What Does It Mean to Be Successful ?
7:55
What Does It Mean to Be Successful ?
7:55
What Does It Mean to Be Successful ?
7:55
What Does It Mean to Be Successful ?
7:55
MINDCRAFT
The Science of Optimal Well-being
PODCASTS
For some reason, many of us have a difficult time looking in the mirror and liking what we see. We glance up and down and from side to side, scanning for imperfections. Then the dialogue starts with all the ways we don't measure up and about how much farther along we thought we'd be by this time in our lives. These messages are coming from deep in the vault of the unconscious mind. Thankfully, we can develop our own malware to rid the mind of these negative mental viruses, and reprogram our hard-drive to think, feel, and live our best lives.
Once we figure out what toxic shame is and how it hides, it is time to take a big, deep breath and come out in the open with it. We need to embrace our shame in order to release it. We often must grieve our lost childhoods to arrive at a place of genuine acceptance. Only then can we move toward letting go and moving on to a new shame-free existence . . .
Many of us allow our negative thoughts to take over much like a snowball picks up momentum rolling down a hill. With every small advancement it gets heavier and faster, until it begins to take on a life of its own. As the thoughts we allow dictate how we then feel, it is of utmost importance to become aware of this "thought attack" when it begins. We must notice when we under this siege of friendly-fire so that we can nip this in the bud. It takes awareness and diligent effort to rewire the brain. The good news is that whatever we practice, we inevitably get good at. Practice. Practice. Practice.
The pandemic has dramatically changed nearly everything about how Americans view work. What has changed--where we work, when we work, as well as how we define a "workday." Working out of the home can also be a boundary-less existence, with our daily career related tasks bumping up against piles of dirty laundry and the demands of children. Though it is complicated, it is doubtful that our societal exhaustion and now burn-out can be disputed. This has left us in a zombie-state, fogged over and no longer aware of what it means to "take a break," or how important this much need brain-rest is for our overall well-being and productivity. Learn to rest not quit.
Much like farmers cultivate their land to produce rich soil that then yields an abundant harvest, so this is true with cultivating the attitudes that drive our very existence. Our attitudes can be our biggest assets or the most crippling of disabilities. We can exercise and strengthen our bounce-back muscles with practice, and by learning to develop the cognitive fortitude of the "Warrior Mind." Seven skills for resilience are discussed to Nanakorobi yaoki, a Japanese proverb which means to "fall down seven times and get up eight . . . "