We’ve all been on a diet at one time or another in our lives. I have certainly done my fair share of riding the diet train. It’s gotten me nowhere. It wasn’t until I began to change my lifestyle that things were different. I started to pay attention to what I was putting in my body. I still try to follow this plan today. (Confession: I ate a piece of cake today that was full of sugar and delicious at the moment. However, my body later told me what a mistake that was.) I am learning to listen to what my body does and does not like.
The same should go for our minds. We see and hear so many things throughout each day that we must be on alert as to what we feed our minds. Tim Sanders, author of Today We are Rich: Harnessing The Power of Total Confidence, says,
“People who maintain purposeful mind diets of positive stimuli think healthy thoughts.
When we think, we act. Our actions create events. Those events shape our lives. Sanders shares seven principles to becoming more confident in your life. Principle number one is Feeding Your Mind Good Stuff.
If I were to come up and ask you today if you were taking advantage of the full confidence available to you, what would you say?
Yes. No. Maybe.
Here are some steps Sanders gives us to Feed Our Minds Good Stuff:
- Keep A Mind Food Journal – For the next two weeks record everything that you do. That includes anything you are reading, listening to, or watching. (Yes.. Facebook counts) Write down how much time you spent on it. This also includes anyone you spend time with. Note the way they acted. Was it positive? Negative? How much time did you spend with them? Then circle all the negative information on your log. Highlight all the positive information. If you have more circles than highlighted items you need to refocus your time. I admit I haven’t done this yet. Honestly, I think it’s because I’ll be afraid of what I learn.
- Filter Out The Negative – Avoid the news. Avoid gossip. Sanders call “gossip an acceptable form of pornography that is hurtful.” Ouch. If you feel you have to read or watch the news, simply glance at the negative things and focus on the positive. The same goes for the Internet. It’s very rare that I even turn the television on anymore. I don’t even want to risk allowing things in my mind that don’t belong. Does that mean watching TV is wrong? No. I just prefer not to.
- Mind Mood From The Vault – What are you thinking about? What are you focusing on? We need to be very aware of our memories and what we’re allowing ourselves to think about. If a bad memory is bringing itself up, spit it out quickly, just as I should have spit that sugar-filled piece of cake out. Tim gives a great tip: “Store the insight: delete the details.” Remember what you learned from it, but not every detail of the bad memory.
- Relaxing Your Mind – Oh how I struggle with this one. I’m getting better though. Move slowly when you wake up. Take your time and don’t be rushed. Oh how I’m writing this to myself. “At the end of your lunch hour, snatch five minutes of positive thought time to review what is going right and what positive things you’ll accomplish before the day’s end.”
Just like we don’t need to go on a diet, we don’t need to put our minds on a diet. We need to make a lifestyle change. Our minds need just as much nutrition as our body’s do. No Twinkies for the body. No negativity for the mind.
Which of these four do you feel like you have progressed in the most? Which of these do you need to improve most on? Comment below…