Life

How To Control Your Thoughts, Rebuild Your Brain, and Become a Zen Master

Published

5 years ago

Dec 2, 2016

This is the final installation of a three part series on identifying and eliminating limiting beliefs and ultimately becoming a master of your thoughts. In our first post we learned how to uncover and deconstruct the limiting beliefs that are holding you down. In our second post we revealed four questions to ask yourself to blast away these beliefs and achieve more! Finally, we dive into how you can take back control of your thoughts through a quick daily meditation ritual.

With twenty minutes a day you can drastically change the way you see the world and approach any situation. Meditation is often seen as a sort of “woo-woo” practice however science has proven that a daily meditation practice can help rebuild your brain’s gray matter in as little as eight weeks! On top of that it has been proven to lower blood pressure, help with diet, and reduce tension. In the episode “Unleash The Power Of Meditation” Matt dives into the six phase framework of The Envisioning Method and how you can start reaping these health benefits today.

To begin, find a place you can be completely alone and free from distraction. A place where you can be un-interrupted by the noise of the day for at least twenty minutes. Next, find a position you feel comfortable in and can easily take deep breathes. Matt notes that while lying down may seen like a great position, it is often too easy to fall asleep.

Once you are comfortable, take a few deep breaths and begin to work through each phase individually below:

1. Connection

Take a moment to realize that everything truly is connected. Everything on this planet is made up of organic matter and largely the same thing. Today, you may encounter tense situations, you may meet with someone who intimidates you. Take a deep breath, visualize these situations, and realize there’s no difference between you and them at a base level.

Remember everyone goes through hardships, everyone struggles with their thoughts from time to time. Keeping this view of people and the world will help you find perspective and not be too intimidated or disconnected from the world around you.

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust

2. Gratitude

Gratitude has been scientifically proven to have health benefits. Not only does it make you an overall happier human but it can also help with sleep and other health issues. Here we want to take a few moments to think on and identify what we are truly grateful for. Gratitude starts from within, begin thinking about your inner workings.

Are you grateful for the type of person you are? For your morals? Values? Your Health? Then begin to move externally. What or who around you are you grateful for? Taking these moments to identify specific things around you that bring you joy will even subconsciously hold them with you throughout your day and increase joy and empathy.

3. Forgiveness

It was Gandhi who once said “Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. The weak, cannot forgive.” Take a few moments and think about any grudges you may be holding on to however small they may be. Have you been avoiding that friend who stood you up? Stubbornly refusing to reach out to a loved one or friend you feel wronged you?

Realize these negative emotions are there and then begin to let them go. Holding a grudge even subconsciously can have negative impacts on your day to day life. This may not happen all at once, it could take time to completely let things go and heal these wounds but realizing they are there and that they are not good for you is the first step in healing. Remember, forgiving them is not for their benefit, it’s for you! So think hard on it and begin to let grudges go that truly don’t matter.

4. Visualize Your Day

Think about what you have to get done today. Begin visualizing your day from the moment you open your eyes as the best day it could possibly be. You stand up and get moving and things seem to fall into place. You knock out those reports you had been putting off, you deliver your presentation and everyone stands up and claps at the close.

When you walk into that big client meeting you are greeted with handshakes and smiles and your proposal is accepted because you know your clients. Allowing yourself to see your day like this through your thoughts primes you for the best. When you’re thinking about the best possible scenario you’re ignoring the worst case scenario and seeing the potential greatness in your day ahead.

5. Visualize Your Future

What are your goals for the next three years? Do you want a house? A new car? Maybe you want to provide something for your family. Take this time to see into the future that you want. That perfect future where life has dealt you a full house and you’ve achieved your dreams. See this and believe you can make it there and know that through your actions this future will one day be realized.

“The harder you work… and visualize something, the luckier you get.” – Seal

6. Blessing

Now that you’ve taken the time to acknowledge what you are grateful for, begin to forgive the grudges you may be holding, and look into the future and see your perfect day; begin focusing on your breath. Take a few minutes to feel your body relaxed and enjoy some silence with your thoughts. Once you feel completed, stand up and get ready to approach the day with an entirely new perspective, seeing the beauty and potential in every moment.

To learn more about the powers of meditation you can listen to the full episode “Unleash The Power Of Meditation”. Learn more about the Envisioning Method and how to live a happier and more fulfilling life with Vishen Lakhiani and others on The Science of Success.

How has meditation changed your life? Leave your thoughts below!

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Matt Bodnar

Matt Bodnar, named a “Rising Restaurateur Star” by the National Restaurant Association and a “Strategy Pro” by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, is a partner at an early stage investment firm Fresh Hospitality where he focuses on deal making and strategy. Bodnar is also the creator and host of "The Science of Success" a #1 New & Noteworthy podcast, with more than 1 Million+ downloads, focused on improving decision-making, understanding psychology, and sharing insights from experts. Bodnar previously worked as an import/export consultant in Nanjing, China and spent several years at Goldman Sachs before returning to his family roots in the hospitality space.

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Life

A Simple but Effective Technique to Be More Confident

Published

23 hours ago

Oct 22, 2021

Veikko Arvonen

Many people want to learn how to be confident in different situations, but it’s not always easy. Maybe we’re too addicted to comparing ourselves or maybe social media has brainwashed us to believe that we should all be rich, famous, and in incredible shape. (more…)

Life

Knowing Your Message vs Delivering Your Message

Published

3 weeks ago

Oct 3, 2021

Robin Sacks

Image Credit: Unsplash

Have you ever sent a text message only to have it misinterpreted by the person reading it? Happens all the time. Have you ever given a presentation that you were totally prepared for only to have it fall flat? Happens all the time. Have you ever had someone ask you something like, “Why are you mad?” when you were not at all mad? Happens all the time. (more…)

Life

The 3 Most Important Things I Learned About Personal Growth

Published

4 weeks ago

Sep 24, 2021

Felix Prasetyo

Image Credit: Unsplash

When you look back on your life, what do you want to think about? Do you plan to reminisce on all of the good things that have happened and how they shaped who you are today? Or would you rather remember all of the bad decisions, challenging experiences, and mistakes made that hurt or wasted a portion of your life?

In my opinion, I think it is important to reflect on both. While it’s important to remember the hardships we’ve been through in our lives – without them we wouldn’t be where we are now. There are 3 very specific areas that I feel have helped me grow in a personal sense more than anything else in my life so far.

These aren’t simple lessons in a book or a lecture that you can just absorb and apply to your life. These are things that I’ve learned through experience and reflection, and I’m still learning and growing today.

1. We determine how much we’re worth by what we think about ourselves, others, and life in general.

This might seem like a pretty obvious lesson in life but it’s actually one of the most important because we can determine our own worth by how we think about ourselves and the world around us. If you’re looking for success in any kind of business or social setting (dating), then I’ll tell you right now that it doesn’t matter if you have 10 billion dollars or not – people are still going to judge you based on your thoughts and beliefs alone.

What determines our value isn’t necessarily what we do with our lives (which is often based on luck) but whether or not we believe that ‘our work’ is worthy or not in some sort of grand scheme or universe. We may not always be able to control what happens in our lives, but we can always control how we value ourselves and others.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou

2. You don’t have to change your habits or personality just because someone else doesn’t like it – their opinions are THEIRS alone.

This is another one of those lessons that people tend to pick up on a little bit late in life, but if anything that makes its importance even worse! Basically, there’s going to come a time when you’re going to meet someone who has certain expectations of you as a person…but these expectations might not be realistic due to their motivations and personal beliefs. For example, sometimes parents might expect you to be a lawyer or doctor because that’s what they believe is best for their child.

However, this isn’t the case for everyone and so maybe your passion lies in music or writing novels. In this example, if you were also pressured into becoming a doctor – then there would obviously be some kind of conflict going on within yourself as a person. You should never have to give up something that you want to do just because someone else doesn’t like it! The reason why we’re put onto this Earth is to make our own choices and go after our OWN dreams instead of letting others determine what we can and cannot do with our lives .

3. You can’t change your life until you accept that you need to make a change.

When I was younger, I thought that this lesson would be pretty obvious – but as I got older, it really made me appreciate the fact that there are always different ways of perceiving our lives. For example, if someone wants to become rich and famous one day – their mind might simply overshadow any other possibility in their head because they feel like this is what they NEED to do right now.

However, this isn’t always true within our own lives because we think about things too literally instead of having an open mind. If you want to achieve success in any kind of business or social setting (dating) then you should be willing to try out different things instead of staying in your comfort zone. If you want something, then it’s up to YOU to actually go after it – nobody else is going to give it to you!

The three lessons above are some of the main things I want to pass on to everyone because they’ve come at an important time in my life where I need to start thinking about others instead of only myself. It’s great if we can learn to love ourselves first before anything else, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect everyone around you even though they might be your friends and family members!

If you enjoyed this article on the 3 most important things I learned about personal growth, then please share it with your friends and family! Also, check out my other articles on success & motivation as well as life lessons that could help people who are struggling with their life right now on lifengoal.com. Thanks for reading!

Life

4 Boss Level Growth Strategies That Create an Optimized Life

Published

1 month ago

Sep 14, 2021

Jeff J. Hunter

Image Credit: Unsplash

Building a business is about more than sales, marketing, and flexing on social media. While those things tend to draw attention, they attract the wrong type of clients and are not how you build a sustainable and freedom-focused business. (more…)