Flow state Archives - Page 17 of 17 - Start Early Today - Personal Transformation, Self Development, and Wisdom for a Better Life

Mindfulness has been all over the place along with yoga, meditation since the 70’s and there is an ever increasing scientific data that proves its benefits. If it has been proposed as good for us for decades, why not take a deeper look and give it a try.

“According to neuroscience research, mindfulness practices dampen activity in our amygdala and increase the connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Both of these parts of the brain help us to be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress when we experience it.” – Greater Good Science Center

Mindfulness will make you invincible because you won’t be emotionally attached to thoughts and circumstances. This happens when you create space between thoughts and awareness. As you rise above thoughts and circumstances, you will be unmoved by constant change around you. You will have profound stability seeing things as they are and not eager to change and manipulate them. Easily access this stability through inner knowing and not identifying with the mind’s opinions.

1. Go deeper into your inner sense of Self

What or who gets hurt happens so much on the surface of who you are. The superficial you, your ego. But that is not all you that you are. Most people identify with their body, social status, role in the family and society. These are personas, and if you look up the root word of person it means mask. So what is behind the mask? It is the real you, the one who decided to go on this journey before you were born. You have access to this greater part of you.

Go deeper into your inner sense of Self through meditation. Access this state of pure strength and knowingness. Above and beyond your petty desires and fears. If you tap into just a sliver of this knowingness, you will feel bigger and know that all of these things that bother you are just thoughts. In becoming bigger and at one with the real you, nothing will bother you anymore.

“True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There’s no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected. Once you are aware of that you are no longer caught in the idea that you are a separate entity.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

2. Perpetual Inner Peace

Cultivating inner peace is one of the many outcomes of mindfulness. As we engage in our day to day activities we get wrapped up and lost in the complexity of the countless details and decisions we are obliged to make. Having a steady practice of meditation and carrying mindfulness all throughout the day will provide inner peace despite the chaos around you.

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
– St Francis De Sales

3. Enhanced Flexibility

In creating space between your awareness and situations, the way you respond to circumstances change. Becoming more mindful makes you flexible and adaptable because you will have greater understanding of the wholeness of things rather than its divided contradictions. With clarity and mindfulness you will be flexible and will act graciously towards what is needed at the moment. You will be able to turn into this adaptive being because you have space where in you can really analyze first before you act. It is also called psychological flexibility. Being able to see from different perspectives will save you a whole lot of frustrations. You’ll see that there’s nothing to be bummed about. All “just is” and you are flexible and gracious to participate and help instead of consuming and being served.

“The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.”
– Brian Greene

4. The Power Of Equanimity

With a regular meditation practice, you will get to learn to live mindfully. Your moment to moment experience will be your practice.

Equanimity means Equal mind. Being in the state of equilibrium can be achieved if we arrive at each moment with no judgement. When we are equanimous, anything that arises in the mind is too small and incidental compared to awareness itself. Experience grounded presence in however extreme our circumstance maybe. This is true invincibility if you ask me.

“Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.”
– Carl Jung

5. Relationship Satisfaction

One of the many factors that contribute to our overall wellbeing is the quality of our relationships. Becoming more mindful, you will be able to communicate clearly with your loved ones with empathy, sympathy and an understanding beyond your own perspective. You will have the capacity to accept people for who and what they are, their preferences, because you will see your reflection in them. Becoming more mindful, you will say, this person is just like me, yearning to be loved and accepted. So why not let that acceptance start with you?

“It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”
– Herman Hasse

6. Ease Physical Aches & Pains

According to a study in April of 2011 published in the Journal of Neuroscience states that a mindful meditation practice of 80 minutes reduces physical pain in half.

Much of the physical pain we experience is accentuating the physical sensation with our strong power of focused attention. This is what we call secondary suffering. We tend to inflate situations or sensations to a magnitude bigger than what really is. With mindfulness, we are honoring the bodily sensations may it be agreeable or disagreeable. Perceive these bodily sensations as messages, maybe your body is longing to be bent, stretched and moved. Listen to your body, it has intelligence and maybe it is saying something.

“100% of the time, pain is a construct of the brain.”
– Lorimer Moseley,

7. Enhanced Self Awareness

Self awareness is the ability to align our values with our behavior. To define your goals, mission and purpose. Focusing your attention to what is the highest form of good at this moment for myself and others. To become truly realized and tuned in to your most sincere intention in this life. Know your position, where you are right now, where you are going and how you are going to get there. Today be mindful of these things, in silent meditation you can ask your inner knowing to guide you towards perfect actions during the day.

“The knowing—in body, mind, and soul—that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God’s omnipresence is our omnipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing.”
– Paramahansa Yogananda

8. Expansion Of Consciousness

Whenever you sis in silent meditation or prayer, you open yourself up to the awareness that is beyond your persona / ego / identity. Expanding beyond futile opinions, emotions and circumstances. In becoming more mindful, you realize the perfection of eternal bliss and joy. Satchitananda (Ever New Bliss) as they say in yogic language.

Give your self this gift of being undisturbed by the material world. The gift of mindfulness opens up the door to omnipresence, the true nature of what we are. Accessing this state of mind and being you will have achieved invincibility beyond comprehension.

“So long as we are immersed in body consciousness, we are like strangers in a foreign country. Our native land is omnipresence.”
– Paramahansa Yogananda

Conclusion

True power is already within but it is up to us to nurture and cultivate it. True power and invincibility that is serene, accepting and ever new. There is always something in life that renews itself. So feel blessed that you are that, you are infinite, invincible although sometimes play the game of hide and seek that you are not.

Namaste 🙏

Much of our Peace and happiness comes not from outside of us but how we see and perceive a certain thing. The same is true for its counterpart, much of our pain and suffering is not outside of us but it is self inflicted. Know how to operate in harmony with the nature of your mind and new worlds of wonderful and beautiful things shall enter your world.

Are you bothered and irritated most of the time? Do you find yourself listening to your negative voices that talk non stop? The first important thing is to realize that you want this to change. Solutions need not be expensive and should come from outside of you like medication and therapy. You have the power to fix your mental health from the inside. Here are 6 key principles and how to integrate them into your day to day to further improve your mental well-being.

1. Become The Observer

learning this skill greatly increases your overall well-being. Seeing yourself as the awareness of your thoughts and behavior puts you in a position to control how you are going to respond with wider understanding and compassion.

To become the observer, take a deep breath and look at everything from a birds eye view. See yourself as a person undergoing a moment of experience right now. It may be eventful or non eventful. Pay attention to the things going on with or without your preferences. Like cars passing by, clouds appearing and disappearing, you can even see and feel the whole world happening without your participation.

Knowing this you relieve yourself of anxiety and realize that much of the things bothering you are really of no importance. All are just opinions of the mind and you can rise up and be bigger than its chatter.

“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.”
– Marcus Aurelius

2. Be Open To Accept

Accepting things that you cannot change and changing things that you can. I’m pretty sure we heard this one. Not accepting a situation or an idea creates resistance in your over all well-being. There are billions of people on earth with varying ideas and preferences, accepting the truth that we are all different opens us up for creative collaboration rather than the zero sum game of competition.

Get passed your initial reaction of dismissing an idea presented to you. Things come to your domain of familiarity for a reason. Take a moment to look at things and first observe how it feels, then accept it as it is. Nobody can force you to act on things against your will but it is vital to accept and respect the diverse sentiments of others.

Remember, your initial reaction mostly comes from the ego’s perspective of self preservation. Preserving something it holds of value, maybe its preferences, its comfort, its programming. They might be true to some extent but make time to inquire is this Universally an absolute truth from all angles?

Look to nature, as the mountain accepts the storm. Be like this. Widen your capability to accept. That is what we are here for, to grow in ways on how we perceive the beauty of everything and each and every moment.

Next time when you find yourself stuck in traffic, take a deep breath and have no feeling about it. Just do traffic with no opinions added. Just acceptance.

“Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.”
– Gautama Buddha

3. Declutter The Mind

Much like your closet and your desk, the mind tends to get cluttered. But instead of material things, it is often times overloaded with memories, concepts, programming, opinions and random thoughts. Anxious and confused state of being is just simply a lack of organization. The nature of the mind to paint pictures of doubt and threat is actually to our benefit, it lead us to think and evolve to what we are today. But not knowing how to use the mind will bring detriment instead of benefit. Evolution brought us here and it doesn’t end there, we still need to know how to operate in harmony with the brilliance of the mind. It is a double edged sword, like fire or technology, it can either make or break you.

“Your brain is a weights only three pounds but it processes 70,000 thoughts each day using 100 billion neurons that connect at more than 500 trillion points through synapses that travel 300 miles/hour.”
– Healthybrains.org

Can you wrap your head around these numbers? It is truly astounding. So now that we know how powerful our brains are, it is time to know how to use it. Your brain doesn’t stop thinking because it is its nature but you aren’t required to act on each and every one of them. Mind only gets cluttered when you believe each and every thought it comes across with. Declutter the mind by mindful breathing, noticing the thoughts and letting them pass by. One of my favorite phrases is “Be Engaged, Not Entangled”.

4. Cultivate Compassion

Most people are contaminated by negativity and this is not due to their destiny or the cards they were dealt with. It’s just they do not know yet that things could be different. Being judge mental and critical of self and others will raise up your stress levels and will do damage on your well being and relationships. Self compassion is a powerful coping mechanism that will change the way you see the world. Start by being compassionate with yourself. It all starts within you. I like to use Louise Haye’s meditation of imagining yourself and others as babies. This will immediately bring forth compassion because the nurturing nature of yourself will activate making you want to tend and take care of life. That no one is doing you wrong, a baby couldn’t do wrong, you are here to take care of the children in everyone you encounter. So give that a try.

Imagine the unconditional love of God for people, imagine the unconditional love of parent to child. It doesn’t reprimand nor judge. It is just there for you. This type of unconditional love is called Agape. You are able to access this Love within and only when it overflows then you share it with others.

Loving yourself First will diminish cumulative stress, foster better relationships, stand composed during tense situations. Cultivate this unconditional love for self and others and discover a version of your self that is calmer and stronger.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion,”
– The Dalai Lama 14

5. Enumerate Your Blessings

Let’s go deeper than counting your blessings. Enumerate and write them down. Write 3 things you are grateful for right now. Think of the things you have now and didn’t you just years ago only have them as desires? Celebrate your wins no matter how small. Being in the state of Gratitude opens you up for more blessings. It shifts your attention from what you don’t have to things that you have now and will have. Gratitude unshackles you from toxic spiraling negative thoughts. So take a break pursuing things you don’t have yet and focus and praise the things you have now.

“Being grateful all the time isn’t easy. But it’s when you least feel thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest most powerful way to effect change in your life — this I know for sure.”
– Oprah Winfrey

6. Increase Your Aq (Adversity Quotient)

Your Adversity Quotient is your ability to overcome and endure obstacles to turn them into opportunities. If you choose to broaden your Aq, you will be more adaptable in stressful situations. Have an approach mindset instead of avoid, be proactive rather than reactive. The more hard things you can handle, the easier it gets in the future. Facing the truth, being accountable and responsible for the nearest task at hand for the greater good will help you increasing your Adversity Quotient. Remember, everything has a solution and can be progressed and fixed. Are you gonna give up or warrior up? The up is up to you. Face some challenges, voluntarily lift something heavy and you’ll be resilient and won’t be stressed easily.

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
– Walt Disney

Conclusion

These 6 insights are of no use until practiced. Start with one and keep it on in your mind all throughout the day and know when to apply them. Knowledge is only power when applied. May you look at things with more compassion, gratitude, curiosity gaining resilience along the way.

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Do you get the feeling in your gut that life is way more than what’s happening to you right now? Do you have a dream lifestyle or project that has been stuck on the shelf for “maybe next time”? Are you waiting for the right moment and circumstances for you to even start? Make a difference today by intentionally motivating yourself to walk the path of your dreams. Learning to motivate yourself will pay you huge dividends in the long run. And one thing is for sure, time will run no matter how you feel about it. Here are some simple tips that you can act upon today.

“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.”
– George Lorimer

1. Create an Agreement with Self

if you create a transaction with yourself to get a certain thing done, the urgency of the matter increases. Make that deal with integrity and courage. An example would be, “I will reward myself with relaxation only after I get my bills sorted out”. Make a deal that you know you can fulfill. Therein lies freedom because you are the one setting that “deal”. You can start with “I won’t have a meal until I tidy up and have walked around the block.” Start with these simple agreements and increase their intensity and frequency with gentleness and ease. Be true to what you set out to do and abide by the law you have decreed upon yourself. Nobody can make you do things other than you.

“How much you love yourself and how you feel about yourself are directly proportionate to the quality and integrity of your word. When you are impeccable with your word, you feel good; you feel happy and at peace.”
– The Four Agreements

2. Embody Your Ideal

Your ideal self is the version of yourself you long to be. If you are able to desire it, it is law that you must be it. What most people miss is that they tend to push away their desires from them by saying “I will be this someday when things fall to place”. Change this inner mental talk to “I am embodying the version of my self that is ___________ right now and I’m constantly growing and changing becoming more of it daily”. When you feel that you are it, the universe agrees and conspires circumstances that you cannot achieve on your own.

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.“
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. Uplifting Inquiries

Here are 3 questions to ask in the morning.

What am I ___________ in my life right now?
What about it makes me so __________?
How can I be more of what I truly am?

Asking these simple questions focuses your attention to what matters to you. Nurturing a more intrinsic motivation. Fire up that inspiration of what you truly are. It is an inside job, meaning work on yourself first before engaging in anything external.

“The great secret is a controlled imagination and a well sustained attention firmly and repeatedly focused on the feeling of the wish fulfilled until it fills the mind and crowds all other ideas out of consciousness.”
– Neville Goddard

4. Move Goal Posts

Motivation dies easily when we get bored. What motivated you yesterday won’t motivate you today. Check up on your goals if are they aligned with what you are right now. Set short and long term adjustable goals. There are many paths, just go and move, you might fail but you will in the right direction with new lessons in your bag of experiences.

Be in constant open communication to your Higher self. What was meant for you yesterday might not be for today. Take note of the changes and take into consideration the commonalities as well. You will never run out of motivation if you are constantly defining and rediscovering yourself.

“What got you here won’t get you there”
– Marshall Goldsmith

5. Start Simple Small & Slow

Intrinsic motivation can be activated by starting small, simply and slowly. Running a marathon starts with putting your shoes on. That simple act of setting your shoes by the door or bedside primes you that you are committed to putting them on the next day. Start simply; publishing a book starts with finishing a page, a page is a whole lot simpler than getting a publisher, marketing and touring your book.

Doing things slowly increases your act’s potency. In each and every thing you do, if your whole mindset is motivated from within, and you do it if service to your higher purpose, it doesn’t matter how slow you write or practice. The important thing here is you are already becoming what you long to be. Walking slowly around the block you are being a runner, writing one page you are being a writer.

So start no matter how small, simple & slow. Daily practice will benefit you exponentially.

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it”.
– Albert Einstein

6. Mind Your Inputs

Take stock of what you have been consuming mentally. Where do you spend most of your time? What information are you letting into your consciousness? You are the average of the 5 people spend the most of your time with so who and what type of people are they? What podcasts are you listening to? Are they opening you up to new levels of consciousness? Are they challenging your beliefs? Your input is your output so fill up your consumption with quality life affirming ideas that you can integrate into your life. Let quality meaningful inputs motivate you to achieve what you set out to do.

“Your input determines your outlook. Your outlook determines your output, and your output determines your future.”
– Zig Ziglar

7. Listen to Positivity

Create a library of your favorite motivational talks. There is a lot out there and find the ones that truly speak to you. You can listen as you do household chores. You can listen to motivational, educational, inspiring talks. What you listen to you become. We are sponges ready to be absorbed with new waters of budding possibilities. If an insight hits you, jot it down and set a dedicated time to act upon your learnings.

“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.”
– Hafez

8. Imagine What Would It Be Like

Imagining what would it be like for you to have achieved your dream? Feel as if it already is. That is Faith. Get specific and be there in your minds eye. Best selling author? Sold out shows? What would it be like to be there? Close your eyes and sincerely imagine those thing happening right now. Imagining motivates you to be that you ought to be. There will be no rush to do, for you are in the knowingness that it already is. If you think and feel it, so it is. Motivation can come from knowing this truth.

“Imagination has full power of objective realization and every stage of man’s progress or regression is made by the exercise of imagination.”
– Neville Goddard

9. Decide Effortlessly

Knowing your why, priming yourself, getting clarity from imagining, you are now cutting off decision fatigue. You strategize your day on how you are going to accomplish certain things. You may limit them to 3 things that you agree to accomplish before the day ends and you have decided on these things the night before. The moment you wake up, each block of hour is intended for certain things and you won’t have time to negotiate in your head if you’re going to or not. You have decided the night before and today you are nothing but motivated to execute.

“More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.”
– Cicero

Conclusion

Motivation comes from within and should be planned the night before. Know what motivates you, what are your values, where are you moving towards. You create the results of your life and an approach mindset is better than to avoid. Get to the root of things and find out why you are what you are. Every changes even your goals, keep stillness as you motivate and climb your way towards the life of your dreams. Learn, grow and take rest.

Let’s get better together ❤️‍🔥

https://makepurethyheart.substack.com/

Happy comes from the root word Hap which means chance or good fortune. Its first meaning was recorded in 14c which means “luck” except for the Welsh which means “wise”.

Being lucky and being wise are quite different.
Don’t we rather be “wise” and take charge of our own luck? Naval Ravikant’s 4 types of luck is worth looking into.

You create your own luck by putting yourself in a position where luck can find you.

In his podcast Naval discusses four kinds of luck.

1-Blind Luck – This is pure dumb luck, fortune, or fate. Where were you born? Who are your parents? Stuff you have zero control over.
2-Luck from Hustling – Luck that comes from hard work and persistence. Opportunities are created through sheer energy and activity. Things get “stirred up” from the high amount of activity. The more activity you generate, the more opportunities that arise.
3-Luck From Preparation – Luck that comes from being prepared to act on an opportunity. Having the ability to spot an opportunity. Other people do not notice, but you are skilled and attuned to spotting an opportunity. You are sensitive to luck.
4-Luck From Your Unique Character – Luck that is generated because you have built a unique mindset or brand. Opportunities arise because you are one of the most qualified people to assist. Somebody else spots an opportunity and turns to you to assist because you are uniquely qualified. Someone else’s blind luck becomes your opportunity.

Source: https://www.michaeldmcgill.com/2021/04/24/how-to-create-your-own-luck/

There is also Joy which is defined to be the source of pleasure and happiness. Joy being an inner feeling rather than an outward expression which is happiness. We can simplify this concept with the oldest aphorism “As within so without” The duty here is to cultivate inward unconditional Joy and its outward expression will flow out effortlessly as happiness.

Let’s dive into these insights.

1. Learn Something New

Make a daily habit of learning something new. Learning fires up new neural connections in your brain. Keeping your brain healthy, opening up doors to other ventures and increases your value. So entertain your curiosity, it might lead to new wonderful places. Question the normal, open yourself up to new combinations of interests to get to know yourself even deeper. You can always let go if it doesn’t resonate. But always keep on trying new things, there is a lot out there, from cuisines to musical instruments to language to arts and crafts. Get comfortable with something new and get ready for better worlds. Remember that you contain multitudes.

2. Let go

Unload the things that don’t serve you. Imagine letting go of a heavy backpack. Letting go is acceptance of things you cannot change. Much of our suffering comes from voluntary forcing to carry things that don’t need carrying. So lighten up by surrendering some of the load to a higher power.

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.”
– Herman Hesse

3. Pay Attention to Little Things

Doing small things in a great way is an opportunity open to everyone in the present moment. Small acts have big impact, tidying up sets you up for success. Trimming your nails is a simple act of renewal. The little things are the big things. What little thing are you going to engage in with a big heart?

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
– Arthur Ashe

4. Author Your Future

Take a moment to imagine what is possible for you within the next 6 months. What opportunities are you willing to take up on. Write down a strategic plan with specific actions. Set some SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. Designing your future will provide confidence that you are in charge of your life and joy will inevitably be found.

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”
– William Ernest Henley

5. Go To The Edge

The version of yourself that you are destined to be is on the other side of your comfort zone. Find the edge of your comfort, ask why you have set those boundaries and discover new worlds. On the edge you will feel truly alive, exhilarated and renewed. A constant rebuilding and polishing, a persistent joyful rebirth moment to moment. So meet that edge with gentle courage. Now isn’t that a joyful thing?

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”
– Joseph Campbell

6. Find Freedom

Too often we get too comfortable in limitations of our own making. Joy can be found in your freedom to discover yourself, your journey and your mission. Know your values, hold them close as you venture new worlds. Joy can be found in freedom.

“FREEDOM IS THE OPEN WINDOW THROUGH WHICH POURS THE SUNLIGHT OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT AND
HUMAN DIGNITY”
– Herbert Hoover

7. Live in the Moment

This is the heart of mindfulness. Bring yourself here. Listen to your breath. Scan sensations in the body. For each hour, spend 5 minutes to just be here. Nothing to change, nothing to do, just being. We are human beings after all, not human doings. You are here, just this. Just sitting. Practice this and notice the joy that is already in you. It has always been there we just need to intentionally live in the moment.

“Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is, and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.”
– Jon Kabat Zinn

8. Expand Your Awareness

Allow yourself to drop the story of “Me”, “mine” and “myself”. Your True self is beyond your persona and identity. When you let go of the story of “I need this to be such & such for happiness to happen”, You open up yourself to a majestic plane of consciousness where all is correct and dancing beautifully. Nature is one best tool for expanding the awareness. Try npr’s joy generator.

“We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about and don’t understand. There are always new things to find out if you go looking for them.”
– David Attenborough

9. Envision The Best Outcome

Live in the positive expectancy of the best. Stay calm when things don’t go your way. Be not attached to the fruits of your labor. Just be consistent in acting as if the best has already happened. This is being pro active in creating inner joy first. There is also a concept called law of inverse transformation that I have learned from my favorite metaphysician Joseph Murphy.

“If a physical fact can produce a psychological state, a psychological state can produce a physical fact.”
– Joseph Murphy

10. Plan a Trip

It doesn’t need to be Paris or Tokyo. Just a change in environment to spice up your day to day. Take a long drive somewhere unusual. Maybe along the coastline or up in the mountains. Planning a trip creates something to look forward to. It is also a practice of designing your life. Plan ahead and be flexible to change. New places will bring forth dopamine and you will expand your domain of familiarity. Have a journal on hand because you might receive your aha moment as you cruise.

“Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.”
– Henri Nouwen

11. Accentuate what is Working

What has been working in your life? Too often we ruminate on the things that don’t work or what’s lacking. Take a deep breath and find Joy in what is working. See the fullness instead of the emptiness. What have been your strengths? Maybe they were the values you’ve been carrying all along, resilience, forbearance, endurance, adaptability. Focus on what works and be glad that it does. What joy to know this.

“Seeing everything just the way it is – that is the way to be within. If you see something other than what is there, it means you are contaminating the world with your opinions and prejudices.”
– Sadhguru

12. There is Joy in Humility

The difference between an intelligent person and a foolish person is that the intelligent one knows that he is foolish. Know that you do not know a thing. What our conscious mind thinks it knows is minuscule compared to how truly things are. Do you know how water works? How your consciousness work? Fire? Rocks? The Octopus? Walking this life with humility and reverence opens us up to joyful wonder. Like a child easily pleased.

“The key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.”
– Mark Nepo

13. Hit the Pause Button

Literally stop everything and just be. Notice the beauty that surrounds you. Recognize the life you have created so far. In practicing this habit of pausing, you are training your subconscious mind to intentionally find joy in little things that are already around and within you.

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”
– Albert Einstein

14. Befriend the Mind

Too often we let our thinking rob us of our joy. Befriending the mind is setting healthy boundaries between your awareness and the minds chatter. Know that you are not your thoughts and you can let the mind wander to different places and viewpoints without losing your centeredness. When something unloveable arises from the mind, you are a friend who understands the nature of the mind. You say “thank you mind for these thoughts but I choose to stay here in my center, my peace, in this space lies your joy.

“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.“
– Jon Kabat Zinn

15. Maintain Balance

When everything is in balance, all is well and at ease. Stop the endless cycling of the mind. It is a predicting machine. It predicts the future and lives in the familiar past. Find joy in what is. Everything is neither good nor bad but our judgment makes it so. Maintain a balanced diet, exercise, human connection and creativity. Balance of the mind and heart; joy will ensue.

“Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows”.
– Jack Kornfield

16. Be Solution Oriented & Trusting

Be the change you want to see, be part of the solution rather than the problem. Approach life and its complexities with courage and knowingness that all works out for the best. There is a solution to every problem and most of the time it is very simple and will get solved by leaving things be. Trust in the Dao. Try your best at helping the situation but know how to surrender to higher power as well. Knowing that you are not responsible for fixing everything is a joyful relief.

“There is a spiritual solution to every problem”
Dr. Wayne Dyer

17. Find Joy Being Alone

Whenever you are alone the easier it gets to connect to your higher self. To rejoice in all the life that is around you. This is the time where you can really just be yourself and observe what it’s like. Getting to know yourself without other people’s expectations. So find your favorite self care modality and feel free to indulge.

“Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.”
– May Sarton

18. Rejoice in the Success of Others

There is no limit to the pie. Other people’s success doesn’t mean shortage in yours. Play the game of collaboration instead of competition. Nobody needs to be beneath anybody. Status is a zero sum game, but wealth creation is a positive sum game according to Naval Ravikant. More information here. So celebrate other people’s success and think of how you can progress that success through your creative thinking.

See others as you see yourself. Salute the divinity of others as in yourself. Their success is your success. You are a player in this one big team of humanity.

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
– Martin Luther King Jr.

19. Experience the Sunrise

Not even the finest artist nor the most distinguished poet can paint and describe the beauty of a sunrise. A symbol of renewal, the dawning of consciousness, the beginning of life itself. Make an appointment to see the sunrise by yourself or with a loved one. It is the grandest of all art exhibits. It is free, it happens daily. All we gotta do is show up and tap into its indescribable joy.

“If you are in a beautiful place where you can enjoy sunrise and sunset, then you are living like a lord.”
– Nathan Philips

Conclusion

There are many ways in which we can cultivate inner joy. Knowing them is only the tip of the iceberg. Putting them to practice is where the fun really is. Play the game of Joy in your daily life and observe how things around you change for the better.

“The early morning has gold in its mouth.”
Benjamin Franklin

Each day we are given an opportunity to start a new day. A new day means a new space where we can create something new. Lead us closer to who we aspire to become and achieve worthwhile goals.

A new day is a chance to renew, revitalize and act on our highest purpose. To make the most out of the gift of life. To harness the capabilities of your mind. The only freedom we have is the way we think which leads to how we feel and act moment to moment. Let’s take a look at some insights that will make each day optimized to its full.

1. Prepare the night before

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your morning routine starts the night before. Decide what time you shall rise. Keep your phone away from your bed so when the alarm goes off you will be obliged to stand turn the alarm off. If heading out on a walk prepare the shoes right by the door. It is called lessening the friction of the habits you want to form.

2. Eliminate Decision Fatigue

Each evening before going to bed do a quick assessment of where you are in your life. Identify your long term goals and short term goals. Decide on how you are going to spend the precious moments of your morning. Be specific on what actions you are going to take say between 5:00am – 7:00am. These 2 hours utilized with accuracy and consistency will bring you exponential growth. Much time and energy is wasted on decision making with questions like how I’m I going to achieve my goal? Rather, decide the night before and all you need to think about is execution in the morning. Deep intense focused work with your mind uncluttered is a sure fire way to go about what ever you are planning to achieve.

3. Quality Sleep

Quality of sleep doesn’t necessarily mean many hours of sleep. It means you sleep in peace knowing exactly what you are going to do as soon as you wake up. Avoid watching the news, other media and thinking of your problems. Clear the mind before going to bed by asking your subconscious mind to answer all of your questions as you sleep. The thoughts you think right before going to bed is what your subconscious will accept as truth.

“one should never go to sleep without requesting something to the subconscious mind.”
– Thomas Edison

4. 2 Minute Breathing

This can be planned the night before. Upon waking up, sit with your spine erect and just breathe for two minutes. This establishes a good relationship between your awareness and your mind. You will notice the minds non stop chattering and in this two minutes, establish your distance from the mind and carry that space all throughout the day.

“When life is foggy, path is unclear and mind is dull, remember your breath. It has the power to give you the peace. It has the power to resolve the unsolved equations of life.”
– Amit Ray

5. Hydrate & Change Environment

“If there is Magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
– Lorn Eiseley

Your body uses up a lot of water while you sleep so hydrate immediately or after your moment of silence. Changing your environment like walking outside immediately gets you out of your head and into the body. Tuning yourself to the earth and provides clarity on your next moves.

“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.”
Mark Caine

Remember the last time you went to somewhere new? Your brain was induced with dopamine and you were excited like a child. Changing environment will give you freshness when you get back to deep focused work. So including a little walk to your morning routine will be beneficial.

6. Start with a Smile

The first couple of moments after you wake will set the tone of your whole day. Be intentional in smiling. Smiling provides relaxation and relieves tension. Don’t wait for something extraordinary to happen before you smile. Just start your day with positive expectancy, hope for the best, gently navigating your way as best as you can. Smile first, then the universe will provide more of what to smile about.

“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose.”

7. Cultivate Gratitude

This can be done anytime of day. Close your eyes and think of three things you are grateful for. Gratitude celebrates what we already have and sets our minds to receive more. If we are thankful and tuned in to humility we tap into a power greater than us. So if you got your needs met, get happy now and don’t worry about the things you don’t have.

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
– Oprah

Try having a little notebook and make it your gratitude journal. Write on it whenever you feel grateful. It’s nice to look at it from time to time to remind us of the fullness of life.

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.”

8. Tidy up

“Only by taking care of your immediate environment can you then move onto bigger challenges.”
– Jordan Peterson

Tidy up as you go. Cleaning and organizing your surroundings will get you more inspired and clear on what you set out to do. Clearing a small part of your room let’s say your desk has a tremendous impact on your overall mood and happiness. So as you go about your day, make it a habit of leaving things better than you find them.

9. Play Relaxing Music

You know that feeling when you enter a nice spa? There are certain tones and vibrations that shifts your mood instantaneously. Look into Solfeggio tones.

“Music brings a warm glow to my vision, thawing mind and muscle from their endless wintering.”
Haruki Murakami

10. Minimize your to do

Narrow down your activities to the bare essentials. Pick 3 things that must be done within the day. Narrowing it down to three increases the likelihood of it getting finished. The trick here is choosing what 3 key actions to dedicate your time on that helps your higher purpose. Maybe writing an article? Practicing an instrument? A exercise regimen? Set some bright lines and make it non negotiable. Put Important tasks first before the urgent.

Important activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are professional or personal.

Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else’s goals. They are often the ones we concentrate on and they demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.

Make it a point to prioritize the important before being too busy with urgent.

Hope these tips help you in achieving your perfect mornings!

“Life is C (Choice) between B (Birth) and D (Death).”
– Jean Paul Sarte

You design your life through the daily choices you make. Where you put your attention most of the time is what your mind gets molded into and is then transformed into who you are. Knowing this, we have the power to look at where we a lot our energy adjust accordingly, learn what works and let go of things that aren’t essential.

Your present condition is the sum total of all of your choices. Your choices are votes to what you are committed to. Also choosing not to choose is a choice, so maybe you’ll start to look at things that you used to ignore or take for granted with more attention.

I find this four way approach to be really helpful because it can be applied to your daily routine immediately. Let’s get to it.

1. Do More of Something

Take a look at the past couple of days. What activities have helped you in achieving your full potential? Have you been meditating, exercising, eating healthy with intention? Maybe try to do more of that. The secret here is making Simple Small Steps. For your meditation maybe increasing the time to another 5 minutes. With lifting weights, adding a couple of reps. For your health maybe adding more health foods into your diet like grabbing more blueberries and avocados while in the grocery. There is power in incremental increase and with consistency, you will benefit from its compounding effect. There is great power in 1 more no matter how small in the right direction.

Action step: What activity are you already doing daily that you will do more of?

Increasing the duration, frequency and intensity.

2. Do Less of Something

Ask your self what activities have you been doing that aren’t serving your highest purpose. It might be making you happy on the surface level but isn’t pushing the needle towards your highest good. An example would be time spent consuming media. Maybe you lessen your Netflix and chill time by 30 mins. You do not need to take it away totally for it is your way of decompressing and recovery which is vital too. The trick here is to asses what’s really important and prioritizing them. Less time allotted to what serves your lower end desires and more time allotted to your higher end desires.

“Easy choices = Hard Life, Hard Choices = Easy Life”
– Jerzy Gregorek

So make those seemingly hard choice of doing the right thing; (more exercises, be more positive, healthier diet, more creativity, more meditation) to improve your life in the long run. It is in the choices where you dedicate your time which dictates your outcome and direction in life. It is how you create and live your life after all.

Action step: What thing do you do daily that you will do less of?

Decrease its duration, frequency and intensity.

3. Stop Doing Something

As you start looking meticulously at your day to day, logging in your habits and watching yourself. What activities that aren’t for your highest good that you are ready to let go of? Maybe throughout your life some habits or frames of mind have proven themselves of no use to the person you are intending to become? Try letting go of them gradually leading up to totally. Doing less and less as we have discussed in Number 2. Then in this step you totally let go of them. Imagine them as your old garment that don’t suit your style anymore. Say “Bad habit of such and such, I no longer need you, thank you and goodbye”.

Action step: What bad habit that you are lessening and now completely letting go?

Acknowledge it, honor it and say goodbye to it!

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

– John D Rockefeller

4. Start Doing Something

In studying these mental models, habits and self help articles, you now know that anything and everything can be started and it is up to you to head on out and do it. 100 push ups a day? Start with one. Writing a book? Start with 1 page. Learn an instrument? Book some lessons. One trick to starting is booking and investing time and money for it. Starting a blog? Invest in a domain and hosting. If you invest time and money, you are more likely to take it seriously. So ask your inner self through silent pondering and act on it.

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. If you schedule it, it’s real.”
– Tony Robins

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”

– Karen Lamb

Conclusion

What are you doing more of?
What are you doing less of?
What are you gonna stop doing?
What are you gonna start doing?

Reference: Jim Kwik

thanks for being here, Namaste 🙏

Our minds are designed to see the negative, calculate, predict what is going to happen. It is hard wired due to programming and its journey towards self preservation. Not knowing how to manage our overthinking mind will lead to its own demise. Anxiety, confusion, fear and all other negative mental states can be avoided with simple insights to remember.

1. 3 Deep Mindful Breaths

Bringing your attention to your breath automatically shifts your nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic. It shifts from tense and stressed to rest and digest. In these 3 deep mindful breaths you affirm that all is well, you bring your attention where your true power lies, the now. So keep this tool in mind, all throughout the day make time to pause and take 3 deep mindful breaths, an opportunity to recenter, look again and cultivate a positive mindset.

2. Body Scan

Bring attention to parts of the body and intentionality blow relaxation upon them. We tend to store emotional tension on the hips and shoulders. Take a moment to untense starting from the feet going up to the crown of the head. Train the mind and utilize its power to focus. In here we are focusing attention in certain parts of the body and softening them, exhaling through them and returning them to ease and balance. The mind can be commanded to disperse its attention as far wide as the galaxy and to focus its attention to the tiniest of atoms. In this practice, by the power of awareness we focus the minds attention to each cell of your body, allowing it to renew and relax to its natural state.

3. Nature Immersion

Nature is our greatest teacher. We came out from it and manifesting through it. Overthinking is caused by the delusion of separateness from the one true source of all life. The life that is happening that is you, your story, your identity is only a minuscule part of what is really happening. Take a walk in nature and tap into the feeling of the vastness of the sky and the groundedness of the mountains, the lightness of the birds and the depth of the ocean. Listen to nature and become more a part of it. There is a higher order going on unfailingly and your tiny existence is a part of it, being a part of such grand intelligence cultivates faith and knowingness that I am and You are safe.

4. Brain Dump

Much as you do a morning digestive system dump, same goes for your brain. Our minds are sensitive receptors of data, you might have been carrying debilitating thoughts in your head since you were 7. In this brain dumping practice, you release clutter in your head, things that have been bugging you, things that inspire you and everything in between. Mindfully jot down these concepts in your head on paper or on your journal. Treat them as files that need to be transferred in an external drive. Once it is out of your head and on paper, you can asses on how you will go about it; Accept, change or delete completely.

5. Pattern Disruption

Maybe you got comfortable in being stressed and being a overthinking worrier. We tend to get attached to what we know and tend to repeat it over and over till it becomes a habit. Make sure your habits are nourishing and helps you get closer to the future-self of your ideal. If in a loop of bad habits, disrupt that pattern by doing some slight changes in your schedule, maybe take the scenic route, listen to new music, or try out a new yoga practice. There is always an opportunity to look at old things in a new way. If your days are feeling stale, give it a good stir and introduce some new spices and get psyched on new flavors that life can bring.

6. Identify Thought Patterns

Sit in a quiet undisturbed place away from your demanding responsibilities. Maybe a corner in a living room, an altar, a place of serenity and solitude. In this minute of silence notice the quietness, realize that the noise that is keeping you running tired hither and tithed is a voice inside your head. It is normal, we all have voices in our heads trying to persuade us what is best for us. But in this practice, you bring attention to the awareness of the voice, listen to the voice and become really inquisitive of its chattering. With your greater awareness you can easily Identify the egos pattern. It is usually running away from something, protecting its correctness and is just afraid to love. Notice the pattern of your thoughts and know the roots of its behavior. Knowing this you can move on with actions that lead to more compassion and more harmonized with the greater good.

7. See The Bigger Picture

Affirm to yourself that out of this situation only good can come. Anything that is causing us to overthink is our lack of willingness to accept or take responsibility of what is bestowed upon us. Anything that happens to us is for us, everything that happens to you is for you. It is the way we see things that we need to work on, not the thing itself because “the bigger picture is just is” and “you are just another one of those”.

8. Acknowledge Past Victories

Like practicing gratitude it is really helpful to relive your past successes that brought you here. Take time to meditate on the hardest lowest point in your life and remember the version of yourself who took the situation by the horn and took charge to solve the problem no matter how painful it was. Pain is what builds our character, through pain we were born, through suffering we learn and after all of that to Love we shall return. You maybe in a position in your life where you are complacent, maybe it is time to run towards something bigger carrying all the skills and strength we built up in the past. From a psychological point of view time is not linear, it is holistic, meaning you are now all of what you learned and about to become. You are the whole package with endless features. You contain multitudes. Acknowledge your past successes will bring you more of it.

9. Enter Flow State

Flow state happens when you are fully engaged in a specific activity for a specific period of time. In this state, mind stops to overthink and will have become fully immersed in the thing you are doing. Flow state increases productivity by 400% and you get to be truly alive. Flow state happens on the edge of your capability, challenging enough that you are not stressed, and easy enough that you are not bored. So find an activity where in you can tap into flow, drawing, running, playing an instrument, finishing a task. Small mundane tasks are also a gateway to flow state, dishes, laundry, de cluttering and tidying up. It is up to you! What are you gonna flow with today?

10. Positive Reframing

We discussed previously that it is not the thing that bothers us but it is how we perceive and feel about that causes the problem. Positive reframing helps us gain un understanding that there are always two sides of the coin. The law of polarity says so, notice when the negative mindset is getting the best of you. Notice and observe we’re you focus your attention, for where your attention is focused on the more of that the mind creates. You can also go the midway path of the Dao which is all is neither a fortune nor a misfortune, it just is. From that state of equilibrium channel your energies to what positive key aspects of the certain situation has. You have the capability to reframe or counteract a thought with a more positive, nourishing, life affirming set of lenses. Notice, settle in the midst of it and refocus on the good side.

11. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

In your silent self reflection, listen to your inner guide. In this space of inner awareness, set Audacious goals. Put them on paper and set daily Smart goals. It needs to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound. Being clear on your purpose, knowing your “why”, being persistent in daily actions to its attainment will leave you no time to overthink because you are in constant motion flowing towards the becoming of the Self you imagined. Overthinking is a privilege and luxury that we are tempted to be in. Get down on what you are about and get going, do not be afraid because for sure you will fail and will be wrong but you will be stumbling towards the right direction. Look up Carl Jung’s Circumambulation of the soul, we will never arrive or finish as long as we are breathing we are always in an end and a beginning of something malleable circling around the northern star. What you create daily is up to you, towards your northern star or away from it. With SMART goals may you flow your way with balance and ease. Nurturing and discovering, making and breaking, developing a thick skin along the way.

12. Have An Attitude Of Gratitude

Our minds tend to have a negativity bias, this is due to our nature to self preserve. Notice this pattern of the mind to see the negative and focus on the positive through gratitude. In silent meditation name 3 things you are grateful for, it can be as simple as another day, to as specific and complex as your hero’s journey. Switch your “I got to’s” to “I get to” perceive things that you have to do as opportunities to cultivating a better world. This is where you put on your big picture glasses, I get to take care of things around me, I get to nurture my curiosities educate myself and equip myself with skills that will make my uniqueness shine and contribute. Practice gratitude for knowing the laws of mind, be thankful that you are capable of unselfish performance of duties, unwavering rectitude and unlimited forgiveness. Each and every hour of the day, a lot 1 minute to thank divine intelligence that we are still here.

13. Go Back To “Why”

Overthinking tends to make us feel that we are in charge and tricks us in thinking that we are helping the situation. Take a step back, zoom out and go back to “Why” you are ruminating on this specific thing. Maybe you are protecting something, maybe you are scared to lose something, maybe you want to be the best at something. Go to the root of why and gain a greater perspective and maybe a solution will pop up. Maybe in shifting your attention to the core values of your purpose will help a new way of arriving at the situation come to be. Most things can be bypassed and are of little or of no importance. Go back to your why and the how will come to you.

14. Identify and Deploy

Identify problem and deploy solution. Get specific on what you are ruminating on. Is it a pending loss of something? Is it overthinking on ways on how circumstances will be? You can think all you want but the mind won’t be satisfied until bless you master it. One way of handling overthinking is to identify what specific thing you are worried about, lay out possible scenarios, after this you can even get simpler. Narrow it down to either it will or it won’t. Is it yes or no? Make up your mind in 90 seconds. Be decisive and keep a positive mental attitude no matter how uncomfortable it may seem. We lose good things to make space for better ones. If you are unwilling to change, nature will do it for you, so it is better to get flexible, adaptable and capable. Let us approach life rather than avoid it. So once you know what you need to do, just do it with a smile and a little positivity.

15. Access Peace From Mind

We are often presented with the concept of peace of mind but it is impossible for the mind to get peaceful, it’s very nature is to dissect and know and to be uneasy and unsettled in the present. The real trick is to become aware of the mind. Become aware of its automated generation of thoughts and know that these thoughts don’t have any power unless our awareness choose to be emotional about a certain thing. Know that you only bring power to thoughts through your attention so be a selective sifter, only choose to put attention to thoughts that are of help to you and others.

16. Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is one of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques that is very effective. Expose your self to that thing that triggers you and the innate intelligence will adapt and won’t be bothered no more. Chose to face what makes you overthink, the intensity of the anxiety will heighten immensely but will die down immediately. Expose your self to cold and you won’t be cold, expose your self to public speaking and you won’t be afraid no more. It is best to choose to expose yourself to things that you need work on, than being pushed by nature and circumstances external to you. Intrinsic motivation to face what is needed to be dealt with develops your character rather than waiting too long and being forced by need to face a certain situation. An example would be I am intrinsically motivated to lift weights to feel strong rather than a need to lift weights because the doctor prescribed me to do so. I think we both prefer the prior one.

17. Self Coaching

If you are the personality type that doesn’t want to be told what to do, this one is for you. There’s no other person in the world that knows who you really are and what you want other than you. Be accountable and responsible for where you are going in life, destinies and meaning is not handed down to you, it must come from you. Gather the tools you need and structure a day to day with yourself being accountable. Start small, you can start by walking daily, meditating, cleaning, getting clear on your goals. Hold your self accountable and track your progress.

18. Practice Imagining

Visualize your ideal self, paint a clear mental picture of how you want the problem solved. Visualize your creativity shine. Your mind is practicing its great powers by overthinking, overthinking is already imagining scenarios right? So might as well imagine all the good things that you want and desire! What you put attention to grows!

19. Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

Overthinking is going through all the variables regarding a certain scenario. Here is the reality, there is no end to the combinations of possibilities that might happen. You are over analyzing something because you are scared or you are hiding behind the intellect but the real truth is you just might be plain scared. There is an anti dote to this. Feel the fear and do it anyway, in doing so you’ll find that overcoming what you are afraid of is what will get you to the next level of your journey.

20. Set Deadlines

Compressing the timeframe will help you make a snap decision. A lotting 90 seconds to deal with a certain matter gets it solved in 90 seconds although not completely but it will take the issue up onto the next phase. So intend those segments in your day. Commit 1 hour to tidying up, 30 minutes of cardio, 15 minutes on deciding what to cook. Learning to set deadlines will create a version of you who takes action. The type who finishes tasks, getting things done, always start small maybe just decluttering your reactions to your thoughts.

21. Start Early

Setting a morning routine sets your day up for success. Knowing what you will do the day before leaves you no time for overthinking. You will be too busy becoming towards the life of your dreams. Here is a quick structure of a morning for you. Practice silence, then next minute gratitude, then next minute visualize the day, 39 minutes cardio l, 10 minute journal, carry an affirmation Al through out the day such as, “Today I shall manifest creativity within me and I am open to opportunities where my talents will be utilized”. “Today I’m open to surprises” this will get impressed to the subconscious mind and will reflect upon your daily affairs. So affirm your power first thing by practicing these self empowering tools.

22. Be Here Now

Yes it is an Oasis Album and a Ramdass book but let us not underestimate this powerful phrase. The whole essence of Zen, Mindfulness and Yoga is this. To be here now is to be where life is, all suffering and pain is either remembered or anticipated meaning they are not really here. Sit for a moment and be here, letting go of what is passed, letting go of what is to come and just be this. Sitting breathing, thoughts rising, dissolving. Not needing to make anything happen. Not needing to chance things in a certain way. Just this. Resting, relaxing and letting be. This will surely rid of overthinking for you will realize it’s futility compared to just this.

23. Take It Slow

Think of your mind as a machine automatically presenting thoughts. Your brain runs on different brain waves, delta when asleep, theta / alpha semi awake this is where intuition, subconscious and conscious overlap. At beta your waking state, the brain is vibing at a high speed that if you act on its every whim you will definitely burn out. There is no need to match the pace of your thoughts. Your awareness can be slowed down by slowing the breath and becoming awareness and knowing that you are not your thoughts. Do things gently at a slow pace. Increase the space between stimulus and response is my favorite. Watch the spaces. Observe the emptiness and feel its fullness. Wait and let spirit move you rather than the ego.

24. Become The Observer

Will I, won’t I, This or that, here or there. There is no end to the choices and variables the mind can ruminate on. Pondering the problem is one of the mind’s favorites. Accept that the mind overthinks and with practice you will be used to being the observer of the mind. Your awareness is separate from the thinking mind, think of it as a multimedia player playing an endless montage of best of’s and what could haves and what ifs. You are just an observer of that motion picture. Initially you will have a hard time watching thoughts because of your habit of associating with each thought that arises. But through practice of disassociation, engaging not entangling, knowing the truth of the nature of the mind. You have entered the world of the observer and will have a good relationship and will be able to utilize the brilliant powers of the mind. As you observe, you get to pick what thought forms you will bring attention to. Let the mind overthink, let the heart beat, you are awareness and the observer, the one who selects and creates life through disciplined wise choices.

25. Read The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.

This prayer was written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous. This prayer sets things in perspective. It categorizes things you can change which you can act upon, and things you can’t change where in you practice acceptance and letting go.

26. Take A Cold Shower

I read from my favorite author Stuart Wilde that goes along the lines of “Throw yourself in the river at 4:00am each day, that should fix the ego pronto”. If you engage your ego in something it doesn’t want you immediately disempower it. Plus enjoy the many benefits of cold exposure. A very good tool to disrupt the pattern of over thinking.

27. Do Not Mind What Happens Next

This one is inspired by Krishnamurti. Either it will or it won’t. Your peace is not deep upon conditions. May your peace be as deep as the ocean and as sturdy as the mountains. You are eternal, immortal universal and infinite. So the next time you find the squirrel eating produce in your garden let him and thank him for blessing you with his presence, his squirrel time is precious too you know. Not minding what happens next keeps you open for miracles and opportunities. Let go of rigid expectations and start to open a new world right now.

Flow Stаtе іѕ a ѕtаtе оf bеіng fullу іmmеrѕеd іn whatever уоu are dоіng to асhіеvе a “sense of ecstasy, a ѕеnѕе of сlаrіtу, аnd уоu know exactly whаt you wаnt to do frоm оnе mоmеnt tо аnоthеr.”

Yоu can оbѕеrvе thе flow ѕtаtе оf muѕісіаnѕ lоѕіng thеmѕеlvеѕ іn a реrfоrmаnсе, раіntеrѕ раіntіng on a canvas fоr hоurѕ оr dауѕ without еаtіng оr sleeping, ѕurgеоnѕ operating fоr 18 hоurѕ wіthоut ѕtорріng, and mоuntаіn сlіmbеrѕ rеасhіng ѕummіtѕ without resting.

Flow ѕtаtе іѕ thе соmрlеtе аnd uttеr lоѕѕ of thе ѕеnѕе оf time and one’s рhуѕісаl nееdѕ, аnd thе оnlу іmроrtаnt thing іѕ finishing thе tаѕk аt hаnd. And іt’ѕ not just аbоut соmрlеtіng something, but a реrѕоn іn this ѕtаtе is enjoying what hе іѕ dоіng аt this mоmеnt ѕо muсh thаt hе doesn’t thіnk about anything еlѕе. In this state are feelings оf pleasure, ecstasy, еxсіtеmеnt, аnd pure bliss. You get lоѕt іn thе mоmеnt. It’s a gеnuіnеlу mеdіtаtіvе state оf mindfulness.

When does Flow State occur?

Thе flоw ѕtаtе doesn’t hарреn when wе аrе rеlаxеd. It оссurѕ whеn wе аrе fасеd wіth a сhаllеngіng аnd engaging tаѕk thаt rеԛuіrеѕ intensive focus.

You саn асhіеvе a flow state whеn уоu еngаgе in a рlеаѕurаblе асtіvіtу wіth a finished task. If thе рrоjесt, jоb, or wоrk іѕ оnе you аrе gооd аt, іt’ll be еаѕу tо іmmеrѕе уоurѕеlf іn іt.

Flow State factors

Thеrе are universal fасtоrѕ thаt mаkе up thе сhаrасtеrіѕtісѕ оf thе flоw state еxреrіеnсе. Lеt’ѕ tаkе a lооk аt thеѕе factors:

1. Chаllеngе-Skіll Balance

Aѕ mentioned еаrlіеr, the tаѕk аt hаnd must be іn line wіth уоur сurrеnt skill ѕеt. It muѕt not be tоо еаѕу that уоu fіnd іt boring аnd not tоо challenging thаt уоu fіnd it unаttаіnаblе.

2. Action-Awareness Mеrgіng

Yоu must bе соmрlеtеlу aware of whаt уоu’rе dоіng, but уоu’rе nоt dоіng іt wіth tоо much effort. It’ѕ lіkе runnіng оn autopilot – уоu’rе dоіng the tаѕk, but you don’t hаvе tо exert too much thоught оr асtіоn іntо іt.

3. Clеаr Gоаlѕ

A specific gоаl muѕt bе ѕtаtеd, ѕuсh as scoring a goal іn a ѕоссеr game, finishing a сhарtеr іn a book you’re writing, оr completing a painting.

4. A Sеnѕе of Control

A sense оf control means уоu know what уоu’rе dоіng, what you’re аbоut tо dо next, and hоw you will dо іt. Yоu have a sense of соnfіdеnсе іn thе сhаllеngе.

5. Cоnсеntrаtіоn

Yоu hаvе соmрlеtе focus аnd соnсеntrаtіоn оn thе task and nоthіng еlѕе.

6. Loss оf Sеlf-Cоnѕсіоuѕnеѕѕ

The fееlіngѕ you wоuld usually hаvе under nоrmаl сіrсumѕtаnсеѕ аrе temporarily gone.

7. Trаnѕfоrmаtіоn of Tіmе

Thеrе’ѕ a lоѕt ѕеnѕе of tіmе, аѕ іf tіmе does nоt еxіѕt. Painters саn wоrk оn thеіr саnvаѕ fоr dауѕ wіthоut ѕlееріng, muѕісіаnѕ can рlау аt a studio for hours and nоt realize it’s аlrеаdу mіdnіght, wrіtеrѕ саn wоrk on thеіr nоvеl thе whole dау, аnd аthlеtеѕ train for hоurѕ, nоt realizing thеу’vе bееn runnіng fоr 5 hоurѕ ѕtrаіght. Sіnсе people are living іn thе moment, they оvеrlооk tіmе. Thеіr fосuѕ іѕ оn thе tаѕk аt hаnd, nоt оn thе сlосk.

Benefits of Flow-State

Prороnеntѕ of роѕіtіvе psychology believe that you саn explain and apply thе flow ѕtаtе tо the mеаnіng of lіfе. Pеорlе ѕееk fаmе, mоnеу, fortune, аnd асhіеvеmеntѕ, all еxtеrnаl factors. Thеѕе саn аll bе tаkеn away frоm us аt any gіvеn time.

Thе ѕtаtе brings аbоut hарріnеѕѕ because іt provides uѕ wіth thе following bеnеfіtѕ:

1. Pоѕіtіvе Emotions

2. A Flоw State Rеduсеѕ Strеѕѕ

3. Improve Performance

4. A Flow Stаtе Improves Creativity

5. Grеаtеr Mоtіvаtіоn

6. Greater Happiness

What mаkеѕ thе flоw ѕtаtе ѕо incredible іѕ thаt every single human being саn асhіеvе thіѕ рrеѕеnt-lіvіng еxреrіеnсе. The ultimate gоаl оf thіѕ state of flow іѕ tо еnrісh our lіvеѕ.