me also realize, that we have effectively domesticated what are essentially wild creatures, and regardless of their need for security, there is still that part of them that craves just that little bit more freedom to explore. Wild creatures do not have physical boundaries, only mental ones. In the wild, and I mean complete wild where no human intervention exists, the boundaries of creatures are created by their own instincts, not those of some other force.

It pains me to say this, but we humans are trapped within a mental boundary that is not of an instinctual nature, but of a conditioned need for security. Just as we have conditioned our own pets to accept smaller boundaries in exchange for security, we as humans have accepted a life of mediocrity and monotony in exchange for security and having our needs met.

We do not bump our heads into a glass wall thinking that what we just saw was a corner we could go around; instead we live within a mental boundary that is our comfort zone, and any attempts to move out are met with anxiety, doubt and fear of the unknown, ridicule, and a fear that our security may not be there tomorrow if we venture too far out. There are people who are happy with this, there are those who are not happy but accept it, and there are those who do not accept it. The majority of people are those that are not happy with it, but accept it, not really knowing what it is or why it is this way.

Some people believe that there are people in higher positions of power who control the rest of the population, that they know how to create this mental boundary through education, TV, news, laws and politics. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant, for all you have to do is ask yourself this question. ‘Is my current life based on needs or wants?’ Do you need your job, your TV, the News at 6, the mortgage payment, the car payments, the gossip at work, the arguments, the drugs, the computer games, entertainment and so on? Are many of these needs things you do to escape life, not realizing that they are the reason you are trapped? Are many of these needs the reason why you can’t spare your self the time and motivation to do anything else with your life, to do what you really should be doing to get out of your comfort zone and really live life like the wild, curious, explorer you really are?

There are many reasons why most people will continue to live within this mental conditioned cage because they know no better, the answers to breaking free are not readily available, they fear the unknown, they fear ridicule, they fear losing their security, or they believe these needs are helping them escape reality. For many who may have even been presented with some of the answers, their needs have become all too powerful that they are too time strapped or mentally drained to do anything about it.

All it takes is a small amount of your time a day to explore your own inner and outer world, and as you start to do this you open the door to many things such as opportunity, awareness and knowledge, all of which go hand in hand with freedom, and you find your addictions to your needs and security lose their grip on you and you break free from the confines of the conditioned mental cage.

To your success

Dean

The complete step by step guide to Reprogramming your Mind for Success

I read an article today that touched on a few topics that are in my belief system. How often do you hear someone say, “Life suck’s or I hate my job, or I hate him for doing that”. Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself from time to time. This is a classic example of what it takes to have a successful mindset. The reality is, that it’s not the event that suck’s or even the person that you think you hate. It’s your perception of the event and how you wish to see it. How often do you hear people say ” Oh that’s Mike, he’s such a lucky person. Good things always happen to him”. Well the truth of the matter is that Mike is creating his own luck. By having a positive mindset, he can always look for the good in things and this will naturally attract good things. Like attracts like. It’s the Law of Attraction at work on a subconscious level.
Another point to mention is my favourite saying “What you resist persist’s and what you accept change’s”. Let’s face it. We all have a bad day once and a while. Maybe some more than others. But the fact is, it’s how we deal with the situation that makes all the difference. Lets use an example so we can visualize and really understand it.  Lets say we’re a stock market trader. Things are looking good, the share price is on the way up and we’re leaning back in our chairs thinking “Oh yeah”. Then we find the price start’s to go down. We hang on thinking, it’s ok, it will come back up, so we hang on some more. We fight and fight, check our technical analysis, fundamental analysis, indicators and charts trying to pick the turning point. The more we fight, the more we lose and things start to spiral down, down, down. Or, we could have accepted the loss and sold our stocks after the first few days. Allowing us to move on to the next trade and maintain our momentum.
Lets look at another example. Lets say your at the train station and the station master comes over the PA saying ” I’m sorry to inform you but the 6.55am bound for London Paddington is delayed for 1 hour due to maintenance”. The guy next to you loses it, throws his arms up in the air and starts swearing his head off, blaming the National Rail System for being so crap. This thought process then sends out a whole world of negativity and basically spoils the rest of his day.
However, being the mindset master that you are, you look for a positive point of view to focus on.’What do you know, I get an extra hour off work’. You ring the boss, explain what’s happened and cruise through the day. Obviously they are some random examples. But things like this happen every day. What I’m trying to highlight is the fact that the same event can happen to two different people and have very different results. Don’t be at the effect of an event, when you can have the choice to live the life you want. Take this global recession for example, you go down with it or you can step aside and make the choice to do something different. The choice is yours!

“What you resist persists and what you accept changes”.

Yours truly,

Stuart Ginbey

Week 1 – Session 2
Listened to 1 hr Introduction mp3
Results: I found tonight’s meditation quite painful. Rather than laying down, which I did on my previous session, I decided to follow the instruction’s and meditate in the sitting position. Concentrating on posture became quite difficult and really high-lighted how much I slouch. This pain became a distraction in itself and I often found myself focusing on how sore my back was. I was sitting on my bed and on the edge of a cushion, so that my knees were pointed down and a slight curve in my lower back. My back and neck were straight, with relaxed shoulder’s that were pulled back. I had a pillow on my lap to raise my hands so that they were closer to my breathing “home base” and I sat with my finger tips touching together forming a circle. Once again I found my mind wandering, but this time it was easier to notice it and bring myself back to my breathing. Something that I am really noticing is how difficult it is for me to focus on one thing for 15 minutes. It sounds crazy, but my mind just wants to be doing 10 different things all at the same time. This obviously creates distractions and makes it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Ginbey

What most people do not realize is that when we become addicted to a drug – be it nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, or heroin – it is our cells that become addicted. A physical addiction. Take away the drug and it’s our cells that are screaming out for more. And here’s the reason why. Our brain releases a chemical called ‘Dopamine’ as a reward for doing something pleasurable, be it sex, eating, winning, etc. When you do something that makes you feel good within yourself, your body is experiencing a rush of dopamine and you get the feeling of being happy. Dopamine is no different from any other artificial chemical or drug.  Take away the habit and your body will respond by doing what is necessary to get it back to it’s comfort zone.
If you attempt to change your eating habits, for example, you are not going to receive your dopamine rush because the foods you were eating before made you feel good where as the new foods do not and this is where the cravings start.

Overcoming a habit be it chemical (cells) or behavioural (neural pathways), requires an understanding of what is going on in your mind and body. The process that is going on was created to keep you alive and comfortable. As soon as you stray from it, you know it.
The good news is that those willing to accept this and work with it – and not against it – will see massive changes in their lives.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Ginbey

Week 1 – Session 1
Listen to 1 hr Introduction mp3
Results: Fell asleep after the first 15 minutes. This guy is way too calm. Woke up at the exact point where he started the guided meditation. Phew! Really enjoyed the meditation and found my mind wandering a lot. It was good to have the breathing as something to focus on to bring me back to the meditation. Found myself so relaxed that just about every muscle in my body ached. Especially my forearms. After reviewing the session, it made me realize how distracted I really get. I spend so much time doing a million different things that I lose sense of being in the present. All in all, a good intro.

As part of my journey to ‘Reprogram The Mind For Success‘ I will be joining a group of like minded friends in a 6 week Introductory course on Mindfulness Meditation. The aim of the whole exercise is to clear the ‘Noise’ from inside my mind and hopefully learn some new techniques about how to maintain a sense of  inner calm.

I guess I should start by explaining what I understand Mindfulness Meditation to be. I see it as one of the many different forms of meditation and one that focusses on being aware of the present moment. In its Buddhist context, mindfulness meditation has three purposes: knowing the mind; training the mind; and freeing the mind. The first stage is about ‘The Noise’. Knowing what it is that makes your mind so busy all the time. This is the clutter that keeps us getting distracted from the task at hand. Once we understand what we are looking for, it is easier to clear it out. The next step is ‘Training The Mind”. This is where I will literally train my mind to operate in a way that benefits me the most. Just like anything else in life, in order to improve, I need to step out of my comfort zone and put in the extra effort.

So I invite you to join me on this little journey of self discovery. I will be meditating a minimum of 3 times per week for atleast 20 minutes per session and I will share the experience with you. I will talk about how it felt, was it relaxing, what was I distracted by, and whether I found it difficult. Hopefully, by the end of the 6 weeks, we will see some sort of progression.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Ginbey

Reprogramming The Mind For Success

Do you remember that you have a choice as to how you look at your subconscious?
Those that are happy, healthy, successful, fulfilled and balanced in life have that as their
self-image. Those that are unhappy, broke, unfulfilled and live unbalanced lives have this
as their self-image. Your self-image – the picture of you in your mind – is being
created from day one. It is important for you to recognize how you see yourself
within, which means being very honest with yourself! And to take this to another level, think about how it could affect your children. What is their self image and what are their beliefs? It’s important to get this right from an early stage to give them the best opportunity in life.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Ginbey